Former Nigeria captain and former assistant coach, Joseph Yobo has urged Jose Peseiro to work on the Super Eagles’ midfield before they take on Ivory Coast for their next match at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Yobo assessed Nigeria’s 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday as a decent result but he feels Peseiro can make better decisions with his midfield options.
The Portuguese coach took just five midfielders (Frank Onyeka, Alhassan Yusuf, Joe Aribo, Alex Iwobi and Raphael Onyedika) to the 34th edition of the AFCON and he started Sunday’s match with Iwobi, Onyeka and Yusuf in the middle.
Yusuf was a replacement for injured Wilfred Ndidi and Yobo asserted that the combative Leicester City midfielder was hugely missed in the opening match.
When quizzed about improvement he would want to see in the next Super Eagles’ game on Thursday, the former Everton and Fenerbahce centre-back told Afrosport: “Take our chances and work on our midfield, I think the Equatorial Guinea were able to figure us out from the middle.
“We should maybe try a different formation in the middle or try a different personnel that will work in that middle because, clearly in my opinion, the absence of Wilfred Ndidi was highly felt today.
“He will not be part of the team because he is injured and we need to get a player of his quality, we need a type of formation that will make these players give their best, especially in the midfield because if you saw that match we used two defending midfielders and it work to an extent but if we are playing against the host team which is Ivory Coast. we will need a better formation.”
Nigeria just have a point in Group A and they will need to avoid defeat against leaders Ivory Coast at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe.
