FORMER Nigeria international, Jonathan Akpoborie has said
that Coach Gernot Rohr does not have what it takes to guide the Super Eagle to
the Promised Land, Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports.
In an interview session on a social media platform, 9ja
Footie Review, the former Hansa Rostock, VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg
striker said the Franco-German cannot give what he does not have as he lacks
the technical depth to guide the national team to glory.
While setting targets for the team, the 51-year-old, who
represented Nigeria in the junior cadre and earned 13 senior caps with the
Super Eagles said, “Anything short of winning the Nations Cup for Nigeria is
nonsense. The World Cup is something else. Unfortunately for Nigeria, I don’t
believe our coach is good enough to take us to the Promised Land. He cannot
give what he does not have.
“With a solid coach and given ample time, Nigerian
players can surprise the world. We have the skill, the power, the fitness and
the confidence, but the most important of all is the tactics and organization,”
he said.
Akpoborie also opined that it will be difficult for the
home based players to make the national team due to the present state of the
Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
“For country like Nigeria that has actually put a big
stamp on African football, our league has been very disappointing. I can’t take
it on the quality of players because locally, we produce more than enough
talents. The organisation has been zero even when people call on the LMC
(League Management Company). There was one headline I read. That day I was
driving from Stuttgart to Zurich, I could not really get an answer. Can anybody
tell me why the LMC or the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) would sign a
partnership with a club in Europe? What do you want to do with it?
“To be honest, there are so many things wrong in the
league, from falsification of players’ ages to the playing turfs that the whole
of Nigeria is running to get. The generation before me and my generation never
played on Astro turf. The bounces differently and when you put the players on
grass, their timing will always be off.
“If I was coach, I would not be able to pick any player
from the Nigerian league because the level is just too low. In the development
of young players, you need to be moving the bar upwards for the young players
every time you see it’s getting too easy for the player. But in Nigeria the
level has become so low, that the gifted players start to feel too big for the
league and when that happens, he starts loosing the hunger to perform. Plus the
home arrangement of the home team defeats all competition that is supposed to
stretch the players to their limits,” Akpoborie said on 9ja Footie Review.
No comments:
Post a Comment