Ernest Osogbue
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have prosecuted five 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.
Five matches down the line, and Nigerians have at least had a glimpse of the Eric Chelle magic. How far so far?
From a distance, nothing much has changed in the Super Eagles. A closer look would however show that Eric Chelle has introduced some form of stability in the team, he has equally opened up the Super Eagles to be amenable to new players. In the recent past, the coaches had limited the team to a handful of players from amongst whom they made their selections. The Unity Cup and the Russian friendly have shown that Eric Chelle is willing to expand his dragnet to players outside the usual suspects, and that is commendable.
In tactical terms, Eric Chelle’s 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 a bit as having brought nothing new to the Eagles.
Since that time, however, the Super Eagles have been involved in the Unity Cup Championship, which they won, courtesy of a penalty shootout victory over Jamaica. In assessing the two matches played by the Eagles, one could scarcely see any fresh tactical input from a coach outside the use of fresh players.
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 could 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 is still coming to grips with the challenges of his new role. 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.
The introduction of Tolu Arokorade in the friendly against Russia was the first time Chelle made a high impact substitution, so Tolu saves his blushes in that respect. Prior to that substitution, however, Chelle had made bland substitutions in most of his other games in charge. We also note that rather than fade in second half as was usual, the Eagles at least kept up the fight to the very end against Russia.
We appreciate Chelle for extending invitations to a wide range of players for the Unity Cup and the friendly with Russia. We hope these players will not be left in the lurch as has been the case hitherto. Cyrill Dessers, Tolu Arokorade, Maduka Okoye, and a few other players have shown that they’re relevant to the Super Eagles going forward. Their invitation for matches in the future must, therefore, not be based on politics but on their performances.
Be that as it may, it is clear that for now, Eric Chelle is still going through his paces, trying to understand the players and build his team. We must commend the NFF for the Unity Cup and the Russian friendly. These are the support every coach needs to understand his team and improve performances. We hope that the football body will continue to look out for high quality friendly internationals to ensure that no FIFA window is wasted.
Eric Chelle has so far prosecuted five matches and lost none. On paper, that looks good. A deeper probe would reveal that some of the old challenges like the inability to hold on to a lead and see out a game is still in evidence. The fact that the Super Eagles find it difficult to keep a clean sheet is another matter. We’re happy that Chelle has equally observed this and that he will hopefully work on it.
All in all, Chelle may have scored a pass mark but what Nigerians need is excellence. To achieve that Eric Chelle needs to be on his genius mode to bring back the glory of the Super Eagles and win over the Nigerian supporters.
Good luck to him.
