Super Eagles Evolution: Nacho and the 'Raumdeuter'

 On November 13, 2020 on Match Day 3 of the Africa Nations Cup qualifiers, Nigeria raced to a four goal lead against Sierra Leone in under thirty minutes. The match would end in a 4-4 draw, with the Super Eagles barely hanging on...

The match would have a profound effect on the thinking of erstwhile manager Gernot Rohr, who would begin a long process of trying to evolve the team around a less expansive approach, including the eventual return/transition(?) to a 4-4-2, with Kelechi Iheanacho in the role behind Victor Osimhen, and the combination of Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo in central midfield.

With Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo established as the pairing in central midfield (as further confirmed at AFCON), the tactical questions around the team have revolved around:

• First the role of Kelechi Iheanacho, ahead of the central midfield duo and behind Victor Osimhen; and
• Second, the potential for a further evolution of the team to a 4-3-3, especially with the emergence of the talented FC Midtjylland midfielder, Raphael Onyedika, to possibly play on the right of an inverted triangle in central midfield.

However, given the immediate challenges facing the team, a world cup qualifier vs Ghana, the focus of my piece is naturally on the current squad, specifically the role of Kelechi in a 4-4-2, and the continuing lack of fluidity in the attacking design of play.

For most managers, including the most team-oriented managers, the focus of the attacking design of play is often how to get the best out of their most important players. And in the case of Nigeria, that is obviously Victor Osimhen.

In the final year of Gernot Rohr's tenure as coach of Nigeria, the lack of clarity in Kele's role, the tentativeness of the manager, coupled with the weaknesses of the player himself, combined to produce a team of mediocre attacking intent and anemic execution.

In the support striker role, since 2020, Iheanacho has scored four goals for Nigeria in 17 appearances. In the history of the Super Eagles, this is not a new role, having been executed to brilliant effect by Nwankwo Kanu, who brought a level of intelligence beyond the reach of the Leicester City man.

In the current game, this is a role most aptly defined by Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller, as the "Raumdeuter position", literally translated as a space investigator, which combines football intelligence, understanding/appreciation of space and the movement of players, as well as the selflessness to place one's technical skills in service of the team.

At his best, Kelechi brings a decisive finishing ability in the box. But he also brings average individual technique, a limited appreciation of space or understanding of movement, an inability to play between the lines or out wide. Too often in the final attacking phase, going back to his days at Man. City, is the familiar posture of a static Kele, hands spread wide besides him calling for the ball, rather than making the movement to open up play and advance the attacking game.

If Kelechi is to be a decisive player for Nigeria, we must accept the fact of what his game is about and place him squarely in the penalty area, as a sub for our main striker Osimhen, and use the place he vacates to strengthen the attacking game from midfield.

On paper Nigeria will start with a stronger squad than Ghana. Both countries possess distinctly dysfunctional federations, both of which are scrambling at the moment, with Nigeria only marginally better. I expect that Ghana will bolster the squad from AFCON, but a lot will depend on the ability of Otto Addo and George Boateng to quickly build relationships to bring all eligible players in the fold. An unenviable task to accomplish within the next five weeks...

With Ademola Lookman now eligible, I would seriously consider him for the role behind Osimhen, especially if the team does not transition to a 4-3-3. 

Lookman's ability to play in small spaces, between the lines in the center, as well as from wide, bring a dynamism and tactical flexibility that Kelechi cannot offer the team.

The Amaju Pinnick Rhapsody

 As at the time on November 28, 2021 when Gernot Rohr submitted the Nigerian provisional list for the Africa Nations Cup (AFCON), a team five years in making, there were reasonable grounds to expect a proper Nigerian challenge for the title.

Over these past five years, a competitive squad had emerged with a mix of top young players and experienced players, and especially with options in several positions to allow for proper internal competition for places. In defence however, quality options continued to be limited. 

Still, with the excellent Wilfred Ndidi screening in front of the back four, there were reasonable grounds to expect defensive solidity.

In terms of the team play and the development of the team's game, the Nigerian game had not progressed since the last AFCON, and with unexpected losses at home to Central Africa Republic, a manager of five years was expectedly under pressure.

