₦airaland Forum

I beg to differ.

Schemerkhiz:
Halftime:
Nigeria 0-0 South Africa

Poor first half by our standard. Falcons are playing like a team without any pattern.

Midfield is almost non existent

They really need to improve if they are to win this game.


Okobi will definitely solve the attacking Midfield problem... Why will Coach Randy play Chikwelu at first, then even move her higher in the pitch? Remove Chikwelu, leave Ayinde in DM for more time and bring in Ucheibe later.. Bring in Okobi and move Ajibade to central Midfield things will get better..

Okobi is worse, she is a ball-hog.
She will be no different from Chikwelu

olapluto:
Chikwelu was never going to make any impact against a top team. She's not a DM, she's not helping the attack too.
A goal to SA will expose us so bad. Just remove Chikwelu and put Okobi to force issues.

Blame him for what exactly?
Not letting Oshoala play at her optimal?
This is on Oshoala, not the coach.

isan:
Blame the coach not oshoala

She needs to be more assertive - don't think she is pulling her weight.
She is making Onumonu do more work that she ought to.

The two below average players so far are Chikwelu and then Oshoala.

isan:
What do you want her to do ?

Looks like she has settled in
Good performance.

justicechichex:
Maybe the best SF in this half..

Bullshit call by the ref. Absolute BS.
Alozie played all ball

Alozie is really playing Kgatlana well.
Thats how you render her ineffective.

Chikwelu needs to go. Really has done nothing all game long.

Alozie seems out of sorts - not picking up her marker and constantly making wrong passes.
She needs to settle down

Looks more like a 3-5-2, with Alozie and Payne being the wingbacks.
My concern is the lack of pace in the center, with Chikwelu and Ayinde not being pacy - especially Chikwelu.
Only change I would make is Ucheibe for Chikwelu, which may happen in the 2nd half.
Altogether, not a bad lineup.

lakesidepapa:
5-3-2?

Watching the replay of the Morocco build up to the freekick leading to the goal, the pass given to the Moroccan that was allegedly fouled should have been flagged for offside, as she was at least a foot offside.
The Burkinabes were CLEARLY robbed!

As expected, the BS has started.
Why was there a need to replay the freekick? The initial freekick, which was located closer to the goal, resulted in a save by the keeper.
The VAR check was not a penalty and was confirmed.
So, why didn't the ref just continue with play? Why the need to replay the freekick?
The burkinabes were just robbed, big time!

So why on earth is she on the list, at the expense of someone fitter?
The girl has been on a decline and has not been active for quite sometime.
This makes no sense whatsoever...unless she is an 'alternate' to the list of 23, in which case, she has zero chance of making the final 23, since the tournament has pretty much started.

Schemerkhiz:
Chidinma Okeke was no.25, but can't play due to injury...

You're right.
Rumblings had been in the works for Semanya for quite a while, prior to the Olympics. It was only a matter of time.
Same thing happened to the Equitorial Guinea women's team at one time, with Bilguisa and Salimata Simpore going through similar accusations, forcing them to withdraw from the team.
These things never end well and Zambia should have anticipated this kind of uproar.

lovewins:
Not necessarily. Semanya has been in the spotlite for this matter for quite some time now. Also worth nothing is the fact that most of the individuals in this situation that get the most attention usually engage in an individual sport. Recently, the swimming and cycling world federation have had to made similar pronouncements cause of this.

A team sport like football probably shielded Banda, but with increasing attention, Banda was bound to go through this sooner or later.

FIFA does not control the Olympics. The IOC does.
Even they also are cracking down, the case of SA 800m runner Caster Semanya come to mind.

This is about leveling the playing field for women. It’s unfair to have individuals with abnormal levels of testosterone competing as/with women, when they should be competing with men, from a medical standpoint. FairPlay is FairPlay.

GeneralDae:
If FIFA had no problem with her playing the Olympics, then why should CAF?

Spot on.
That lady is so vastly experienced in women's football, having actually coached the USWNT with the late Tony DiCicco during their dominant years. Truth is the Super Falcons are very lucky to have her as one of the coaches.
The Nigerian coaches in camp will learn a ton from her coaching methods and strategy sessions. The team also stands to benefit from her also.
She is very authoritative - like you, I also heard her speak in one session during the Summer series and she is certainly a no nonsense lady.

Schemerkhiz:
Lauren Gregg (61yrs) is a retired soccer player who played as a midfielder UNC. She was the first-ever female assistant coach for any of the United States' national teams between 1987 and 2000, she was an interim head coach of the United States women's national soccer team in 1997 and 2000. As head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Virginia from 1986 to 1995, Gregg was the first woman to lead a team to the NCAA Division I Final Four and to be named NSCAA Coach of the Year..

