Is it time to find an ‘Oyinbo’ coach for Nigeria's youth teams?

Sports Verdict    By Prof Patrick Omo-Osagie      Follow on Twitter 

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This is an undisputable football fact; Nigeria has the best youth programme in the world of football. We have won four FIFA U16/17 tournaments and we have placed second (twice) and third in the U20. So why are we finding it difficult to field a competitive Super Eagles team when we have such good competitive teams at the youth levels?

The answer by many football analysts is that these youth players flame out by the time they are ready for the Super Eagles because they were not of the proper age when they played in FIFA youth tournaments.

Another well used reason is that we do not have a continuity programme; many feel that the teams should be ‘shepherded’ along from U17 to U20 to U23 till Super Eagles for us to see results. 

I cannot fault these reasons but I will ask this question; why do many of these same players who play for us at this level never really become good players even when they go play for clubs in Europe? They never become that great player we saw at seventeen; but I do have an interesting reason or in new sports language, I have a take on this issue.

Every time we have won the U17, there are always great expectations that we would win the U20 in the next go around, but this is yet to happen. The three previous U17 wins were followed by U20 teams that did not even finish in the last four. Maybe that is where the continuity argument holds, but not so for me.

I believe the problem is our lack of good coaching at this level; this is the level where all basic football knowledge is acquired. The use of sophisticated methods, drills and management are applied at this level and the results following our U17 success says that the teams are tactically unprepared and therefore out-played. The advantage we gain by using players over 17 in the U17s is nullified at the U20s, because boys of age 19/20 or men of 23/25 are physically the same, they are all in their physical prime.

We won the last U17 in 2013, we are playing in the U20 later this month, we are all very hopeful about this U20 team. Many are dreaming of the cup coming back to Nigeria, and I hope it does come to Nigeria. But if we fail as our records have shown, then I will be advocating for a foreign coach at this level and not at the Super Eagles level. This is where I believe we need help, real modern day football expertise, our players need this. They need it for their own football development and for a better Super Eagles. 

There is a reason the present football federation is seeking Nigerians born and footballers bred outside our shores for the Super Eagles, there is a reason that the federation instituted a committee to find our young players at home and send them to foreign academies, the reason is that we don’t breed our young players the right or modern way. Our coaches are behind in the grooming of young players. We all witnessed the federation’s absurd suggestion to Keshi and his crew to go and get some coaching education and see how quickly it was rejected or ignored. The simple truth is that our coaches need sound and modern education in the field of player development and the U17 and U20 teams will be better served for now with an Oyinbocoach. 

An Oyinbo coach at this level for us should be young, vibrant, full of ideas and cheap. He must come with an academy background from Europe and must have the ability to retain access to his academy so he/we can tap into their complete package of modern day football resources.