Eric Chelle has said the Super Eagles have improved since he took charge as head coach.
Chelle was appointed head coach by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in January 2025, replacing former Super Eagles winger Finidi George.
Under the guidance of the 47-year-old former Mali coach, the Super Eagles won four and drew two of their last six 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which was enough to secure a playoff spot.
After his first matches as head coach of the Super Eagles -against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, Chelle led the team to win the Unity Cup in England in May and followed it up with a 1-1 draw with Russia in an international friendly match in June.
In an exclusive chat with Nigeria football legend Dr. Segun Odegbami on Eagle7 103.7 FM’s Saturday morning show, “90 Minutes With Mathematical7”, Chelle said that since he took charge, the Super Eagles have improved with every game they’ve played, which is a positive sign.
“I think the Super Eagles have improved since I took over but it’s difficult because you don’t have all the time to work because in the FIFA window you have like two training sessions and you need to be focus on one or two principle of play,” he said. “It’s very difficult to work on a lot of things. Judging my 10 months in the Super Eagles I think we improved in each game. We take it one game at a time.
“I think it has been positive but I was a little disappointed because of the CHAN but if you look with the Super Eagles it’s positive and now the most important thing now is November, we have two games and the reality is that the job starts now.”
He, however, admitted being scared initially due to the pressure that comes with handling a big team like the Super Eagles.
“When the NFF was looking for a coach I gave my profile, my project and philosophy, I gave everything and after that I had an interview with the technical committee and we spoke about my vision and about the team. I had a club in Algeria (MC Oran) and the NFF called me and I was surprised, was very happy because this is a great team, and for me among the 10 best team in the world.
“I was feeling, excited, happy, also scared a little but this is normal, it is football and when I say scared I mean the pressure and since I’ve been a coach for 12 years I always prepare my mind for that. But the most important thing is the state of mind around the technical staff, the vision, the philosophy and the project of course.”
Impression About The NPFL
Aside handling the Super Eagles, Chelle had the chance to work with the home-based Eagles and led them to this year’s Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) held in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disaster as the team crashed out in the first round.
Asked about his thoughts on the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), he praised the amount of talent in it but said a lot still needs to be done.
“We have a lot of very good players in the Nigeria Premier Football League also there are good coaches in this league too but I think we have a big problem, and it’s not about lack of respect, it’s about the structure. When you go to Morocco at every neighborhood you have a pitch. When you go to Tunisia it is the same, when you go to a Algeria the same thing. When you go to South Africa and see their league you see the structure, the stadiums, training pitches, everything. So for me, to have a great league you need to have all of these.
“The players are here but we need to work together to know the identity of the Nigerian football and to try to work with every coach and we have to think about this sport project because when you start this project you need to bring an identity, to know what is Nigerian football. Is it defensive football, offensive football, possession football, transition football. We need to think about that, we need to talk together. We need to bring each club’s philosophy to create an identity and this is not only my job but the job of the coaches. So this is the first step and when you have this vision after that you can bring some materials and something to help the sport project. After all of these we can be ambitious in Africa and then in the world.”
Invitation of more foreign players to compete with current Super Eagles stars
Chelle revealed that he usually get messages from people informing him about giving opportunities to other foreign-based players who can challenge for spots in his team.
He said:”It is difficult to add more foreign players to the Super Eagles. Players like Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Osimhen. If as a coach you want to add to these players then whoever is coming must be better than them. We have 25 forwards in the national team – both the wingers and strikers – so we have 25 players and to add another player, such a player must be better than these 25.
“A lot of people send me message that there’s a player in different countries but my player is Osimhen who score three goals per week but I still request for their videos and still don’t give an answer because the reality is that we have the players currently.
Relationship with the NFF, salary
On his relationship with the NFF and if he is owed salary, Chelle stated:”Everything is fine with the NFF, yes, sometimes they say we need to win, for example at halftime against Benin Republic someone came to say we need to score four goals and I said please be calm.
“The relationship is about the work, they respect me and I respect them, they try to put me in a the best condition, sometimes it’s good and sometimes not good but this is football but the most important thing is the respect. Like I said I come into Nigeria with a lot of humility and I try to do my best every day also they try to do their best every day and they are my boss and everything between us remain between us.”
