Siasia – the scapegoat of a failed system!
Categories: Football, General, Sports Development
Written By: Segun Odegbami
Last week my instincts and fears, expressed on this page, were justified by the result of the match that saw visiting Syli Nationale of Guinea, force the Super Eagles to a draw, even if, in the end, unlike what I expressed in my column, the result had little to do with the weather on that day. Contrary to my fears, the weather was very friendly, the 2 O’clock sun hiding behind fairly dark clouds that did not shed any part of their weight. There was neither moisture nor heat, just an inclement weather perfect for football. Thus, it was in this clime and in a half-filled stadium in Abuja that Nigeria’s dream of playing at the African Cup of Nations in January was brought to a shuddering halt. Having said that, I was partly right though that the result of the match would be determined by the elements. Beyond the weather they still had plenty of ‘hand’ in the tragedy that befell Nigeria that fateful day.
I did not watch the match. For ‘circumstances beyond my control’ I could not be at the Abuja National Stadium, and, also, was not anywhere near a television set. Since then I have been told a thousand different versions of the same match by different people. One thing that is common to all of the versions is that the Eagles gave away the match to the Guineans on a platter. The match could very easily have been completely different, possibly ending in a whitewash of the Syli stars if all the chances that came the Eagles’ way in the first half had not been carelessly fluffed. Even when the match wearily drew to a close the last thought on people’s mind in the stadium was the likelihood of the Eagles conceding a late goal. There was nothing indicating so. The match had turned into a drag. The Nigerian team was under zero pressure. Indeed, although the Eagles were not playing brilliantly, people’s worry was clarification over what would happen should the match end with the scoreline remaining the way it was at the time (2-1 in favour of Nigeria). Was that enough to qualify the Eagles? From the comments I later read made by some members of the team, they also were not quite sure. In that state of uncertainty the coach committed what became a technical blunder. He went in search of a third goal. He substituted and sacrificed his young but most enterprising mid-field player, Joel Obi, for a striker. Apparently, by that move, Samson Siasia was looking to secure the ticket. His defence line became adventurous and surged forward, naturally leaving more gaps at the back. That turned out to be a poor decision that sealed the fate of the match, the team and the coach himself. If he had substituted Mikel Obi instead, who was tired (I am told) and not doing much anymore, it would have been more acceptable to the people. If he had played ‘safety first’ and Captain Yobo had maintained the discipline and organisation in his defence line, nothing would have happened to the respectable scoreline up till that point. His intentions may have been correct, but the elements decided to desert him in that critical moment. As we have now seen, that singular decision has resurrected many of his virulent critics and envious coaches waiting for the slightest opportunity to pounce on him, discredit him and angle for his job. The situation was also not helped by Siasia’s hard stance over the people’s first-choice goalkeeper, Vincent Inyeama. I agree completely that under certain circumstances it makes better sense to punish an erring great player by any other means than leaving him out of the team. Discipline may have been instilled but the team would be technically weaker.
It is so easy to criticise Samson Siasia now, after all as Chief Coach he must take responsibility for the fortune of his team. The critics of his appointment as national team coach have come out of their hibernation and have been unrelenting in their castigation and call for his sack or resignation. Even some ‘expired’ coaches have found their voices and have joined the chorus. I feel very sorry for the man. As he admitted himself, a coach is only as good as his last match! But his appointment cannot be faulted. He earned it, deserved it and majority of Nigerians lauded the process and his choice. Of Nigerian coaches I don’t see one that could have done better considering the rebuilding process the team has been going through since the 2010 World Cup disaster and the seeming unavailability of exceptionally gifted players coming through the domestic system. Nigeria’s production room of truly great players has dried up and there is no structure or plan in place to breed them. Samson has been working under conditions that are not designed to produce a champion team immediately and he should have acknowledged that and not be making too much noise about a team that lacks class, true character and the killer-attitude. All the previous Nigerian coaches that have now found their voices also left us with nothing to cheer about their era. Look back, we were all left with a legacy of nothing but headaches and hypertension – all of them! So, Samson is in good company. Unfortunately, this last match is particularly painful for Nigerians because the Eagles appear to be the only source of some joy and celebration in a country that is going through very challenging and difficult times. Failing to qualify for the African Cup of Nations takes Nigerian football several years back, and has made a deep painful cut in the heart of the country.
