The former Arsenal star was one of the German manager’s favourites during his five-and-a-half-year tenure in charge of the Super Eagles
Everton winger Alex Iwobi has lauded the input of new Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro after taking part in the Portuguese manager’s first two matches in charge of the team.
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, appointed former Sporting Lisbon boss Peseiro last month as the Technical Adviser of the Nigerian national team.
In his first games at the helm, Peseiro guided the Super Eagles to two consecutive friendly defeats against Mexico (2-1) and Ecuador (1-0) in the United States.
During the narrow losses, the Super Eagles recovered from early setbacks to post impressive performances against the North and South American sides.
With Iwobi and Joe Aribo pulling the strings in midfield, the three-time African champions dominated a large chunk of the encounters and created numerous scoring chances.
It was a far cry from the days of former head coach Gernot Rohr when the Super Eagles frequently ceded ball possession and attacking initiative to opponents while struggling to create attacking openings.
Iwobi is aware losing to Mexico and Ecuador may dampen morale, but the former Arsenal winger maintains the Super Eagles are faring better under Peseiro.
The Everton ace is impressed with the 62-year-old’s ideas, and he predicts that the Super Eagles will do better once they fully integrate the plans of the ex-Braga boss.
“Despite the two losses we had, we played well in both games, and I can say we dominated, but unlucky with the results,” Iwobi told Brila.
“With the new ideas the new coach has brought in, we’ll do well. Although still early weeks, we are buying into his idea and so far so good, we enjoyed the time.
“All the players weren’t there, but the local players and everyone trained hard and enjoyed their time. So I’m looking forward to the qualifiers.”
Jose Peseiro will look to secure his first win in charge of the Super Eagles when he leads the team against Sierra Leone on match day one of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Nigeria are favourites to beat their lowly West African neighbours to set the ball rolling on a 20th appearance at the Afcon.
