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Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has called on Alex Iwobi to tell him face-to-face where he prefers to play at the club rather than resort to cryptic complaints on social media.
Iwobi marked his selection for Nigeria’s forthcoming internationals against Benin and Lesotho with an Instagram post on Tuesday that read: “Always an honour to get a call up to my national team. Hopefully I get to play in my preferred position.”
The versatile winger did not specify whether he was referring to club or country.
Ancelotti rarely criticises his players in public but has been bemused by Iwobi’s comment.
The Everton manager, who has played the £34m signing in several roles, cited Andrea Pirlo as an example of the benefits of more open communication.
“I read the post. I want to speak to him, of course,” said Ancelotti.
“I want to know his preferred position because usually I want to put a player on the pitch where they are comfortable to play, not where they are uncomfortable to play. If he has an idea of where he prefers to play I have to know, I want to know. I would be delighted to know his preferred position and I’ll put him in his preferred position for sure, no doubt.
“I am going to tell him: ‘Tell me, I am your manager, tell me where you want to play’. When I thought to put Pirlo as a holding midfielder I asked him: ‘Do you like to play there or not?’. ‘Yes’, he said to me, ‘I’d love to play there’ and so I put him there. If he wants to play number 10 or number nine I’ll put him at number 10 or number nine no problem. I can adapt the system.”
This post was written by Chinedu Ibeakanma.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.