“He has lost about five matches” – Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro charged to work his magic quickly
The pressure is beginning to build on the Portuguese tactician after he led the Eagles to an embarrassing heavy defeat to the Selecao
Former Nigeria international striker Peter Ijeh has charged coach Jose Peseiro to get the Super Eagles playing better in no time.
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, appointed Peseiro in May to take charge of the Super Eagles after interim coach Augustine Eguavoen vacated the role.
Under Peseiro, the Super Eagles have claimed two victories over Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
More alarming, though, is that the 2013 Afcon winners have lost five other matches to Mexico, Ecuador, Algeria, Costa Rica, and Portugal.
And former goal-king Ijeh is displeased that Peseiro is yet to get the Super Eagles playing with a discernible style more than six months after his appointment.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Ijeh noted, “He has been with the team for some time and up til now, I don’t know his philosophy. We don’t know the pattern and playing style of the Eagles.
“Peseiro hasn’t put his personality on the squad and the results have also not been coming his way. He has lost about five matches now as Eagles coach. Look at the big teams we have played; we lost almost all of those games; we beat Lesotho and Siera Leone, but we haven’t made our mark in big games.
“You don’t need to spend all the time in the world to be able to build a team that people will be able to identify as your own with the tactics, philosophy, and playing pattern.”
The Super Eagles missed out on participation at the 2022 FIFA World Cup but the three-time continental champions are favourites to book a spot at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ijeh believes the Afcon qualifiers present Peseiro with the chance to slap his identity and philosophy on the Super Eagles.
“We don’t have anything to evaluate; what we have so far looks like the coach just tells the players to go out there and play football without clearcut technical and tactical direction,” Ijeh added.
“It is good that the African Nations Cup qualifiers will resume soon; maybe we will begin to see the changes but with the way we are playing, we can only manage to beat some smaller African countries; we can’t achieve much on a global stage.
“So, Peseiro has to start showing us he has a plan for this team; we must start to see a clear-cut identity regarding the squad in terms of the way they play,” the Sweden-based coach concluded.
