Iheanacho

[NasPb]

Iheanacho could be our star if Rodgers allowed him to blossom. Feel horrible for the lad

[CrispinLA in Texas]

7 minutes ago, NasPb said:

Iheanacho could be our star if Rodgers allowed him to blossom. Feel horrible for the lad

He just needs a great thinking manager and coaches to help/guide him develop and sort out any issues in his play.

All this stop start playing time doesn't really help any player build up momentum.

Also other players aswell who seem to be left out in the fringe 

Edited 24 August 2022 by CrispinLA in Texas

[Silebyfox_89]

Can we lock this thread unless there's a credible link to a transfer? 

[Mike Oxlong]

Loved it when he dedicated a goal to all the mothers in the world. To the best of my knowledge Rooney never had the decency to dedicate any of his goals to all the grannys in the world 

[Leeds Fox]

I want Nacho to play and score… purely for his post match interviews.

 

Cannot help but love the bloke! 

[CosbehFox]

3 hours ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

He just needs a great thinking manager and coaches to help/guide him develop and sort out any issues in his play.

All this stop start playing time doesn't really help any player build up momentum.

Also other players aswell who seem to be left out in the fringe 

He had the best in the business managing him at its highest development age tbf 

Edited 24 August 2022 by Cardiff_Fox

[wignalll2007]

[moore_94]

Leeds asked about him on deadline day

 

 

[cruzFOX]

The nacho man is gonna save the day again IF Rogers plays him consistently.

time to drop Vardy for a while and play nacho and daka on a regular basis.

vardy needs more Red Bull or something he’s off the boil. Needs to find his mojo again. Nothing to do with age he’s smart enough to play another way. Heck if lowendowski can keep banging in goals at his age so can Vardy. Just needs to stay sharp 

[Fox forever]

 

[Clever Fox]

I thought he was Brilliant on Saturday against Spurs. He's added so much to his game since his last run in the Team.

His control and passing is so much better and he's playing with a lot more confidence. When you add that to his positioning

and goal scoring he's going to be in demand if we don't play him regularly.  

I think he's proven that he's the better option currently ahead of Daka. Daka needs further development before he reaches his full potential.

[NewquayFox]

Currently the only player we have who is capable of playing as a lone striker, hoping he keeps scoring and getting assists and continues in this rich vein of form… 

[st albans fox]

23 hours ago, NewquayFox said:

Currently the only player we have who is capable of playing as a lone striker, hoping he keeps scoring and getting assists and continues in this rich vein of form… 

Which is strange because he used.to be the only player we had who couldn’t play lone striker …..

 

 

[MPH]

23 hours ago, NewquayFox said:

Currently the only player we have who is capable of playing as a lone striker, hoping he keeps scoring and getting assists and continues in this rich vein of form… 

 

6 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Which is strange because he used.to be the only player we had who couldn’t play lone striker …..

 

 

 

it truly is a remarkable turn around. Much respect to him for adapting his game. And credit must go to whoever has been training and coaching him into the role!

[st albans fox]

31 minutes ago, MPH said:

 

 

it truly is a remarkable turn around. Much respect to him for adapting his game. And credit must go to whoever has been training and coaching him into the role!

Let’s see him up against Martinez on Sunday before celebrating the change ….. he’s the kind of no nonsense physical player kel dislikes 

 

but i see the change in his game being he doesn’t feel he needs to play on the last man all the time like vards does. 

[MPH]

1 hour ago, st albans fox said:

Let’s see him up against Martinez on Sunday before celebrating the change ….. he’s the kind of no nonsense physical player kel dislikes 

 

but i see the change in his game being he doesn’t feel he needs to play on the last man all the time like vards does. 

 He can stick to Nacho whilst Barnes and Tete whip passed him 

[Finnegan]

On 15/02/2023 at 18:18, NewquayFox said:

Currently the only player we have who is capable of playing as a lone striker, hoping he keeps scoring and getting assists and continues in this rich vein of form… 

 

15 hours ago, st albans fox said:

Which is strange because he used.to be the only player we had who couldn’t play lone striker …..

