Nigeria v Morocco: 5 points to ponder

Nigeria v Morocco: 5 points to ponder

Posted by Sylvester on Monday, January 27, 2014 0

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First, we need to salute the courage and desire of the home-based Eagles to literally come back from the dead – coming from 3-0 down and forcing the game against the Atlas Lions into extra time before winning it.

But after the exhilaration of that victory and what it has or would do for the psyche of the local league – there were some lapses noticed which against a more technical will be punished again and again but they can all be resolved before the semi-final.
Almost all goals have been unforced errors
The Eagles have conceded in every match in South Africa – two against Mali, two against Mozambique, one against South Africa and then the three against Morocco last Saturday. Of the eight goals conceded, seven have been either unforced errors or schoolboy mistakes from the goalkeeper. The first goal conceded against Mozambique was a give-away by Ugonna Uzochukwu while the second goal saw Chigozie Agbim been culpable. The two goals against Mozambique were goalkeeping errors. The penalty awarded to South Africa was an unforced error while all three goals conceded against Morocco were all unforced errors. Uzochukwu (again) gave away the ball for the first goal. Bright Esieme gave away the ball that led to the free kick for the second goal and third was another give-away in midfield. So if the Eagles can cut out their unforced errors, they will have a chance against Ghana.
Central defensive pairing not working as a unit
The central pairing of Azubuike Egwekwe and Ebenezer Odunlami should not be making the kind of mistakes that are been made which means the coach needs to find the chemistry that will make them tick because it is too late to bring in a new player for either in the semi final.

Azubuike Egwekwe has not been very effective with Ebenezer Odunlami

The challenge has been collective decision making – who is the libero and who is the marker? Egwekwe, we know performs poorly in one on one with players especially the speedy ones but is quite adept at putting his body in line to block goal-bound shots while Odunlami seems to like the marking aspect. So the solution is that on every attack by the opponent, they know who goes first and how they would go. There has been serious lack of communication between the pair and that has meant there are always holes – huge ones at that, when opponents come forward.
Too much space between the midfield and attack
So many times in their four matches in South Africa, the midfielders have had to loft balls, hopefully, to the strikers, which has proven counter-productive because we really do not have fast strikers. Whilst Ugonna Uzochukwu has been workman-like, he has failed to consistently hit positive forward passes. Between him and Shehu ???, the coach must decide on who is to sit and who would consistently link the attack though Rabiu Ali seems to thrive in the ‘Frank Lampard’ role for the Eagles – arriving in the danger areas unnoticed. The roles they have to play must be clearly defined especially against a ball-playing team like the Black Stars of Ghana.
Ifeanyi Ede should rest against Ghana
Seriously, apart from the two goals that the Enyimba striker has delivered in South Africa, one will find it very hard to remember him for anything else. Playing on the right side of a front three, he has not been able to go outside his marker and deliver crosses and when he has found himself with chances in the box – except his goal against Mali, he has rushed and missed the chances.

Ifenayi Ede seems to have run out of attacking ideas

This is not saying that Ede is not a good striker but that the system deployed by Coach Stephen Keshi is not giving him the latitude to freely express himself. From what Nanen Imenger has shown, he should form a front three with Ejike Uzoenyi and Gbolahan Salami.
The art of composed finishing
After Morocco scored their first goal, the Super Eagles had two glaring chances which Ifenyi Ede and Gbolahan Salami contrived to throw away. It is good that the team can continue to produce chances at the rate at which they did against Morocco, but against a more experienced side, that would not be the case and then the premium chances provided must be taken. Even though we have to commend the finishing touch of Rabiu Ali for Nigeria’s second goal – he was not as composed in other favourable situations in which he found himself.