The Super Eagles Must Improve Or Else...

After limping through to the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers play offs drawing 1-1 with Cape Verde, the Super Eagles need to improve drastically if it hopes to make it to the World Cup finals in Qatar next year.

The Super Eagles despite starting well against Cape Verde, scoring in the first minute through danger man Victor Osimhen and having the better of the first half chances and possession, could not build on their first half performance and get the second goal that would have confirmed their place in the play offs and calm the nerves of fans all over the world viewing the winner takes all match. 

The Super Eagles struggled to break down the well drilled Cape Verde team in the second half and even though Cape Verde didn’t create many chances throughout the game, there were a few nervy moments in that second half for the Super Eagles late on. 

But at this stage of the qualifiers, it is the results that matter and not how great the performance is. The Super Eagles needed a point to qualify for the next phase and a point they got. Job done.

However, now that they are through to the play offs, we need to examine their overall performance especially those of the past 2 months and begin to ask if the Super Eagles are moving in the right direction.

There is no doubt that winning 4 games, losing 1 and also drawing 1 out of 6 is not a bad score card by any standard. All the same, we need to look at it in the context of the quality of opposition. Liberia, Central Africa Republic and Cape Verde are hardly elite African teams but they all seemed to give Nigeria a game. 

Perhaps it is because Nigeria is one of the most respected teams on the continent and as a result, teams often raise their game whenever they take on the Super Eagles. In any case, the Super Eagles hardly displayed the organisation and tactical discipline other teams in the group showed.

Maybe it is Rohr losing his mojo, or the players are not following his instructions or the team is dependent on their individual quality to see out games. Whatever it is, this needs to change in the next phase as we could come up against the likes of Egypt, Algeria, Morrocco, Senegal and Cameroon in the play offs.

Many of these teams would be more ruthless when we are sloppy at the back and be well drilled defensively. 

Speaking of sloppy, Leon Balogun has been shaky at the back for the Super Eagles of late. I believe Rohr’s switch to a back 3 was made to protect his lack of pace. His mistake led to our loss to CAR in Lagos but he recovered in the second leg to open the scoring in Douala. He was also quite outstanding when the Eagles took on Liberia in Tangiers but his performance on Tuesday was again poor to say the least.

Questions should also be asked why out of the blue Ighalo is back in the team. He is no longer cutting it at the highest level anymore. He should not be strolling into the team on the eve of a tournament. This is disrespectful in my opinion to the players who have worked their way into the team since his departure. There are other strikers who should be given a chance. One of which is Cyril Dessers and even Sunday Awoniyi. 

Rohr speaking in his post match press conference said that he believes the Ighalo-Osimhen partnership will work. Meaning that he plans to use this 3-5-2 formation in the AFCON in January. The truth is that we have too many wingers in this team for Rohr to stick to this formation. 

Ademola Lookman who is also a winger is expected to complete his switch from England to Nigeria and could be available for the AFCON and World Cup play offs next year. 

This is not forgetting the likes of Chukwueze, Ejuke, Musa and so on who are creative options from the wings. 

The Super Eagles have always thrived playing in a 4-3-3 formation and while 3-5-2 is useful when playing against a more superior opponent, it will not suit some of the technically gifted players we have who play on the wings.

Super Eagles On The Brink

The Super Eagles in Tangiers defeated Liberia 2-0 in the 5th round of matches of the African qualifiers for the FIFA 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar to put Nigeria on the brink of qualification for the play offs needing just a point at home. 

If this was the Super Eagles of 2 or 3 years ago, we would have had no fears of a possible upset in this winner takes all game against Cape Verde. But this current Nigerian team has shown a few times this year that the unthinkable is possible. 

Just last month, we lost shockingly at home at the Teslim Balogun stadium to the Central African Republic 0-1 at the last minute after failing to break them down throughout the whole game. Earlier this year, this team threw away a 4 goal lead to Sierra Leone and failed to win the return leg in Freetown in the AFCON qualifiers. 

Of course, the team rallied after these disappointing performances to defeat CAR in Douala in the World Cup qualifiers and got the job of qualifying for next year’s AFCON done by winning their next 2 games against Benin and Namibia. But they could easily have done so with 2 games to spare thereby giving some fringe players an opportunity to showcase their talents.

