Monday 2 May 2016 16:06, UK
Riyad Mahrez lost out to Leicester City team-mate Jamie Vardy for the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award on Monday. Adam Bate explains why Mahrez got his vote…
Everyone loves a winger. David Ginola and Gareth Bale were both rewarded with the FWA Footballer of the Year award. Riyad Mahrez won't be joining them just yet, but he's already set to do what those two did not do - propel his team to a Premier League title.
The numbers tell some of the story. Mahrez has scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists, putting him level with Jamie Vardy as the most effective player in the Premier League.
It's difficult to overstate his importance to the team. Champions need flair as well as functionality. Even Watford have a dogged defence, having conceded the same amount of goals as the Foxes as recently as February. But they didn't have a Mahrez.
In a team full of heroes, he still stands out. Both Vardy and N'Golo Kante have been integral but Leicester have actually coped without them. Without Mahrez on the pitch in this season's Premier League, they have conceded twice as many goals as they've scored.
He ranks in the top two in the Premier League for dribbles and clear-cut chances created. He's twisted and he's turned. He's sold the dummies and the defenders have just kept buying them. He's been fun to watch and given the impression it was even more fun to play.
"I was a street footballer," he told Sky Sports recently. "Every day, I was on the street dribbling, doing skills. I wasn't in an academy till I was 19." The lung-busting hunger of Vardy might be more conspicuous but Mahrez has his own story too.
Perhaps the journey from Sarcelles - a "dangerous ghetto", according to the man himself - doesn't evoke the same everyman qualities for English audiences, but it should. Mahrez battled for an amateur contract in France's fourth tier. A trial at St Mirren didn't work out.
As recently as 2014, one month shy of his 23rd birthday, he was with Le Havre in the French second division. Those spindly limbs didn't convince everyone of their capacity to cope in tougher conditions but Leicester's technical scouts looked at the stats and took a chance.
Nigel Pearson trusted his talent but Mahrez was still an unused substitute on numerous occasions last season - most notably in the April win at Burnley that lifted Leicester out of the bottom three. He's a more effective player now and that owes much to his dedication to improve.
In the wake of Mahrez's PFA Player of the Year award, manager Claudio Ranieri said: "I am very proud because Riyad is a very humble man. He asks every time, 'What can I do to improve?' That is fantastic. He is a genius, our light."
In a recent interview with L'Equipe, Mahrez spoke of the "headaches" brought about by Claudio Ranieri's attention to detail on the tactical work. The instincts of the street footballer remain. "I want so much be that player, the player who improvises," he admitted. But he's worked at it.
It's been reflected in his efforts. While the compact team shape has been a feature of Leicester's success and there's a beauty in the simplicity of the roles of many within the line-up, the onus is on Mahrez to do something different. He has to pick his moments to gamble.
"We know he's a wide player," Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. "But the amount of times he finds himself between the lines, he's not just a headless chicken going in there. It's being in there and being decisive at the right time. That's understanding. That's reading the game."
More often than not he's read it right. Mahrez scored in the first three games of the season - a brace against Sunderland, the winner versus West Ham and what turned out to be a significant late equaliser at home to Tottenham. Those goals alone were worth five points.
By March, his goals had earned the team 20 points - and it would've been four more but for a couple of penalty misses. During the run-in, there were fine finishes in 1-0 wins over Watford and Crystal Palace. A brief dip followed but Mahrez has done it when it mattered.
Needing to deliver with Vardy suspended, Mahrez opened the scoring against Swansea, settling the nerves and leaving Leicester on the brink. There was no goal against Manchester United on Sunday but his second-half dribbling relieved the pressure nevertheless.
"You were wondering who'd step up," said Carragher of that win over Swansea. There was no need. Mahrez has been the decisive figure at the decisive time in the team of the season. Maybe even bigger things await, but this will always be his year - Leicester's year. He deserves every award going.
