Nigeria’s new coach, Sunday Oliseh, has expressed disappointment regarding the calibre of players that presently make up the Super Eagles.
Sunday Oliseh arriving at the airport
The ex-international revealed that he was not convinced with the depth of the squad and almost rejected the offer of managing the Nigerian team.
“To coach Nigeria is not the easiest job in the world and one is only as good as the players,” Oliseh told the FIFA website.
“Nigeria at the moment has a lot of potential, but we don’t have a lot of confirmed players in the top clubs in the top leagues, so taking over the national team now means we have to remake the whole team and introduce a new philosophy of playing style, of culture and mentality.
“That is very difficult to do when you are the national team coach because you have very limited time with the players unlike when you coach a club. So that is why I was very hesitant.
“For some years now, there have been offers and discussions about me taking over. It has been on the table, but it has not yet happened because the timing was off,” he explained.
The ex-midfielder expressed satisfaction with football lovers in the country, saying they encouraged him to take the job. “When I came into Nigeria to have talks, I came out of the airport and I knew there was no going back because all the way from the airport, my countrymen where saying: ‘You have to take the job, you have to take the job.’ So I did,” he posited.
Although the coach will continue to live in his base, Belgium; he assured Nigerians he will ensure he travels to Nigeria as often as possible to prepare for the AFCON qualifier against Tanzania in September.
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