The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) teams were part of the problems he faced during his time as coach of the team.
Rohr was sacked from his role as coach of the Nigerian team in 2021 after five and half years at the helm. The length of his stay made him the longest serving Nigerian coach in the history of the team.
Since his departure, the team hasn’t progressed as expected with new coach Jose Peseiro under pressure after a string of losses in friendly games, particularly the recent 5-0 loss to Portugal just before the world cup.
Asked about what has seen the team regressed since his exit and why Morocco now seem to be ahead of them, Rohr partly blamed the style of NPFL teams in the area of players recruitment saying they don’t usually have young players in their squad.
“They play in bad conditions, run-down pitches, or neglected stadiums. I experienced this myself in Lagos, with its 19 million inhabitants. The poor organisation of their championship with constant interruptions was also a problem in Nigeria. Most clubs didn’t even have a youth section despite so many playing football. Everything went through the wrong way”, the coach told Augsburger-Allgemeine.
