Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has expressed his regret for not listening to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) about inviting John Obi Mikel, Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike to the national team.
Oliseh recalled that Mikel had once failed to attend a meeting he arranged in London during his time as Nigeria’s head coach, despite travelling from Belgium to meet the former Chelsea midfielder.
According to him, the incident was one of the reasons he regretted ignoring an earlier warning from the NFF.
The former Juventus midfielder made the revelations in a viral podcast video shared on 𝕏, where he recalled the challenges he faced after taking charge of the Super Eagles, Naija News reports.
According to Oliseh, the NFF had warned him that the three players were causing problems for the federation and the national team system.
He said, “I regret not having listened to the NFF. Because when I took over the job, the first thing NFF told me was to stop inviting three of them (Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike) because they were chaotic to the NFF.
“They were chaotic to the system.”
Oliseh explained that he travelled to the United Kingdom with his own money to arrange a meeting with Mikel and Victor Moses to discuss issues affecting the national team.
He said he contacted their clubs and sent messages to both players before arranging a meeting at a bar in central London, alongside his assistant coach.
However, while Moses attended the meeting, Mikel failed to show up or respond to his WhatsApp message.
Oliseh said, “Now, of the two of them, who did not come to the meeting? Obi Mikel did not come to the meeting. Victor Moses came. Obi Mikel did not even respond to the WhatsApp message.”
The former coach suggested that Mikel’s status as a player at a major European club might have influenced his decision to ignore the invitation.
He questioned why a player should look down on a national team coach because of his club status, stressing that the position deserved respect.
“Maybe because he’ll say, ‘I play for this big club now,’ but you see, that’s why they say sometimes Sunday (Oliseh) is direct. Where did you play that I did not play? What did you play that I did not play?
“Even though the coach was not a footballer or not as big as you, the fact that they’ve given him that title ‘national team coach’ means you have to respect the position he’s holding,” he said.
Oliseh described Mikel’s failure to attend the meeting as “one of the biggest insults”, but said he chose not to take the incident personally.
He added that his discussion with Moses proved more productive, as the former Chelsea winger openly explained the problems he believed were affecting the Super Eagles.
Oliseh said some of the issues Moses raised were similar to what he had experienced himself, adding that the player’s willingness to speak openly earned his respect.
“I still sat down, and Victor Moses had one of the best discussions with him. And the guy told me then and there what he felt was bothering him with the national team. And the funniest part of what the guy told me was things that I also experienced.
“So the man was really speaking the truth, and that’s why I respect Moses to the earth,” Oliseh said.
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