Moses Simon has enjoyed the goodwill of coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr despite the calls by many for exciting Villarreal youngster Samuel Chukwueze to start ahead of the Levante wing forward.
Simon have started two games since missing the first game and also played as a substitute in the 0-2 loss to Madagascar while Chukwueze since starting the first game against Burundi has played just twice as a substitutes against Guinea and Cameroon respectively.
A look at both players who are based in Spain will confirmed that they both offer contrasting style with Simon having the edge in helping out in defence while Chukwueze’s ability to glide past his markers in the final third stands him out.
However in games like the one against Cameroon, one expect the opponent to fight for the ball and deny the Nigerians space and such game require a player who can put in a defensive shift for the team as possession will be scarce and also space won’t be readily available for forward players to exploit.
To that effect Simon deserve to start ahead of Chukwueze as he helped in helping the team keep their shape defensively meaning Chidozie Awaziem didn’t have the issue of losing his man like Ola Aina who had to deal with two players running off him, no thanks to Ahmed Musa’s lack of discipline in tracking back.
Chukwueze was introduced when Cameroon were trying to hang on to their lead and decided to sit back and cede a lot of time and space to Nigeria as they defended deep in their half up until Nigeria scored the third goal.
The work ethics of Simon goes unnoticed but it’s worthy to note that he has created three goal scoring opportunities in the games he has played while Chukwueze has created just one. Simon also boast of one assist something that Chukwueze is yet to have.
In the Super Eagles next game against South Africa, the Bafana Bafana team will no doubt be less physical but very organized hence Chukwueze will likely get the nod to start with his ability to take his man out giving the Eagles a chance to disorganise the traditionally well organized South Africa team.
Worthy to note is that at Villarreal towards the end of last season with the team battling to stay in the Spanish top flight, Chukwueze was sparingly used in games the team need an outright win against direct rivals or mid table teams but started against Barcelona and Real Madrid, games which they are sure going to have space because of the attack minded set up of their illustrious opponents.
In contrast, Simon also started against Real Madrid and Barcelona and in both games he played as a wingback who tracked the runners for the opponent to deny them space to whip in balls to forward players in the box.
Overall, it’s a plus that the coach of Nigeria have two players who can offer him variation pending on the team he is playing against and system they want to play in decisive games.
