It’s a weird old game, football, fraught with mysteries and seemingly unsolvable conundrums. Maybe that’s why we love it so much, because it taps into the wellsprings of our own personal frustrations at the seeming randomness of life. It is a microcosm of our daily existence, pregnant with the same manner of questions that rage within us and defy logic and reason.
How is it that the Netherlands of Cruyff and Neeskens, the cradle of total football and universality, have never been world champions? How is it that a player like Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha was never crowned African Footballer of the Year, in spite of his mesmeric ability? How is it that Nwankwo Kanu, decorated with almost every conceivable medal in world football, never scored a goal at a senior international football tournament playing for Nigeria? How is it that Pele, acclaimed by some as the greatest footballer who ever graced the game, is totally hopeless on the subject of anointing his own successor? (Why he even feels the need to do so is completely beyond me; surely there are scouts for that sort of thing, right?)
The subject of Pele got me thinking. His genius was announced on the world stage at a pretty tender age and he became a world champion at 17. He was a powerful dribbler and had a fierce strike (think Cristiano Ronaldo, but with much more snug shorts), dominating defenders from a deeper striking position. You know who else is 17 and the toast of world football presently? Nigeria’s own Kelechi Iheanacho, fresh from winning the U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the tournament’s Golden Ball award.
Now, I am well aware that any comparison to Pele seems to become a kiss of death, so perhaps it was just as well that the legendary Brazilian held his peace this time. Really, age aside, there is scant basis for comparison. Iheanacho is a silky, left-footed playmaker who likes to cut inside from the left flank and thread through balls between opposing defenders. Allied to that, he is unnervingly calm in front of goal and intelligent with his movement and passing.
This blog is my treatise for the inclusion of Kelechi Iheanacho in the Super Eagles squad for the World Cup in Brazil. This first part will focus on what he can bring to the team, while the second will be on how he can be utilized in the team’s tactical setup. Having given a lot of thought to it, I am convinced he is the solution to a problem that first came to my notice in the first leg World Cup Qualifying Play-off against Ethiopia. That will be expounded upon in the second part of this post.
At the Confederations Cup in June, especially in the loss to South American champions Uruguay, it quickly became clear how limited the National team were in terms of game-changing options from the bench. This led to like-for-like switches, which added nothing new but instead served to break up the fluidity of the team’s play. The addition of the precocious Iheanacho can surely only have a positive impact on the team, and even if he is not a nailed-on starter, he will increase the options available to Stephen Keshi both in terms of number and variety.
Modern football is leaning, more than ever before, toward strength and athleticism as some sort of equalizer, a means of accentuating the collective. This really works in Iheanacho’s favor, as his youth and energy will enable the team press from the front and force errors from the opposition. As for his seemingly slight frame, while he is by no means frail, he is not exactly sculpted in the image of Assistant Coach Daniel Amokachi. However, by virtue of his position on the left of the attack, he would be up against a fullback, who is on average smaller and less powerful than a center back, thereby moving him away from a high impact zone.
As mentioned previously, he is immensely clever with his positioning, occasionally dropping deep into midfield to add numbers and create numerical superiority, as well as moving inside from the flank into the space to the side of the opposition’s holding midfielder, from where he plays lovely dinks over the defence. One can only imagine what Emmanuel Emenike and Ikechukwu Uche could do with such service.
Like the axiom goes: if you’re good enough, you are old enough. Indeed, the only problem young Iheanacho might have, in my mind, is that of integration. As with any newcomer into a setup, there is bound to be a bedding-in period. The National team is an exclusive honor to those considered worthy to fly the country’s flag, and the inclusion of one will invariably knock another off. Will the player dislodged and his allies within the team take kindly to the intrusion? Will his youth be disdained? In this regard, while the coaching crew would have a responsibility to make him feel important to the cause, the man Kelechi Iheanacho has to assert himself and pull his own weight within the squad. If he can do this, he is Brazil-bound. Hope he likes the tropical sun.
Up the Super Eagles!
Stephen Keshi’s Super Eagles side improbably rose above skepticism and naysaying to win its third Afcon title in February. Impressively, they improved game-on-game, and Keshi tinkered and fiddled till he found his best eleven in the upset win against Cote d’Ivoire’s Elephants. He stuck with that till the end of the tournament, save for an Emmanuel Emenike injury which ruled him out of the final game.
This loyalty to a certain group of players has helped the Super Eagles scale through qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil next year. Now that is out of the way, it is time to consider a position that has proved problematic still: the right-back slot.
Since that Afcon triumph, it has been manned without fail by Celtic’s Efe Ambrose. He is no stranger to the big occasion, as he is a fixture in a Champions League team. Watch the Scottish Champions and you will find Ambrose bombing down the right flank from deep, providing an attacking outlet, slaloming past defenders and whipping in crosses. Wait, no?
You will not find any footage of that variety anywhere. That is because for the Bhoys, Ambrose plays at center back, snuffing out opposition attacks and playing short tidy passes into the midfielders and wide to the full backs. So who is the Daniel Alves evoking swashbuckler I described earlier? None other than Efe Ambrose.
In the National side, Ambrose fulfills the role of marauding wing back. As a center back by trade, you might be tempted to think this would make the team solid defensively on the right but lacking bite going forward. This is usually what you get in such a situation. In an inexplicable twist, it is the other way around.
Ambrose has consistently shown himself positionally undisciplined and poor at timing challenges and intercepting while playing right back, but excellent and impetuous going forward. This is not a one-off, and I will point out a few examples centering on the Confederations Cup in June.
