The Danger of Rooting for Super Eagles of Nigeria in Cote d'Ivoire

 

It is safer not to expect anything from Nigeria national team heading to African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d'Ivoire this January. I am saying this so you do not feel too disappointed and develop unnecessary hypertension due to your patriotic emotions. 

Let us be a little bit objective, we do not have good administrators, nor the right coach, nor high quality players to successfully execute this tournament. So how on earth do you expect Super Eagles to win in Cote d'Ivoire?  Please, don't allow patriotic emotions to take a better hold of you. IT IS DANGEROUS! 

The question begging for answer is, can we rely on what we often call "The Nigerian Spirit"  - sheer determination and die hard attitude. 

Secondly, Can the Supporters club drum up this "Spirit" in the players? 

Are these set of players ready to taken on the "die hard attitude? "  The answer is NO! 

We often criticize the players and sack coaches, but nobody really talk about our NFF officials who go on to select bad journey-men coaches and also select the wrong boys. Believe me, the 25 players going for AFCON this January were selected by NFF technical committee and imposed on Jose Peseiro. 

This is because Peseiro cannot be trusted, not his pedigree nor what he has done so far with the team, can give anyone confidence of his ability. So, you will agree with me, Peseiro is a core journey man coach and we should not expect magic from him. He cannot give what he doesn't have! 

We do not really have a lot of high quality players, playing for top teams in the big five European leagues. Why do I use this as a criteria for knowing high quality players. The stakes are high and only the best can strive at this level. The competition at this top flight leagues can also bring out the best in you. 

We have only few players in this big five leagues, playing in top clubs or what I call Uefa Champions League teams. Only Victor Osimhen (Napoli) and Sadiq Umar (Real Sociedad) are currently playing in UEFA Champions League. Then Victor Boniface (Leverkusen) playing in Europa League. You could also consider Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Ola Aina playing in the Premier League. The majority of other players are either playing in the championship league, Turkey, scotland, Belgium or other lower leagues. Let us not talk of players from NPFL.

Fundamentally, we all know Super Eagles have a major goalkeeping and midfield challenge. So the coach cannot afford to play an expressive formation. Peseiro should keep it tight and compact from the middle to the back four. We could only plan intermittent fast break and counter attacks. Maybe, 4-3-2-1 formation. 

Get it right, my saying this doesn't mean I am not rooting or supporting Super Eagles. I am only saying my observations and my own opinion, so fans can take some precautions for safety and don't expect much.