Sunday Oliseh and John Mikel Obi need no introduction in Nigeria soccer circles. Both were Super Eagles captain at different times. Oliseh had 63 caps for Nigeria and scored three goals. Mikel had 91 caps for Nigeria and scored six goals. Both players won the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Super Eagles players (Oliseh in 1994 and Mikel in 2013). Both players also featured in two world cups for Nigeria. Oliseh came third in the African Footballer of the Year award in 1998 (behind Mustafa Hadji and Austin Jay Jay Okocha), while Mikel came second in 2013 (behind Yaya Toure).

Oliseh featured in three AFCON tournaments (1994, 2000 and 2002) while Mikel featured in five (2006, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2019). Oliseh played for Nigeria at the 1996 Olympics and won gold medal. Mikel won bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. Mikel represented Nigeria at 2003 U-17 world cup where the Golden Eaglets were eliminated through the toss of a coin after finishing at par with Costa Rica at the end of the group games. Mikel also represented Nigeria at 2005 U-21 world cup and won the silver medal with the Flying Eagles whilst personally winning the silver ball (second best player of the tournament) behind Lionel Messi. Oliseh did not represent Nigeria at the junior world cup levels. This background shows that both players served the country football-wise.

At club level, Oliseh played for Julius Berger (Nigeria), RFC Liege (Belgium), Reggiana (Italy), FC Koln (Germany), Ajax (Netherlands), Juventus (Italy), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Bochum (loan, Germany), and Genk (Belgium).At Juventus, with a midfield packed by the likes of captain Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, Alessio Tacchinardi, Vincenzo Maresca, and Edgar Davids, Oliseh could only muster eight appearances in the season prompting him to move to Dortmund. Oliseh won one Dutch Eredivisie and one German Bundesliga titles.  

Mikel started as a youth player for Plateau United (Nigeria). He also played for Lyn Oslo (Norway), Chelsea (England), Tianjin TEDA (China), Middlesbrough (England), Trabzonspor (Turkey), and Stoke City (England). After his stellar performance at the 2005 U-21 world cup in the Netherlands, Manchester United and Chelsea battled to sign him from Lyn Oslo in a celebrated case. Mikel eventually settled for Chelsea. Young Mikel started life slowly at Chelsea due to the array of stars present at the club but later held his own at the club where he spent most of his career. Mikel was captain at Middlesbrough and Stoke City. Mikel won the English Premier League (twice), English FA cup (four times), English League Cup (twice), and one FA Community Shield. Mikel also won one UEFA Champions League (the biggest trophy in world club football), and one Europa Cup (the second biggest trophy in Europe).

Recently the media have been awash with Sunday Oliseh’s reply to John Mikel Obi who had said earlier that Oliseh the player was good while Oliseh the coach “does not have a clue”. “He (Oliseh) had absolutely no clue of how a manager is. He was a fantastic guy in his playing days, but as a coach, he was very terrible. He absolutely had no clue of what he was doing,” Mikel said on his podcast, the ObiOne podcast in January this year. Oliseh went on Elegbete TV to reply Mikel saying “I would like to help the boy because I think he needs some help. You cannot become a legend with your mouth. You cannot achieve with podcast what you were unable to achieve on the field of play with your feet”, Oliseh also said that as Super Eagles coach, he benched Mikel because a home based player was better.

People have since taken sides over the issue, I have studied the issue and found out that Oliseh fired the first shot on same Elegbete TV (with Emmanuel Babayaro in attendance). Oliseh said on the day that Mikel has no attributes of a midfielder, and that Mikel cannot make his (Oliseh’s) team. This is definitely an insult to a player of Mikel’s caliber. Does Oliseh believe that Mikel will not reply him someday? Anyone that has followed the events will know that Mikel merely replied Oliseh. You see, Mikel must not be like Austin Okocha who has remained silent over Oliseh’s unwarranted attacks over the years.

