freshest4live:

You just want to criticize my guy, it's your right though, criticism is good, you speak as though we haven't played the likes of Spain, Argentina or ltaly before.
Before now, l remember the hype of Basagog and the belief that he would skin our full backs alive, lol. The fact is we are not there yet, but you sir revel in this unnecessary overhype of opponents which many plastic fans are prone to.

I never, never hyped the camoorians. Of course I said Bassagog would eat Echejile, he did but Balogun came to our rescue but I never hyped them.

We have played Spain and Argentina recently, both ended in defeats

Humility017:

form your last paragraph@
why invite them to camp then if you believe they must not play?
our problem here in Africa is our conservative approach to issues...
we're allergic to change....
I repeat you will never know how good some of these SE bench warmers are..not until you give them a chance...

Does the coach not see them in the training camp?
Rohr for instance knows the abilities of his players.

Not every player called to camp must play. Not every player in the squad must play

Icon4s:


There are varying degrees of team rotation.
You cannot be presenting different starting 11 and expect to build a team

Yes we want the team to get better but a total rotation is a no-no.

The 1994 team had depth but we know the regular starters. Everyone even till date can list the starting 11 of that team.

Youth football is different from Senior football. So the reference to the Manu's U17 does not hold much water here. Football at the U17 level has to do more with the individual abilities of the players. Manu assembled a pool of players with great abilities that even when some players failed the MRI the others still performed. At this level individual abilities counts a lot.

You first need regulars before your team can achieve cohesion.
Cohesion matters a lot at senior level.

Yes we need the injection of fresh blood into the team but this must be a gradual process. It took Westerhoff 5 years to progress the team to what it was in 1994. We cannot become Spain, Germany, Brazil or France over night.

And let me correct one impression, everybody must not play.

Everybody must play. The only people that may be excused from that rule are goalies....but everyone else mist play.

And by rotation, surely you didn't think I meant a fresh starting XI?

I already stated earlier today that the team cannot afford too many new players and that we had 85% sorted.

Some regulars will play, but you must involve the bench. I already listed my team against Algeria and it was a blend of four regulars and seven benchers

some of us will be psyching these Spaniards etc oh and making our beloved SE players tremble, typing all this on Nairaland lol

Anyways my bro. Let me ask everyone, when was the last time we saw SE display such masterclass as a team? when? when o?

TheGoodJoe:


Where was Busquets when Mikel performed well against Spain? He forgot to reduce Mikel's effect in that game. Busquets was Looking so much I thought he was Lucozade.

Joebie:
Actually, you need both team work and individual brilliance to fare well especially against big teams. But I like to engage people in a more mature manner. Maybe if we both go back to watch the build up to all the goals we will come to one common conclusion.

Maybe its not the way he shouldave put it. Again, they might have been simply playing to instructions. but its WIP for now.

safarigirl:
Everybody must play. The only people that may be excused from that rule are goalies....but everyone else mist play.

And by rotation, surely you didn't think I meant a fresh starting XI?

I already stated earlier today that the team cannot afford too many new players and that we had 85% sorted.

Some regulars will play, but you must involve the bench. I already listed my team against Algeria and it was a blend of four regulars and seven benchers

EVERYBODY MUST NOT PLAY.

Mickael2:


I never, never hyped the camoorians. Of course I said Bassagog would eat Echejile, he did but Balogun came to our rescue but I never hyped them.

We have played Spain and Argentina recently, both ended in defeats

OK they ended in defeat but was it the 4-0 and 5-0 you talked about? And l remember we drew ltaly 2-2 not long ago.

Icon4s:


EVERYBODY MUST NOT PLAY.

Let's agree to disagree. They will all sha play before Russia, whether in WCQ or friendlies, everybody will play

Mickael2:


i just did and I think that what I said was an understatement. If we play like that against Spain they'd have us for breakfast everyday of the week and twice on sundays, not to mention Germany and Brazil.

