Ernest Osogbue
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have prosecuted four matches under the management of Malian coach Eric Chelle. At his unveiling by the NFF, much was made of his tactical nous, and managerial skills. While most skeptics questioned the criteria behind the hiring of the Malian as the head coach of the Super Eagles, when top Nigerian and European coaches were available, NFF bigwigs had shot the skeptics down, maintaining that Eric Chelle, despite being Malian, was actually of French decent, and that he had capabilities and capacity to do much more than was visible on his CV.
Four matches down the line, and Nigerians have at least had a glimpse of the Eric Chelle magic. How far so far?
From all indications, and going by his approach to the matches he has so far prosecuted, Eric Chelle is just an average coach with nothing special about him. His first game was a World Cup qualifying victory against Rwanda in Kigali, which kind of revived the hope of Nigerians in the World Cup qualifiers. After that came a disappointing draw against Zimbabwe in Uyo, in another World Cup qualifying game. This particular game exposed Chelle as having brought nothing new to the Eagles, but that he was simply relying on the big name players.
In the last few days, Nigeria was involved in the Unity Cup Championship, which the Eagles won, courtesy of a penalty shootout victory over Jamaica. In assessing the two matches played by the Eagles, one could scarcely see any fresh input from a coach who was touted to be one of the best of his generation by his employers.
In the opening game against Ghana, the Eagles could only keep their lead for six minutes. In the second half as has become the norm in recent times, the team collapsed, and the players were gasping for breath as the Ghanaians ran rings around our defenders. But for the reflexes of Stanley Nwabali in goal, the story would have been different.
In the final game against Jamaica, the Eagles went ahead again, but as was to be expected, the lead only lasted for three minutes, before the Jamaicans equalized. When the Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd half, it was also a short-lived affair, as the Jamaicans came storming back to equalize again. It is obvious that Eric Chelle has brought nothing special to the Super Eagles going by the games he has managed so far. The same old challenges of inability to keep a lead and see out out a game is still very much in evidence. The fact that the Super Eagles usually play a decent first half and run out of gas in the second half is still on display.
Nothing special has been done by Chelle in terms of introducing high impact substitutes who come into a game and change the complexion. The same routine substitution for the sake of substitution is still in operation. This writer does not wish to go too much into player selection and team formation, which is another area where Chelle has not done anything special.
While we appreciate Chelle for extending invitations to a wide range of players for the Unity Cup and the friendly with Russia, with a view to discovering fresh talents and improving the squad depth, it remains to be seen what impact the new players to be discovered would make in future matches.
Be that as it may, it is clear from this writer’s observation that for now Eric Chelle has brought nothing new into the repertoire of tricks the Super Eagles have, it has been same old, yoyo performances of the team prior to his engagement.
If Eric Chelle and those who advocated for his appointment are not to be disgraced and confined to the dustbin of history, the man needs to put on his thinking cap and adopt his genius mood sooner than later. If he doesn’t, then big trouble is looming just around the corner.