Lauren Gregg have worked with top coaches in the women's game including Tony DiCicco.
They were both assistant in the USWNT. She has handled the biggest Women National Team in the World as an interim head coach in two separate years.. (1997 and 2000)
She's very proactive. I heard her speak during one of their training at the Summer Series last year. She was very Loud and fluent.. Maybe one of these days while watching the Falcons play you would hear her Speak..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZICnemG5Oo

I thought Randy's feedback he provided to Mbadi was spot on.
She needs to step out of her comfort zone and play alot quicker.
Her performance against Canada really solidified what Waldrum was saying.
Wish her the best in her quest to become a mainstay member of the SF

Schemerkhiz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXJUIhMfi4

Thinking out loud here...
The key to besting the SA team is neutralizing their midfield. That seems to be their strongest suite and where their plays originate from.
If Randy is able to do this, by flooding the midfield with 5 players, it would help make the game a lot easier for us. Specifically, playing a 3-5-2 formation will help us accomplish this. He can start off with this formation and then switch up, as the game progresses and as Ellis adjusts her strategy also.
My suggested starting lineup will be the following:

Oluehi - Ohale, Onome, Plumptre - Otu, Ucheibe - Payne, Rash, Ordega - Oshoala, Onumonu

**looks like Nnadozie might be on suspension due to yellow card accumulation (vs. Ghana and Ivory Coast, per Coach Randy).
We do have the luxury of an extremely deep enough bench to alter the game as we please.

Schemerkhiz:
If I were Coach Randy Waldrum Christy Ucheibe will start ahead of Otu and Chikwelu at defensive midfield as she's more combative and work tirelessly... Even at her young age she comes in with a lot of experience playing topflight football... This is a player who have grown from U17,U20 and now the Superfalcons... Let's keep our head high..

I wouldn't be that generous, to be honest.
Very far from impressed with her play.

Schemerkhiz:
Yeah yeah yeah, Glory Ogbonna is my major concern in the defence, to me she is still very much average in every aspect of her game… Anyway Randy knows best!

What expectations were the trainers talking about? Has Glory Ogbonna lived up to those expectations?
I feel they are just making excuses, as something fishy is going on.

Schemerkhiz:
Patricia George was not injured when the list came out, She missed some number of invitations too. Again she hasn’t lived up to expectations according to insiders from the Superfalcon training Camp…

Hope this will be a good coming out party for Christy - I really liked her performance against Canada, especially in the second half, as she looked quite the part.
With the return of Halimat Ayinde, I think we might just have the strongest and most complete midfielders we have ever had at a tournament.

Will really miss Esther Okoronkwo - she would have exploded in this tourney. Wish her speedy recovery.

Deltamani:
Great point… Esther Okoronkwo is among Superfalcons top5 strikers right now..

I really want to see how the SA and rest team face the likes of Ifeoma Onumonu, Rasheedat Ajibade, Tony Payne, Ashleigh Plumptre and few others as they weren’t available for the Aisha Buhari Cup last year… Even Experience and Strong defender Osinachi Ohale wasn’t around too…

Christy Ucheibe another player..

Agree. She hasn’t really stood out for me either.

Also think Monday Gift was incredibly fortunate that both Esther Okoronkwo and Desire Oparanozie were no-shows, as there is no way she would have made the squad.

Deltamani:
Charity Adule making the list would have been a Shock to me.. either in Midfield or Attack.! Her performance for the Superfalcons right from the Turkish Cup down to the Summer Series haven’t been impressive…

If that’s the case, then my bad!
Was thinking SuperFalcons, as the other competitions are still months away.

Again, my bad!

isan:
I think he's talking about the U20 women

I’m sure the NFF will arrange sessions for them before the U20 WWC kicks off

solonnachi:
Preparation should be intensive. These girls should be made to play quality Grade A friendlies with top teams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TeCgYEVl_o

La Decima!!!

Vamos, SuperFalcons!!

Maclean's Highlights:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OirxmxBfdsQ

Summary:
Reminds me of Desire Oparanozie, with a bit more pace, but a slightly less imposing version of her.
Not quite the dribbling skills, but decent off the ball running and positional play.
Seems to be able to put the ball in the net - and has got a decent shot with both feet.
An acceptable 'like-for-like' replacement for Desire Oparanozie.

If you looked at the totality and quality of our preparations over the past 12 or so months, it by far exceeds that of ANY other team on the continent.

The pre-tournament preps now should be low impact, which is what Randy is doing now.

No need for friendlies - they are not going to prove anything that he doesn’t already know.

solonnachi:
Are we really serious and ready for this tournament? Countries like RSA, Morocco, Cameroon even Senegal have been preparing with friendly games but some of our players are not even in camp. May God help us

It’s like this forum has started to become pro-Zambian….I thought the intent was to recognize and uplift OUR LADIES.

I mean, who really gives a toss about Zambia? Sorry, but I have zero respect for all those African teams parading men disguised as women.

My question was rhetorical and not a challenge to your comment.

solonnachi:
Please I used the condition of IF....

Tanzania U17 Team
I beg, how is that #7 U17? And how the heck is that not a grown arse man?
We really need to stop deceiving ourselves as a continent.

If she really is this good, how come you can't find any video clips of her in action?

solonnachi:
If the Harmony girl is good, then Bankole Olowookere should bring her in. Ajakaye is the only main striker which is not too good