 

 

 

15 hours ago, MPH said:

 

 

it truly is a remarkable turn around. Much respect to him for adapting his game. And credit must go to whoever has been training and coaching him into the role!

 

At the risk of boring everyone with the same essay for the Nth time, he hasn't changed. Looks a bit more confident maybe last couple of weeks but that's it. 

 

He's not been coached in to the role, he's not adapted his game, he's not really doing anything vastly different to what he's done his whole time here. 

 

The difference isn't Iheanacho, the difference is the personnel around him and the shape we're playing. For the first time since he's been here he's got a "formation" around him that makes sense. 

 

I'm pretty confident that if you go back to one of his first ever interviews after joining, he describes himself as a 10. I'm sure I remember that. Right from the start. He likes to drop in towards the ball, yes he will break the lines off the last shoulder sometimes but it's not his strength. He'll drop right in to the midfield to the 8 or even wide channels at times to go looking for link up play. He's always done that. 

 

But if that's going to be effective he needs runners to go beyond him vertically, whether in the wide channels or overlapping through the middle, to make it work. Equally, any striker - literally any striker - just needs bodies around them to begin with. Any player on a football pitch does. 

 

I said in another thread recently, there's no such thing as a lone striker. Or, there shouldn't be in a properly functional team. No striker is "alone" because its a team sport and you should always have support in an effective attack. "Lone" just refers to there being one conventional central striker but that player should have multiple others in support, wide forwards, traditional wingers, attacking midfielders, marauding full backs, whoever. They should have link ups, passing options. 

 

Almost no footballer in 2023 really knows an old school 442 as their "default." It's a throwback. The idea of strike partners is a "throwback." The idea that ANY of our strikers can't play as a "lone striker" is completely and totally moronic. 

 

All three can play as the single central forward or in a two or in a three, they just need adequate supply and support around them from other players regardless of what they're doing. Over the last 18 months we've been awful at this. We don't get anywhere near the bodies forward, we don't create chances, our strikers have suffered. 

 

The last two games we've had two good wingers, the full backs have been allowed to get further up again and support, we've had Madders back in a central role and we've had solid balance in the side. Of course Iheanacho is thriving under those conditions, he's a good player. He was always a good player and critically he was always a good playmaker. He's always dropped behind and looked to play good through balls for runners beyond him, it's why he linked up well with Vardy to begin with and how this myth of him not being a good "lone" player began.

 

Because when Vardy wasn't running beyond him and stretching the game vertically nobody really was. Where as now Barnes, Tete/Praet and even Madders will do that. 

 

Iheanacho hasn't changed. The context has. 

 

Edited 17 February 2023 by Finnegan

[coalvillefox]

The difference for me is that we are now playing to his strengths, come short, get the ball, lay it off or turn and head towards goal. Previously, because we had Vardy running in behind at every opportunity we wanted a like for like replacement, hence the reason we went for Daka, and we have perservered with that tactic until recently, with mixed results. The penny has finally dropped for BR and he has realised that Iheanacho can be equally as effective if we change our style slightly to accomodate him, we did change and have scored 8 goals in 2 games as a result. Long may it continue.

[Finnegan]

15 minutes ago, coalvillefox said:

The difference for me is that we are now playing to his strengths, come short, get the ball, lay it off or turn and head towards goal. Previously, because we had Vardy running in behind at every opportunity we wanted a like for like replacement, hence the reason we went for Daka, and we have perservered with that tactic until recently, with mixed results. The penny has finally dropped for BR and he has realised that Iheanacho can be equally as effective if we change our style slightly to accomodate him, we did change and have scored 8 goals in 2 games as a result. Long may it continue.

