Good day!
There’s a lot going on at Enyimba at the moment—comings and goings, contracts expiring, and whispers of a new dawn. For many players who’ve been with us over the past two seasons, it feels like the end of an era. And while the new era is still clearing its throat, it’s already humming a few notes.
But that’s gist for another day. Today, we return to our Season of So Much series, and focus on the engine room of the team: the midfield.
No department had more feet in it than the midfield—and rightly so. The modern game now splits this area into three key parts: defensive midfield, central midfield, and attacking midfield. Everything meaningful goes through the middle. So how did ours fare?
One of the biggest blows of the season was losing the heart of our midfield, Eze Ekwutoziam. His injury practically ended his campaign and sucked the grit out of the team. And just when we were adjusting to that, Daniel “Triple D” Daga packed for Molde in January—a move we all saw coming but still felt deeply.
That left us leaning on Chinedu Ufere and Fatai Abdullahi. While Ufere gave it a fight, the gap Ekwutoziam left was too wide. Fatai, despite his experience, didn’t quite mirror Daga’s impact either. There were reinforcements in January, but the fact that Innocent Gabriel was often drafted into the defensive midfield tells you something was off. Eguma clearly wasn’t getting what he needed.
In the creative zone, Akanni and Nweke eventually found some rhythm but took their sweet time. Our struggles in front of goal—those half-chances, fluffed finishes, and unconverted spells—make you wonder: is it the creators, the strikers, or is the ball cursed? Quadri Olusukanmi and Isah Mohammed helped bring some relief, but the midfield still looked like an expressway for opponents at times. That should never happen.
Truth is, we’ve never quite replaced Daniel Daga. He was a wall—cutting off runs, reading danger, shutting doors. Watching teams breeze through our midfield these days is a tough watch, especially for a club like Enyimba that’s meant to dominate, not be dominated.
Going forward, we need more than names—we need midfielders with bite and brains. Players who’ll push the current crop to either level up or step aside. We need a midfield that terrifies opponents again.
Let’s rebuild. Let’s reinforce. Let’s retake our rightful place.
Enyimba Enyi.
Indeed daga’s exit showed.