Lately, more players from the diaspora are pledging their allegiance to the Nigerian national team.
While some see it as a welcomed development, others argue it is killing the game locally.
In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the Super Eagles’ chief scout, Tunde Adelakun, explains the extra efforts being put in to get the very best legs across the world to play for Nigeria.
He also bares his mind on the journey so far with Gernot Rohr and his bumpy ride to make Nigeria’s senior national team great again.
Excerpts:
PT: How would you describe Rohr’s tenure as Super Eagles gaffer so far?
Adelakun: I think the tenure of Gernot Rohr has been good, it has been satisfactory, of course you expect me to say that because I work with him. But honestly, it has been good, there have been more ups than downs. It has been very difficult where we started from and to have come this far has been remarkable very good. I will say it’s been better than satisfactory.
PT: Do you think the rigours of being a national team scout are the same as what is applicable at club level?
Adelakun: The rigours of being a national team scout is going to be different from how it is at the club level. I learned my trade (from) and follow some of the best coaches in the world. I didn’t work as a scout under Mourinho but, I followed his philosophy because I worked and did some internship at Chelsea academy.
Very different because the national team throws up a lot of players, a lot of potentials out there and you’ve got to be on the ball overtime to look for and find the talent that is needed for the national team.
Adelakun: As far as the work that I do is concerned, the player has to be Nigerian. Be it from anywhere whether he was born in Germany, England, born in Nigeria, Malta or Vietnam. Most importantly, he has to be Nigerian, has to identify with the Nigerian course and be willing to play for Nigeria. It’s not enough for him to have all the talents in the world, if he doesn’t show the desire to want to play for Nigeria, we can’t be ‘scouting’ him.
Then he has to have the talent. He has to have a good football skill and ability to play technically very very well, but also to be able to fit in with the philosophy of the national team and the gaffer, the manager; how he wants his football to be played. A lot of players out there who play very well but when it comes going to a particular club or nation, they probably don’t fit into their manager’s style and it looks as though they’re bad whereas they’re not. The manager knows how to deploy his players the best and any player who shows the desire and ability to be deployed properly will be considered.
PT: Cynics believe Rohr’s experimentation is taking too long. What your take on this?
Adelakun: Those who say that the head coach is experimenting are making a big mistake because we are not experimenting at all. We have a playing philosophy on how we want to play. We have our core players but then again think about it this way: if we have only core players like people said we need to have a starting eleven and that they must be our starting eleven at all times. Please tell me what will be the motivation for the hundreds of players who are playing football all over the world if they know that no matter how hard they try, they will never get to the national team because Gernot Rohr has a standing eleven? It doesn’t work like that!
At the end of the day, we have a philosophy, we know what we want to be doing and the players must be there. We have to create competition out there for all the players who want to play for Nigeria, give them an open battlefield for them to compete for a place in the team. And if that’s what people are calling experimentation, then it’s wrong. Players are out there and their motivation is to play for our national team. If we say that you can’t get into our national team because we already have our core eleven then we are constantly ruining and damaging the morale of hundreds of players with those aspirations. We’ve got to create that open field.
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