Iheanacho

[FrankieADZ]

5 hours ago, moore_94 said:

Everton and Burnley are apparently interested in him

 

https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/forest-everton-eyeing-leicester-striker-kelechi-iheanacho-4461594

 

Besiktas have supposedly made an offer as well - in typical Turkish fashion they have apparently only offered a loan for him

 

https://soccernet.ng/2023/06/besiktas-favourite-to-sign-super-eagles-matchwinner-in-crucial-afcon-decider.html

yeah and everton are going to pay for him how, with that ffp stuff over their head.....that £480mil loss or whatever it was too

 

maybe its a play for us to offer him a new deal, i dunno, would love him to stay if im honest 

[Mickyblueeyes]

Pretty over active agent. 

[The_77]

5 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

People do love a totally overblown favourite. I love Kel, but get a grip  

It’s very difficult to replace players who create goals. With the likely loss of Maddison and Barnes, we don’t have any other options who we know we can rely on at the moment. Losing Kelechi would be massive. 
 

Also, I’d forgive people for wanting to keep one of the few likable characters from this year’s team. 

[Dahnsouff]

9 hours ago, The_77 said:

It’s very difficult to replace players who create goals. With the likely loss of Maddison and Barnes, we don’t have any other options who we know we can rely on at the moment. Losing Kelechi would be massive. 
 

Also, I’d forgive people for wanting to keep one of the few likable characters from this year’s team. 

I love Nacho and I would love him to stay, but I saw a comparison to Vardy and that is just silly. In terms of likeable, I agree, he seems a lovely chap.

[Sly]

No point loaning him out for what little amount any Turkish club is offering.
 

We’d be better selling him for £5,000,000

[foxinsocks]

2 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

I love Nacho and I would love him to stay, but I saw a comparison to Vardy and that is just silly. In terms of likeable, I agree, he seems a lovely chap.

I am very keen to keep nacho - he sets a standard in honesty. 

[Les-TA-Jon]

2 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

I love Nacho and I would love him to stay, but I saw a comparison to Vardy and that is just silly. In terms of likeable, I agree, he seems a lovely chap.

Why? Iheanacho contributes a lot more than Vardy does nowadys. Vardy will be 37 during this season. 

[Vindaloo FOX]

Stay Kel, score 30 goals, take us back up and become a legend.

 

You know it makes sense lad.

[Dahnsouff]

9 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Why? Iheanacho contributes a lot more than Vardy does nowadys. Vardy will be 37 during this season. 

Because Vardy maybe inconsistent in his twilight years, but Nacho is permanently inconsistent as undoubtedly talented as he is

[Les-TA-Jon]

6 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Because Vardy maybe inconsistent in his twilight years, but Nacho is permanently inconsistent as undoubtedly talented as he is

I don't think Iheanacho will play for us again, but if Vardy and Iheanacho were both here this coming season, I'd wager Iheanacho would make a far larger contribution than a 37 year old Vardy. 

[LcFc_Smiv]

I love the guy but I’m pretty sure his contract will be pretty hefty even with the relegation clauses. Cash in.

[Fox92]

2 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

I don't think Iheanacho will play for us again, but if Vardy and Iheanacho were both here this coming season, I'd wager Iheanacho would make a far larger contribution than a 37 year old Vardy. 

I believe Dahnsuff is on about their Leicester City careers as a whole not this season or last season. And he would also be right that Iheanacho is inconsistent, regardless of this thread's love in.

 

You're not getting good odds on a 26 year old doing more than a 37 year old either, I think it's pretty obvious Iheanacho would contribute more now but I don't think that is being questionned.

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Les-TA-Jon said:

I don't think Iheanacho will play for us again, but if Vardy and Iheanacho were both here this coming season, I'd wager Iheanacho would make a far larger contribution than a 37 year old Vardy. 

Oh I do not disagree with that, old man Vardy's glorious days are clearly behind him from a playing perspective, so if are looking purely on a contemporary basis, Kel must be more productive in terms of numbers

 

But I wasn't looking at purely contemporarily or numbers, Vardy still offers more outside of the numbers, in on field direction and nous

[Les-TA-Jon]

6 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

I believe Dahnsuff is on about their Leicester City careers as a whole not this season or last season. And he would also be right that Iheanacho is inconsistent, regardless of this thread's love in.

