|
A good day at the office for Gernot Rohr and his Nigeria Super Eagles ended in a comfortable 3-0 victory over Seychelles, albeit against limited opponents. Samuel Kalu looked terrifyingly good on his Eagles debut, Ahmed Musa scored again, and the West African giants find themselves right back in contention for a place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations party. What will Rohr have learned from his side's performance in Saturday's showdown? MUSA STAYS SHARP There were quite a few fans who questioned Musa's move to Saudi Arabia, claiming that a player who moved to a Middle East league should not come anywhere near the national team. Musa, handed the captain's armband on the day, provided firmly up to the task, cracking in a sweetly vicious volley within the opening half hour to set the Eagles on the path to victory. However, that was not all; the 25-year old was a constant threat and had a few more opportunities to up the tally. Incidentally, all his efforts - including the goal - were on his supposedly weaker left foot. Middle East or not, Musa obviously still has a tonne to contribute to the Super Eagles OMERUO RUST Kenneth Omeruo was one of Nigeria's better players at the World Cup, but it is obvious - and it showed on Saturday - that he needs a consistent run of games to stay sharp. The pace is there, the tackling is there, but he looked switched off on one or two instances. First, when he allowed himself to be beaten too easily by Perry Moonaie and picked up a yellow in the first half, and then when he misjudged the flight of a route-one ball to allow the same player to get in behind him for what should have been a goal if the Seychellois was a better finisher. Hopefully, he gets some game time at Leganes in the next four weeks before the upcoming double-header against Libya.  MUSA/IGHALO CHEMISTRY Speaking of Musa, Odion Ighalo's thigh set-up under pressure to provide the opportunity for the opening goal was as delicious as it was unorthodox. The Iheanacho/Musa combination looked forced at the World Cup, and still did not look any smoother against Seychelles. However, with Ighalo, a chemistry seems to be developing - borne out of experience, perhaps? - that Rohr might want to explore further in coming games. Both men almost always appeared to know where the other was by instinct and found the pass. That did not appear to be the case with Iheanacho. When John Obi Mikel returns, Gernot Rohr will have a decision to make between the two, particularly with Musa seemingly re-established as a starter. KALU ISN'T MOSES YET, BUT HE COULD BE Victor Moses who? Okay, it is not quite that drastic, and one game in green and white is still too small a body of work to form a judgement. However, Kalu showed plenty in his debut to suggest that worries about Moses's early retirement were maybe a tad premature. He ran at players, tricked his way through on more than one occasion, looked comfortable playing in and with the overlapping Chidozie Awaziem. He even shouldered some defensive responsibility, tracking back to make a tackle. Alex Iwobi and Moses Simon may have a fight on their hands ROHR REVERTS TO TACTICAL FORM If it was not before, perhaps it should be obvious now: playing four at the back is Gernot Rohr's preferred Plan A. Apart from the two games at the World Cup where he went three at the back, the German has usually almost always started with his Plan A and only switches to Plan B when things look like they are going pear-shaped. There was never any danger of that in Victoria and the smart money would be on the same starting formation one month from now.
|
