As players’ forms continue to dip for club and country

Portugal mauled Super Eagles 4-0 in Lisbon before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar

By Edwin Emeanua-Editor

Nigeria’s manager José Peseiro should look no further for why his Super Eagles have refused to fly; they are either mostly bench warmers for their various European clubs or are blighted by injuries.

From goalkeepers to attackers, Nigeria’s senior national football team’s players are either hit by lengthy spells on injury lists, straight-up loss of form, dwindling productivity for club and country, or considered surplus to requirement by various foreign teams.

Paseiro, for demonstrating a lack of faith in home-based players, must soldier on as well as endure stunning defeats in international friendlies as his Super Eagles’ feathers are persistently plucked and ravaged by all within and outside the continent.

An appraisal of the performance of Super Eagles stars for their various clubs paints the picture of a very bleak future if fortunes are not reversed soonest as African nations gear up for the upcoming Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers.

Are there better days ahead for Nigeria’s Super Eagles? Time will tell

Once upon a time, Maduka Okoye was regarded as the solution for Nigeria’s lengthy goalkeeping problem.

Two consecutive howlers-one against Tunisia at last year’s Nations cup in Cameroon and another against an Algerian national team composed of home-based stars-have suddenly turned Nigerian fans against the goalkeeper.

Okoye, who signed an agreement that would keep him tied down from January 1, 2022, until June 30, 2027, with England Championship side Watford as a standby goalkeeper, is playing just that role.

The Nigeria international goalkeeper has played just one game for Watford in the 2022-2023 season.

His lone game for Watford featured him in an Emirates FA Cup third-round engagement in which he conceded two goals in Reading’s win yesterday.

Okoye’s national goalkeeper teammate Francis Odinaka Uzoho has played a total of 7 games for his modest Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia this season, giving him a total of 584 minutes of appearances this season.

Super Eagles assistant captain William Troost-Ekong, 29, has played 16 games (with 3 of those games as a sub) in the English Football League – Championship in the ongoing 2022/23 season.

The Watford central defender has one shot on target from a total of 4 attempts on goal and has scored 1 goal (1.00 xG). He also averages 45 passes per match with a pass completion rate of 81% and has 0 assists to his name. He has played a total of 1231 minutes for Watford this season.

Super Eagles’ team captain Ahmed Musa has fared even worse. The Nigeria international attacker has 388 minutes spread over 14 games involvements for Sivasspor in Turkey. He has neither scored nor assisted anyone in achieving a goal for his club this season.

In turn, Super Eagles central defender Leon Balogun has taken three shots in 12 games in the 2022/2023 Championship season for Queens Park Rangers, notching up a total of 878 minutes of involvement.

Of the three shots he has taken so far this season, only one landed on target. This signifies that Balogun’s shooting accuracy is only 33.33%. He scores a goal for every 3.00 shots he takes and takes 0.31 shots per 90 minutes on the pitch. His average minutes per game is 73.

Super Eagles wing-back Ola Aina has won 20 aerial duels and 19 tackles with five blocks this season. Based on these statistics, after match day 17, he ranks number 192 in Serie A.

Aina has played 10 Serie A games and 1 Copa Italia game in which he featured for 90 minutes, clocking a total of 582 minutes of Serie A involvement plus 90 minutes of participation in Copa Italia. He has scored one goal this season.

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Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi is perhaps one of Nigeria’s stars abroad enjoying starting roles for his club.

However, Iwobi has been sidelined for up to three weeks from the ankle ligament injury he suffered in Everton’s Friday night’s FA Cup loss to Manchester United.

Goodison Park medical staff announced the heartbreaking news after a scan and affirmed that Iwobi’s injury would be “managed conservatively.”

Iwobi was conveyed from the pitch on a stretcher early in the second half at Old Trafford after coming out worse off in his clash with Tyrell Malacia.

Goalkeeping problem: No end in sight with Uzoho and Maduka’s loss of form

The news of Iwobi’s time off from the pitch should be a major blow to Blues manager Frank Lampard, who has kept faith in the Nigerian midfielder by handing him starting role in all except just one of the club’s 21 games in all competitions this season.

Iwobi has been Lampard’s best player this season, holding down his team’s forte in a central midfield role.

The news of Iwobi’s injury should also dampen Paseiro’s hopes as he looks up to a future without one of his consistent performers in his struggling Super Eagles.

However, a three-week lay-off could have been much worse for an Everton side sitting in the relegation zone.

Victor Osimhen’s attacking stock may be up, but his injury propensity is worrisome for club and country.

Nigeria’s star forward may be enjoying what is turning out as his most fruitful season so far with Napoli in Serie A.

Osimhen has scored 11 goals with two assists in all competitions for Napoli this season but has also missed several games to injuries forcing Napoli to frugally manage the release of their prized asset for international friendlies to his country of birth.

To the surprise of many, Teremas Igoboras Moffi is enjoying better stats this season for his French side Lorient than Osimhen, his more favored competition in the national team. However, he, too, has battled injuries.

Are you running out of ideas? Is the exasperated Nigeria manager José Peseiro beginning to run out of options?

Known as Terem, Moffi has 10 Ligue 1 goals with no assists from 16 games this season with 1222 minutes of involvement.

Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze is perhaps the most consistent club player of the lot, but his goal-scoring record belies his massive appearances. Chukwueze has played 25 games for Villareal this season but has only seven goals and six assists recorded to his person for all his efforts.

Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis 2022 to 2023 club Stats is not very remarkable. Dennis featured ten times for Notts Forest, starting three matches, with seven substitute appearances, two sub-outs, and scoring just one goal. He has notched up a total of 369 minutes of premier league involvements.

He also has two games where he notched up 173 minutes of involvement with Championship side Watford this season before his transfer to his new premier league club.

Super Eagles need some tonic to fly under new NFF president Ibrahim Musa Gusau

Dennis has played two League Cup games for Notts Forest, giving him another 83 minutes run around with another 90 minutes appearance in the FA Cup.

Kenneth Josiah Omeruo has posted 808 minutes in 11 games in the Spanish Secunda Division with Leganes. He started ten matches with one game as a substitute and scored one goal. He was also subbed out twice.

Midfielder Joe Aribo has played 21 times for his struggling Southampton side, with 18 of them in the English Premier League, for a total of 1083 minutes of premiership play, one FA Cup game totaling 87 minutes, and 2 League cup game totaling 84 minutes. Aribo has so far scored two goals and posted no assists this season.

Midfielder Ademola Lookman has 7 Serie A goals and one assists this season from 16 league games played in the colors of Atalanta, totaling 921 minutes.

Oghenekaro Etebo has clocked 900 minutes in 10 games since joining Greek side Aris Thessaloniki FC. He has no goals and no assists.

Porto defender Zaidu Sanusi has played 16 games this season, with 9 in the Portuguese Liga NOS for 622 minutes. The defender has also played six games in the European Champions League, totaling 413 minutes of top-class action, and one game in the Portuguese Super Cup, where he spent 90 minutes on the field. He has scored one European Champions League goal this season.