A conservative manager continued to string along, with a football that was as inspiring as watching paint dry, and a demeanor that reminded one of the Godfather character Ayman Roth...

Yet, in spite of those embarrassing losses, the team always met the sole objective of a qualification campaign- qualify!

Two and half weeks from the release of the list, Nigeria would fire its manager and Augustine Eguavoen appointed as interim manager. Eguavoen would formally meet his full team at the AFCON venue in Cameroon and would reportedly hold only three sessions, including a practice match, before its opening encounter to Egypt.

In explaining the decision to fire the manager with about 13 days to the tournament opener, the Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick would state that the intervention was made to "avert a disaster". 

Recall that it is the same Pinnick that resisted the initial clamor to separate from the manager post World Cup 2018, then resisted making a decision on the manager post AFCON 2019, each time pointing to the big picture perspective...

But with 13 days to the tournament, decides that Nigeria faced looming disaster and thus needed to fire the manager.

Not once in several press appearances did Mr Pinnick identify the indicative factors that led to this conclusion, nor a thoroughly compliant and useless Nigerian sporting press corps question him properly to justify this decision.

Nigeria would thus, ironically, snatch a second round exit from a potential AFCON title challenge! From a potential AFCON challenge to a second round exit, after having only played a proper half of football!!

The Pinnick rhapsody is unfortunately typical of the kind of hubris that surrounds decision making by Nigerian public officials, with little or no critical thinking and zero consultations with credible experts.

The Nigerian exit to Tunisia is entirely on the NFF President Amaju Pinnick!

The results from the group games cannot and should not absolve him from the disaster that he manufactured and the one that ultimately befell Nigeria. Football is not that simple that we can serially make bad decisions and expect to be successful!

Its more than two years since Nigeria appeared in any FIFA youth tournaments.

The Nigerian domestic league continues to flounder.

Player salaries cannot be guaranteed. Coaching and player development is decades behind modern trends,

And in response, the NFF President Amaju Pinnick has now fully outsourced the development of national team players to the diaspora!

Nigerian football, like a troubadour continues to traverse the football landscape, but unlike a Dennis Brutus poetry, with neither rhyme nor reason.

And now on comes José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro as new manager.

What is his philosophy of the game? How does that sync with our football culture and quality of available players? What is the long term vision?

Who is asking these questions?

Listen to Pinnick: "We are proud of the efforts of the players. They gave their all and tried very hard to win even when they had numerical disadvantage. It was just not our day," he said Link.

Just like that, a troubadour continues to traverse.....

The Evolution of Nigerian Wingers

 

In a recent interview, current Nigeria Interim Coach and NFF Technical Director Austin Eguavoen spoke about a Nigerian football philosophy and the integral role of wingers in this.

Against Egypt in Nigeria's opening game of the African Nations Cup (AFCON), as if to reprise this, the Super Eagles played with great emphasis on attacking wide spaces through Moses Simon and Samu Chukwueze.

Traditionally, Nigeria has always been blessed with pacy wingers. The roles of the wingers have typically been based on using their athleticism, speed and dribbling ability in going down the flanks and delivering crosses for the central strikers.

Seventies and Eighties

In the 1970s and 80s, this was typified by the performance of such players and Kunle Awesu, Ogidi Ibeabuchi, Baba Otu Mohammed. These players defined the role by their speed and dribbling, and the ability to deliver crosses.

In the 1980s, Nigerian wing play was largely defined by the performance of Segun Odegbami and Adokiye Amesimaka. But unlike the prior generation, in addition to the qualities of speed, dribbling and crossing, these wingers added the role of scoring, by cutting from wide to shoot on goal. While the likes of Awesu and Ogidi did score goals, but not at the level of the likes of Odegbami, Willie Nzeakor, Tarila Okoronwata, Friday Elaho, Ndubuisi Okosieme, etc.

In both generations, their positioning was typically high upfield, with cross field balls delivered into space for them to utilize their speed and athleticism to get past the lateral defenders.

Westerhof -Finidi Transition

But by far the most significant evolution of Nigerian wingers (and wing play) would occur with the arrival of Dutchman Clemens Westerhof and his conversion of George Finidi, a right-sided central midfielder with Calabar Rovers to a wide midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation. 

