The decision to stick with Nigeria international goalkeeper Maduka Okoye as first choice of Dutch Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam caused a disagreement between the technical crew.
Okoye has impressed this season and as expected a link to top league side Ajax Amsterdam in the summer has been speculated for the 21 year old. However it hasn’t been all rosy.
The shot stopper drew the ire of the goalkeepers coach of the team Frank Kooiman when he ignored the instructions of the 51 year old in the 1-1 draw against Willem II and FC Emmen respectively.
In both game they conceded via the spot with Okoye reportedly ignoring the instructions of the goalkeeper’s coach by using his instincts to dive in opposite direction as against what the coach said and what they did in training.
In both cases he conceded and it proved costly making the coach to put pressure on the head coach to replace the Nigerian as first choice.
The head coach Henk Fraser stuck with him and he has responded with two clean sheets in his last two games including a late save to help them see out a 1-0 win away to VVV Venmo.
The disagreement was largely responsible for his gesture at the end where he was moved to tears and hugged the head coach for keeping faith in him after his misunderstanding with the goalkeeper’s coach.
