Riyad Mahrez has been in phenomenal form for Leicester City and has been one of the driving forces behind the Foxes’ run to the top. He recently spoke about how much his ex-manager Nigel Pearson had to do with Leicester’s rise.
Jamie Vardy may be hogging all the headlines with his goal scoring exploits, but one of his teammates has been equally prolific. Riyad Mahrez has 14 goals so far this season, making him joint fourth highest goalscorer in the league.
The Algerian international recently spoke about his relationship with ex-manager Nigel Pearson, who was sacked by the club after last season. Pearson brought him into the club, and Mahrez thinks that he had a big hand in Leicester’s success.
“Does he deserve credit for where we are now? I think so, yeah,” the 24-year-old said, according to fourfourtwo.com.
“He brought all the players to the team, apart from maybe a few. Even if we finish sixth or seventh now, he deserves credit because he built this team.
“He didn’t have the luck to carry on.”
The hero that the Foxes forget
Leicester City are currently having the season of their lives. A 5 point lead at the top of the Premier League, with just 13 games to go, is a fantasy that not even the most dedicated Leicester fan would have allowed himself to harbour at the beginning of the season. Claudio Ranieri’s arrival at the club has coincided with this fairy tale run, and regardless of where they stand at the end of the season, he will be remembered as the manager who transformed the Foxes.
It was however the entirety of the year 2015 that was transformational for the Foxes, and not just the 2015-16 campaign. They went from a side that were at the bottom of the table on Christmas, to ending the season in the 14th position. However, Pearson was sacked in the 2015-16 pre-season, following a scandal involving his son and two other Leicester City players.
