Two goals from, first Iwobi and then a superb finish by Iheanacho, from a brilliantly constructed team play saw Nigeria race to a two-goal lead. Zambia would come back in the second half, but Nigeria held on to win.
1. Defensive Organization:
Nigeria started with Ndidi at right-back and Omeruo in place of Balogun at centerback, with a defensive line in low to medium block, but shifting occasionally. This particularly denied Mbesuma and Zambia the ball-over-the-top option, but Kalengo did find the occasional joy attacking from wide, especially on the Nigerian right.
Gaps between the Lines and a Tactical Disconnect:
The key defensive issue for Nigeria was the over exposure of the fullbacks in open play, and crucially, gaps between the lines when Zambia switched from wide to attack diagonally. Two things were responsible for this.
(i) The disconnect between Onazi's role as the first line of pressure in central midfield and Mikel's role further upfield.
(ii) the lack of sustained and effective cover from the wide midfielders, Simon and Iwobi.
Poor Rotation in the Non-Possession Phase:
Related to (i) above, Mikel repeatedly failed to rotate into the space vacated by Onazi, a direct result of his positioning further upfield and the well known weakness of his lateral movement. This meant that beyond the press, gaps remained in front of the Nigerian defence, which Mbesuma exploited very well playing with back to goal, or Kalengo, to lesser effect, on the dribble run.
Poor rotation especially manifested itself in the second half during a period of sustained Zambian pressure, with Mbesuma again key; receiving the ball with back to goal and then executing the give and go, with no corresponding movement from the Nigerian midfield to pick up the runner from deep.
This proved to be Zambia's main attacking weapon, and moving forward, Nigeria needs to address this. There also needs to be better understanding of positional roles between the wide players and fullbacks, and where best to channel the opposition wide player.
Overall, the team looked increasingly lethargic in the rotation of the zonal formation from the strong to weak side. A more adept team at crossfield switch will find and perhaps exploit better this weakness of the Nigerian team.
The Counterpress:
Even recognizing the challenges of executing this in the conditions in Ndola, the Nigerian team needs to organize better in this phase. As Eddy Murphy said in the movie Harlem Nights, 'its not how many you shoot, but who you shoot'. Similarly, its often not how much you press, but who you press. As I had written about years ago, Sinkala in central midfield remained a rich target for the counterpress and it was disappointing to see Nigeria repeatedly pass up on the opportunity.
Lateral Defense: A Continuing Work in Progress:
Ndidi started in place of Musa Mohammed at right back and in spite of his efforts, was clearly the weak link in the Nigerian defence. On the left, Echiejile did well in shutting down Tembo, but struggled as the game wore on in the second half, and offered little in attacking the spaces being created out wide by Iwobi's diagonal movement.
If he is reading this, Amaju Pinnick and the NFF Technical Committee must as a matter of urgency step forward to support Mikel's attempt to recruit Chelsea's young right-back, Ola Aina. Although on the fringes of the first team, Aina is a fundamentally sound defender, with a good understanding of the role.
The other defender of interest is Kevin Akpoguma, who plays as a centerback for Fortuna Dusseldorf in Bundesliga 2. He is 1.92 metres (6’4in), has speed, good technique and is a dynamic player and was a 2013 Fritz-Walter gold medal winner for the best German players of U17, U18 and U19. He started out his career as a right back but he has played his best football for his current team at CB. He will take some strong recruiting effort, but would be a GREAT asset to this young emerging team.
2. Attacking Game: 3v1 in Midfield.
As expected, the Nigerian team was strong in the attacking phase, with good rotation, repeatedly outnumbering a clueless Zambian team in midfield, and you got the sense, on a better pitch and better conditions, could've inflicted even greater damage. This was indeed Nigeria's real strength and Rohr and his crew must have taken great satisfaction in how the team is coming along in this area.
Of the two wide midfielders, Simon had the wider role in the first half, and although he saw a lot of the ball, did not do enough to stretch the play, and his final ball was often lacking. I expect Moses to replace Simon in a similar role and considerably upgrade the team.
The Nigerian attack was especially effective when the passing and movement was uptempo, with frequent switching of the point of attack and rotation of players. But it clearly showed its work in progress in controlled possession phase, lacking the movement and patience to complete moves and twice gifting Zambia a chance on the counter.
Even of greater concern, was the inability of the team to develop counterattacking opportunities in the second half especially, even with an abundance of pace upfront. And often having pulled the Zambian defence into a central block, never could find the pass for effective blind-side runs behind the Chipolopolo defence.
3. Game Management:
The Zambian push-back in the second half was always expected, and overall, Nigeria did well to hold on and secure a win on the road, never an easy thing in the continent, with sometimes atrocious conditions.
However what was unexpected was Gernot Rohr's timidity in responding to changing events in real time, rather than live on hope and holding the course. Clearly the Nigerian team was starting to tire on the hour mark, especially in midfield under hot and humid conditions. At right-back, Ndidi was increasingly struggling, with Simon's efforts at support hardly sufficient.
It seemed that among other things, a slight adjustment in Kelechi's position to bring him closer to Mikel and Onazi could've helped the course of "controlled possession", which the team appeared to have set out to accomplish in that half. And the one time this tactic came through successfully, Ideye failed to take the chance that would've ended the game as a contest. That was Brown Ideye in a nutshell- never quite there!
What's more, his inability to effectively hold up play, meant the team couldn't follow through on to the second phase of the attack. Nigeria must continue to develop all aspects of its team and personnel, and must never be satisfied too soon.
4. Continued Team Development:
We must keep looking for options to improve the team or present multiple options for national team selectors. In attack we need to keep an eye for young players like Awoniyi and Osimhen, especially the latter. We need additional options in goal, fullbacks and central defence.
For the first time in a while, their appears to be the beginnings of some sort of sustained stability in the Super Eagles. Pinnick must work hard to build on this...
Reflecting further on the match, and as a long time follower of the African game, this was a disappointing Zambian team, with ageing players and a failure to reinvent itself.
