Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has explained why Kelechi Iheanacho has been struggling for regular playing time this season.
Iheanacho, City’s top scorer last season, has played just 54 minutes of football in their past six games in all competitions, with three of those spent watching from the substitutes’ bench.
Before that, he played some part in every fixture bar the away game at Legia Warsaw in which he was halted at the Polish border because of mismatching documents.
The switch to a 4-2-3-1 system has been the big factor in his limited pitch-time, with Rodgers suggesting he is best as part of a strike pairing.
Rodgers has said he prefers City to play with four at the back, and so to then field two frontmen, he would either have to pick a flat 4-4-2 or a midfield diamond.The former was used at Crystal Palace in October and has not been seen since.
Iheanacho will get his share of game-time, Rodgers has said, but equally the manager admits finding a spot for him is not of great concern right now, while City’s attack is consistently finding the net.
“I think we’ve said it before: he’s best in a two, that’s clear, that’s when he’s been really good,” Rodgers said.
“He’s training well, he’s a great professional, Kels, and he knows he’s going to feature over the course of this period at some point.”
Iheanacho scored 16 goals between February and May last season, usually playing alongside Jamie Vardy, to finish as the club’s top scorer.
This season he has three goals and five assists, averaging a goal involvement every 104 minutes, a better rate than Vardy (one goal involvement every 133 minutes) but not as good as Daka (one every 91 minutes).
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COMMENTS
Here is another case @MONKEY POST ARE YOU CATCHING THE DRIFT NOW BROS!!!
Iheanacho has been poor lately
abeg, make him chop bench wella. that guy is lazy, and would play anyhow if he is given too many chances. a typical nigerian mentality.
i know rodgers is only trying to justify why is been benched.
But you are hardworking? but why can’t you mind your business and face your own work rather than criticising someone on his own job? Did the coach say he is not training well? Busy body the only thing they are good at is to come to CSN page and start spewing trash mtccccheew.
Yes! He has been poor lately however, it is purely down to confidence Iheanacho is one that takes time to navigate around new situations, I know exactly what is the problem. Just as he came good from Pep demoralisation and early teething problems at Leicester City he will come good this time.
Iheanacho is still navigating the whole Patson Daka, Harvey Barnes, Ademola lookman scenario and Jamie Vardy. Leicester Competition you see he faced this intense competition at Manchester City and now he is facing the same thing at Leicester City for the first time right after over coming the intense JV battle. He works with confidence and belief only last season he was Leicester’s saviour and the same Transfer window the Coach added two more top level forwards to an already competitive Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy he had to face. I feel he is coming to grips with the situation it will definitely not take 4 years like before. I feel the next game he starts he will Grab the bull by the horn and know whats at stake. This is also the kind of mentality and situations SE Players should be facing at their clubs as it will only bring out the best in them. which will be only good for SE. Not this mediocre stuff of players playing in Jambololu leagues and in low teams in Turkey no way we will be as mediocre as the players we pin our hopes on SIMPLE!!!!!
Until Rodgers says he wants to offload Iheanacho then there is no cause for Concern he is up against top Quality at Leicester City Period. Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes, Ademola Lookman and Patson Daka. and it is only approaching Midway to the season now (Not even) SO let us wait as the season is still on folding and he is still as Rodgers puts it A VERY IMPORTANT PLAYER For Leicester City. Don’t be surprised Iheancho starts at Napoli on Thursday as the fans are clamouring for his reintroduction.
@walking point of correction Rodgers is actually bringing out this statement because he is comming under heat for Benching Kelechi as Kelechi if you didn’t know is considered by almost all as part of Leicester Cities Strongest line up.
He should sit up or shape out! He can force a move away if he wants. He was Leicester city’s highest goal scorer last season and if he becomes serious he can reach that form again but we iheanacho is one player who allows his performance affect his game. Once he starts getting games and performing and people start praising him again he will relax and start playing any how. Leicester arent churning out impressive results with all their goals and goal scorers available so I think its time that some of our players leave the club and move to greener pastures elsewhere.
