13 Feb 2009 |
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We are asking too much of Amodu Shaibu Ayo Akinfe Along with several other thousand Nigerian football enthusiasts, I braved the freezing weather on Wednesday evening and made my way to Milwall’s New Den in southeast London to watch our beloved Super Eagles take on Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz. To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting a scintillating performance from our team and lo and behold, I was not disappointed. After a drab 90 minutes, whose most fascinating highlight was the sending off of Taiye Taiwo in the first half, we all trudged out of the stadium desperately seeking something to cheer about from the barren draw. Given that this was a friendly game, coming away with a nil, nil scoreline was not a bad thing in itself but when one looks at the performance from our team, I cannot come to any other conclusion than the fact that the Super Eagles will not be winning any silverware soon. Friendly games have always been used as a platform to try new players, develop team chemistry, experiment with new formations and take risks with things that it would be too dangerous to do in competitive games. At Milwall, I did not see any of this. I could have guessed Amodu Shaibu’s line-up before kick off and true to form, he stuck to the 4-3-3 formation, which appears to be the only system he knows how to play. Not only were our boys drab, lacking in spirit, casual and found wanting when it came to showing some heart but it appears that they also had a chemistry by-pass. Had I been beamed in from outer space and watched the Eagles for the first time, I would have easily concluded that those players were meeting themselves for the first time on Wednesday. We simply lacked the necessary creativity in the last third, were unable to step up the tempo of the game when that was what was required and were out-physicaled too often by the more passionate Jamaicans. As has been the case for a while now, our Eagles were unable to string six decent passes together, make effective use of the counter-attack or outmanoeuvre their opponents with disguised passes, off-the-ball runs, one-twos and unexpected creativity. Our tempo was sluggish, we were content to stroke the ball around as if it was a training session and to be perfectly honest, we did not look like scoring even if the game went on for one week. While the players must accept their fair share of the blame, what I found most puzzling of all is that the technical crew saw what was going on but either did not see if fit to or was incapable of changing things. Head coach Amodu Shaibu came up with a long list of excuses at the post-match interview including one laughable one that he only had a few days with the players. Does he think he is going to get any more time than this with them when the World Cup qualifiers start? He also pointed out that this was a friendly game but I would advice him to go and watch the recent games of Brazil and Spain to see how seriously they take friendlies. One of the most important jobs of the head coach is to lift morale, motivate the players and get them fired up. Amodu Shaibu seems totally incapable of doing this, which leaves me wondering was he actually does with the team. Had the team played well and been cohesive, one could say that this is where his strengths lie and in that case, all we need is a psychologist to psych up the boys. Had he taken it upon himself to inject new blood into the team, then one could praise his scouting efforts. After about a year in the job, I am still scratching my head in search of what it is Mr Shaibu brings to the team. Given that Mr Shaibu is still playing Nwankwo Kanu in midfield, some 15 years after Papillo made his debut against Sweden tells us all we need to know about what future the team has under Amodu. Successful coaches like Father Tiko, Otto Gloria and Clemence Westerhoff succeeded because they dismantled the teams they inherited, injected new blood and rebuilt their squads based on merit, not past glory. I simply cannot see Amodu having the courage to do that. Tiko retired the members of the 1973 All African Games gold winning team and brought in fresh blood like Godwin Odiye, Christian Chukwu, Alloysius Atuegbu, Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, Sam Ojebode, Patrick Ekeji, Adokie Amesiemeka, Godwin Iwelumo and Thompson Usiye. In 1980, Otto Gloria enhanced this team further by retiring some of the older players and bringing in the likes of Okey Isima, Sylvanus Okpala, Henry Nwosu, Tunde Bamidele, Kadiri Ikhana, John Orlando, David Adiele and Ifeanyi Onyeadika. Clemence Westerhoff’s praises do not need to be sung. He literarily single-handed built the 1994 Cup of Nations and World Cup debutant team, finding us the likes of Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh and Emmanuel Ammunike. If anyone is expecting such bravery from Amodu Shaibu, I am afraid they are in for a long wait, as no new JJ is being groomed and from what I have seen, the coach has no plans to find a new Kanu. If by chance we manage to navigate our way past Tunisia, Kenya and Mozambique and find ourselves in South Africa in 2010, I can tell you what the line-up and formation will be right now. Of course, it is up to us whether we want to gamble with Amodu or not but whatever we decide, expecting to win a Nations Cup or go far in the World Cup with him at the helm, is simply asking for a miracle of biblical proportions. Unfortunately for Nigeria, Berti Vogts has given foreign coaches a bad name and as such, we are still holding on to the forlorn hope that at this point in time we have an indigene capable of managing the Super Eagles. I hope it is not too late before we find out how utopian we are being in our thinking. Ayo Akinfe aakinfe@aol.com
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