How Lagerback Will Shape The Eagles

The Swede, Lars Lagerback, is now Super Eagles new coach. The former coach of Sweden's national team arrived Nigeria on Tuesday, after briefly returning home to tidy up domestic matters before resuming fully on his new job.
Mindful of the little time available to accomplish what many Nigerian football fans consider an impossible mission (to take Nigeria to the semi-final of the World Cup in South Africa), he has submitted his programme to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

With the Swede still keeping his strategy close to his chest, a look at his coaching philosophy may provide an inkling into the shape the Super Eagles is likely to take under his direction. Just before he was appointed Eagles coach, he granted an interview to Europe's football governing body, UEFA. The interview, reproduced on their website, reveals the working of the mind of the Swede. In the interview, he takes a look at the different departments of a team and the kind of players he prefers in those departments.

Now that he is ready to work, we try to take a look at the direction in which the man may be heading as helmsman of the Eagles, based on his philosophy and the players available.

Attack of the attack
He says: "A really good striker is always at the right place. In a way, that is the most important thing - if you have good techniques, and you have high balls coming at you and you can finish with your first touch. They have something to read the game, be on the right spot at the right time, but also you want very good technique, how they finish with whatever part of the body they are using.

" If you look at Ronaldo, who has scored the most goals in the World Cup, he can be out of the game for 5 to 10 minutes but suddenly, he is there and scoring. So, for the classical goal scorer, this is typical. If you play at the highest level today - I do not see many teams having this kind of players - the forward has to be involved in the game because the demands on every position are rising every day."

In the Eagles attack at the moment, we have Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins, Ikechukwu Uche, Michael Eneramo, Victor Anichebe and Joseph Akpala. This statement presupposes that he will defer to use the preferred playing formations of either 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-3-2-1. The number one(1) at the end of it is a lone striker who should be big, strong and reliable. That means Obafemi Martins and Ikechukwu Uche are out of that equation. Of the remaining three, only Yakubu Aiyegbeni has the experience to play that part perfectly and to some extent, his fellow Everton colleague, Victor Anichebe, who has the added attributes of youth and aggression.

It is almost a no-brainer that in whatever form, Yakubu will be in South Africa leading the line, unless he breaks a leg. He has scored the most goals for club and country and is the second leading foreign striker in the English Premiership, after Thierry Henry. His substitute may be Anichebe or Joseph Akpalla. There may not be a play maker in the mould of Austin Okocha, but there will probably be a shadow striker, and that role in the present Eagles' team is tailored for Osaze Odemwingie.

Lagerback continues:
"A target man must be able to receive the ball, shield and distribute but in the next phase of the game, he must also be able to score."
Yakubu has played as a lone striker for Everton on many occasions and his forte is probably bringing others into play. He can shoot with both legs and he is decent in the air.

Midfield
Lagerback prefers a lone holding midfielder who will act as an auxiliary defender. He says:
"You can compare this to the libero in times past, just like Franz Beckenbaeur. You must have extremely good running abilities. I will be pleased if he is not found wanting in the one-on-one defensive part of the game. He should be a good reader of the game and must have good passing technique. The first holding midfielder I saw in the modern game was Dunga - Brazil's captain to the 1994 World Cup. He was really a role model for that position, and he had good passing technique, was physically strong and could run - a very good all-round player."

The position Lagerback has in mind suits Sani Kaita to the bone. Mikel Obi will be the screen in midfield and will occasionally swap positions with Kaita. Either Etuhu or Ayila will also fit into the Kaita role. The U-23 star has also shown that he can pass the ball. But the important trait is that he can defend, but he should be more disciplined.

For a coach that is impressed with Dunga's playing style, Kaita will be in serious reckoning to play the screen for the defence. Kaita is a workaholic, who loves defending. So, expect this guy to be in the starting line-up.