In their game with Liberia, Gernot Rohr was reluctant to bring in subs who could have changed the game’s dynamics only bringing on Chidera Ejuke and Ahmed Musa when he could have made up to 5 subs. It was not like the team were playing very well or had the Liberians under the cosh. Perhaps Rohr trusted his first 11 and was too timid to make more changes. It took a stoppage time penalty to seal the victory for Nigeria eventually. 

Against Cape Verde which comes up in the next 24 hours, if things don’t go according to plan, he had better be more courageous otherwise we will be kissing Qatar goodbye. 

I believe the Super Eagles have got enough to get at least a point that will see Nigeria through to the play offs. No disrespect, but If we can’t get a point against Cape Verde at home, then we don’t deserve to be in Qatar anyway.

The real issue for me is the quality of opposition that we might face during the play offs because truth be told, the Super Eagles have not been vintage for a while now. And while grinding out victories is welcome when you are struggling, it shouldn’t be the norm.

I will dwell more on this after the game against Cape Verde if we qualify. For now, I wish the Super Eagles the best of luck.

6 Points From 2 Does Not Fool Anyone

The Super Eagles were able to gain maximum points from 2 games as they defeated Liberia and Cape Verde in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers. While many expected the Super Eagles to win these 2 games, the manner in which these games were won leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Against Liberia, the team played decent enough football even though it was boring and not really incisive especially in the second half. The 2 first half goals by Kelechi Iheanacho basically killed the game off as a contest and I want to believe that the players decided not to exert themselves too much as they had the game under control and did not want to risk sustaining an injury or burning out. 

But if you can excuse the below average performance against Liberia, what we saw on display by the Super Eagles away at Cape Verde is simply unacceptable for a team aspiring to become champions of Africa. 

We often watch friendly games and European/CONMEBOL/ World Cup qualifiers involving countries in Europe or South America and we see the brand of football these teams exhibit, the tactics and the organisation they display be it minnows or the big guns in both continents when there is an international break. 

But when it comes to Nigeria, we rarely see this unless the team is playing a high profile friendly game and players have to raise their game. It’s quite disappointing to see players who can’t string 3 passes without giving up possession. 

Okay so, the team lost 9 first team players for the game against Cape Verde either due to a false positive Covid test or because most of them play in England where clubs have resolved that their players will not be released to play in ‘red listed’ countries due to the quarantine measures they would need to follow upon their return to the UK if they do play. 

I also get that they had to play the game on a synthetic pitch but the line up Gernot Rohr announced was filled with seasoned and experienced first team players save for Chidera Ejuke, Kingsley Michael and Innocent Bonke. Michael and Bonke were debutants and both played in the midfield. Which may explain the lack of good ball distribution, transition and ball retention. 

Abdullahi Shehu and Moses Simon were woeful in their crosses often over hitting or under hitting the ball. Ahmed Musa who made his 100th cap for the Super Eagles was anonymous as usual in the attacking midfield, while the defence as a unit was shaky and could have been punished especially in the last quarter of the game when the team was under the cosh as Cape Verde sought an equaliser.

At the end, the Super Eagles after going behind simply capitalised on 2 defensive errors by the ‘Blue Sharks’ to win 2-1 and claim maximum points. Victor Osimhen pounced on an error made by a Cape Verde defender who made a hash of his clearance and their goalie trying to stop the ball from going into the net presented a gift for Osimhen to blast home. 

The second was an own goal in the second half as another defender over hit a back pass and the ball sailed over the keeper. The keeper’s attempts to stop the ball from crossing the goal line proved futile.

Apart from these howlers, you would struggle to think of any chance the team created. And that is because this was a disjointed display. Bonke was painfully poor, lost possesion easily under the Cape Verdan press while Ejuke and Simon could not take on the opposing full backs and put in dangerous crosses for Osimhen to latch on to. 

Rohr has gotten away with a poor showing here and may well qualify unbeaten for the play offs but if performances like this are repeated during the play offs and we happen to be paired with a half decent team then it is bye bye to Qatar 2022.

HARRY KANE'S INSUBORDINATION

England captain and Tottenham Hotspurs striker, Harry Kane was supposed to return to first team training last week Monday after players who were involved in the European Championships were given extended holidays to recuperate. 

He failed to do so and only returned on Saturday. And guess what? The reporting of this rebellion by the British press and the punditry by various analysts of this situation has been low key and toned down because of the individual rebelling. 

Imagine if a certain French midfielder playing in Manchester acted this way. We would not hear the last of it. 

Kane who prior to this time had tacitly indicated that he wanted to move on as Spurs currently were not matching his ambitions to win trophies has by his 5 day AWOL spoken louder than a thousand words. 

