Why Mahrez is the man

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 …

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