The CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup campaigns are a nightmare for Nigerian teams, not just in recent times.
Participating in these club competitions exposes the incompetence prevalent in Nigeria’s professional football ecosystem and there are already worrying signals that the 2021-22 season might play out very familiar scenes.
Taking a cursory look at the teams that will eventually fly Nigeria’s flag; Akwa United, Rivers United, Enyimba and Bayelsa United, Certificated coach and one-time Super Eagles game analyst Uni Dan Kakwi examines five crucial elements to consider.
1. POOR PREPARATION
Nigerian teams don’t prepare well for long distance journeys by investing in transport or looking for transport sponsorship.
The players arrive for continental matches exhausted from long journeys…there by accumulated fatigue sets in and mental fatigue.
2. QUALITY PLAYER REPLACEMENT
Notably, transfers by signing players of similar quality to replace those that left should be a top priority Every year our best players leave Nigeria but do they get replaced properly? or do teams take shortcuts by signing weaker players?
Just because a team is dominating in local league does not mean that team will dominate on the continent.
Nigerian teams don’t prepare for the future by investing in a quality youth system or academy.
Most big clubs on continent have a youth pipeline which produces players and save them money to compete. Most Nigerian clubs are operated with very short sight.
Main reason is preparing to operate independently. Most Nigerian clubs are government owned and rely heavily on government assistance unfortunately this is not conducive to preparations for continental football as if the government at that present time has issues the club under their operation will also have issues.
3. POOR INFRASTRUCTURE
If it rains the club cannot train properly which affects readiness for big games but if the club had prepared for all eventualities by investing in indoor and outdoor facilities this would not happen.Also gym facilities should be a priority to enhance modern practices.
4. POOR TECHNOLOGICAL OUTLOOK
Preparing players with things like GPS vest is the basic standard in most big clubs on the continent unfortunately Nigeria most clubs don’t prepare this way as they don’t see value or have people with right education to use vest correctly.
5. POOR INVESTMENT IN CLUB STAFF EDUCATION
Significantly, education and preparation to cover all angles is important. Clubs now have scouts, physios, analyst, fitness coaches this helps prepare the teams for any surprises but in Nigeria a lot of these roles aren’t well invested or prepared for.
What do you think?