Football administration, not Samson, is the problem!
All Nigerians agree that Nigerian football has been going through a dark period. The domestic game, suffering from political haemoroids, has lost direction and focus, and its image is at the lowest ebb. Samson Siasia is not the problem with Nigerian football. At best he has become a victim of it. Nigerian football cannot exist in isolation of the rest of the polity. Football development in the country is clearly reflected by the quality of administrators driving it! How can anyone expect to reap a bountiful harvest from the cultivation of poor and scanty seeds? There is no deliberate football development programme and strategy in the present structure of Nigerian football. A football association that does not have a knowledgeable well-grounded and experienced technical director and technical department is one that has no plans for the source of talent or for succession of players. Thats why there is a dearth of exceptional talent coming through the system and joining the Eagles. The present national team has several good players, not exceptional players, whereas it is the exceptionally gifted in most top teams that provide the thin, essential edge that separates the boys from the men. The winning national teams in our history have always had a few of such players in order to succeed. The winning All Africa Games team of 1972 had late Haruna Ilerika at the heart of that team. When all seemed to be failing, the diminutive midfield player would come up with something (a great pass, a dribble or run, a well-placed shot, something exceptional) that would lift the team from the precipice to safety. Haruna almost singlehandedly won several crucial matches for Nigeria through taking responsibility to win matches. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were more than one player in the teams with such attribute – Muda Lawal, Thompson Usiyen, Christian Chukwu, Henry Nwosu. In the 1990s’ winning national teams there were even more of them – Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke, Kanu Nwankwo. In the 2000s there has been a dearth! Perhaps that partly explains why the national team looks so ordinary and has not won anything yet!
Finally, it is clear that the officials and players disrespected the opposition, a principle in sport which if neglected could be a catalyst for failure. Never take an opponent for granted, or underestimate them. Unfortunately, thats exactly what the media, the coaches, the NFF officials, and the players did! Whilst they were all pronouncing the basket that would be required to convey Nigeria’s goals to Guinea, they forgot to check the history books. They did not appreciate the enormity of the assignment and the strength of the Guineans until the match was over and the harm had been done. Thats why the coach and the players apologised to the country. They let themselves to be caught in the web of disrespect. They were all arrogant in their attitude to the Guineans. Where did they get the impression from that they were going to be a walk over? Look at the history of the matches between both countries. Nigeria does not have the edge both at home and away. A measured look would have revealed that Nigerians had a psychological and technical battle in their hands and should have shown more respect, after all they were beaten in Conakry and it was not a fluke. For the Super Eagles, a team in a rebuilding process, one of the weakest in almost 40 years of the history of the national team, to have been arrogant in their expectation was naivety of the highest order. Nigeria paid the price.
All of us should take responsibility for the state we are in. We must do the right things in our football administration by being authentic, integral, truthful, just and lawful. Only then shall we be able to confront the demon in our football, and indeed in all other sports, and destroy it!
