Riyad Mahrez has been at the heart of discussions for many months now. On the downward slope, the captain of the Greens has, however, perhaps not said his last word.
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This is the lot of all superstars: when it comes to Mahrez (33), everything is scrutinized, everything is analyzed and over-analyzed, and everything is the subject of the most extreme emotions. At least in the top 3 of the greatest players in the history of the National Team, the 2019 African champion must therefore meet the expectations inherent to his status.
Because we govern in reality and we must start from the right diagnosis to apply the right remedy, there is a basic postulate necessary for this article: yes, Riyad Mahrez is no longer who he was 4 years agoand yes, he is, at the moment, not in sufficient physical shape to allow him to make him an indisputable starter in his usual position of right winger, as evidenced by his clearly failed match against in Togo yesterday. However, it seems thatthere is possibly something to do with himand this for multiple reasons.
A different positioning could bring out the quintessence
If he no longer hits or dribbles, Riyad Mahrez has not lost what made him famous: a left leg with incredible precision. Always excellent on set pieces, always capable of the right cross, the right pass or the right shift, Al Ahli number 7 keeps a view well above average and, therefore, can always render proud services to the EN. The pass he delivers for Baghdad Bounedjah, who thus obtains a penalty, demonstrates this.
Many wingers, moreover, have undergone repositioning as their age advanced or their style lent itself to other roles. Some have become center forwards (Cristiano Ronaldo), others number 10 (Dimitri Payet), others still relay midfielders etc… In the context of Riyad Mahrez, it is clearly that of a mobile number 10, capable of going on the wing and de-zoning if necessary, which would give him back his superb, particularly in that he would take away a lot of effort and defensive tasks from him.
The main problem with this option, beyond a possible need for adaptation time for the captain, is thatshe would then deprive Houssem Aouar of an assigned position. The ex-Lyon player is however in superb form in the selection, where he has a string of goals and good performances, and it is difficult to justify putting him on the bench.
Installing Riyad Mahrez elsewhere means promoting others in his place
If such a positioning of the captain would not be without consequences on the tactical plan of the National Team (4-2-3-1? 3-5-2? There are many options, there are also many hypotheses), it would make it possible to install other people who, for the moment, suffer from the indisputable status of Riyad Mahrez, who has proven too much to be benchedwhich had been criticized against Djamel Belmadi during the previous African Cup of Nations. This observation also applies to Al Ahli, who began to use (sparingly) their number 7 in the axis.
In the case of maintaining the right winger position, we are obviously thinking of Badreddine Bouanani, 19 years old and clearly the future of the selection for this position. He has always been interesting with Algeria, and he is clearly starting to settle in at Nice despite a certain lack of statistics at the moment. If not him, it will perhaps be Anis Hadj-Moussa (22 years old), who is having a difficult few months in the Eredivisie but is very appreciated by Vladimir Petkovic. With the exception of these two names, and apart from the cases of Rafik Guitane and Bachir Belloumi who were not called up, we can also envisage that Yassine Benzia starts in the return match against Togo and regularly swaps positions with Riyad Mahrez, both being capable of playing as a number 10 or right winger.
It should also be noted that if Mahrez remains a right winger in a 4-2-3-1, it is the player alongside him who will make all the difference. Against Togo, Zorgan failed to relieve the Al Ahli player of the necessary fallback in his position, while Boudaoui compensated much better for Mahrez’s weak runs.
If he remains a right winger, it will therefore also be necessary to develop the midfielder.
Diversifying possibilities means enriching the Greens’ tactical palette
Third scenario: Mahrez is repositioned in the axis, in a very free role, but he does not call into question the passage to 3 of the defense of the National Team which, ordinarily, can force one to deprive oneself of wingers or pistons. In this scenario, Algeria could play in a 3-4-2-1 capable of transforming into 3-2-5 in the offensive phase, as installed by Igor Tudor in Marseille.
If such an option were chosen by Vladimir Petkovic, it would allow for very varied profiles behind the leading attacker, who would possibly be more fixed (Bounedjah) or mobile (Gouiri) depending on the need to move a low block. Alongside Mahrez, we would find for example Mohamed Amine Amoura, free to take his left wing and Mahrez his right wing if necessary; we could consider Yassine Benzia, also capable of varying tones; we could even imagine an ultra offensive trio Gouiri – Mahrez – Bounedjah but which would be difficult to align in the long term against teams of superior quality. Finally, it is obviously not appropriate to sideline Aouar for the same reasons as mentioned above: he is always good in selection. Brief, there is no shortage of options but the idea of a repositioning of Riyad Mahrez has many followers.
The last hypothesis will not fail to provoke an internal reaction: waking up Riyad Mahrez is possibly shaking him, poking him, putting him to the test, and therefore sending him to the sidelines. If he came out of retirement to lose his place, the 2019 African champion will perhaps be tempted, with the 2026 World Cup in the back of his mind, to work harder and
remember that it is perhaps not quite finished for very high level football.
DZfoot
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