In this redefined role, his game would begin from midfield and would also involve defensive responsibilities in support of the central midfielders and the fullbacks.

Within this same period, the Nigerian winger would be further redefined by conversion to central striking roles, sometimes as a support striker or lone striker. This new role was perhaps best exemplified by the success of Victor Ikpeba as a striker with FC Monaco, in what was easily the high point of his career. Similar to him was Amunike's role, first in Portugal and then at Barcelona, although constrained severely by injury, as well as Christopher Ohenhen who would excel in this role with SD Compostela in Spain.

Wide Forward

In recent times, the role of the Nigeria winger would further evolve to wide forward, running diagonally from wide to support the central striker or as part of a dynamic trio of strikers, from both the left and right wings. This largely began with the likes of Tijanni Babangida, Pius Ikedia, Victor Moses, and is currently seen in the roles of the aforementioned Simon, Chukwueze, Ahmed Musa, etc.

In more recent years, this evolution would involve their use in inverted roles, to allow them cut in from wide and arrive in the last third on their stronger foot, with the right footed Simon on the left and the left footed Chukwueze on the right.

Further Transition

Against Egypt, Nigeria deployed Simon in a predominantly wide position on the right, with a seeming throwback to the 70s and 80s in the manner in which he used his speed, athleticism and dribbling to repeatedly overpower the hapless Al Ahly defender Akram Tawfik and later Mohamed Abdelmonem.

This approach to use of wide players is replicated in many domestic teams and in the youth national teams, with the dominant play relying on the dribble to overcome in 1v1 situations out wide.

While Simon is a good player as underlined by his performances at Nantes, his performance against Egypt was as much testimony to his abilities as it was the weakness of the Egyptian defenders, who never got their spacing right or provided enough support to deny him space. 

In any case, despite his overall influence on the game in the first half, the performance often lacked quality end product, and by the latter part of the second half, had become quite predictable. And if he and Chukwueze have to be played as traditional wingers, perhaps there's no need to invert their positions so that they cross with their stronger foot.

As teams increasingly deploy low block defensive systems and space becomes a premium, there is a need for Nigerian wing play to further evolve and rely less on overcoming 1v1 situations with the dribble, to a more nuanced approach. An approach that relies on first creating space and then positioning the likes of Simon to accelerate in open play, either on the flanks or centrally (Tijani Babangida vs South Africa).

Let there be no misunderstanding. In the modern game with limited space, the value of players who can run at a defence cannot be overstated. 

But the key is in finding space; in being able to position such players within the time and space for them to constantly break defensive lines (central or wide) and unbalance defenders squeezing the lines between zones, without frequent loss of possession as we see for instance with Dembele at Barcelona.

For the current Super Eagles, this would require greater patience and more control in central midfield and Nigeria has enough quality in Joe Aribo and Wilf Ndidi to do this. It would also require the use of Kelechi and the fullbacks to create triangles, high and wide, before the delivery into space for a late run behind the fullbacks.

RE: Maduka Okoye (GK) Reviews

 I have seen a lot of reviews of Okoye following the Cape Verde match, most negative, largely based on the goal he conceded at the near post.

The conclusion from the 19th minute goal is that he had an awful, horrendous game. Some have since called for his replacement.

Ironically, most reviews are unanimous that he was largely untested, and besides the goal he conceded, largely dealt with any other problems that came his way.

The Goal:

On the goal, he clearly gambled on the shot going to his wide side, which is often never a good decision. Most GK coaches will teach focus on the fundamentals FIRST; which in this case was simple. Cover your near post! He failed clearly.

However, the concession of a goal, often requires greater analysis than a simple finger pointing. Yes, goals can be the direct result of goalkeeping howlers, but most goals are the result of larger problems and failures, before the ball ever gets to the goalie, however much we might expect them to deal with the problem.

Larger Issues:

Against Cape Verde, Rohr largely set up Nigeria in a low to medium block. In the early part of the game though, Nigeria was pushing high, and keeping a high defensive line (see below).

