Sports

Nigeria Appoints Lars Lagerbäck As Coach of The Super Eagles

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Lars Lagerbäck has been appointed as the coach of the Nigeria Super Eagles. Shuaibu Amodu has been sacked from that position because of the poor performances of the Nigerian team at the Angola 2010 African Cup of Nations. The sack is also connected to the pattern of play and the unconvincing manner in which Nigeria qualified for the world cup.

This is not the first time that Amodu would qualify for the world cup. He did it before and was sacked. The reasons and the circumstances are exactly the same. In fact the administration of football and sports in general in Nigeria has gone worse under the same period of time.

By sacking Amodu the NFF is actually sweeping the dirts under the carpets. NFF did so in France 98 and Korea Japan 2002, the outcomes were disastrous. More devastating when we lost our qualifying spot to lowly rated Angola in 2006. Not that Amodu is indispensable or that he could not have done better, but the fact is that there is more to sports and football in Nigerian than the use of Amodu as a scape goat. Goodbye Amodu, I hope the day will never come when they will ask you to come and help Nigeria to qualify for the world cup again.

The baton has now been passed to Lars Lagerbäck. I have followed Swedish football since 2002. That year Sweden defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the Japan-Korea 2002 World Cups. That was after Aghahowa put Nigeria ahead with a beautiful header off Yobo’s cross. Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg got a goal each for Sweden.

Before 2002 I knew Martin Dahlin, Henrik Larsson and Tomas Brolin. Brolin was a huge success in the Italian league and he has a famous way to celebrate his goals. I don’t have any problem per se with the appointment of Lagerbäck. I think his track records give him a good edge for that position.

Sweden has not produced several big names in recent years but Zlatan remains outstanding. Sweden failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. Lagerbäck was relieved of his position. Lagerbäck was not a failure but I am convinced there are a few things he would have done better as the head coach for Sweden. Sweden does not have many skilful and talented players as Nigeria.

As the coach of a Nigerian team Lagerbäck has entered into a position where non-performance will not be tolerated. There are 140m football analysts in Nigeria. His seat is even hotter than that of the president. Does he know that? Nigerians don’t care about the presidency as much as they do football-football is the number one religion in Nigeria.

Lagerbäck who has been used to organised environment and structured attitude to work has now suddenly entered into a position where he may probably be looking for jerseys on match days. Lagerbäck will be shocked to know that his salary will not be paid on the 25th of every month. He will have to get used to be living in advance as the salaries will drag and drag. He needs tolerance, endurance and perseverance to survive the 5 months that have been handed to him.

Lagerbäck will inherit players of different ratings and attitudes. Obviously he needs to get used as quickly as possible to the Nigerian football ages and get rid of tired legs as soon as possible. He will see players who think they are doing Nigeria a favour by playing in the national colours. Lagerbäck will see players who are dying for their club sides because of the money they earn and strolling on the pitch when they play for Nigeria. He will be shocked! In fact he will see players impressing in training but posing on match days.

I have suggested in a previous post that we need to work on the mentalities of our players. But the complexity of the problem is that our players are Nigerians and we cannot isolate their mentalities from the national mentalities. Most of the people in governance or administrative roles in Nigeria are doing things that will profit them and not Nigeria. We have an attitude that has robbed us of our pride and duty to nation. Nigerian players are not exceptions!

I don’t know the nature of Lagerbäck’s contract but if I could just imagine-it would be wonderful to have him bring some organisation and structure into our football. If they could employ him not just as a coach but as a “tool” to institute the organisation that is missing in our football, that would be great.

Imagine if our democracy is structured like Swedish democracy-where you can vote at a post office or at designated centres before the Election Day-and your vote will still be counted. Imagine if we could sack corrupt people and let good and knowledgeable people run our sports, our football and our government-the world will be at our feet.

I wish Lagerbäck the best of luck. I wish I could meet him and give him some solid advice and information about his new task and terrain.

I wish Nigeria goodluck in South Africa. And I sincerely hope that Amodu will find the place in his heart to forgive Nigerians, we are a bunch of _________people..!

