Golden Eaglets head coach Fatai Amoo says the team mapped out and executed a plan of stopping Burkina Faso in Friday’s semi-final win against Burkina Faso at the WAFU B tournament in Togo, Completesports.com reports.
Michael Emmanuel Papo netted the winning goal for the defending champions 13 minutes from time.
The young Stallions were favourites going into the game, but Amoo disclosed that his side clipped the wings of their opponent who rely more on their wingers to get goals.
Burkina Faso beat Benin Republic 5-1 in their first game, while they were held to a 0-0 draw by Niger in the second.
“We studied their games against Benin and Niger and we knew they attacked from the wings,” Amoo revealed after the match.
Read Also: WAFU B Tourney: Golden Eaglets Pip Burkina Faso 1-0; Secure Final Ticket
“They made good crosses with good players who can head the ball very well.
“We had to work on our defence to keep them away from our goal.
“We also motivated our boys, telling them they are improving.”
The Eaglets will face Cote d’l voire in the final of the competition on Monday at the Stade De Kegue, Lome.
22 Comments
Amoo is far better than Gernot Rohr. Rohr is Belmadi’s boy.
I congratulate them for reaching the final . It’s not yet a hurray chant yet for they’ve got to win ivory coast to be champs. This is a step towards the main competition which I hope they’ll do well also .
This is what we ‘ve been talking about. Coach ability to read the opponents and strategize against the opponents to win. Super Eagle coach still lack this despite his four years of coaching the team.
Well done guys and u17 coaching team.
What a shame, that is how low our football have been redu ced to. Our U17 coach boasting about how his team wobbled and fumbled to beat a Burkina Faso team. And you journalist are not helping matters, Highly rated team hmmn. Na wa o.
@Godsate, you are absolutely right bro. This is what I have been saying but they keep blaming our players for nothing.
Super Eagles coaches can’t read game. They always relying on our players to get the job done for them.
This is why Super Eagles struggled to win important matches because the gaffers relying too much on our wingers but if they clips down our wingers, there’s no other options.
If you noticed, Eagles can’t beat organized teams both in Africa and beyond.
“We studied their games against Benin and Niger and we knew they attacked from the wings,” Amoo revealed after the match.
They made good crosses with good players who can head the ball very well”.
This is what I call a world class coach. It doesn’t matter if he wins the tournament or not but he did his homework too well and it works for the team in the end. Kudos to coach Amoo.
What the foreign coach failed to do, a local coach that NFF treated badly did the job very greatly.
I’m so proud of coach Amoo. Good observation @Godsate.
Our local coaches deserves some respect from we fans and NFF. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
@Omo9ja, Now I have no iota of doubt that you’re an unrepentant moron
@Omo9ja, I have no iota of doubt now that you’re a confirmed MORON
Na today u know?????? Lol…… Moron na under statement sef…
Shameless coach see lazy man that qualify with 1 o point is making noise u suppose to be busy preparing ur team, continue taking until CIV meet you,
Dear Dr Banks,
Without meaning to sound contentious, I think there is a method to Omo9ja’s mutterings at times even if one uses a powerful enough magnifying glass.
Coach Gernot Rohr has been issued with the scornful sobriquet “Belmadi’s boy” by a herd of Super Eagles fans recently with Omo9ja’s contribution giving us a glimpse as to why.
Let me say that I don’t endorse that nickname for Gernot Rohr (I think it is rather rude), however I just want to use it as a basis for trying to explain his methods.
When preparing for games, coaches could employ one of these 2: Strategy or Stratagem.
In Algeria’s well orchestrated and finely implemented back to back wins against Nigeria, Gaffer Djamel Belmadi said: “We planned to starve Chukwueze of space because we noticed he is very direct.
We exploited their defenders’ lack of pace and we got our strikers and Sofiane Feghouli to press them as often as possible. I think we were able to execute the plan well.”
That, Dr Banks, is classic stratagem.
Google defines stratagem as ‘ a plan or scheme, especially one used to outwit an opponent or achieve an end.’
Please notice the emphasis on ‘outwitting an opponent’. Clearly, Belmadi has outwitted Rohr twice leading to the derogatory sobriquet ‘Belmadi’s Boy’ from a cult of Super Eagles fans who have long questioned Rohr’s technical nous.
When going into matches and in post-match press conferences, Rohr seems to always makes
emphasis on what the Super Eagles are going to do and (after the match), what they could have done better.
