Henry Nwosu: Most critics of Keshi not well informed

It is said Eagles’ opening match against Iran left much to be desired. Looking back, are you one of those who are dissatisfied with the performance of the team?I wasn’t impressed with Eagles performance against Iran. They did not play up to the expectations of many Nigerians but I know one thing for sure, the […]

It is said Eagles’ opening match against Iran left much to be desired. Looking back, are you one of those who are dissatisfied with the performance of the team?
I wasn’t impressed with Eagles performance against Iran. They did not play up to the expectations of many Nigerians but I know one thing for sure, the Eagles usually start gradually but as the competition progresses, they get better. I know that they will do better against Bosnia on Saturday.
Technically, what would you say the team did wrong?
The Iranians packed their defence with so many men so what they needed do was to find a way to penetrate the defence making use of more strikers. They should have made use of two wingers and two strikers. But they play a lone striker against a packed defence. It was not the right approach. I expected them to deploy two strikers and also make maximum use of the wings to get the balls to the two standing strikers. There wasn’t enough pressure on the defence. And if I were the one, I would have allowed Victor Moses to continue so we have options on the wings. We could have got a goal, if we operated that way. Mikel and Ogenyi did well in the midfield but I was not impressed with the tactical approach. But sometimes coaches know better what is happening because they are with the team and they know better.
Are you therefore saying those who are vehemently criticising Keshi are wrong?
You don’t criticise what you don’t know anything about. You are not there with the team so how can you criticise? The coaches are there with the players so they know better. All we can do is to render advice and not to criticise. You cannot just open your mouth and start criticising what you do not know. You can criticise when you know what is happening so that people listening will know that this person knows what he is talking about.
His critics have said the team abandoned its pattern of play which is slow build up from the defence to the attack. What do you make of this?
My friend, don’t go too far. We do not have a pattern of play. There is no permanent style for any team. We play according to what we find on the ground.
Most Nigerians are afraid that the Eagles will find it difficult to beat Bosnia because the debutants gave Argentina a tough time. Do you also believe Eagles will find Bosnia a hard nut to crack?
Even if Argentina struggled to beat Bosnia that does not mean it will be difficult for Eagles to beat them. Argentina have their own style of play and we also have our own approach. If we can put our acts together, it may not be difficult for us to beat Bosnia even if Argentina struggled to beat them.  But even before the World Cup, I made my fears known that Iran and Bosnia are the two teams we do not know anything about so it may be difficult to beat them. But thank God we have seen them now and we know better. I am sure the Eagles coaches watched Bosnia play against Argentina. It is now left for them to map out the right strategies.
Eagles have never beaten Argentina at the World Cup. Is this the time to revenge the past defeats?
There is nothing like revenge. Let us leave the match against Argentina for now. We should be talking about Bosnia which is the immediate challenge before the Eagles. When the time comes for Argentina, we shall discuss. I do not believe in anything like revenge.  I believe in counting one before two. When Eagles are done with Bosnia, they can focus on Argentina. For now, it is Bosnia-Herzegovina.
What do you have to say about the face- off between the NFF and Super Eagles players over appearance fee?
My brother I am sure this is the last question I am going to answer. The NFF has come out to say that there is no rift in the team so let’s leave it at that.  Let us not cause problems where there are none. They have denied it so let’s leave that. I am happy that the players are no longer complaining about money. This is to say that everything has been sorted out. Let us allow the players to concentrate on the task at hand.