Nigeria’s recent slump in global soccer ratings has been attributed to the clear lack of playing structure.
Former Supers Eagles winger, Finidi George, has told SuperSport.com that unless there is a conscious effort to re-define the country’s playing style, the team will continue to struggle.

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In a candid assessment of Nigeria’s dismal performance at the World Cup, Finidi, who incidentally is based in Spain, urged the NFA to borrow a leaf from La Roja, alluding that the success of Nigeria’s Golden–era was down to a similar project that the Spaniards were benefitting from.

The Dutch duo of Clemens Westerhof and Bonfrere Jo combined the best of their football culture with the best attributes of Nigerian football, athleticism and flair.

“It is good to look at the administration and management of the game in Nigeria but if we cannot evolve a system that can be entrenched across every level in Nigeria such that when you bring back the players, they are able to slot in seamlessly, you cannot take the team back to winning ways,” he said, adding that he was not recommending a return to Dutch coaching. He just wanted to remind Nigeria that any change in leadership must come with a drive to improve the culture.

Finidi  believes  that  theissue was not necessarily the dearth of players as some people have alluded but more a question of calling only the relevant players.

“You cannot invite every player in Europe just because they make headlines. Sometimes, they just wouldn’t fit into the system. That’s why you find one player scoring regularly for his club and firing blanks in the national team,” he said.

Finidi, who will always be remembered for his assists for Nigeria and the clubs in Europe, especially Ajax Amsterdam where he is famous, pointed out that Nigeria only need to look at the evolution of Rashidi Yekini.

“Rashidi has always showed goal_scoring potential. After making his debut in 1984, he only scored three goals before Clemens Westerhof came in 1989 and within two years, slowly established a system that saw the injection of so many new players and brought in players like myself, Amuneke, Jay-Jay Okocha and Sunday Oliseh and many others. Rashidi would go on to become Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer with 34 goals, 30 of those in five years, and with it the emergence of Nigeria as a force in World Football,” recalled Finidi.
The retired winger wondered what might have been pointing to continuity and time tested methods as everyone was surprised by Spain’s performance, adding that they have had an enduring stream of Dutch coaches going back to the advent of Rinus Michels and Johan Cryuff, Johan Neeskens in the early seventies Barcelona and also cryuff’s coaching stints in Barcelona and more recently, Guus Hiddink at Real Madrid, Luis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard.

“It was Cryuff who established the identity, a discernable playing style that produced results and trophies, one that a lot of teams in Spain have emulated with structures from early age grades up to their main squads.

That’s why it’s easy to fit in players from different clubs,” he said, suggesting that Spain beat Holland because they were able to add the Spanish attributes of control and possession.

In the case of Nigeria, however, Finidi said the country had just concentrated on changing coaches, calling up players, just because they played in Europe. “We have to go back to the basics, Get the system right and invite the best players for each position irrespective of whether they play in Europe or Nigeria.

I was a regular for the Supers Eagles before I went to Holland and I walked into the Ajax first team because I was already used to their system,” he said.