The defeciencies in that game were quite open, and I will be using instances too.
From defence: if Isco drifts into Echejile's wing(even if Echejile is there he will still beat him silly, no brainer really) and has enough space to operate that will draw Balogun out of his wings like he did a lot of times(this should actually be Onazi's role but Balogun was doing it, nice against Cameroon but deadly against top teams) that creates a Spanish over-load in the middle and we all know Isco's decision making is top-notch, a quick pass into the middle(if he doesn't fancy his chances against Balogun one-on-one anyways,just ask the Italians) and they will surely create a chance, Enyeama can only do so much. This is the defence first of all.


Midfield: the spaces left by Onazi continously was an eyesore. Against Spain, we can count that as two assists for Iniesta wrapped in a gift bag and delivered promptly. Just drift in, receive a pass and do the damage, the worse part is that Onazi when he sees that he is out of position will come driving in, at the end there will be two players marking one player(Iniesta) and what does that mean? Another guy is free, creating more space and you can believe that Iniesta will pick that pass with perfection. This is how the midfield battle is won. With Mikel as our Amf and Busquets(probably the best DMF in the world or top 2 at least) holding him off trust me Mikel's impact will be reduced markedly, of course Mikel's brilliance may shine through once in a while but Busq gets the upper hand 90% of the time, now what happens when Mikel actually gets the upper hand? Read on

do you fancy Ideye's chances against Spain? I do not. Iheanacho stands a better chance. But then you are talking about two of the best CBs in the game against a young lad who is yet to cut it at club level, now that is not a great sight to behold. Now all they need to do is isolate Iheanacho from Moses and Moses will start trying to beat all the four defenders plus GK, result? No shot close to goal and when Moses is having a bad day our attack is too.

The defeciencies in our game like I said were clear, claiming that we stand a chance against Spain(Spain are vastly inferior to Germany or Brazil) is pure fantasy. Trust me the performance that Siaone's team gave against Argentina was actually better than this performance by far, that too against vastly superior opponent. Our best bet is to pray we follow Ghana's path, I fancy our chances against Uruguay and other mid-level teams but top teams? We don't have the players, the technical ability, the coach or even the facilities to attempt it

Chai! See how you make it look like we go chop 8 goals against Spain, Brazil, Germany etc.

Baba calm down. The worst that that performance can fetch us is conceding 3 goals. Due to:
1. Lack of experienced goalie
2. Echejile's lackluster performance.



I was making similar claim back in 2010 going into our first match against Argentina. I can remember how I was telling my dad then about how a star studded Argentina team which boast of a more lethal attack and defence than any of the above teams you are talking about will maul us. Telling him how Leo will single handedly crush the Eagles.



He told me that as much as Argentines are world football powers, Nigeria too are no minnows. He added that non of these countries will ever underrate us. Cos they know the kind of surprises Nigeria can pull. Then he capped it by saying 90mins will be the judge.



Lo, the match was played and to my surprised the much overhyped Argentina couldn't get past our goalkeeper more than once.



So bin this your claim. It is this type of believe/thought pattern the Zambians are seeing that is giving them unnecessary hope of pulling a South Africa against us.

Mickael2:


i just did and I think that what I said was an understatement. If we play like that against Spain they'd have us for breakfast everyday of the week and twice on sundays, not to mention Germany and Brazil.

The defeciencies in that game were quite open, and I will be using instances too.
From defence: if Isco drifts into Echejile's wing(even if Echejile is there he will still beat him silly, no brainer really) and has enough space to operate that will draw Balogun out of his wings like he did a lot of times(this should actually be Onazi's role but Balogun was doing it, nice against Cameroon but deadly against top teams) that creates a Spanish over-load in the middle and we all know Isco's decision making is top-notch, a quick pass into the middle(if he doesn't fancy his chances against Balogun one-on-one anyways,just ask the Italians) and they will surely create a chance, Enyeama can only do so much. This is the defence first of all.


