AFCON 2025: Eric Chelle Names 3 Key Areas Super Eagles Must Improve Despite Win Over Tanzania
- Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has named three key areas his players must improve ahead of the Tunisia clash
- The Super Eagles defeated the Taifa Stars of Tanzania in their opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Fez
- Chelle took positives from the three points but admits that his team has work to do before their match against Tunisia
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has noted the key areas where his players must improve despite their 2-1 win over Tanzania in their AFCON 2025 opener.
Semi Ajayi opened the scoring with a brilliant header off Alex Iwobi’s cross deep into the first half. Tanzania equalised early in the second half before Ademola Lookman responded minutes later.
Source: Getty Images
As noted by the NFF, Tanzania pushed for a late equaliser through several onslaughts, but the Nigerian defence was up to the task and held on for the win.
Chelle notes areas for improvement
Head coach Eric Chelle, despite taking positives from the three points, acknowledged that his team must improve in multiple areas on both ends of the pitch.
The second part of the game shows clearly that there is still some work to be done, especially when it comes to killing the game,” he told CAF TV.
“We have a big game against Tunisia because this is a good team, and we have a lot of things to improve on defensively, we have to work on our off ball movements.”
“I congratulate my players for the win, but there is a lot of work to do,” Chelle concluded.
Chelle highlighted three problems, but Nigerians also noted some other problems, particularly with his profiling of players.
@Engr_Series wrote:
“Chukwueze, a winger, played very centrally. Dele-Bashiru, a central midfielder, played as a winger. Isn’t that misprofiling?”
@Hassansport26 wrote:
“I'm not impressed with the backline but I believe they will improve the more they play together. Lastly Eric Chelle need to stop playing the player out of position.”
Source: Getty Images
@oyimzy wrote:
“Now that everyone is calm l’d like to say that this slender win against Tanzania might be a good thing after all. If Eric Chelle is a serious coach he’d fix up the lapses then get proper wins against Tunisia and Uganda.”
@innienuel wrote:
“Eric Chelle misprofiles players a lot!!! He also gets his substitutions wrong a lot as well.”
@wolexmind wrote:
“Pls someone need to warn the coach Eric Chelle, Dele-Bashiru is a central midfielder not a winger, he should stop playing him out of position. This is absolutely non-sense from the coach.”
Tunisia leads Group C on goal difference after beating Uganda, and the Super Eagles will have a tough match against the North Africans on December 27.
Chelle admits his mistakes
Legit.ng reported that Eric Chelle admitted to making mistakes during Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Tanzania but remains adamant that he has a vision.
Chelle made this admission while responding to questions about left-back Zaidu Sanusi who was largely ineffective at the post-match conference.
Source: Legit.ng