Reports indicate that he has a gentleman’s agreement with Spurs Chairman, Daniel Levy, that he would be sold as soon as a big club shows an interest in his services. But like Jamie O’Hara said on TalkSPORT, you don’t reach agreements with the likes of Daniel Levy without putting such on a sheet of paper with both parties signing it. 

It is a shame for Kane that he still has 3 years left on his contract and as it is, Levy will  get premium price for Kane no matter who comes and no matter how long Kane continues to grumble. It is reported that the figure that would persuade Levy to even consider selling him is £160 million pounds. 

Manchester City who are favourites to land his signature just acquired Jack Grealish for a 100 million pounds. They should be able to find another 100 million. Whether they can meet Kane’s valuation of 160 million though is another matter. Whether this deal should even be allowed to go ahead is debatable. City breaking the British record twice in one window should not be allowed in any shape or form. 

At the moment, there is no other club that can pay this collosal amount except Chelsea who are soon to complete the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan. 

In my honest opinion, Kane’s options are limited. No club outside England can pay that fee at the moment. Chelsea are not interested. Man United who might have been interested have more urgent areas in their squad to address and are also struggling to hold on to Paul Pogba. 

Moreover, United who refused to be held to ransom by Borussia Dortmund over Jadon Sancho won’t fork out 160 million anytime soon.

So we are left with Manchester City’s desire to meet Spurs evaluation of Kane or they give up on Kane and go for who else is available or play with a false 9. 

And if City do not get Kane this season, then Kane risks damaging a lot of the goodwill and legacy he has with the club when he leaves. He will get his move eventually but at what cost? 

Kane has a responsibility to conduct himself professionally until he gets his move but if he refuses to get with the programme, then Daniel Levy and Nino Espirinto Santo should let him rot for 2 years ( if he does not come back to his senses, after all, there is a World Cup in 2022) and sell him for whatever he is worth on the final year of his contract.

WATFORD'S ROMANCE WITH NIGERIA

Following the announcement by Watford that Nigerian midfielder, Peter Etebo, has been signed on a one year loan deal from Stoke City, less than 24 hours later, Watford soon announced the signing of yet another player of Nigerian descent, Dapo Mebude from Rangers.

Dapo Mebude who is a Scotland youth international is eligible to play for Nigeria as he has not been capped by the Scotland national team as he is still very young and is still developing his game. 

He joined Watford from Glasgow Rangers who have opted to release him after he was unable to break into their first team. Mebude is a pacy forward and will probably have opportunities limited due to competition from more established forwards like Ismaila Sarr and the pressure on the Watford manager to hit the ground running and ensure Watford’s survival in the premier league.

Watford manager Xisco Munoz, who oversaw Watford’s promotion back into the the premier league, has 4 other Nigerians in his squad to call upon when needed and they include Super Eagles captain William Troost Ekong, Isaac Success, recent signing Emmanuel Dennis from Club Brugge and Tom Dele Bashiru. 

Of all the players mentioned, only Troost Ekong appears to be trusted by Munoz after appearing 32 times for Watford in the Championship last season. Isaac Success appears to be a squad player as he only appeared 9 times last season and has scored only just one goal. 

Dele Bashiru didn’t fare much better as he only appeared twice throughout the whole of last season. Bashiru is 21, still quite young and should have more opportunities in the League Cup and a handful of games in the premier league as a sub. 

What is baffling for me though, is how Isaac Success keeps getting contract extensions at Watford despite being largely unproductive in the last 2 or 3 seasons. He has made a total of 63 appearances spanning 5 years for Watford and has scored only 3 times. A pathetic stat for a forward if you ask me. 

Success and Bashiru have to do more if they want to be more than just squad players. They need to raise their game whenever they are called upon. Fortunately, Bashiru has time on his hands but Success on the other hand, not so much. 

I expect Etebo and Ekong to contribute immensely to the Watford cause in the coming EPL season as they are vastly experienced and seasoned internationals. 

Emmanuel Dennis, however, looks an interesting prospect as he comes with champions league pedigree and even though he fell out with Club Brugge and was subsequently loaned out to FC Cologne where he was unsettled, Watford provides a refreshing opportunity for him to rediscover the form that made him score 19 times for Club Brugge.

The Super Eagles' Uninspiring Victory In Seychelles

Last weekend the Super Eagles got back their African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification campaign back on track as they defeated Seychelles 3-0 in an easy victory at the Linnite stadium in Seychelles.