Ndidi should leave and if iheanacho is,ready to be serious again he should leave too. Otherwise, iheanacho should be given a break from the Super Eagles if he doesn’t start playing and performing before the afcon starts
@Sportsfan you have a good point He relaxes alot when he is on Top i WIsh they can just be more humble and admit to themselves that CR7 way of doing things is the best of doing things. I also have the fear that Osibobo was seemingly falling in the same trap prior to his injury and Dries Mertens coming in and in all honesty contributing to 4 goals in Osimhens absence may be a blessing in disquise for Osimhen as he will have to learn that in order to stay at the top he needs to STAY at the TOP!!!!!.
Ndidi will probably be a Manchester United player in January. And as for Kelechi i feel yes he may have to test himself somewhere else and Br has achieved his purpose in his career and it has reached a point where another coach needs to step in to unlock the rest of his potentials. We may have reached that point but still he is better off in Leicester for now he needs to believe in himself a disaster for Kelechi will be to encounter another Guardiola in his career he may not be able to cope with that mentally at this stage
Don’t worry, Osimhen aren’t like that, Wolfsburg don teach am enough, if you watch these games properly, you would see that the first 3 to 4 games that osimhen featured in, they were playing a bit more for the striker, the remaining matches before inters match, they started playing gattuso’s ball again, feeding osimhen scraps, no crosses, no through passes, no precise high balls. But in the inters match, they started playing for him a bit again, quite unfortunate he got that injury, (great block from the defender, that would have been a goal) because i am quite sure Napoli won’t have lost that match with Osimhen’s presence on the pitch, when they gas, fear alone no go gree them attack.
You have a slave mentality to have agreed with Roger is saying. This is the same man who was forced by Leicester fans to play Iheanacho last season after enduring frustration from misfiring Ayozie,Jamie Verdy and Henderson.
Roger was saying the same as what he’s saying right now which shows there’s nothing wrong with Kelechi’s form, confidence or attitude as confirmed then by Kolo Toure the assistant to Roger.
The man Roger hasn’t said the real reason Kelechi is being overlooked but would want to whitewash his main reasons by putting out those flimsy excuses which a lot of fans of Leicester City don’t buy cause they see through all of that crap. Kelechi was their best striker last season who scored in eight straight games to help the team to FA glory and a top six place at the conclusion of the premier league season and straight from there was confined to the bench once again with flimsy excuses. Kelechi was going to leave two seasons ago, but was persuaded to stay by Kolo Toure, who also persuaded Roger to give the young man a chance on match days because according to him Kelechi was always fantastic in training which also showed after Roger decided to let him play. Lack of form is not always the reason players get overlooked by their coaches, there are so many reasons and lots of them are unjustifiable and unacceptable.
i dont why kelechi dont want to leave that club that coach is just killing that boy career by giving some useless excuses
Seriously @dominic this was the same keleChi that used to score in almost every match early this year. They had to nicknamed him “senior man” . Brendan is a joker
Can you guys be real for once, the article says he plays better on a supporting role, you guys are typing here that he is lazy. Na wa for na analysis o. Even the coach has said that the lad works hard in training, yet you guys say something else. No wonder Nigeria is the way it is.
I see all the guys calling Kelechi Iheanacho lazy as Trump calling people liars. Those are just projections.
@Ugo Iwunze white men go dey sabi deceive people like you ehn. See am him just talk you just believe am… And I thought you are an advocate for give the youth a chance? Why calling old cargo like jammy vardy a competition to kelz..you even made mention of lookman and co SHM…
Shebi him say kelechi is good as a second striker? Why him no play the formation to help the guy career rather playing formation that will not favor him.. This was the same guy that saved his ass against teams last season by gaving him goals weda as a lone striker or supporting. omo forget joor if a coach no like you, him no like you. period!
That is why we always tell them that all these coaches has their favourite players. He bought Ademola lukman, Barnes and Barry are untouchable like Musa is in Nigeria and yet they want him to play Kel. If this man is Nigeria coach the pathetic people will say he collect bribe from those players..Naija fans i hail thee lol
Rodgers, you’re an average coach. You are loosing all your games and refusing to change the formation that has been loosing.
Don’t deny Ihewnaxho playing time for a loosing formation or twxtless coaching posture.
A scoring player should always play, not benched