Oliseh regrets ignoring NFF advice over Mikel, Enyeama and Emenike

Former Nigeria manager Sunday Oliseh says he regrets ignoring advice from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to leave out John Obi Mikel, Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike from the national team.

Oliseh revealed that Mikel failed to attend a meeting arranged in London and did not respond to messages sent during his time in charge of the Super Eagles. He described the former Chelsea midfielder’s conduct as “one of the biggest insults” he experienced as a manager.

Speaking during a podcast interview on X, Oliseh said the NFF had warned him that the three players were causing problems within the team and the federation’s structure.

“I regret not having listened to the NFF,” Oliseh said. “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 said he nevertheless tried to build a relationship with Mikel by arranging a meeting in central London. He travelled from Belgium to the United Kingdom using his own money and contacted the players’ clubs before inviting Mikel and Victor Moses to meet him at an accessible venue.

He said the meeting was arranged with his assistant coach, but only Moses attended.

“Of the two of them, who did not come to the meeting? Obi Mikel did not come to the meeting. Victor Moses came,” Oliseh said.

“Obi Mikel did not even respond to the WhatsApp message.”

The former Juventus and Ajax player suggested Mikel may have felt his status at a leading club made the meeting unnecessary, but said players must respect the position of a national-team manager.

“Maybe because he’ll say, ‘I play for this big club now,’” Oliseh said. “But 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.”

Oliseh praised Moses for taking part in the discussion and said the winger gave an honest account of the problems affecting the squad.

He added that many of Moses’ concerns reflected difficulties he had also encountered while managing Nigeria.

“Victor Moses had one of the best discussions with me,” Oliseh said. “The guy told me then and there what he felt was bothering him with the national team.

“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.”