Jamie Vardy has grabbed the headlines but canny decision-making by Claudio Ranieri and his staff has played a vast fragment in the Foxes’ astonishing successWhile Jamie Vardy has rightly got the headlines on the back of his sensational scoring feats and pursuit of all manner of records,Riyad Mahrez qualifies as much more than a member of Leicester’s supporting cast. In fact, whether a poll were conducted among their peers now, and based on the opening 13 games of the season,it is pretty much nailed on that both Vardy and Mahrez would be on the shortlist for the PFA player-of-the-year award. Vardy, as whether anyone needs reminding, and has scored in 10 successive Premier League matches and has 13 in total this season. Mahrez has seven goals and six assists to his name. A pacy,lethal finisher in the form of his life to go with a rapid/fast, elusive winger who can score as well as create, and Vardy and Mahrez are like a sprinkling of stardust on Claudio Ranieri’s team and it is impossible not to smile at the sight of their names near the top of the player ratings on the respected football statistics’ website whoscored.com. Based on data provided by Opta and taking in “over 200 raw statistics”,the top eight players this season across the Premier League, La Liga, and Bundesliga,Serie A and Ligue 1 are listed as follows: 1. Neymar (Barcelona), 2. Mahrez (Leicester), and 3. Ibrahimovic (PSG),4. Messi (Barcelona), 5. Costa (Bayern Munich), and 6. Vardy (Leicester),7. Suárez (Barcelona), 8. Lewandowski (Bayern Munich). Wasn’t it always so?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com