Five Things Sunday Oliseh Must Do To Succeed As Eagles Coach

Over the years, Nigerian football most especially at the senior level has been described patternless and non-tactical.

In the heat of their triumph in 2013, many said that the former head coach to the team, Stephen Keshi won the 3rd African Cup of nations for Nigeria on 'mere luck' - 19 years after their last triumph on the continent, unfortunately for Keshi, he failed to qualify Nigeria for the next edition of the championship which took place in Equitorial Guinea.

According to some analysts and fans of the game, it was believed that the last time Nigeria played a purposeful football was in 1998, when the Super Eagles defeated Spain 3-2 at France 1998.

Those periods,1994-98 precisely, Nigeria had quality player in all departments, even, the midfield was comprise of, the likes of Finidi George, Emmanuel Amunike, Tijani Babangida, Garba Lawal who operated from the flanks with visible results to uplift his Nation.

Those days saw Nigerian players who played with passion to uplift the nation and not money as it is the case with the players of today. An average Nigerian player will agree to play in a more delicate atmosphere just to earn a living, while the domestic league keeps losing its value on daily basis.

Between 1994 and now, the Nigerian FA have hired coaches both from within and without, yet there seem to be no change, both tactically and technically.  The likes of Adegboye Onigbinde, Lars Largerback, Berti Vogts, Shuaibu Amodu, Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia, and so on have been appointed, yet we are still the 54th in FIFA ranking where countries like Cape Verde with less than 5million people are far above Nigeria on the ranking.

But now that the baton has been passed on to Sunday Oliseh, and he has vowed to introduce a pattern of play to the Eagles. Nigerians are expectant and hoping Oliseh can truly make a huge difference. 

The first thing the coach must do is build his team around the midfield because he was a midfielder during his active football days and producing after your kind might just be easier for him.

Second, Oliseh must accept the fact that Nigeria has not been able to produce natural wingers to replace the likes of Finidi George, Emmanuel Amunike, Tijani Babangida and a few others.

Third, the Eagles coach must take into cognisance the fact that 21st century Nigerian players do not have equal quality as those who played in the 1990's.

Fourth, Nigerian players have little or no value in the global football market, and this was characterised by their love for money and not glory.

Finally, Oliseh must put into considerations the fact that Nigerians have little patience for an unproductive Coach. If care is not taken, same people who clamoured for your appointment will call for your head.

I will conclude by wishing Sunday Oliseh all the best in his task to take Nigerian football to greater heights.

Oluwatomiwa Babalola

Oluwatomiwababalola@gmail.com

@babalola_tomiwa

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