Tactical Mistakes By Siasia in March

After the invitation of 42 Players,Coach Samson Siasia dropped the trio of Segun Oduduwa, Usman Mohammed and Stanley Dimgba from the roster.
Only six players out of 22 players from the Nigeria Professional Football League made the final cut and they are Chibuzor Okonkwo, Etebo Oghenekaro, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Ifeanyi Mathew , Mathew Etim and Kalu Orji.

They were later joined by 18 foreign pros below :

Goalkeepers: Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United, South Africa)
Defenders: Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Abdullahi Shehu (Uniao da Madeira, Portugal); Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco, France); Stanley Amuzie (Olhanense FC, Portugal); Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor, Turkey)
Midfielders: Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England); Azubuike Okechukwu (Yeni Matalyspor, Turkey)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Victor Moses (West Ham United, England); Aminu Umar (Osmanlispor FK, Turkey); Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England); Aaron Samuel (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Fanendo Adi (Portland Timbers, USA).

The first leg took place in Kaduna and due to the importance of the match,the Coach put up a good Starting XI against Egypt
Carl Ikeme – Shehu Abdullahi, Stanley Amuzie, Godfrey Oboabona, Efe Ambrose – Mikel Obi (Skipper), Oghenekaro Etebo, Kelechi Iheanacho – Ahmed Musa, Moses Simon, Odion Ighalo.

From the tactical point of view,Nigeria played the best of football in year and Someone like Iheanacho didn't get involved in the until late in the first half but he later got in the groove and smashed a shot at the woodwork before Etebo buried the rebound but Siasia first move was to remove Iheanacho two minutes after the goal for Aminu Umar who missed a sitter later in the game,Alex Iwobi did well with the few minutes he had on the pitch and we switched off in the additional time when Etebo kept Salah onside for the game to finish 1-1.

In the return leg few days later,Siasia made some changes to the Starting XI in Egypt
Akpeyi replaced the injured Ikeme,Aminu Umar got the nod ahead of Iheanacho and Victor Moses over Moses Simon.

It was a tough match,Nigeria had a great share of ball possession but Musa and Umar had no impact in the final third, Amuzie was replaced with Echiejile after the first half due to injury, Etebo fell hard and couldn't continue forcing another change with Azubuike coming On.
The only tactical change was Alex Iwobi entering late in the match for Aminu Umar and it nearly paid off.

The Questions will be :

* Why Removing Iheanacho after we scored in Kaduna ?
*Why Starting Umar in Egypt ?
*What could have happened with the trio of Victor Moses, Iheanacho and Iwobi on the pitch at the same time in either leg ?

This Sweet football didn't start with Rohr but started with Samson Siasia but the German/French is using his wild cards very well.

Nigeria Coaches can do better !

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