The good news is: it can only get better for the Eagles from here on
out. However, the Glass House must provide Oliseh with preparatory
friendlies to avoid a repeat of Saturday'...
It’s been well over 48 hours, a safe enough distance from the wild over-reaction that followed on the heels of Sunday Oliseh’s debut in the Nigeria dugout.
Football may well be the ultimate dream factory, but every now and again, a splash of icy reality is needed.
A draw against Tanzania is hardly ideal, but it is worth
acknowledging that it could have been a lot worse.
Granted, it could
also have been better; not by much though, in the prevailing
circumstances. Nigerians can take solace in the fact this is possibly
the worst fare to be served under the former Super Eagles captain at the
helm.
The responsibility for this lies, not just with the coaching crew,
but with the NFF as well. The Glass House will have a lot to say about
whether the discordant display in Dar s Salaam is remembered with mild
bemusement or with doleful anguish.
Nigeria will begin the journey toward the 2018 World Cup in Russia in
early November; first away at either Swaziland or Djibouti, and then at
home. In the intervening period, there is one international window in
October: between the 5th and 13th of October.
If the incoherence, both in strategy and play, that brought the team
perilously close to defeat against Tanzania is to be remedied, this
window must be utilized. In that nine-day span, the Amaju Pinnick-led
NFF must see to it that two friendlies are scheduled for the Super
Eagles.
In appointing Oliseh, NFF took a tremendous leap in the dark, perhaps
without fully considering all factors. However, the milk is spilt and
should not be mourned; the onus is on both parties to prove the gamble
was the right call, and that task starts straightaway. The NFF owes it
to the nation to provide the coach with situations where he can make
mistakes and learn on his feet, as he is now condemned to do.
Failing this, the next window after the double-header against
Swaziland/Djibouti is 21-29 March, 2016; that week sees Group G leaders
Egypt, perfect so far in Afcon 2017 qualifying and high on confidence,
come calling in a game the Super Eagles cannot afford to lose.
To go into that game with the team in this state would be suicide.
Two Afcon absences in a row is hardly fathomable, and such failure on
the part of the NFF cannot be explained away—the World Cup may not be
our birth right, as we were inelegantly informed once, but missing the
Afcon again; oh, the shame!
When these games are scheduled (surely, they must be), Oliseh owes it
to himself and the nation to maximise them. A twisted positive from the
barely-watchable Tanzania display is that there must surely now be an
idea of those who have a future within the team. That group will be the
armature upon which the entire team going forward will stand.
ability; as well as an eye to adding specific qualities to the team. One
of the glaring deficiencies at the weekend was the lack of thrust from
full-back, for example. Kingsley Madu is an excellent full-back going
forward and must be liberated to do so; a kindred spirit must be found
on the other flank.
Oliseh must also seize the opportunity to perfect his match strategy.
Some of it was down to a lack of cohesion, but there was little logic
to his attacking play against the Taifa Stars. It is thoroughly
impossible to attack with just four players—not only does it make it
impossible to create effective link-up in the opposing third, it splits
the team in two bands with nothing in-between. These are the sort of
matters that require addressing, and for which solutions must be
proposed and test-run until the bugs are found.
The time for witty soundbites is done, on both sides; the time to get
the Super Eagles off the ground is now. Having wagered all, the NFF
must show good faith by their works. Failing this, the Oliseh experiment
is as good as dead in the water.
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