After his brilliant winner at Easter Road, Celtic fans are wondering why Kelechi Iheanacho can't get a start under Martin O'Neill. Coming off the bench, he always looks incredible, and if we want to have a chance in the Glasgow derby, he should be named in the starting lineup at Parkhead.
Iheanacho has struggled this season with fitness. For most of the campaign, he has gone missing, and it seems like he will be leaving the club when his contract expires in the summer. However, some fans are now calling for his deal to be extended, with him offering quality up front that we haven't had much of this season.
Looking at the stats, it's clear to see why he should be given the chance up front.
Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Iheanacho | 20 | 7 | 1 | 766 |
Maeda | 50 | 12 | 10 | 3,836 |
Cvancara | 13 | 2 | 2 | 778 |
Kenny | 22 | 6 | 2 | 1,108 |
He has performed better than both Cvancara and Kenny, who have played more minutes than him. You have to think that Iheanacho's time in a Celtic shirt would have been better had he not been unfortunate with injuries.
With only a few games left to play, he could show the board why he deserves to be offered an extension. O'Neill needs to trust him though, and with some of the goals he's scoring, there is no reason not to.
Why is Iheanacho not starting?
We have to consider why he is not starting. Is it something that O'Neill is seeing in training? Does he still not think that Iheanacho is fit enough, as he has before? It could be a lot of things, but it does likely come down to that question of fitness.
So, if that is the case, how can we work that up? He is by far the most composed attacking player on the ball when he plays, and his strike is accurate and powerful. He knows exactly where the net is, how to handle himself when under pressure, and has a lot of awareness as to where his teammates are. His positioning is the cherry on top, often getting himself into good positions.
Against the likes of Rangers, he could cause them a lot of problems. But that doesn't mean that Maeda should be dropped either, because there is clearly a partnership to work with there.
We all know how good Maeda's pressing is and how it can cause our rivals a lot of trouble. If we started the Japanese international on the wing and Iheanacho up front, that could result in goals. Some would consider dropping him fully, but he did get on the scoresheet at Easter Road, and that will likely be enough for him to retain his place.
With that being said, he came off at the end of the game without a boot on. It looks like he took a sore one, so we can only hope that he'll be okay for next weekend.
There is a lot of promise going into the derby, but we need to play our cards right. Iheanacho will be desperate to prove that he can do it in the hoops, and I, for one, am pretty convinced.
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