Former Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez believes he played well in the club’s dramatic first Premier League season but suggested he could not show off his true talent until the team improved around him in the title-winning campaign.
Mahrez shot to superstardom during the 2015-16 season, winning the PFA player of the year award after his 17 goals and 10 assists helped fire City to an astonishing Premier League title.
The year before, City’s first season back in the Premier League and Mahrez's first full term at the club, the winger registered four goals and three assists in 30 appearances as Nigel Pearson's men struggled until April, when their late charge clinched an unlikely survival.
But reflecting on the 2014-15 campaign, Mahrez said he had a “good feeling” but could not “do everything alone”.
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“The first year in the Prem with Leicester we were struggling a bit but I was always playing good,” Mahrez, now at Manchester City, told Sky Sports’ The Football Show. “I had a good feeling of the league, I felt like I could do something.
“But obviously I need my team-mates, I need everyone around me, I cannot do everything alone.
“So the next year, when we started, we started very good, very strong, the team was so good. It was better for me, I started scoring, the confidence went up and that was it.”
After lifting the title, Mahrez spent another two years at Leicester before moving to Manchester City in a £60m switch.
Some of the Algerian's comments since then have riled Leicester supporters, particularly his suggestion that he “lost” two years of his career because the club denied him an exit in 2016.
But he has won four trophies since moving to the Etihad Stadium, including a second Premier League title, and is playing a key role this season, with nine goals and 14 assists in 37 outings.
It wasn’t always so comfortable under Pep Guardiola though, with the 29-year-old admitting he needed time to get used to playing against sides that sit deep and double up, as most do against Manchester City.
“When I arrived at City, I noticed how everyone sits back so you have to think differently,” he added.
“You have to deal differently with your opponent and, in my case, the left-back, because he's always in front of me.
“They also always have help around him, with a midfielder or the winger, so you have to change your play and your movement.
“You have to adapt to this. It took me a little bit of time but now I feel I'm set up very well.”