What is Oliseh even saying? Mikel has no attribute of a midfielder yet he won U-21 world cup’s silver ball in 2005? Mikel has no attribute of a midfielder yet Manchester United and Chelsea locked horn fiercely to sign him? Mind you, the coaches involved here (Sir Alex Fergusson and Jose Mourinho) are not boys scout coaches. Mikel has no attribute of a midfielder yet in the 2012 Champions League final (an event Oliseh never featured in), Mikel played 120 minutes and posted a generalissimo performance against midfield opponents like Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger (not to mention incursions of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben). A lot Chelsea players spoke highly of Mikel after they won the trophy they’ve chased for years. But for Drogba’s goals, Mikel could have so easily won the Man of the Match in such an elite game. Is there anyone who does not know Mikel’s contribution from midfield as Nigeria won AFCON in 2013? Mikel was named in the Team of the Tournament when Nigeria won the AFCON in 2013 but Oliseh was not named in the Team of the Tournament when Nigeria won the AFCON in 1994. Mikel put in a good shift towards Nigeria’s winning of the Olympic bronze in 2016 albeit with a team very less talented compared to the Oliseh’s 1996 squad, and also with less preparation (they arrived Brazil hours to their first game).

When Oliseh says that Mikel cannot attain legend status with mouth as against what he achieved on the pitch, what exactly does Oliseh mean? Did Oliseh win more football laurels than Mikel? Did he represent Nigeria more times than Mikel? Was Oliseh Super Eagles captain longer than Mikel? Oliseh was captain for two years (2000 – 2002) and Mikel, three years (2016 – 2019). Mikel was even a world cup captain.

At the just concluded final of Euro 2024, we saw Giorgio Chiellini walk into the arena with the trophy before the presentation. Everyone knows that this is a privilege reserved for past winners of a trophy. If a player is needed to present the AFCON trophy anytime, both Oliseh and Mikel are eligible. If you think that this does not make the two of them African legends, then consider that players like George Weah, Didier Drogba, Nwankwo Kanu, Michael Essien, El-Hadji Diouf, Asamoah Gyan, Mustapha Hadji and Emmanuel Adebayor did not win the AFCON.

Both Oliseh and Mikel played in Europe. If a player is needed to present the UEFA Champions League trophy, Oliseh will never be considered. He did not win the trophy. Mikel can be invited as a past winner. In fact we saw him present the trophy to fans in London on the way to the 2024 final. Not that Mikel was sitytiung on Chelsea’s bench, he was a major contributor to the team’s success by playing the high profile matches including the final game. If you think Mikel is not a legend in this case then consider that great players like Diego Maradona, Ronaldo De Lima, Eric Cantona, Patrick Viera, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gianluigi Buffon, Lothar Matthaus, Dennis Bergkamp, Michael Ballack, Gabriel Batistuta, Roberto Baggio etc did not win Champions League (or European Cup as it was earlier called) however they tried. There is absolutely no basis for Oliseh to accuse Mikel of trying to talk his way into legend status.

The other issues Oliseh raised about Mikel namely, calling his family beggars and not remembering that Joseph Dosu housed him are rather personal and smacks of bad faith. Oliseh did not fall from the sky and so people must have helped him on the way. Is he saying he has returned all the favours? It is good to always show appreciation but then life happens. Mikel said in an interview that one of the reasons he chose Chelsea over Manchester United was so that some Nigerian players he was housing in London will not be left in the cold. It shows that Mikel helped people too.

Mikel did not use the word beggars for his family as Oliseh said. He said that as an African player, the money you make is not for you but for your relatives who would want you to always come through for them financially. I do not know who will say that this is not true. However, I do not know if Oliseh’s problem is that it was Mikel that said it or that he did it on a podcast. Emmanuel Adebayor had a sour case with his family and he talked about it everywhere including the press. Victor Osimhen too had his own time over this kind of issue. Why does Oliseh only find fault in Mikel?. By the way, Mikel’s father was kidnapped twice. Does anyone know if there was insider information? Mikel wears the shoe and knows where it pinches.

I do not know what Oliseh has against Mikel but he should let the lad be. After Oliseh forced Enyeama out of the Super Eagles, the natural successor was Mikel going by seniority. However, Oliseh named Ahmed Musa captain. Mikel kept his cool until Samson Siasia came in after Oliseh left and restored the age long tradition and handed Mikel the captainship. That Oliseh somehow became captain over his seniors is no guarantee that tradition should be thrown away every now and then. Finidi George reiterated this seniority tradition during his media round after being appointed Super Eagles coach. When Oliseh and co were banned from the Super Eagles, the then Sports Minister named Nwankwo Kanu as the new captain. However, when the players converged for world cup preparations, Kanu conceded the captainship to his senior in the team, Jay Jay Okocha. That is how a matured person behaves.