                                    © 2021 Imgur, Inc

However, the integrity of that defensive line was highly compromised, resulting in three defensive lines, where there should be only one!

What is worse, save for the first, none of those other lines could've stopped a fly, much less the goal scorer Dylan Tavares, from being offsides!!!

Further upfield, there was an appalling lack of pressure on Roberto Lopes, left to enjoy the tranquil of Shamrock Island, with time and space willingly afforded to pick his head up and deliver the ball over the top...

Clearly, this was a front to back team failure, including the goalkeeper who at the very least should defend his covered side.

But it also points to larger issues in the tactical organization of the team and the choices made by a normally conservative manager.

Normally, this could be excused by the fact that this was an entirely unfamiliar defensive quartet, and this is indeed true. However, the same issues are evident in the main team.

There is a continuing lack of detail in the tactical organization of the team, especially without the ball. What is unclear to me is whether this is simply a coaching failure, individual player failure, a combination of the two, or a lack of quality in the options available to national team selectors..

Overall Performance:

The focus on the goal conceded has the unfortunate effect of sometimes overshadowing what was a functional and professional performance on the road in an African world cup qualifier.

After conceding in the 19min, Nigeria dominated the first half and was denied a go-ahead goal, following the equalizer by good goalkeeping. 

In the 2nd half, Nigeria setup a low to medium block and, bar one through ball which was marginally offside, was untroubled, as the space behind for the ball over the top no longer existed..

Looking (Slightly) Ahead:

The performance also showcased the depth of this team, and the two debuting central midfielders, Bonke and Michaels, have probably played themselves into the main squad.

With very few opportunities for international friendlies as a result of the pandemic, there is a need to push the envelope a bit in looking for options to challenge in central defence, especially with regard to Kevin Akpoguma.

The Failure of Nigeria to Develop Football

In my considered opinion, Nigeria has failed to develop football. Much like in the economic sector, it is possible to grow without developing.

Thus, it is possible to win the U-17 trophy repeatedly, but without substantively developing your talent.

How is this possible you ask; after all we have won the U-17 trophy defeating teams like Brazil, Germany, Italy, etc. What is more, several of our U-17 players have been signed by top clubs over the years!

I will answer the question this way:

At its most fundamental level, the U-17 tournament is about the primacy of individual talent. Even discounting the issue of use of overaged players, a look at the background of the individual Nigerian players would reveal certain inherent advantages, which their upbringing as footballers would confer on them over their European counterparts.

Learning football in a largely informal setting, in my opinion gives our players greater maturity from increased play time and therefore a head start, in their ability to thrive in a competitive environment. Especially in a competitive environment, defined more by individual talent, than the collective unit- tactics and organization.

But even at that, advances in training in youth academies in Europe and South America, is increasingly nullifying this gap.

This is why at the slightly higher level of the U-20 tournament, Nigeria has not done as well.

Why is this?

Because Nigeria has failed to develop football- her footballers.

Does that mean we haven't developed any players? No we have, especially in years past.

However the situation has been deteriorating from several decades back. Today, while there are supposedly structures (such as academies or NFF's youth development teams), many of these lack the knowledge to properly develop young players. This is evident from the quality of players coming through such as the last U-17 team.

As many of the readers of this blog know, I am a Liverpool FC fan. But apart from watching the first team, and the likes of Mane, Salah, Van Dijk and Bobby Firmino, I am also an avid follower of the team's academy.

Which brings me to the young player, Curtis Jones. First time I saw him play, his talent was obvious. But also visible was how rough he was around the edges.

But I have seen many a Nigerian young player whose talent would drown Jones at his absolute best!

Going back to the likes of Segun Olukanmi, Dipriye Teibowei, Fred Dumbi, Benjamin "Avenger" Uzoka, etc....

Here's Jones in his own words:

“I grew up the way a lot of Scousers do, just being a street kid, not having the best facilities, and making the most out of everything you can.
“Growing up [in Toxteth] made me the player I am today—confident, brave, knowing where I need to get to.”

Commenting on Jones, Liverpool FC coach Jurgen Klopp had this to say:

“[He is] good at dribbling and stuff like that,” he explained, “but now we need to make sure he finds the right moment to pass the ball.”