Given Lagerback's thoughts on the role of a play maker, the Eagles may not play with a playmaker per se in South Africa but with a shadow striker, who has the attributes but more importantly, is expected to score his fair share of goals:
"If you talk about the playmaker, the typical No.10, I think they are disappearing more and more from the game. In today's game, I would rather call him a shadow striker, and he must definitely have offensive skills.

"Zinedine Zidane was the typical playmaker, but there is also Dirk Kuyt. They have the same characteristics. When you talk about the shadow striker, the only difference is that the shadow striker must also be able to score. It is not that important that the playmaker is a clinical goal scorer in the penalty area."
Osaze Odemwingie is about the only player that fits the shadow striker mode. He possesses guile, can shoot with both legs and is good running at defences. So, in the Locomotiv Moscow striker, we may have another certainty for the Eagles starting line-up.

Defence
The new Eagles coach likes his defenders to be tall. He says in the interview:
"For the centre half, it is important that he is tall, at least 185m, and he must be good in the air. That is a quality that I think is needed today. For me, the most important thing is that he can defend."

Where does that leave Onyekachi Apam and Obinna Nwaneri, compared to players like Danny Shittu and Joseph Yobo? Danny Shittu and Joseph Yobo are the tallest players in that department. Rabiu Afolabi of Red Bull Salzburg in Austria may come into serious reckoning now that Amodu Shuaibu has left the team.

Lagerback continues, regarding the centre half:
"He can move the ball well, attack well and win one-on-one situation. I want them to be tough, if I can use that word, but if they want to play at the highest level, he must have a good passing technique and a good understanding of how to start the attack. But my priority is that he must be a good defender."
Going by this comment, one of the toughest defenders in the current Eagles team is Danny Shittu. He is also always 100 per cent committed to the national cause.
Lagerback believes that for the team to be really solid at the back, there has to be proper co-ordination in the midfield and defence:
"In the midfield and in the back four, it is important that you have good leadership because they can see much more. So, if you have good leadership from those playing the central defence, I think that is very good. They can also talk a little bit more from that position. Talking of centre backs, they have all the players in front of them so perhaps, they have the best overview of how the team is working."
The combination will likely be Yobo, who will also captain the side, and Shittu. The only place where they need to work on is communication and concentration. If Lagerback is able to instil that discipline he is noted for on the defence line, the Eagles may stop letting in cheeky goals.
For the goal keepers, just like former German handler, Berti Vogts, Lagerback's preference is for big guys to man the goal posts. Austin Ejide stands in good stead in this regard. But in terms of agility, concentration and ability in one-on-one situation, Vincent Enyeama should be first choice in South Africa. The Swede says of this department:
"The length of the goal keeper is very important with the number of crosses that are coming in. The goalkeeper ideally should be tall. Understanding and reading the game are also vital. As the games are now faster, he cannot handle back-passes. You must also be very quick to react in today's game (agility). You need a keeper that is an athlete and he must be brave of course, because there are a lot of situations where you have to dive at somebody's feet and all. I also think they must have a special quality in concentration."
Lagerback seems to have a clear idea of what he wants. Whether he achieves the semi-final target the NFF has set remains to be seen. He knows quite clearly that he faces a daunting task, but he seems primed to give it a good shot. At his unveiling two weeks ago he had said:
"I think it is quite possible for Nigeria to reach the semi-finals in South Africa. I think every coach, every country going into a competition, always have their aim on winning it."

Well said, but for $1.5 million, anybody can say such. He went further to qualify why he said the above.

"You have good individual skills in Nigeria, so if we can get that together with the players, I think we have a fairly good chance to go far in the World Cup."
All the players have been told that there are no automatic shirts.

"You have to prove yourself but like they say in football, let the feet do the talking. I have always been impressed by the Super Eagles and Nigerian football."
His optimism aside, the truth may be that for most Nigerian football fans, he will truly be judged, not on his ability to meet this semi-final benchmark, but on whether he is able to restore confidence in our football.
Courtesy: Next.com