King Keshi NEEDS to find his second Striker

As Nigeria went up against the mighty Italy, we all knew this was going to be an experiment. With a new look team, and a chance for people to stand up or clear out, it was the stage for the new boys to show their stuff. I for one was primarily focused on one aspect...and that was who would or SHOULD, partner Emenike up front or be back-up to him if the unimaginable happens with him getting injured. Please be clear, EMENIKE CANNOT AFFORD TO GET INJURED. He is far and away THE best striker that Nigeria has. So please, I hope he takes it easy this season and uses it solely to just prepare himself for the World Cup. So, it now fell to Ameobi and Dike to try and show what they could do, and seize this opportunity to impress.

Bright Dike is one who has not featured much for the Eagles, so this was a perfect time for him to show something. It's a name that I have heard A LOT less than Ameobi's, so I was intrigued to see what he could do.

Dike definitely had some nice movements in the box, and kept himself mobile. The issue was him losing his positioning in the middle of the box, always being forced wide. The role of a striker is to always find space around the centre of that 18-yard box so there is always that threat there. Despite that, sometimes not being in the game enough, he showed excellent aerial ability to head home the first goal for Nigeria. That is a great asset to have, as Emenike does not score many headed goals. I liked his bravery to get there to head and his timing to put it away against experienced Italian defenders.
  So in all, from first viewing, I would like to see more from him as I am sure he will grow even more in stature. Keshi just needs to instruct him to hold his position as a striker and learn from Emenike's movements. Coming from the MLS and his environment in Oklahoma is key. He WILL work hard and put forth a good professional mentality.

Shola Ameobi is a name I know VERY well. Watching the Premiership, I know of his abilities and style of play for Newcastle. Honestly, I don't really like his football, and feel he is more of traditional lone striker rather than working in a partnership. In the way that the Eagles play, I am not sure whether his style will be effective.
 BUT, Ameobi turned provider first for Dike and then scored a VERY nice goal. I can't take that away from him. He followed the play well and from a beautiful cross from Moses, it was great technique to put the ball away like that. Apart from that though, with some flashes of nice play, he was mostly useless. He just was not mobile enough and did not move as freely off the ball as Dike did. That just CANNOT happen. At a World Cup with proper defenders and with the proper Italian backline, Ameobi will have to be A LOT more active if he is to have any sort of effect on the game. But he does deserve a few more chances to show more. A goal AND assist cannot be ignored.

There is another interesting option. We all know that Musa plays on the wing and does that role very well. However, in the second half, Musa was playing in the middle in the striking position. I don't know if it was Keshi experimenting or Musa just adapting to the space he saw in the game. Whatever the case, Musa looked very dangerous indeed in that position. He had some good chances he got onto and created for himself, but could not put them away or take advantage of them.
  Now if you think about it, Emenike is more hefty and robust as a striker. Musa in the meanwhile is quicker and more nimble. It could work pretty nicely if Keshi was to try them playing along with each other and see how well they compliment one another. I want to just see it tried in one match. It may not work, but it's worth a look.



And so the search continues for a striker that can partner up with Emenike. I am sure Keshi knows they need to go with two strikers. Ideye can't finish, and Dike and Ameobi look very promising but need a lot of work. So Keshi will need to try and experiment even more in order to find the right man.
The players are out there. Dike is all the way from America and was impressive. So it's important that Keshi sends his scouts out far and wide so that there is a wide array to choose from and the BEST possible choice is made once Nigerian go into their first game in Brazil.



HH