Before Derby County’s recent 2-2 draw against Norwich City, I was surprised to find myself tweeting to defend Jordon Ibe from those who weren’t sure that he should have been named in the starting XI. The criticisms were pretty standard for a winger – no end-product, runs into blind alleys, tires quickly, one-trick pony…
Three games and one goal later, Brendan Rodgers praised Ibe in a press conference and suddenly, the football web was alight with speculation that the teenager might be in line for a recall to Liverpool.
We could all see pretty much straight away the attributes that make Ibe such an exciting prospect. His dynamism, speed and trickery mean that he is guaranteed to be an absolute menace against the more sluggish Championship full backs, who can be reluctantly converted centre backs, or perhaps past their peak.
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What he needs to learn to do – and this is why he is at Derby, not Liverpool – is make the most the situations he creates. Skinning the defender, which is usually referred to as ‘the hard bit’, is not a problem to him, but it’s what comes next – creating the goalscoring opportunity – which separates the best from the rest.
Ibe has five goals to his name this season, putting him on a par with fellow wide forwards Jamie Ward and Simon Dawkins, but behind Johnny Russell (eight goals from wide). However, it’s when it comes to assists that Ibe is lagging – according to my records, he’s only managed one, on Boxing Day – a pass to Craig Forsyth who then scored from outside the box at Birmingham City.
What I’m sure he continues to work on is getting his head up and picking out the key pass, because at the moment, he has a tendency to create the necessary space for a crossing opportunity, only to then take another touch and have another go at the defender instead. This may be out of youthful exuberance and pure Garrincha-esque devilment – whatever, it is holding him back and is something he needs to learn to eradicate from his game if he wants to cut it at an elite club like Liverpool.
It seems pretty clear to me that Rodgers’ recent comments were simply designed to give Ibe encouragement. As a young star out on loan, it must have been good for the lad to be reassured that his manager is watching on approvingly as he continues to learn his trade.
However, any suggestion that Ibe might be ready to make a Sterling-esque impact on the Premier League would be unfair on him. It’s not so long ago that he was subbed after an ineffectual display at Leeds United, where he found himself unable to make any headway at all and was left looking confused and lost on the Elland Road mudheap.
For now, Ibe remains exciting and frustrating in equal measure, but is worthy of his place in Derby’s squad and is a joy to watch when he’s on song. As a Championship club with ambitions to make it into the top flight, we’re getting used to seeing talented young loanees who are clearly gifted, but who also need more work on their game. Ibe falls squarely into that category – and who better than Steve McClaren to nurture him at this stage in his development?
Written by Ollie Wright – follow him here.