By John Egbokhan

Former Super Eagles forward, Jonathan Akpoborie is surprised that Coach Stephen Keshi has not been able to  rectify the defensive lapses in the Eagles squad since he he took over in November 2011.

The former Stuttgart and Wolfsburg striker, while reacting to Nigeria’s first round ouster from the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, expressed scepticism over Keshi’s ability to read games but maintained that the former Togo and Mali coach should not be sacked for a foreign coach.

Keshi

While noting that he has seen improvements in the Eagles since their triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, Akpoborie, who scored four goals in his international career, said that the defensive lapses that he noticed since Keshi took over were limiting the team’s quest to become global players.

“I have seen a lot of improvements in the team but the truth is that we are not yet complete. There are still mistakes which give reason to doubt if Keshi can take us to the promised land. We have done well but when we go outside Africa, that is where our problems will show.. There were some mistakes made by the team, especially in the defense. When it comes to the basic facts of the matter, something is wrong.

“In the Confederations Cup match against Spain, you noticed that all the goals came from our right side of our end. The two goals scored by Jordi Alba, a left-fullback, were from that end. These are technical issues, which I expected Keshi to have sorted out long ago.

Even the goal that Tahity scored came from there too. It has been like that for sometime. Defending has always been our problem.
“Tactical issues made us to lose to Spain.  We need all our best players to play for us. There are some players, who were born abroad to Nigerian parents. The likes of David Alaba and Sidney Sam are two examples. If they are good enough, they will also help us. We have a Nigerian player who plays with Fortuna Dusseldolf and I am surprised that we have not reached  out to him.

“Keshi needs to step up his game because when things go wrong, he will be the one they will sack. I know he knows what is right but I am surprised that he has not addressed these tactical issues. We have the talents to excel but if we continue playing like this, we are not going to get anywhere. We are playing well because of the talents but the tactics and discipline are not there.

“I am not saying that Keshi is not doing well. I have seen the improvement but the mistakes I saw at the Nations Cup resurfaced at the Confederations Cup. We were the best against Uruguay but we made two defensive mistakes and they scored”, added  Akpoborie.

On the option of getting a foreign coach to work with Keshi, Akpoborie said that even the best expatriate manager was going to fail in Nigeria.
“When I first came back from Germany, I felt that we needed a foreign coach but after seeing things for myself, my position has changed. Even the best foreign coach will fail under this Nigerian system. If they bring Frank Rijkaard, I bet you that he will fail under this system. Football is very difficult to manage in Nigeria because our system is rotten”, said Akpoborie.