Midfield: the spaces left by Onazi continously was an eyesore. Against Spain, we can count that as two assists for Iniesta wrapped in a gift bag and delivered promptly. Just drift in, receive a pass and do the damage, the worse part is that Onazi when he sees that he is out of position will come driving in, at the end there will be two players marking one player(Iniesta) and what does that mean? Another guy is free, creating more space and you can believe that Iniesta will pick that pass with perfection. This is how the midfield battle is won. With Mikel as our Amf and Busquets(probably the best DMF in the world or top 2 at least) holding him off trust me Mikel's impact will be reduced markedly, of course Mikel's brilliance may shine through once in a while but Busq gets the upper hand 90% of the time, now what happens when Mikel actually gets the upper hand? Read on

do you fancy Ideye's chances against Spain? I do not. Iheanacho stands a better chance. But then you are talking about two of the best CBs in the game against a young lad who is yet to cut it at club level, now that is not a great sight to behold. Now all they need to do is isolate Iheanacho from Moses and Moses will start trying to beat all the four defenders plus GK, result? No shot close to goal and when Moses is having a bad day our attack is too.

The defeciencies in our game like I said were clear, claiming that we stand a chance against Spain(Spain are vastly inferior to Germany or Brazil) is pure fantasy. Trust me the performance that Siaone's team gave against Argentina was actually better than this performance by far, that too against vastly superior opponent. Our best bet is to pray we follow Ghana's path, I fancy our chances against Uruguay and other mid-level teams but top teams? We don't have the players, the technical ability, the coach or even the facilities to attempt it

i don't have time to read all these, but just answer me this question,then u can continue with ur underrating SE,how many goals have Messi,(the greatest player of our time) scored against us.

Joebie:
some of us will be psyching these Spaniards etc oh and making our beloved SE players tremble, typing all this on Nairaland lol

Anyways my bro. Let me ask everyone, when was the last time we saw SE display such masterclass as a team? when? when o?

I have a few off the top of my head. A 4-1 mauling of the Malians who later defeated Ghana. 3-0 against Mozambique at the....2010? Afcon, they held us to a draw a few months before. The 3-1 humbling of Argentina. Oh and I can't forget the 2-1 defeat of Ivory Coast, the scores suggest a close game but the only shot/goal Ivory Coast had was from a Didier Drogba dive

Icon4s:


Does the coach not see them in the training camp?
Rohr for instance knows the abilities of his players.

Not every player called to camp must play. Not every player in the squad must play

then we should stop inviting 23 players...
it is outright nonsense when we already know those to play and those not to play...

this double standard leaves me surpised...
let me tell....You see some of those players i
on bench could have even done much better than some on the field that day...

even rohr with all due respect is not a world class coach per se....

Napoleon55:
i don't have time to read all these, but just answer me this question,then u can continue with ur underrating SE,how many goals have Messi,(the greatest player of our time) scored against us.

2goals in 2 games. If we count the U20 and Olympics we have 4 in 4, your point is?

safarigirl:
Let's agree to disagree. They will all sha play before Russia, whether in WCQ or friendlies, everybody will play

In fact, let me rephrase it: Everybody CANNOT play.

lol if instructions alone could bring such cohesion in any team, there would be no need for friendlies my friend. Let's just wake up in Russia and get it started..

I'd just advise us to watch the match again. Then we can continue this discussion. And im speaking of the Nigeria vs Cameroon game in Uyo.

daveP:
Maybe its not the way he shouldave put it. Again, they might have been simply playing to instructions. but its WIP for now.

Mickael2:


I never, never hyped the camoorians. Of course I said Bassagog would eat Echejile, he did but Balogun came to our rescue but I never hyped them.

We have played Spain and Argentina recently, both ended in defeats

We have passion and drive than those times. besides there was no team understanding then(reason why there were losts of misplaced passes against these 2teams. Iniesta did lots of that in the ucl and peeps said he was finished.) recall the game against tahiti? emphasis on team understanding each other. Balogun knew that and it saved the day.

AIG07:

Chai! See how you make it look like we go chop 8 goals against Spain, Brazil, Germany etc.

Baba calm down. The worst that that performance can fetch us is conceding 3 goals. Due to:
1. Lack of experienced goal keeper
2. Echejile's lackluster performance.

