So much excitement and expectation trailed Nigeria’s participation at the 2018 FIFA World Cup but all that belongs to the past now with the Super Eagles group stage elimination from the tournament. That ouster has brought a lot of reactions; the one that has however been more profound is the clamoring for an overhaul with many persons calling for Coach Gernot Rohr to be sacked.
The calls for a change of guard might be justified when one considers the not-so-convincing performance of the team in the competition. We have been at this stage before and what we have often seen is paying the drawing board a revisit. This has seen us going forward one step and moving two steps backward – this has not helped our football in the least with the fans having to nurse faint hope of getting along [or even ahead (of)] top footballing nations in the world.

But reviewing the whole situation, one would see that all is not gloomy; there is a lot of promise in the team, and giving room for a building process to continue will go a long way in giving Nigeria a good standing [among top football playing nations] in the years ahead. I believe continuity is key to our sustainability since we have a young team that can go ahead to do great exploits in the future, and this is why the coach [who has started the work] should be allowed some more time to work with the team. Sacking Coach Gernot Rohr will bring about a disruption of a process and this will definitely not help our development football-wise. This is why I applaud the Nigerian Football Federation’s decision to stick with the coach as its chairman, Amaju Pinnick categorically stated that the body is very much willing to respect the contractual terms – by the way, Gernot Rohr signed a 2-year contract earlier this year – that is in place.

Having said that, it is very apparent that there is a need for improvement in many areas. While Gernot Rohr was able to set up his team to successfully implement an uncharacteristic 3-5-2 formation – a deviation from the more familiar 4-2-3-1 used during the qualifying series – it has to be said that his (Gernot Rohr’s) team management capability [coupled with poor decision-making] did cause Nigeria to lose vital points at the world cup. As he is set to continue, it is important that he gets to know his team perfectly and make sure that the ‘chaff gets separated from the wheat’; players should be drafted in based on merit. Furthermore, I do hope that, with him having a good grasp of the team’s ability, he will be able to make appropriate (game-changing) substitutions in the subsequent matches Nigeria will be playing.

Lastly, I feel there is a need to do profound homework on knowing the opponents before the teams square up on the pitch – this surely means the technical department of the NFF has to be more involved; probably by gaining the first-hand information on the teams Nigeria will be playing beforehand. This information was either not available or put to use in the games against Croatia and Argentina. Those games showed that the Nigerian team lacked the initiative to have a go at the opponent; the Super Eagles played shoddily against Croatia and failed to maximize its pace against a flailing Argentine team – Mbappe did show the world that pace is Argentina’s worst enemy.
But the positives are a source of hope and aspiration for greatness. With better understanding and working together, this team can be groomed into world beaters in the not-so-distant future. The future belongs to those who dream and the team as well as the fans can afford to dream of greater things yet with NFF’s continual support of the current management of the Super Eagles.