Looking forward to the coming 12 months, the
team present six players who they believe
should play no part in the team's attempt to
comeback from the disappointments of 2014.
★OPINION
2014 is drawing inexorably to a close.
It has been a disappointing twelve months for
the Nigeria national team, with the promise of
2013 being unrealised despite the
opportunities offered by the World Cup and
Cup of Nations qualifying.
Far from establishing a dominant core to the
side, many of Stephen Keshi’s chosen ones have
fallen from grace in recent fixtures.
In this article, three of Goal Nigeria’s writers
each present two players who they believe
Nigeria should cast aside in 2015.
★Efe Ambrose & Emmanuel Emenike
Efe Ambrose
Nigeria’s final qualifying game for the 2015
AFCON featured an interesting tactical battle:
South Africa defended very narrow and marked
tightly in midfield, challenging Stephen Keshi’s
men to break them down.
The men on the pitch with the most space were
the full-backs, Efe Ambrose and Juwon
Oshaniwa, who had to accelerate at least 30
metres to have anyone come out to meet
them. The former is a centre-back, the latter is
a shutdown left-back and little else.
It served a cogent lesson: in modern football,
no one can succeed without attacking full-
backs.
This is why Efe Ambrose has to go in 2015.
As the Super Eagles look to the future, it is vital
that the national team seek out a proper right-
back. Midfield battles have become tighter, and
full-backs have never been more important.
Having one proficient with the ball at his feet
and capable to contribute in attack in vital.
★Emmanuel Emenike
There is only so long one can labour under a
burden before deciding it is easier to discard it.
Sad as it is to admit, Emmanuel Emenike is a
burden now. Without a goal in over a year with
the Super Eagles, especially in a team that does
not rely on its midfield for goals, there is no
basis for his continued presence.
His form with Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super
Lig is not sparkling either, he has only managed
two goals this season, and his confidence
appears shot.
If form is the metric for selecting a national
team (in an ideal situation, it should be) then
the 27-year-old has no business in the team at
the moment.
Failure to qualify for Equatorial Guinea 2015
avails the team handlers an opportunity to start
afresh and look to the future. On the current
evidence, Emenike does not feature in that
future.
★Peter Odemwingie & Ikechukwu Uche
The two players I believe ought to be forgotten
in 2015 are both men with similar profiles and
similar qualities. Notably, they both lived out
comparable narratives and made parallel
contributions to the national side.
At the beginning of 2014, neither Peter
Odemwingie nor Ikechukwu Uche figured in
Stephen Keshi’s plans.
Both men had been sidelined following well-
publicised disagreements with the Big Boss
and, heading into their 30s, appeared to have a
limited future with the Super Eagles.
However, the failings of Emmanuel Emenike,
Ideye Brown, Victor Moses and others forced
Keshi to turn back to the veterans.
After much long drawn-out speculation, both
men eventually returned; Odemwingie for the
pre-World Cup friendly against Scotland, Uche
for the qualifier against the Republic of Congo.
Their respective stats for 2014 read as follows:
Odemwingie—seven appearances, one goal;
Uche—two appearances, one goal.
While they may have made pertinent (if
ultimately futile) contributions, both men are
past their prime. Odemwingie will be 35 and
Uche 33 by the next time Nigeria could
possibly feature in a major tournament, there
is no dearth of bright striking talent and the
New Year must herald the start of a new
attacking era for the national side.
Follow Ed Dove on
★Azubuike Egwuekwe & Chigozie Agbim
Azubuike Egwuekwe
There’s really no better way to put this:
Azubuike Egwuekwe is not good enough for the
Super Eagles and should be forgotten in 2015.
It’s okay to be good but there’s always better;
and better is what Nigeria need.
With a population of over 150 million people
within the geographical space called Nigeria,
not to mention the Diaspora, there are
certainly better defenders who can contribute
more than what the Warri Wolves captain chips
in for the national team.
His towering height, obviously, serves well for
thwarting aerial threats, but unfortunately,
that’s about his most significant contribution to
the team. And in all honesty, alternatives are
aplenty.
His pace, or the lack of it, leaves much to be
desired of the central defender. What can we
say about his decision-making? It’s as slow as
the man himself.
It was an eyesore against South Africa, for
example, during the qualifiers, and Nigeria
deserve better.
★Chigozie Agbim
Third-choice goalkeepers are not necessarily
necessary, but they have to be there, just in
case. And they have to be reliable, too. There
are so many scenarios, though they seldom
play out, where third-choice goalies have
proved important additions to squads.
It won’t be overstretched, though, to say that
Super Eagles fans must give thanks to the man
ahead of him for not allowing their darling
team be in a crucial position where Chigozie
Agbim needed to be called upon.
Remember that dying-minute reflex save by
Vincent Enyeama from Edin Dzeko’s header,
which preserved Nigeria’s lead, and win, at the
World Cup? If that was Agbim… let’s not even
go there.
The CHAN catastrophe is just a page in a
catalogue of his embarrassing displays.
I really don’t know how Agbim got into the
national team in the first place, but his time as
the first-pick from the local-based goalkeepers,
which is highly debatable and even laughable,
should end in 2015.
source : goal.com

Bros you well so?

edozie04:
Bros you well so?

May he is not, proof to me you are well by stating technical reason why all the 6 should remain in the team. Thanks

Dey should drop d whole of super eagles 1st eleven!

Bros you are on point with this list.

SUPER EAGLES - NAMES ON THE LIST = SUPER SHIT.... GOAL.COM HAS BEING TRYING TO KILL THE EAGLES SINCE THEIR BIRTH

the rest names no pain me mch ooh....except dis 2..... Azubuike Egwuekwe & Chigozie Agbim. xpecially dat Agbim of a boy, dy should replace him wit Alampasu

We need a complete set of defenders. The major culprits at the back are..
1-efe ambrose - he is so slow in pace, poor decision making, dribbles poorly and marks opponents weakly.. He could be drafted to central back..
2-juwon oshinawa-he make the team lose balance with his unnecessary runs. He usually lacks what to do up front exposing the defence..
3-Echiejele - he is yet to regain form after the injury that cost him a place at the world cup..
4-Egwueke - he has no business even in the under 17s.. He should be discarded.
I suggest that players like Musa Muhammad, Louis balogun and tiago ilori should be given a chance..
In the goal keeping department, chigozie agbim and Austin ejide should be replaced with immediate effect.. With the exit of Enyeama that goal keeping department will suffer..
In the middle of the park, hope akpan gives us hope in the middle.. We should settle for a mid field trio of mikel, onazi and hope akpan..
Emmanuel emenike goal drought is as a result of a non existing link between the midfield and the front men.. We miss Brown ideye. We need strikers who are intelligent and swift.. Football has gone beyond bullying opponents.. Emenike should step up his game, he has lost form.
I am of the opinion that younger players be given the opportunity to prove themselves..