Assistant Coach, Pep Lijnders would provider a more in-depth analysis:

“You can have a lot of passion but if there’s no structure then you have no chance.
“You need organization, tactical discipline and the right distances…that’s the father and mother of football.” Link

At critical levels in the upbringing and development of the average Nigerian player, dominated by Nigerian coaches and officials, Nigeria has failed, and continues to fail to develop footballers.

It is true that at many of these critical levels, resources are often scant, and as the approaches to develop young players continue to advance, countries like Nigeria will lag even further behind.

However at its most basic level, take away all the new and fancy technologies and techno-speak, the development of a young player comes down to the quality of knowledge and guidance available to the player, and the ability of a well-informed coach to impart this to him.

The ambition of every young Nigerian footballer is to play professionally in Europe. This is understandable and is largely driven by economics.

But young Nigerian footballers should not have to go abroad to be able to maximize their talent. And even if they cannot earn the equivalent of the riches in European football, at the very minimum, they should be able to play football domestically, at something close to the maximum of their technical abilities; with an understanding of team organization, tactical discipline and spacing, something which even the most successful Nigerian U-17 teams were lacking in....

It comes as no surprise that fewer and fewer of our U-17 players are being signed by European clubs. This trend will only accelerate!

And even among those young players who secure contracts in Europe, the patience by teams and managers to invest time and effort in their development can sometimes wear thin, as we saw with Kelechi Iheanacho at Manchester City.

Increasingly, we will have to rely on diaspora Nigerians for the Super Eagles, in spite of the vociferous and pointless clamor for use of home based players. Irrespective of nationality, any Super Eagles coach who wishes to succeed will have no alternative...

Time and again, the debate over the Super Eagles coach will swing back and forth between use of local or foreign coaches.

Totally lost in this pointless debate is the fact that at every facet of the development path of a young footballer in Nigeria is a local coach or official.

The inability of these coaches and officials to develop football in Nigeria is a critical issue that Amaju Pinnick must begin to address, with the same passion as he pursues diaspora Nigerians for the Super Eagles.

On a technical level, there is value in first properly developing young Nigerian players at home than in Europe, further down in the player's developmental timeline. 

First, developing young Nigerian players domestically ensures proper grounding in the culture of Nigerian football.

Second, not many teams or managers have the patience, the inclination or the understanding of each player to implement development in the best interests of the player.

The result is that far too many of our best talents are being lost to football. Oliver Ndigwe, Kingsley Ogbodo, Rabui Ibrahim, Chidera Eze, Kelechi Nwakali....

Random thoughts on Nigeria vs Brazil

1. First, a creditable result against one of the powers of world football.

2. Overall a very impressive defensive organization. But a bit strange watching a tournament-style defensive performance in an international friendly.

3. Great communication and transitioning of roles/assignments between players in the defensive phase. Using the wide players to pick up Brazilian players breaking into space on the switch of play, with great communication between the wide players and the fullbacks. Iwobi and Osimhen would do a lot of work in controlling the space high up in the center of the field, making it difficult to run at the defence in open play.

4. The Nigerian defense would repeatedly bend but not break. A deep seating defensive organization would force Brazil to play quicker through midfield, but great work rate and organization between the lines would considerably reduce the final impact of the South American's dominance in possession.

5. Brazil's reliance on crosses and of course set-pieces for the goal and the shots off the woodwork was ample testimony to the defensive shift put in by Nigeria.

6. Disappointing though to see Ajayi lose his aerial duel with Marquinhos, leading to the equalizer. Should've been quicker in closing down Firmino on the snap turn and shot in the first half. Despite that, he had a strong game, especially in his reading of the game and I look forward to seeing more of him. Nigeria needs an upgrade in central defence.

The second header by Marquinhos was a foul on Collins. But you expect the SC Paderborn defender to be stronger...Thought he was really good in recovering his position as well as his 1v1 defending against a very tricky opponent.

7. Brazil would make two great breakthroughs as Nigeria started to tire from about the 75min. You have to wonder why Genort Rohr, even in a friendly is slow to make changes!