 

You're not getting good odds on a 26 year old doing more than a 37 year old either, I think it's pretty obvious Iheanacho would contribute more now but I don't think that is being questionned.

 

4 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Oh I do not disagree with that, old man Vardy's glorious days are clearly behind him from a playing perspective, so if are looking purely on a contemporary basis, Kel must be more productive in terms of numbers

 

But I wasn't looking at purely contemporarily or numbers, Vardy still offers more outside of the numbers, in on field direction and nous

Ah right, I didn't know the initial comparison was about 'overall contribution' I thought it was on Nacho vs Vardy this coming season. 

 

Obviously Vardy wins the former and Nacho wins the latter

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Les-TA-Jon said:

 

Ah right, I didn't know the initial comparison was about 'overall contribution' I thought it was on Nacho vs Vardy this coming season. 

 

Obviously Vardy wins the former and Nacho wins the latter

tbh, I came to this not knowing the original premise, so assumed a career wide criteria, so could be wide of the mark!  

[Finnegan]

28 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Because Vardy maybe inconsistent in his twilight years, but Nacho is permanently inconsistent as undoubtedly talented as he is

 

Mmm, not really. So obviously, I've spent a lot of time over the last few months banging on about our strikers' stats, a fair bit of this, as a result, is repetition so apologies for that. 

 

Iheanacho is inconsistent when presented with a chance, yes. Of our three strikers, Nacho is the one who fails to match his xG (minus penalties) the most. He gets a healthy amout of high xG chances and is the most prone of the three to, effectively, just randomly slice one in to row z.

 

Vardy also, surprisingly, failed to match his xG this year making Patson Daka our most accurate finisher of the three and the only one to match this metric in both of his seasons here. (Shameless Daka plug over for now.)

 

Where you are wrong, however, is in Iheanacho's extremely high G+A/90. The thing is, whilst Iheanacho can be inconsistent with his touch and his finishing, that inconsistency usually happens all within the same game. He'll miss a howler one minute but then before you know it, he'll pop up again and bag. 

 

His actual xG is consistently higher than Daka's because, despite his sometimes wayward finishing, he gets in to more goal scoring positions. 

 

Of the players that played as many minutes as Iheanacho last season in the Premier League, only 7 provided more Goals and Assists per 90 minutes than Kelechi Iheanacho. He came up with a goal or assist every 0.8 lots of 90 minutes. That is elite performance. For some context, Harry Kane was 0.87, De Bruyne was 0.86. 

 

It puts Iheanacho ahead of Gabby Jesus, Toney, Saka, Riyad, Rashford, Madders, Isak, Odegaard et all. 

 

And Iheanacho isn't streaky either, he's not scoring hattricks then going quiet for weeks at a time. He's doing it every time he starts, to the extent Sky were lobbing up graphics showing how many games in a row he'd scored when he'd started. 

 

He's the most consistent goal threat we have in the team. I understand why he fails the sight test, you can look at him play, see that the ball is bouncing off him a lot and think he's having a bad game. But he pops up with goals and assists at an alarming and extremely consistent rate. 

 

To call him permanently inconsistent  is just massively, statistically false. 

 

Edited 26 June 2023 by Finnegan

[Paninistickers]

6 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Mmm, not really. So obviously, I've spent a lot of time over the last few months banging on about our strikers' stats, a fair bit of this, as a result, is repetition so apologies for that. 

 

Iheanacho is inconsistent when presented with a chance, yes. Of our three strikers, Nacho is the one who fails to match his xG (minus penalties) the most. He gets a healthy amout of high xG chances and is the most prone of the three to, effectively, just randomly slice one in to row z.

 

Vardy also, surprisingly, failed to match his xG this year making Patson Daka our most accurate finisher of the three and the only one to match this metric in both of his seasons here. (Shameless Daka plug over for now.)

 

Where you are wrong, however, is in Iheanacho's extremely high G+A/90. The thing is, whilst Iheanacho can be inconsistent with his touch and his finishing, that inconsistency usually happens all within the same game. He'll miss a howler one minute but then before you know it, he'll pop up again and bag. 

