Super Eagles Formation: What Is Jose Peseiro’s Best Lineup?

Super Eagles Formation: What Is Jose Peseiro’s Best Lineup?
Osimhen leads the line in attack

Since making his coaching debut for the Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro’s credentials have been questioned. More specifically, many have wondered what the Super Eagles formation is under the Portuguese manager.

Nigeria football news outlets have asked a variety of questions about him ranging from how reputable he was before taking on the Super Eagles job, to whether he is the man to take the Nigerian national football team forward. 

What is his record for the Nigeria Super Eagles?

Jose Peseiro has managed a total of nine games, with five of those being competitive games. In that time, the Super Eagles have won three games and lost six matches. In that time, Nigeria have scored 15 goals and conceded 13. In retrospect, 10 of those 15 goals came in Nigeria’s resounding win over Sao Tome and Principe.

In competitive games, which include one African Nations Championship game against Ghana and four AFCON 2023 qualifiers fixtures, his side won three games and lost once. 

If you put a positive spin on things, you could say that the Super Eagles victories have come in matches that matter but their friendly losses have come against teams like Mexico, Portugal and Algeria. These are teams that the Nigeria national football team will expect to go toe to toe with, but they were not good enough. 

One of the major criticisms that has been levied against him is whether or not he knows what his best formation is. The Super Eagles squad is blessed with top caliber talents, but the biggest issue has been finding the balance and fitting the best players in the right formation.

With AFCON 2023 edging closer and closer, we look at what the best formation for the Super Eagles should be. We will be using the last squad that was called up for the last AFCON 2023 qualifiers fixtures. 

Super Eagles Formation: Nigeria’s Best Lineup

We believe that with the players that are available, the Super Eagles should deploy a 4-3-3

Goalkeeper

Among the three goalkeepers in in the team at the moment, Francis Uzoho is the most trusted by the manager and will keep his place on our ideal formation.

Back four 

Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi Calvin Bassey, Zaidu Sanusi

This is our preferred defence for the Super Eagles and it is one that does not include William Troost-Ekong. This is because as good as Ekong has been for the national team, his lack of ball playing ability hinders the team in buildup.

On the contrary, a center bac pairing of Bassey and Ajayi will include two players who are superior on the ball and will help the team’s buildup play and ability to recycle possession when necessary.

Midfield 

Frank Onyeka, Wilfred Ndidi,  Alex Iwobi 

One of the biggest issues with the Super Eagles team is the midfield. The midfield is often overrun and teams are able to bypass that position easily. The best way to protect that position is to play a midfield three of a defensive midfielder and two number 8s.

With Wilfred Ndidi behind them, Frank Onyeka can provide energy and strong tackling in higher positions upfield while Alex Iwobi will be able to support the attack with his passing ability as well as defensive anticipation.

Attack 

Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman

In the attack, we have gone with the more straightforward picks. We believe that these three are the best players in their positions on the team currently and we think that they need more games together to form a strong relationship and take the national team forward.

 

This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago

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