Re: Michael Olaitan

Michael Olaitan has sure come a long way from his days playing in front of a capacity crowd of 5,000 at Veria FC, to leading the lines for Olympiakos Piraeus in a round of sixteen game against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.

2. As expected, this was always going to be tough match for him. Even in front of a vociferous home crowd, Olympiakos was never going to risk pushing runners alongside or beyond him to execute the pass and move that is his strength.

3. Secondly, without Javier Saviola, Dominguez, the Argentine midfielder, was being used as part of a high pressing game, with primary focus on disrupting United in the second stage of build up and making it difficult for its midfielders to turn.

4. This is in contrast for instance to the game against Anderlecht, where he and Saviola played interchangeably, taking turns to drop into the attacking midfield role, behind the top striker in a 4-2-3-1.

5. In assessing Olaitan, it is important to understand that first this is a versatile player, with experience in central midfield, wide midfield, central attacking midfield and striker.

6. In the striking position at Olympiakos, Olaitan is not your backs-to-goal striker. Indeed he tends to go down too easily. However, his technical skills allow him to retain some control, but not in a manner to be decisive.

7. His greatest contribution is in the positions he takes to receive the ball, his movement to create space for the arriving players and his vision and understanding of passing lanes.

8. Accordingly, and for Nigeria, it would be a mistake to see or assess him in terms of the top striker position.

9. In any case, Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi favors the physical striker, with pace and power, a profile that suits Emmanuel Emenike quite well.

10. In my considered opinion, Michael Olaitan offers a skills set, technique, vision, work rate, defensive acumen and versatility to bring added value to the Super Eagles in the central attacking midfield role, that would allow Nigeria execute a 4-2-3-1.




 

Of Keshi, Assistants, NFF, Equity and Clean Hands...

On the surface of it, you would be perfectly justified in wondering why in the world a football association is engaged in a serial debate with its national team coach about appointment of his assistants.

But this is the Nigeria Football Federation we are talking about and this is a world cup year!

Hear ex-international Mobi Oparaku from an old interview:

"It was crazy. But one thing people may not know about the World Cup is that it is full of cash for the team; there's so much money available to everyone that features. The World Cup is the peak of events where you can make most money while in the national team. The coaches and the administrators know this so they bring in players that they know they can make money from" (Link).

 

The pressures around the Nigerian national team coaching position is no different from that in the average national team; a little more than some; a little less than others...

 

But what is especially different and constant is the spate of rumors and innuendoes- fair and unfair, around the position; especially when the coach is a Nigerian national, like current coach Stephen Keshi.

 

After his triumph at the last Africa Nations cup, the man was rewarded by the federation with the sack of his assistant Sylvanus Okpalla and video analyst Andyson Ogugua! Why would a federation be concerned with the backroom staff of its coach?

 

Now the federation, through its technical committee is pressuring the coach to accept new assistants, rather simply recall the fired staff!

 

Without much ado, and as little fanfare as possible, the Nigeria Football Federation should recall the fired assistants and stop the practice of creating a permanent air of dysfunction and uncertainty around its tournament teams!

 

But let there be no misunderstanding! Keshi here, is not entirely blameless.

 

First of all, Sylvanus Okpala, Andyson Ogugua, and Valere Hoaundinou are Stephen Keshi's staff. He should never have allowed a situation where they were contracted directly by the federation. He Keshi should have structured his contract in a manner to embody the costs of his backroom staff, whom he should then have hired, independent of the federation. It is his failure to do this that has presented an opportunity for a less than professional federation to repeatedly undermine him.

 

But there is more. Nigerian born Super Eagles coaches must learn that the only true buffer against a meddling federation is the insistence and maintenance of professional standards. Be it in the invitation of players; in relationships to players; in relationships to player agents. Failing to do this, they will be devoured by the very same tiger they pulled by the tail!

 

He who comes into equity must come with clean hands.

In spite of the denials by the NFF Director of Technical Department, Emmanuel Ikpeme  the issue remains. And we can tell why! Here is Mobi Oparaku again:

"At the World Cup level, everyone is interested in what he can get. In Nigeria, World Cup is about the money".....
 

What is the value of CHAN?

1. The Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) is currently taking place in South Africa. According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the tournament is a response to the desire to revive or strengthen national competitions regularly weakened by a mass exodus of top players. In addition, the confederation expects that this would facilitate the eventual integration of domestic players into the respective A-teams.

 

2. While the championships is limited to players from the domestic leagues, it still, technically, includes substantive national team players, as is the case for instance with a number of players from the Nigerian squad.

 

3. In a World Cup year, staging the tournament appears somewhat ironic given that CAF had advanced reasons to move AFCON to alternate years to avoid the world cup...

 

4. What is more, I am baffled by the decision of the Nigerian federation and coach Stephen Keshi to assume the responsibility of leading a team to the tournament, especially as there is no player in the squad playing at a level to realistically improve the Super Eagles. You would think a world cup bound coach has enough on his plate already!

 

5. The tournament itself has been quite spirited, even if the football has ranged from dire to average. One of the better games saw Nigeria deservedly defeat South Africa, 3-1.

 

6. The result and the overall performance left me wondering just what South Africa coach Gordon Igesund needs to do to get fired. With his face furrowed in a near permanent state of cluelessness, Igesund has supervised a team across tournaments and qualification series that is not only not improving, but is incapable of such!

 

7. As is typical of Keshi's teams, the Nigerian team has improved as the games have progressed. But for me that is besides the point, even while recognizing the commendable performance of the team.

 

8. There are no two senior national teams in football. Every senior national selection, whether classified a B or C team, ultimately feeds into the substantive national team.

 

9. Even by a most optimistic scenario, there is no new player in the current team that has the quality to address any of the weaknesses in the Super Eagles, or whose standard is high enough to be sufficiently developed to challenge for a place within four months.

 

10. So what then is the value of this tournament for Nigeria and coach Stephen Keshi in a world cup year? The best players so far in the Nigerian team, is arguably Ejike Uzoenyi and Rabui Ali. Uzoenyi has been on the national scene in the last 10 years, with multiple failed trials, including a recent stint at Rennes. Rabui Ali, if his listed age of 34 years is to be believed is no spring chicken!

I am a believer in evaluating projects on the basis of costs and benefits. And on that basis, the value of the time and other resources invested in the homebased project by Keshi is not commensurate with its paltry returns, especially when compared to the alternative players foregone in Europe. 

 

11. One point made in support of the tournament is that it will help improve the domestic game in Nigeria. In my opinion, that is a long shot...Improving the domestic game requires sustained, systemic reforms in club football, none of which is seriously impacted by the performance of individual players at CHAN. The domestic game improves the national team and not vice versa...

 

12. So what then is the value of CHAN, especially considering that CAF already has two continental club championships which directly impact the domestic club game?