Twelve months and six days after the hiring of Samson Siasia, Nigeria has a new coach in Stephen Keshi, former national team captain and the progenitor of the most successful generation of Nigerian footballers.
Congratulations to Stephen 'The Big Boss' Keshi....
I first met Stephen Keshi as one of his legion of fans in Benin while in the company of a friend, the late Bunmi Akinpelumi, one of the best human beings I ever had the privilege of meeting. Since then I have followed both his playing and coaching career.
He arrives on the job with experience from coaching Togo and Mali, each of which he led to the ANC. He also brings to the assignment considerable leadership qualities and a large personality which should hold him in good stead in working with both players, administrators and the media.
He inherits a team which, although it failed to qualify for the ANC, is in much better stage of development than his predecessor was bequeathed. Overall he inherits a younger team, a more mobile and faster team, and which creates more chances per game than previously.
In midfield, several key young players have been integrated into what was a staid and stale midfield, such as Joel Obi and Fengor Ogude and Ahmed Musa; while in attack, both Ideye Brown and Emenike are fast settling into the team. With FIFA's approval of change in nationality petition, both Victor Moses and Shola Ameobi are now available to the Super Eagles, while the Arsenal protege Chuks Aneke has signified interest.
Conversely, the team continues to struggle in defence, with Efe Ambrose inconsistent in central defence, the right back position still lacking in quality players, while in goal, there is little competition for places.
In terms of recruitment of players not enough effort is being made to ensure the availability of diaspora Nigerians for selection, with Angelo Ogbonna now committed to Italy and the cases of Leverkusen midfielder Sidney Sam and Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha now stalled.
As stated in several articles here, the team continues to show clear evidence of a tactical imbalance with poor organization in the non-possession phase of the game, especially in wide areas. In possession the team is not nearly strong enough, with players repeatedly losing possession in dangerous areas and at key moments of the game.
This is the team Stephen Keshi inherits as Super Eagles head coach with the Nations Cup competition and World Cup quater-finals as his benchmarks. While the NFF and its Technical Department deserve commendation for the timeliness of its decision making and willingness to hold coaches accountable, you have to wonder about the wisdom behind setting short term targets for a team that requires fundamental change. But time will tell...
If the evidence of history is an indication of the future, Keshi's past record in coaching Togo and Mali provide us with enough body of work to assess the future of the Super Eagles under him.
When a team plays it leaves tactical footprints on the ground which provide a window into the mind of its coach. In both countries, the tactical organization of Keshi's teams appeared loosely cobbled together and lacked both clear intent and detail.
In attack, the movement of players looked haphazard, and especially with Mali, there seemed a lack of clear definition in the movement of players in the attacking third in support of top striker Freddie Kanoute.
In midfield, the team looked diffident where it had the players to be much more proactive, especially in the non-possession phase. Likewise in defence, on loss of possession the team was neither organized into a defensive shield nor did it push up to execute a high pressing system. The defensive formation was not zonal an appeared to be based on man marking.
The lack of clear tactical organization was especially painfully obvious in the 0-2 home loss to a depleted Ghanaian team in the 2010 world cup qualifiers.
But at the same time, both his teams appeared highly motivated, the best example being Togo's world cup qualifying team around which a huge national fervor had developed, and which he Keshi had tapped from in developing team spirit.
The challenges before him in rebuilding the Super Eagles are as follows:
1. How best to address the tactical imbalance in the formation of the Super Eagles, especially by identifying the most appropriate formation for the team and the players who are best suited to execute play within such a tactical framework.
Samson Siasia's 4-2-3-1 was repeatedly compromised by its use of three forwards in front of two deep lying central midfielders and had the occassional tendency to morph into a 4-2-4, with the players lacking the tactical discipline and work rate to ensure the defensive integrity of the team in the non-possession phase. The most obvious culprit in this regard was Obinna Nsofor whose lack of game intelligence (even with his talent) is at times physically painful to watch!
2. Determine how best to reinforce Siasia's efforts at recruiting new players, especially from amongst the diaspora Nigerians, as well as the NPL, both for the short and long term period.
This would include the urgent need to:
- develop new options at central defence by trying out new players using the FIFA window for international friendlies.
- bring greater competition to the goalkeeping position and develop new options such as Carl Ikeme at Middlesboro.
- identify new options for the right back with the talent and quality to make a successful transition to international football.
3. Determine how best to integrate the best prospects from both the last U20 team and the current U-23 team into the Super Eagles.
4. Determine how best to ensure professionalism in both the players and technical staff as well as the administrators whose work directly impact the on-field performance of the team.
As I said here, the sad reality is that a Nigerian-born coach of the Super Eagles is not accorded the same respect and deference as his foriegn counterpart. He thus must fight for his right to succeed at his job; he must show clear evidence of knowledge of the game to be able to win the confidence of his players, either directly or through his team of assistants.
The biggest challenge for Keshi is thus to ensure professionalism in his management of the Super Eagles, including the performance of his assistants, some of whom it has to be said, bear doubtful competencies.
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