21 Aug 2009 |
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Tunisia will come here to defend with 11 men for 90 minutes
Ayo Akinfe Last weekend, I watched the start of league action across Europe with eager anticipation, specifically looking out for our boys to see how they would perform. In particular, I was on the lookout for our midfielders. There is probably a universal consensus now that the current problems dogging our Super Eagles stem from midfield. Defensively, our midfield is one of the best in the world but going forward, it is one of the most toothless and least offensive engine rooms anywhere on the planet. Over the last few weeks, it has been rumoured that Uche Kalu would switch to Fulham in the English Premiership. I would have loved to see him play against Portsmouth last Saturday but alas, this is yet to happen if it will at all. We will just have to await the start of the Spanish La Liga to see him in action for Almeira again. However, we were privileged to watch the start of the French, German and English leagues and I took the pains to look out for our four offensive midfielders. What kind of season they have will go along way to determining what kind of 2010 Nigeria enjoys. As I have mentioned earlier, Uche Kalu was not in action, so we will have to be a little patient. However, Lukman Haruna did not see one minute of action for Monaco, Rabiu Ibrahim has been loaned out by Sporting Lisbon to Real Massama in Portugal’s second division and Nduka Ozokwo was not even on the bench for Nice. Obviously, I was hoping that Ozokwo and Haruna would have had great games in the French Le Championet. If both of them had played so well that leaving them out of the Eagles would have been difficult, I would be confident about our forthcoming game against Tunisia on September 5. In the modern game, one needs to play with at least three two-way midfielders, who have the capacity to attack as well as defend. Have you noticed that since the World Cup qualifiers started over a year ago, we have only conceded one own goal against Sierra Leone but attack-wise, our midfield is toothless. This is not coincidental, as the personnel Amodu Shaibu has employed have made this inevitable. Like Berti Vogts before him, Amodu simply does not know how to properly use the players at his disposal. For me, Nigeria’s coach should only play one out of Mikel Obi, Yusuf Ayila, Seyi Olofinjana, Chris Obodo or Dickson Etuhu at the same time. Unless we are defending a slender lead and need a defensive shield, playing more than one of these players concurrently is suicidal. Whichever of these players is picked should be there to protect the defence, while more two-way and attacking-minded midfielders are played ahead of him to provide us with the necessary bite upfront. Essentially, we need at least two out of Uche Kalu, Lukman Haruna, Rabiu Ibrahim and Nduka Ozokwo on the pitch at the same time to offer that offensive bite which is so lacking at the minute. The beauty of these players is that they can track back to defend too, giving us that much-needed balance in the engine room of the game. As things stand, our midfielders are currently not getting beyond the strikers to score as we regularly see with happen with Ghana’s Black Stars for instance. No team has even one anything with such an unbalanced side and I do not see us lifting any silverware soon if the status quo remains unchanged. One of the reasons why I love Ghana’s Sulley Muntari is that even if his strikers are having a bad day, you can trust him to get into the box and score. One only needs to look at Muntari’s goal against Zambia to see how he popped up on the far post to meet a cross. With Nigeria, our midfielders appear to be perpetually stuck on the halfway line when we get into the opponents’ penalty area.
Come September 5, Tunisia will come to Abuja and defend with 11 men behind the ball for the 90-minute duration of the game. The onus is on Nigeria to win the game as a draw will suit the Carthage Eagles fine and to be honest, I am weary about whether we can do this. Nothing I have seen of the Super Eagles under Amodu indicates that our Eagles have the capacity and capability to break down stubborn defences. Make no mistake about it, our strikers will be man-marked that day and it will be up to the midfielders to get beyond the defence and score. Sadly, it appears that Amodu and the Nigerian Football Federation are oblivious to the problem. To get the compulsory win needed in Abuja on September 5, we have to get our midfield selection right. If Amodu does not field two offensive midfielders who can not only defend, win the ball, pass it well but also get beyond the strikers to score, we are in for a rough ride. As Amodu draws up his list of invited players, I hope a lot of thought is given to where our priorities should lie. I for one still have this niggling feeling that we are under the illusion that all we need is our strikers on the pitch and the goals will start flowing.
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