Finidi George: A Big Step Towards Eagles Job?

Many Nigeria internationals have always wished to one day manage the senior national team after their playing career, one of which is Finidi George. But these ex-players have also been challenged to first prove themselves at club levels before dreaming of Super Eagles job. Is Finidi repositioning himself for the country’s football number one job with his appointment as Enyimba of Aba Technical Adviser?

Finidi George’s success as a footballer could not be overemphasised. He was once regarded as the world’s best crosser of the ball. He won the UEFA Champions League and played at the World Cup. The former director of international football at Real Betis has never hidden his intention to manage the Super Eagles and believes he has what it takes to do the job.

The former flying winger will begin his coaching career in the domestic league with one of the continent’s biggest clubs-Enyimba of Aba after the two-time CAF Champions League winner appointed Finidi as the team’s Technical Adviser.

Finidi will replace coach Fatai Osho who led the Aba Elephants to a second-place finish in the recently concluded 2020-21 season of the Nigeria Professional Football League.
Enyimba will look to count on the expertise of a man who was among the first Nigerian players to achieve success in Europe.

Finidi was a key member of the Ajax team that won three Eredivisie titles, the 1995 UEFA Champions League, the European Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup.
He was capped 62 times by Nigeria’s Super Eagles from 1991 to 2002, winning the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia with the Super Eagles.
The 50-year-old retired from active football in 2004 and has since pursued his dreams of being a coach by acquiring a UEFA B license.

Finidi George not only has the right to want to manage the Super Eagles, he also has what it takes to manage the team. The two teams that played in the finals of last Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt-Senegal and Algeria were managed by their former players and I don’t see them as better than Finidi,” former Nigerian international Paul Okoku said in a chat with THISDAY.

“As a player, both coaches- Aliou isse of Senegal and Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi were not in the class of Finidi that I know for sure. If both could manage their respective countries why not Finidi,” Okuku further added.

Former Nigerian international Finidi George is keen to coach the Super Eagles in the future. George, who was also a key player for the Super Eagles, helped his country win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.
“We are ex-players, we are coaches, we had played this game and we know how to interact with players,” George had told a radio station.

“We also know how to manage them which is important as well, so if the opportunity arises, I would take it with open hands.
George served as an assistant manager at current Spanish La Liga side Real Mallorca.
“I have been handling the youth players and it’s always good to do what you know how to do best, actually I have been an assistant coach in Mallorca,” he added.

George has also served as the director of international football at La Liga club Real Betis.
George is one of the foremost critics of current Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, saying the Franco-German led technical crew wasn’t getting the best out of the Super Eagles.
The 1994 African Cup of Nations winner hinted that the team was relying heavily on individual brilliance for results, rather than team work.

He said: “The current Super Eagles team are not better than the set that finished third at the 2019 AFCON finals in Egypt. I saw them against Sierra Leone when they conceded three goals in the second half, and they drew that game. All we have seen is individual brilliance, but they don’t function well as a team,” Finidi said on Channels.

“We have yet to see the team play good football under the current technical crew, so I can say I don’t have confidence in the technical crew led by Gernot Rohr. For the team to do well in Cameroon, they must function as a unit and not the individual brilliance we are seeing now,” added Finidi.

George indeed feels that Rohr should have had a clear starting 11 and formation by now.
He believes that the German coach has not elevated Nigeria to the required level because of the inconsistent team selections and playing identity.
“We don’t have the best formation and this is the major cause of the team not having its best 11 players today,” Finidi said.

“You can’t look at the team now and say the team has an obvious formation.
“When we were playing you can tell which of the players that suit a particular wing and you can tell your formation and your team from there.”

The former Ajax Amsterdam player is concerned about what Rohr has been doing in terms of building perfectly fitting players for specific positions after four years as coach.
“For the coach to have failed to ascertain his first 11 for four years now, after he had been handling the team, shows he does not have the right players in place in their positions that’s why with the pool of players we have, he kept changing and not finding the right 11 in place,” George added.