Newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has found a way around the lack of a creative midfielder in the setup of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Past coaches of the Super Eagles have lamented the absence of a classic playmaker in the mould of former captain and legend Austine Okocha, saying it is partly why the team haven’t been scoring goals as expected despite having top strikers.
Chelle who was appointed into the role of coach of the team by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is an apostle of the diamond formation, which doesn’t need a classic number ten to function effectively.
As seen at the last AFCON, his Malian team played the renowned diamond setup which involves positioning the midfielders in a diamond and features a flat four-man backline, and two forwards up front, while the diamond is created by the defensive midfielder, double 8s, and the attacking midfielder.
Certainly, this provides a numerical advantage in the middle of the pitch, potentially giving positional superiority over the opponent’s two or three midfielders.
However, it is worth noting that this concentrated central setup sacrifices presence on the wings.
This presence can vary, sometimes lower with fullbacks in 4-1-2-1-2 or higher with wingers in 3-1-2-1-3.
The utilisation of the diamond can vary based on the players’ roles and the coaches’ strategies.
Typically, teams rely on a No.6, who can be either a deep-lying playmaker (regista) responsible for retention and distribution or a defensive midfielder who shields and protects the play.
This role sure is reflected in the duo of central midfielders who cover a whole lot of ground and may function as box-to-box players shifting the creative responsibility to the wingers , and having the midfielders make late runs into the box to compliment the forwards.
