5 lessons from England v Nigeria by Jennifer Okoye

My friend and colleague Jennifer Okoye of Jay FM Jos  makes her debut on my blog today.

She serves us lessons she picked up from Nigeria's international friendly with England.

Her take:

The Super Eagles didn't perform well against The Three Lions of England in their second friendly game ahead of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup starting on the 14th of June.

England defeated Nigeria by 2-1, with goals from Garry Cahil in the 7th minute and Harry Kane on 39thminutes while the only goal from the Super Eagles came through Alex Iwobi at the 47th minute in the second half.




Ahead of the Super Eagles participation at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup
These are the five things I learnt from the friendly game  against England.

NIGERIA BACK FOUR: The team lacked coordination and strong synergy. Nigeria’s goal Keeper Francis Uzohor is yet to state a claim on the number one shirt, however his performance improved greatly at the second half.

The 4-4-3 formation did not work out well for the team at all.

Ogenyi Onazi committed lots of errors before he was finaly substituted, other substituted players include Joel Obi who performed woefully, Leon Balogun and Shehu Abdulahi were also pulled out.

Mikel Obi: Unlike the Obi Mikel we use to know in the past, he appeared yet to gel into the team.

GREAT SUBSTITUTIONS - Helped the Eagles drastically.

The introduction of  Tyronne Ebuehi,Ogenekaro Etebo, John Ogu and Kenneth Omerua changed the game drastically.

There was huge improvement in the second half  as Alex Iwobi scored in the 47th minute into the second half with some tactical changes.


BETTER ATTACK:  The England National team had a more deadly attack line with Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane a constant threat. No doubt they would have scored more goals as they created better chances.

BETTER POSITIONAL PLAY: The three Lions  positioning with and without the ball was awesome. It helped them move forward in droves even as they were cautious in defending which the Super Eagles lacked.

TACTICAL DISCIPLINE: England were tactically and technically more superior  particularly in the first half where Nigeria failed to find their rhythm and visibly played more to their manager’s instructions.

RECOVERY RATE: England's recovery rate each time they are trying to defend is also better. They do it with precision and discipline.

In conclusion, Genort Rohr has an uphill task in ensuring that Super Eagles surpases the Round of 16 in Russia. 

Nigerians are waiting anxiously for the two players that will be dropped before their next game against the Czech Republic on 6th of June 2018.

The question remains, who and who will be axed from the 25 man squad
as teaming Nigeria football fans are anxiously waiting for the Kick off of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup in less than two weeks