Why are we so reluctant to play a 2 man midfield

[smartbrother]

Over the last decade Nigeria has always played with 3 midfielders in central midfield
The Last time i can recall Nigeria playing a 2 man centre midfield was 2006 under SiaSia & Eguavoen - Ayila & Mikel.
Since then we seem to have completely abandoned the idea of playing classic 4-4-2.

IMHO 4-4-2 with two central midfielders and two wingers still very much has a place in the modern game.
Rafa Benitez at Newcastle plays this formation to good effect
At Leicester, Ndidi and Iborra's successful partnership (with Mahrez and Albrghton on the wings) proves this is still a viable way to play

For example why cant we play this formation?
...........................xx
xx.........xx.......xx.............xx
Iwobi.....Mikel...Ndidi....Moses
.............xx............xx

Harken back to the golden days of Amunike and Finidi.
Today We have better tools at our disposal to play 4-4-2 :
World class creative wide men in Iwobi and Moses; Mikel and Ndidi are at the top of their respective games; we have a solid back four ; and more goalscorers than we can count

All that's missing is a target man - a problem easily solved by inviting Sadiq Umar
Just food for thought

[Coach]

^Because we don't have the stamina, a third midfielder buys Obi-igwe more minutes like a top up card. The work rate required for a functional 4-4-2 nowadays is incompatible with life as far as Nigeria are concerned. Let's not fool our intelligence, 4-4-2 against serious side would be suicide.

[Eaglezbeak]

Don't make things harder for yourself just for old time sake,we don't have the same kind of players we did 24 years ago so no!

[Coach]

^Even in a three, Obigwe is gone by 60 odd, in a two, he'll be burnt out early doors.

[kali]

Rohr has figured out that to accomodate an attack minded mikel obi you need two dms. Otherwise you put him in a holding role.

[soma]

How many teams do you know that plays 4-4-2?

[smartbrother]

^Because we don't have the stamina, a third midfielder buys Obi-igwe more minutes like a top up card. The work rate required for a functional 4-4-2 nowadays is incompatible with life as far as Nigeria are concerned. Let's not fool our intelligence, 4-4-2 against serious side would be suicide.

as things stand, mikel has to be replaced after 70 minutes when we play three midfielders
so your argument does not hold water
as he has more or less No durability under the current approach

In the 4-4-2 I am suggesting, Mikel plays as a CM rather than an AM
mikel in a deeper midfield role expends less energy than mikel in an advanced am role

[vancity eagle]

Well I think our formation should depend on our opponents and also the score in the game.

A 3 man midfield is a must vs Argentina and Croatia.

Perhaps we could play a 442 against Iceland who may be sitting back.

Also if we are chasing the game against the Argies or Croatia later on in the game we can also switch to a 442.

[john12]

It depends on the formation. A 3 man midfield is a must against Croatia while 2 man midfield against Iceland. However, we must play 4 man midfield against Argentina. 2 midfielders has to be specifically on Messi

[green4life]

3 man midfield gives us balance. Mikel doesn't have the mobility to play 2 man midfield which compromises the balance unless you leave Mikel on the bench (Onazi + Ndidi) but that is not advisable.

[Coach]

Ndichie and fellow Cyberians, ekele'm unu. Nno! 4-4-2 mustn't bare it's energy sapping, over burdening face before Oga John. Yes, by 70 he is gone, that will be 55 in a midfield duet. Situation should dictate the formation, the midfield should be no less than three and where necessary, four!

[metalalloy]

Ndichie and fellow Cyberians, ekele'm unu. Nno! 4-4-2 mustn't bare it's energy sapping, over burdening face before Oga John. Yes, by 70 he is gone, that will be 55 in a midfield duet. Situation should dictate the formation, the midfield should be no less than three and where necessary, four!

[cchinukw]

Over the last decade Nigeria has always played with 3 midfielders in central midfield
The Last time i can recall Nigeria playing a 2 man centre midfield was 2006 under SiaSia & Eguavoen - Ayila & Mikel.
Since then we seem to have completely abandoned the idea of playing classic 4-4-2.

IMHO 4-4-2 with two central midfielders and two wingers still very much has a place in the modern game.
Rafa Benitez at Newcastle plays this formation to good effect
At Leicester, Ndidi and Iborra's successful partnership (with Mahrez and Albrghton on the wings) proves this is still a viable way to play

For example why cant we play this formation?
...........................xx
xx.........xx.......xx.............xx
Iwobi.....Mikel...Ndidi....Moses
.............xx............xx

Harken back to the golden days of Amunike and Finidi.
Today We have better tools at our disposal to play 4-4-2 :
World class creative wide men in Iwobi and Moses; Mikel and Ndidi are at the top of their respective games; we have a solid back four ; and more goalscorers than we can count

All that's missing is a target man - a problem easily solved by inviting Sadiq Umar
Just food for thought

I doubt you are a 100% correct.

One of the reasons Amodu was criticized was for his use of a 2 man midfield if memory is serving me correctly.

Maybe he was just experimenting with the formation because it didn't appear to execute well on the pitch.