No more international breaks… We’re using this one to take advantage of our recent losses and share our thoughts on how Leicester City’s season has been going, starting with David Bevan’s thoughts on Stephy Mavididi.
Since James Knight questioned the team’s abilities after 13 wins out of 14 games, we haven’t been able to win. So now I’m asking, is Stephy Mavididi any good?
In the TFW WhatsApp group, I’m known for not rating Mavididi. Let me clarify, Mavididi’s performance is not what I expected from a right-footed left winger in a Leicester City shirt. But that was Harvey Barnes – a £40million Premier League player – which is obviously an unfair comparison.
Also, Mavididi’s performance and the praise from fans haven’t aligned much. But that’s not his fault, and it’s good for creating a positive atmosphere. Even Mavididi playing up to it with the edited Lamborghini logo is something that should be encouraged to help the connection between players and fans.
I’ll add a third point – Leicester’s acquisition of wide players in the past few years has been subpar. This means we’ve had to start from scratch after selling our star winger, while other teams had players available from the start.
Even though I want Mavididi to succeed, because he seems likable, he needs to start producing more.
Alarm bells rang as early as Mavididi’s debut against Coventry when his attempts to take on his marker failed. And now, I haven’t felt excitement when Mavididi has the ball. I never really sense that a goal is coming, and the stats back that up.
For a 25-year-old attacker in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues, Mavididi’s output has been pretty poor so far in terms of goals and assists. And it’s not helping that the other wide player, Abdul Fatawu, also has low numbers. But Fatawu is 19 and playing in his first full season at the senior level, unlike Mavididi.
The question is how much Mavididi’s lack of productivity is due to the coach’s instructions. Matt Piper mentioned two aspects of this – that Mavididi stands off his marker to receive possession and that we don’t get enough bodies in the box for the cross. So, there’s definitely room for improvement as we continue through this season.
