Goal put some key questions to the Nigeria boss following the premature end of the national team’s African Nations Championship campaign
The truth is that the hopes of many Nigerian football fans, and expectations which had gone through the roof after the opening 4-1 victory over Niger, were cruelly dashed when Guinea bested the Eagles on Tuesday January 27 at the Rubavu Stadium to dump the national side out of the African Nations Championship.
But we must be careful not to overstate the facts that we have at hand.
Sunday Oliseh was proclaimed as Africa’s Pep Guardiola on assumption of the job by Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation, and since then we have—rightly or wrongly—assumed that all would fall in his wake.
While it’s important not to lose perspective following the defeat (only Oliseh’s second in 10 matches), there’s no doubt that it risks leaving Nigerians disenchanted with the coach's nascent regime.
In this feature, we look back over the disappointing tournament in Rwanda, and ask what can be learned from the Eagles showing and pose some questions at Oliseh, examining his performance over the last few weeks and the issues raised
Were these really the best 23 players from the NPFL?
There was some football fans who disputed the makeup of the CHAN squad; their argument was that the 23 chosen for the Rwanda championship were not actually an accurate representation of the best players in the league. Oliseh, on the eve of the tournament, said he was not missing anybody, but on the evidence of what we saw in Rwanda, were the players chosen really the absolute best the division has to offer?
Did the NFF do all it could to guarantee success?
With the NFF failing to pay the bonuses of the players, it will be hard to convince anyone that the board was putting everything behind the team. There is no way that Amaju Pinnick's board wouldn't have gone to source for funds if it was the main team that was being prepared for this kind of tournament, but with the home-based Eagles not enjoying the same status, was the drive truly there? It was a similar story for the U-23 team in Senegal, who played an entire tournament with just one set of jerseys. Did the NFF hang the CHAN team out to dry?
Was it wise for Oliseh to take over an unfamiliar team?
Oliseh was not the person that chose the 23 players that featured in Rwanda, that task was carried out by Salisu Yusuf. So, with the benefit of hindsight, would it have been better for Oliseh to have been in an observatory and advisory role instead of calling the shots from the bench? Yusuf knew these players better and had a reason for choosing them, why wasn't he given the opportunity to finish the job?
Was it all Oliseh’s fault that the team failed?
While the coach must take some of the brunt of the blame for failure at the CHAN, this shouldn't obscure the fact that the manager actually got a lot right on the fields of Rwanda. On the evidence of the tactics, formation and substitutions, did Oliseh do just enough to suggest that he is the real deal as an international manager?
The truth is that the hopes of many Nigerian football fans, and expectations which had gone through the roof after the opening 4-1 victory over Niger, were cruelly dashed when Guinea bested the Eagles on Tuesday January 27 at the Rubavu Stadium to dump the national side out of the African Nations Championship.
But we must be careful not to overstate the facts that we have at hand.
Sunday Oliseh was proclaimed as Africa’s Pep Guardiola on assumption of the job by Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation, and since then we have—rightly or wrongly—assumed that all would fall in his wake.
While it’s important not to lose perspective following the defeat (only Oliseh’s second in 10 matches), there’s no doubt that it risks leaving Nigerians disenchanted with the coach's nascent regime.
In this feature, we look back over the disappointing tournament in Rwanda, and ask what can be learned from the Eagles showing and pose some questions at Oliseh, examining his performance over the last few weeks and the issues raised
There was some football fans who disputed the makeup of the CHAN squad; their argument was that the 23 chosen for the Rwanda championship were not actually an accurate representation of the best players in the league. Oliseh, on the eve of the tournament, said he was not missing anybody, but on the evidence of what we saw in Rwanda, were the players chosen really the absolute best the division has to offer?
Did the NFF do all it could to guarantee success?
With the NFF failing to pay the bonuses of the players, it will be hard to convince anyone that the board was putting everything behind the team. There is no way that Amaju Pinnick's board wouldn't have gone to source for funds if it was the main team that was being prepared for this kind of tournament, but with the home-based Eagles not enjoying the same status, was the drive truly there? It was a similar story for the U-23 team in Senegal, who played an entire tournament with just one set of jerseys. Did the NFF hang the CHAN team out to dry?
Was it wise for Oliseh to take over an unfamiliar team?
Oliseh was not the person that chose the 23 players that featured in Rwanda, that task was carried out by Salisu Yusuf. So, with the benefit of hindsight, would it have been better for Oliseh to have been in an observatory and advisory role instead of calling the shots from the bench? Yusuf knew these players better and had a reason for choosing them, why wasn't he given the opportunity to finish the job?
Was it all Oliseh’s fault that the team failed?
While the coach must take some of the brunt of the blame for failure at the CHAN, this shouldn't obscure the fact that the manager actually got a lot right on the fields of Rwanda. On the evidence of the tactics, formation and substitutions, did Oliseh do just enough to suggest that he is the real deal as an international manager?
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