Kelechi Iheanacho / Nacho Man

[oxford blue]

This is an article from Jan 18, which is still relevant:

 

https://www.tifofootball.com/features/strange-swift-miserable-decline-kelechi-iheanacho/

 

He is a talented player, but he will need to work hard to fulfil his potential. He gives the impression he does just enough to get by; he needs to put in extra work starting now. Rodgers is well known for his man management and I'm hopeful he (and coaching staff) can help bring out the raw talent he has. As he is less than 2 years in to a  5 year contract, I hope so...

[car1os]

Can Man City please hurry up and buy him back for £50million, just as we all feared they would when we first signed him?  

[volpeazzurro]

1 hour ago, car1os said:

Can Man City please hurry up and buy him back for £50million, just as we all feared they would when we first signed him?  

I'd just be happy with a straight refund under the trade descriptions act, goods not fit for purpose. 

[sylofox]

On 23/03/2019 at 23:10, weller54 said:

I BELIEVE FOR EVERY DROP OF RAIN THAT FALLS A FLOWER GROWS. 

Fecking tree hugger. 

[KingsX]

ESPN weigh in ...    http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/nigeria/657/blog/post/3814759/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-kelechi-iheanacho

 

When Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr left Kelechi Iheanacho out of the Super Eagles squad to play Seychelles and Egypt, there wasn't even the slightest murmurings of dissent. The silence was proof that the striker had not only lost the confidence of his coaches, but that even the fans had slinked away from his side.

 

Rohr proceeded to twist the knife in saying the striker's attitude was a factor in his poor form. "I am not really satisfied with his performance and his professionalism and I told him I needed to try new strikers." This, coming from a coach who a few months earlier, in November 2018, had backed the striker to get over his hump is a more than a scathing assessment.

 

His replacement in the squad, Paul Onuachu, got off to a blinding start with a goal inside 10 seconds against Egypt, and he could well claim the other forward spot at Afcon.

 

Leicester City coach Brendan Rodgers was quick to jump to Iheanacho's defence, insisting the striker just needs to regain confidence in order to return to playing as a No. 9.

 

At first glance, Iheanacho's early numbers with both Manchester City and Nigeria would seem to bear Rodgers out. The 22-year-old scored 10 goals in 41 mostly substitute appearances for Manchester City, then tallied a stunning seven in his first 11 international games.

 

But those numbers have not proved sustainable. He has scored only four goals in 44 appearances since joining Leicester, while adding just one more goal to his Nigeria over the next 14 games. That goal came in the November 2018 friendly against Argentina.

 

Iheanacho played as an advanced midfielder in his Nigeria Under-17 days, scoring from his withdrawn forward position. It was a deployment that allowed him slightly more time on the ball. This covered the weakness of his heavy touch and inability to anticipate the next play, making him essentially a reactive rather than dictating player.

 

Rohr has also played him in the position on occasion, but he has used him more as a lead striker.

 

Neither scenario quite helps the Nigerian's cause at Leicester. For one, the Foxes do not play with two strikers, or a striker and half striker-half midfielder. Instead, they play with one, unleashing the pace of Jamie Vardy on suspecting and unsuspecting defences alike.

 

Iheanacho is not as quick, and does not have the same ruthless eye for goal, which answers the second scenario. Nor is Vardy likely to go anywhere soon, meaning the Nigerian has very little opportunity to wrest the shirt from him.  Sadly, the goals have dried up and, when that happens, the confidence follows in a chicken-and-egg cycle.

 

It is not quite yet the end days of his Leicester career, but next season looks like it could be his final fly-or-flop audition. If Kelechi Iheanacho is to remain a Premier League player thereafter, he has to come good. Last chance saloons don't come any clearer.

[Nick]

7 minutes ago, KingsX said:

ESPN weigh in ...    http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/nigeria/657/blog/post/3814759/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-kelechi-iheanacho

 

When Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr left Kelechi Iheanacho out of the Super Eagles squad to play Seychelles and Egypt, there wasn't even the slightest murmurings of dissent. The silence was proof that the striker had not only lost the confidence of his coaches, but that even the fans had slinked away from his side.

 

Rohr proceeded to twist the knife in saying the striker's attitude was a factor in his poor form. "I am not really satisfied with his performance and his professionalism and I told him I needed to try new strikers." This, coming from a coach who a few months earlier, in November 2018, had backed the striker to get over his hump is a more than a scathing assessment.

 

His replacement in the squad, Paul Onuachu, got off to a blinding start with a goal inside 10 seconds against Egypt, and he could well claim the other forward spot at Afcon.

 

Leicester City coach Brendan Rodgers was quick to jump to Iheanacho's defence, insisting the striker just needs to regain confidence in order to return to playing as a No. 9.

 

At first glance, Iheanacho's early numbers with both Manchester City and Nigeria would seem to bear Rodgers out. The 22-year-old scored 10 goals in 41 mostly substitute appearances for Manchester City, then tallied a stunning seven in his first 11 international games.

 

But those numbers have not proved sustainable. He has scored only four goals in 44 appearances since joining Leicester, while adding just one more goal to his Nigeria over the next 14 games. That goal came in the November 2018 friendly against Argentina.

