Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle didn’t include any player from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) in his team for the AFCON, where they finished third in Morocco.
The coach also ignored them in his latest list of players for the upcoming friendly tournament in Turkey, where they will be up against world cup bound Iran and Jordan respectively.
There was no spot in the list that was made public yesterday for players in the Nigerian league, although sources close to the coach say he is likely to include at most two of them when the team play in friendly games in June.
Revealing more our source said Chelle’s lack of faith in players from the NPFL , it’s largely on their understanding of how he wants his team to play and their inability to cope with his high press, aggressive and pacy style.
He said at the Unity Cup in England last summer, a couple of home based players failed to keep up with his fitness drills and demands, but at that time it was said that the fact that they were deep in the season played a role in their inability to cope.
The final straw was the CHAN tournament, where they completed capitulated under his instructions and demands. Ironically it was the same formation that the Super Eagles used at the AFCON and blew everyone away until they got stuck in the semi final where they lost to Morocco on penalties.
Chelle will no doubt take a look at them in league games, before making any decision on inviting them in the future. In previous times he relied more on recommendations but the players failed to live up.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
