SUPER EAGLES ARE AVERAGE PLAYERS -GERNOT ROHR
Story by Desmond Ekwueme
The Franco-German simply said his team lacks big name players. We have lived with this irrespective of how ugly the situation is. It did not start with Rohr's era as manager but has been lingering for long even as we pretend it doesn't exist by trying to manage the situation.
Part of that management strategy led Late Stephen Okechukwu Keshi to winning the AFCON trophy in South Africa in 2013. Keshi went to that tournament with six home based players and about 13 players in all without AFCON experience. That is history now and not the issue on ground as presented by Rohr. But we can only encourage Rohr to manage the players available to him and possibly win the 2019 AFCON for Nigeria.
However, winning AFCON is not the ultimate because if it is, Super Eagles should have won it again since the South Africa triumph six years ago. To recall that after that feat the team has failed to qualify for same tournament back to back speaks volume just as it buttresses the point. You prepare a solid squad over time to enable you win trophies regularly. By preparing a solid squad you must have world class players who can individually conjure magic to win games thereby winning tournaments.
Average players don't win tournaments. Assemblage of low quality players remains a retrogressive step which takes the team back and beyond the class of superior teams with huge numbers of talented and world class players. Perhaps many could opine that Rohr is already given excuses of failure in the coming AFCON tournament but far from that, the man is saying the obvious.
And that is why we must challenge or task his scouts. If they cannot fish out players of world standard to help their principal build a better, stronger and tougher Super Eagles then, what is the need of their presence around the team?
We must also blame our policy of winning age grade competitions like the FIFA U-17 World Cup at all cost. When you take old men to such tournaments and win them and few years after the players who are supposed to feature for Super Eagles at the World Cup fizzle out, you can never get world class players. May be we have to go back to the basics of catch-them-young.
We must stop searching for world class players only in Europe. It has not worked over time. It is only normal for us to put an end to it. We need to return to the grassroots....not even NPFL and NNL clubs where coaches have roundly been accused of receiving gratification to register a player or players in a season. Same goes for fielding the players for games. The story of sacked Super Eagles home-based coach, Salisu Yusuf is a testament to this allegation.
When coaches keep receiving bribes from average players to get into clubs in the domestic league, the clubs also turn out average players to the national team.
This is why the search for world class players should take us back to the grassroots from where we discovered great names like Henry Nwosu who joined the 1980 glorious Green Eagles fresh from Lagos Principals' Cup at 16. Daniel Amokachi then a young chap spotted by Clemens Westerhorf's scouts in the dusty city of Kaduna. A 17-year old playing for Ranchers Bees.
Nwankwo Kanu discovered by Iwuanyanwu Nationale and spotted by Fanny Amun for his victorious Japan '93 Golden Eaglets at age 15. From that tournament the leggy Kanu exploded to the world to become King Kanu. Emmanuel Amunike from Julius Berger went to Zamalek and straight to Sporting Lisbon before heading for FC Barcelona. He was one of the youngest at the USA '94 World Cup. Sunday Oliseh featured for RSC Liege, Ajax, Juventus and Borrusia Dortmund. We can go on and on.
Another point is the class or quality of agents that move our players abroad. Some of the scouts and agents are just third party dealers who most times merely hawk or move players from one location or country to another without a certain or sure destination. They eventually end up handing over our players to other agents at the eleventh hour when all hope is lost. In such situation, the player is cheaply considered, tried and handed a late minute offer to lesser clubs for lesser fee. At least for the financial or economic gain after converting the foreign currency or worth of the deal to our naira, the player is better for it but our national team where he will eventually be called to serve suffers with loads of average players.
Today, Super Eagles players no longer play for AC Milan like Taribo West, Inter Milan like then 18-year old Obafemi Martins, FC Barcelona like Gbenga Samuel Okunnowo, Ajax like the quintet of George Finidi, Kanu, Oliseh, Tijjani Babangida and Pius Ikedia and Chelsea like Celestine Babayaro among others.
If our players feature for clubs like Wolves, Stoke City and Legranes among others, we will surely have very average players in the Super Eagles.
Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr in a recent interview few
days ago presented the reality of the pains of millions of football fans
especially those of the Nigerian senior men's national football team, Super
Eagles when he literally said his team lacks world class players. This is worrisome
but a statement of fact.
The Franco-German simply said his team lacks big name players. We have lived with this irrespective of how ugly the situation is. It did not start with Rohr's era as manager but has been lingering for long even as we pretend it doesn't exist by trying to manage the situation.
Part of that management strategy led Late Stephen Okechukwu Keshi to winning the AFCON trophy in South Africa in 2013. Keshi went to that tournament with six home based players and about 13 players in all without AFCON experience. That is history now and not the issue on ground as presented by Rohr. But we can only encourage Rohr to manage the players available to him and possibly win the 2019 AFCON for Nigeria.
However, winning AFCON is not the ultimate because if it is, Super Eagles should have won it again since the South Africa triumph six years ago. To recall that after that feat the team has failed to qualify for same tournament back to back speaks volume just as it buttresses the point. You prepare a solid squad over time to enable you win trophies regularly. By preparing a solid squad you must have world class players who can individually conjure magic to win games thereby winning tournaments.
Super Eagles at the moment lack world
class players and as such the chances of the team excelling in tournaments are
limited if at all there is any.
Average players don't win tournaments. Assemblage of low quality players remains a retrogressive step which takes the team back and beyond the class of superior teams with huge numbers of talented and world class players. Perhaps many could opine that Rohr is already given excuses of failure in the coming AFCON tournament but far from that, the man is saying the obvious.
And that is why we must challenge or task his scouts. If they cannot fish out players of world standard to help their principal build a better, stronger and tougher Super Eagles then, what is the need of their presence around the team?
We must also blame our policy of winning age grade competitions like the FIFA U-17 World Cup at all cost. When you take old men to such tournaments and win them and few years after the players who are supposed to feature for Super Eagles at the World Cup fizzle out, you can never get world class players. May be we have to go back to the basics of catch-them-young.
We must stop searching for world class players only in Europe. It has not worked over time. It is only normal for us to put an end to it. We need to return to the grassroots....not even NPFL and NNL clubs where coaches have roundly been accused of receiving gratification to register a player or players in a season. Same goes for fielding the players for games. The story of sacked Super Eagles home-based coach, Salisu Yusuf is a testament to this allegation.
When coaches keep receiving bribes from average players to get into clubs in the domestic league, the clubs also turn out average players to the national team.
This is why the search for world class players should take us back to the grassroots from where we discovered great names like Henry Nwosu who joined the 1980 glorious Green Eagles fresh from Lagos Principals' Cup at 16. Daniel Amokachi then a young chap spotted by Clemens Westerhorf's scouts in the dusty city of Kaduna. A 17-year old playing for Ranchers Bees.
Nwankwo Kanu discovered by Iwuanyanwu Nationale and spotted by Fanny Amun for his victorious Japan '93 Golden Eaglets at age 15. From that tournament the leggy Kanu exploded to the world to become King Kanu. Emmanuel Amunike from Julius Berger went to Zamalek and straight to Sporting Lisbon before heading for FC Barcelona. He was one of the youngest at the USA '94 World Cup. Sunday Oliseh featured for RSC Liege, Ajax, Juventus and Borrusia Dortmund. We can go on and on.
Another point is the class or quality of agents that move our players abroad. Some of the scouts and agents are just third party dealers who most times merely hawk or move players from one location or country to another without a certain or sure destination. They eventually end up handing over our players to other agents at the eleventh hour when all hope is lost. In such situation, the player is cheaply considered, tried and handed a late minute offer to lesser clubs for lesser fee. At least for the financial or economic gain after converting the foreign currency or worth of the deal to our naira, the player is better for it but our national team where he will eventually be called to serve suffers with loads of average players.
Today, Super Eagles players no longer play for AC Milan like Taribo West, Inter Milan like then 18-year old Obafemi Martins, FC Barcelona like Gbenga Samuel Okunnowo, Ajax like the quintet of George Finidi, Kanu, Oliseh, Tijjani Babangida and Pius Ikedia and Chelsea like Celestine Babayaro among others.
If our players feature for clubs like Wolves, Stoke City and Legranes among others, we will surely have very average players in the Super Eagles.
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