Two former Nigerian internationals, Joe Erico and Yisa Shofoluwe have stated that the Super Eagles needs a creative midfielder to take back its top position in Africa.
The Nigerian national team has continued to struggle since it claimed the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations’ trophy.
Shofoluwe noted that Eagles did not create enough scoring chances against Egypt in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying reverse fixture in Alexandria on March 29, hence the 1-0 loss by Nigeria.
He said, “It was a painful thing to see that the darling team of Nigerians won’t be at the Nations Cup again for the second consecutive edition,” the former Eagles defender told our correspondent.
“Before we won it in 2013, we didn’t qualify for the 2012 edition. We again failed to qualify for the last edition of the tournament in 2015. The problem with the team is quite much but the major one is that the coach has yet to find a playmaker for the team.”
He added, “The team have had three coaches in the last two year but they have not been able to get that player who can effectively distribute the ball and also create good scoring chances. That was what hurt them against Egypt in Alexandria.
“In Kaduna, the chances came because the Egyptians were cautious and defensive but when they came out to play in their own backyard, it showed that we had no play-maker in the team.”
In the same vein, former Eagles assistant coach, Joe Erico said, “Until we have a quality creative midfielder, we will be struggling to beat teams in Africa. The Eagles have changed their tactics from playing through the wings to midfield play, which is as exciting as could be.
“For now, I am happy with the young players we have in the team. But most of them are attack-minded. Any coach hired now should look at the team and get a play-maker for them or adopt a pattern that will suit the kind of players we have currently.”
Comments