Former Nigeria international Ifeanyi Udeze has advised Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro to discard the idea of introducing the 3-4-3 formation.
Peseiro introduced the formation in the Eagles’ friendly game against Guinea on Monday which they lost 2-0.
The Portuguese mostly favours the 4-3-3 and also the 4-4-2 formations.
Reacting to the idea of introducing the formation as the team prepare for the AFCON 2023, Udeze said the Eagles don’t have the players to utilize it.
“I think he should discard the idea of introducing the 3-4-3 formation in the Super Eagles because for you to operate the formation, your wingbacks must be fast. Unfortunately our wingbacks are not fast and also not comfortable on the ball,” he said on Brila FM.
Also Read: AFCON 2023: Peseiro Plays Down Super Eagles Friendly Game Loss To Guinea
“Another issue with the formation is the two central midfielders. While the midfielder, who will be the standing one, must be very strong the other midfielder must be someone who must be going forward and falling back to defend.
“So for me this 3-4-3 formation will expose the Super Eagles so Peseiro must do away with this idea.“
Meanwhile, the Eagles will be without Victor Boniface who picked up a groin injury in training.
The Bayer Leverkusen striker will now be replaced by Nice star Terem Moffi.
The team is expected to arrive Nigeria today (Tuesday) from Abu Dhabi before heading to Côte d’Ivoire for the tournament.
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14 Comments
GENERAL ROAR don already give am expo.. say play direct football..dis man dey use our team dey experiment..few days to afcon you can imagine
NFF is national cake for evil politicians in Nigeria football. Where is security Agencies? Na only yahoo boyz una sabi! So EFCC can’t arrest Amaju pinik? He embezzled Nigeria football money and building houses and expensive cars everywhere. If na foreign country, his going to jail
God bless you Chibuike, Amoju Pinik gave us a brainless coach because of his own pocket. EFCC must arrest the bastard and question Paseiro about who he has been giving 20,000 dollars to from his monthly salaries.
Up till now, the coach is still experimenting with formations after two years on the job. Germans are the ones who are good at it. The 3-4-3 formation. I’m happy Ifeanyi Udeze has already told him so. That is to say that the man doesn’t know what he is doing and doesn’t know the right formations on our Eagles. He keeps on experimenting, experimenting even few days to the major tournament whereas he should be molding the Eagles into a unit. We can’t wait to do away with him after AFCON.
Why is this Coach experimenting players when the big game is already at the corner. What are the prerequisite for employing coaches? Since the inception of this man as a Coach, our national team has stopped showing their ruggedness before the goal pos. They don’t fine the ball, lack of concentration and much of errors. The Coach should know that, football is the only thing that unite Nigerian now and so he should not afford to loose any matches. All the arrears have been paid by this present Government and any attempt for him to refused to deliver the Nation Cup wont be funny at all. Wishing him good luck.
With due respect to Udeze, who was a very good wing back/full back in his day, I beg to disagree.
I think Aina, Osayi Samuels, Bruno and Sanusi are quite decent in the wing back role.
They have adequate pace, they are skillful, and they are comfortable on the ball. Aina in fact is so comfortable on the ball, some fans think he should be a midfielder!
What they need to improve on is the quality of their deliveries into the box.
I like the idea of playing 3 center backs. 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 are good formations for this group of players.
Whatever formation Peseiro settles on, we must have a strong midfield. That’s non negotiable.
We supported Rohr because he gave us something to support. He got results, and met the targets he was given. If Peseiro does the same, he will definitely get the support of Nigeria fans. Mine included.
Thumbs up Brotherman Pompei. Please support Peseiro no matter the goalkeeper on show. We will no longer witness Kerewa Kerewa goalkeeping.
On a more serious note, the problems that plague Peseiro in 4-2-4 will be present in 3-4-3 which is thin midfield. Both formations from Peseiro’s perceptive only accommodate 2 midfielders. Yes, I too concur that 5-3-3 is the best formation for players at our disposal.
But, let’s be honest, Eguavoen used 4-2-4 to bulldoze our opponents in the group stages of the last Afcon. Only over-indulgence, poor decision making, tackling carelessness and poor finishing (and ill-luck) killed off the hapless Super Eagles in the round of 16 against a depleted Tunisia.
I am actually keen to see how Peseiro will interpret his own version of 4-2-4/4-4-2 in a tournament environment.
Even if he goes with his thin-midfield 3-4-3, the philosophy of quick turnaround and launching endless balls into the 18 yard box from all directions will remain the same.
I am actually keen to see how Peseiro will make the Super Eagles go on the front foot in a tournament environment.
Mark my words, if our players stay positionally disciplined, I think we are in for a huge fascinating suprise in this tournament. Love or hate Eguavoen, the Super Eagles played exciting football, in patches admittedly, at the last Afcon before they were found out.
