Thanks to those who complained on the BBC website, it appears that the offending paragraph has been deleted.

has there ever been a great West African winger? -- something Vernon attributes to the conditions in which most children there learn the game.


A very interesting article! As to the question, yes, there have been. I must agree with others on the forum regarding Finidi George. He was a great winger, way up with the best of them. And what about Emmanuel Amunike? Surely, he must be ranked among the best. Then there is Tijani Babangida, who was also very effective in his prime.

As to midfielders: Amokachi must come to mind as an attacking midfielder though some might think of him more of a forward. What about Oliseh?

I guess, this debate depends on perspective. We should remember though that in the 90's Nigerian players were among the best in the world. I do not think there  should be much debate about that. The situation today is different however. Even Nigerians should admit that.

Admirable as it may be for many on this forum who are optimistic about Nigeria's chances at the World Cup, the match against North Korea should give us cause for pause. True, Nigeria won, but truth be told, the result is more flattering than reflective of the playing level of the Nigeria team.

Here are few reasons why we should be concerned.

On the big stage (and it doesn't get bigger than this), games can be won or lost through a team's ability to retain possession of the ball.  A team's inability to retain possession may stem from one of two reasons (perhaps both). First, a deliberate defensive approach to a game in which the team chooses to play very deep in its own half, thus, clogging the area to frustrate the opponent's attack. We saw Inter Milan use this tactic against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. The Greece national team have used the tactic in the past with great result. This manner of playing cedes the midfield to the opponent and relies on strong defending and quick counter-attack to score goals. This means that the isolated strikers (or striker) must be very confident on the ball and have the ability to hold the ball until support arrives from team mates. Defensively, the team must be very alert and the defenders must have the ability to quickly switch positions to prevent spaces from opening up (which might be exploited by the opposition), resulting from an out of position player.

Second, it may result from inferior playing or from lack of cohesiveness. This last is frustrating to watch if you happen to support a team.  Inferior playing and lack of cohesiveness have been two problems of the Eagle's for some time now. These problems surfaced in the Korea match, resulting from sloppy passes and players' inability to hold on to the ball even in situations in which they were not under undue pressure from challenging players of the Korea team.

This should give us a cause for concern because, relatively speaking, North Korea is a much weaker opposition than the teams in our group. It should be obvious that this level of playing will not cut it against these teams. The reason we were not punished for this sloppy play is because North Korea was vastly inferior to our team in term of individual talent. This is however an advantage we won’t enjoy against teams in our group. Argentina have superior talent in their team, South Korea play cohesively as a team and are very fit individually, and Greece could frustrate any team any day if they bring their A defensive game.

What is frighteningly obvious from watching the Eagles is that we lack a cohesive midfield, which makes the loss of Mikel Obi more painful. For those who watched the game, recall that the Eagles attempted to   establish a crisp passing and  swift attacking rhythm, which however, did not worked out because of the forementioned sloppiness in passing and from lack of confidence from some of the players, resulting in  frantic display of nerves at times. But the key reason why this did not work out is because there was no midfield to control the game, meaning that the strikers eventually played much deeper than necessary to compensate: the reason why Odemwingie appeared to be mostly missing from the field and the reason why Yakubu became ineffective after scoring early. In other words, the two strikers started playing as though they were attacking midfieders rather than strikers proper. We saw this manner of playing in the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. This is the main reason, as I see it, why Yakubu has been ineffective for the Eagles. The same is true for Odemwingie in recent times.

But what can be done?

I do not believe that Lagerback is unaware of this problem. It remains to be seen how he will fix it however. If it is any comfort, notice that Kanu was effective when he was introduced into the game although the substitution seemed to indicate that he would play as a forward, but he ended up playing more like an attacking midfielder than a striker. His passing was intelligent, and he was able to hold the ball more than most and initiated some decent attacking build up. I would rather have him playing as an attacking midfielder with Obafemi martins and Yakubu teaming up as twin strikers while Odemwingie plays wide right and Obasi or Nsofor playing wide left or the reverse. Kaita should play a more central role in defensive midfield (contrary to opinions, which I suppose stem from his being a northener, Kaita is a very good player). It would be interesting to see what would happen if Utaka were to be brought in, either as an attacking midfielder or a defensive one. Echiejile appears to be more effective on the left wide defensive position than Taiwo, despite his error that resulted in the North Korea goal.

Some on this forum have suggested that Nigerians are complaining too much and not giving the Eagles a chance to prove themselves. I hold a contrary opinion. I'd say Nigerians are only responding to what is obvious: the Eagles (notice that I refuse to call them "Super" are not playing well and this does not bode well in a competition of this magnitude. If one has seen how Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil and the likes are playing, one should know that our team is not on par with these teams. Besides, how much of a chance should be given them? We had all of four years to prepare for this competition, and what did we do?   Again, some have suggested that Nigerians are wont to complain even when the Eagles win their matches and as such are turning into whiners. I'd say, winning is not what matters per se, but winning convincingly and winning against top oppositions.  The teams we have played against in recent times can hardly be said to be top opposition. The two times we played against good teams we lost: Egypt and Ghana in the Nation's Cup. Besides, Nigerians are not the only ones complaining about their team: ask the French and the Italian. I suppose that all Nigerians ask for is a decent football game from their national team.