I’m not comfortable with Brendan Rodgers’ stay in Leicester City. Rodgers is a good coach, but he rotates his squad to the detriment of certain key players. He only realises his folly with such rotation when his side loses at home. A case in point is Leicester’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle, a struggling side in the Barclays English Premier League.
Until Rodgers’ arrival in Leicester, some players including Nigeria international Wilfred Ndidi, Wes Morgan, Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, were the spine of the Foxes. They were regulars who decided the Foxes’ shape and formation. They missed games due to only card offences or injuries.
Rodgers started the needless rotation, which kept Morgan on the bench, only to introduce him into the game following injuries in one of their matches. Morgan came on as a substitute and scored the vital winner. Rodgers’ serial rotation didn’t start with Leicester. He made some controversial changes as coach of Liverpool. The changes accounted for the Reds’ miss of the Barclays English Premier League title, even when the team had the awesome trio of Raheem Sterling, Luiz Suarez and Sturridge (aka SSS). They scored goals with aplomb.
My concern as the EPL draws to an end is the recent substitution of Ndidi in Sunday’s 3-0 whiplash of Arsenal. Most football lovers thought the Nigerian was replaced to avoid a red card, having been shown the yellow in the first half. Rather than allow Ndidi return for the second half, Rodgers asked him to rest in what he called a tactical change. Is this the first time Ndidi has been yellow carded and ended the game without a red? Was Ndidi the only player who got yellow card? Why were the others not substituted?
What manner of tactical change was he talking about for a team down to 10 men, with a red card. It was just a matter of time that the Gunners were going to capitulate. That Arsenal left the Kings Power Stadium with three goals in their kitty came from their goalkeeper Berd Leno’s brilliance all through 90 minutes. Nothing changed with the way Leicester played in the second half and that is typical of Rodgers.
Perhaps, Ndidi needs to do a rethink about his future with Leicester under Rodgers, lest he is confined to the bench, when the manager gets a replacement for the Nigerian during the transfer window. The other option for Ndidi will be for him to sit with Rodgers to get his assurances of a regular first team shirt or he leaves.
Ndidi has been outstanding for Leicester. He has won several laurels and awards which earned him rave reviews and an avalanche of interests from big European clubs seeking his services. If Rodgers cannot guarantee Ndidi a first team shirt devoid of such needless substitutions, he should move away now that his value is still high. He is young; this makes his future very bright. It will be a travesty if Ndidi stays to be made a 45 minutes player.
“I thought when it was 11 vs. 11 we were the better team, we looked a threat, we just needed to control their counter-attacks.
“In the second half we wanted to be more aggressive, taking off Wilf (Wilfred Ndidi) who was on a yellow card, put an extra creative midfield player in and then putting Harvey (Barnes) wide.
“I thought in the second half we showed great fitness levels, great energy and scored all three very good goals,” Rodgers told the Leicester City club website.
I have been pinching myself to find out what happened to Kelechi Iheanacho. As a Golden Eaglets star, he was awesome, scoring goals which reminded Nigerians of the late Rashidi Yekini, Segun Odegbami, Thompson Usiyen et al. Many people looked up to Iheanacho as the next Nigerian to win the Africa Footballer of the Year award. But Iheanacho has melted away like ice-cream under the scorching sun.
Iheanacho raised hopes with Manchester City but soon fizzled out. Citizens’ manager Pep Guardiola rushed to Brazil to recruit Gabriel Jesus, who shone like a million stars to eclipse Iheanacho and dump him into the transfer market. Leicester recruited the Nigerian. He had a few cameo appearances with Leicester and transferred his club form to the Super Eagles, scoring some vital goals
that gave Nigeria the ticket to the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations slated to hold in Egypt from June 21 to July 19. These happened under the former manager who recruited Iheanacho. When he left, I had doubts about Iheanacho’s future, I knew Rodgers, a former Liverpool coach, would try him out and come up with a verdict. That is Rodgers’ strength.
“I think he’s a great talent but he’s a number nine. He’s not one who can play on the sides or come in. Some strikers I’ve worked with you can maybe shuffle them about and slide them around to make it work – but he’s a number nine and that’s it. And we already have a good number nine. So he’s got a fight to get ahead. But there’s maybe another system to make it work, like a diamond,” Rodgers said.