November 12th, 2011 at 1:37 AM
THE BAD, THE GOOD, THE UGLY AND THE LESSON – NIGERIA OUT OF AFCON 2012
It affords me great opportunity writing at this point in time after the sack of the embattled Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia and the appointment of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi as the head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. It’s so unfortunate that the Super Eagles could not qualify for the African Nations cup despite the array of stars the Nigerian team could boast of (at least when compared with other African counterparts). Without any fear, I strongly believe Siasia did his best for the national team, but possibly it was late before he realized that the same set of people who hail you today will be the ones to criticize you tomorrow. That’s life and that’s the way it is anyway…
Like Chief Odegbami rightly mentioned, the initial fear before the match was that of the harsh weather at 2pm in Abuja, Nigeria because most of our players ply their trade abroad where the average temperature is very low comparatively; and to have played such a match at 2pm Nigerian time, we were actually expecting a very harsh weather. On the contrary, the weather was very friendly at that time and everyone was expecting the Eagles to fly high. Unfortunately for the Nigerian fans, their beloved Super Eagles refused to soar. We weren’t hit by the weather, but what I call “our own misdeed”. The Super Eagles started with a formation I can describe as a 4-2-3-1 formation with Ogude, Yobo, Efe and Taiwo in defence. The two Obis (Joel and Mikel) played in front of the back four; while Ogbuike, Osaze and Nsofor played behind Emenike upfront. Tactically, the formation was excellent. The three were expected to join the attack when we were in possession and attacking; and were expected to crowd the midfield when the Guineans were in possession of the ball. The game kicked off as expected with Nigeria guilty of missing so many chances, the main culprit which were Osaze and Emenike. Nsofor was firing wide, Ogbuike and Osaze were struggling for form, while Emenike was busy fighting off the Guineans rather than concentrate on getting the goals. The two Obis were playing averagely well and the defence was not tested. The only opportunity the Guineans had came from a long range shot that bounced in front of Dele Aiyenugba and almost went in. Truly, Dele had his worst game for the Eagles that fateful Saturday.
THE BAD
On the part of the Guineans, they had their game plan worked out which was to frustrate the Eagles by wasting time. Little wonder, the active playing time in the first half didn’t reach 35minutes (by my own assessment) as the Guineans fell down at the slightest touch (typical of African football anyway). The second half began with the score still level at 0-0. Against the run of play, the Guineans explored the right-side of our defence after coming through the middle and we conceded the first goal to Ismael Bangoura who got the Syli Stars in front on 55 minutes. Playing Fenor Ogude at the right full-back was questionable. In the absence of Chibuzor Okonkwo, one would have expected another right full-back to take his place or even captain Yobo to play on the right with someone else (probably Adeleye) pairing Efe in the middle of the defence.
THE GOOD Samson Siasia substituted the ineffective Ogbuike and Osaze for Musa and Ikechukwu Uche and it paid off almost immediately as the duo combined effectively, releasing Nsofor in the Guinean box to unleash a powerful left-footed shot past the Guinean goalkeeper for the equalizer. As if that was not enough, the Eagles didn’t waste time in getting the second goal through Ikechukwu Uche which left Nigerians wondering why he didn’t start the game.
THE UGLY
The Guineans protested the allowance of the second goal, claiming an infringement on their player. The game was stopped for close to five minutes, but the Guineans got back to the field of play. With Nigeria leading at 2-1, the Guineans’ game plan changed. They didn’t fall down at will again and they pushed forward for their equalizer. ALAS!!! The turning point of the game came… The only mathematical calculation on the Nigerian technical bench was that the Super Eagles must win and the Guineans must not score. Having scored a goal, the Nigerian bench was confused as to what the players needed to do to qualify for the Nations Cup. The Confederation for African Football (CAF) had it well spelt out. Three second best teams in all the groups would qualify with the winners of each of the eleven groups, and they will be joined by the two co-host countries to make up the 16 countries that will participate in the 2012 AFCON. In Group K which has five teams, two teams will qualify; and in Group F, only one team would qualify since they were just three teams after the withdrawal of Mauritania. This automatically left two spots for the remaining nine groups. The two best second placed teams were determined by calculating the number of points they got from the first and third placed teams in their respective groups, excluding the points they got from the last placed team in their group. Also, teams who are level on points will be separated on the basis of their head-to-head record. Before the game, I would have expected all permutations