Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Sekou Chelle has hinted that he will come out with a new strategy to curtail what he believes will be a difficult ‘tactical philosophy’ from Tunisia in his team’s next game at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sports247 reports that the Eagles’ gaffer stopped short of revealing details of his plan for Saturday’s match against the North Africans but promised to come up with a winning approach for his side.
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Chelle admitted his players were not at their best during Tuesday’s opening group game but promised to work on the loose areas before the clash with Tunisia, who defeated Nigeria in the AFCON 2021 round of 16.
The Franco-Malian tactician stated, “We have to analyse this game as our first match in the group stage. It’s just the beginning, but we must learn from it.
“We created chances to score, and we had many efforts to get goals in the first half. After that, in the second half, we allowed Tanzania to come back at us.
“We made two mistakes, and they scored from one. That’s a major thing we have to work on in this competition.”
He then turned attention on Saturday’s fixture against Group C leaders, Tunisia, who defeated Uganda 3-1 also on Tuesday, and Chelle admitted that his team has to improve their performance, because it will be a tougher game.
Chelle noted, “The most important thing in AFCON is to improve in every game. We now have a big game against Tunisia, and we have to improve how we will play them.
“We have to improve defensively and, of course, in how we block them when we don’t have the ball. Obviously, those are things I have to work on with my players from our next training session.”
He continued with a solemn charge to the Eagles to step up their efforts, then urged them to trust his judgement in making the right choices to start each game and when the time comes for him to decide who should be substituted.
Chelle retorted, “I congratulate my players for the victory, and I thank them for their desire. We have 26 players to choose from, and they all want to play.
“We have many big players in this team, and they don’t want to go out when they are playing, but only 11 can play at a time.
“I have to give the chance to every player, but they cannot all play at once. So, it’s my duty to choose who will come into the pitch and who will go out at each time.
“I have my vision, I have my decisions, and I will take responsibility for that. I have my choices … some are good, some were not good, but it’s what I have to do.”
The former coach of Mali’s national team and MC Oran FC of Algeria concluded with an assurance that he will put on his thinking cap and come out with the right approach for Saturday’s potentially decisive clash with Tunisia.
“I have to analyse this game and prepare for the next one. The first game is the most important one, but the second game is about tactical choices.
“Tunisia have a very good team, and they have their own philosophy to follow. My job is to find how we can handle them and see how we will play to win the next game,” Chelle averred.
