2 assists in last 32 Nigeria games: Iwobi goes defensive, says he's not given freedom to express himself

After managing just two assists in his thirty-two appearances for the Nigeria national team, Alex Iwobi has underlined that he is given limited freedom to express himself by the Super Eagles coaches. 

The Fulham midfielder has been a divisive figure whenever he plays for Nigeria with his performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations being the latest evidence for that.

Despite featuring in all games in the competition and failing to start just once, Iwobi failed to register a goal contribution which made him a subject of scrutiny after the loss to Ivory Coast in the final.

The 28-year-old played a much deeper role than he was used to, which affected his productivity, but he wasn't spared from being criticized.

He has just 16 goal contributions for the Super Eagles despite garnering as many as 81 appearances under his belt.

However, he has been offered more license to go forward recently, recording two assists in the last five games and he alluded to this during the discussion on not getting enough goal contributions for Super Eagles as he does for Fulham.

In his discussion with 54footballx, Iwobi revealed the reason behind not getting enough goal involvement for Nigeria in contrast to when playing for his club side.

"My role for the national team and club side are two different roles. When I play I am told to keep the ball and not really go forward as much until recently with this new manager. He wants me to get forward as much as I can.

"Before I was told to sit back to let the attackers do the attacking. At least, you control the midfield or try to control the midfield.

"Whereas for my club side, I have the license to go and express myself a bit more, get attacking, get into goal-scoring opportunities; that is the big difference."

To corroborate his statement, he has created 14 chances from open play in the Premier League this season, which is the fifth-highest in the division.

Regardless, Iwobi has to find consistency when donning the Super Eagles jersey to safeguard his position in the side.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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