Nigerians question Peseiro's style despite Super Eagles' AFCON final run

Nigeria’s painful 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in the AFCON 2023 final has ignited discussions about Jose Peseiro across social media platforms.

Pulse Sports Nigeria reports that Peseiro’s tactical decisions and style of play throughout the tournament have come under scrutiny following the manner of defeat to the Elephants on Sunday night.

Peseiro's pragmatic tournament-focused approach has come under fire from Nigerian fans despite leading the Super Eagles to the AFCON final. 

After the heartbreaking loss to Ivory Coast, many Nigerians argued that Peseiro's direct style does not maximize the squad's talent.

While Nigeria reached the final, fans criticised their uninspiring play under the Portuguese manager. 

His tactics were deemed too cautious and reactive by some who believe the Super Eagles should embrace a more ambitious style.

According to many Nigerian supporters, the team's performances never reflected their potential flair and technical ability. Fans questioned whether Peseiro is capable of implementing a system to fully unlock Nigeria's creative talents.

“Peseiro is a tournament-style Coach. Had we won the Tournament, we might have lost sight of the fact that our style of play is not a testament to the Multitude of talent we have in the Squad,” one of the fans stated. “We ought to be playing way better than we have done the entire tournament.”

This particular fan was not alone and his comment led to others adding their voices to the point raised as they felt Peseiro’s philosophy failed to get the best out of players like Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen.

“He should be sent home ...just wasted (Victor) Osimhen energy with those useless long balls. We can't even play a simple ground ball or complete 10 passes. Played three back man defense and no midfield,” another visibly disappointed fan added.