Before the sacking of Amodu…(again)

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

Is Amodu the problem with Nigerian Football? I don’t think so. Does he have roles to play in the development of our game? I think so. Has he done everything right? No.

There are thousands of question one could ask and there will be thousands of opinions for each questions. In Nigeria everyone of us is a potential coach and analyst.

If Amodu is sacked, history will probably repeat itself. In France 1998 and Japan/ Korea 2002 Nigeria suffered humiliation in the world cup championship. Coaches that didn’t qualify Nigeria for the championship were drafted in as the so called “world cup coaches” and Nigeria was humiliated in both tournaments.

In 2010 we are about to repeat the same mistake. Sometime I wonder if Nigeria learns! For some people it is business as usual. Let’s bring in a new coach and collect our share of the deal and contract!

Amodu is not the problem with Nigerian football. The administration of football in Nigeria is a joke! You find men in agbada running around with big stomachs and calling themselves sports administrators. These men are pure contractors and they have been blinded by what they stand to gain from the sport rather than what they can give to the game. In some instances, you will find people who cannot even spell football correctly. Some of these people have no real knowledge of the game.

And they blame the coach and players.

Indeed when you watch Nigerian games sometimes you can take a swipe at the players and coaches. Often it appears that they don’t know what is at stake. But believe me, they know. We should never forget that Nigerian footballers are big time pros. Who doesn’t want to win games or who does not want to play at the world cup? It is the dream of every footballer.

So what is wrong?

The thing is in Nigeria; almost everything is done wrongly at the national level. The system is bad. So it is not even a football affair. For all I care, let them change the coach, then they will discover that the problems might even get worse. Foreign coaches don’t understand the Nigerian mentality or factors and they have failed woefully. It took Westerhof quite some time to get used to the system, then he achieved some good results. His saving grace was continuity. After him, Nigerian football has lacked continuity. We want instant achievements; we are always in a hurry.

The administration of football in Nigeria just like every thing about our public life needs a new face and a new life. When those who know about football and those who are good administrators take over the running of Nigerian football, we will return to our glorious past and start to achieve better results again. This is the same thing with our political dilemma. When we learn to do things the right way, we will get back on track and save ourselves from the poverty that now dominates.

For the Super Eagles, they don’t need a new coach. While I am not professing to know it all or to have the magic formula, I will offer my own suggestions.

Since the world cup is around the corner, it will be foolishness to sack Amodu. Amodu should be allowed to go to the world cup. It is under him that we got the ticket. Ha has done so before and was rudely sacked. It should not happen again.

I think we should work on three areas for the world cup:

1. We should work on the technical aspect of the game, and this does not mean a new coach. There are ways to go about this. Amodu can learn a lot in 3-4 months. How this can be achieved is known to those who know about football. This is what the NFF should be thinking about. How can we, in the short time we have to the world cup, give Amodu the best Technical knowledge that he needs? Can we do this by bringing Siasia or Keshi to the national team? Nigeria must find a Nigerian answer to the technical problems in the team. A foreign coach will destroy what is left of Amodu’s Super Eagles. The outcome of finding a new coach may be negative as we saw in France 98 and Japan Korea 2002.

2. The second aspect is divided into two and it concerns the players. Their collective mentality and physical strengths should be worked on. The team has a psychologist as I will like to believe. He or she must work on the mental strengths of the players. How that is done is left to the professionals in that field. There is something wrong with the way Nigerian players perform on the field of play that is now right. That must be addressed. Sometimes it appears that they are concentrating on something else instead of the game. This is just my opinion. AND I sincerely believe the team needs a physical trainer to work on their perseverance, endurance and strength.

3. The team does not have a maestro or libero. In the 80s we had late Muda Lawal in the midfield. In the 90s we had Keshi and then Oliseh followed by Okocha. These men controlled the game and dictated the pace of play for the Nigerian teams. What these men do or don’t do really mattered for the Nigerian team. After Okocha, we have had no new commander for the team. There is no one in the Nigerian team who can hold the ball as needed and distribute “sharp” passes with precision.

