₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
He has played alongside Onyedika a few times before and it worked. Why? because Onyeka is more concerned with the defensive duties and tracking down opponents. His job is to disrupt.

Onyedika on the other hand is more concerned with control and ball progression/distribution.

Both have what the other lacks and Onyedika best functions in a double pivot where his partner does more of the dirty work while he operates as the metronome.

This is why they compliment each other whenever paired together as seen vs Mozambique in 2023, Ghana in 2024, Russia in 2025 and recently in the final 30mins vs Portugal this year.


The problem with either is this:

While Onyeka is a beastly transitions disruptor in the middle, he is limited on the ball. So when we need a ball-playing, ball-carrying, ball progressive midfield disruptor, he falls short big time.

While Onyedika is a technically sound ball playing midfielder, he is quite lame or timid in physical battles. He does not assert himself enough defensively and physically so when we need a physically intensive ball playing midfield progressor, he falls short too.

So if I understand you correctly, a midfield trio of Iwobi, onyeka and Onyedika will dlbe ideal??

But doesn't that leave onyeka with the bulk of the defensive responsibilities??

Thesupernerd, I know say you no be the coach but if you were given the final say on the formation the SE should use and the players to be deployed in the midfield, what's your preference??

Odunayaw:
Tolu started well. The Libya, Zimbabwe and Rwanda games were a roll of good performance. I think he started getting judged harshly after the DRC game.

Onyeka excels everytime he is the lone beast of burden in the middle.

We need ball carriers. You're quite r8ght in that Onyeka is a good tackler but that's not enough for us to win games currently

But if we can put him.together with good ball playing MFs (a box-to-box and then a good playmaker), he'll thrive.

Tolu...I really don't know men. His technical ability is poor and he isn't agile enough. Playing him as a lone striker is a recipe for failure because he offers little upfront. He has his strengths on his good days though

Odunayaw:
Tolu started well. The Libya, Zimbabwe and Rwanda games were a roll of good performance. I think he started getting judged harshly after the DRC game.

Onyeka excels everytime he is the lone beast of burden in the middle.

We need ball carriers. You're quite r8ght in that Onyeka is a good tackler but that's not enough for us to win games currently

But if we can put him.together with good ball playing MFs (a box-to-box and then a good playmaker), he'll thrive.

Joebie:
I have always been of the opinion that the SE should be very competitive. But you can't just stop inviting a player after a bad game. There should be someone in the bench always fighting to start and that player should get his chance if the regular starter does not deliver the goods

Some players are serial underperformers

Tolu Arokodare
Taiwo Awoniyi
Frank Onyeka post-2023
Semi Ajayi - Not sold on him and I don't know why he starts

SymphonyRad:
You just spoke my mind,it's a utter joke how the media keeps making lame excuses for this bunch of overpampered players. Only Bassey gave his all on the pitch that day while the rest were just utterly useless, even the so called captain of the team was invisible and cowering like a deadbeat coward while Bassey was all over the place trying to passionately motivate the team, shouting at Bruno who kept making silly mistakes and putting the defence under constant pressure. It's a sad drop-off how we went from passionate captains like Sunday Oliseh, Stephen Keshi etc to Ndidi.

Honestly any Nigerian fan or journalist who still defends these players after all the heartbreaks they've put us through time and time again must either love torture, or is getting paid to whitewash them. After 2 world cup disappointments, I just gave up...if we don't qualify for this AFCON next year, God will punish the generation of any journalist or fan who opposes a complete overhaul of the team. I don't mind if we decide to use the U23 boys and other young decent prospects home and abroad to rebuild all over again.

This was succinctly put and this nearly have me an orgasm

There's no excuse for that loss. A draw would've been easy to.seallow but a loss and a 3:0 loss at that??

Haba, you can't be a logical person and still blame the pitch or any other thing

The team and the whole football set up in Nigeria needs an overhaul

Franktom247:
To me the pitch excuse is nonsense and hogwash

Did the pitch affect Adams from making a 2m pass in that second half counter or Awoniyi running up and down during the first half without direction or Bruno being easily dribbled in the first goal we conceded and his other lapses that made Bassey to yell at him

The players are cowards to say the least

They all know Africa is under developed if they are not ready to give their all there a thousand and more people ready to give their all they should make way for them

If Bissau can be excellent in that so-called potato farm what is the chance they will turn out to be worse or bad and be easily beaten by this toothless eagles on a better pitch that's if ours is even better

Gbam!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be like you go send aza abeg

Napoleon55:
The ex internationals are not the ones running Nigerian football,and we are better off if they were the ones at the helm of affairs in our football irrespective of the bias some of you have against them.