I was making similar claim back in 2010 going into our first match against Argentina. I can remember how I was telling my dad then about how a star studded Argentina team which boast of a more lethal attack and defence than any of the above teams you are talking about will maul us. Telling him how Leo will single handedly crush the Eagles.

He told me that as much as Argentinans are world football powers, Nigeria too are no minnows. He added that non of these countries will ever underrate us. Cos they know the kind of surprises Nigeria can pull. Then he capped it by saying 90mins will be the judge.

Lo, the match was played and to my surprised the much hyped Argentina couldn't get past our goalkeeper as expected.

So bin this your claim. It is this type of believe/thought pattern the Zambians are seeing that is giving them unnecessary hope of pulling a South Africa against us.

I am quite glad you mentioned that they couldn't get past our keeper. So our hope is our keeper? They totally outplayed us and could have been out of sight as early as the 10th minute but for our GK, is that the way forward? And against Spain we collected a serious thrashing

Humility017:


then we should stop inviting 23 players...
it is outright nonsense when we already know those to play and those not to play...

this double standard leaves me surpised...
let me tell....You see some of those players i
on bench could have even done much better than some on the field that day...

even rohr with all due respect is not a world class coach per se....

23 players being invited if for us to have depth in the squad. The regulars are always favorites to start. You cannot be rotating a starting 11 with every match. You will not have a TEAM.

Icon4s:


In fact, let me rephrase it: Everybody CANNOT play.

only two regulars in the last team have not played- Alampasu (goalie) and Aina....everyone else has played and anyone else being invited will still play.

All the outfield players will play. Watch and see

Joebie:
lol if instructions alone could bring such cohesion in any team, there would be no need for friendlies my friend. Let's just wake up in Russia and get it started..

I'd just advise us to watch the match again. Then we can continue this discussion. And im speaking of the Nigeria vs Cameroon game in Uyo.

To russia it is! sha happy there's a clearcut diff in our gameplay. thats what i'm tryna point out to mike.

We Neva qualify,, una Dae predict our quarterfinal's opponent

Mickael2:



I am quite glad you mentioned that they couldn't get past our keeper. So our hope is our keeper? They totally outplayed us and could have been out of sight as early as the 10th minute but for our GK, is that the way forward? And against Spain we collected a serious thrashing

they didnt outplay us.

Well it's a debate.. IMO, none of those performances you mentioned match the one in question. I can definitely go back to watch them again.

Mickael2:


I have a few off the top of my head. A 4-1 mauling of the Malians who later defeated Ghana. 3-0 against Mozambique at the....2010? Afcon, they held us to a draw a few months before. The 3-1 humbling of Argentina. Oh and I can't forget the 2-1 defeat of Ivory Coast, the scores suggest a close game but the only shot/goal Ivory Coast had was from a Didier Drogba dive

lol

Chrismario:
We Neva qualify,, una Dae predict our quarterfinal's opponent

Mickael2:



I am quite glad you mentioned that they couldn't get past our keeper. So our hope is our keeper? They totally outplayed us and could have been out of sight as early as the 10th minute but for our GK, is that the way forward? And against Spain we collected a serious thrashing

But if they dominated Germany or ltaly that same way to win by thesame one goal margin, would you criticize Germany this way? Wouldn't you say the Germans played a tactical game of defence /counter attack but lost marginally?

Mickael2:


i just did and I think that what I said was an understatement. If we play like that against Spain they'd have us for breakfast everyday of the week and twice on sundays, not to mention Germany and Brazil.

The defeciencies in that game were quite open, and I will be using instances too.
From defence: if Isco drifts into Echejile's wing(even if Echejile is there he will still beat him silly, no brainer really) and has enough space to operate that will draw Balogun out of his wings like he did a lot of times(this should actually be Onazi's role but Balogun was doing it, nice against Cameroon but deadly against top teams) that creates a Spanish over-load in the middle and we all know Isco's decision making is top-notch, a quick pass into the middle(if he doesn't fancy his chances against Balogun one-on-one anyways,just ask the Italians) and they will surely create a chance, Enyeama can only do so much. This is the defence first of all.


