goal.com
The Manchester City man is now undoubtedly the main man in the Super Eagles attack, but his development exposes a profound irony.
Building a team can often be like playing whack-a-mole. Solve one problem, and another arises; solve that, and there’s yet another. Because of this, teams are constantly in a state of evolution, forever working out bugs.
This is relevant to the Super Eagles in light of the World Cup qualifying victory over Zambia last month and ahead of November's showdown with Algeria. For a long time, there raged the debate over Nigeria's fabled ‘third man’, a player to complete the national team's midfield triangle after it was clear erstwhile coach Stephen Keshi had settled on Mikel John Obi and Ogenyi Onazi as his go-to base.
The unheralded Sunday Mba and, later on, Michael Babatunde, both filled this role at major tournaments, but have since fallen through the cracks due to losses of form. However, the emergence of Kelechi Iheanacho appears to have permanently solved this conundrum.
In Ndola, he completed a front four of Alex Iwobi, Moses Simon and Brown Ideye and, especially in the first half, they spun some choice silk.
While it is clear that Iwobi and Ideye took their chance to impress, the same cannot be said for Simon. The Gent forward seemed to lack sharpness, and was wasteful in his use of the ball. Of the four, it is he who is most in danger from the likely returns of Victor Moses and Success Isaac for next month’s engagement with Algeria.
All three are broadly the same kind of player, especially if utilised in that wide role on the right: they will look to carry the ball and commit the full-back. The question which arises is whether this is the right profile for the position, in light of the rest of the team.
The key to this is Iheanacho. There is still some debate over the Manchester City man’s best position - he caught the eye more for his creativity at under-17 level than for his admittedly outrageous finishing ability. However, at the Citizens, his evolution into a centre-forward continues apace. He is now clearly a player who does his best work in and around the penalty area.
This means his interpretation of that role behind the forward is more support-striker than actual playmaker. He can still thread the needle, but his best application is now illustrated by his winner, running behind the Zambia defence and onto Ideye’s flick to finish with icy calm.
If this is to be his focus, and the efficiency of this method has been proven to a degree, then it necessitates, not a wide forward on the right, but a player who is capable of drifting into central areas between the lines, enabling the Manchester City man to focus on penetration and providing a menacing penalty box presence.
Curiously, the ideal player for this wide creative brief that the Iheanacho of 2016 needs to flourish is the Iheanacho of 2013.
A playmaker starting in wide positions, but drifting infield and between the lines to play incisive balls into the attack, while still offering a goal threat in scoring positions? This was Iheanacho back in 2013, a member of Manu Garba’s swashbuckling world champions in the UAE.
Iwobi plays a similar role on the left, but playing Simon on the right in Ndola created a structural imbalance deeper. It is noteworthy that it was Mikel, playing very advanced to the right, who supplied the ball into Ideye’s feet for the lay-off. Playing that far forward suits the Chelsea man, but not the team, especially as it leaves an increasingly immobile Ogenyi Onazi with a lot of ground to cover on defensive transitions.
Plugging in a more positionally aware defensive midfielder may be the way to go, but it seems a bit like curing the symptom rather than addressing the problem decisively.
It is a deep irony: by evolving away from that and into the solution to one problem, Iheanacho has left a hole for which there is no immediate apparent fill, thereby creating another. It is now that exact profile, the old player that he was, that he needs to fully unleash his instincts. Where once it seemed Iheanacho was the missing piece, it now appears the Super Eagles may need not one, but two of him.
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