If Chelle fails to qualify us for world cup,then it's a good sign he probably won't be able to qualify us for world cup, so it's a legit reason to sack him if they do.
He has failed to qualify us for the world cup when all the ball was on his court, all he had to do was to win the most important matches.
We can't afford to miss WC for the third time straight，anyone perceived not to be to deliver the WC sloth should be shown the exit door.

Chelle is not the best coach we can find out there if we look hard enough.
Not until Chelle is able to win some of the powerhouse teams in Africa convincingly,i won't be completely sold on him.

You are right

elyte89:
Our midfield is d problem …we can’t keep continue doing the same thing and expect diff results

D midfield combinations has achieved next to nothing in d span of 12years( 2world cup failures, no afcon trophies) .. Chelle needs to be brutal and sack some midfielders,or else dis player’s performance will sack him in no distant future

In fact, I can tell you that the current football leadership which includes some ex internationals won't think twice before sacking him.because they favor an indigenous coach

He has to use his tongue to count his teeth else, they'll find a good reason to relieve him of his job

It's as bas as, even if he wins all his remaining games and fails to qualify, they will sack him and I don't want that,. I'm not even sure we can win all our remaining games

Napoleon55:
The bad pitch excuse some people are giving for this type of scandalous loss is not an excuse,
because countries like Morocco,Senegal and CIV could still go there and beat them convincingly on the same pitch, and they all play in Europe same as our players.

Na the players and coaches knows what's the problem why they have to let GB trash them like this.

If we are to move forward and reclaim our status,the NFF should take our youth teams very serious as part the rebuilding process.
Our U17,U20 and U23 is the foundation.
When our youth teams performs excellently at the world cups,the standout players got signed by European clubs,eventually it rubs off on our senior team,coupled with some excellent foreign borns,there would be plenty of good players to select and form a formidable squad.

When the Super Eagles qualify for world cup and performs well at the world,that's when the top clubs won't have choice but to sign them.
It is particularly hard for Nigerian players to get signed by top clubs these days,so if the super eagles players have any ambitious of playing for top clubs, doing well at the world cup is the key.

If we don't have at least one,two or three of players playing for big clubs,as big footballing nation,it would be difficult for us to dominate and win trophies,other countries won't fear and respect us as one of the powerhouses.

If Brazil for instance don't have some their players as one of the best of best players in the world,a Balon d’or worthy kind,it would be difficult for them to win the World cup.
A big footballing nation should have their players at some of the best clubs in the world.

Mr Joebie and co want you to believe that the kind of players we have are good enough and don't matter
.
I've said it hat we have only 3 good and reliable players in that team. This isn't a number that can guarantee you trophies...

benji93:
You this man with "coulda not", "woulda not". You mostly ignored the most important part of my post. It's completely independent of whether Morocco gets beat or not. Let's say Morocco beats Guinea Bissau 10 out of 10 times.It doesn't change the fact that our side was far more talented that that team and still got thrashed, which means that there are other important issues that must be addressed to create a consistently dominant team.

Okay Benjamin

You've piqued my curiosity with your last sentence

Can you name 10.issues that need to.be addressed in the current Super Eagles team?

I can bet you, at least 6 out of those 10.issues you'll raise will.be tied to personnel issues

Which brings me back to my earlier submission, these home-grown guys lack proper football education and it shows

Person go look this one finish call am striker.

Chaiiii

TheSuperNerd:
😂😂😂

I deserve to be mocked for my Ebenezer Akinsanmiro takes

The ones we have currently no he am.abeg

TheSuperNerd:
Who does? Akinsanmiro was not invited na. 😅

But wait ooo... Elfy... na u dey talk of more faith in "overhyped", "overrated" Akinsanmiro? Nwakali 2.0 according to you??

What is going on here? 😂

Bro, I will take an Nwakali 2.0 over Frank Onyeka and Ndidi abeg

Meliforme:
They also have the money to get good coaches, and they have the infrastructure to attract FB players.
How many FB players would be motivated to play for Nigeria, seeing the kind of pitches they play on.

I hope the pitch quality and the quality of our football coverage won't affect our players self esteem when they get back to their respective clubs.