Midfield: the spaces left by Onazi continously was an eyesore. Against Spain, we can count that as two assists for Iniesta wrapped in a gift bag and delivered promptly. Just drift in, receive a pass and do the damage, the worse part is that Onazi when he sees that he is out of position will come driving in, at the end there will be two players marking one player(Iniesta) and what does that mean? Another guy is free, creating more space and you can believe that Iniesta will pick that pass with perfection. This is how the midfield battle is won. With Mikel as our Amf and Busquets(probably the best DMF in the world or top 2 at least) holding him off trust me Mikel's impact will be reduced markedly, of course Mikel's brilliance may shine through once in a while but Busq gets the upper hand 90% of the time, now what happens when Mikel actually gets the upper hand? Read on

do you fancy Ideye's chances against Spain? I do not. Iheanacho stands a better chance. But then you are talking about two of the best CBs in the game against a young lad who is yet to cut it at club level, now that is not a great sight to behold. Now all they need to do is isolate Iheanacho from Moses and Moses will start trying to beat all the four defenders plus GK, result? No shot close to goal and when Moses is having a bad day our attack is too.

The defeciencies in our game like I said were clear, claiming that we stand a chance against Spain(Spain are vastly inferior to Germany or Brazil) is pure fantasy. Trust me the performance that Siaone's team gave against Argentina was actually better than this performance by far, that too against vastly superior opponent. Our best bet is to pray we follow Ghana's path, I fancy our chances against Uruguay and other mid-level teams but top teams? We don't have the players, the technical ability, the coach or even the facilities to attempt it

did u know that we have defeated Spain in a WC game,where were all their barca and real madrid players then with their technical ability?,oga stop pretending as lf u know jack about football,we have never been disgraced by any big team in a world cup game.

Mickael2:



I am quite glad you mentioned that they couldn't get past our keeper. So our hope is our keeper? They totally outplayed us and could have been out of sight as early as the 10th minute but for our GK, is that the way forward? And against Spain we collected a serious thrashing

the team late keshi took to the confed weren't even close to the team that won afcon'13 which wasn't even made of the best crop of players we had then. Yet they could only get three past us.

Here you are making SEs look like a team from some faraway Faroe Island or Seychelles wey Spain go turn to training materials.

daveP:
We have passion and drive than those times. besides there was no team understanding then(reason why there were losts of misplaced passes against these 2teams. Iniesta did lots of that in the ucl and peeps said he was finished.) recall the game against tahiti? emphasis on team understanding each other. Balogun knew that and it saved the day.

we actually played very well against Spain but that's why they are a top team, ruthless. We totally outplayed Uruguay but we lost. That's the thing, top teams punish you for any mistake

Napoleon55:
did u know that we have defeated Spain in a WC game,where were all their barca and real madrid players then with their technical ability?,oga stop pretending as lf u know jack about football,we have never been disgraced by any big team in a world cup game.

Exactly.

Icon4s:


23 players being invited if for us to have depth in the squad. The regulars are always favorites to start. You cannot be rotating a starting 11 with every match. You will not have a TEAM.

chief Icons4......to be honest you see these players individual abilities many a time is what wins matches for us...
how many days do they have to train and adapt to tactics...prior matches?
the players are just reactionary and their skilfully endowed....that has been working for us....

I believe aina would have fare better and lived up to expectation had it been he played that return let against Cameroon...

we need to start playing him if we must get others...we believe can contribute something postively to the SE....


his success wit the SE will go convince the rest

AIG07:
the team late keshi took to the confed weren't even close to the team that won afcon'13 which wasn't even made of the best crop of players we had then. Yet they could only get three past us.

Here you are making SEs look like a team from some faraway Faroe Island or Seychelles wey Spain go turn to training materials.

the match ended 4 goals to nothing and they had already qualified and were conserving energy

daveP:
they didnt outplay us.

even Maradona attested to this. We gave them a run for their money.

A team which had the likes of Tevez, Messi, Aguero, Milito, Samuel, Heinze, etc.