Former Nigeria international Etim Esin has spotlighted the Super Eagles’ current lack of a natural creative playmaker as one a major reason for the struggles of the senior national team in recent years, Footynaija.com reports.
Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, who retired from international football in 2006, was the last natural ‘number 10’ to play for Nigeria. Since then, the three-time African champions have struggled to find another talent in that exact mould.
The likes of John Obi Mikel, Joe Aribo and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru all tried to play that role for the Super Eagles following Okocha’s retirement, and while they were able to offer energy and goal threat, they just couldn’t replicate the high-tempo playmaking abilities of a natural attacking midfielder.
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Under Eric Chelle, Nigeria has deployed a system of playing that depends largely on a deep-lying playmaker to link up play between the midfield and the attack, with Fulham star Alex Iwobi taking on the bulk of this responsibility while Ademola Lookman has also occasionally played behind the strikers just as we saw at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
For Esin though, those players cannot offer enough in that position. A former attacking midfielder himself, he believes the Super Eagles need someone who can dictate the tempo of games, break down defenses and consistently cause headaches for the opposition.
“I think we are still looking for that creative talented midfield player. Lookman comes into that but not really for Nigeria,” the 59-year-old said on the Play Zone Podcast.
“For his club, he does that very well but when it comes to Nigeria, I think we still need that creativity in the middle of the park.
“He [the creative playmaker] is the architect and magician in the squad. He makes things happen. Even if he does not score, he can lay an assist and make things happen in the game. If you have that in your squad, you will have the confidence.
“Number ten like me, Henry {Nwosu}, Jay-Jay (Okocha), if we are with the ball the opponent will be intimidated.
“You have to intimidate the opponent and let them know you have this kind of player that can drag two or three players and create space and lay a pass for someone. I think we still need that in our national team which we don’t really have.”
The importance of having a creative playmaker cannot be ignored, but with no players in that specific mould currently available to the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle must find a way to optimally deploy the pool of talents at his disposal ahead of upcoming competitive fixtures.