 

His actual xG is consistently higher than Daka's because, despite his sometimes wayward finishing, he gets in to more goal scoring positions. 

 

Of the players that played as many minutes as Iheanacho last season in the Premier League, only 7 provided more Goals and Assists per 90 minutes than Kelechi Iheanacho. He came up with a goal or assist every 0.8 lots of 90 minutes. That is elite performance. For some context, Harry Kane was 0.87, De Bruyne was 0.86. 

 

It puts Iheanacho ahead of Gabby Jesus, Toney, Saka, Riyad, Rashford, Madders, Isak, Odegaard et all. 

 

And Iheanacho isn't streaky either, he's not scoring hattricks then going quiet for weeks at a time. He's doing it every time he starts, to the extent Sky were lobbing up graphics showing how many games in a row he'd scored when he'd started. 

 

He's the most consistent goal threat we have in the team. I understand why he fails the sight test, you can look at him play, see that the ball is bouncing off him a lot and think he's having a bad game. But he pops up with goals and assists at an alarming and extremely consistent rate. 

 

To call him permanently inconsistent  is just massively, statistically false. 

 

Great summary and he's one of those very rare examples of where City fans have patience with him. 

 

We all know he can fluff something but the very next minute, pull of a sublimely weighted pass inside a full back to set up a goal. He seems immune to external forces. He doesn't do confidence or no confidence. He just does himself.

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

he's one of those very rare examples of where City fans have patience with him

 

Now, yes. It wasn't always like that. 

[Finn Claw II]

With one year left you either sell or keep in the hope he helps us win promotion.

 

he’s a £25m min player.  He scores and assists and would improve most sides outside the top 6

[Dahnsouff]

13 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Mmm, not really. So obviously, I've spent a lot of time over the last few months banging on about our strikers' stats, a fair bit of this, as a result, is repetition so apologies for that. 

 

Iheanacho is inconsistent when presented with a chance, yes. Of our three strikers, Nacho is the one who fails to match his xG (minus penalties) the most. He gets a healthy amout of high xG chances and is the most prone of the three to, effectively, just randomly slice one in to row z.

 

Vardy also, surprisingly, failed to match his xG this year making Patson Daka our most accurate finisher of the three and the only one to match this metric in both of his seasons here. (Shameless Daka plug over for now.)

 

Where you are wrong, however, is in Iheanacho's extremely high G+A/90. The thing is, whilst Iheanacho can be inconsistent with his touch and his finishing, that inconsistency usually happens all within the same game. He'll miss a howler one minute but then before you know it, he'll pop up again and bag. 

 

His actual xG is consistently higher than Daka's because, despite his sometimes wayward finishing, he gets in to more goal scoring positions. 

 

Of the players that played as many minutes as Iheanacho last season in the Premier League, only 7 provided more Goals and Assists per 90 minutes than Kelechi Iheanacho. He came up with a goal or assist every 0.8 lots of 90 minutes. That is elite performance. For some context, Harry Kane was 0.87, De Bruyne was 0.86. 

 

It puts Iheanacho ahead of Gabby Jesus, Toney, Saka, Riyad, Rashford, Madders, Isak, Odegaard et all. 

 

And Iheanacho isn't streaky either, he's not scoring hattricks then going quiet for weeks at a time. He's doing it every time he starts, to the extent Sky were lobbing up graphics showing how many games in a row he'd scored when he'd started. 

 

He's the most consistent goal threat we have in the team. I understand why he fails the sight test, you can look at him play, see that the ball is bouncing off him a lot and think he's having a bad game. But he pops up with goals and assists at an alarming and extremely consistent rate. 

 

To call him permanently inconsistent  is just massively, statistically false. 

 

Fair enough, that is me told  

 

Out of interest, do you know if Nacho played the same number of minutes for your comparative G+A/90? Would have thought not, so slightly dubious on that metric in that sense. 

 

However, you are correct, eye test is no test at all

[Finnegan]

6 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Fair enough, that is me told  

 

Out of interest, do you know if Nacho played the same number of minutes for your comparative G+A/90? Would have thought not, so slightly dubious on that metric in that sense. 

