Former Nigeria international, Daniel Amokachi believes there are too many problems and to hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles will not solve everything.
After missing out on the 2022 World Cup ticket, Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick confirmed they will go for the services of a foreign coach to replace Augustine Eguavoen, who was fired after the Ghana qualifier.
The 49-year-old Amokachi, who managed 13 goals for the Super Eagles from 44 appearances, is not against the decision to hire a new coach.
“Focusing too much on the coaching is like building a house from the roof downwards instead of starting with the right foundation and build upwards,” Amokachi said as quoted by BBC Sport Africa.
“Do we have a solid developmental programme for our young footballers, a proper long-term plan for our national teams or develop a football identity for the game in our country?
“I am a product of the Nigerian league. But have we sorted all the issues around our domestic game, from player welfare to the lack of television rights and the chaos around the organisation of local football?
“I said something about our over-reliance on Nigerian footballers in the diaspora which was misreported in the media.
“My point is that when you consistently rely on players developed and trained by other nations to play for you, then you have seriously failed in your important role of building the future stars.
“There are bigger issues that have long bedeviled the Nigerian game and until we fix them, we will just be moving in a circle.”
On whether NFF should go for a local or foreign coach, Amokachi said: “A Nigerian or foreigner as the next coach is their [NFF’s] decision to make. But let’s not deviate by looking at a coaching solution from our bigger issues.
“We always react when we fail to qualify or perform at major tournaments because shortcuts will not get you results.
“Let’s sort all the fundamental issues of administrative problems – lack of planning and structure, our troubled domestic league, absence of a developmental youth programme, and retrain our youth coaches with modern methods – then we can start reaping the rewards.
“Anything away from tackling these problems and we will definitely return here to complain again next year.”
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