 

Some of my most maddening moments as a Leicester fan over the last year have been watching us spend 60 minutes constantly playing it short in to Daka's feet watching him try and do hold up play instead of playing to his strengths and putting it behind the defence. 

 

Then bringing Iheanacho on for the end of the game and immediately starting to blast it in to the channels for him to try and chase and getting outpaced by defenders

 

I haven't been that frustrated as a Leicester fan since we used to sub Albrighton off at the same time as bringing Slimani on or visa versa. Like HELLO???? 

[MPH]

6 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

 

 

At the risk of boring everyone with the same essay for the Nth time, he hasn't changed. Looks a bit more confident maybe last couple of weeks but that's it. 

 

He's not been coached in to the role, he's not adapted his game, he's not really doing anything vastly different to what he's done his whole time here. 

 

The difference isn't Iheanacho, the difference is the personnel around him and the shape we're playing. For the first time since he's been here he's got a "formation" around him that makes sense. 

 

I'm pretty confident that if you go back to one of his first ever interviews after joining, he describes himself as a 10. I'm sure I remember that. Right from the start. He likes to drop in towards the ball, yes he will break the lines off the last shoulder sometimes but it's not his strength. He'll drop right in to the midfield to the 8 or even wide channels at times to go looking for link up play. He's always done that. 

 

But if that's going to be effective he needs runners to go beyond him vertically, whether in the wide channels or overlapping through the middle, to make it work. Equally, any striker - literally any striker - just needs bodies around them to begin with. Any player on a football pitch does. 

 

I said in another thread recently, there's no such thing as a lone striker. Or, there shouldn't be in a properly functional team. No striker is "alone" because its a team sport and you should always have support in an effective attack. "Lone" just refers to there being one conventional central striker but that player should have multiple others in support, wide forwards, traditional wingers, attacking midfielders, marauding full backs, whoever. They should have link ups, passing options. 

 

Almost no footballer in 2023 really knows an old school 442 as their "default." It's a throwback. The idea of strike partners is a "throwback." The idea that ANY of our strikers can't play as a "lone striker" is completely and totally moronic. 

 

All three can play as the single central forward or in a two or in a three, they just need adequate supply and support around them from other players regardless of what they're doing. Over the last 18 months we've been awful at this. We don't get anywhere near the bodies forward, we don't create chances, our strikers have suffered. 

 

The last two games we've had two good wingers, the full backs have been allowed to get further up again and support, we've had Madders back in a central role and we've had solid balance in the side. Of course Iheanacho is thriving under those conditions, he's a good player. He was always a good player and critically he was always a good playmaker. He's always dropped behind and looked to play good through balls for runners beyond him, it's why he linked up well with Vardy to begin with and how this myth of him not being a good "lone" player began.

 

Because when Vardy wasn't running beyond him and stretching the game vertically nobody really was. Where as now Barnes, Tete/Praet and even Madders will do that. 

 

Iheanacho hasn't changed. The context has. 

 

 

Would it be better to say that he’s able to adapt more easily to the role now?

 

 

he certainly seems to have been able to adjust more playing as a loan striker than before 

[Steve Earle]

26 minutes ago, MPH said:

 

Would it be better to say that he’s able to adapt more easily to the role now?

 

 

he certainly seems to have been able to adjust more playing as a loan striker than before 

Wait a minute! He’s on loan? 

Edited 17 February 2023 by Steve Earle

[Dahnsouff]

1 hour ago, MPH said:

 

Would it be better to say that he’s able to adapt more easily to the role now?

 

 

he certainly seems to have been able to adjust more playing as a loan striker than before 

What new role? Being supported on both flanks and with a #10? He still is not operating as a lone striker in the Vardy, Daka sense, but he is a withdrawn focal point linking play

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, MPH said:

 

Would it be better to say that he’s able to adapt more easily to the role now?

