Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has said Alex Iwobi should tell him face-to-face where he prefers to play at the club rather than resort to cryptic complaints on social media.
Iwobi marked his selection for Nigeria’s forthcoming internationals against Benin and Lesotho with an Instagram post on Tuesday that read: “Always an honour to get a call up to my national team. Hopefully I get to play in my preferred position.”
The versatile winger did not specify whether he was referring to club or country.
Ancelotti rarely criticises his players in public but has been bemused by Iwobi’s comment.
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The Everton manager, who has played the £34m signing in several roles, cited Andrea Pirlo as an example of the benefits of more open communication.
“I read the post. I want to speak to him, of course,” said Ancelotti.
“I want to know his preferred position because usually I want to put a player on the pitch where they are comfortable to play, not where they are uncomfortable to play. If he has an idea of where he prefers to play I have to know, I want to know. I would be delighted to know his preferred position and I’ll put him in his preferred position for sure, no doubt.
“I am going to tell him: ‘Tell me, I am your manager, tell me where you want to play’. When I thought to put Pirlo as a holding midfielder I asked him: ‘Do you like to play there or not?’. ‘Yes’, he said to me, ‘I’d love to play there’ and so I put him there. If he wants to play number 10 or number nine I’ll put him at number 10 or number nine no problem. I can adapt the system.”
8 Comments
Over to you Iwobi,your coach is puzzled by your write up on social media.I would suggest you let the cat out of the bag!Ancelotti has made it clear you will get your wish if only you are brave enough to let him know your favourite position,and if you do so,that’s the end of the matter.
Meanwhile,Looking at players who plays the number ten role for Everton,we have the likes of Sigurdsson,Docoure and sometimes Gomes.Assessing there qualities,could Iwobi displace this aforementioned players and get the nod of his manager to start ahead of them week in and out?or should he just accept and carry on with the multiple roles he has played all season?Well we will never know if Iwobi would take his chances as a number ten should he get one,unless he is tried in that position.
Success like in most sports starts when people are able to take there chances.We shall see what happens in the coming weeks as we observe with keen interests as events unfolds.However,every manager wants to win and if a player will give maximum output in a position other than the one he plays I believe the manager wouldn’t hesitate to swap him.
Nice one Greenturf. I can put my money that Iwobi can displace all the above players you mentioned. My only worry is, will the on pitch peripheral players play with him the way they play with those players you mentioned. Iwobi is hugely under-rated at everton. He is the type of player that wants the the ball all the time, same as Eze. Such players, when that isnt happening, they become very frustrated and as such performance drops.
Absolutely @Glory.Iwobi may not get support of his team mates to feed him the ball as required playing that role.
What happens is he will be subbed off after the break,and sadly you only get one chance in situations like this.Though a caucasian may get multiple chances as opposed to a black African player.
A fly that thought itself a bird.
He is talking to coach Rohr in advance to think well towards subsequent matches. We all know the coach that plays you out of position to prove some equations that he never gets right.
I was starting to wonder why Ancelloti was scrutinising Iwobi’s seemingly harmless tweet until I read the piece and saw the whole picture that it was the British media that were as usual goring the coach to do so – possibly during a pre-match press conference.
On the surface, it would appear Iwobi was bantering Rohr to utilise him well, but Ancelloti picked up the smart innuendo. Even I was initially fooled.
It makes sense that Ancelloti felt the gentle jab was aimed at him and not Rohr. Iwobi is Rohr’s anchor man in the midfield, whereas Ancelloti features the number 10 in a rather strange RWB position. Of course, that’s partly cos Ancelloti believes he has adequate or better personnel in Iwobi’s natural position. Heck, he’s not even a regular starter with Ancelloti.
I do hope this cheeky challenge to Iwobi does not end up badly for our boy. I mean, how can Ancelloti honestly claim he doesn’t already know Iwobi’s preferred position or that the player hasn’t hinted him already? Doesn’t he have his dosier or watched his games in an Arsenal shirt?
Ancelloti is about currently the most high profile and possibly decorated coach in the EPL. Coaches with such pedigree can be quite high handed and vindictive if they feel a player is questioning their tactics.
So, I think Iwobi should take up this challenge with wisdom, up his game, seek advice from his uncle Okocha and remain consistent. I believe he’s an excellent player, just that lack of consistency remains his Achilles’s heel.
Good luck buddy. You’ll need it!
Didn’t see the post, but picked up of what Ancelotti was saying in the press conference. He said he has no problem playing where Iwobi wants to play. If he wants to play number 10 or 9 he will adapt the system. I think it was a punk move to put on social media. As the coach said he should of told him i’m guessing Iwobi ain’t really hitting it well in Everton, so he basically saying i’m in the wrong position. He jumped the gun to early, yes he got called up for the national team, but nobody knows if he’s gonna be productive. A lot of people here saying the midfield of super eagles is mediocre. I even saw an legitimate article having the headline saying “What does Iwobi want to be?”
Our players should tread carefully with this social media of a thing. Unwise use of social media has led to the downfall of so many. We can only hope that Iwobi’s remark has not offended Ancelotti in some way. The best way for Iwobi to stake his claim is not via the social media, but thru solid, undisputable production on the pitch.