Will Chelle Come Good and Select Fresh Faces for Afcon?

Will Chelle Come Good and Select Fresh Faces for Afcon?

Chelle and the NFF need bravery of heart and boldness in ideas and in squad selection.

Nigeria still has effective football running through her veins. Several of those players in the periphery of this 55-man list, if what we saw in Benjamin Fredrick is anything to go by, potentially have it in them to do a yeoman's job when called upon.

But, do you think they can be called upon?

Benjamin was discovered by mistake and only forced his way into the team when Ekong's faults, in a four-man defence, were too glaring, too damaging to be ignored.

In our midfield, I think we need players with the lungs of Fredrick, the legs of Fredrick, the exuberance of Fredrick, the drive of Fredrick. Also, down our flanks, we need speed, penetration and tenacity, the sort Moses Simon of 2016 to 2018 produced alongside his then-partner-in-crime Victor Moses.

Does anyone remember how Sunday Mba collected the ball from the centre circle, driving neck deep into the Ivorian box 18 before riffling home a scorcher from range that edged Nigeria into the semi-final of Afcon 2013?

When have we last seen a midfielder take matters into their own hands from Nigeria's midfield like that? Truth be told, some of those players in this list can do a similar job. Several others, based in North Africa and Eastern Europe, who are not on this list, can equally produce moments of magic.

Will Chelle be bold enough to drop some established players for these deceptive greenhorns who possess a sharper edge than the calibre of leagues they play suggest?

At the end of the day, I suspect we will see largely familiar faces. But what Chelle and the NFF must realise is this: if they continue to select the same players for the same positions, they will achieve the same underwhelming outcomes, as, clearly, some of these players are experiencing "diminishing returns" whilst others are miscast in positions that minimise their impact.