Super Eagles of Nigeria Captain, William Troost-Ekong has provided a detailed explanation on the coaching philosophy of Nigeria’s new head coach, Jose Peseiro.
Nigeria had their first outing under the Portuguese against the El Tri of Mexico last Sunday, May 29 and despite struggling in the first half and losing 2-1, the three-tme African champions produced a superb attacking display in the second half.
Peseiro expressed his love for attacking football after the game.
Super Eagles defender, Troost-Ekong has now opened up on the tactician’s style of play.
“He (Peseiro) wants attacking football from us. We played two different systems against Mexico. 3-5-2 in the first half, and then we switched to 4-4-2 in the second half. I think it suited the game better,”Troost-Ekong told NFF TV.
“What he wanted was for us to take initiative. We are a big team and have to take the game to the opponent, irrespective of the opponent we are up against.
“I think it was exciting to see. I’m really happy to get going in this new chapter. I’m looking forward to spending more time, to understand what he want from us and improve.”
Troost-Ekong has also praised home based players .
“I’m happy to see them have game time. They have been working hard in training. They all did well when they came on. They fit in nicely,” added Troost-Ekong.
“That’s a great compliment to the NPFL. The boys worked so hard to be here. That’s my key message to the boys.
“I know we are missing some of our regular players, but everyone who is here deserves to be here.
“To play for the Super Eagles, they have to take the opportunity, and they did just that.”
“We have adapted to the time zone (talking about the Ecuador game). There is less problem now and we are looking forward to building on the performance against Mexico,”he stated.
“Ecuador is a dynamic team, difficult opponent. They play good football. It is a great chance for us to end things here with a win before we head back to Africa.”
