George Ilenikhena has had a very good start to his professional football career. Ilenikhena was born in Nigeria but moved to France at the age of 3, where he eventually joined Ligue 2 side Amiens’s academy. He made his first-team debut for the club last season, making 16 appearances in total for Amiens in Ligue 2 and scoring two goals in the process. His limited performances showed enough for Royal Antwerp to sign the 17-year-old, with the current Belgian champions paying a fee in the region of €6 million to secure the talented striker’s services.
Though he has only started three matches in total this season for Mark van Bommel’s side across all competitions, the youngster has turned into a super sub for the Dutch manager, with Ilenikhena scoring nine goals across all competitions this season. The last two have been very late impact goals, with the 17-year-old scoring a late equaliser against Anderlecht in the league while also scoring the winner in their final UEFA Champions League group stage match against Barcelona. In fact, the goal against the current Spanish champions made Ilenikhena the youngest-ever French goal scorer in the competition, surpassing Paris Saint-Germain‘s Warren Zaïre-Emery.
This tactical analysis and scout report will take a more in-depth look at the talent that the 17-year-old possesses and whether or not he could be an eventual starter for van Bommel’s side.
Preferred position & style of play
Regarding where George Ilenikhena prefers to play and how he fits the team’s tactics, the 17-year-old excels at playing through the middle, where he runs into a potential issue regarding starting games with Antwerp. The French forward did inherit the #9 shirt when he arrived in Belgium, but he has been stuck behind Dutch international Vincent Janssen, with van Bommel preferring to play with one striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The heat map above shows the average positions the 17-year-old has found himself in this season. As we can see, most of Ilenikhena’s actions have occurred inside the opposition penalty box, but the French striker offers much more. The Antwerp striker has all the traits of an excellent all-around #9, with Ilenikhena being a freak athlete and possessing a turn of pace that allows the 17-year-old to beat his defender and leave him in the dust. He is also aggressive, with Ilenikhena not afraid to go into challenges with opposition players or look to put pressure on opposition back passes, with him almost forcing a few mistakes from opposing goalkeepers this season, or playing with his back to goal and dropping into deeper pockets of space in the midfield areas.
Ilenikhena is also left-footed, making him unpredictable when taking defenders on and looking to drive towards the opposition goal at opposition defences. The Frenchman also has a very good and intuitive first touch, allowing him to create space when he receives possession for himself on the ball or to find a teammate making a run in behind the opposition’s defence. This scout report will thoroughly examine some of these traits throughout this analysis.
Looking to pressure opposition goalkeepers consistently
As was briefly mentioned in the last section, George Ilenikhena possesses a very good combination of pace, physicality, and aggressiveness. When he is able to get going, the 17-year-old is rapid, which allows him to get past defenders with ease and not allow them to catch back up once he blows past them, which we will look at later in this analysis. However, paired with his aggressiveness, the 17-year-old French striker can constantly torment opposition goalkeepers on back passes, with him getting very close to stealing possession off some directly in multiple matches.
The image above shows an example of the pressure that Ilenikhena can consistently put on opposition goalkeepers, as this recent Champions League match against FC Porto illustrates. In this phase of play, the Portuguese side are attempting to build out from the back, with the right-back put under pressure and forced to play back to his goalkeeper, Diogo Costa. Being able to read the situation, the 17-year-old is already moving towards Costa as the ball is travelling, with Ilenikhena looking to negate the angle to the weak side player while also looking to win possession. However, the ball reaches Costa just before the striker, with the Porto goalkeeper able to quickly sweep the ball to the weak side defender, with Porto able to escape the pressure.
The image above shows another example of George Ilenikhena’s ability to put pressure on opposition goalkeepers and force them into mistakes. In this Belgian Cup match against Challenger Pro League side Lierse, the second division side were in possession with the ball played back to the Lierse goalkeeper. Again, Ilenikhena is able to put the ‘keeper under immediate pressure due to reading the pass back, with his body positioning forcing the play to the weak side.
While two Lierse players are positioned to receive the ball in this area, the pass is not hit with a lot of pace and ends up in the space between the two defenders, allowing the Antwerp winger enough time to advance and challenge for the ball. As a result, the winger is able to win possession back inside the penalty area for Antwerp, allowing the current Belgian champions to create a goalscoring chance, all off the back of Ilenikhena’s pressure on the Lierse goalkeeper.
Though he has not yet been able to snatch the ball off of a ‘keeper directly, he has been able to force opposition goalkeepers into errors due to his aggressiveness and pace, as well as decision-making and reading of the game off the ball, which has allowed Antwerp to regain possession in very advanced areas of the pitch on multiple occasions throughout this season so far.
Pace to get by defenders & instinctive first touch
The most vital traits that George Ilenikhena currently possesses are his pace to get past defenders, with or without the ball at his feet, and his ball control, specifically his first touch. The 17-year old striker is rapid, with him frequently able to run past defenders and leave them in the dust, with this being accentuated more by his instinctive first touch.
The French striker is not necessarily a high-octane dribbling centre-forward, with Ilenikhena averaging only 2.82 dribbles per 90 minutes with a success rate of 59.5%. Most of his excellent ability in possession comes from his first touch, with Ilenikhena having a natural striker’s first touch, with this ball control allowing him to create space for himself or his teammates.
