It’s been 21 months since Jose Peseiro was appointed as Nigeria coach and, based on what he has achieved so far, it’ll be unfair to say his tenure has been a failure.
For a coach who took over a team that only reached the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and couldn’t qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, what he has done is truly remarkable.
Peseiro led the Super Eagles to the final of AFCON 2024, where they ultimately fell short after losing 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast.
But there were positives that he brought to the team, including a setup that gave Nigeria structure and discipline on the pitch.
He had his shortcomings, though, and sometimes they badly hurt the team.
Opinions have been divided over whether Peseiro should be kept or let go in the wake of strong interest from Algeria.
But when you compare the Portuguese’s shortfalls to his strengths as Nigeria coach, then maybe the Super Eagles need another man at the helm to help them make the next step.
Three reasons why Super Eagles need a new Nigeria coach
Super Eagles need a Nigeria coach who can better manage large pool of talent
Nigeria are currently spoilt for talent. Even after naming 25 players for the AFCON in Ivory Coast, several talented players were still left out.
However, Peseiro has proven in his time with the team that he cannot manage the large pool of talent that the country boasts.
His initial squad for the AFCON was questionable and, but for some injuries, talented players like Terem Moffi and Alhassan Yusuf would’ve missed out.
The Super Eagles are at a stage where they need a coach who can better manage the large pool of talent coming in.
The fact that Nigeria has Victor Osimhen doesn’t mean Moffi and the other strikers shouldn’t have their chance.
But Peseiro clearly isn’t capable of that and the evidence was clear based on how he refused to rotate and kept playing the same players in the AFCON until they burned out and were eventually knackered during the final.
Peseiro is too conservative as Nigeria coach to unlock Super Eagles’ true attacking potential
Any team that has Osimhen as its leading striker should be scoring goals for fun. However, not only did the Napoli forward end up scoring just one goal in the AFCON, but Nigeria also failed to score more than two goals in any of their matches.
In fact, throughout the tournament, they only scored twice in a game once – against Cameroon in the Round of 16 – and largely laboured in front of goal despite boasting talented attacking players like Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon.
But that is because Peseiro is too conservative and sometimes he cares more about not conceding than his team actually making the effort to score goals.
While such a pragmatic approach is shrewd, it can also hinder the attacking threat of teams that boast effective firepower upfront, as is the case of Nigeria.
What is clear, though, is that the Super Eagles need a manager who is expansive and progressive to unlock their true attacking potential.
Peseiro is not one for the long term as Nigeria coach
Another thing about Peseiro is that, in his managerial career, he rarely stays in one job for long, which effectively means he is not one for the long term.
In the last decade, the longest he has stayed at one team was for just two years – at Al Wahda – and he comes across as a coach who prefers to offer short-term fixes.
But his time as Nigeria coach cannot be judged solely on his performance at the AFCON, especially with the Super Eagles struggling in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where they’ve failed to win any of their first two qualifying matches.
For a team with so many talented young players, what they need now is a Nigeria coach who will have the time and patience to build a winsome team.
