The Nigeria international will continue to be undermined at Goodison Park until he has the gumption and self-belief to demand what he wants
When Carlo Ancelotti replied, with that characteristic arc of the brow, that he would be discussing with Alex Iwobi to determine the import of his statement on social media, it seemed impossible to tell whether he was putting everyone on or being serious.
“Yes. I read the post and I want to speak with him, of course,” the three-time Champions League-winning manager said. “I would like to know his preferred position because usually I want to put players on the pitch where they are comfortable playing, not where they are uncomfortable.
"If he has an idea where he prefers to play I have to know. I want to know.”
The question, in the wake of the Nigeria international openly relishing the chance to once more play in his “natural position” while on international duty, came in the pre-match press conference ahead of last weekend’s meeting with Burnley at Goodison Park.
While Ancelotti seemed to take it in good grace, it all seemed rather surreal; was the Italian really insinuating that, over a year into his tenure at Everton, he had no idea still what Iwobi’s most effective position was?
Sure enough though, come kick-off against the Clarets, a whole new position was unfurled for the 24-year-old at the top a midfield diamond.
Tucked in behind the two forwards, Iwobi was tasked with providing a creative link between the midfielder three and the strikers; a stark departure from his wider, deeper briefs over the course of the last two years at Goodison.
Unfortunately, the experiment proved to be remarkably short-lived: Burnley came flying out of the blocks, pressed Everton’s build-up excellently, and were two goals to the good inside 25 minutes, forcing a tactical rejig from Ancelotti. That meant Iwobi back on the right in a flat 4-4-2, robbing all and sundry of a proper sample size for evaluating the former Arsenal man’s performance in his new position.
However, the keener-eyed viewer will have noted his work rate in that vignette, as he worked across the width of the pitch to offer options for ball progression, stuck the boot in and moved the ball into the final third brilliantly.
In the broader scheme, however, it might ultimately count for nought.
There is a sense that, tactically, Ancelotti has yet to really settle on a system for this Everton side, and is instead content with a catch-as-catch-can style.
He will often stick with something that works until it doesn’t, a ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mantra that fits in perfectly with his hands-off approach to coaching.
Considering how easy it was for Burnley to overwhelm Everton in that opening period, there is a good chance that is the last anyone will see of the midfield diamond, and Iwobi might find himself tarred by association.
It would be an overly simplistic assessment, and a sad way for the idea to die. However, the player himself would not be without blame: if last Saturday’s decision made anything clear, it is that, all along, there was a bridge in communication between Iwobi and Ancelotti.
True to his word, the Italian fielded Iwobi in the same central role in which he has typically shone on international duty, and did so on relatively short notice, so there is no reason to doubt his sincerity. It brings to mind the scene in Dan Gilroy’s 2014 movie ‘Nightcrawler’, where protagonist Louis Bloom grants a monetary demand from assistant Rick, who immediately realizes he could have had more if he had asked for it.
Did Iwobi really never consider approaching one of the most famously easy-going managers in football to discuss where he might prefer to play? Why did it take a cryptic social media post to put Ancelotti on the trail?
There is a certain cruel irony at play here in that, in a way, this very timorousness is probably the best explanation for why he arguably does not deserve the position permanently. To play as a No.10 is to assume a sizeable portion of the team’s creative responsibility, and (at such a high level, especially) it comes with a lot of demands and expectations which the player must be willing – no, must desire – to take on.
That Iwobi is technically capable of pulling it off is not in doubt, and he certainly has the intelligence and spatial awareness as well.
However, a certain assertiveness and authority is also required, and if this episode has made anything clear, it is that he does not quite have that. At least, not yet...and if even he does not back himself, why should the club?
It is that crucial next step that Iwobi must take. Until he has the gumption to demand what he wants, he will find himself consistently undermined by his own versatility. Coaches like agreeable, flexible players, but only ever as the supporting cast.