 

However, you are correct, eye test is no test at all

 

He played in 28 Premier League games last season, I'd say that's a good enough sample size to be judging his consistency, yes. 

 

I'm obviously ignoring outliers like Reiss Nelson who got 2.08 G+A/90 last year from all of 212 minutes played and 0 starts. 

 

Iheanacho's stats have been the same every year under Rodgers without fail, gets criminally few minutes from a manager who doesn't value him but crops up routinely with goals and assists every time he gets a chance before getting inexplicably dropped again. 

 

Of all the accusations you could throw at Iheanacho, I'm just amazed that you went to consistency when I'd say it's almost certainly his stand out feature. 

[nnfox]

Kels is the one I'd be the most disappointed to lose.  

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Finnegan said:

 

He played in 28 Premier League games last season, I'd say that's a good enough sample size to be judging his consistency, yes. 

 

I'm obviously ignoring outliers like Reiss Nelson who got 2.08 G+A/90 last year from all of 212 minutes played and 0 starts. 

 

Iheanacho's stats have been the same every year under Rodgers without fail, gets criminally few minutes from a manager who doesn't value him but crops up routinely with goals and assists every time he gets a chance before getting inexplicably dropped again. 

 

Of all the accusations you could throw at Iheanacho, I'm just amazed that you went to consistency when I'd say it's almost certainly his stand out feature. 

Its obviously an eye test conclusion, and such tests are subject to inaccuracy - happy enough to confess to this and suspect I have a similar blind spot  when it comes to Barnes too

[Gamble92]

It's looking like Besiktas now. Hope that gets done and we tell Forest to **** off.

[Finnegan]

38 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Its obviously an eye test conclusion, and such tests are subject to inaccuracy - happy enough to confess to this and suspect I have a similar blind spot  when it comes to Barnes too

 

Yeah, both of them are fairly similar in a few headline stats. Whilst they both contribute enormously in goals and assists per 90 (and I really don't think our fans understand just how much, comparatively and in context) they both have a couple of glaring weaknesses. 

 

The biggest issue for me with both of them is that they don't contribute anywhere near enough defensively and, whilst it pains me to admit this, I can understand why Rodgers would be reluctant to have Iheanacho in the 10 spot, Barnes on one wing and another striker on the pitch. It's a bit like PSG when they're trying to compete with other elite teams but Messi, Mbappe and Neymar are just standing on the halfway line waiting for the team to get the ball back. 

 

You just can't do that in modern football. How many times have you seen Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Mo Salah et all back in the full-back position helping out deep in their own half? You'll never see Barnes doing that effectively at all which is doubly shocking for a guy that used to play as a centre mid. 

 

Iheanacho is what I'd dub the Reverse Okazaki. Shinji famously had G+A stats that Danny Simpson would have been embarrassed by but his off the ball movement, his work rate, his defensive contributions and his link up play were excellent. He was essential to our ball progression, chance creation and winning the ball back yet he'll probably go down in history as one of the most under rated Premier League winners of all time. 

 

There's a role in Football Manager (I know, I know) called the Trequartista, based off the old Italian archetype (think Totti.) The classic Italian 10 just roaming round the pitch, finding space and only really bothering when his team have the ball. The in game description even says something like "requires the team to carry him defensively" and it's hard coded to press significantly less than the rest of the team. 

 

This is Nacho. If we want to play him, we either play him as a False 9 and have a midfielder push past him to take up his pressing duties from the front (which is why KDH became the first name on the team sheet whenever Nacho started) or we drop him in to his "natural" 10 role but then the rest of the midfield has to really up their work rate or we get walked through. Given that Tielemans massively lacks the pace and fitness to cover we'd be horribly exposed through the middle with Wilf so out of form and match fitness. 

 

It is a puzzle. Nacho is comfortably our most productive player, his G+A/90 is consistently superior to even Maddison, but fitting him in to a system where he isn't a problem for us defensively isn't easy. 

 

I'd say with Maddison going it's essential we keep him and if Maresca does actually favour 3 at the back then I think that helps us out. For me Nacho is most effective if we play a well drilled 352 and partner him with Daka or Vardy. KDH/Soumare and a more disciplined holding midfielder behind should be fine. But we'll see. 

 

Edited 26 June 2023 by Finnegan