The former Porto and Sporting CP manager has been under renewed pressure following Nigeria's uninspiring results in November
Former Nigeria international Peter Ijeh has revealed his displeasure with the coaching style of Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ijeh's concerns come in the wake of Nigeria's disappointing results against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the qualifying rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Super Eagles were lucky to come away with a shock 1-1 draw in Uyo against lowly Lesotho. They needed a second-half strike from Kelechi Iheanacho to force Zimbabwe to another score draw three days later.
The three-time African champions created few clear-cut chances in both encounters, and Ijeh is convinced that coach Peseiro should be blamed for it.
The former FC Copenhagen and Malmo striker faults Peseiro for fielding a team overloaded with strikers but lacking in creative midfielders.
While acknowledging that the absence of star forward Victor Osimhen played a part in the poor showings for the Super Eagles, Ijeh believes the Napoli striker would still have struggled in Peseiro's defective setup.
The one-time Julius Berger attacker is even more vexed that Peseiro has not introduced any new top player into the Super Eagles since he took charge of the team 18 months ago.
“It is difficult to accept. I mean, how do you explain that sort of performances against Lesotho and Zimbabwe?” Ijeh told Brila FM.
“The coach has to take responsibility for these poor results. There is nothing to add. I think he's not getting the best out of the team. The squad is not even balanced to start with.
“The midfielders are not creative enough, and that's why the strikers are not scoring goals. Football is a game of chances, and if you don't create, you don't score.
“Osimhen would have added something against Zimbabwe, but he would have struggled to score as well because there were no clear-cut chances.
“And this leads to the question, who has he improved in the team? How many players has he discovered? Absolutely, none.”
In the colours of Malmo, Ijeh finished as the top scorer in Allsvenskan with 24 goals in 2002, and he also won the Danish league title with FC Copenhagen in 2006.
After retiring from active football, Ijeh took to coaching, and he has handled Assyriska BK and Swedish Division 2 club Vårgårda IK.
