The newly-unveiled Super Eagles manager did his best to dampen expectations, but in a careless moment, may have stuck his foot in a giant bear-trap.
So there he sat, in the belly of the National Stadium, Abuja. His words carried hope, but were weighted with pragmatism; perhaps even caution.
“I am not coming as a Messiah,” he said.
“Gone are the days when we had individual players who can win games on their own. But we have potential…”
It is instructive that he believes Nigerians expect a Messiah. Such has been the hyperbole since it became clear that an agreement had been reached between Sunday Oliseh and the NFF; one could be forgiven for thinking he comes with guarantees.
In a profession as uncertain as coaching, the closest thing to a guarantee is a track record.
Oliseh of course comes with none. This has not stopped reactions ranging from beatific to truculent—experience has not done much for us anyway, they say. This may be true, experience is only a part of the job. What is however undeniable is that it makes the other parts easier; it may not guarantee effectiveness, but it does efficiency.
As it is, Oliseh has to learn on the job; he declares he is suitably qualified, and that may be so, but qualification and preparation are two different things. The former can be determined beforehand, but the latter only becomes apparent after the fact—the complexity of the challenge often gives the lie to even the most rigorous preparation, and can only be truly ascertained when one is wading into the deep.
In any case, he is at least under no illusions as to the quality of the materials available to him. The ingredients may not make for a piquant stew—Nigeria no longer has the pool to select from it did in the 90s, sadly—but they can at least sate the hunger of the populace. This will task all of the acumen that Oliseh appears to possess.
Tactics is all about maximising strengths and minimising weakness.
Notably, Costa Rica demonstrated, with Jorge Luis Pinto at last summer’s World Cup, that outright quality is not a pre-requisite for success. The fiery Colombian, crucially, understood the inability of his team to play perpetually on the front foot, and focused on exploiting specific weaknesses in the opposition. In order to succeed, Oliseh will have to do the same: understand the weaknesses of the opposition, but even more so, the limitations of his.
With that in mind, his statement about the composition of the national team under his watch is a tad contradictory.
“No player outside of first division in Nigeria or elsewhere will play for the Super Eagles,” he asserted.
This is, on the surface, meant to ensure the maintenance of standards. However, close inspection easily reveals it is neither feasible, nor grounded in reality. Only this past season, Odion Ighalo was plying his trade in the English Championship; his 20 goals a huge factor in Premier League promotion for Watford. By his logic, if Oliseh had been manager since last year, Ighalo would still be without a senior cap for Nigeria. This would not change until August, when the Premier League season begins.
Furthermore, what would have happened if, in spite of his bullish goal return, the Hornets had missed out on promotion? Would Ighalo have stayed in the international wilderness?
It is the sort of populist statement that Nigerians were ready to swallow, following the illogicality of Stephen Keshi’s squad selections, but realistically, it cannot be enforced. Does a player with a record of consistency, both in league and international matches, fall out of consideration once his team takes a dip into a lower division? Given his accession that we no longer possess real game-changers, can we really afford to turn our noses up at potentially useful players based on the standing of their league?
Would we then be stuck with an incompetent player in a problem position, as was the case under Keshi with Efe Ambrose? The Celtic man held down the right-back role for far too long, regardless of the fact he is actually a centre-back. This hampered the team no end; by the time the more rounded Leon Balogun made his international bow, he was turning out for 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Player selection is always a touchy subject, and in truth Oliseh should have stayed out of it at such an early stage. There can be no accounting for losses of form and injuries over the duration of his three-year contract; by showing his hand so carelessly, Oliseh may have already made a whip for his own back.
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