SunFlash
8 years ago
Edited
Even now I'm not a huge fan of Mahrez as a playmaker, although I do respect his ability to finish and desire to go one-on-one with defenders.
Half the problem of evaluating what a player is worth is that it changes based on the club, manager, and style. I have a hard time seeing Mahrez, who had so much success on the counter, playing in a possession-based style like Barcelona or City. I think that the hard counters directly from transitions that we saw Leicester achieve so much success from this season rely on their opponents not having players back, or set in shape, and that means that the space is already there, and there is no need to break anything down, because by the time Mahrez gets the ball, the defence is already broken down for him.
I would go as far to say that Mahrez would be utterly useless in a possession-based team. I think he also greatly benefited from the finishing of Vardy, whose goals-to-shots ratio was outstanding, in the creation of at least half of his assists, of which, again, no great pass was needed, simply slipping the ball through an already broken defence on the counter.
I recall vividly when Mahrez played teams with actually good, and more importantly, disciplined defences, (United, Spurs, etc) he was invisible all game. Created nothing, found no space, no game-breaking through balls, no one-on-ones, nothing. Equally as much of a problem, when he played internationally with Algeria, he found little success.
Of course, Mahrez could have the skills to do what I'm saying he can't (break down a defence). I just haven't seen them, and no other team in the world has either. Unless he goes to a team that plays that counterattacking style, (think Real Madrid, pre-LVG United, etc) his value to Leicester is far greater than his value to any other team. For that reason I'll give you two numbers:
What Mahrez is worth to Leicester: 40-50 million pounds
What Mahrez is worth to Barca/City: 20-25 million pounds
What I personally would value him at: 15 million pounds
Interested to hear other opinions though, I would suspect I'm in the minority on this.
Even now I'm not a huge fan of Mahrez as a playmaker, although I do respect his ability to finish and desire to go one-on-one with defenders.
Half the problem of evaluating what a player is worth is that it changes based on the club, manager, and style. I have a hard time seeing Mahrez, who had so much success on the counter, playing in a possession-based style like Barcelona or City. I think that the hard counters directly from transitions that we saw Leicester achieve so much success from this season rely on their opponents not having players back, or set in shape, and that means that the space is already there, and there is no need to break anything down, because by the time Mahrez gets the ball, the defence is already broken down for him.
I would go as far to say that Mahrez would be utterly useless in a possession-based team. I think he also greatly benefited from the finishing of Vardy, whose goals-to-shots ratio was outstanding, in the creation of at least half of his assists, of which, again, no great pass was needed, simply slipping the ball through an already broken defence on the counter.
I recall vividly when Mahrez played teams with actually good, and more importantly, disciplined defences, (United, Spurs, etc) he was invisible all game. Created nothing, found no space, no game-breaking through balls, no one-on-ones, nothing. Equally as much of a problem, when he played internationally with Algeria, he found little success.
Of course, Mahrez could have the skills to do what I'm saying he can't. I just haven't seen them, and no other team in the world has either. Unless he goes to a team that plays that counterattacking style, (think Real Madrid, pre-LVG United, etc) his value to Leicester is far greater than his value to any other team. For that reason I'll give you two numbers:
What Mahrez is worth to Leicester: 40-50 million pounds
What Mahrez is worth to Barca/City: 20-25 million pounds
What I personally would value him at: 15 million pounds
Interested to hear other opinions though, I would suspect I'm in the minority on this.
It's been 8 months since I last did this and football has changed a lot :p Leicester have won the league and a whole new bunch of talent has been spotted.
Todays VTP? Riyad Mahrez. The talent was signed for £375,000. He is now one of the best midfielders in the PL. How much do you guys think he is worth?