Siasia Draws First Squad for Guatemala

It is said a team list is a sneak peek into a coach's mind. And in a rebuilding process, a coach is assessed from both the short and the long term perspective. In the case of the Super Eagles, this would be the Africa Nations Cup 2012 and the World Cup 2014.

Against this background, Siasia’s first squad appears safe and reasonable, if a little conservative, and breaks no major new grounds, except perhaps for the invitation of Emmanuel Emenike who is having a breakout season in Turkey and the young Inter Milan midfielder, Obiora Nwankwo.

As I have said before (See Here), the success of Siasia’s project will depend greatly on his ability to recruit players. So far he has made a good start here. But more needs to be done. It appears that there might have been a mix-up regarding Nedum Onuoha and his case may need to be revisited.

The success of Siasia’s project will also depend greatly on his professionalism, especially in establishing clear and transparent rationale for the invitation or non-invitation of players. In this regard, his decision to seek the assistance of agents in scouting for players, while understandable given the absence of a systematic framework for monitoring of Nigerian players, is nonetheless fraught with risks.

In defence, the choices at right back, Olubayo Adefemi and Chibuzor Okonkwo, easily the area of greatest need is at best curious. Adefemi’s attempt to ignite his career in Europe at AS Boulogne collapsed badly, punctuated by frequent injuries after a great start. Although he may have returned to more regular football at Skoda Xanthi, in the Greek Super League, his overall physical condition appears suspect and his defensive coverage weak. This is a player whose value in the short term is suspect, and in the long term below zero!

Chibuzor Okonkwo has remained in the frame of the national team in one form of the other since 2008. However, his fundamentals remain unchanged; a just above average defender, with a weak reading of the game, positioning and decision making.

It is my hope that in future games, a look might be extended to Babatunde Luqmon Adekunle who plays as a right back for FC Luzern.

The midfield selection can be summarized in one word- balance. But crucially, no attempt appears to have been made to recruit the Bayer Leverkusen left-midfielder, Sam John, a top talent with the skills set to make a decisive difference in the Super Eagles. Having lost Dennis Aogo to the German national team, all efforts should be made to recruit this player for Nigeria.

Another player overlooked is the defensive midfielder, Samson Godwin who plays in the Ukrainian club Karpaty Lviv.

In attack, much of the focus on this team list has revolved around the invitation of Shola Ameobi. Besides the strange fact of making his national team debut at 29 years, the Newcastle forward should bring experience and decisiveness to the central striker position. Indeed, I suspect that his late debut might turn out to be a blessing as he brings maturity to play in the process of integrating into the team.

He knows his way around the penalty area, and is a big boy who which should put him in good stead for the physical nature of African football. His valueand impact should be immediate. His contribution in the long term will remain to be seen.

THE FULL SQUADGOALKEEPERS: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda, Israel)

DEFENDERS: Chibuzor Okonkwo (Heartland), Ayodele Adeleye (Metallurh Donetsk, Ukraine), Taye Taiwo (Olympic Marseille, France), Michael Odibe (A. C. Siena, Italy), Olubayo Adefemi (Skoda Xanthi, Greece), Elderson Echiejile (Sporting Braga, Portugal), Joseph Yobo (Fenerbahce, Turkey)

MIDFIELDERS: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England), Obiora Nwankwo (Inter Milan, Italy), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic, England), Bartholomew Ibenegbu (Heartland), Olufemi Ajilore (FC Groningen, The Netherlands)

FORWARDS: Ahmed Musa (V.V.V. Venlo, The Netherlands), Osaze Odemwingie (West Brom, England), Obinna Nsofor (West Ham, England), Shola Ameobi (Newcastle, England), Emmanuel Emenike (Karaburkspor, Turkey), Peter Utaka (Odense Boldklub, Denmark)

Parallax Paradox: Hodgson, Amodu, Dalglish & Siaisa?

What is the relationship between recent events at Liverpool FC and the Nigerian Super Eages?

Well, before now, you might be excused if you mistook the current Liverpool squad for Birmingham! The players were all crap the pundits said. Benitez had spent millions on crap players! Lucas was crap, had two left feet! Martin Skrtel was an apology for a center-back and Glen Johnson could'nt defend for toffee!

You would not know, listening to the english media pundits that the team provided 13 players at the world cup, including 4 at the final game!

