Should Alex Iwobi Be Played As A Winger For The Super Eagles?

Alex Iwobi is the Michelle Alozie of the Super Eagles: a player expected to thrive in the national team where they rarely play, let alone excel, in club football.

Well, I think Iwobi's performances as a midfielder in the Super Eagles has been acceptable for the most part. He brings a good work rate and doles out decent passes from measured movements.

Me-thinks though that the Super Eagles' identity seems designed (for the most part) to accommodate speedsters able to belt along at breakneck speed, dribblers and players able to cavort gracefully like a buttered mono-rail.

I personally believe Aribo and Iwobi can produce nigh-on acceptable performances on the flanks for Nigeria here and there; they have decent passing range and can move briskly with the ball albeit over a shorter distance than say Simon, Chukwueze or Lookman. But I am restricted, constrained and shackled by the perception of the national team coaches and their decisions on player arrangements.

So, from that standpoint, it's better to donate my time to the Federal Bureau of Time Wastage in Wuse, Abuja than clamour for Iwobi on the flanks for Nigeria.

Rather, I think he should continually seek ways to reinvent, re-imagine, and reconstruct himself as a centre midfielder for Nigeria in manner that allows him to age gracefully in that role and to evolve into a more measured,considered and composed midfielder befitting of his age and years of experience - after all he has played that role for many years in many competitions for Nigeria.

He is not getting younger and I doubt he will have the engine and lungs to lift the flight of responsibilities required of a modern day Super Eagles winger in a compelling, engaging and enthralling manner. Yeah, maybe in the odd game here and there, but as a longer term solution, nada! I think the that role needs someone of the speed of Tijani Babangida with the deliveries of Finidi George.

Again, from the position of personal opinion, I don't think Iwobi has been awful for Nigeria in centre midfield. Yes, those his cute passes and sweet movements no longer get my blood pumping nor do they get my pulse racing! But they are par-for-the-course and do created decent openings in opposition areas.

Hence why I think dusting off his midfield approach and applying fresh polish of age-reversal variety to it is the best way to go as the conveyor belt of the Super Eagles churn out younger, more vibrant (indigenous and foreign born) wingers in seasons to come.