Flaks For Lagerback   

Recently, Lars Lagerback, coach of the Super Eagles,  released a 44-man provisional list for the World Cup. Lagerback’s list elicited very few surprisies. The clean break he promised on appointment did not materialise, given the domination of his list by very familiar names. Lagerback could plead brevity of time as defence, but that does not seem to be appealing to many, who expect him to demonstrate his presumed deep knowledge of Nigerian football and players. Lagerback who was appointed Nigerian coach in February, has had the opportunity of watching his players play for their various clubs, but not under his watch as national  coach.

But the Swede is convinced that his list has combined the best in terms of youth and experience. This combination, he believes, could take the country as far as the semi-final of the World Cup.

The coach reckons that he is giving every player an equal opportunity to prove their mettle. “It doesn’t matter where they are or where they are coming from, I would give everyone of them a level playing ground to prove themselves,” he said.

Coach of the Super Eagles, Team B, Daniel Amokachi, believes that Lagerback’s list is adequate for the World Cup preparations. “The coach has identified the players who are doing well and have named them in his squad. The inclusion of the local based players shows that the coach has been open-minded in selecting his players,” he said.

The optimisim is not shared by Joe Erico, former Super Eagles assistant coach. He is of the view that Lagerback should have, by now, concluded plans on his choice of players for the World Cup, given the short time he has. “Most of the countries going to the World Cup are rounding off preparations. They are preparing for the friendly matches, Lagerback is yet to make up his mind on the players that will make it to the World Cup,” he lamented.

Erico is worried that the the Eagles have not played a friendly match under Lagerback and reckons that Nigeria’s penchant for last-minute preparations could unhinge the dream of a good outing in South Africa. “In football, you must work hard. Luck comes to those who have worked hard. We always expect magic to happen but the World Cup is a competition of preparation,” he stated.

Thompson Oliha, member of the team to the 1994 World Cup, believes Lagerback will find it difficult pruning his list to 23. “I think the 44-man list is too much. Perhaps he should have come up with a 30-man list, which will be easy to trim,” he said.

Oliha is worried that others would have concluded preparations by the time Nigeria will be  picking a squad. “Other teams are concluding preparations. We need to improve our preparations. The long list might be a problem,” he stated.

Taiwo Ogunjobi, Technical Committee Chairman, Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, is bothered about the size of the list, which he believes makes it unwieldy. Ogunjobi would prefer a 30-man list from which the final 23 will be chosen. “We cannot allow 44 players to go camping. The list must be reduced to 30. We don’t know how the coach intends to achieve this, but the NFF cannot take 44 players to camp,” he said

Ogunjobi believes that the time spent on players selection might prove costly. “We do not have all the time. The list must be ready by May 11. The squad must be reduced to a sizeable number,” he explained.

Former Super Eagles striker, Jonathan Akpoborie, sees nothing strange in the size of Lagerback’s list, but believes that the coach omitted some players who have been doing well for their clubs.  “We thought he had an in-depth knowledge of our players, but the list has shown that he has nothing new,” he said.

Akpoborie believes that players who get regular action with their clubs should be given preference.

Nigeria will play their first group match against Argentina on 12 June at the Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg. Coach of Argentina, Diego Maradona has already named his World Cup squad.