Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has hinted that he could tweak his tactics for Saturday’s Group C clash with Tunisia.
The Super Eagles would hope to make it back-to-back wins when they face Tunisia in Fes.
Both teams will go into the contest on the back of wins in their first matches. While the Super Eagles edged out Tanzania 2-1, Tunisia defeated Uganda 3-1.
In the game against Tanzania the Super Eagles were dominant in most parts of the clash but had to manage a slim victory.
Now they will face a more formidable opposition in the 2004 AFCON champions in Tunisia.
Also Read: AFCON 2025: CAF Appoints Malian Referee For Super Eagles Vs Tunisia
Speaking in his presser on Friday, Chelle said he will have to approach the game differently because he will come up against a very good side.
“In my mind I have two options the first is maybe to let Tunisia have the ball or when we get the ball back we go direct or we continue with our philosophy,” Chelle said. “As we know Tunisia is a good team ams maybe we will change something.
“We had our training sessions after the first game and in the sessions we tried to add more intensity. We have a game against a great team so let’s go for this game.
“I have to prepare my players well as it’s not going to be easy. Tunisia is a great team like I said, they have a lot of good players with experience, lots of young players so they play well as a team.”
By James Agberebi in Fes, Morocco
Photo by Ganiyu Yusuf in Fes
14 Comments
The midfield is too fragile I wi advice the gafer to start Ndidi and Nnadi as double pivot Iwobi as attacking midfielder.Awaziem.Ogbu.Ajayi as three man defense.Alebosu and Bassey right and left wing back.Osimehn and Akorup front. this team will destroy Tunisia
Thumbs up @Stan. The midfield needs work
Wow! That’s the best selection for the match. You’re a genius.
Chukweze should not start. I wobi should be shifted to the right to play in chukweze’s place. While Akinsamiro or Mohammed should play in the midfield . This is necessary because iwobi does not hv the right momentum to play no 10 against a big team like Tunisia. Moreso his ball retension and recovery is poor. I prefer Onyeka to Ndidi cos he marks better. With this slight changes we can defeat Tunisia
Let Tunisia have the ball??? Wow this coach is average and he just exposed his fears. So you can’t build a team that will focus on controlling their affairs??? We have another Peseiro and Rohr that will wobble to final and tank.
Coach Chelle, it will be a monumental mistake to change your philosophy bcos of Tunisia. Stick with your philosophy and stivk with the line up that played the 1st game against Tanzania. The only thing to do is ask Sanusi to play to his strength and not give d ball away. I blif Sanusi will have a better game tomorrow. Ajayi and Bassey should curtail dia long balls and keep the ball on the ground. There should be better communication amongst the boys at all times. If a player sees dat he has two players dat he is marking, he should immediately call attention to dat fact to his teammates. For instance the goal we conceded, Iwobi started by marking the player that scored but at d edge of d box there were two unmarked Tanzanian players, he decided to pick one of them (not the one who scored) thinking his teammate was gonna pick the other one (d one who eventually scored), i guess he was hoping Sanusi was gonna pick dat player but however dat wasn’t communicated to Sanusi and moreover Sanusi on his part was positioning himsrlf to mark the winger who he was marking originally, hence he wasn’t lookingbat picking up d guy who eventually scored. Nwabali on his part should have communicated better since he could see the entire field from his vantage point, he could have communicated better with his defenders to pick dia men. So better communication would solve majority of the goals these SE concede, lapse in concentration is a major factor too. Also Chelle, ifvu r taking Chukwueze off, d person to bring in should be Ejuke not Dele Bashiru. If u want to bring in Dele Bashiru, the oerson to take off should be Lookman after like the 70-80min, the team won’t lose its shape if these changes are done based onnthe formation you started with against Tanzania. U can then maybe take Akor off for Simon and leave Osimhen as the point man if need be. Coach Chelle, na God i dey beg u, don’t change your philosophy or line up against Tunisia, it will seem as if 9ja is afraid and i don’t think this Tunisian team is better than us, they aren’t even close in my opinion. Play dem d full court press u are known for, don’t give dem any breathing space and watch dem capitulate. In d final game u can then experiment with any firmation u like such as tge 352 to give opposition something to think about and a different dynamic for your team. The team played well against Tanzania, if dis Tanzania team play against Tunisia d way they played against SE, it won’t be easy for Tunisia. So pipo shouldn’t be carried away by Tunisia 3:1 win over Uganda. Me personally see SE doing very well against Tunisia tomorrow, we shouldn’t have any apprehension. Just my tots
Hahahahaha…..I am laughing at the usual arrogance of Nigerians, thinking they are head and shoulders above Tunisia and hence can bully tunisia like they do to the likes of Tanzania, Lesotho, and Rwanda.
It would have even been understandable if we had a sound and intelligent Ancelotti-esque coach, or if we had been producing peak Man City-esque performances all year long. Chelle, knowing his limits, which include struggling against any team ranked above 90 on the FIFA rankings, is planning to change his tactics to survive Tunisia, and Nigerians are grumbling…..LMAOooo….yet they do not want to accept the fact that we have a Windows 93 grade of a coach.
What level of delusion.
They have forgotten it was a covid ravaged Tunisian C team coached by an assistant coach whose name we still don’t know till today that bundled the SE out of 2022 AFCON…..LMAOoo
They have forgotten that Tunisia has qualified for the 2022 and 2026 world cups we couldnt qualify for……LMAoooo…especially the 2026 World Cup, in spectacular fashion for that matter, unbeaten and without conceding a goal all through the qualifiers.
They have forgotten Tunisia has consistently averaged a top 30 in the world and top 3 in Africa ranking since 2017 or thereabout, while our bragadocious self last featured in the top 30 in the world and top 3 in Africa in the days of Rohr. As a matter of fact, I don’t think Nigeria has been ranked higher than Tunisia in the last 10 years, save for recent memory. (I stand to be corrected by anyone who can lay down the facts)
They have forgotten that a full-strength Brazil (with all the who’s who in Brazilian football currently) only forced them to a 1-1 draw only last month, at about the same time DR Congo was running rings round Chelle for 100 out of 120 minutes of football……..LMAOooo.
Chelle or whatever you are called, if you like, don’t humble yourself and play safe, ehn. Deploy this, your same failed philosophy and tactic that failed twice in Mali and has failed twice in Nigeria too, within 6 months, this setup that only scrapes wins against bottom of the pyramid teams while failing spectacularly against lower than average ones.
Indeed, the pride goes before the fall.
Play Iwobi closer to our 18-yard box and pair him with that lazy and burnt out Ndidi as you always do ehn. You will soon know that Tunisia has more juju than DRC when they shake off those scales of incompetence from your eyes this afternoon……LMAoooo
Apparently guys FiFA has dismissed our protest.
This is not true.
FIFA cleared players by themselves. Would they have seemed to be incompetent in the first instance if the stupid petition succeeded?
We had the weakest group for qualifying. We refused to top the group.
SA even qualified ahead of us, playing one less than us due to forfeiture and topped us.
We survived the Eritrea magic and Burkina Faso deceitful tactics and didn’t make it through the playoffs.
Good news.
Next time, NFF should concentrate on the pitch
FIFA has not met over our protest yet, disregard fake news my brother
Pipo go chop humble pie today
Osimhen scores. Almighty Tunisia are going down. Total dominance by 9ja
I am expecting your comment. Even me sef no believe wetin we dey play