ANALYSIS: Fear not, Keshi got his final list right!
Waiting for the official World Cup list of the Super Eagles reminded those of us old enough of the time back in 1993 when we waited and waited for the final results of the June 12 general election. We never got the results in the end.
The 23-man list has been submitted to FIFA and barring injuries those young men and their technical crew headed by Stephen Okechukwu Keshi will carry the hopes of millions of Nigeria in Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As with all things Nigerian, many are very unhappy with the names contained therein.
We shall try and make a tactical analysis of the squad and how one expects them to play from the players chosen.
Defence
Keshi as a former defender works closely with his defenders, and his team during tournaments have been quite obdurate and hard to break down. However, sources in the technical crew informed TheCable that he was very sad that Fortuna Dussedorf defender Leon Balogun was not fit to be considered for selection.
The inclusion of Kunle Odunlami is to provide cover and competition for first choice Efe Ambrose. The Celtic defender is not a natural right-back and the technical crew are said to be dissatisfied with his current form and had hoped to have had Balogun as proper competition.
The defence picked will play the straight line four-man team. The first choice pairing for the central defence will be Kenneth Omeruo and Godfrey Oboabona. Uwa Elderson Echiejile will be at left-back.
Midfield
What is causing a lot of concern for many pundits looks to be the midfield. In November when this reporter interviewed Keshi after the friendly with Italy, he said that he was looking for “an attacking midfielder who will score goals”. He has tried Nnamdi Oduamadi, John Ogu, Nosa Igiebor and Sunday Mba in that role. Only the latter scored goals for the team there but even then none since the AFCON Final in 2013.
What can be seen from the selection of Michael Uchebo is that he is expected to play the role during the tournament. He is expected to bring height and possibly goals since he is a striker at his club.
Ogenyi Onazi and John Mikel Obi are the expected starters in what will most likely be a midfield trio. Youngster Ramon Azeez looked very sharp in training and not overawed in the company of the more experienced players. He is cover for the Chelsea player Mikel while Reuben Gabriel provides cover for Onazi in that holding role.
Forwards
The forwards selected for the squad provide the coach with a lot of variety and speed. Emmanuel Emenike and Uche Nwofor are the more traditional centre-forwards there. The rest can play in a variety of roles upfront. Stoke City’s Osaze Odemwingie can even drop back to play in an attacking midfield role behind the striker.
This team will play mostly the 4-3-3 formation but can morph it into 4-2-1-3 depending on personnel.
Forward march
This is not the first time Stephen Keshi – or any other Nigerian coach for that matter – has selected a squad not met with universal approval. However, as the man managing the players, he must know what he wanted in selecting the players he has.
Some exclusions have baffled many, including this writer. The Enugu Rangers winger and CHAN MVP Ejike Uzoenyi must consider himself very unlucky not to be on the plane to Sao Paulo. Another is Nosa Igiebor who looked the part in the friendly against Scotland last week.
Obinna Nsofor missed out through injury while the pair of Nnamdi Oduamadi and Sunday Mba paid the price for late arrivals to the London training camp and poor recent form.
In the main, the technical crew have picked a squad they expect to perform creditably in the tournament. Nigerians have to back the team now. It is not important those who are no more in the squad, what is important is total support for the lads in Brazil.
The die is cast. Heroes wanted, demanded even, of the 23 players.
I think we are paying the price for showing too much respect to Shola Ameobi, despite that he turned Nigeria down earlier in his career, and more recently during the AFCON. Coach Keshi has said that Shola brings the leadership he so desperately needs on and off the pitch. But I’m worried that that might come across as an indictment of Yobo and Enyeama as Captain and Vice Captain. And with those two in the team, added to Osaze, I fear that we may be getting one leader too many in Shola. This is at the cost of pace and power in the flanks, as would have been provided by Obinna Nsofor and Uzoenyi (to a lesser degree). With Nwofor, Emenike and Osaze providing the striking power, I believe that Shola, like Yobo, would spend more time leading off the pitch than anywhere else. I find him to be excess baggage. At 33 and out of contract at Newcastle with no immediate offers likely from a top team, his best days are obviously behind him. So taking Shola and Yobo to the World Cup knowing that they will largely be providing leadership off the pitch is one of two flaws I see in Keshi’s selection. The other is in the midfield. I do not subscribe to the argument that Uchebo will be better in that position because being a striker he promises more goals. I would rather natural play makers in Igiebor or Mba or Joel Obi (if he’s fit). Uchebo was so so awful in the friendly against Scotland that many Nigerians are in shock that he made the team. Despite that he managed a deflected goal, it was obvious that he hardly put a foot right. The reason might well be that he found himself in a strange position. I would argue that the World Cup is nowhere to experiment with a striker in the midfield. If he was that nervous in a friendly vs Scotland, can anyone imagine what state he would be in after a handshake with Messi and Arguero?
After all is said and done, what we summarily have is a 1st 13 or 14 at best with no potential match-changing option off the bench.
I think the selection largely reflects the ultra-thin pool of talent available to Nigeria and highlights the need for a strategic plan to scour for Nigerian talent to supply immediate future needs of the Eagles.
That players like Ilori and Sone aluko weren’t even called to the initial 30 is a travesty.
Regarding these Eagles, we’ll see although I’m not anywhere close to optimism