 

 

he certainly seems to have been able to adjust more playing as a loan striker than before 

 

It's not about him adapting or adjusting, we're playing to his strengths. Forget the "lone striker" thing, it's really something people (I'm not just targeting you - loads of people have been saying it for years) just keep repeating from others all the time. 

 

What we've had historically is something like this:

 

 

Iheanacho has two major problems here. The first is that he is completely isolated. The supporting players are way too far away from him, there isn't anyone close. It's not important that that person is a "strike partner" it could be anything. An attacking midfielder, a wide forward, or (yes) a strike partner but it's just about bodies. In this set up he (or Daka or Vardy) is left alone taking up both the centre backs. Because Thomas offers very little attacking threat, the opposing wide player could even go alone against Barnes and leave the full back to cover Iheanacho or the defensive midfielder could even chip in if the opposing full back goes alone against Madders.

 

Because of a massive lack of pace from Thomas, Castagne and Tielemans, the opposition know that no real lung busting run from deep is going to be a problem so they've got the safety to double up on our three key attacking players. Maddison, Barnes and Iheanacho are all double marked comfortably. This is exacerbated by Rodgers having no confidence on a back four that includes either of Soyuncu or Amartey so the midfield don't press high, they sit in a low block screening the defence which gives us far less forward momentum and gives the opposition far less to worry about.

 

The second problem is that all three of those attacking players instinctively drop towards the ball. Madders isn't a wide player, so he's going to come in and lose width, Iheanacho is a natural deeper lying striker akin to someone like Harry Kane who wants ball to feet and to drop towards the ball and Barnes, too, likes the ball to feet. He also gets insufficient attacking support from his full back so often aims to drift in to the midfield to try and lose his markers.

 

The only person that really benefits noticeably from any of this is Dewsbury Hall who has the pace and the engine to make that 'mezzala' channel really his and he's played his best football for us like that. But all together, there's absolutely terrible penetration anywhere from us in this set up and Iheanacho is completely ineffective. A huge part of his game is arriving late to take advantage of the space created by runners beyond him, or playing those runners in himself, and he can't do any of that if there aren't any.

 

Compare that to how we've lined up in the last two games:

 

 

I'm aware that Spurs played a back 3 but for arguments sakes I'm just using a generic defensive shape.

 

One player on the Leicester team I've not moved - Iheanacho. Because you don't need to, straight away he's in a better position. He's immediately got direct support from a more advanced midfielder in Maddison. Kristiansen gives sufficient threat down the left that Barnes can't be doubled up on, he's also backing up Barnes enough to push Barnes forward. At the same time there's now an actual right side winger with attacking threat and the manager's confidence in the centre back pairing means the whole team is now playing both a higher line in possession and pressing higher out of it. Castagne is further forward providing support for Tete, meaning he too can't be doubled up on.

 

The centre backs now have to stay alert to potential runs beyond, they can't just follow Iheanacho and mark him out of the game. I've left the opposition 10 in something of no man's land because he's got options - he can close down the pass to Faes or he can help double up on any of Barnes, Kristiansen or Maddison but he can't do all of those things at once. You go from having all of your forwards isolated and doubled up on to forcing the opponent to make decisions on who and where to mark.

 

It gives Iheanacho so much more room to operate in and so many more bodies around him to play off and to play in. 

 

Honestly, his behaviour hasn't changed massively. If you look at a heat map of his average positions it might be somewhat different but not really because he's changed what's attempting to do but more because the context around him has changed. Honestly, for as long as Iheanacho has been at this club he's been trying to play the same way. To drop towards the ball and to play others in and then get in the box later to find room to finish. He's great at it, he always has been. He's just been really poorly used and, to be honest, fairly misunderstood. 

 

Edited 17 February 2023 by Finnegan

[Dahnsouff]

Give Danny Mills a run for his money you will. 

[Finnegan]

Just now, Dahnsouff said:

Give Danny Mills a run for his money you will. 

 

Col could give Danny Mills a run for his money.