Kelechi Iheanacho

[sacreblueits442]

15 minutes ago, shailen said:

He is a very good technical footballer but he's a different striker to Vardy. He like to drop deep and link play and use his strength to turn defenders. I think he compliments Vardy really well as he likes to drop deep and Vardy likes going the other way. 

....I remember being excited when Nacho came to the club, to play alongside Vardy!!!

It seemed the two would compliment each other and we would be potent upfront. What with Nachos'  injuries and Vardys' success as a Lone Striker, it just did not happen and I can't see Rodgers switching to a two upfront.

[Tom12345]

41 minutes ago, shailen said:

He is a very good technical footballer but he's a different striker to Vardy. He like to drop deep and link play and use his strength to turn defenders. I think he compliments Vardy really well as he likes to drop deep and Vardy likes going the other way. 

Quite right. What about that pass he made while holding and being fouled by a defender as he was falling down. That created a potential one on one for Barnes though the ref blew his whistle (should have played advantage). 

[Nicolo Barella]

I'm very glad that Iheanacho has stepped up for us again. He's got a very difficult role. When Vardy has an off day these days, we usually gloss over it, but Iheanacho is much more heavily scrutinised. I'm confident if Vardy was ever out for an extended period of time Kelechi would play himself into some impressive form.

[Guy]

I get the feeling with Kelechi that he'd be ok as a lone striker against the lower table teams and when deputising for Vardy (like versus Fulham earlier and in the cup games plus against lesser opposition so far in Europe) but would struggle against the better sides in the league. May be I'm quoting the bleeding obvious there. I guess he needs to be a regular starter from now on where possible so he can be judged more fairly/consistently...as he is still fairly young really in general terms despite being here for three and a half years already as a Shakespeare signing of course! 

Edited 4 February 2021 by Guy

[baldeagle]

I also think it helped him massively having Maddison play behind him in his favourite position  as a 10 . It meant he’s not so isolated some of the link up was great and it’s no coincidence that Maddison had looked very good the last few games in his favoured position instead on playing deeper or out wide 

[Dahnsouff]

The guy is an enigma, runs on confidence, when he is on it, he is a good rotation option for Vardy, but blimey

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

Lets also recognise that yesterday's performance was also in the context of his left attacker Barnes going pretty AWOL. So all in all I think Kel did a good job.

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Marshall Cockney Fox said:

Lets also recognise that yesterday's performance was also in the context of his left attacker Barnes going pretty AWOL. So all in all I think Kel did a good job.

Yes, Barnes strangely absent, but suppose that is a relfection of how "on it" he has been in recent games

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, Marshall Cockney Fox said:

Lets also recognise that yesterday's performance was also in the context of his left attacker Barnes going pretty AWOL. So all in all I think Kel did a good job.

Barnes was poor yesterday, I was watching him closely and I don't think it helped how sloppy Justin was in obsession in the 1st half. His goal aside which was phenomenal play, Justin barely managed a successful pass in to Barnes and it seemed to give him the perfect opportunity to go AWOL for the game.

 

Glad they brought him off, he's played a lot of football and I'd even consider giving him a rest vs Wolves and start Ünder.

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

4 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Barnes was poor yesterday, I was watching him closely and I don't think it helped how sloppy Justin was in obsession in the 1st half. His goal aside which was phenomenal play, Justin barely managed a successful pass in to Barnes and it seemed to give him the perfect opportunity to go AWOL for the game.

 

Glad they brought him off, he's played a lot of football and I'd even consider giving him a rest vs Wolves and start Ünder.

I agree. There was a close up shot of Barnes early game after he'd lost possession. I remember thinking his body language looked a bit off. I expect he is fairly knackered as he's on the higher end of team appearances this season 

 

[David Hankey]

Credit where credit is due. Nacho's goal and touches were excellent last night. He deserves a start against Wolves.

[Grebfromgrebland]

How the turntables

[whoareyaaa]

He was unlucky against Palace should never have took the peno in the first place and he missed a sitter from a yard out but that happens as strikers, Vardy missed loads of chance in his last few but the games were won so it doesn't really get mentioned.

