But in two back to back games, his attempt at game management after establishing a dominant opening half, has left much to be desired, leaving open the clear possibility of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!
The challenge of coaching Nigeria does not often weigh heavily on how to structure the attacking game, (unless you are an old school German coach, stuck in a time warp of rigid tactical systems like Herr Berti Vogts). Rather it is on how to organize the team in the non-possession phase and maximize it's natural dynamism in attack, without compromising balance.
So I choose to focus on the latter! While this was an important win, if you look at this game from the perspective of the Algerian attacking game, this was an inept Nigerian performance on the defensive side.
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In Pix 1 above, watch Bentaleb in the opening half burst into the box from deep unchallenged creating what should've been the equalizer in Pix 2.
Nigeria again played with a double pivot in central midfield, which meant that John Mikel Obi again played at the apex of the midfield triangle.
Clearly the introduction of Etebo alongside Onazi in central midfield enabled the team move a level up, but he needs guidance on the tactical side of his game, and the relationship between the two pivots needs to improve. In addition, his major skills set requires the design of plays that enables him surge into the box from deep, and unbalance rigid defensive lines. It would be unfortunate to take that side of his game away...
But more importantly, the gap between Mikel and the two pivots is dangerously wide, and seems to grow in geometric proportion with a match, as the Chelsea man's lack of proper conditioning increasingly manifests.
In the screenshots below, watch Mikel's position in the lead up to Bentaleb's goal.
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And herein lies the main object of my concerns with Rohr's game management and rather feeble attempts at positioning for the counterattack on establishing a lead.
It took 73mins to finally make a sub (Anderson for Ideye) well after Zambia had snatched control of the game and deservedly scored. Ten minutes later, Musa would come on for a thoroughly ineffective Simon, by which time, Nigeria had stabilized the game...
Against Algeria, outside the injury enforced substitution of Omeruo on 66mins, it took 77mins to try to seriously address the Algerian second half dominance, with Ndidi's introduction finally bringing some stability and creating the foundation for the counterattack by Musa that led to the third goal.
As I've often said, when a team plays it leaves tactical footprints on the field. There are clear tactical problems with the Nigerian midfield. We need to address these before the decisive games against Cameroon that will decide who qualifies from the group.
In attack, the decision to start Iheanacho at the top of the attack, initially suggested to me to be a design at maximizing fluidity and flexibility between the attacking trio. But throughout the game, his starting position did not change much and rather exposed most of the limitations in his game that the coaching staff at Man City are still working on. Iheanacho needs to arrive in the box not be fixated in it or looking to hold up play with back to box. There are still too many technical leftovers in his game for this to be effective.
On a final note, can we please cut out the excesses? There is no need for the showboating and other such unprofessional habits that none of these players would exhibit at Arsenal, Chelsea or Lazio...