In the second group game, Nigeria played South American champions Uruguay. John Obi Mikel’s superb strike late in the first half had pulled the Super Eagles level going into the break. Uruguay would proceed to score a second half winner through Diego Forlan, which should never have happened. The move began with Nigerian possession midway in their own half. Ahmed Musa, playing on the left, comes to the halfway line to receive a pass. Being Ahmed Musa, he miscontrols and the ball is nicked off him and suddenly Uruguay are breaking, running at the Nigerian defence 3 on 3. Wait, what?
Elderson Echejile, the left back, goes to Luis Suarez, but is unable to stop him. Pass to Cavani in the middle, Godfrey Oboabona comes across to meet him and Kenneth Omeruo drops in to cover the space in case he is beaten. First time pass to Diego Forlan out on the left of Uruguay’s attack, who is all alone. He controls and crashes the ball into the roof of the net. 2-1 Uruguay. From start to end of the counter, Efe Ambrose is nowhere in sight, yet the ball was lost on the HALFWAY LINE.
That goal effectively puts Nigeria out of the tournament. It gets worse though.
In the final group game, it’s the world champions Spain. Surely a time to be vigilant and organized in defence, right? Right? Spain race into the lead pretty early, when Efe Ambrose gets drawn out of position and is too narrow because Andres Iniesta has drifted into a central area. Spain work the ball around in midfield before slipping in Barcelona wing back Jordi Alba on the edge of the penalty box, up from the back and attacking the space. The whole time, Ambrose fails to spot his advancing run, and when Alba runs onto the pass, he makes a laughable attempt at intercepting, gets bypassed and Spain go ahead.
The second goal is much like the first, a result of poor positioning. Spain get the ball out wide to Pedro, who has switched flanks. Ambrose is too narrow, and also does nothing to close down either ball or man, and this forces Oboabona to move out of position to stop Pedro. Things are compounded because Ambrose does not make the opposite movement to drop into the space left by the center back, but just stands still, leaving substitute Fernando Torres with a free header.
I chose to highlight incidents at the Confederations Cup because these are the caliber of football matches the Super Eagles must seek to win to establish itself as a foremost footballing entity. Now that we are Brazil-bound, this issue must be looked into closely. Sadly, Solomon Kwambe is not of sufficient quality, and as the Big Boss has stated, squad harmony trumps individual ability for him. These considerations seem to indicate that Ambrose will continue to man the post. One can only hope the technical crew pick up on these shortcomings and act.
Up the Super Eagles!
The Italy game at Craven Cottage in London was played in largely good spirits and at a frenetic pace. With both teams sporting changes aplenty, there so only so much that can be read into the game tactically. In terms of personnel though, we can deduce a few things:
1. The Super Eagles are in good hands on the goalkeeping front. Austin Ejide has been second choice to Vincent Enyeama for most of his time in the National team, save for a short while in the dark days of Berti Vogts, but let’s not digress. Handed a start against the former world champions, he impressed immensely. Much has been made of Enyeama’s sterling form in Ligue 1, but we can all sleep a little easier in the knowledge that we’ve got quality back-up.
2. Ogenyi Onazi is undroppable and irreplaceable. At the Confederations Cup in June, much was made of the absences of Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses, but Onazi was an even bigger miss. He has grown in leaps and bounds, and is slowly and assuredly assuming the role of midfield controller, especially in the wake of two insipid performances from John Obi Mikel. His tackling is tenacious and his work rate commendable. He does need to be more disciplined positionally, but captain Enyeama aside; he is the first name on the team sheet for me.
3. It is time for Joseph Yobo to get a recall. Now, before anyone crucifies me, I plead for fair hearing. My enduring image of Joseph Yobo for the last eight months has been of him struggling to get back into position to stop a stoppage time Burkina Faso equalizer in the opening game of the Afcon. Indeed it is one of the last times he donned a Super Eagles shirt, and for a National team legend and captain, he deserves a lot better. He should be given the chance to earn his 100th cap and contribute much needed experience to the team. Anyone who disagrees, witness the ease with which Mario Balotelli drew the naïve Azubuike Egwueke out of position for Italy’s opener. I do not advocate for him to start, but you will never convince me he is not a better defender than Egwueke or James Okwuosa.
4. Right-back remains a huge problem. Solomon Kwambe was handed a chance to impress on Monday, and boy, did he have a stinker! As the saying goes, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. First choice Efe Ambrose has consistently been the weak link in defence (this will be discussed in a later post), but now it appears he is the best of an incompetent bunch, and that is truly worrying.
5. Shola Ameobi or Bright Dike, you cannot have both. They may have combined well for Nigeria’s equalizer, but what does one offer that the other does not? Burly, old fashioned center forwards, good in the air, neither with a decent turn of pace. If I had to choose, Ameobi gets the nod for me, and this leads to another point…
6. Shola Ameobi cannot play as a lone center forward. Nnamdi Oduamadi (more on him at a later time) was withdrawn at half time in a switch to a 4-3-3, with Bright Dike moving out to the right. This immediately disrupted the play, increasing the gap between fullback and winger, and also leaving Ameobi alone upfront, whereupon he promptly disappeared. He may be physical, but he simply doesn’t work the channels effectively enough to occupy opposition center backs.
The Italy game showed we could mix it with top teams, but a lot of work still needs to be done tactically, as I suspect that Keshi has a good idea of a preferred eleven. However, most of those handed a chance to impress took it, and there is reason for optimism.
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