Now we have another coach with Eguavoen’s approach but hopefully more refined. Again, buckle up, I think we are up for a surprise.
Mark my words!
If you’re right Deo, I will be the happiest person here.
We are long overdue for this trophy.
Talking about the midfield. The way I see it, when we’re defending in a 3-4-3 formation, the attacking wingers could tuck into the middle, and the wing backs can fall back into full back positions. So 3-4-3 switches to 5-4-1. Or the wing backs can remain where they are, resulting in a 3-6-1 formation.
An example of what this looks like:
Goalie
Awaziem, Ajayi, Bassey
Aina, Onyedika, Iwobi, Bruno
Iheanacho, Lookman
Osimhen
Bruno and Aina would drop back to form a back 5 when we’re under pressure, while Lookman and Iheanacho drop into the middle to help the 2 midfielders. Then when we have control of the ball, we revert to 3-4-3.
But hey, if Peseiro chooses to go the 4-4-2 route, I still wish him success. Let’s sha have a memorable tournament!
Now we know Peseiro has 3 formations
1) 4-4-2/4-2-4
2) 4-3-3
3) 3-4-3
My gut feeling is that he will start with 4-4-2 (like Eguavoen) and then change if things aren’t going quite well.
In recent games, the Super Eagles have struggled to adjust to a change of formation under Peseiro. In one of the games recently, they have looked so disjointed and embarrassingly incompetent when they switched formations. That is a huge worry for me.
I personally think 4-4-2/4-2-4 is their pièce de resistance. They have played this formation so many times under Peseiro that it is just about starting to jell. It is way too late to Jettison it at this time.
Failing that, 4-3-3 should come naturally to our players too. But knowing Peseiro, 4-3-3 might actually become 4-1-1-4 with one of the attacking midfielders pushing too far forward that he will be living under the nose of the actual centre forward.
A lot of these players want to make a return for afcon qualifiers. Should they give their all and help Peseiro exceed his targets, then their positions in the team will be secure come rain or sunshine. Anyone who notices how Peseiro has held on to Uzoho like a Paramour will appreciate how loyal he can be to players who bring him success. Success I say, Uzoho has brought Peseiro nothing but misery, yet he stuck with him. So, again, any player who plays their cards right will be rewarded.
The Super Eagles are dark horses going into this tournament and I love it. This was similar to how Nigeria fans expected catastrophe under Eguavoen in the last Afcon only for Nigeria to emerge as the only team out of 24 to successfully navigate their group stages undefeated, thereby winning over critics in the process.
But Eguavoen didn’t know how to manage success. Once you are found out, it was time to play your coaching cards very differently. Had he and his players being more shrewd and focused against Tunisia, then nothing would have stopped them from reaching the semi-finals. After all, in the 3 games that led to Eguavoen’s failure, he only lost one of them and drew 2 against Ghana. He had a solid platform with sadly a few missing screws. Those screws proved fatal against Tunisia and Ghana in Abuja. Holding Ghana to a draw in Kumasi is no easy feat and one that should be applauded. Again, just like the Afcon, Eguavoen failed in building on initial success.
Now we have Peseiro. I am monitoring development on a visceral level. Can Peseiro manufacture success, can he manage initial success and navigate efforts at thwarting his success?
I am truly fascinating to see how the Super Eagles and their loyal coach seek to upend low expectations of disgruntled fans.
The countdown is here.
There is nothing like 4-2-4 in football and 4-4-2 is outdated. Peseiro should first tell us where he ever used those formations to succeed. That man I will repeat is a road and no one should take him serious. I am already looking past Peseiro… it’s already the end of an era of confusion and haplessness on the soul of Nigeria football.
Lol….general overseer…
Come on Jimmy, there is 4-2-4 in football. The following coaches have used it to achieve success:
– Antonio Conte: Bari & Siena
– Mário Zagallo: Brazil
– Pep Guardiola : Barcelona
While the initial developments leading to the 4–2–4 were devised by Márton Bukovi, the credit for creating the 4–2–4 lies with two people: Flávio Costa, the Brazilian national coach in the early 1950s, as well as another Hungarian, Béla Guttman.
Interestingly, Antonio Conte later became an adamant exponent of 3-4-3, and achieved decent success with this formation while coaching clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham.
Also noteworthy is the fact that 3-4-3 has become something of a fad, especially in European football. It’s the “fashionable”, in vogue formation. Many elite managers have flirted with it, the only notable exception I can think of being Klopp, who simply will not budge from the 4-3-3 that has brought him great success at Liverpool.
Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen is currently on top of the Bundesliga, thanks to 3-4-3.
If used properly, you can hardly go wrong with this system.
I do agree that it’s a little late adopting a new system so close to the Afcon, but post Afcon, I think it could be a great system for us.
Jimmy,
Find below 4-2-4 in Barcelona :
https://youtu.be/itMZz1lH4d8?si=hbsvOwiGh188mgYw