Should Peseiro be worried about the current state of Nigeria's defence?

The Super Eagles may not have qualified for the World Cup, but this is still the best set of players the team has had in recent years. 

The attacking frontline is loaded with talents plying their trade in Europe's top five leagues. Victor Osimhen is doing his thing in Italy, while Taiwo Awoniyi is up and running in England.

There is also Emmanuel Dennis, who recently joined Nottingham Forest after an impressive debut season in the Premier League. 

And not forgetting Moses Simon, who has started the new Ligue 1 season just like the way he ended last year with Nantes. Samuel Chukwueze may not have been at his best last season, but he still possesses the quality to be a threat.

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In the middle of the park, there is the versatile Joe Aribo, who is now plying his trade for Southampton after three successful years at Rangers.

Wilfred Ndidi has been consistent for Leicester City since he joined them from Genk, while there are emerging talents like Raphael Onyedika and Al-Hassan Yusuf. 

It does not get better than this for Super Eagles manager Jose Peseiro, who has been tasked to restore the team's glory days. 

Super Eagles' worrying situation in defence 

However, while he has several reasons to get excited over the talents in the current Super Eagles squad, there is also a cause for concern in the defensive line. 

The current state of Nigerian defenders at their respective clubs should worry Peseiro. Starting with the number one position, Nigeria's top two goalkeepers are Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho. 

However, neither of them is the first choice at their respective clubs, which is a big concern. Okoye joined Watford this summer from Sparta Rotterdam. The 22-year-old signed a five and half year deal with the club last November but stayed at Sparta until this summer. 

Okoye joined Watford to continue his development, having excelled in the Dutch top flight during his two years at Sparta. 

It was hoped that Okoye would come in to become Watford's number one following Ben Foster's departure. But the 22-year-old missed out on the spot, with Watford manager Rob Edwards choosing Ian Bachmann as his number one.

It even got worse for the Nigerian after missing out on Watford's first two matchday squads of the season. 

So far, it has not been a great year for Okoye, whose place in the Super Eagles squad was questioned after the team crashed out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. 

However, Okoye is not the only Super Eagles goalkeeper struggling right now. Uzoho, who was in goal for Nigeria's ill-fated World Cup playoff against Ghana, has not fared well either. 

He is yet to make a single appearance for Omonia Nicosia this season. The former Elche goalkeeper was left out of the Super Cup clash against Apollon and the Europa League qualifier against Gent.

Although things could change when the league starts later this month, Peseiro should still be worried about the current state of his top two goalkeepers. 

Even more worrying is that these two players play for clubs in lower leagues and are still not good enough to play. 

Centre-back problems

It is also the same with most of the defenders, especially the centre-backs. Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong have been the team's centre-back pairing for several years, but none is playing right now.

Balogun is still without a club after he was released by Rangers, while Ekong is no longer a starter at Watford. 

In fact, Ekong has only played 19 minutes of league football for Watford since January, which is really not encouraging, considering he is the Super Eagles' vice-captain. 

Ekong still played for Nigeria in three of their last four games, but how long will Peseiro stick with him if his situation does not change at Watford? 

Right now, Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi are the two centre-backs the Super Eagles have playing regularly at their club. But it is important to note that Bassey does not really play as a centre-back for Nigeria, while Ajayi plays in the Skybet Championship. 

There is Chidozie Awaziem, who has the skillset but plays in Croatia. Kevin Akpoguma looks decent, but the Hoffenheim star has not played for Nigeria since 2020. 

In the full-backs role, only Zaidu Sanusi is a regular at his club, Porto. Ola Aina has been a good player for Nigeria, but he is not playing regularly for Torino, while Abdullahi Shehu is currently without a club. 

Looking at these options in Nigeria's defence, most of these players do not play regularly at their club, while some are without a club. 

This is not really ideal for Nigeria, especially Peseiro, who should be a little worried about the lack of game time for most of the players in the Super Eagles' defence. 

The good news for him, though, is that he has the time to find a solution before Nigeria's next major competition in 2024.