The figure above shows an example of this first touch that allows Ilenikhena time and space to make a decision after receiving possession. In this phase of play, the 17-year-old forward received possession from Janssen, who dropped into a pocket in the midfield to get on the ball and progress possession. Ilenikhena has drifted slightly wide but is still positioned just outside the posts in a favoured shooting position.
He is matched up 1v1 against the Charleroi defender, and the forward’s sublime first touch allows space to be created. As the ball is played from Janssen, Ilenikhena controls the pass with his left, cushioning the ball and forcing the defender to freeze before dropping off and allowing Ilenikhena the space. As the defender drops off, this allows the forward the space to cut inside and curl a shot on goal with his dangerous left foot. Unfortunately, the shot hits the post and bounces back out, but this chance was created due to Ilenikhena’s initial ball control to create space for himself in the final third.
The figure above shows another example of this first touch control and pace that George Ilenikhena possesses. In this phase of play above against Cercle Brugge, the ball can find its way to Ilenikhena, with the 17-year-old able to fully display what he excels at. The first thing to notice is that he can get the ball side of the central defender, and he can use his arm well to create distance between himself and the defender.
Ilenikhena’s first touch is with the inside of his left foot, with the forward able to push the ball into the space behind the Cercle Brugge defence. He then can use a burst of pace to get by the central defender and latch onto the loose ball, allowing him to continue progressing the ball into the attacking half for Antwerp.
Ilenikhena’s strong first-touch control also allows him to win fouls relatively often against opposition defenders. Like the previous example, he is again on the right side of the defender, playing with his back to goal and keeping the defender behind him and shielded with his body. The touch is again sublime, with him able to cushion the ball with his left as he turns and gently nudges the ball in front of him and turns to run onto the loose ball.
This forces the defender to pull Ilenikhena back and foul him, preventing the 17-year-old from running through on goal. For someone still very young and who has not had many senior appearances yet to his name, Ilenikhena possesses a natural and instinctive first touch that many top-level strikers have in their repertoire. It is not often you see a loose touch or the ball get away from Ilenikhena when he is looking to control it, which is pretty standard for forwards of his age who still do not have many first-team appearances in senior football.
Attacking output with limited minutes
As the title of this analysis says, George Ilenikhena has been somewhat of a super sub for Mark van Bommel this season. The French forward has only started three times in total for Antwerp, yet he has scored nine goals, with five coming in the Belgian Pro League. All of this output has also come in a limited number of minutes in his debut season in Belgium, with the 17-year-old playing just over 500 minutes in all competitions so far for van Bommel’s side.
The data viz graphic above shows the shot map of Ilenikhena this season, and what he has been able to accomplish in limited minutes. Though it may not be the largest sample size, the striker has managed nine goals off only 19 shots in all competitions, posting an xG of 0.21 per shot. In total, the 17-year-old is averaging 2.64 shots per 90 minutes, with 63.2% of those being on target. The question that may be asked is how these numbers may look over a longer period. Still, it is hard to argue that after a bit of an adjustment period and a slower start to life in Belgium, he is beginning to show what he is capable of on a more consistent basis.
The figure above shows an example of Ilenikhena’s shot selection and positioning to create space and have the time to get a shot off. The ball is played into the centre of the penalty box, with the ball able to be cushioned back first time from Vincent Janssen. Ilenikhena does well to create space by slowly creeping into the penalty box, preventing Charleroi defenders from picking him up and marking him.
As a result, when the ball found its way to Janssen, Ilenikhena already found himself in a good position with some space to take a touch and settle the ball before attempting a shot. Then, under incoming pressure from two advancing Charleroi defenders, Ilenikhena can fire an unsavable shot into the top corner past Hervé Koffi in the Charleroi goal.
The recent match against Anderlecht shows an excellent example of Ilenikhena’s ability to find space in tight areas and demonstrate a good finishing ability. In this first image, we can see that Ilenikhena is positioning himself at the back post area, with him able to find some space between the Anderlecht fullback and centre-back, with the key being that he is goal side of the fullback, with the centre-back in front of him unaware of his presence on the back post.
The image above shows what happens as the play develops. Toby Alderwiereld misses the ball but manages to find its way to Ilenikhena at the back post. The 17-year-old has the superior position on both defenders, with the centre-back not able to turn quickly enough and react to try and block the shot from Ilenikhena. Another thing to notice is what Ilenikhena does to the defender on his back. The French striker uses his arm to seal off the defender, preventing him from making any defensive move on the ball, with Ilenikhena able to stab the ball home first time with his left foot, which results in another late goal in another big match for the current Belgian champions.
As this section has been able to illustrate, George Ilenikhena has been able to demonstrate this season, albeit with a limited number of minutes, that his future is bright from a goalscoring and chance creation perspective and the step up to Belgian football from Ligue 2 did not come too soon. While he may still not start many games this season, as he continues to get more adjusted to the Belgian league, it would be surprising if he does not start plenty of matches for Antwerp in the future.
Conclusion
As this scout report and tactical analysis has shown, George Ilenikhena is a very talented player, and, likely, he will not stay at Antwerp for very long. While he could still do with at least one more full season of regular first-team football at Antwerp, it would be unsurprising if, before long, bigger clubs around Europe start circling and look to sign the young French striker away from Antwerp and the Bosuilstadion.
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