Ola Aina is one of the best players not only for Nigeria but in the whole of this tournament but the moment he was moved to the left wing back due to Zaidu’s absence, he struggled a bit in our last game. The day I feared the young lad was the day Nottingham Forest, his club in England faced Manchester United. He showed them pepper.
If Zaidu is fit, he should start. At least, the number one job of a defender is to stop the opponent and in that aspect, you can’t fault him; it is just that modern football also demands wing backs or full backs, depending on the team set up, to also be attack minded and players like Roberto Carlos are responsible for that. Lol
The nucleus three of Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey and Troost-Ekong have proven to be a very solid shield for the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper himself whenever he is exposed which has been rare, he never disappoint. So the backline is settled.
The trio of Osimhen, Lookman and Simon upfront have been giving every team we have played serious headache and Cote D’Ivoire will not be an exception.
Nine out of eleven positions have been taken care of so far with two positions left: DM and CM, defensive midfielder and central or attacking midfielder which have been manned by Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi respectively. And while I rate the Brentford of England player 8/10 so far in his DM role for the Eagles, I rate the Fulham man, Iwobi 5.5/10.
And I think that Peseiro and his team of coaches understand this and that is the reason Super Eagles creativity has been from the wings especially through Aina and Simon while Lookman has emerged as the talisman with Osimhen dragging opposing defenders with his runs there by creating space for Eluku.
If therefore, there will be any change at all in the starting 11, I will like to see only Yusuf Alhassan take the place of Iwobi. He will make the midfield a bit more solid and his passes are more accurate.
The Ivorians rely a lot on the midfield and we must not allow them take charge. Iwobi is the reason Osimhen overworks. I love him but let’s leave sentiment.
Over all, I don’t see their luck carrying them beyond silver medals.