 

Great performance, really would like to see him get a proper run of games.

 

He is definetly much more of a threat than Perez up top and gives us another dimension against the oppostion as they don't know what to expect. (nor do we at times) gotta start against Wolves

[CosbehFox]

You can normally tell if he's going to have a good game within the first ten minutes of him playing. If he starts well, he plays well. If his confidence is low, he's terrible 

 

Part of me does wonder though what he'd be like at a club what can give him an assurance that he's their main lead striker. Obvs that ain't happening here any time soon. 

[CosbehFox]

4 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

He was unlucky against Palace should never have took the peno in the first place and he missed a sitter from a yard out but that happens as strikers,

There's a video of Perez, Wilf and Fuchs in lockdown on a video call where if they say Kelechi is the best penalty taker at the club!

[Kevin Russell]

11 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

I would say my lead point is that he has impact to be honest. 

You analysed an MOTM performance and your opening comment was ‘lots of really poor stuff’ it reads as a backhanded compliment at best - I see you trying to emphasise the negatives from a very strong individual performance.

 

Kel has had to wait, he’s been hooked/dropped whilst playing well, meanwhile Perez has been backed to hilt, when contributing very little (at times).

 

I’m not saying Kel is superb and I suspect his time with us is coming to an end. At various points he has driven me mad.

 

However, I saw a change in him last season and I feel that he has definitely earned the right to play upfront if Vardy is absent. I felt the whole ‘false 9’ experiment was damaging to the side and we’d have been better to give Kel a run of games!

[ARM1968]

He’s a decent striker. Strikers thrive on confidence. Confidence only really comes from a run of games. 

[whoareyaaa]

11 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

There's a video of Perez, Wilf and Fuchs in lockdown on a video call where if they say Kelechi is the best penalty taker at the club!

I've never liked a left footed peno taker alway's seem to miss

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

He was given his opportunity and he took it, he had a good game, he’s a better option than Perez that’s for sure.

[Lesta2014]

His main issue for me is there is no middle ground with him. He’s either very good or awful, misses a couple of chances early on and he’s done for the game, scored one early like last night and he’s set up for a good game! 
 

consistency in his game and he’d be a good player, granted it’s hard to achieve that when not a regular starter. 

[Reg Vardy]

if Vardy scores that goal everybody would be saying how brilliant it was.......not many people are.....it was a brilliant cross, and the header to match.......

[ferry67]

6 hours ago, Reg Vardy said:

if Vardy scores that goal everybody would be saying how brilliant it was.......not many people are.....it was a brilliant cross, and the header to match.......

I don’t think his header should be underestimated, it wasn’t easy at all, but he made look a piece of cake

[Stadt]

Far too many of our fans acted like he puts in a Palace type performance every time he steps onto the pitch.

 

He’s played thirty four 90s for us in the league and has 10 goals and 9 assists. I don’t think he’s ever going to excel as a lone striker but he’s not actually played that much football in the league for us.

Edited 4 February 2021 by Stadt

[Guy]

10 hours ago, Marshall Cockney Fox said:

I agree. There was a close up shot of Barnes early game after he'd lost possession. I remember thinking his body language looked a bit off. I expect he is fairly knackered as he's on the higher end of team appearances this season 

 

Yes, especially with playing in that role twice a week at the moment. I know in times gone by most teams did play a lot of games over a season not so long ago (cup replays galore, two legged games in the league cup = some on top of European commitments) but the pace of football is far more intense these days and the game has moved on since the 70s, 80s and even 90s - whereby players have to be athletes now as much as they do footballers! That's why teams have larger squads now and so can rely on rotation and Barnes might be due a rest soon..... 

[fox_up_north]

I will applaud him and there is a player in there but I don't think he suits this particular system. I will admit that he's not been given a consistent run and that is a massive knock to his development. If I were him, I'd definitely want out. In any other club he'd have been first choice or almost first choice for at least half a season to see what he can do. For god's sake, even Christian Benteke has double the minutes this season. 

For me, he's an odd striker and doesn't suit our system. He should be given a good, solid run of 6-8 starts and see what he can do with a proper system around him. If he manages 5 goals or so then fair play.