Newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle is fully focused on their upcoming World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Chelle isn’t getting involved in any talks about the AFCON in December, a tournament that will be happening after the conclusion of the world cup qualifiers in October. Pending on how the Super Eagles perform at the qualifiers he could be out of job by then.
For that reason his main goal is to ensure that the team claw their way back into contention to qualify for the world cup, after a poor start which has left them four points behind the leaders and without a win in the first four games.
In the build up to the games in March, the coach has identified one major area he must fix before the games, and it’s the defence which he feels doesn’t have enough pace to cope with balls over the top. They are also suspect from set pieces.
His idea is to fashion a style that will see the central defence where the main issue is he more organized, and it could probably lead to the dropping of one of the duo of William Troost-Ekong or Semi Ajayi who have been first choice pairing when the team plays with a back four.
We exclusively gathered that he could retain the 3-4-3 formation that worked for the team at the AFCON, but will emphasize more on dominating possession and also playing with two attacking midfielders and a lone defensive midfielder.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