Yobo is the captain but playing in the defence does not really give you the possibility to dictate the pace of play. Kanu is definitely not the one as age has caught up with him. Uche and Mikel Obi have not been able to play that role. I am convinced that there must be a Nigerian player either in the local league or abroad who can do this job. We must find him!!!

This is where I have my criticism for the coach. As a coach you must find a libero or commander for the team. It doesn’t have to be the captain. You need someone who the game revolves around. It is an essential element of football. I watched Nigerian games and I see a sailing boat without a steering captain. I see an auto-pilot plane. It doesn’t work when your opponent is well equipped.

I know that my views are not perfect but I am very uncomfortable to read or hear about Nigeria looking for a new coach. That is definitely fattening of some people’s pockets and the beginning of new problems.

The issue of the ages of our footballers and how this affects the quality of their outputs is another matter entirely-beyond the scope of this discussion.

Good luck Nigeria..!

Egypt are Masters of Africa, Again..!

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

Egypt won by a lone goal scored in the 85th minute. A deserved victory for the best team in Africa. For the first time in the tournament, Ghana played a good game but they lost to a better team.

Ghana, just like Nigeria, ordinarily do not even deserve to be in the final with the loads of negative football they played along the way to the final. Nigeria played better in the semis but lost by a lone goal to Ghana.

This tournament is a wake up call for the African teams that will play in 4 months time at the World Cup in SA. Surely they will not get enough rest. They will be tired to play when the games start in SA. 2 Big championships in a spate of 6 months is not childs’ play.

It is very sad that Egypt, the undisputed masters of African football will not be at the tournament in SA. How did they miss out? CAF and the organisers of football in Africa should put on their thinking caps-on how the best team on the continent missed out of the World Cup. Are there loop holes in the qualifiers that need to be plugged? Did Egypt play poorly in those qualifiers? Were they adversely affected by the home-away game syndrome?

Congratulations Egypt…enjoy your victory and reflect on your absence at the greatest football festival on earth.

CAF-The Confederation of African Football is TOTALLY CRAZY!

/ Adeola / 6 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Africa never stops to surprise me. Sometime I wish I could just wake up from the nightmares of African governments and organisations.

“Togo have been banned from the next two Africa Cup of Nations following their withdrawal from this year’s tournament. The Confederation of African football (Caf) also fined the Hawks $50,000 for quitting the competition in the wake of a gun attack on the team bus in Angola“-BBC

CAF has gone crazy.

It is Togo who should be seeking legal action against CAF and the Angolan government for not providing adequate information about security in Angola.

Seriously I am short of words to express my disappointment in CAF. Whoever made the decisions is completely insane and out of his or her mind.

What are we going to do about the people who lost their lives? Some families will never be the same again as a result of the avoidable tragedies in Angola which was completely the fault of the Angolan government and the recklessness of CAF.

Togo should ignore the fine and even withdraw (by itself) from CAF competetition for life until CAF becomes “human” in nature and reasonable in thinking. This is nonsense and completely idiotic on the part of CAF.

Egypt vs Ghana in Cup Final 2010

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

I will give the match to the Egyptians. That will be good for football and reward for performance. But then 90m must be played, at least.

Ghana survived the Nigerian scare after going one goal up and sitting back for the rest of the game. That was the same negative football they played against Angola. In football teams must learn to score more goals and secure their victory. One goal lead can be erased even in the last 5 seconds of the game. The Ivory Coast team can witness to that. But then,vitory is victory no matter how it is acheived.

So congratulations to Ghanaians who will appear in their first final since Senegal-1992.

Algerians cracked up and they paid dearly. The Egyptians became ruthless and merciless. That is a good revenge and consolation for missing out of the world cup coming up in SA this summer. The best consolation lies ahead if they beat Ghana on sunday.

I really want the Egyptians to win because more than any other team in Angola 2010, they are outstanding and very effective. They play positive football and they score goals. They don’t sit on a goal, they get more goals.

In this tournament the Egyptians make the best team. This is so sad for Africa as the best team on the continent will not be at the world cup. Very very sad. This team would have done Africa proud.

Still One hopes that the other teams going to the world cup especially Nigeria can learn from their errors and ineptitudes and give us a good outing in SA come June 2010.

The world is waiting for us on our continent..!