We’ve got 99 problems but one solution is Kelechi Iheanacho
Respected Premier League manager as he is, there are plenty of things I don’t understand about Brendan Rodgers. You probably don’t understand them either.
Why, at the moment, is he saying our players are inexperienced at Premier League level? Why has he found it so difficult to sort out the set pieces problem? And they’re not all negative - another would be how on earth did he manage to drag a squad decimated by injuries to the verge of Champions League qualification twice in a row?
Chief among them though, is why isn’t Kelechi Iheanacho one of the first names on the teamsheet every week?
I suppose I know why really. It’s because Rodgers doesn’t think there’s a place for him in the structure we play. He doesn’t believe Iheanacho is versatile enough to fit into a slightly different role to what he’s used to.
The frustrating thing about this is that so many other players have been shoehorned into roles they’ve found awkward. We’ve had right-footed left-backs and left-sided centre-backs for a while now. We’ve had Wilfred Ndidi asked to receive the ball from the back four and distribute it. We’ve had James Maddison moved all over the place to get him into the team.
Why aren’t we doing the same with Iheanacho? Because - pause for slow motion hair flick - he’s worth it.
We haven’t got enough creativity in the side, particularly when Harvey Barnes is unavailable. The Brendan Rodgers answer to this significant injury blow has been consistent with his past approach - throw the whole plan out the window and retreat to three at the back.
But.
We still can’t defend.
Against Brentford, we controlled the game for nearly an hour and still ended up with a lower xG. Against Arsenal, you don’t even have to resort to the minutiae of xG: they battered us. So against Southampton, whatever happens with Wesley Fofana before then, it’s time to restore the back four.
If Barnes remains unavailable this weekend, there’s a decision to be made about who comes in. In both games so far, Patson Daka has been first to get the nod on the touchline. This is despite the fact he’s clearly, if not quite Vardy 2.0, then at least Vardy 1.1. There should only ever be one place in the team for a Vardy of any version.
If we write off the Vardy-Daka partnership, there are still lots of options. You could promote Dennis Praet for more energy in midfield. You could play it safe and add Nampalys Mendy for a bit more control. You could even party like it’s pre-pandemic and give Ayoze Perez or Marc Albrighton yet another stab at it.
Another problem is that, in addition to the defensive issues, we still don’t feel consistently creative. There’s too much of a burden on James Maddison and we need more in the final third to support Vardy.
Drumbeat. Heavy metal riff. Growly voice.
Enter Seniorman.
This might yet be the route Rodgers takes, but it’s still a question and it shouldn’t be. There are three players at the club who can consistently both score and create: Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho. Two of those three are among the first names on the teamsheet. So when one is unavailable, surely you know who to turn to?
Perhaps there isn’t a definitive role for Iheanacho but he should still play, either in the number ten role or even wide right in the kind of position where he dispossessed Harry Maguire to set up Youri Tielemans for a wonder goal last season. Or, for that matter, where he drifted into space on Saturday and crafted a goal for Maddison. You’d lose a bit of defensive nous, but Iheanacho has shown he can press. Most importantly, what you gain in possession is worth the sacrifice. It would redress an imbalance.
Saturday’s game at Arsenal had shades of last season’s chaotic 6-3 defeat at Manchester City, specifically in the way Iheanacho showed that we could pose a threat. At the Etihad he got a goal and two assists in ten minutes. At the Emirates it was that clever reverse pass for Maddison’s goal.
The back four for that game against Manchester City last season? Albrighton, Amartey, Vestergaard, Thomas. It’s not quite that attack is the best form of defence when your defence looks like that, because that’s too simplistic and you can still be overrun, but you do need players who can trouble the opposition at the other end of the pitch. We’ve got more stellar names available now, but clean sheets are still in short supply.
After the game on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers highlighted the impact of Gabriel Jesus. “I think everyone today can see that Jesus is a world-class striker,” said Rodgers. “It’s not just what he brings to the team, it’s what a new signing gives to everyone else, the confidence.”
While Rodgers is clearly and understandably frustrated with the lack of transfer activity this summer, he is also the first to admit he is foremost a coach and his favourite aspect of the job is on the training pitches working with the players he has.
So rather than focus on the striker Manchester City discarded a couple of months ago, he could be looking at the one they discarded five years ago.