European leagues resume Eagles regulars warm bench

Some European football leagues resumed last weekend with hundreds of players playing their first competitive games. ALLWELL OKPI writes that some Super Eagles regulars resumed the 2015/16 season as benchwarmers in their clubs
  

With Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Tanzania, only three weeks away, it would be safe to assume that the likes of Obi Mikel of Chelsea, his teammate, Victor Moses and Brown Ideye of West Bromwich Albion will make the list of 18 Europe-based players the Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, intends to invite and most likely be in the Eagles’ starting 11.
But these players did not make their clubs’ starting 11, and were not brought in as substitutes throughout the duration of their teams’ crucial opening matches of the English Premier League last weekend. They started the season as benchwarmers.

None of the six Eagles players in the EPL – Mikel, Moses, Ideye, Victor Anichebe, Odion Ighalo and Osaze Odemwingie –started for their clubs.

However, Odemwingie was brought in for Stoke City in the 78th minute to replace Holland midfielder, Ibrahim Afellay, who had been issued a yellow card in their match against Liverpool. As a result, Odemwingie was in action for less than 15 minutes as Stoke lost 1-0 at home.


Mikel on Chelsea’s bench

Ighalo obviously had the best outing of all the Nigerian players in the EPL last weekend. He scored Watford’s second goal in the 83rd minute, barely nine minutes after he was introduced to replace Spanish midfielder Jose Jurado in their 2-2 draw away against Everton.

Also, in West Brom’s 3-0 lost to Manchester City, Anichebe was brought in for the Baggies to replace new signing Rickie Lambert in the 74th minute. While the other two Nigerians who were on the bench, Ideye for West Brom and Kelechi Iheanacho for Manchester City did not see action at all.

Though Iheanacho, who has played for Nigeria at the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups, has not played for the Eagles, there are speculations that the youngster, who stands a good chance of featuring for Man City’s senior team this season, would be called up by Oliseh.

Mikel and Moses, who are key players in the Eagles’ midfield, watched from the bench as the defending champions Chelsea struggled to a 2-2 draw at home against Swansea City.

For Mikel it was a continuation of his plight last season when he featured only in 18 games in the EPL and mostly as a substitute. With Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic still in form, Mikel, who has insisted that he has no intention of leaving Chelsea before the end of his contract in 2017, is likely to sit on the bench for a reasonable part of this season.

Moses, who played well for Chelsea during their pre-season engagements, after returning from Stoke where he was on a season-long loan, also seemed to have failed to grab a starting role in that match.

Though Chelsea manager, Jose Mourihno, had described Moses as strong, experienced, fast and aggressive, and promised to give him a chance at the club this season, it is obvious the 24-year-old Nigeria midfielder would have to work harder to earn it.

Outside England, Elderson Echiejile was not listed either among the starting 11 or among the seven substitutes in AS Monaco’s 2-1 win over OGC Nice in one of Ligue 1 openers last Saturday. There is also no indication that Echiejile, who recently asked to be loaned out to a club where he could play regularly, would feature in subsequent fixtures.

This situation is a departure from what obtained in the 1990s when most Eagles players in European top flights were regulars for their clubs.

Ex-international, Garba Lawal, who spoke to our correspondent during the week, said the fact that many national team players do not play in their European clubs’ first teams, explains why Nigeria’s performance in international football has been on the decline.

“They are not playing week in week out so it is difficult for us to have a strong team. In our time, you could see up to 18 players who were regulars in their teams in Europe, but this situation where our players mostly come from the bench, when they get to play, is very difficult for the coach and for everybody. Sometimes, I ask myself where our football is going,” Lawal said.

“The fact that they hardly play matches in their club would affect their match fitness when they come to play for the Eagles and whenever they get the chance to play for their clubs, they will struggle because they are match-rusty. You don’t get full fitness from training. Training is different from a match.

“And when you have a match as a national team, the clubs will not release the players until about three days to the match when two weeks are not even enough to prepare a player that is match-rusty.”

The former Eagles midfielder said the inability of Nigerian players in Europe top flights to make their team’s first 11 should be a source of concern to Oliseh and the Nigeria Football Federation and added that the country has no choice than to depend on the benchwarmers for now.

Henry Nwosu, who also played for the Eagles, also decried the situation but said the fact that the players were left on the bench by their club coaches does not mean they are not good players.

“That they were on the bench does not mean they are not as good as the ones playing. Only 11 players will start a game at a time. As the season progresses, they may have the opportunity to start games,” Nwosu said.

“I also don’t think the fact that they are not playing regularly would necessarily affect their performance when they play for the Eagles. They train in their clubs and sometimes they come in to participate in matches. The main thing to find out is if they are match fit. If they are match fit, then we thank God.”

The Golden Eaglet’s coach however said the reason Nigerian players have been struggling in Europe recently is that they do not wait long enough to develop properly and learn the rudiment of the game before going abroad.

However, Eagles’ midfielder Ogenyi Onazi, who is a regular for Lazio in the Italian Serie A, is likely to be in action for his team when they face Bologna on Saturday, August 22, in their season’s opener.

Also, Eagles’ defender Leon Balogun would likely be in action for Mainz 05 on Saturday when they face FC Ingolstadt 04 as German Bundeslida resumes this weekend.


Twenty-four-year old Anthony Ujah, who scored for Werder Bremen in their 2-0 win against Wurzburger Kickers in a DFB-Pokal First round game played at the Flyeralarm Arena last weekend, is almost certain of being in the starting 11 as Werderhost Schalke 04 in their Bundesliga opener on Saturday.