Bristol City assistant head coach Chris Hogg has pointed to former Barcelona great Lionel Messi while discussing Anis Mehmeti, as the 23-year-old looks to take his game to the “next level” at Ashton Gate.
The Albanian international has been one of the Robins’ most dangerous players so far this season and currently tops the scoring charts at Ashton Gate with six goals in just 12 starts after his quickfire double against Plymouth Argyle.
Mehmeti has previously admitted he is looking to add a greater level of consistency to his game, with Reds boss Liam Manning also challenging the winger to maintain his high-performance level over a sustained period of time following the win over Wayne Rooney’s side.
Although Hogg believes only the greatest players in the world, like Inter Miami star Messi, are capable of performing at their best week in and week out, the Reds assistant coach believes Mehmeti’s in-game problem-solving will help him shine more often than not in City colours.
“I think you look at every level, it’s quite hard to be at your optimal every game,” Hogg admitted in his pre-match press conference. “You have your unique ones like Lionel Messi who can run a game and do that but I think you’ve got 11 other players from the opposition who are well coached, well drilled, well conditioned and may have different physical capabilities to you.
“Someone might be bigger or stronger, quicker, or more agile. Whatever it is, it comes down to the problem-solving in game of putting yourself in good positions and testing people in various ways to see where you can get success. That’s the challenge for us all really. It’s the same as staff, we try and look at the opposition and go over where we can hurt them and how we can give the best information to the players.
“It’s the same on an individual level for the players really, can you test them in various ways early to figure out where you can get success? Sometimes it’s really tough because he’s up against good players and at the weekend I thought he did a good job at finding the right space and made the right decision on the football in terms of being direct at times and getting at people.
“Sometimes it’s team quality, sometimes it’s that individual quality you’re up against so it’s difficult for attacking players because defending is an art and there are a lot of good defenders in the league.”
In his first season under the management of Manning and Hogg, Mehmeti started just 21 games in the Championship and despite showing flashes of just how good he could be with goals against both Leicester City and Ipswich Town, he struggled to hold down a consistent place in the Bristol City starting line-up.
But since the start of November, the 23-year-old has made himself all but undroppable with goals against Sheffield United, Norwich City and Argyle either side of the international break. Although the former Wycombe Wanderers’ winger wasn’t quite as impactful in the final third against both Burnley and Watford, he caused both promotion-chasing sides plenty of problems with his quick feet and dribbling ability.
While Hogg admitted he was “delighted” to see the Albanian international’s work ethic payoff against the Pilgrims at Ashton Gate, he insists he and the rest of Manning’s coaching team have a big role to play to help Mehmeti reach the “next level”.
“Whether he’s had good performances or not-so-good performances, he’s been an absolute pleasure to work with,” said the City assistant head coach. “He epitomises somebody who sacrifices his life for football. He lives and breathes it, works hard every day, does his extras, is constantly talking football and he’s got a pure love for the game.
“He’s a beautiful human being, great to work with and I’m really delighted for him to have the impact that he had at the weekend because you look at him every day in training and he takes chances, scores goals is creative and sometimes that hasn’t translated into a Saturday or Tuesday night performance.
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“He’s a real threat and I’m delighted for him that some of his hard work has come to fruition the other day. Him going direct at speed is different to Anis when he’s going slower with more touches so it’s about encouraging him really around how he takes himself to the next level.”
City’s busy build-up to the festive period continues with a trip to Fratton Park to face John Mousinho’s Portsmouth side on Saturday afternoon. Pompey have only managed to win two of their opening 16 games in the second tier and currently sit bottom of the table.
Although the Reds will be heading into this weekend’s game as favourites, Hogg insists that Portsmouth’s difficult start to the season won’t impact the Robins’ preparations.
“The one thing you learn throughout the years is there are no easy games,” said the 39-year-old. “There are no games where you can go into them and know what’s going to happen. They’re going to be well coached and well drilled, fighting for their lives to get points and we’ll be the same in terms of going there and scrapping and fighting to get the three points.
“So we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a challenge and a battle. No matter what in the Championship, you see the results every weekend and it’s such a competitive league. We’re not allowed to bet and I’m not a betting man but whoever does bet on it, fair play because you just can’t tell every week.”