Interim Super Eagles boss Finidi George is one of the most decorated individuals in the history of Nigerian football, distinguishing himself first as a player and then as a coach.
Finidi was part of the country's vaunted set that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and played at the World Cup for the first time, and won the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) title as a coach with Enyimba. In this interview with AfrikFoot, he talks about his chances of becoming Super Eagles coach, his coaching ideology, and more.
Your game against Kano Pillars was good. Winning 5-0 against a traditional team like Kano Pillars is of high note. Do we take this outing as a sign of a real push for the title as the league takes the final bend?
We still have 10 more matches to play and that means we still have 30 points to fight for and we are playing for everything. It’s going to be tough for every team but the form my players are in now of which they showed is a sign of great determination to win the league. If they can maintain that form, it will end well. I’m quite optimistic. We have five home matches and five away and so what we need now is to pick high points away from away games and try win our home matches as well and that will be good.
You are running well now but if we look at the start of this season you started on a poor footing looking at your continental outing. I guess that outing in the Champions League is a lesson learnt? What have you learnt; would you blame it on the Nigerian league season?
I would say sometimes when you have continental games and the league is not on, it’s not helpful. You know that has a way of affecting the players. Agreed that we were playing some friendly matches but they were not competitive enough like the league and we had to start the continental that way. In so many ways we were not prepared for that level of competition. We lost out which was quite unfortunate but going forward we have learnt from this and how to avoid this effect and we also hope that the next time our league would have started hopefully.
Lack of competition did not help our fitness as our opponents were fitter and more aggressive. But I think also we could have gingered the players up for greater fight looking at the vision but then its late now. Next time we will aim a lot better.
Going forward as you have said, let’s look at the players’ recruitment. The last time the news we got from Enyimba and going by your statement indicated that the squad recruitment had a lot of third-party influence. As the coach, do you have the full authority and control now with the players’ recruitment? Has that matter been sorted?
Yes, I am in charge now but the focus now is to push the boys for at least a continental ticket if we can’t get the ultimate. And that is working out well. If you look at the kind of football we played yesterday (against Kano Pillars) you will understand our drive better. We are determined to keep them performing at the highest scale.
Let’s look at this discussion that is ongoing concerning the NPFL (Nigeria Premier Football League) format. Some people have suggested that the league be played in regional or conference from where the top three or four teams can then have a super-6 playoff. Teams are grouped along the southern and northern regions. The aim is to reduce the cost and stress of travelling and of course the dangers on the roads as majority of the teams travel by road. What’s your take on this?
For me last season we have had a Final 6 and that’s an option available to us still. It is a good one to adopt but on the condition that we are able to play like 38 games in a season or very close to that number. Most clubs don’t fly and this is quite stressful for the players. For me, I will like that the federation takes a look at the current structure and adopt what is good for everyone.
Whether it is regional or the full-travel league, it would work for me as long as it is competitive. All I want is something that can bring out the best in us. So I don’t have any problem with that conference set up.
Some coaches stick largely with club management and avoid national team work. You are running on both sides but certainly the jobs entail different approaches. Having worked in both setups, how have you personally navigated the differences between coaching in the club game and on the international stage? What’s the difference and how are you navigating?
When you are a coach at the club level, you work with the players virtually daily knowing them in an out but at the national level, it’s more of every now and then. You depend largely on the FIFA window and all that. Both sides are good though; each has its advantages and disadvantages. The national team gives you more time for your family. The only way for me to succeed is to adapt to the two systems which I have done very well now.
You have taken charge of two matches with the Super Eagles as the head coach. How much of an advantage or disadvantage do you think it gave you to be able to audition for the Super Eagles role as opposed to other candidates for the job?
Oh yes, those two games have really helped me to showcase what I have. They gave me a good platform to show what I can do with the team. It was a good outing for me as we played two good teams and got good reviews. If you watched the game you will understand my pattern; the way I want to run the team. It was very functional for us. We played what Nigerians love to see and that is possession, attacking and aggressive football. That’s the direction we are going.