It will be recalled that Nigeria began their qualification for the Nations Cup to be held next year in Cameroon on a disastrous note as they lost to South Africa in Uyo 0-2.

As a result, this victory over Seychelles is a welcome development even though Seychelles is hardly a team that should give Nigeria sleepless nights. Herein though, lies the problem with the result.

The 3-0 scoreline looks flattering and is capable of giving a skewed impression of the Super Eagles performance on the night for anyone who couldn't see the game.

This game was Nigeria's first game since that disappointing loss to Argentina at the World Cup in Russia. Again, the Nigerian team was poor, ponderous, failed to dominate and riddled with sloppy errors.

The culprits who were guilty of making most of them include the usual suspects Ogenyi Onazi and Kenneth Omeruo. Even Francis Uzoho was even caught in no man's land when he came out rushing for the ball leaving his goalmouth exposed. Fortunately for the visitors, they  weren't punished.

The midfield was as unimaginative as ever as Kelechi Iheanacho brought his poor premier league form with him to the national team as he failed to impose himself on a lacklustre Seychelles side. 

Of course Iheanacho's free kick which came off the upright led to Nigeria's second goal as Chidozie Awaziem scored from the rebound but that and one shot off target marked the only significant contributions Iheanacho made throughout the game.

Another maligned figure, Odion Ighalo grabbed Nigeria's third goal from the penalty spot after Samuel Kalu was brought down in the penalty box and also had a chipped effort hit the crossbar. Other than these, he didn't do much to warm his way back into the hearts of supporters.

To be fair, he was starved of service and isolated for most periods but his overall performance in a relatively easy fixture shows that he has a long way to go to winning back the goodwill of fans. 

In a nutshell, the Super Eagles' performance was bang average. The team had to rely on individual brilliance  to grab the all important 3 points. And on this evidence, Libya whom the Super Eagles face in a double header in October have nothing to fear.

The Super Eagles of course were missing the influence of John Obi Mikel and the creativity of Alex Iwobi in midfield and the defensive partnership of Troost Ekong and Leon Balogun. Balogun had to make do with Omeruo who was guilty of too many silly errors.

It was not all gloom though as there were a few bright moments. Ahmed Musa's performance was great. He also scored Nigeria's first goal. Samuel Kalu had a decent debut. He won Nigeria the penalty which Ighalo converted. Then Awaziem took his chance to stake a claim for a starting place with an impressive performance at right back  and even scoring a goal. Here though ends the positives.

This is hoping that in October when Nigeria come up against group leaders Libya, these injured players will be available to give the squad a bit of cutting edge and wipe the smirk off the Libya's coach's face as he has started his own brand of mind games by calling Nigerians  'Juju' worshippers.

World Cup Exit: Could Nigeria Have Survived?

The Super Eagles were finally knocked out of the World Cup by perennial nemesis Argentina 2-1 at the St Petersburg stadium after a late strike by Argentina's Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo to give Argentina the dramatic winner in a thrilling encounter.

This defeat extends a run of 4 previous straight defeats for the Super Eagles at the hands of Argentina at the World Cup group stage. It is a run dating back to the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

This game though was a good opportunity for the Super Eagles to end this miserable run and get one over Argentina who have become somewhat of a bogey team for Nigeria at the World Cup. Unfortunately, they fell short again against a chaotic and ageing Argentina squad.

The Super Eagles yet again started this game cautiously and showed little attacking intent as they accorded Argentina too much respect as they failed to threaten the Argentine defence in the first half. 

One begging question remains: why has Gernot Rohr failed to arrest what has become a theme for the Super Eagles since the England friendly- their lack of an attacking threat in the first half of games?

Is it plausible that the team are simply following the game plan Rohr has set up for them?

Lionel Messi gave Argentina the lead in the 14th minute. An organised and well drilled team would not give Messi the kind of room he was afforded to wreak havoc so early in the game.

Had the team been better organised as a defensive unit at the start and prevented Messi from grabbing that early opener perhaps the uncertainty that has bedevilled this Argentine squad in this World Cup could have given the Super Eagles a psychological advantage.

Credit where credit is due though, the team did very well in ensuring that Messi didn't have a sniff for the rest of the game as they continually crowded him out and won the ball off him.

The Super Eagles as usual turned up in the second half and grabbed an early equaliser after Javier Mascherano brought down Leon Balogun in the penalty box. Victor Moses stepped up to Coolly convert the resultant penalty.

