Finidi George’s Enyimba success, football philosophy and other factors that qualify him for the Super Eagles job

Fresh off leading Enyimba to a record ninth NPFL title, could Finidi George be in line to replace Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles supremo?

Since his appointment on September 15, 2021, Finidi George has gone through different emotions as Enyimba head coach from the despair of his first season to the adulation currently surrounding his name as a title winner.

His two-year contract with the Elephants expires on June 30, 2023, about two weeks away from the time of writing, which also coincides with the expiration of another contract…Jose Peseiro’s.

Reports from Sports Buddy claim that the Super Eagles coach is already out of contract as his one-year contract which was officially signed on May 16, 2022, already expired last month and that Peseiro has a gentleman’s agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation to lead the team through the ongoing AFCON qualifiers and then leave.

Naturally, Finidi’s name comes up when replacements are discussed, especially as he is also currently a Super Eagles assistant coach, a role he has occupied since April 14, 2022, which makes a case for a seamless transition to the head coach role.

Enyimba will obviously not be too keen to lose a title-winning coach and will be expected to offer Finidi a contract extension as soon as possible but that would certainly not have been the case just a year ago.

Finidi George’s tale of two seasons at Enyimba

Large sections of Enyimba supporters had advocated for the ex-Nigeria international to be fired and rightly so as he endured a horrid first season.

Finidi took charge of a team that finished the 2020/21 NPFL season, second only to champions Akwa United and the high expectations surrounding the Enyimba managerial hot seat had little to no consideration for his lack of experience.

His only previous managerial job was managing the PEC Zwolle under-19s for six years preceding Enyimba so his only real claim to the job was his pedigree as a player being the Nigerian football legend that he is.

Finidi needed to hit the ground running to dispel doubts but he did the opposite, steering the club to a seventh-place finish by losing 16 out of 38 league games in the 2021/22 season.

Despite having more defeats (16) than wins (15) and doubling the loss tally from the previous season, the Enyimba hierarchy stuck to their guns and kept faith with Finidi which he has now repaid with a league title.

However, even in the disaster that was his first season, Finidi’s ideas were evident and the club suffered more from a lack of execution which he himself alluded to in an interview with Premium Times while answering a question on whether or not his free-flowing style of football would work at Enyimba.

“I don’t know because it depends on the players. This is African football, and it is more physical, and playing all free-flowing football might not give you results. You just have to play a style that suits the players,” Finidi said.

In the just-concluded season, Finidi seemed to have shed the naivety and become more adaptive while also not completely giving up his brand of football.

This was exemplified by the championship-clinching game against Rivers United in which Enyimba were under the cosh for large periods but successfully soaked up the pressure and made diamonds out of it on the opposing end.

Super Eagles next for Finidi George?

The tactical flexibility he has shown so far is much needed in the Super Eagles as it is a massive deviation from the rigid approach of Gernot Rohr while also proving his game-reading acumen better than the current manager, Jose Peseiro.

In the previously referenced Premium Times interview, Finidi also alludes to the importance of wing play which was the norm in his playing days with the national team but is no longer the case.

One can draw a logical conclusion that his playing experience as a flying winger and years playing total football at Ajax has moulded his football ideology to this point.

Finidi has deployed the 4-4-2 formation in his time at Enyimba so far but in two different variations with slight modifications in each season.

His first season saw an outright 4-4-2 formation with two outright centre forwards leading the line and flying wingers on either side, a display of his earlier naivety which often left Enyimba exposed defensively.

He has since tweaked that by playing more of a 4-4-1-1 with two strikers, one outright centre forward and the other a roamer, Chisom Okereke played that role this season while  Chukwuemeka Obioma had the goalscoring responsibilities.

The improvement that little tweak has on the team is clear to see, going from losing 16 games in 2021/22 to losing just four times this season en route to the ninth NPFL title.

As far as Peseiro replacements go, there is not a lot of optimism about the current pool of available managers with many believing Salisu Yusuf is in pole position to fill the gap, a probability which inspires zero optimism.

Appointing Finidi George on the other hand will have the opposite effect as many have long been calling for an ex-international to get the chance. We have already established his tactical nous and exposure all of which contributes to the pros of hiring him.

It is important to note though that the man himself has expressed no interest in taking Jose Peseiro’s job, in fact, he is back with the Super Eagles performing his duties as an assistant coach ahead of the next round of AFCON qualifying games.

Of course, he is far from the finished product as a manager, two years at Enyimba and a year as Super Eagles assistant coach does not necessarily make him ready for the big one.

However, Finidi’s resume now includes championship experience which should put him high up the list of potential replacements for Peseiro if he does leave.

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