NFF warned me against inviting Mikel, Enyeama, Emenike — Oliseh

By Ayobami Okerinde

Former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) warned him against inviting John Obi Mikel, Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike to the national team when he took charge, describing the trio as players who were causing problems for the federation.

Oliseh, speaking on The Play Zone Podcast, however, said he regretted not heeding the warning, recalling his efforts to engage the players individually and resolve issues surrounding their involvement with the national team.

“I regret not having listened to the NFF. Because when I took over the job, the first thing NFF told me was to stop inviting three of them (Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike) because they were chaotic to the NFF,” he said.

Oliseh recalled travelling from Belgium to France to meet Enyeama, who was playing for Lille at the time, saying he held discussions with the former Super Eagles captain and clarified matters with him.

He said he also travelled to London at his own expense to meet Mikel and Victor Moses, who were both playing in England at the time, but was disappointed when Mikel failed to attend the scheduled meeting.

“I did the same thing for Obi Mikel. With my own money, not the NFF money, I went to the UK, sent a message to the clubs, sent a message to him (Mikel), sent message not only to him but also to Victor Moses, gave them an appointment at a bar that was accessible in the heart of London, with my assistant coach, for two of them to come and have meeting.

“Now, of the two of them, who did not come to the meeting? Obi Mikel did not come to the meeting. Victor Moses came. Obi Mikel did not even respond to the WhatsApp message,” he said.

The former midfielder suggested that Mikel might have considered himself bigger than the national team coach because he was playing for a major club.

“Maybe because he’ll say, ‘I play for this big club now,’ but you see, that’s why they say sometimes Sunday (Oliseh) is direct. Where did you play that I did not play? What did you play that I did not play?

“Even though the coach was not a footballer or not as big as you, the fact that they’ve given him that title ‘national team coach’, means you have to respect the position he’s holding,” Oliseh added.

He described Mikel’s failure to attend the meeting as one of the biggest insults he had experienced but said he did not take the incident personally.

According to Oliseh, Moses used the meeting to explain the issues troubling him about the national team, including some experiences Oliseh said he could relate to.

Oliseh also spoke positively about Emenike, saying his experience working with the former striker contradicted what he had initially been told about him.

He described Emenike as a gentleman and a respectful player, adding that he was among the greatest footballers he worked with and also credited Emenike’s influence as an important factor in Nigeria’s triumph at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Current Super Eagles lack quality

In a separate remark on the podcast, Oliseh attributed Nigeria’s recent struggles in football to a decline in the quality of players compared with previous generations.

“The reason why we are failing is so obvious that I am embarrassed when I hear people don’t talk about it.

“We are failing because we are not good enough,” he said.

Oliseh argued that earlier generations of Nigerian players competed at a higher level in European football, which, in his view, distinguished them from the current crop of internationals.

He cited former Nigerian stars including Finidi George, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Victor Ikpeba, Taribo West, Celestine Babayaro, Ben Iroha and Tijani Babangida as examples of players who featured for prominent European clubs during their careers.

Oliseh referenced clubs such as Ajax Amsterdam, Borussia Dortmund, AS Monaco, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Chelsea while making his comparison.

He challenged listeners to identify current Super Eagles players at clubs with realistic ambitions of winning the UEFA Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition.

“Which of the Nigerian players in the national team now is playing at a team that starts this season to aspire to win the Conference League?” he asked.

“I’m not even going to Champions League or E. Conference League, which is the smallest European title,” Oliseh said.

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