Rohr depends solely on Eagles’ talent with no technical input, Adelabu declares

As Nigerians continue to lament the abysmal performance of the Super Eagles in the two fixtures of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone, former international, Adegoke Adelabu, has put the blame at the doorstep of Coach Gernot Rohr.

Against all expectations, the Eagles squandered a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 in Benin City, last Friday, while the return leg ended 0-0 in Freetown.

Although Nigeria still top the group with eight points, one ahead of Benin Republic, Adelabu stated that Rohr’s tactics in the two matches were faulty.

“What I observed about the game is that Rohr depended on the ability of the players rather than strategy and tactical intelligence,” Adelabu told The Guardian, yesterday. “The goals scored and the equaliser in the first game showed that the two teams are same of same.

Adelabu, a sports scientist continues, “The good thing is that Nigeria has players that can convert any defensive error or sloppiness to goals and this has blindfolded Coach Rohr from technically arranging the team in such a way that they can complement one another technically.”

According to the former IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan player, it might be difficult for the Eagles to achieve good results under Rohr.

He stated: “Our boys scored four cheap goals and the opponent equalised in the same way in Benin. The return leg proved that our coach did not have any clue to the lack of tactical intelligence in the whole team. What our opponent simply did was to prevent our key players from having the freedom to do what they like with the ball.

“It is difficult to predict the performance of the Eagles in future games, because if their opponents allow them to play, Eagles will score, but they may not be able to defend the goals. It is easy to defend what you planned for rather than what just came by chance, which was the case with the matches.”

He added: “There was no consistency in the style of play of the Eagles. No organised playing pattern that can give any team sleepless night. It is difficult to systematically follow Eagles’ play during any game; I mean to think along with them during play.

“Within the limit of my own football intelligence, the best Rohr can do is to just field our deadly strikers, because there is no philosophy behind his games. I don’t know when he wants to start applying one now.”