Following the appointment of Eric Chelle as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com takes a look at ten reasons why the 47 year old Franco-Malian will succeed in his role.
1. Win Ratio: The coach comes with a win ratio can easily be said to be among the best of any coach of the Nigerian team upon appointment. He had a 63 percent win ratio with Mali. Tallying 14 wins, 5 draws and just three losses.
2. Attack Minded: Under his reign as coach of Mali, the team scored a staggering 42 goals in 22 games. A very high number for a team like Mali who can’t boast of the same firepower like Nigeria. His all attack mindset will no doubt make the Super Eagles unstoppable.
3. Exposed Super Eagles: Mali had their first win over Nigeria with Chelle as coach in a friendly game in March. After the game he spoke about how his team were able to exploit the defence of the Super Eagles, now that he is at the helm. He should have an idea on how to fix it.
4. Made Mali A Force Again- Prior to his engagement as coach, Mali have fallen behind in African football. He brought them back as a force including leading them to their first quarter final finish at the AFCON since 2013, where they also exited the tournament in the quarter final.
5. Solid Defence – His penchant to play attacking football doesn’t mean his team can be breached easily. His team in Mali demonstrated that you can score lot of goals and concede few in return. They conceded just 14 goals in 22 games.
6. Sound Knowledge Of African Football – He requires no introduction to what it takes to get results in the qualifiers or tournament proper on the African continent.
7. Flexible Tactics – His game management while at the helm as coach of Mali shows how flexible he is to tactics. Evolving and changing his approach as the game progresses. A trait of most successful coaches.
8. Quality Players – It will be the first time in his career that he will be working with players of the quality that the Super Eagles have. A sound tactician will no doubt achieve good results with top players.
9. Opponent In Disarray – His first major assignment will be the world qualifiers game against Rwanda away in Kigali, but the group leader are facing a mini crisis with the departure of Torsten Spittler as their head coach and a replacement yet to be named. His second game will be against the bottom team of the group Zimbabwe. Both games are winnable.
10. Desire To Succeed – One take away that many who attended his press conference aligned with is the desire and determination of the new man to succeed. He even went as far as saying he will take the blame if the team fails to achieve their ambition under his guide.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