to be sorted out (since we are even used to permutations before qualifications) and all possibilities worked out, but unfortunately, I was wrong. Siasia was confused and opted for a change – A TACTICAL BLUNDER similar to the one he made when Nigeria played against South Korea at the U-20 World Cup in Holland 2005 (where he substituted Mikel Obi at the final minutes of play only for Park Chu-Young and Baek- Ji Hoon to score in the 89th and 92nd minute respectively; which made us lose the game by 2-1). This time around, Joel Obi was substituted for Ehiosun; thus making the Super Eagles played with a five-man attack (Emenike, Uche, Nsofor, Ehiosun and Musa). The outcome was terrible and disastrous. Mikel Obi who was left alone in the middle of the park was also guilty. He created defensive problems for his team-mates by refusing to back-track when on the defence – a duty he does well for his club. The ability to be a great player lies not in the ability to control or kick the ball, but in the ability to read a game and know how to react at every point in time. Anybody can kick the ball and as a player, you are also expected to know how to read games. With a five-man attack, one would have thought Mikel would stay back to help the back four as he always does in Chelsea, but he decided to join the attack too. Once again, the Guineans explored the right-side of our defence after coming through the middle and this time around, Ibrahim Diallo delivered the fatal blow and the rest is history. Nigeria is out of the 2012 AFCON…
THE LESSON
The lesson is simple: prior preparation prevents poor performance. We lost the ticket when we lost to Guinea 1-0 in Conakry. Samson Siasia was called upon to rescue the team and deliver the ticket despite all odds, but what was the outcome? Some saboteurs were out there waiting to take over his job while he hadn’t even been sacked. That was so shameless. Such people could go to any extent to see his downfall. Guess they are happy now. Well, it’s high time we realized that great players do not NECESSARILY make great coaches. This is what the Nigerian Football Federation must take note. Siasia should know that coaching job isn’t permanent. He has a good heart, attending the unveiling of Keshi and in no time, he will be rewarded accordingly. So are those who wanted to take his job before his sack, they will also be rewarded accordingly. He (Siasia) should also realize that once you know what you are capable of doing, you don’t have much problems. The best coaches have been sacked one time or the other; Guus Hiddink, Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi, just to mention a few. That did not take anything away from them, they bounced back… On the final note, except we develop our youth football system, there will be no way out. Using over-age players to win age group tournaments is temporal. When these players are expected to mature and play for the national team, they have passed their prime. How many players of the U17 winning team that played in Korea 2007, coached by the late Yemi Tella are in the national team now? We are still waiting for them to mature right (laugh, just like many Nigerians especially Chief Judge Adokie Amiesimaka and Chief Odegbami would laugh). Let’s stop deceiving ourselves, let’s develop our soccer academies in order to develop our young players, let’s train our coaches and let’s plan very well. Believe me, our players are not in the class of players from countries like Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Argentina, Portugal, England, France, Italy, Uruguay amongst others. Most of their players came all the way from their academies. So many people appreciate the Barcelona football team, but all thanks to their great football academy. I could also remember the days of Ajax Amsterdam, when they had an excellent football academy. Kanu and Finidi who played in Ajax that time would definitely know better. There is something I have realized and want the NFF to take note. We’ve had several coaches in the past few years (both local and foreign) and still the same old story. This is a pointer to the fact that something is really wrong with our administration as well as our players. The so called coaches have used the same set of players with just few inclusions and exclusions. Tell me a coach that will come today and discard the likes of Mikel, Yobo, Osaze, Enyeama, Nsofor, Ogbuike, Taiwo, Ikechukwu Uche, Martins; just to mention a few. The truth is our squad (I don’t necessarily mean the ones mentioned above) is ageing. The so called players who claim to be in their 20s are already close to their 40s; so what do we expect. This is something the NFF must take note and strongly discourage. We have the Nations cup in 2013 as well as the world cup in 2014, so let’s start preparations now. To Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, I’ll say welcome to the job. One thing he must realise however is that this is not Togo or Mali; this is your fatherland, Nigeria with over 150million coaches (laugh). I wish him all the best he needs to succeed, while not forgetting his volley against Senegal in the opening match of Senegal 92 which got us the winner; after Cyril Bocande’s equalizer had cancelled out Samson Siasia’s opener. Well, maybe he (Keshi) will deliver Nigeria again…