Sunday Oliseh to Mikel Obi: Play defensive midfield for Super Eagles or drop to the bench

Saturday February 20, 2016

Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has warned John Mikel Obi that he risks losing his Super Eagles playing spot if he refuses playing as a defensive midfielder for Nigeria. Mikel Obi has had a resurgence this season while playing as a defensive midfielder at Chelsea but opts to play offensive midfield when donning colours of the Super Eagles, a trend Oliseh wants to end.

Defensive midfield was also the same role Mikel played when he broke out internationally under coach Samson Siasia at the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup in the Netherlands.

“With the national team, it’s not what you want that matters, it is what will bring us results,”said Oliseh in a radio interview. “If you don’t want to do that, I will play players who want to help us, like I did against Swaziland. My personal opinion is that he should be given a more central defensive role, like (Guus) Hiddink is using him. He should be the umbrella for the two central defenders,” Oliseh said.