“It’s been hard for Kelechi because he’s come in and he’s been a secondary striker at Manchester City. All of a sudden he makes a move for big money and I think everyone can see the potential. But he’s come in to one of the top strikers in the league (Jamie Vardy) and I think it’s very hard to displace that. But it’s just a case of adapting to these new players.
“Actually, my job is not to put them in a trap of pressure, and take that away from them. Enjoy your football, but ultimately your first job is to press and work hard. From that what can you add into your game?”
Reading Rodgers’ comments about Iheanacho when he joined the Foxes gave me a little hope, having been told that the Nigerian was just a traditional striker who couldn’t function anywhere else but as a point man to score goals. I was a little excited that Iheanacho stood a chance of stealing Vardy’s thunder anytime he is injured or is dropped due to card offences.
It never happened for Iheanacho the few times he started the game ahead of Vardy. Even when he came in as a substitute, his output was off the mark; largely anonymous. Iheanacho’s performance with the Foxes has been apologetic, culminating in his being dropped from the Super Eagles, and rightly so.
I hope Iheanacho is talking with his agents to search for a new club next season. Rodgers uses every opportunity to tell the media that he is shopping for a striker to challenge Vardy as the team’s top striker. What it means is that Iheanacho is on his way out of the Foxes, since he is Vardy’s rival in the striking role position. He shouldn’t wait until January to quit Leicester. A stitch in time saves nine.
Pharaohs or Super Eagles?
June 21 is a landmark date in the annals of Africa Cup of Nations, with a 24-team format which sees the continent’s best players fighting to outdo one another for glory in Egypt. It is expected that by July 19, a new champion will emerge – likely Nigeria or the hosts Pharaohs of Egypt.
Pundits are at their wits’ best in picking the finalists. They are considering Senegal, the continent’s number one in the FIFA ranking. They argue that the Terenga Lions of Senegal is built around Sadio Mane, who may be so tired as a result of the hectic European season with Liverpool, where he has scored 20 goals for the Reds in the ongoing Barclays English Premier League. The fatigue argument can be likened to Mohammed Salah, who plays for Liverpool and has scored 21 goals in the EPL. The leveller tilts in Salah’s and Egypt’s favour because of the support from their teeming fans as the hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Both players (Mane and Salah) are top contenders for the Africa Footballer of the Year Award. But football is no respecter of pundits. It also doesn’t know who brought the ball to the pitch. The best playing side which takes its goal-scoring chances wins.
Those tipping Nigeria to play in the final, have hinged their bet on the unpredictable character of the Super Eagles, especially after missing the last two editions. In fact, Nigeria, against all odds, won the Africa Cup of Nations on February 10, 2013 in South Africa. The pundits stressed that since Nigerian players made their marks in most European clubs this season, they are match fit. But will selection of players be Nigeria’s headache?
Chief coach Gernot Rohr is having grey hairs over the inclusion of John Mikel Obi, Francis Uzoho and Chukwueze in his squad. He, however, has solutions to the trio’s inclusion, beginning with Uzoho.
Rohr, in a twitter conversation with @osasuo, said: ‘’I have sent Enrico Pionetti, my goalkeeper trainer, to @anorthosisfc to work on goalkeeper Francis Uzoho. At the moment; it’s not, for now, a question of him being number one but of his being one of our three goalkeepers for the AFCON.’’ Good thinking coach. The way forward.
Asked if Mikel Obi was returning to the Super Eagles, Rohr told @osasuo: ‘’This is the question that I and my team will resolve. I will soon get to see him at Boro. There are many things to consider but I respect him and what he has done for Nigeria. He remains an important player.
‘’He has been away from the team for a year but we qualified for the AFCON without him. His absence, as our captain, has been evident. But he has had to deal with a range of issues, after the World Cup in Russia.’’
Asked by @osasuo if Chukwueze will start Nigeria’s matches at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Rohr said: ‘’ You seem to know all my present challenges. He is a great talent and I would like him in my team, although I don’t know if he will be an immediate starter. The challenge, of course, is that he is also wanted for Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 World Cup holding in Poland.’’
Well said, Rohr. Good to know that NFF chieftains have promised to give the team all the logistics support they need. Up Nigeria!
