Garba Lawal faults Keshi’s Coaching Skills
Former Nigeria international, Garba Lawal, has said Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi is to blame for the team’s exclusion from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Lawal said that the Eagles failed to qualify for the finals of the tournament because they played without ambition and Keshi’s lack of clear-cut tactics and choice to pick players who lack quality and creativity.
He said: “Of course, the coach, not players should be held responsible for the failure of the team to qualify the country. The coach picked the players, if he didn’t invite them they won’t play.
“The players he paraded could not bring result for us, when we have a pool of talents who could have done better. In football, you cannot appreciate any player when a team fails to get results. It is a team failure. For the game against South Africa, all the players did not do well because he had no tactical game plans.
“I have no bias or grudge against Keshi as many purport, but I can’t keep quiet from saying the truth about what affects our game. If we must move forward as a country, we must tell ourselves the obvious. Keshi is a great coach, but we must come out clean.”
Lawal also urged the Nigeria Football Federation to appoint a coach that will transform the national team if Keshi fails to continue.
“What the future holds for the Super Eagles is very unclear. We don’t know who is likely to be the new coach. You never can tell if Keshi will be removed or retained. Whether foreign or local coach, I don’t have any choice,” he said. “The important thing is for the coach to have the technical know how and do the right thing. He should invite players that can bring results for the country without sentiments and personal interest.”