This, Dr Banks, is strategy.
According to Google, strategy is ‘a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.’
This is good, but does it go far enough?
I think Stratagem (Belmadi’s approach) which places a lot of emphasis on neutralising your opponent’s dangermen, concretely cladded into his team’s overall approach makes for a more potentially successful enterprise.
Little wonder he has drawn 6 pints of painful points from Rohr’s veins across 2 games (in which Nigeria’s core strengths were neutralised and weaknesses exploited).
For me, I was reassured when I read how coach Amoo took his time to formulate a winning approach based on understanding the nature of the opposition before his team and then neutralising their threats before putting them to the sword.
Nigeria Under-17s were underdogs against Burkina Faso but they upset the apple-cart by understanding their opponents and strangling their attacks from its adam apple.
For me, stratagem thrumps strategy hands down!
Thanks @Deo. Once again, you nailed. I don’t belong to any camp here, except the Camp Truth (if I should say so). You have to look at the merits in every argument, sift out the wheat and blow away the chaff.
I like Rohr, but I will never adopt a blind, wholesale support stance with him and ignore his clear gaffes. On the other hand, I will also not permanently crucify him, and turn a blind eye to his little victories and other plusses.
Fact is that Rohr has been twice outwitted by Belmadi and that’s quite unfortunate. The Algerian gaffer explained his stratagem (as Deo laid out above) and it worked quite well.
I also remember Keshi explaining in his post-match comments after Nigeria beat Mali 4-1 in the semi-final at Afcon 2013 how he exploited the Malian’s lack of pace and took a different approach to the game and it worked.
In fact, the Malian goalkeeper on the day testified how the Nigerians were all over the place like Brazilians and he felt overwhelmed even before he could settle down into the game. Keshi would later go on to blast African FAs of often employing white ‘carpenters’ as coaches when sometimes there are better, more technically qualified indigenous coaches on the continent. Just sad, Keshi got distracted and started making questionable invites post-2013.
Problem I observe with Rohr (personal view) is that he focusses too much on his own team and what they can do. Does he even study the opponents and adopt a different approach? Or he has this laidback philosophy of believing his tactics and strategy will always work with any team and any game?
He has good man-management no doubt (compared to Oliseh, Siasia and Keshi – who were disasters in those areas), but I think he tends to be rigid with his coaching style, tactics and formation. Some people are quick to flaunt records, but hey, are we moving forward now or backwards? Remember the SE has not won a single match in eons now.
@deo, Or it could just be that Rohr has no desire to reveal his game plans from match to match. In other words he’s holding his cards close to his heart. In the four years he’s been coach i think its clear for everyone to see that his way of doing things is more on the conservative side. He doesnt reveal much pre-game, shows respect to the opponent no matter their ranking, doesn’t do much during games (to a lot of consternation), and doesn’t reveal much about what the game plan was rather focusing on talking about how well we did or could have done. That’s just his style but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a strategy that put in place for our boys to execute specific to the opponent.
Logical thinking dictates that a coach at this level has a “strategem” for every opponent they face even if it is sticking to your tried and tested formation or players. It will not always work! No one was questioning it when we beat Algeria enroute to the world cup. They have had our number the past couple of times but these things go in cycles when heavy weights match up. Losing to Algeria is no huge shame as their player quality and recent results stand up to any team around the world as it stands
Like you, this is just my opinion as I have no inside knowledge of the workings of the super eagles when they camp
@Deo
In as much I can relate to where you are looking at things from; I have to point out some holes..
1. A stratagem could always be the ploy towards a well defined strategy.
Stratagem fix you today.
The strategy spells out the end goal.
Both are a necessity.
You can’t separate either. Unless you want to keep going around in circles.
A stratagem can always be strategic. It’s all relative and contextual.
2. Rohr, not emphatically stating his stratagem post match doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t have one, it might mean, his was bested by the victor in Belmadi, so he keeps it to his chest. Every coach isn’t eloquent in expressing their tactics for the game.
As stated by you, he categorically states his strategy , and as stated above , strategem could always be part of the wider strategy.
3. Amoo is not Rohr.vice versa. These are two different jobs in two different levels.so there’s no basis for comparison and even in context, it’s overdrawn.
4. Nigeria in any stage can’t be an underdog to Burkina faso ( all due respect to Burkinabes.) The very fact we are in this tournament shows are poor of a team and the managers are.
