Former Nigerian defender, Joseph Yobo sees Alex Iwobi as the player that can fill the creative midfielder void in the national team.
Joseph Yobo believes that it is because of the Super Eagles’ lack of a creative link between the midfield and attack that is why the Eagles are struggling to score goals in the 2023 AFCON.
Note that even though the Super Eagles have one of the best strikers in the world, Victor Osimhen, in their squad, the Eagles have managed to score just three games in three 2023 AFCON games.
Osimhen has the team’s first and only open-play goal at the tournament which he scored in the Eagles’ 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea.
The other two goals Nigeria recorded in the tournament came from a penalty kick courtesy of William Troost-Ekong against the hosts of the tournament, Ivory Coast, and then an own goal against Guinea-Bissau.
So far in the tournament, Alex Iwobi is used in a deeper role than an offensive role, a tactic Joseph Yobo wants coach Jose Peseiro to change ahead of the 2023 AFCON round of 16 clash with Cameroon on Saturday, January 27.
“Our strength is from the flanks but if we can be creative from the middle, we will create more chances, but that is lacking. So, we are not getting much from the attacking midfield,” Yobo according to AfroSport.
“We have more defensive players and you can only work with what you have. We don’t have creative attacking options, what we have are players from the flanks either as full-backs or wing-backs.
“In the midfield, I think when Iwobi peaks, when he plays to his strength, I think we will see his creativity up front.”
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Yobo added, “We have been solid defensively and even our goalkeeper hasn’t been really tested. That means we are doing something right there and we have to take the positive from that.”