All these to provide alibi for a clueless Roy Hodgson, who has no achievement of substance in 35-years of coaching!

Today, the lie was laid bare at Old Trafford. There was more substance, technically speaking in 30mins of Liverpool's football under Dalglish than the 6months of the clueless Roy Hodgson put together!

Conversely, the Nigerian Super Eagles have been repeatedly labelled to be of average talents; either benchwarmers, playing in crap clubs and even crappier leagues; over aged or overweight. All these to provide alibi for a clueless Amodu, who had done such wonders in football, and like Hodgson, had won titles in a forgotten decade! Nigeria was said to be overachieving and that it was a miracle that Amodu was achieving all these results, never mind the quality of the opposition..You only play the team in front of you his misguided supporters said....

I suspect that like Dalglish's Liverpool, the Super Eagles under Siasia will lay bare the lie that was Amodu's tenure.

Rebuilding the Super Eagles (II): The Defence

The major weakness of the team in defence lies in structure as much as personnel.

On the personnel side, the team is especially lacking in a left center-back and a quality right back.

While Joseph Yobo's lapses in concentration have dogged him nearly all his time at Everton, he has generally held his position at right center-back well and provided superb leadership in the team. However in what is effectively the twilight stage of his career, his long term future with the team is doubtful.

With regard to Danny Shittu, his boundless energy, enthusiasm and unwavering commitment to the cause, often masks a poor defender. In my considered opinion, his current status in the English Championship is a fair reflection of his true abilities.

At right back, Chidi Odiah is not the same player who won the Europa Cup with CSKA. Multiple injuries have resulted in a loss of pace, either going forward or in recovery. The team must look beyond. Olubayo Adefemi who appeared briefly to be a genuine option has clearly lost steam.

Overall, the outlook for the defence at first glance appears dim, except at left back where Taiwo and Uwa are waxing strong.

Going forward, the challenge for Siasia is to implement a gradual transition to a new center-back pairing, with contingency for the eventual phasing-out of Joseph Yobo after the next Africa Nations Cup. This would ordinarily mean a return of the Apam/Adeleye partnership, except that while the former has been injured for a while and looking to return to first team football, the latter is rebuilding his career at FC Metalurh Donetsk.

A lot would depend on Siasia's ability to recruit players to his team and cause. There are multiple young players looking to break through from the youth ranks or the smaller clubs in Europe. But most would require time, patience and nurturing to make the transition to international football.

The most viable options at this stage would be Michael Odibe, in spite of a lack of first team football at Siena, and Efe Ambrose who is growing in stature at Sport Ashdod in Israel. There is also Angelo Ogbonna, currently an Italian U-21 player, who is a left center-back and captains Torino in Serie B. He will need recruiting, but is a very good prospect that at current rate will make the top grade within two years.

However, the most urgent need in my opinion remains at right-back, with Sunderland's Onuoha a very credible option. There is also Babatunde Luqmon Adekunle who plays as a right back for FC Luzern, and like Odiah, has experience at right midfield, is physically balanced, and has a good eye for a pass and a good delivery on the cross with either foot. He also gives you the option of long throws.

Beyond the issue of personnel, Nigeria has been weak on team defence with multiple tactical issues that have remained unresolved in the team over the last few years, beginning with the spacing between defenders, especially on the left.

But perhaps the most critical lies in the inability of the midfield to provide cover for the defence, both in central midfield and in the wide areas.

I will review this in-depth in my next discussion which is on the midfield.

Rebuilding the Super Eagles: The Case for John Mikel Obi as Captain

Central to the ability of Samson Siasia to rebuild the Super Eagles will be the issue of leadership.


Without doubt, Nwankwo Kanu and Joseph Yobo in his absence have provided strong leadership in the team.

However moving forward, there is no better way to underline the reality of the new direction of the team than the selection of a new team captain.

Given the age of the current first team, and the fact that most of the players are drawn from the 2005 U-20 and Beijing Olympics team, it is my opinion that the new leadership of the team should be drawn from this core group of players.

And no player epitomizes this group as Mikel Obi. He has been with this core gropu since the U-17 championships and plays at a high level in Europe for Chelsea. In many respects, he is the face of this generation of Nigerian players and the responsibility of captain should sit very well on him.