Riyad Mahrez The Man To Help Premier League Champions Manchester City Kick On Next Term

Riyad Mahrez The Man To Help Premier League Champions Manchester City Kick On Next Term
14:57, 23 May 2018

At the time, Manchester City’s January transfer window offer for Riyad Mahrez seemed somewhat unnecessary. Of course, Pep Guardiola’s team were running away with things at the top of the Premier League table and were on course to make a real impression in the latter rounds of the Champions League.

As it turned out, Manchester City could have used the Algerian in the second half of the season. While the Citizens strolled to the title without facing much of a hurdle, they came unstuck in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, losing out to Liverpool home and away. It was a loss that put a dampener on their whole campaign.

Against Liverpool, Guardiola failed to come up with a Plan B when the game was getting away from his side. Manchester City tried the same thing over and over again for 180 minutes in the hope of breaking down the Reds, partly through stubbornness, but also through a lack of diversity in their forward line.

This was a criticism of Guardiola during his time at Barcelona. While the Catalans’ greatness at their peak couldn’t be questioned, they were vulnerable at times due to their inability to change style. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was signed to give Barca a Plan B, but famously that didn’t work out and the same criticisms were angled at Guardiola.

Mahrez would go some way to solving this problem for Manchester City. The Algerian is more of a direct threat than most of the attacking midfielders Guardiola currently has at the Etihad Stadium, with only Leroy Sane as adept at driving at the byline, pushing opposition defenders back towards their own goal.

Of course, Mahrez isn’t a target man. He’s not somebody to lump the ball forward to, he won’t win many headers or hold up possession all that well. The Algerian is a player still in the mould of Guardiola’s ideology. He is extremely adept with the ball at his feet. He won’t be left behind by the passing triangles that are practised at the Etihad.

But he would offer a diversity that Manchester City currently lack. Guardiola must learn lessons from what his team experienced in the Champions League this season and make adaptations this summer. Against Liverpool, Manchester City showed that for all their brilliance they are still a fairly one-dimensional outfit. That must change next season if they are to make an impression in Europe.

Some have speculated that Eden Hazard could make the move north to the Etihad Stadium, but the Belgian would offer Manchester City more of the same. Hazard, if anything, might slow down the play of the Citizens’ in the final, such is his style. If Manchester City are looking to become a Swiss Army Knife of a team, Mahrez is the player they must move for.

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