Of Possession, Beauty and Bravehearts

8. The beauty of possession is in the eye of the beholding coach! Brazil had 70 percent of possession. You expect Brazil to dominate possession against Nigeria, so the focus should rightly be on the quality, not the absolute number of possession.

9. There is a glaring lack of stability in the Nigerian possession game; often scrambled, discordant and lacking in fluidity. Crucially, it limits the effectiveness of the counterattacking game, especially given the speed and technical skills of its attacking trio.

10. While this was to be expected with the retirement of Mikel Obi, a substantial part of this is related to the lack of bravery and dynamism in Genort Rohr's approach and his lack of trust in the technical skills of the players.

11. So far, Rohr's personnel decisions have been absolutely spot on and a post Mikel team is emerging clearly, although I am still to be convinced about Onuachu. But he needs loosen up and take greater risks in both his personnel decisions as well as tactics.

Super Eagles: Time for a Reset

Following elimination in the AFCON semi-final by Algeria, Nigeria enters a very important crossroads in the development of the Super Eagles.

One value of the tournament is that it gives African teams a chance to assess progress midway before the next world cup, and make necessary course corrections, to build on progress or restart the project.

Nigeria under Gernot Rohr has come a considerable way, following failure to qualify for two back to back Nations Cups.

Progress Under Rohr
The progress in squad development following the late Stephen Keshi's team is quite obvious. This is perhaps Rohr's most important achievement so far: a stable and progressively growing squad, with new players being introduced slowly...

In defence, two young specialist fullbacks have emerged from this competition in Aina and Collins, with competent backups to create one of the most competitive positions in the team.

In central defence, Omeruo brought his La Liga performance to the competition, complete with its highs and lows, in combination with Ekong. An initially solid defensive organization, progressively declined on the strength of individual mistakes. More quality options are needed in central defence.

If the defensive organization was initially good, in goal there is no such equivocation. Nigeria paraded a trio of incompetent goalkeepers, each with no upsides. None capable of further development. All three terminal cases and dead-enders. There is no option but to look for better alternatives. The fact that Nigeria is in this position by itself points to greater issues about the development of the game that I will address later.

In central midfield, Ndidi has emerged as a clear leader and next to Etebo, in my view the best central midfield combo in the competition. But there are clear weaknesses in both players, with Ndidi still learning the position, and Etebo, for all his industry, inconsistent in his use of the ball, and average in defending space. In fairness to him, some of this is coming from the tactical decisions of the coach. More on this later...

In the wide areas, Rohr has supervised the emergence of a set of players that makes this the most competitive position in the team. The quintet of Musa, Simon, Chukwueze, Samuel and Onyekuru hold much promise for the future, especially with a more dynamic approach.

In the central striker role, Odion Ighalo brought a level of work rate that I have not seen for a while in the Super Eagles, and while Rohr has slowly built up additional options in Onuachu and Osimhen, this is clearly a weak position for the team.

Tactical Organization:
Tactically, it was always clear that Rohr is of a conservative bent, and on that, the man has been a model of consistency. This has resulted in a team often seating deep in midfield, inviting the opposition, any opposition, and looking to breakaway in open play, especially in the wide areas.

It has also produced some strong defensive organization at AFCON especially, betrayed only by individual errors, notably from Balogun and Omeruo.

However, the above merits are quickly negated by a chronic lack of imagination in the attacking phase, with players generally fit into well-formed straight jackets, where a wide player is a wide player, and a striker is a burly center forward, forever with back to goal, chasing down cul de sacs...

The result is a team growing, but only in millimeters, with little innovative thinking in midfield or attack. When tasked to find solutions to support the play on the field, adjustments when they have come, have been delivered cautiously; always cautiously, like the Nigerian road-sign:  "slow men at work"!

For much of the game against Algeria, the young Samuel Chukwueze would struggle to find space behind the fullback and double coverage, to run onto. But on the bench his manager dithered in varying the points at which he picked up the ball to give him different looks and ask different questions of the Algerian defence. And when he tired out, Henry Onyekuru would be introduced, to do the very same thing! Perhaps his shock of blonde hair was the different look!!!

