Michael Nsien is a native of Oklahoman and a former Nigerian youth international who has grown through the coaching ranks with 15 solid years of experience coaching in his home state and holds a U.S. Soccer Pro License as well as a UEFA “A” License.
Nsien was appointed into an interim position at FC Tulsa midway through the 2018 season in the USL Championship and led the club to the most successful period in its history in 2020 and 2021, reaching the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time and the first time overall since 2017.
Recent events prove that Nsien was fated for greatness – one year after failing to grab the job of coaching the Nigeria Junior teams he landed the same offer in the United States of America to preside over their Under-19 Men’s Youth National Team.
Below are the excerpts from the Journalist’s session with Coach Michael Nsien;
Q1: Greetings Coach Michael Nsien, Please tell us your story. How did you get the recognition to become the head coach of the US U17/U19 National teams, one year after failing to get the same job in Nigeria?
Coach Nsien: “First I wouldn’t call it a failure after not getting the job with Nigeria, The consultant reverted that I had by far the best interview but we know the process in Nigeria can be difficult – so I consider it as an experience that I had to go through.”
“In regards to the US, I’ve been coaching for 10 years at the youth level then 5 years at the professional level – it’s not easy to be an African American as a coach but the US is starting to realize that there are lots of benefits to diversity in their programs, so a lot of the young guys coming through the ranks are black players and they get the help and inspiration they need through the course of their career.”
“It’s been a blessing and an honor to get the opportunity in the US, and I’m looking forward to other opportunities, It is all about timing.”
Q2: At the Youth level the US, is nowhere near Nigeria in terms of achievements. Will you say there are more talented footballers in Nigeria compared to the US?
Coach Nsien: “I don’t think you can compare the history of the achievements in the youth level of football in the world with Nigeria and the US, There’s no question that Nigeria has a better history, but if we were to speak of today in the future I think maybe we can speak of something different.”
“In the past, a lot of the achievement was based on just the talent which Nigeria will continue to have forever, but at some point, the development process becomes even more important. Nigeria has a lot of natural talents while some of them are trained in the US but they are starting to have lots of it [natural talents] now due to the exposure to a better environment at an early age than their Nigerian counterparts.”
“I think the day is coming that the US will start to be considered one of the top global development countries so Nigeria has got to be careful that it doesn’t go the opposite way. I just had an experience when we played the Nigerian Under 16 team in Japan and you could see the individual talents of the Nigerian team but the structure and the organization of the team were something different.”
Q3: Looking back at your experience with the Nigeria Football Federation as regards the coaching job for the Under 17 National team of Nigeria, will you be tempted someday to apply for the Super Eagles job, if and when it becomes available and do you think you stand a good chance?
Coach Nsien: “The way I look at it I’m in a good place, My promotion with the US Federation went from the U16 to the U19 in less than a year and I was just an assistant with the first team [Senior men’s team at the Golf Cup] I’m happy with my progress and growth as a coach.”
“I think if the Nigeria job were to be open, would I be tempted to apply? I think Nigeria will know that I’m a worthy candidate from my experience and will reach out to me. I don’t think that currently, I will put my name on any application process if they don’t reach out to me first based on my achievements but if it were to come I think I’d stand a good chance based on my level as a coach.”
Q4: Talking about the U15 team in Japan, you followed their performance closely and I remember that Nigeria also lost to Japan in what turned out to be a disastrous outing. What can you say was the problem with that team?
Coach Nsien: “I am an outsider so I don’t know how they prepared for that camp. I would say it looked like a collection of good individual talented players who maybe hadn’t worked together before. It looked like they just put a team together and traveled to play matches.”
“Maybe they didn’t have a real objective for the camp and what they wanted to get out of the trip to Japan. My experience with my group was spending a lot of time preparing and knowing specifically what experience we wanted our players to have from that sort of trip.”
“Overall I think having an idea and an identity of what you want from the camp was probably the difference”.
Q5: Nigeria is the most successful team in Africa when it comes to Women’s football, but the same cannot be said about the Super Falcons on the World Stage. What do you think is the reason behind this and how can we close the gap between “Bigger Names” in Women’s football, especially after our very impressive performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup?
Coach Nsien: “I think it was apparent that the difference between the Super Falcon’s World Cup experience and their WAFCON experience was pretty eye-opening. They looked like two different teams.”
“The difference of identity is what distinguishes continental football from global football [events]. Not knowing your opponents and being able to scout and put together a game plan in 4 or 5 days to execute that game plan is the difference.”
“It looks like the Super Falcons were on the right track during the World Cup I don’t know where they go from here but the resources to continue to work with the group throughout the year at any given time and to be able to get into an organized camp and have an objective and a game plan in each camp is important.”
“Also once you get into competitions your ability to mobilize scouting resources, to have a good recovery strategy, good training methodology, and the implementation of a successful game plan that can be turned around very quickly sets you up for success.”
Q6: Age-grade football is marred with age fraud, especially within the Sub-Saharan region. We have also seen lots of cases here in Nigeria as well. What measures are you putting in place to get the right talents and age for your squad and how do you think Nigeria can curb this menace?
