One of Stephen Keshi's last acts as Super Eagles boss was to give the Reading man his debut; just how important can the midfielder be for the national side?
Stephen Keshi may be long gone but he will go down in history as the man who gave Reading midfielder Hope Akpan his international debut. And perhaps it could turn out to be the most precious parting gift to solve Nigeria’s midfield problem he painstakingly tried to fix following the withering away of Sunday Mba.
Since the Africa Cup of Nations triumph last year in South Africa, until his last game in charge against Sudan in Abuja, it had been a long, tiring and quite futile exercise to find the midfield ‘third man’.
The likes of Ramon Azeez, Joel Obi, Reuben Gabriel, and even Nosa Igiebor, at different periods were brought in to complement the double pivot of John Obi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi but it didn’t quite work out.
However, the 52-year-old perhaps struck gold with his surprisingly radical approach in his final game as Nigeria head coach. Indeed, the desperate move was employed in order to fix a desperate situation, and it worked.
To the relief of many, the former Mali handler rang changes to the team that succumbed 1-0 to the Falcons of Jediane in Khartoum, both considering personnel and tactics. Off went the predictable Efe Ambrose from the right-back position (where he is, of course, not a natural) and in his stead came a more bewildering option, Onazi.
That singular move proved two things: a) Keshi knew he had options all along but refused (or was afraid) to try new things. b) Certain players have become too comfortable as regular starters and therefore may have become complacent.
Axing Ambrose from the side was one of the four changes to personnel made by Keshi. Juwon Oshaniwa came in for Elderson Echiejile at left-back, Raheem Lawal for Nosa Igiebor in midfield and Aaron Samuel for Gbolahan Salami on the flanks.
Onazi’s reassignment to full-back position created a vacancy at the base of the midfield but Super Eagles’ fans didn’t seem to miss the hustle and bustle of the Lazio man in the middle of the park, thanks to the impressive performance of his replacement: Hope Akpan.
The 23-year-old stands at 6’0’’ (1.83m) and weighs 179Ibs (81kg). To put it in layman’s term: physically, he can provide some muscle for ground battles as well as towering height for aerial duels, which offers firm protection for the back-four.
On the other hand, since technical acumen may not necessarily require such imposing figure, one can say he is not entirely inept when it comes to reading the game intelligently, as evidenced in his positioning and astute distribution of the ball.
Tactical analysis provided by Goal’s Solace Chukwu reveals that: “In the first half against Sudan, Akpan struggled to impose himself on the game somewhat, and tended to play in a more advanced role than he is used to. The Reading man can cover ground, but ideally likes to do so from a deeper position. Receiving the ball on the turn is not one of his strengths. However, in the second-half when Keshi perhaps realized he might have played him out of position in the first 45, he immediately looked much better sitting deeper in front of the back-four alongside the impressive Lawal.
"It is notable that Sudan found it a lot harder to transition from defence to attack; where there had been space to hit behind the full backs quickly in the opening period, Akpan and Lawal were quick to cover and cut out passes into the channel in the second."
The Super Eagles saw out the second-half with little trouble, and only conceded from a quickly taken set-piece, which caught the back-four taking a collective nap.
Yet, the full range of his abilities is yet to be glimpsed. He is a much better passer than the Sudan game indicated, and he covers ground with great efficiency. Given a run in the team, he very much has the capacity to dominate the midfield, and perhaps finally offer the foil that will enable a player like John Obi Mikel do his best work in offensive areas.”
Could the ultimate search for the midfield ‘third man’ then be over?
Despite the uncommon and somewhat awkward appearance of Onazi at right-back for the Sudan clash, “few things are surer than the presence of Mikel and Onazi in the heart of Nigeria’s midfield,” as Goal’s Ed Dove put it.
During Keshi’s reign, not until the last game, those two were inseparable.
However, with the impressive debut of Akpan at the base of midfield, which allowed Mikel to patrol forward and unleash some of his creative juices, epitomized by his succulent assist for Ahmed Musa’s first goal, are we likely to see the lovebirds separated by Shaibu Amodu to make room for the Reading man?
Or, could all three players work together in the middle of the park to forge a synergetic midfield three?
No comments:
Post a Comment