The tactical shape of the Nigerian midfield has remained a conundrum, starting with the idea of Mikel Obi in attacking midfield. At the heart of central midfield, Etebo continues to be used in a far more horizontal way than his best skills suggest- a box to box midfielder. While it is true that not enough credible options currently exist in midfield, it is equally true that the situation is constrained by a lack of dynamism in approach.

There is not an underdog tag available that Rohr has not clutched at, often with the fervor of a man hanging on to a ship wreck! While I understand much of this to be coach-speak, it is the reflection of this in the ensuing tactics that I find disconcerting.

In the crucial opening game at the last world cup, this mind set would lead to an approach that was focused far more on countering the perceived strengths of Croatia than on exploiting an opposing defence lacking in pace in wide areas, ironically the strength of his team.

However, this is not to absolve players from individual failures, such as Ndidi conceding a dangerous freekick in the last minute of injury time, or Omeruo repeatedly gifting the opponent in the penalty area, or Alex Iwobi's diabolical performance against Algeria....But I am reminded of this quote from Liverpool manager, from back in his early days at Mainz.

"We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp

Time for a Reset
In assessing the 3-year tenure of Genot Rohr, it is obvious that there are plenty of positives. It is therefore a legitimate position to advocate for continuity in the national team by retaining him. What is more, there are clear risks in making a course correction at this stage. Such a move is replete with potential minefields, and nothing as always is guaranteed.

But nonetheless I come to a different conclusion, even while agreeing with Rohr's assessment that this team will get better. And I did not reach this position as a result of the Algeria defeat. Indeed, even an AFCON triumph would not have led me to a different conclusion!

Why is this?

Philosophically, Rohr's tactical concept of the game neither suits the Nigerian concept of the game and what it should be in 2019, nor does it meet Nigeria's ambitions, even recognizing some of the limitations of talent.

The sight of Nigeria repeatedly lumping the ball forwards in search of the big target man, playing with back to goal, rather than playing through midfield, with attacking patterns of play based on passing and movement, as opposed to overcoming in 1v1 situations, is simply not acceptable.

The young players who have emerged from Rohr's tenure or are emerging in Europe deserve a more forward thinking manager. A manager who doesn't see the game in "monosyllables", forever reluctant to engage tactically!

Recommendations:
In advocating for a change, I also include in this a change in our approach to the recruitment of coaches. First of all, the old dichotomy between foreign and local coaches cannot stand any basic test of logic. It is irrelevant whether the coach is Nigerian, European, South American, from Kafanchan or Saskatchewan! What matters is the competence of the coach and the suitability of his philosophy of the game.

Secondly, as currently constituted, the NFF is not equipped to carry this task out on its won, and I would seriously recommend the short-term engagement of our own Mike Emenalo for his professional assistance.

And if we are not able/willing to engage with professional recruitment, then it would be best to leave Rohr in place and extend his contract, although that would be a clear mistake in my opinion.

Domestic Focus:
What is clear from our inability to find a competent goalkeeper is that the domestic game is not developing players properly. A fact that was also evident in the U-20 team.

For us to regenerate the national team for the long term, we must address weaknesses in the development of local players, through renewed focus on the national league.

It is especially imperative, in the immediate period, that we revamp the process for selection of players to the youth teams and focus, not entirely on winning at all cost, but in exposing exceptional young talent at the global level.

Too many of the players coming through our youth teams are either age inappropriate or simply not high quality talent. We must challenge our national team youth coaches to engage in comprehensive scouting for talent as was the case in the past with Sebastian Brodericks and Fanny Amu.

We need to return to the schools system as the framework for selecting young players, especially at the U-17 level.

Going forward, the options before us appear crystal clear. Continuing with Rohr will bring stability. We will likely qualify for the next world cup and next AFCON. We will improve the team and the Super Eagles will grow. But only marginally....

Reflecting on the s/final loss, the coach said as follows: “It was a big fight until the last minute, it was a wonderful match, I think my players wanted it to go to extra time thinking Algeria were more tired,” Rohr was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The above statement encapsulates the Super Eagles under Genort Rohr: never able to seize the moment and the advantage staring them squarely in the face!

The question is, are we willing to accept marginal, incremental progress? For me the answer is No!