Coach Nsien: “These issues do not happen in youth football let alone federation and National team level in the US. There is no age fraud here because as soon as players register they get a player pass and their registration follows them throughout the sport.
“Once a player starts playing their age is identified and their registration can be fast-tracked and updated every year so those problems don’t even exist in the US so we don’t have to deal with them at this moment as they are considered criminal activities.”
“If Nigeria wants to curb that the consequences given to the club and the player need to be very harsh and it is also up to the Federation and the clubs to put a stop to it. It all starts at the youth level when players enter football their data needs to be captured and updated every single year.”
Q7: How would you describe the level of football governance in the USA and Nigeria from what you’ve seen and experienced so far?
Coach Nsien: “Nothing is ever perfect the US had some issues with coaches and players recently but that is out of the way now. The way that the US handles its players and uses its resources I imagine is second to none. Being able to work with the senior team during the Golf Cup, the number of people who traveled and took care of the players, just the way they operate effectively and efficiently sets a very high level.”
“There could be certain things that people disagree with in terms of who is on the team and all but in terms of how the US operates from a business perspective is second to none. Nigeria can have similar problems but some other things I hear regarding payments, how they travel, and organizations don’t happen in the US.”
“Nigerian players based in Europe are used to a high level and if they can get anything close to that level when coming home to represent the country I believe will treat the National team with more respect and more responsibility.”
Q8: The search for a new coach to take charge of the Super Eagles will begin after next year’s AFCON. Do you think Nigeria coaches at home and in the diaspora are ready to take over from where Pesiro stopped?
Coach Nsien: “As blacks and Africans we need to ask ourselves a question. There was a time in the US when I was one of the 3 black coaches who was coaching at a professional level. I think there are only 2 at the moment and then in Africa, we seem to value outsiders more than ourselves and it’s a frustrating thing for a coach.”
“It’s so hard in a foreign land and then in our own country, we are still not valued. I think we need to ask ourselves why. If you remove the name and look at the resume and the body of work selected from that process it should be beneficial with someone who understands the culture and identity of a country.”
“Anyone with Nigerian heritage in Nigeria or diaspora that should be of benefit to the country. Do they have a footballing background and education to help the team? That needs to be there. Having all these shouldn’t go against you and should instead be of benefit to the nation.”
Q9: I am sure you followed Nigeria’s buildup to the Women’s World Cup and read all the issues surrounding our preparation, especially as it affects Randy Waldrum who went ahead to silence his critics with a brilliant performance. Do you think the NFF has any justification to appoint a new coach after that performance?
Coach Nsien: “I am well aware of the issues that marred Nigeria’s pre-World Cup campaign. I know Randy Waldrum and his family very well here in the US. His son and I used to play against each other while growing up and were probably the same age. It was a successful World Cup campaign.”
“The main issue was the lead-up to the World Cup where the problems were made public which opened up to scrutiny. I’m not sure this will be undone. That is the difficult part and it will take one side to be humbled enough to say we need to fix it and work together or part ways.”
Q10: Most of our National Team Coaches rarely invite players in our local leagues for national assignment, if tomorrow you become the Golden Eagles, Flying Eagles, or Super Eagles Coach would you follow that trend?
Coach Nsien: “I don’t think the responsibility of a coach is to pick players from the Local League. The Federation and its domestic league should work together and have a relationship that they know how to produce players that belong to the National team. The coach’s job is to select the best players.”
“I would say that the NPFL and NFF need to have clarity and work together in a way that they can be organized so that quality players coming through the local league have that opportunity. If players come through the local league to play for the National team it would boost the credibility of the league so there are a lot of positives and it’s up to the federation to organize the league in a way that will produce players good enough for the National team.”
Q11: The Super Falcons had a delightful World Cup with appreciable individual records by Asisat Oshoala and 2 Player of the Match awards. We had great input from our American-born players in Australia, How has the rating of Nigerian Women Footballers in the US soared?
Coach Nsien: “The World Cup did put a nice bright light on the Nigerian female footballers. When you saw the problems going into the tournament and you saw how they worked together to have a successful outing that speaks to the credibility of the coaches and the player’s ability to handle adversity.”
“In the US we know there are talented Nigerian players and we also recognize their mental strength to endure difficult moments. A lot of credibility now goes to the players to say not only are they tactically, technically, and physically gifted but mentally they can endure and come out on the other side in a positive way so it was remarkable.”
Q12: Will you apply for the Super Eagles job if and when it becomes vacant?
Coach Nsien: “When it comes to this kind of high-profile job I don’t believe that people who apply get the job. Nigeria is a high-profile football-playing country and it understands the coach it wants to go after. They start a process together to streamline that process so that they can come out with a certain amount of candidates that will suit that profile, not the opposite”
“You don’t open the door for a thousand candidates and go through a list. You ask questions about what you want for that potential job. I would hope that enough people in football [Nigeria included] will realize my potential and if they see me as a fit would call me and have that discussion.”
“But as things continue to go the way they are going for me in the US and my profile as a coach continues to grow and develop I think I’ll be a suitable candidate for a lot of high-profile jobs. And of course, being a Nigerian-American will be at the top of my heart.”
