This is the concluding part of my article which I started last week on how Stephen Keshi can turn the fortunes of the Super Eagles around so that we can take our rightful place amongst the best teams in Africa and even the world .
Last week I took a look at the goal keeping options we currently have and also the defence and concluded that a new understudy for Vincent Enyeama is needed. Keshi also needs to find a new right back and possibly, a cover for the first choice right back.
The midfield remains Keshi's biggest challenge
The Super Eagles midfield still remains Keshi's biggest weakness. In modern football, the top teams have a creative and efficient midfield. Keshi has to find a fine balance between the defensive personnel and their attacking/creative counterparts when building a solid midfield for the Super Eagles.
Keshi has to search both home and abroad for creative midfielders who can help the current crop of misfiring strikers to create lots of chances so that the strikers can put some away. There aren't too many creative Nigerian midfielders flying high at club level in Europe today, sad to say. We depend so much on wing play which could be frustrating when we come up against teams happy to sit back and defend. Our lack of creativity in midfield affected us at the last AFCON qualifiers when we played both South Africa and Sudan away from home. In both games we failed to score or create many decent opportunities.
The dearth of creative and talented midfielders to replace ageing players in the Super Eagles is a serious indictment on the NFF's youth development programmes and our junior teams. Since Austin Okocha quit the Super Eagles in 2006, there has been no genuine successor for that number 10 shirt.
John Obi Mikel looked to have the potential to fill the boots left by Okocha when he bust into limelight at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2005 but his move to Chelsea under the guidance of 'the Special One', killed that hope. Mikel has become a defensive midfielder who prefers the easy and safe options of square plays and back passes. This is not what we need at this time.
Unfortunately, Mikel remains arguably our best midfielder which is a sorry situation because what this means for the Super Eagles is that, as long as he remains our best, we will never rise above mediocrity in the midfield. We have never been short of defensive and box to box midfielders. What we lack in abundance is a creative player. If Keshi can find a midfielder half as good as Okocha, the Super Eagles team could become the top team in Africa in no time.
Kelechi Iheanacho looks to be the solution to this midfield conundrum. The bad news is, it appears he may have miscalculated in joining a team like Manchester City to develop his game since City rarely give players in the feeders a look in whether in the short or long term. Manuel Pellegrini's position at City appears under threat. If he survives the axe that could fall on him come end of the season, he is unlikely to look Iheanacho's way for respite.
A dependable goal scorer needs to be sought after quickly
One of the biggest failings of the Super Eagles at the World Cup in Brazil was our failure to score goals. It was no different at the last AFCON qualifiers where we struggled to score and when we managed to, we were quite wasteful. Emmanuel Emenike has not scored for Nigeria since we played Ethiopia during the World Cup qualifiers for Brazil. Ahmed Musa is one of our biggest culprits when it comes to not taking easy chances. Victor Moses has been over looked by Keshi since Moses' poor performance at the World Cup.
But the attack after the goal keeping department still remains the strongest part of the Super Eagles. There is, of course, a need for some changes in personnel. Moses needs to be re-called. He is arguably the most in form Super Eagles player in Europe presently. Emenike was effective on the wings at the World Cup in Brazil, Keshi could give him a look in on the right wing.
For the striker position, Keshi needs to look in the direction of Victor Anichebe. The only snag is his wretched injury record and Anichebe's self imposed exile from the Super Eagles. Keshi has to try and persuade him to come out of retirement. Shola Ameobi is an alternative but he needs to score goals to prove he is worth an invitation. So far, Sone Aluko looks to be the real deal in attack. His ability to play on the wings or behind the main striker is an added advantage for the team if tactical changes need to be made.
A case could be made for Brown Ideye but his penchant for missing easy chances was probably the reason he was over looked by Keshi for the World Cup and ever since.
There are quite a lot of options in attack but the tricky challenge for Keshi is discovering a good and potent combination that will trouble defences and score goals. The jigsaw puzzle still remains the creative midfield which Keshi can manage in the short term with effective wing play coupled with hard working midfielders but Keshi has to make sure he doesn't leave his position when his contract expires without solving the midfield puzzle.
No comments:
Post a Comment