Has Nigeria finally turned the corner?

Really excited about Nigeria'so future up front. Love the way that Iheanacho and Iwobi are already pressing for 1st team inclusion at such young ages. Iheanacho is an amazing finisher and passes with vision but needs work on his first touch and dribbling (he's recently put on a few inches which may have a bit to do with some of his dribbling issues). Iwobi complements him as its clear that he aspires to emulate his uncle as the new Okocha. And then the clouds might align for a move for Ahmed Musa to a to a top club in England. Moses and Mikel bring experience in the midfield. All that's neededicated is for some defenders to develop AND for the FALL to beg, cajole, bribe, etc Vincent Enyeama to return. That doesn't even mention the wealth of striking talent with Ighalo and Nwakali...

We seem to be returning to the look of the 90s team. Very heavy in attack but weak at the back (West and Babayaro were greatplayers but known for getting forward to make things happen, but were frequently caught out when good opponents countered) which I prefer, but I'll take my chances in a shootout (especially with Enyeama there to bail out the defense) but you cannot win many matches if you cannot score goals as Nigeria has been struggling with in recent years.

I'd like to see how a 4-3-2-1 would look. Has this been tried before with Nigeria? You could ultimately pair Iwobi and Iheanacho behind Musa and let those two's relative strengths (Iwobi's dribbling and Iheanacho's passing and uncanny instinct to make appropriate runs into the box and finish) play havoc on back 4s. Plus you have a diverse backup for Musa in Ighalo who I think could also do well in that spot.

Just spitballing, but I love the recent player development going on in Naija. And poaching Iwobi from England (a player they legitimately actually wanted, albeit likely due to him being Okocha'so nephew) is a win I never thought I'd see an African side be able to pull off in the current era. I haven't even mentioned Ibe.

I also think that Iheanacho and Iwobi'so back stories aided their development towards skills that Nigeria began to lack. Iheanacho couldn't afford to watch EPL matches and so molded his progression towards emulating Spanish football, Messi in particular. And Iwobi had Okocha to look up to, who better?

If Enyeama can return and the youngstars stay hungry and healthy, Nigeria reallyou has a shot at doing something really special. Maybe be the next Belgium or Columbia...

Again, the biggest holes at the moment are coaching, defense and almost certainly goalkeeping.

E2A: A better idea would be Iwobi as CAM, Iheanacho as striker with Musa and Ighalo on the wings. Definitely a better idea than what I wrote.

 

Nigeria's coaching dilemma has been something that was concerning and now it's a national spectacle. One one side you have the federation chief who wants a foreign coach at all costs and on the other you have the sporting commission chief and pretty much everyone else who doesn't.

The biggest problem that I have here is that this (coach's nationality) shouldn't even be an issue. A coach's nationality can be a sign of some grievance in more structured federations in Europe or SA who we're trying to emulate with the logic that no nation has won a WC with a foreign coach. But even in England it isn't blown up to these proportions bc the general concern is getting the best coach for the job period. The problem here isn't that we shouldn't have Nigerian coaches running our national team. That is a good goal and should be a priority for the federation. The problem that I have is the general Nigerian arrogance of "a Nigerian coach at all costs" regardless of whether we can determine if they're good enough or not. Right now I don't think there is a Nigerian coach who is the absolute best coach possible for us. Keshi proved that he was up to the task and got to keep the job for some time. But I'm not sure if there is anyone else outside of Siasia who should even be considered. So sitting here and complaining that we can't copy Brazil and Italy in employing domestic coaches to take us all the way is arrogant considering that these nations have been competing in international competitions and World Cups for over 80 years. We have talent but not that type of deeply ingrained pedigree. You have to put some effort to get that, not just plug coaches into a role because of the passport that they carry.

There are Nigerians who want coaches from our still-redeveloping domestic league thrown into the mix with a WC berth on the line when what we should be asking for is a restructuring of how we certify, train, and gain international exposure for our coaches so that we can ensure at the end of the day, they have been exposed to and can adapt to the tactics that will be used against them at the highest level. Can we change on the fly? Can we eventually build our own unique tactical setup that keys on the strengths of our footballers while nullifying our opponent's strategies? Can we utilize proper and timely substitutions? Can we nurture our promising young talent and build a tactical setup that utilizes their strengths, thus allowing them to control the course of a match? Can we devise our own version of the Tiki-Taka, Samba Football, Total Football or Catenaccio; ... (a setup that might dominate the world for a cycle or more)? Because that's what makes having a domestic coach so useful, they can devise unique and culturally-informed set of tactics that make their football so unique and take the world by surprise before the rest can adapt to it.

Because if a domestic coach isn't giving us that, then there really is little edge if they're just rehashing tactics that they've learned from around the world but aren't trying to do anything inventive themselves. That comes from training, exposure to many different styles of football and constant study of the game. This requires effort on the behalf of the FA; and yes, they've failed Nigerian coaches, but that can't be fixed by next year and we have a WC to qualify for with perhaps the best group of talented young players that Nigeria's had in over a decade. So right now, what's important is to find the best coach, I don't care where he/SHE's from... Just my opinion on this.

