“Not Vinicus or Rodrygo” – Fleetwood coach Ayere points out Finidi’s mistakes vs South Africa, Benin; offers a way forward

Sylvester Ayere, First Team Assistant Coach at Dubai second division side Fleetwood United, has faulted Finidi George’s approach to Nigeria’s two World Cup qualifiers in June, Soccernet.ng reports.

In his first competitive games in charge of the Super Eagles, Finidi led the former African champions to a disappointing 1-1 draw with South Africa in Uyo and a shocking 2-1 defeat against Benin Republic in Abidjan.

The disastrous results left Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in shambles as the Super Eagles have recorded only three points from their first four games.

Coach Ayere believes the Super Eagles were lucky to earn a share of the spoils with South Africa as the Bayana Bayana would have won if they had better attackers.

The former Gbagada FC analyst believes Super Eagles stars are average players who cannot produce the possession football Finidi wants.

According to coach Ayere, the Super Eagles do not have talents in the class of Real Madrid’s duo of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo Goes. 

“When you look at the Super Eagles in a holistic view, you will see that the players we have are average players,” Ayere told News Central TV.

“They are not the kind of players we think we have. They are not like Vinicius or Rodrygo. So the first thing we need to do is… accept our reality.’

Despite the lack of world-class talents in the Super Eagles, Ayere admits that Victor Boniface is a game-changer for Nigeria.

However, the Dubai-based tactician is displeased that Finidi failed to play Boniface against South Africa and only used him sparingly versus Benin.

“In a game as crucial as the World Cup (qualifier), you don’t bench your key players,” Ayere added.

“What happened to Boniface? You know that this is somebody that can hold on to the ball, is skillful on the ball, he can create chances. He can bring a good linkup play with your midfielders because he loves to come in and collect the ball.”

 

Coach Ayere insists the Super Eagles can function effectively within the defensive framework that proved so successful under Jose Peseiro at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

He remains optimistic that Nigeria can still qualify for the World Cup but only if the Super Eagles adopt a strategic approach on the pitch

“I don’t want to compare the Super Eagles at the AFCON and the current Super Eagles,” coach Ayere noted.

“But when you look at the Super Eagles in the AFCON, in their first game, they were trying to play beautiful football, with ball possession.

“But it didn’t work in the first game. What happened? The coach became more strategic and put up a more defensive structure which gave Nigeria a defensive identity.

“This current Super Eagles does not have a defensive identity.

“We (Nigeria) were very lucky against South Africa because they were just terrible. They had so many chances to score. You could see how many times the defenders went behind the ball to defend. It shows that we don’t have a defensive balance.

“The question is can we still qualify? Obviously yes. We have six games to go. If we can win all of our games, we will definitely qualify.

But can we win all our games the way we are playing now? It is a capital NO.”

Nigeria boast only three points after four matches and are four points behind joint-leaders Rwanda, Benin, and South Africa.