Manu Garba: Flying Eagles’ offence and defence are insufficient for the World Cup

Manu Garba, a former coach of the Golden Eaglets, has advised the Flying Eagles management to make sure they strengthen the team’s midfield and offence before the Under-20 World Cup begins in Indonesia in May.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, Garba, who made the accusation, also said that the defence had certain weaknesses.

He stated that although the squad has done well to earn a spot in the World Cup, there is still much work to be done to prepare for the competition.

“The team’s goal at the AFCON Under-20 competition was to qualify for the World Cup, and they did a good job of qualifying.”

“But the coaches must focus on certain ambiguities, particularly in our finishing and changeover from defence to attack.

“They also need three quality players to bolster the team’s offence and midfield.

“The World Cup is the University of the Game. You must bring your finest players, whether they are from outside or from your own country. The most crucial need for a player travelling to the World Cup is tactical and technical proficiency.

“Accordingly, based on my personal experience, if we have any strong players competing overseas, they should be invited.” We don’t need bench players to swoop in and join the team unexpectedly.

“We require athletes that participate frequently to join and strengthen the team. Every player joining the club must be a greater player than the ones we already have, according to Garba.

As there is neither a good nor a terrible goalie on the squad, the goalkeeping position is deemed adequate by Garba.

Goalkeepers perform poorly, according to Garba, who is currently the coach of Mailantarki FC, an Abuja club team, when defenders and other players put them in danger. This results in the goal being conceded.

The goalkeeping position doesn’t necessarily have any issues, but we need to improve our defence, particularly in terms of how to prevent the ball from reaching the goalie, he stated.

He pointed out that the Flying Eagles and Senegal’s Young Teranga Lions were different in that the majority of them played together at the Under-17 level.

The Senegalese squad is made up of a group of players that moved up from the Under-17 to Under-20 levels, so they are accustomed to playing together, which is why they performed so well together.

“The majority of the players before the Under-17 tournament came from Diambars Football Academy.” The remaining members of the team came from one or two different academies, making up over half of the team.

“The majority of the kids were already grouped together, making it extremely simple for the coach to add his own tactical understanding, although I don’t believe more than two players on the Flying Eagles are under 17.

“And because there was no transition from the under-17 to the under-20 squad, it wasn’t easy for the Flying Eagles coaches.”

Thus, defeating a squad that has been together for more than a year is not simple.

But if we continue to use this group of players with so few additions, we can defeat any opposition. Look at the game against Senegal; our players had several opportunities to score but failed to do so,” Garba said.

The coach also mentioned that, depending on the kind of players needed to carry out his match, player transitions don’t frequently occur.

Because every coach has a specific sort of player he needs to play his match, the absence of transition relies on the coach. The players from the most recent Under-17 team are also not performing well at their different clubs or academies.

However, if the players are performing well for their respective clubs or academies, it is usually a good idea for half of the Under-17 players to go to the Under-20 squad.

It is worth noting that Garba coached the Golden Eaglets to victory at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2013 and the Flying Eagles to victory at the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Championship in 2015. (NAN)