I do not exactly know Oliseh’s training methods that made Mikel to suggest that the former wasn’t great as a coach during their time in Super Eagles as coach and player respectively, but I do know that Super Eagles under him did not reflect the tag “Guardiola of Nigeria” declared by Amaju Pinnick (former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF) upon Oliseh’s appointment. But for the heroics of goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, Oliseh’s first game in charge against Tanzania would have been a disaster as the host nation completely outplayed the visitors in Dar es Salaam.

It is not hidden that Oliseh lacks people’s skill. The truth is he talks to people without respect and feels so highly of himself. Man management is a huge attribute of a good manager (or leader). Another one is respect for constituted authority. This is something Oliseh has in very small quantities during his time at Super Eagles whether as a coach or a player. His time as Super Eagles captain ended in chaos and brought the international career of so many players to an abrupt end. The NFF has their problems but all the other captains before and after Oliseh handled things better.

His time at Fortuna Sittard was not different.  He had started making progress but then Sunday Oliseh happened again. While speaking at Elegbete TV, Oliseh brandished an award he won as coach of Fortuna Sittard. Nice. That year, his team had won the second period of the Eerste Divisie (Dutch second tier is played in four periods). Did it end well for Oliseh at Sittard? The answer is no. When he was sacked, part of the statement released by the club read: “Several attempts by the club to encourage a change in the coach’s behaviour have unfortunately not worked, resulting in an unworkable situation,” the statement said. “The board of Fortuna Sittard emphasizes that the decision to suspend Sunday Oliseh is not motivated by the current sporting performance.” “The coach’s unacceptable actions have made cooperation between many people within the organization impossible – from players to employees. “Fortuna Sittard regrets the decision, but states that the club interest goes above all else.”

As Oliseh has declared interest in Super Eagles job once more, the NFF should watch it. The relative peace in the Super Eagles set up may be thwarted. William Troost-Ekong that Oliseh dismissed as not fit to play for Super Eagles is now the stand in captain and influential in the team with his outstanding performances. Things may not gel. Oliseh may also yet again bring in the average players his family manages to dislodge competent players the way he did with the likes of Sylvester Igboun.

For sure Oliseh can prove to everyone how good a coach he is. Instead of angling for Nigeria again, he could take on another African country and prove his mettle. After all, some Nigerians did that and were reasonably successful. Late Stephen Keshi (Togo and Mali), and Emmanuel Amuneke (Tanzania) readily comes to mind. He could also return to management in Europe and win a first tier league like Ndubuisi Egbo. Then he can have the bragging rights.

Players retire to different vocations. Oliseh went into coaching and he should concentrate on proving his mettle. Let me remind him that he cannot be considered a great coach by talking. Mikel went into media with his podcast. A podcast that readily attracted two former Chelsea coaches (Jose Mourinho and Roberto Di Matteo) is not child’s play and is definitely miles above the likes of Elegbete TV. The appearance of former Chelsea players Eden Hazard, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Joe Cole, and Florent Malouda shows that Mikel was not a ball boy at Chelsea like Oliseh and Elegbete will like to portray. The podcast is already a success even at infancy. What is remaining is for Mikel to continue to refine himself in the acts of journalism.

Oliseh is eloquent and has a way with the media. He has utilized this to always suggest that he is the best thing that has happened to Nigeria’s football. He does not have respect for most senior players that debuted for Nigeria before him either. He once said that Chidi Nwanu was one of the revelations of the 1994 world cup, something Nwanu did not take kindly to. This is Nwanu who started playing for Nigeria in the 1980s and in fact represented Nigeria at the 1988 Olympics with the likes of late Sam Okwaraji. The most recipient of Oliseh’s campaign of calumny is Jay Jay Okocha. Most times he uses accomplices like Duke Udi and Elegbete TV to advance his antagonism of Okocha. I will talk more on this in next essay. Watch out for Sunday Oliseh vs Jay Jay Okocha next!