Foreign Technical Adviser for Eagles – a disaster waiting to happen!

MY Nigerian people have started again o! Suddenly, after a fantastic season of remarkable achievements, the old demon is resurrected again. One would have thought that following previous experiences the issue of a foreign coach, a new coach, a technical adviser, or technical ‘ anything’ for that matter, would never raise its ugly head again in Nigerian football for a long time to come!

How could we so quickly have forgotten our disastrous experiment with the Yugoslav, Bora, who was hired, after the country had already qualified, to lead Nigeria to France ’ 98? With the abundant but ageing talent at his disposal, the team’s lack of tactical depth was laid bare by Denmark even after a great start against Spain.

Or the Nigerian, Chief Onigbinde, who was drafted in, at the last minute, to take the Super Eagles to Korea/ Japan 2002 after another Nigerian had qualified the country for the World Cup? The result was a team so tactically bereft that the experienced players later admitted did not even understand what it was playing until it found itself heading back home without a single victory.

Or the credentials- laden Swiss, Lagerback, who was brought in on the eve of South Africa 2010 to take over from Amodu Shuaibu? Time was so short that he impacted very little on the team’s tactical strength. He failed woefully also, leaving Nigerians with very painful memories of dreadful performances.

It is only a foolish man that does the same thing over and over again and expects a different result. Have past experiences not taught us enough lessons?

What Nigeria can richly draw lessons from is, undoubtedly, its most successful World Cup experience to date - USA ’ 94!

Westerhof, the Dutch coach, had worked with the Nigerian national team for 5 years in order to qualify and to lead the Super Eagles to Nigeria’s first and most glorious World Cup outing.

Only one ingredient was missing in that great assembly of 1994. When the absolutely brilliant Super Eagles were coasting home to a most unlikely victory against Italy, a little inexperience and some tactical naivety set in, and stopped Nigeria’s fairytale ride to the quarterfinals.

So, as the country prepares for Brazil 2014 Nigeria should draw lessons and inspiration from that experience. To now start a conversation all over the place about who should lead the Super Eagles will only be preparing the country for another catastrophic outing in Brazil. This is my humble take on the issue. Stephen Keshi has successfully meandered through some very turbulent experiences with administrators to arrive at the doorstep of the World Cup. He is a tough ‘ cookie’. Which is absolutely great for a crisis- prone national team such as Nigeria. So he is the right man for the job.

What is also apparent to all critical observers is that the present team is definitely not laden with exceptionally gifted players, unlike the Westerhof era of the early 1990s, which Keshi is very familiar with. This time, the strength of the present team is youthfulness, hunger to succeed, unity and discipline in the team, and the players’ enthusiasm and athleticism.

But it is obvious that football at the World Cup level succeeds mostly on tactical discipline, football philosophy, and tradition, and quality of players available. As at every other time in Nigeria’s past experiences, the low level of its tactical application has being the country’s greatest drawback. Tactical depth derives from a country’s established football culture and a very ‘ sound’ coach.

Generally, that has always been Nigeria’s greatest shortcoming at the highest levels of football. It takes great intelligence and intellectual depth to understand the intricacies of team tactics and to impact tactical discipline in a football team of eleven players with different characteristics, ability, temperament, skills and intelligence. Week in week out in European football we have seen that only a few coaches manage to consistently give us ‘ tutorials’ on the art of tactical discipline and application in their teams. It is that hard to impact!

That’s what several African football administrators realize, and why they often succumb to the temptation to hire a foreign coach for the ultimate global challenge in football. So, even as Nigeria prepares for the 2014 World Cup that is the main reason why some people are now thinking that possibility again!

In my thinking, it is the strategy about how to instill tactical discipline and team organization that must change, not the motivation to effect the identified essential change.

So, Stephen Keshi should lead the Super Eagles to Brazil. Period! Under no circumstances must Nigeria now hire another technical adviser, or what- have- you.

Keshi’s team is more or less set. Only a few changes to the player- assembly can now take place in the months before the championship starts. Scanning the global football landscape has already revealed that there are not many players out there that have missed the dragnet set up by Keshi to fish for the best players available now to the country. Keshi should resist the temptation by all means to bring in old players whose best we have all seen in the past that did not fetch the country anything. The good news is that the present players have got a lot going for them already.

Once again, let me drink from Daniel Amokachi’s revealing reading of present team. This is what he told me: The present players are playing at fifty percent of their true capability. They can raise their levels of performance very game significantly if only they can start to believe more in themselves, and appreciate their individual ability, take full responsibility and start to play with confidence and conviction!

That tells me a lot. I trust Amokachi’s judgment. He has been working with the team very closely and, since he mentioned it, I can now see it myself.

What this means and requires is a heavier dose and boost of psychology. We have often neglected this very essential aspect of our football development and team building. We may have something in place presently, but what we need to do immediately is escalate the issue of psychology and elevate the level of personnel in charge! Simple!

Secondly, the issue of team tactics is slightly more challenging.

What would a smart Chief Executive Officer of a very successful company do confronted with a similar challenge in the business world? He ( or she) would either employ an expert in the area of that deficiency, or go acquire the knowledge himself as quickly as possible!

Samson Siasia, when he was coach of the national teams, addressed this challenge