Finally, I would agree with you that every coach should always have a plan within a plan, matches should be planned according to who one is facing and such “strategy” in that very match should be fixed accordingly. So I am always one for strategem. But there should always be a strategy. That defines your purpose and your goals, more so how to get there.
That said, good read as always.
Dr.Deo (you deserve a PHD with this writeup, my friend),
I got a new perspective on this subject today – the difference between strategy and stratagem. I always thought stratagem was a subset of strategy. Thanks!
Agreed, Rohr needs to improve and be more proactive/reactive strategy wise.
However, I don’t agree that Rohr is poor in this area, a position the regressives continue to stress. And my position is based on concrete, observable evidence.
All I need do is point to some past results. 1-1 draw against a loaded, dangerous Brazil. 4-2 win against a full squad Argentina with only Messi missing. 3-1 win against Algeria. 4-0 demolition of Cameroun. How can we say Rohr is poor at match reading with these kind of results?
Results like this don’t just fall from the sky into your lap. They don’t just happen. And the regressives telling us he was lucky won’t work. If it was just one or two results, we can put it down to luck. But all these results suggest the presence of a competent mind at the helm.
The regressives love to focus on games that did not end well, their favourite used to be the defeat to Madagascar. Now, the miracle of Benin is the new favrourite. They conveniently ignore these and many other impressive results by the same Rohr!
Amoo has done well with this win over Burkina Faso. But attempting to compare, or equate him to Rohr based on this win, is not sound reasoning.
@kel I understand your concerns which is quite normal at this stage. Obviously, the covid impact affected our preparations in 2020 hence leading to 3 draws and 1 defeat in 4 matches. By SuperEagles standard it is not acceptable. We won our last match in November 2019, didn’t win any in 2020. Now this is 2021 and our next matches are coming up in March which I’m absolutely certain that our boys will definitely qualify for AFCON with games to spare for a third successive major tournament. That’s a fact.
I’m glad you did mention that Keshi eventually got distracted and started making questionable calls after reaching the pinnacle in the beginning. I will agree with you that Rohr definitely needs to be more flexible in his game plans going forward. The issue is when you only have two training sessions before an important qualifier and been distracted by the powers that be then the blame goes across everyone involved including the players. I think being flexible in his future approach to games is all that’s needed from this coaching crew.
In terms of going backward I will disagree with you on that one. Flaunting records are facts that can never be ignored. Considering where we’re at in 2014 after the WorldCup in Brazil and where we were when he took over the team in August 2016, SuperEagles have made significant progress. The fact that the SuperEagles cracked the top 30 ranked teams in the world for the first time in almost a decade is not going backward. Though the results in 2020 were concerning, but hey this is 2021 and I’m absolutely certain that if this SuperEagles should meet Algeria now it will be a different ball game. I’m glad most of our hopefuls are beginning to show some consistency. Although compared to Algeria, Senegal or Ivory Coast who currently boasts of top players in big European clubs. Our key players are thriving in the top five leagues in Europe after years of depending on players from Obscure leagues.
Hi Mr Hush,
Thank you for your contribution, one which I read with much interest as it got me thinking about 3 concepts: Plan, Strategy, Stratagem.
Can each, as a standalone concept, give rise to a successful enterprise or are they inextricably linked?
This question leads me to only one conclusion: EMPHASIS.
For Belmadi to have recorded impressive back-to-back wins against Nigeria, he would have sat with his management team to PLAN ahead of the encounter.
It is then conceivable to imagine that they formulated a STRATEGY of how his team would set up, what formation they would adopt and how aggressive, offensive or defensive that they would be.
Woven within this strategy but as a separate agenda would be STRATAGEM. How, who and when to clip the Super Eagles wings and how to render Rohr’s overall approach impotent (an unambiguous focus on the opposition rather than on your own approach).
Now, with these 3 happening, what is the emphasis?
I go back to my letter above to Dr Banks which is, I think that Belmadi places more emphasis on stratagem which is why it is no fluke that he twice wiped the floor with Rohr.
Plans, Strategy and Stratagem do not exist in vacumes: they go hand in hand. But are you saying that each receive equal attention?
In the context of the current Under 17 Wafu Cup of Nations, I reiterate that Nigeria were underdogs going into the encounter against Burkina Faso. This is predicated on the irrefutable fact that we were dead and buried had Ivory Coast not done us a huge favour by defeating Ghana in the group stages of the competition.
We were all but eliminated.