E2A: One final note.... get Vincent Enyeama back,... at all costs! I don't care what you have to do. Bribe him. Guilt trip him. Post pictures of crying Nigerian children on Instagram and Twitter. Offer him women. Offer him food. Offer him gold. Get Cardinal Arinze to offer him indentures in the next life,... assuming he's Catholic,... if not find a minister in whatever religion he follows and get him to tell him that God commands it. Buy stock in Apple and offer that to him. Offer him my first born... okay that might be much... just get it done. We need him!!

 

I'd add Vincent Enyeama to that last sentence... really how could we let something like this happen?

Yeah, it's clear that Iwobi is the more natural 10 and Iheanacho is a sure-fire 9 who can easily play as a lone striker if needed. They just need to start playing them now. We like to compare our coaches to Brazil all the time. Well Brazilian coaches don't wait for European clubs to put their players in the starting 11 before they do so with the Seleccaio when they know they have a sure-fire talent who's ready to be molded. They immediately begin devising their tactical setup around those players for the long haul. Why isn't Nigeria doing this already. Even if you don't start them, they should at least be getting serious minutes. You blood your talent early and get them involved because what really wins World Cups are World-Class players. If you have youngsters who show that potential and older players who are merely "very good", "solid", or "serviceable" then you have to realize that, while you're "respecting" the older players, they're not the ones who can win a World Cup ever. But the young ones might. Time to make hard decisions and start finding out how Iwobi and Iheanacho will play together.

 

The only issue with Iheanacho is, depending on the style of attack, he doesn't score much with his head that I've seen. He almost exclusively finishes with his feet, which is great if Nigeria plays a style of attack that gets the ball to his feet into space. Iwobi's style of play could help facilitate, but we also need the right set of tactics.

 

Alex Iwobi is already a creative force and will likely start for Arsenal next season. He's definitely shaping up to be the future #10 for Nigeria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZB9Z2ty0Xo

Iheanacho is becoming even more prolific by taking his opportunities with the two starts he's been given against Stoke and Southampton. Hopefully Pep will take this even further. You would think that Toure or Bony would give him some advice on giving credit to his teammates so they won't keep leaving him alone after his goals but I suspect that they're each more concerned with their own futures than being his "big brothers" anymore...

The first goal vs Southampton was particularly encouraging for me because he finally showed some improvement on some of the perceived weaknesses in his game since graduating to the senior team (thing that he'd done well both in the U-17s and with the City EDS); close-control dribbling and headed goals. These seemed to me less a lack of innate skill and more a bit of developing confidence and decision-making at this level. Even Messi doesn't try to dribble thru three defenders who are standing right next to him... he finds angles and exploits them. Iheanacho did this and when he did he looked comfortable and made the right decision and the right pass. Then he showed, what has been a continuing strength; ie excellent movement without the ball. It was this skill that set up City's first goal against Stoke with his off ball movement setting him up for a goal and forcing the defender to grab him from behind.

 

I just love the frindship that is apparently forming between Iwobi and Iheanacho, who were roomies on their past call-ups to the Nigerian National team. Although some ignorant fans berated them for taking a selfie-pic with Abdullahi Shehu before the Egypt second leg as if taking a single pic prevented Nigeria from claiming points. Fools, they barely even played, what did that selfie do if they were kept on the bench for most of the time?



They're both the same age and play styles of football that complement one another well up-front. How can you not build a system to exploit your two most promising talents? It's also nice to see two young Igbos can be friends with a Muslim (Hausa) youngster from the North (Kano) of the country. Isn't this what human growth is supposed to be all about??? Us all learning to live with and love one another?????

 

http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4079...-super-eagles-promote-home-grown-coaches-from

 

Yeah I think Zah has a point here. Iheanacho has World Class talent. But he's not a World Class player yet, he has to earn that. But the potential is there. It's not all in his hands though, he has to develop under the right system with the right opportunities and a manager who believes in him and will call his number on a regular basis. Nigerian players don't have the cache yet that players from Brazil or Argentina do so it's not as easy to get our young players opportunities under good managers to develop without being shipped off to lesser leagues on loan deals or other such things. But if you can develop two or three world class players up front, then that's a hell of a good start. Look at how Suarez, Forlan and Cavani carried Uruguay for those years. If Iheanacho, Iwobi and another young attacking player become World-Class and especially at like ages where they can all develop along-side one-another, Nigeria could have a generation capable of equaling their mid-90's team which was once ranked #5 in the world.

 

It's sad really. It's like one year they suddenly lost all concept on how to develop creative attacking players. I was at Nigeria's first game vs Bulgaria in '94. Very memorable experience.

 

They proved that on the field. I don't give much stock to FIFA rankings but, considering how impossible it is to be ranked highly playing outside UEFA or CONMEBOL is these days,... it says alot about that team that they were ranked as high as #5 back then and they probably rated it. They truly had World-Class players back then and were entertaining,... creative. Something that West African football lost track of in their bid become more defensive and organized. Hopefully the recent developing players shows an emphasis in response to an obvious and glaring lack of creativity.