Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi has blamed Jose Peseiro’s tactical formation for the team’s loss to Ivory Coast in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Recall that Nigeria lost 2-1 to the host nation despite scoring first through William Troost-Ekong in the first half.
However, in an interview with the Club’s official website, Iwobi stated that the Super Eagles were too defensive against Ivory Coast.
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“We thought it was a lucky escape. [After that] the manager’s gone a bit defensive, put five at the back, and the next game’s against the host nation who just won,” Iwobi told Fulham FC.
“Confidence is high thinking ‘yeah this formation sticks, it’ll work.’ Then we win our next game, go through to the next round and everyone’s on high thinking ‘ok there’s a chance we can do something here.
“We got to the Final, though we could beat the host nation again, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
11 Comments
Well Finidi has played you in your preferred position and you are still underperforming. In the past, the team used to be blessed with playmakers and MF who could do almost everything but now we have cry-cry Iwobi who passes sideways, can’t defend, but can only do tweet.
Will always be proud of Oliseh, Okocha ,Mutiu, Garba, Oruma, Mikel, and VM.
The next gaffer needs to upgrade the MF with real playmaker not cry-cry babies.
I agree with you @Larry. Iwobi and Ndidi have been woeful in SE midfield, always doing back passing and sideways passing afraid to push forward taking on opposition one-on-one. Time to bring new, fit and energetic attacking midfielders into the team.
@Tony, you are a real fan. The only real midfielder is Onyeka but he still needs to improve his shooting skills.
@Larry , that’s why I want a foreign coach, they usually do things on merit. Something Gernot Rohr used to do, he picked players based on how well they performed at their clubs. There is an urgent need to rejig our midfield and these current crop are not good enough.
We need to look at Jasper Sylvester for the number 10 role. I am sure he will pick Nigeria ahead of Bulgaria. We should look at Samson Tijani and Lesley ugochukwu whilst eletu and akinsanmiro wait in the wings. The thing with Iwobi is that he is not a 10. He can pick a pass but things like long range passing and defensive competence , he falls short. The little clips I saw of Jasper, he can flourish in that role.
@Golden Child, spot-on. Those guys can help but they don’t have God fathers.
Fisayo and his brother, Jasper, Tijani, Lesley, Nnadi and Akinsemiro are some of the names that can help the midfield.
Is it not the same foreign coach that placed Iwobi in the midfield so long, when he could see clearly that he wasn’t performing to his best there?
Yes Nigeria needs a foreign coach or gaffer of quality as they tend to pick players on merit and understand tactical formation more than the local coaches who usually work on sentiments and are not really current on football technicalities. The NFF should please do the needful.
When i looked at the way Onyeka played at the nation cup am still surprised while was pushed to the bench in the past. My conclusion is most of these new players need 5 to 6 games to really gel and gain confidence that will make them perform better. Our coaches should stop the idea of inviting players they would not use. Onyeka is far better than Ndidi on current form and if not for injury this wont be known.
Let our coaches give more playing time to fringe players like Tella, Bashiru, Onyedima, Hassan for them to gain confidence.
Isn’t this how some forumite were shouting that Aribo is the next messiah, so what happened later, we all just quick to call out players, after watching their highlights. Please let the coach do his job. Now it is Onyeka that is better than Ndidi. Can’t stop laughing
At his peak, Ndidi is better than Onyeka. However, Ndidi is just returning from injury, he is not as match fit as Onyeka, i.e. he has not recently played as many games and Ndidi does not play in the competitive premier league.
The reasons Nigerians are accused of relying on sentiment, is because they fixate on a players prior reputation. Players are human beings, they lose skill and stamina as they get older and from injuries suffered.
This means the Iheanacho of 2 years ago is not the same as the Iheanacho of today, the Ndidi of 3 years ago is not the same Ndidi of today, the Ahmed Musa of 5 years ago is not the same Ahmed Musa of today.
It is when you believe that these players are not affected by degradation over time that you’re being sentimental and relying on their previous reputation rather than current performance.
It is also why it is important to keep introducing new young talent.
Onyeka and Alasan Yusuf are better than Ndidi for now.