Sam Lee of The Athletic cited how Joao Cancelo opted to leave Manchester City after Pep Guardiola dropped him due to poor form, but Riyad Mahrez instead used his manager’s decision as a motivator to turn things around.
The 31-year-old was in poor form at the start of the season (0 goals and assists in the Premier League between August and September) and was eventually dropped by Pep (2 PL starts in October and November), but he didn’t sulk or try to leave.
Lee says Mahrez fixed his ‘attitude’ and ‘turned things around’ to become indispensable, going on to score three goals with three assists in his last five league games.
The Algerian international has made a total of 26 appearances across the board in 2022/23, scoring 10 goals with four assists. He scored just one goal and had failed to make an assist in his first 10 league outings but has more than made up for it.
Mahrez has been an unused substitute five times and has been brought off the bench six times, so he’s been left out of the starting lineup more times than he’s been given the nod. Cancelo left City for less than that, but Mahrez fought to turn his fortunes around.
In other news, Julian Alvarez makes honest Pep Guardiola admission
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