 

Iheanacho played as an advanced midfielder in his Nigeria Under-17 days, scoring from his withdrawn forward position. It was a deployment that allowed him slightly more time on the ball. This covered the weakness of his heavy touch and inability to anticipate the next play, making him essentially a reactive rather than dictating player.

 

Rohr has also played him in the position on occasion, but he has used him more as a lead striker.

 

Neither scenario quite helps the Nigerian's cause at Leicester. For one, the Foxes do not play with two strikers, or a striker and half striker-half midfielder. Instead, they play with one, unleashing the pace of Jamie Vardy on suspecting and unsuspecting defences alike.

 

Iheanacho is not as quick, and does not have the same ruthless eye for goal, which answers the second scenario. Nor is Vardy likely to go anywhere soon, meaning the Nigerian has very little opportunity to wrest the shirt from him.  Sadly, the goals have dried up and, when that happens, the confidence follows in a chicken-and-egg cycle.

 

It is not quite yet the end days of his Leicester career, but next season looks like it could be his final fly-or-flop audition. If Kelechi Iheanacho is to remain a Premier League player thereafter, he has to come good. Last chance saloons don't come any clearer.

Under Puel I remember him being asked to come on the pitch as a sub and he didn’t have his boots done up and wasn’t prepared - so the substitution was delayed.

 

The commentators on the televised match said how difficult it must be for a manager when players are unprofessional and unprepared.

 

It doesn’t look great for him tbh - I’ve always believed he should be played as a 9 and as a direct sub for Vardy and not as a mid or second striker and certainly not at 10. I hope Brendan can get something from him as if his attitude has not been 100% since BR’s arrival he’ll be gone or in the reserves by September.

 

Hopefully Rodgers will turn him around.

[Countryfox]

21 minutes ago, Swan Lesta said:

 

 

Hopefully Rodgers will turn him around ... 

 

 

 

 

....   point him in the direction of the railway station ...    and give him a shove in that direction ...    

 

 

[coolhandfox]

6 minutes ago, Swan Lesta said:

Under Puel I remember him being asked to come on the pitch as a sub and he didn’t have his boots done up and wasn’t prepared - so the substitution was delayed.

 

The commentators on the televised match said how difficult it must be for a manager when players are unprofessional and unprepared.

 

It doesn’t look great for him tbh - I’ve always believed he should be played as a 9 and as a direct sub for Vardy and not as a mid or second striker and certainly not at 10. I hope Brendan can get something from him as if his attitude has not been 100% since BR’s arrival he’ll be gone or in the reserves by September.

 

Hopefully Rodgers will turn him around.

Never a number 9, or at least at the moment. He's best games for LCFC have been at 10 as a foil for Vardy for me.

 

 A modern day 9 need to be mobile or able to hold it up, as they are generally playing as a single striker.

 

 

 

[Vardinio'sCat]

 

He's spent too much time in the gym for me. He desperately needs an extra yard of pace, even if he is never going to run away from anyone.

 

It's a lot easier to contribute to a well functioning team, so maybe he can start to turn things around. I'm trying to give all the players a fresh chance, and the ones we haven't seen much of have had little chance to respond to the new regime.

[Nick]

22 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Never a number 9, or at least at the moment. He's best games for LCFC have been at 10 as a foil for Vardy for me.

 

 A modern day 9 need to be mobile or able to hold it up, as they are generally playing as a single striker.

 

 

 

He’s nowhere near got the touch to be a 10 imo. We bought him as a 9 then tried to reinvent him / shoe horn him into being a 10 (a position he used to play in that he described as his favourite) which was an error in my opinion.

[KingsX]

The one thing he was ever good at, at this level, was coming on as a late sub and poaching goals against tired defenses.  If BR can force 20 minutes of pressing work rate out of him, that's surely the best chance of resurrecting value from this situation?

 

At 32, Vardy's game is more suited to 70 minutes than 90.  Shinji is leaving.  So a role is opening up which could reward a player who is more reactive than technical.  The creativity that needs to surround Iheanacho -- because so little comes from him -- may be coming on stream with our current lineup and tactics.

 

So I'll propose giving him a run of games.  If he knows in advance he's getting his 20 minutes, he may be able to relax and use his brain.  He'll at least have his boots laced.

 

Good luck Mr Rodgers.  Should you fail, this post will self-destruct and I will disavow all knowledge of it ...

[Countryfox]

15 minutes ago, KingsX said:

The one thing he was ever good at, at this level, was coming on as a late sub and poaching goals against tired defenses.  If BR can force 20 minutes of pressing work rate out of him, that's surely the best chance of resurrecting value from this situation?

 

At 32, Vardy's game is more suited to 70 minutes than 90.  Shinji is leaving.  So a role is opening up which could reward a player who is more reactive than technical.  The creativity that needs to surround Iheanacho -- because so little comes from him -- may be coming on stream with our current lineup and tactics.

 

So I'll propose giving him a run of games.  If he knows in advance he's getting his 20 minutes, he may be able to relax and use his brain.  He'll at least have his boots laced.

