The final
whistle had sounded, Spain had humiliated Italy at the final of the European
Championship. It was an emphatic victory that led many to compare Spain’s
national team La Furja Roja to Brazil’s Selecao of the late sixties and early
seventies. Such was the convincing manner of the victory that the comparison
was necessary.
This piece is
however not a review of that final where yours truly with a deep understanding
of the Calcio (Italian football) had been disappointed. This piece is about the
lessons learnt from that competition and the expectation that football
administrators, coaches and indeed fans are learning that football is beyond
its present standard in Nigeria, a realisation that should call for thinking
and action.
Administration
has been one of our failures as a football country but then, that will be talk
for another day. Where this piece will dwell on is the manager and his players.
Nigeria’s national teams for the past ten years have struggled to make significant
impression consistently. There are several reasons: organisational failure on
the part of the administrators, unpatriotic attitudes and character, poor
motivation from coaches and the Nigerian mentality that everything will be well
just by thinking so.
There is
however one key factor that has been the reason for our football decline. It is
the inability of our coaches at the local league level and indeed at national
team stage to harness individual strengths such that weaknesses are made
little. A keen analyst of football in Nigeria will not find it hard to conclude
that Nigerian football is predominantly individual. That sort of football does
not succeed beyond a few matches. Successful countries in the modern game have
evolved their football around a particular way of involving the eleven players
on the field. In Brazil for instance, the method is to ensure that everyone
keeps the ball on the ground with the ball passed into space continually
resulting in the free flowing brand of football that gained them prominence. With
that method, certain skills are overall developed by the players who intend to
pick up shirts for every team in that country. Today, we expect Brazilians
everywhere to be good passers of the ball, athletic, good shooters and able
dribblers.
It was no
coincidence. The Brazilian team of the Pele era practised the method and
perfected it, making it a model to be admired by younger players in his country
who today continue in the same tradition although with European improvements. In
England, the key attribute is the physical presence of their players and then
the speed of those players whose team effort is on how to get the ball up field
very quickly resulting in high tempo. Today, the EPL is one of the most watched
in Nigeria because of that speed and high tempo, it was no product of coincidence
but a product of conscious thought that if our team can get the ball faster to
the opponent’s half or goal area then we stand a better chance of winning. In 1966
when England won the world cup, the ball got up field very quickly and they had
players who could match that intensity and speed. Over time however, they
preferred to get the ball up field very quickly by hitting long balls to the
strikers. That approach also is on the decline with the increasing number of
foreigners in that league.
Should I go
on about the preferred method of build up in Spain where players are taught to make
short passes in midfield and patiently encroach on the opponents’ goal. What about
the method in Italy where the focus is on conscious understanding of defensive
positioning and structure such that pressure can be reversed into well crafted
counter attacks. What more can I say about the Netherlands, that country where
Total Football originated. These brands of football are not products of
accident but products of coaching decisions and player implementation.
Where football
has no predefined form of build up, it is uninspiring to watch. Yes, some
players may dazzle but they become players who will get purchased by other
clubs to achieve their ambitions while his team suffers for a lack of team
effort. Real teams will do well overtime if they have a well articulated method
of build up that favours the kind of players they have and then those players
individual strengths will eventually manifest.
The last
match of the Super Eagles against the Rwanda national team in Calabar was a
sorry picture for Nigerian football. Our star studded side had no defined form
of build up nor was there any pronounced method for defending. Nigeria won that
match because certain more skilful players were in the Nigerian team. How long
will we continue to rely on a few talents? Surely talent is not enough. Even in Italy where players learn very early
the role of tactical flexibility, they learn also that tattiche non sono sufficient or tactics are not enough.
Stephen Keshi
has missed an opportunity to play against Arsene Wenger’s side. What he should
not miss however, is the opportunity to turn Nigerian football into a team that
has a style that suits our people, a style that is appealing to watch yet
disciplined enough to get results. It is possible for him to achieve. This need
to give Nigerian football a way or ways of playing is one of the reason this
writer is of the view that the hiring of Belgian Saintfet is the wrong choice
for technical director. A technical director is a manager who scouts players or
coordinates players into a scouting pool and then works to supervise the
coaches who will deploy those players to ensure among other things that those
players will play to a certain philosophy over time.
The quality
of build-up a football team in Europe display is the product of the manager’s
work. Even in South America where flair is given utmost priority, managers
there look to teach team skills that will overall make individual flair a
delight to behold. I will dare say that one of the reasons our national team
players do not do well enough under indigenous managers is the neglect of team
skills to focus on correcting individual mistakes in training. Our players will
be inspired to give more if they are encouraged to put the ball on the ground,
pass it around a premeditated way for the whole team. That era of throw players
on the pitch to do what they think best for the situation is over.
We have a
huge challenge against a Liberian side that will be determined to emulate
Zambia and prove that there are no more minnows in African football. Then the
qualifier for the World Cup will begin. What about our age grade football, a
concerted effort should be made to ensure that certain team skills are mastered
and adhered to by all Nigerian sides at national team level. We cannot do that
until we get a technical department with people who can articulate such a
pattern of play or a technical director worth his salt. If we must revive our
football fortunes, then we must create a style that our people can learn and
play consistently over time for years to come, until then, we will continue to
rely on names and if they have a bad day or come up against teams....
Oga Keshi, we
don tire for anyhow football.
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