The Super Eagles were easily the best team in the group stage of the AFCON, but suffered a disappointing exit from the hands of Tunisia in the round of 16.
That pain is still sharp. It’s been two months since that exit but the eldorado the Super Eagles exposed fans to made that loss gutting. It was a sharp decline. A bad fall off the cliff and it was expected to provide as many lessons as possible.
Against Ghana at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, it didn’t look like Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen learnt from that disappointment.
Nigeria devised exactly the same system as they did at the AFCON with just individual changes being the difference. Two of those changes were forced as a result of COVID-19 and injury to Maduka Okoye and Wilfred Ndidi respectively.
Francis Uzoho was confident and composed in goal, and helped calm the team’s nerves when he was called upon. He also made a vital save in the game. Innocent Bonke also had a decent game, although struggled to assert himself on a difficult night.
Victor Osimhen also came in for Taiwo Awoniyi who was preferred upfront at the AFCON in the Napoli striker’s forced absence. He was isolated for large periods and had to deal with the Ghanaian central defensive pairing all alone.
Nigeria played with the same system seen at the AFCON. While it’s expressive, effervescent and beautiful to see when it’s in full throttle, it’s a system that’s easy to shut out.
Ghana piled the pressure early in the game and asked questions of the Nigerian midfield. Muhammed Kudus in Ghana’s #10 position was very intelligent with his movement and caused Bonke and Aribo a load of problems. The Super Eagles withheld the flurry of attacks and kept their cool. In another shutout, similar to what the Super Eagles faced against Tunisia, the duo of Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon hardly took a foot rightly.
It was a pressure-intensive occasion with more than 70,000 Ghanaians ramped in the 40,000-seater Baba Yara Stadium. Both wingers and Kelechi Iheanacho struggled to assert their influence on the game and left Osimhen to battle Ghanaian defenders for long duration.
That showing was a reincarnation of what happened against Tunisia. Without that odd goal by the Tunisians on the night, it was a game headed for a goalless draw also. Eguavoen’s tactical tweak again was to inject more urgency in the middle and the flanks with Oghenekaro Etebo and Frank Onyeka introduced to bring calmness to the middle.
The attack also saw Emmanuel Dennis and Ademola Lookman, with some better football also seen after their introduction. It was similar to what Peter Olayinka and Sadiq Umar brought against Tunisia.
This system by Eguavoen can be cut out by better teams and may not be effective without good deployment.
Nigeria’s best chance of the evening came from a central position and this implied the importance of offering real threats in creative areas of the pitch.
With the second leg expected in Abuja on Tuesday, drastic changes should be in line.
Eguavoen will be expected to have learned more from how the Nigerian attack struggled again with that setup.
Against a watertight defence and with an extra eye on the attackers and a perception of the dangers they can cause, Nigeria should be looking at other ways to make a difference.
It’s high time the lessons are put to work.
The onus is on Eguavoen’s tactical nous. These are tough and drastic times! They need drastic measures.
This post was last modified on %s = human-readable time difference 1:41 pm
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are you serious at all?
Eguavoen should be praised for pulling at least a draw from that match, we all know that Ghanaians lives depends on that match it's like a world cup final to them especially as it involves Nigeria we all know matches involving Nigeria and Ghana is always a do or die affairs be it the national teams or clubs sides , they are ready to give up their lives when it comes to Nigeria look at the show of shame they put up against lowly rated team like Comoros and the other teams in their group they where shadows of themselves confused and didn'tknow what to do or how to approach the match tactically when it matters most,but if it's Nigeria it's another ball game a victory against Nigeria is like they've won the world cup already the Ghanians are always taking this rivalry too much I don't know what they intends to achieve from this, football is not a do or die affairs they should learn to take things easy I really love the way the Nigerias approach the match tactically and in a calm and matured manner look at the way they swoop on osimhen like wide bees , they should expect a different ball game in Abuja .
On return fixture in Abuja Super Eagles techenical crew must change their tactics and line-up whitch they used at Baba Yara stadium ; they must play with 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 to control over the midfield that means ton control Black Stars midfield whitch explicit Ghana is strong on midfield; SE technical crew neglected midfield on defensive side and attackting one , this made Osimhen on hand and hold of Black Stars defence, so Eguavoen must emancipate Osimhen by Ighalo with playing ,then control the midfield with full of midfielders like playing Oneyka and bonke as defensive midfielders ; Aribo must play number 10 in order to grant Osimhen and Ighalo with through passes to score; Ademola lookman on left wing , Dennis on right wing all thoes players can control over the midfield then grants strikers with easy passes to score. 3-5-2 is a tighty tactic to control over the midfield in order to subvert Black Stars control over midfield; backs must perform wing-back job in order to press Black Stars sides also to assist attacking midfielders to snatch goals; defensive midfielders (Bonke,Onyeka) must play pressing and combative football.I think Super line-up must be as follows:- Uzoho- Balogun,Troost Ekong,Bassey- Bonke,Onyeka, Aribo,Lookman,Dennis- Ighalo, Osimhen.
You just said my mind, your line up is spot on. I wish the coach would think in your direction
Bros, your review and team selection is 100%. We must be purposeful. No time for non intelligent play. The Coach actually lacks tactical intelligent and rely on individual perceived form.
I have been telling everyone same thing it makes no sense, He doesn't seem like a coach at all
I have thought of that your ideal formation and it sounds like a very solid plan...Osimhen was easily targeted by the two Ghana center backs, with the addition of Ighalo, both Osimhen and Ighalo would be hard to mark, and this can make it that only one defender will mark Osimhen and Ighalo...if they attempt to use more than 2 defenders to mark Osimhen and Ighalo, they will create spaces on the wings...and our wingers can cut in from here. I really hope the Footballing body can consider some of the opinions shared on this website
The problem is that our wingers like too much dribbling! They should learn to deliver precision crosses/passes. They don’t need to dribble to achieve that in fact the quicker they deliver those crosses/passes the better but they want to dribble at all cost even when they are tightly marked and need to circulate possession backwards. Circulation of possession backward would create space they can quickly exploit. Our wingers need to work smart be measured and systematic.
The trust most be told , I will sincerely acknowledge the present super eagles but not the coaching crew led by Austin is not the we needed at this point in time , same mistake more than 3 times, it’s more better we look for a better coach I mean an indigenous coach to step in we can’t continue like this .
My selection, we only play with wingers in the final 30 minutes when there is space.
Uzoho
Aina Troost Balogun Bassey(Sanusi)
Onyeka Aribo(Etebo)
Amoo(Dennis) Lookman(Simon)
Iheanacho(Ighalo)
Osimhen
Hahahahaha we are coming like kakai,you better eat before you come there bcz after the end of the match u can't eat again you will be shock bcz Ghanaians will never allow Nigeria to remove as from the world cup bcz we are better than you even in our worst form,