AFCON2015: 4 steps to put Eagles qualification hopes back on track
“Escape from Cape Town” by some Nigerians. Super Eagles qualification hope for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco now hangs by a thread, winning our remaining matches is of utmost importance starting with the double header against Sudan next month before travelling to Brazzaville to face the Red Devils of Congo and finishing […]
“Escape from Cape Town” by some Nigerians. Super Eagles qualification hope for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco now hangs by a thread, winning our remaining matches is of utmost importance starting with the double header against Sudan next month before travelling to Brazzaville to face the Red Devils of Congo and finishing the campaign against Bafana at home, Keshi must address the following in order to keep the hope of retaining the title next year alive.
Expand Lookout for new talents
I can unequivocally say that Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries when it comes to sporting talent, despite all the administration and facilities challenge our sportsmen and women keep finding a way to excel which is astonishing. We have amazing players all over the world that would be honoured to be invited to camp to showcase what they have but they are continuously ignored while some of those that keep getting the call ups are either not good enough or belive they are doing the country a favour by turning up to represent it. Abiola Dauda who recently moved from Partizan Belgrade to Vitesse is a player that should get attention considering his scoring record but has never received a call up.
Technique
Against Congo in Calabar, Uche Nwofor looked lost in the midst of the Red Devils defence and immediately Emmanuel Emenike (whose crime was coming late to camp hence he was dropped to the bench) came in the, it was very visible that he became a handful to the Congolese who couldn’t keep up with his strength and stamina and in the South Africa clash in Cape Town, the 4-5-1 adopted by the gaffer wasn’t working and I expected him to rejig the side in the second half but he kept the same formation which again isolated Emenike upfront and our midfield didn’t help matters as the service needed by the striker wasn’t forthcoming.
Substitutions
Apart from dishing out instructions from the sideline and during half time talk, the most important impact a coach could have on his team is to substitute the right player for the right player at the right time and this is one area great coaches like Sir Alex Ferguson have used to their advantage to get to the level they did (the 1999 Champions League final easily comes to mind)
Keshi keeps getting it wrong with his substitutions, it was very evident during the World Cup in Brazil and yesterday Gbolahan Salami who looked lost on the right hand flank (also didn’t help his cause with his wasteful corner kicks) was kept on the pitch till the dying minutes.
Hopefully Nigerians would see a different Super Eagles by the time they take on fellow group strugglers Sudan in Khartoum next month.
Recall Uche Brothers and Mba:
With due respect to Emmanuel Emenike(who terrorizes defences with his physique and shooting ability)but when it comes to goal ratio, silky touches and link play(which are the most important in the modern game) Ikechukwu Uche is miles ahead of the Galatasaray Striker, his elder brother, Kalu, who now plays with Qatari Side Ar Rayyan having garnered massive experience in Europe is another player that would add impetus to the current Eagles and lastly many people still find it unbelievable that Nigeria’s AFCON 2013 triumph hero Sunday Mba has now been made a pariah to the squad since after a supposed lateness to the pre-World Cup camp. Whatever personal issues Keshi has with these players are none of Nigerians problems who only want to see the best players on the pitch and reserve bench.