 

Good luck Mr Rodgers.  Should you fail, this post will self-destruct and I will disavow all knowledge of it ...

 

Interesting that you make reference to a ‘Mission Impossible’ type quote at the end of your post ...     bout sums it up for me now  ...    

[fox_up_north]

He must know that other clubs and managers are now aware of his attitude and performances. He's a young lad with, potentially, another 12-15 years left at this game. You'd think he'd want to be playing his arse off to show future clubs he's worth giving the big bucks to. At this rate, even the Chinese and Saudi leagues wouldn't take him.

 

My feeling is take the financial hit in summer and get rid. He's had 2 years and his stats are awful. He was given a fair crack at the whip before Christmas this year and scored once - against Huddersfield. Rather see one of the academy players take his place.

[burleighfox]

Largely, he's useless and any confidence he may have had seems to have disappeared. He needed a six month loan in the championship but my guess is that his attitude may have dictated whether or not that happened. It's a shame because he had/has a lot of time on his side so it wasn't a ridiculous gamble but the statistics don't lie; we can't carry a bloke with such an appalling return and seeing the lack of effort we get in from him for me means he's destined for the scrapheap. Will anyone want to take him off of us though? 

[shailen]

Mentioned this in the match thread but was genuinely shocked that the team were just blatantly ignoring him. Made so many good runs and could have been through a couple of times but was just ignored

 

This imo is a massive problem if there was anything intentional in this and surely something Brendan would not stand for.

[danny2997]

2 minutes ago, shailen said:

Mentioned this in the match thread but was genuinely shocked that the team were just blatantly ignoring him. Made so many good runs and could have been through a couple of times but was just ignored

 

This imo is a massive problem if there was anything intentional in this and surely something Brendan would not stand for.

Spot on mate, can't really criticise the lad when he's getting into good positions and getting ignored. Reminds me of Vardy for England, getting ignored by the Tottenham lads. 

[Bezzanator89]

Very sad by the reaction he got when coming on, which was certainly contrasted by Marc Albrighton's reception. Major confidence boost in the summer needed, otherwise it's going to be it for Nacho. When the players miss/ignore his runs like they did, you know he is in serious trouble.

[shailen]

4 minutes ago, danny2997 said:

Spot on mate, can't really criticise the lad when he's getting into good positions and getting ignored. Reminds me of Vardy for England, getting ignored by the Tottenham lads. 

I'm not sure he even touched the ball after he came on unless I'm mistaken. The criticism he gets sometimes is unjust. 

[hejammy]

1 minute ago, shailen said:

I'm not sure he even touched the ball after he came on unless I'm mistaken. The criticism he gets sometimes is unjust. 

I'm sorry but he made no effort when the ball was pumped up towards him, his team having no confidence in him says a lot, he really shouldn't be playing another game for Leicester again unless he goes out on loan next season and gets his confidence/ability/effort back. 

[breadandcheesebrother]

Had a header

[danny2997]

4 minutes ago, Bezzanator89 said:

Very sad by the reaction he got when coming on, which was certainly contrasted by Marc Albrighton's reception. Major confidence boost in the summer needed, otherwise it's going to be it for Nacho. When the players miss/ignore his runs like they did, you know he is in serious trouble.

Same as with Ghezzal, don't really understand what it achieves to be honest. What possible benefit does booing your own team's player get you? Best case scenario is nothing happens, worst case the player loses more confidence and contributes even less to the team, nothing positive.

 

2 minutes ago, shailen said:

I'm not sure he even touched the ball after he came on unless I'm mistaken. The criticism he gets sometimes is unjust. 

I recall he had possession at one point and kept it from someone but ultimately ran into trouble. Not many options available for him at the time.

[weller54]

5 minutes ago, breadandcheesebrother said:

Had a header

Positive progression... 

It wasn't a clearance header in the opponent's box!!! 

[shailen]

9 minutes ago, hejammy said:

I'm sorry but he made no effort when the ball was pumped up towards him, his team having no confidence in him says a lot, he really shouldn't be playing another game for Leicester again unless he goes out on loan next season and gets his confidence/ability/effort back. 

He hasn't been great this season but why boo a player when he is just coming on. Fair enough if we boo the team once the game is over but for 90 minutes there has to only be support for the 11 men in blue on that pitch. 

 

If nacho had missed the chance Vardy did then everyone would have gone crazy. For me he's not had enough of a chance this season.

[KrefelderFox666]

14 minutes ago, breadandcheesebrother said:

Had a header

His first touch was offside I think, about 10 mins after coming on. Had another offside.

 

He did make some good runs off the ball and a couple of times could have had the ball threaded through to him.

[Lambert09]

23 minutes ago, danny2997 said:

Spot on mate, can't really criticise the lad when he's getting into good positions and getting ignored. Reminds me of Vardy for England, getting ignored by the Tottenham lads. 

I also mentioned this post match. Exactly what I was thinking when I watched the game.  The moment when YT decided to turn and play the ball back to a defender when he was wide open straight in front of him made me cringe for the guy.