Dancing with the Eagles, Partying with Messi...

The buzz in Nigerian football at the moment is about the list. The list of invitees to the preliminary world cup squad by Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi.

The buzz is especially about Osaze Odenwigie; about Ikechukwu Uche; about Joseph Yobo, etc.

What the buzz is sadly not about is football. Yes, football!

Before you say it, the composition of the Super Eagles world cup squad is important. But it is not everything. A coach, every coach, has a right to his choice of players. But the fan, the football fan has a right to his opinion- good, bad, smart, stupid; whatever.....

But the role of the football pundit is different. While it must recognize popular sentiment, it should also recognize the need to inform, to generate intelligent discourse.

Sadly its getting harder and harder to separate the average 'Surulere-end fan' from the pundits, including the much revered Segun Odegbanmi, who much as he tried, could not succumb from the urge to talk about team list and invitations.

Every coach, has a right to his choice of players. He then lives or dies with his choices! So I'm not interested in the team list, who is invited, or who is left out. Rather I'm interested in what Stephen Keshi does with the players he chooses.

The Nigerian renaissance under Keshi was never based on superior tactical acumen. Indeed, for the purists out there, the Nigerian team sometimes appears on the verge of anarchy, with little consistency in team shape, movements and decision making. But as we found out, painfully, with Berti Vogts, the Nigerian team does not function well in a regime of tactical rigidity.

The Nigerian success under Keshi, especially at the Africa Nations cup, is based predominantly on man management, on motivation and team spirit. For instance, Stephen Keshi's ability to pull Mikel Obi from his eternal comfort zone of the 3-yard square pass, and 'big-man football', is nothing short of masterful!

It is against this specific background that all the clamor, agitation and campaign around who is in or out is a direct assault on team unity.

Those who generate this pressure, whether intended or otherwise, are dancing with the Eagles, but partying with Lionel Messi!

There are some considerable tactical issues that face the Nigerian team, a few months to the world cup. I say lets focus on these....

Re: Ramon Azeez

Ramon Azeez's invitation to the Super Eagles international friendly against Mexico in Atlanta caps a remarkable run from youth football and the lower division of Spanish football to establishing himself as a starter for Almeria in La Liga.

2. Having watched him first in Almeria B, to his inclusion in the match day squad of the senior team, his tentative performance had me convinced that he needed at the very least a full season in Europe to establish his identity as a footballer.

3. But not anymore! Watching him at the Nou Camp last night, I had a change of mind!

4. While part of a losing effort, what stood out for me was not the regular match day players statistics on pass completion rate, key passes made, number of assists, tackles won, etc.

5. In a match at the Nou Camp involving Almeria against Barcelona, such statistics are largely secondary in assessing the visiting team. Context is everything...

6. Almeria began by matching Barcelona's 4-3-3, but with the flexibility to switch to a 4-4-1-1 or 5-3-1-1 in the non-possession phase, with Azeez taking up a defensive role on the inside right channel to stop Neymar's diagonal runs.

7. The deep role also allowed him to room to occasionally break forward, centrally for the most part and on one occasion wide on Barcelona's right side.

8. The key metric for me in assessing him last night was his body language and overall composure. Last night, instead of the tentative, slightly awkward player I've seen for most of the season, he looked like a player convinced that he belonged in his surroundings.

9. Tactically his positioning was very good, and only once was he caught out, lunging in on Neymar to earn a deserved booking. In the second half, he moved more centrally within Almeria's defensive shape, as they sought to contain wave after wave of Barcelona attacks.

10. He would later depart on 79mins as Almeria gambled on more offense with Liverpool's Suso, and were duly punished...

11. If Azeez can bring this confidence to Nigeria's friendly with Mexico, I suspect he would be the third (or fourth) central midfielder behind Mikel and Onazi.

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.