Burkina Faso on their part cruised through their group stage encounters making them stronger favourites against Nigeria (admittedly, Nigeria has more pedigree in football compared with Burkina Faso).
There has to be emphasis, however little and I think Belmadi’s obsession with outwitting Rohr added more steel and potency to his overall package of approach leading to the victories against Nigeria, twice!
@Deo
Thanks for the response.
I must say, I do understand you were rather “emphasising” rather than “generalising” in your earlier write up.
I am glad you brought up the three norms,Plan, Strategy and stratagem; which ties in to my earlier explanation, that they are all necessary, it would be inconceivable to separate one from the other.
The point to have a stratagem at the first place is to keep your strategy in place to achieve your plan. Hence my earlier statement that,it is all “relative and contextual..”
Plans. Strategy and stratagem are all necessary. You can’t do without any.
You face every team as they come and plan your tactics accordingly,that is stratagem.
But your eyes must be on the end goal and how to achieve it. That is where you need to be strategic. That’s all strategy.
You need a strategy to achieve your plans. But you need stratagem to keep the momentum going and making that strategy come to fruition.
I just felt like Belmadi’s stratagem has always been better than that of Rohr, results says so. But I wouldn’t be too far stretched that Rohr doesn’t necessarily have one. It is just that his stratagem was outshined by Belmadi, twice!. Rohr is not necessarily known for his tactical acumen.
I would agree ,in context (in relation to this tournament) that Nigeria was an underdog to Burkina faso based on results from the group stage. But the question arises; Why were we in that position? How did we get to be underdog to Burkina faso? A nation in football context , we have always been better than! The same U17 level that we have ran the show in the world.
My answer would be that we got to be underdog due to the fact that Amoo and his team aren’t good enough; hence he shouldn’t be put in the pedestrian that most are making him to be with all the praises for qualifying luckily and winning a game playing dismally. If they were that good we wouldn’t be needing Ivory coast or even caring how many matches Burkina faso won cause we simply have to be better.
I hope this helps clarify my perspective..
@deo, great analysis and write up you gave above, doff my hat bro.
I quite agree with you succinct analysis, however my point is that no one in his right sense will compare Rohr performance to Amoo’s performance so far. We are talking of an ordinary U17 WAFU B Qualifier here where we usually dominate at the WC level effortlessly. All African U17 teams fears meeting up with Nigeria, had we gone really so bad in just 2 years that we now celebrate 1 loss, 1 draw and 1 win in a preliminary qualifying game? If you watch that match against BF, you will agree with me that we wobbled and fumbled to win that match due to profligacy on the part of the Burkinababes. BF were favourites simply due to a 5:1 demolition of the group wipping boys, they were toothless in their game against Niger before coming against Nigeria. Are we saying that beating a team that couldn’t beat ordinary Niger is a big achievement?
Rohr on the other hand has never struggled in any Qualifying series at a much higher level but always Qualify with games to spare, so how can Omo9ja claim that Rohr needs to learn from Amoo???
Agreed that Rohr has his limitations just like everyone including me and you but the overall performance record is highly encouraging and we simply need to rally round and criticise constructively so we can all achieve our aim of been the best in Africa and a force to be reckoned with in the World stages
Once again, kudos to all your contributions and analyses @ deo; @Mr Hush; my guy @Dr Drey; @Ayphillydegreat; @Oakfield; @Kel; @Ubah and other progressives too many to mention. Not forgetting Omo9ja too for his amusements
Gentlemen(& ladies if we have any on this thread), I greet you all.
I must confess, this is arguably the best thread I have read so far ever since I started following CSN online about two years ago.
Deos, Hush, Pompei, Dr Banks, Aphyli d great (kindly pardon my spelling), Dr Drey et al, you guys are just too much. This is what I have always clamored for on this forum. Sound, unbiased and technical analysis of sports issues that makes interesting read and most importantly devoid of insults.
Regardless of the fact that someone stained the thread by insulting @Omonaija, I so much enjoyed the arguements and matured counter arguments. I learnt so much from the posts and there’s really nothing to add.
Please let’s keep the fire burning, let’s shun those that only come here to insult and throw jibes so that we will keep enjoying ourselves in this manner.
God bless.
Thanks @OmoEsan, I do apologize unreservedly to @Omo9ja for calling him names, please forgive me, very much unlike me.
You’re very much welcome Dr Banks.
One love.
greetings to @OmoEsan and @ Dr Banks
Totally concur with both your write ups.