Nigeria however failed to put the game to bed as Odion Ighalo who had come on at the start of the second half as a substitute for the ineffective Kelechi Iheanacho wasted 2 gilt edged chances to make an Argentina comeback an uphill task.

In earlier posts on this blog, I have been critical of Odion Ighalo's scoring record for the Super Eagles. It has ultimately determined Nigeria's fate at this World Cup. One of Gernot's Rohr's failings has been his inability to scout for prolific strikers for the Super Eagles instead he has put his faith on a misfiring striker.

As harsh as this is on Ighalo, there is a reason why a 29 year old striker who supposedly should be in his prime is plying his trade in China. No decent team  in the top leagues in Europe would have Ighalo as their first choice striker. He is simply not clinical.

Iheanacho deserves a special mention too. He had a poor first half against Argentina and was subsequently hooked at half time. I have been an advocate of his instead of Ighalo. He as well failed to live up to expectation.

Rohr in his press conference after the Argentina game admitted that Iheanacho was not fully fit so this probably explains Iheanacho's display against Argentina. However, should Rohr have started him considering the fact that we had other fitter attackers?

Alex Iwobi was ineffective on the wings in the first game against Croatia but we have seen in times past how effective he is when he plays centrally especially in the friendly against Argentina last year where he scored twice. Could Rohr not have used him ahead of an unfit Iheanacho to partner Ahmed Musa in attack?

Marcos Rojo eventually restored Argentina's lead in the 86th minute and they were able to manage the game till the final whistle leaving all of us to wonder what might have been had we taken the chances that fell our way and managed the game excellently at the latter stages.

Game management- a strategy that only a coach can instill in a team is one of the reasons why Nigeria lost this match. Rohr apparently failed to do this. Because if he had, he would have known that results elsewhere were going in our favour and we didn't have to win at all costs and leave our defence exposed. 

There is simply no reason why the Nigerian defence should be light at the back so late in the game such that a defender would come so far forward and have all the time and space in the world to convert a volley unmarked! Victor Moses was at fault here as he failed to track the run of Marcos Rojo on time.

Rohr then went on to make substitutions that turned out to be too little too late. Rohr again failing to make the right calls. Couldn't he have made some of the substitutions earlier when Nigeria was on top while Argentina were disjointed? 

Had he made the right calls perhaps some of the tiring legs would have been removed so that the fresh ones would keep the game tight in midfield or defence thus preventing the space Rojo had to score Argentina's winner. Small margins.

What does the future hold for Gernot Rohr? Should he keep his job? Common sense dictates that he should since he has built a good team already. And with some tweaks in midfield and attack we should see Nigeria rise again. 

His future of course will be decided by the NFF. But it is clear for all to see that Rohr made some mistakes with some of the personnel he took to this tournament, how the team approached games and getting the best out of his squad. This is hoping he learns from this experience if he is retained. 

What Next For The Super Eagles?

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) elections come up in a few months time. Fingers crossed Amaju Pinnick and other key executive members of the NFF board will be re-elected into office so that the good foundations that have been laid by this current crop of NFF leadership continues to be built upon.

Nigeria has never had it so good for decades in terms of the visionary and exemplary leadership exhibited by Amaju Pinnick and other board members. Their continued presence in steadying the ship will ensure the giant strides they have made continues to bring success long term. 

The African Cup of Nations qualifiers resumes later this year. This team cannot afford to miss out of it next year if they are to go on and become a force in world football. Nigeria started the qualifiers with a 0-2 home loss to South Africa. We need to get back on track quickly if Nigeria is not to miss out of AFCON for the third time in a row.

Rohr, if he keeps his job, should as a matter of urgency find a dependable striker(s) who will bang in the goals. Enough of the wastefulness up front. The team survived in the World Cup qualifiers because goals were spread throughout the team but when that seized we have struggled. 

Rohr should also look at our midfield and see what alternatives the team can have to captain John Obi Mikel. This is not to forget that he needs to play these players according to their strengths and not shoehorn players in order to accommodate favourites.

One positive though from this early ouster is that it appears we have a settled defence and a decent deputy to Carl Ikeme in Francis Uzoho who hardly put a foot wrong in this tournament.

This Super Eagles team certainly has potential and could rule Africa in no time if the coach is not sacked but allowed to continue to improve the squad and correct the mistakes he made at this World Cup.