On June 26 2005, I wrote at http://forum.cybereagles.com/viewtopic.php?t=39527&highlight= as follows:
(Quote )
Today, I watched the Flying Eagles for the 3rd time in their U-20 experience. Having already attempted without much success to watch --and implicit in my use of this word, is comprehension-- the DVD of their march to the AYC title in Benin Republic, I had very little in the way of a coherent concept of their style and approach to the game. Remarkably, I eventually managed to understand parts of their game while in a drunken haze occasioned by a few drops of Grey Goose. My earlier failure wasn't for want of trying, but because of the atrocious cameramanship of the Benin Republic TV weenies. Perhaps the whole lot of them were drunk on the job. Consistent with the theory that "it takes one to know one", the average punter had to be drunk in order to make head or tail of the Benin Republic guys' camerawork.
In the run-up to the WYC, we witnessed and commented on Samson Siasia's spats with the football house. The N7 million Bayelsa donation was a case in point. The bungled preparation, the 3-month plan that went down the drain, Siasia endured those things. He spoke his mind, took actions which portrayed him as an individual of ramrod character who brooked no nonsense from any quarter whatsoever --least of all any nonsense which interfered with his intentions or ambitions.
As a player, Siasia was noted by one of the reporters in The Guardian stable as a hothead who could lose his temper and lash out at anyone. Age may have mellowed that trait, but, as the NFA must have noted, his ability to lash out is still very much evident. This combination of ramrod character and high ambition means he is, and ever will be, the undisputed lord of all he surveys. His players, no matter how big they are or may become, will cross him at their own peril.
From the games I've watched so far, Samson Siasia is coming across as a coach of emphatic tactical nous. He appears endowed with a clear strategic vision. This vision provided the framework for the team he wanted to build. He had a vision of how the game should be played, and appears to have worked assidously towards actualizing that:
1. a fast, solid, athletic backline covered by, supported by, supporting and linked to
2. an inventive, combative, fast and mobile midfield supplying, supporting and being supplied and supported by
3. an offense brimming with explosive power.
Whether this Flying Eagles side is similar in style to the touchstone 1994 WC team is a separate point deserving examination all on its own. Clearly, this side are a TEAM. They are well-drilled. They know where each one belongs on the field, and play with the discipline such awareness necessarily imposes. They play with unity of purpose. They eschew dilly-dallying and showboating. This TEAM exudes synergy, a belief that it is greater than the sum of its parts. The side which Siasia's Flying Eagles team reminds me the most of is the late Bob Paisley's rampant Liverpool --slick, composed, purposeful.
I laughed when I read Pa Festus Onigbinde and Kashimawo Laloko's criticism of Siasia after our reverse to South Korea. They pointed to Siasia's "inexperience" and the substitution mistakes he made. The point can be made that, "inexperience" or not, Korea could well have been satisfied with a draw. Their winner was the ultimate outcome of 2 defensive mistakes: first, in allowing the forward to receive the ball, turn, and shoot. It is a basic tenet of central defensive technique that defenders do not allow strikers receiving the ball with their backs to goal to turn. Yet this happened. Mistake number 1. Mistake number 2 occurred when Kennedy Chinwo, who should have been running back to clean up spills, stopped to admire Vanzekin's agile parry instead, leaving an unchallenged striker to bury the winner.
True to his words that ".. we pride ourselves in not making the same mistake twice...", Nigeria have not made those mistakes since.
Both Laloko and Pa Festus, if motivated by sincere considerations in their criticism of Siasia's substitutions, would have taken on board Sir Alf Ramsey's substitution of Bobby Charlton for Norman Hunter with England 2-0 up at the 1970 World Cup finals -- a mistake which enabled West Germany to take the quarter-final game 3-2. Closer to home, Clemens Westerhof's substitution of JJ Okocha for Nduka Ugbade against Zambia nearly undid our title aspirations at Tunisia '94. These examples amply demonstrate that "inexperience" alone doesn't wash. You can claim that those substitutions were ill-considered tactical moves which backfired. Again, true to his word, Siasia has not repeated this mistake.
If this man continues learning from his mistakes and NOT repeating them, continues studying the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents and neutralizing and capitalizing on them, the sky can be the limit. Not only has Samson Siasia set new standards of expectation in terms of the way a side drilled by a Nigerian coach must play: he will, in addition, be setting a new standard of expectation in the Nigerian coaching echelons.
All things being equal -- Siasia continuing his upward progression-- I think we can entertain some optimism about our footballing future, particularly in regards to the coaching side. (Unquote)
Now the Beijing Olympics approach. Siasia has already taken an experimental team to win a tournament in Malaysia, emerging with a declaration that approximately 8 of that squad would make the final Olympic squad. I continue to be confident in my expectation that the angle of Siasia's upward trajectory as an accomplished coach, will only become steeper. I think the Olympics will provide a fresh look at Nigerian football and underline its future potential.
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