Obuh advises Rohr to stop experiments

Gernot Rohr1

Former national U-17 team coach, John Obuh has advised Super Eagles’ manager, Gernot Rohr to testing new players and concentrate on the players he will take to the Russia 2018 World Cup, which is less than 80 days away.

Speaking in the wake of the Super Eagles 0-2 spanking by Serbia in an international friendly on Tuesday in London, Obuh said the Eagles were disjointed because the coaches did not deploy the main players to the game.

He advised Rohr to focus on blending the team and trying out different formations, positing that the injection of the new players to the Eagles should have been done gradually before now. 

He urged the Super Eagles manager not to allow the Serbia defeat affect his team’s morale in the build up to the World Cup, adding that the defeat should help the coaches and players correct the lapses in the team. 

“I think it is too early to start passing negative comments on the Eagles now. My position is that Rohr should stop spending time testing players.

He should learn from other big teams like Germany, Spain who are already working with their main team to produce better-organised squads before the World Cup.

“In the game against Serbia, the Eagles were outplayed because the coach was still testing. The tactically disciplined Eagles we saw in the World Cup qualifiers were different from the ones that played the friendly.

Rohr would have used the main team in the first half and injected one or two new players in the second half to blend with the team,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Super Eagles’ Captain, John Obi Mikel has sent a message of encouragement to the team after its 0-2 defeat by Serbia.

The Tianjin Teda midfielder pulled out of the squad fir the game due to his inability to renew his work permit in China.

Mikel has promised to attend the remaining preparatory games against Democratic Republic of Congo, England and Czech Republic at the end of the European season.

Writing on Instagram, Mikel said: “You don’t lose, you learn Looking forward to being back on the pitch for our remaining preparation games #SoarSuperEagles.”

Source: G Sport