Eagles’ captainship reducing Mikel, Musa’s output for national team – Odegbami

Former international, Segun Odegbami, has said that the weight of Super Eagles captainship is weighing down John Mikel Obi’s performance in the national team. Reviewing the Chelsea midfielder’s status in Eagles, he said, “Mikel Obi is a great player, but as captain on the field of play, his style does not impact his team enough. Unfortunately, the man who deputised for him against Tanzania, Ahmed Musa, is also burdened by the responsibility of leading the team from an attacking position. Rather than deliver the goals, Musa’s performance often drops as a result of the additional burden of being captain. It showed again in the match.
“The players that played like potential captains in the Nigerian team are in the Nigerian goal, and also in the centre of the Nigerian defence line up. As captain of the national team in the twilight of my career, I was weighed down by the same responsibility, and, although I was the highest goal scorer in Nigeria’s football history up till that point, the additional responsibility of captainship became a burden I could not properly carry on the field of play.
Outside the field, championing causes, speaking up for the team, in conduct and character, and motivating the players, I was a great captain. On it, scoring the goals, I became a poor example. That’s what Ahmed Musa also suffers from every time he doubles as captain and expected goal scorer. It happened again in the Tanzanian match,” Odegbami said.