Leon Balogun: To Drop or Not to Drop?

Wrote this about two weeks ago. Since then, the call for Leon Balogun to be dropped and Kenneth Omeruo to be plugged in has only intensified. This post will try to address why (I think) this is not a good idea in the short term.

The idea seems to be that a pairing of Omeruo and William Troost-Ekong would be more deserving, as both are seeing regular minutes at Leganes and Udinese, respectively.

Important to note the debate is about form, rather than ability.

While football is more universal than ever, certain positional truisms hold. For instance — and relevant to this post— is the fact that the familiarity fostered by partnerships is a greater consideration in defence than anything else.

Especially so in international football.

National teams convene about six times a year (excepting international tournaments) train for only a few days, then have to play.

There is very little time to build chemistry. So when you find something that works, it is often not advisable to disturb it if you can avoid it.

Now, since Gernot Rohr has been in charge, Ekong and Balogun has been the incumbent pairing most of the time, barring injury.

Both have strengths and weaknesses that meld and flow together.

Ekong is quick, aggressive and impetuous; Balogun is slower, methodical and considered.

Also, very importantly, Ekong’s ball distribution is weak, while Balogun’s is strong. So they are a natural partnership, and did not need much work on the training ground to get going.

That dynamic changes altogether if you bring Omeruo in.

Omeruo is himself a “front foot” defender. His better performances in the national team have come alongside an older partner who covers while he engages: see Godfrey Oboabona and Joseph Yobo.

Paired with Ekong, he would have to be the leader. This is not a role that suits him. Does anyone remember how bad he looked the last time he was paired in defence with Ekong? That was in the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Zambia in Ndola.

Now, not all defences have this clear delineation. My point is not that it is necessary to have the roles separated like this.

But without this natural separation, you need to dedicate more time to drilling defence. Time is not a luxury that Rohr can afford right this minute.

There is a reason why, often, teams looks quite a bit different in tournaments than in qualifying. Often, the period of camping before competitions is the longest unbroken stretch of time a national team manager has (had) to work with his group on the training pitch.

Knowing this, they will often hold off on making any major changes during qualification, in order to not upset the side’s rhythm.

Balogun is the other side of 30. Naturally, the prospect of replacing him will be broached soon anyway. No point to rushing into it.

If Omeruo stays in the Leganes first team, and Balogun on Brighton’s bench, then Rohr can decide to make the change either on the eve of, or after the Africa Cup of Nations next year.

That way, he’ll either have time to drill Ekong and Omeruo as a pairing, or he’ll have a larger sample size as to the (dis)continued effectiveness of Ekong and Balogun as a pairing.