Derby County boss Paul Warne has just revealed the reason why winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is just ‘perfect’.
Derby are enjoying an excellent season in League One as they enter the final nine games inside the automatic promotion places.
The Rams find themselves above third-place Bolton Wanderers by a point, who they play next Saturday.
While that fixture is arguably their biggest of the season, they must come through their clash against Reading tonight unscathed.
Reading beat them 1-0 in the reverse fixture and Paul Warne is now seeking revenge for his side.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Derby boss has dropped praise for star winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
The 31-year-old has been in devastating form this term, scoring nine goals and breaking the record for most assists in a single season (15) since records began 28 years ago.
Alongside top scorer James Collins, Mendez-Laing has single-handedly dragged Derby towards promotion and Warne has now reserved some huge praise for the winger.
Paul Warne describes Nathaniel Mendez-Laing as ‘perfect’
The term perfect is rarely attributed to anyone, not even the best players on the planet.
Many believe that it’s impossible to become perfect at something, although, during their period at the top, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi came closer than anyone to achieving perfection.
Despite this, Warne has described Derby’s Mendez-Laing as ‘perfect’ and while that seems a far-fetched term for someone plying their trade in League One, he has explained why he believes that.
“He’s perfect in his life, like when you look at him, if you got his locker it’ll be immaculate,” Warne told Derby’s official website. “He’s always immaculate, it sounds a bit weird but he always seems perfectly moisturised. Everything about him is bang on point all the time so he struggles, he gets frustrated when things don’t go his way.”
“So as a player, he’s easy to manage when things are going his way. If things aren’t going his way, he gets frustrated. I’m not saying he’s hard to manage because he isn’t, but in the moment he gets himself in a state. But then all the top players do, if you’ve seen De Bruyne come off the pitch yesterday, you can see he’s like raging.”
Mendez-Laing is having a near-perfect season
Mendez-Laing’s importance to Derby shouldn’t be understated.
He’s one of few players in the squad who can produce a moment of magic from nothing and the Rams have benefitted from that on numerous occasions this term.
When he picks up the ball in the left or right channel, the £5k-a-week star raises bums off seats as you get the feeling he’s going to make something happen.
He’s also backed up that excitement by delivering on the pitch with an impressive 24-goal contributions in all competitions.
Indeed, no one can mirror the level of impact he’s made this season in League One, underscoring his value as an unbelievable talent.