The FIFA window opened yet again to allow players all over the world take part in National assignments. Friday was the turn of the Supper Eagles to trade tackles with the men from Swaziland (a not-too-popular footballing nation) in the CAF World Cup Qualifiers and with the calibre of players in the rank of the Eagles, you would have expected the Swazi game to be a walk in the park for the Nigerians. But guess what? Sunday Oliseh's boys couldn't find the back of the net after nighty minutes! They couldn't get a single goal, talk more of a win.
I really don't know if you saw that match yesterday but just in case you didn't, believe me, you missed nothing! Absolutely nothing! The game yesterday was football boredom at it's peak; such a lack-lustre performance from the boys in white and green. It's really unthinkable for a side as big as the Supper Eagles not to have won against a Swazi side that Eyimba FC would have comfortably taken to the cleaners.
Not only were our mid-fielders aimless on the evening, Oliseh the team's coach was absolutely clueless! How on earth do you put up five strikers on the the same pitch? (Na rugby?) You bring in a certain Obafemi Martins and take out the only possible creative midfielder, Obi Mikel and expect God to come down from heaven to provide passes for the flood of strikers on the field? Absolute football madness!
Just a couple months back, most Nigerians were clamouring for Keshi's sack, suggesting that Oliseh be given a chance to head the Eagles. But hey! It's been six matches played so far: two competitive matches against two lowly rated sides in Tanzania and Swaziland and Oliseh's men could neither score nor pick all three points in any. But you see, we never suffered such disastrous showings under the much maligned Keshi. You can fault me if I'm wrong.
In as much as some people will argue that it's still early days for Oliseh, I think that's not enough excuse to justify his team's performances against Tanzania and Swaziland. Look, we are talking about the 135th and 130th ranked teams in the world for crying out loud. These are teams that the Supper Eagles with all their quality should be beating mercilessly any day, anytime. I still repeat that Keshi was never as horrible as this in his two-year reign as Supper Eagles coach. I mean, if you can't defeat Tanzania and Swaziland; na Egypt you wan come beat?
With all due respect to Coach Sunday Oliseh and his exploits as a football player and pundit, I think his appointment by the Nigerian Football Association was really not the best option. Oliseh is a coach without a proven track record of coaching success. Such a person shouldn't have been given the job of coaching a team as big as the Supper Eagles. Pre-match and post-match analysis aren't the same as coaching a team on the field of play. His performances have been below par and his tactics leave much to be desired. Or should I also remind you about his poor man-management skill as well? Just yesterday, we hear he had a feud with Rabiu Ibrahim; add that to his previous clashes with former skippers — Vincent Enyeama and John Obi Mikel.
With all said, I think it's becoming much more evident now, that Sunday Oliseh is clearly a downgrade on former Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi. The results speak for themselves. It's just left for Nigerians to shun sentiments and face the facts. Oliseh is certainly not the man for the Eagles. Period!
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