The appointment of Finidi George as Super Eagles coach may have received a positive response from football enthusiasts in Nigeria and outside, however, the task of returning the team to its glorious days remains a huge responsibility he should assiduously shoulder.
CompleteSports.com‘s AUGUSTINE AKHILOMEN identifies seven areas the former Enyimba coach must address in a bid to achieve success with the Super Eagles.
1. Refrain From Succumbing To Inducements For Personal Gain
If Finidi must succeed as the Super Eagles coach, he must resist the temptation to accept bribes, incentives, or rewards in exchange for doing something that may compromise his integrity or ethical standards. It’s about not being swayed by offers that could lead to unethical behaviour or actions contrary to one’s principles.
As humans, the flesh may be craving for it, but then, Finidi must resist such temptations to succeed as Super Eagles coach.
Also Read: 7 Feats Achieved By Nigerian Coaches In Super Eagles Job – Should Motivate Finidi
Having declared that player invitations to the senior national team would be based on merit and form, Finidi must ‘work the talk’ when the list of players to face South Africa and Benin for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is released.
He must not allow sentiment to override his decision-making, but be pragmatic in his approach.
2. Stamp Authority On The Team
Finidi has a huge role to play in this regard if he must command great respect from some foreign players who oftentimes see themselves as superior to an indigenous coach.
The former Enyimba coach needs to stamp his authority on those players in a diplomatic manner that will create a peaceful relationship between them. He shouldn’t be too rigid or flexible in his approach.
3. Unearth Great Creative Midfielder
Since the departure of Autine Okocha from the Super Eagles, the team has struggled to find a perfect replacement who possesses the true qualities of the former Bolton Wanderers star.
Presently, the team lacks a true creative midfielder who can divide a tight defence with one or two split passes from the midfield with ease.
Also Read: 10 Top Nigerian Footballers In Europe For 2023/24 Season
This is one grey area in the Super Eagles that Finidi must resolve to make the strikers enjoy better services and score goals. The likes of Iwobi and others have tried in that position but failed to give the needed results. However, Finidi can search deeply to correct the abnormality for the success of the Super Eagles.
4. Imbibe Winning Mentality In The Players
One of the key aspects of Guardiola’s managerial methods is the fact that he imbibes a winning mentality in his players, regardless of the opposition they face. Finidi can also borrow a leaf from him and introduce it to the Super Eagles if he truly desires to succeed as Nigeria’s Head Coach.
5. Develop Two Or Three Patterns Of Play
During his days as a player, the Super Eagles were known to play from the wings. However, given the array of talents at his disposal, Finidi must come up with a style of play that will bring out the best in the Super Eagles players.
He must avoid underutilizing the strength of the players and must always be ready to improvise when the going gets tougher for the team. For instance: as the saying goes, ‘the best way to defend is to attack’.
No doubt, the Super Eagles are blessed with an array of strikers such as Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Cyriel Dessers, Terem Mofi, Taiwo Awoniyi, Paul Onuachu, Umar Sadiq, and others that have lit up Europe with goals in their respective clubs this season, but they seem to struggle when they play for Nigeria, a situation that must be corrected by Finidi if he is to succeed in the job.
6. Give Opportunities to Deserving Nigerian League Players
There is no doubt that players in the NPFL have not been given enough opportunity to prove their fitness to fit into the Super Eagles.
Also Read – Gusau: Finidi Must Qualify Super Eagles For AFCON 2025; 2026 World Cup
However, Finidi has the chance to change that narrative, considering that he also benefited from it under Clemens Westerhof when he was a home-based player.
The former Ajax star must allow deserving NPFL players to prove they are good enough to vie for positions in the senior national team under his reign.
7. Attention to Fitness and Psychological Preparation
The uniqueness of the 1994 squad lies in the fact that the players were physically and mentally fit to face any opposition. Finidi can also reintroduce such values into the current Super Eagles squad, which appears to lacking in the team.
The former Enyimba coach must have inspirational pre-match pep talks where he can prepare the mindset of the players with techniques for managing stress, staying focused, and maintaining confidence until the last second of a match.
8 Comments
Elaborating on the last point.
One factor that looks unnecessary but very important and the Europeans use this to edge African countries is mentality… Correct me if I am wrong but our national team dosent have a team Psychologist…its not all managers that can carry out the psychological role.
Yes, Finidi was a home based player when Westerhof invited him to the SE.
The point to note though is that Finidi was the best winger we had back then, home and abroad. He just happened to be a home based player at the time.
I recall his SE debut, when he was still home based. He pretty much singlehandedly destroyed Burkina Faso, with assist after assist, and finished up by scoring the last goal of the day. We smashed them 7-1 that day, and Yekini helped himself to 4 goals. The fans started calling Burkina Faso “BURKINA SUFFER”. After the 7th goal, fans were begging the SE to stop scoring. They kept chanting E DON DO, E DON DO, E DON DO.
After a performance like that, how could anyone object to his invitation, even though he was home based? Of course, shortly after that, Ajax snapped him up, so he was no longer home based.
SE is not a rehabilitation center for home based players. It is only for the best of the best. Home based players should distinguish themselves in CHAN and club continental games. If they are good enough, it will be obvious, all will see it, and invitation will come, BECAUSE IT IS MERITED.
Homebase players are poor. There are far better players abroad. Some foreign born players too are poor.
You all win my heart by your suggestion. May the Lord help him to be doer of the words of wisdom. Let home based players distinguish themselves for selection and never relie on home-based percentage.
My candid advice to Finidi as per d midfield problem is – just go for that boy Akinkumi Amao, he is a natural mid fielder. Pls Google his play ways at his last club
. Pls try d boy . He is just like messi n maradona. Try d guy.
I will not agree to that bro. Late Stephen Keshi brought the likes of Sunday Mba and Godfrey Oboabona, Azuibike Egwuekwe, Gabriel Reuben, Ejike Uzoenyi to AFCON 2013 and they performed very well, we all remember Sunday Mba and his Sunday goals.
Please don’t underrate home based players
I agree with you on Akinkunmi Amao, 2019 U17 Afcon but he is a left footed winger and not a midfielder. He was actually invited by coach Eguavoen for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as a replacement for Odion Ighalo who had to withdraw from the tournament, but the call-up was not granted by the CAF. Amao is not a midfielder but a winger and unfortunately we don’t hear from him again and is actually clubless at the moment.
Brother Baba, what about Victor Moses, Mikel, Onazi, Emenike, Ideye, and the rest of the foreign based players who played a huge role in that tournament?
I guess Keshi should have left them behind and used only home based players for that Afcon.
We said it in the past, and we will keep saying it. Home based status is not permanent. A lion is a lion, and will always be a lion. That reasoning does not work with home based players. Home based today becomes foreign based tomorrow, with good performance. If that happens, does it make sense to start giving priority to a new home based player over the old one, just because of their home based status?
This is why selection should ALWAYS be strictly on merit. I already talked about Finidi’s example. He was home based when he started, but everyone agrees his invitation was on merit, because of his quality. I have no problem with the whole team being home based, if they are the best we have. If they are better than the foreign based, of course they should be selected. But in the same vein, I also have no problem whatsoever with having zero homebased players in the team, if they are not our best. I will not subscribe to sacrificing a spot for a deserving player just because we want to satisfy some bizarre, ridiculous home based quota.