You can see the impact and exactly what I was trying to do. We created so many good chances against Mali and even against Ghana we could have scored more goals. That’s the way we are going. Talking about the way Nigerians have known the Super Eagles: ball possession and dominating the game and being attack-conscious all through the game. Football has changed a lot and so all those regarded as little countries are playing very good football now.
It was a great opportunity for me, very good outing given the fact that we had just a very short time. We also did not have the opportunity of our full force of the Super Eagles. Osimhen (Victor) was not there; Aina was not there; Ekong was not there. It’s not as if others are not good enough but there are core players who have stayed longer in the system and understand it better.
Looking at the game, one takeaway from Super Eagles fans is that you didn’t give more players opportunity to try out. These were friendly matches so why did you use just few numbers of players?
When you check the system we played it was essentially 3-5-2 pattern which gave very little opportunities for many of the attackers. Some of the players were not comfortable in that attacking pattern. It works better with those who can function as wing-backs and the tests proved some of them could not easily adapt to what we wanted to achieve within that short period. Looking forward I would love to give more players opportunities but some of these players were not used to that system and the time was short.
Talking about wing-backs now…I remember in your time the Eagles won a lot of matches using wing attackers…You, Amuneke, and before then Humphrey Edobor, Friday Elahor, Segun Odegbami and others. Why are we no longer using this style that made work a lot easier for Rashidi Yekini with your assists in the box from the wings? Is it scarcity of skilled players or what is the problem?
Football has changed. These days a right footer may essentially be operating at the other end depending of the plan. These days the preference is to attack centrally. You can hardly see the traditional left wingers or right wingers; that is gone. The attacks come speedily in ways you can no longer predict as coming from the traditional wings.
You have worked with Coach Jose Peseiro extensively. In what ways did the experience of working with him rub off on you? How has your interaction with some of the elite coaches in world football, but as a player and as a coach, shaped your coaching ideas?
Well, I will say there has always been good football in Nigeria especially at the early stages of us being players and so you are already learning a lot playing in clubs and with the Eagles. I will look at it this way. I have really been impacted over years especially starting with one of the best clubs and then as a player in the national and club sides. These have added up to help me with the work with the Super Eagles. And it is not just about working with the national but at clubs under reputable coaches such as (Louis) Van GaaI, (Guus) Hiddink helped me a lot.
I can remember so well all that I gained playing under (Clemens) Westerhof seeing the way he manages players. When you are growing as a player, it is important to pay attention to details to what these coaches are doing with training and matches. Going to the national team to work with the head coach has helped me because it is like a continuous way of learning. You could see how Peseiro talks to players and learn from it; how he manages the schedule and other things as they are always on point. I worked with him for about 22 months and I am quite happy because I learnt so much.
You have served as an assistant with the Super Eagles and then being fully in charge of two matches. You have applied for the head coach position too with other people. Now it’s 50/50 chance for everyone. If you don’t get the top post and your assistant position is reserved for you, would you accept to serve in that capacity?
For me, God’s time is the best. I have always said it that I am not desperate for the Super Eagles job. If it’s given to me I will take it but I will not throw anybody under the bus just to get the job.
If somebody else is given the job, will I accept to work with the person? Of course it’s my prerogative to accept or not. But I can’t speak on that now because that offer has not come; nobody given me anything. I can’t speak on what is not in place. If I am called for that then it would solely be my decision to say yes or no.
At the beginning of this season and specifically on the continent you stopped from sitting at the bench of the CAF A coaching badge issue. What’s the situation; what has changed? Do you have the badge now or are you processing it?
Nothing has changed; nothing has been done and that’s because we don’t have any CAF coaching course going on in Nigeria. You don’t expect me to run to Morocco to do the CAF course. I will do it when we get the opportunity in Nigeria.
What I got from Europe is good enough. It is as good as the CAF A you are talking about. I was living in Europe and so I had to train there but then coming back to Africa they expect me to have a CAF license. That is not fair. What they should have done is to grade the European license and verify the equivalent here. No CAF course has been done for years in Nigeria and so we will wait. Once I get the opportunity I will obtain the license here. They have to be considerate and give a formula that will enable us train here in Nigeria as quickly as possible.
