Have you noticed of late that Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has his problems with team selection, have you noticed too that Rohr is not consistent with formation? If you have not noticed any of these, am sure you know that Nigeria has approached almost every match under Rohr with a different game plan that has given many reasons to doubt his technical ability.
He started with the 4-4-2 formation when he first assumed duties as Super Eagles head coach and later changed to 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 3-4-2-1.
Whether we like to admit this or not, the truth remains that Rohr went to Russia with six defensive midfielders and just one attacking midfielder in Oghenekaro Etebo who emerged Nigeria’s best player in Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat to Croatia.
The NFF must understand how important victory against Iceland is to millions of Nigeria football fans who are yet to swallow the bitter pill of our dismal display on Saturday.
The fact that the NFF has resolved from day one to give the Franco/German free hands to decide his team, does not mean they should watch him shatter our World cup dreams.
If men like Austin Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Mutiu Adepoju and Garba Lawal, all members of the NFF technical committee, and former Nigeria Internationals are presently in Russia, it wont be a bad idea to have them talk to the coach and the players as no suggestion or contribution at this point can be considered too little.
Rohr must be reminded that this is a National project, he must be reminded of how important the world cup is to Nigeria and Nigerians and we must also let him know that in four of our last five outings, Nigeria survived the group stage even with Argentina in the mix as is the case this time around.
Rohr’s body language appears like that of a man contented and satisfied with his little achievement of qualifying Nigeria for the 2018 World Cup. He looks too comfortable in his comfort zone and speaks with an air of confidence that makes one believe he has achieved what no one before him has.
Whoever says it is not time to press the panic button is not a sincere Nigerian. Nigeria’s best chance if three points was against Croatia yet they lost disappointingly by two goals to nil.
That result will now put the team under severe pressure to beat Iceland and pick at least a point against Argentina in their last match, to keep their dream of going beyond the first round alive.
It is very difficult to disguise the truth that the present set of Super Eagles players are below average, their commitment and dedication to National service is also less then convincing, meaning we are condemned to make use of what is at our disposal to achieve our ultimate goal.
To achieve these therefore, all hands must be on deck and we all must bring our expertise to bear.
We cannot have members of the NFF technical committee, technical department and technical study group all present in Russia yet their impact and input is not being felt all in the name of giving Rohr a free hand.
A stitch in time can save us nine stitches.