I was surprised when they still chose Uyo against Madagascar when we had a better pitch in lagos

EElopa:
Inter Milan is a big club and if you are a coach at Inter Milan you are expected to win Seria A and be a contender at the champions league. Expectations like these makes it extremely difficult for coaches to trust and give young players an opportunity to play, make mistakes, learn from it and continue to develop thier games. You can not really write off a 21 year old midfielder. It is way too early. There are tangibles that I look at in a player before making an informed conclusion on that particular player. Akinsanmiro have everything to to be a proper midfielder now whether it comes to fruition is all up to Ebenezer Akinsanmiro.

You're right

Maybe I should hav3 more faith in the lad

Let's see what he does against Russia

minsfelix2:
Oga if you don lose hope, lose your hope in peace... yesterday was not any yeye decider, there are still 4more matches to play....Even when we are leading the group, the usual YOU that we all know will still be scared that we might not qualify..so forget abeg

K

AndSunGorilla:
My brother, when you are well panel beaten, sense must come by force. I hope he learns from this humbling. Truth is, some peeps are not happy with his new revised salary. So he had better not lose guard.

Exactly

Especially those ex-internationals advertising betting up and down wey tdey look for juicy appointments

Meliforme:
So Fidelis Ilechukwu's appointment is pure politics.
Fidelis Ilechukwu is the most successful manager of the final stretch of this decade. Beyond his two league titles with Enugu Rangers, he built a massive reputation by guiding modest side MFM FC to a historic second-place finish in 2017 and replication of that feat with Plateau United in 2022.

Blueelf, you are just a talkative.

Yes

AndSunGorilla:
On a serious note, Chelle should really reflect on this loss. He has to look into the mirror and take a long hard look at himself and his tactics. Chelle had a free hand to invite the players he wanted, he is not new to them, he selected the team for the game and decided on the team's set-up. Am not calling for his sack o, but there are lessons to be learned for sure and I hope he learns them well.

Meanwhile when is our match against Russia?

You dey make sense these days oo
😂😂😂😂😂

But on a more serious note, majority if the blame goes to him

For me, I don't see any coach using 442 diamond in this modern era

AndSunGorilla:
Also for the Russia, do we know if we are facing the Russian 1st team? If it's the first team, we should manage our expectations for the Russia game. It's more of the U23 players with a sprinkling of some our pensioners.

I have no expectations for that game

In fact. I'm more excited at seeing what those news guys have to offer and what formation tweaks chelle has up his sleeves than I am about scoreline

minsfelix2:
Decider? Really?...2 out of 6matches?...that cannot be a decider naaa...we are not languishing at the bottom naa...Bro if you ask Madagascar they will tell you dey are happy for Nigeria loss, cos if Nigeria had gotten a 6pts and leaving GNB on 3pts it will be hard for them to catch up... Madagascans will still fancy their chances to qualify for afcon

Usually in hindsight, when all matches have been played in qualifiers, that's when Niverians realize that sos so game as the decider

See, in qualifiers, you take every game seriously because you don't know which one may seal your faith. That's submission

I am not doing back and forth with you on this today please

EElopa:
Al Hassan to me is a slightly better version of Ndidi. He is not a world beater but he has energy, can cover ground, pass the ball comfortably and most importantly is technically better than Ndidi. I don't think he is the solution to our midfield problems but I will take him in a heartbeat over Ndidi. The good news is that Tim Iroegbunam and Lesley Ugochukwu paperworks are being processed as I type. Tochukwu Nnadi, Lesley Ugochukwu and Tim Iroebgunam should definitely end Wilfred Ndidi era in the supereagles. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is not a finished article. Do you know why Inter Milan signed him in the first place? They signed him because of his technical quality. He is comfortable on the ball, can run with the ball, good close control, great first touch and a good passing range. He is 21 years old and can still get better.

So why didn't he stay at inter??
Why didn't inter retain him despite loaning him out??

See that's the point bro. E be like say I get something for mind for the guy but I really don't

The guy no just good as una tout am

minsfelix2:
You for say make we no play qualifiers again na...You are trialing by 3pts and -2GD you say make we no get small hope abi?...This is not like the world cup group where Osimhen joined the race while we were at the bottom 2 with 6teams on 3pts...Waking up to the right mentality we should start playing good game...abi no b the same super eagles guys went to Rwanda and won 2-0, went to Lesotho 2-1, beat Benin 4-0 and dispatch teams at the Afcon?...baba na spark and ginger this lazy guys need to get up and running, if we put pressure on the chase, GNB may likely fragment, they are not SA or CIV or DRC... except if Chelle has lost his lucks and tactics

We can't drop out na

But you'll agree with me that that game was a decider

Just as we lost or drew game decoders in the last WCQ

Must wr always make mistakes and then resort to calculator everytime, it's annoying bro

yinkeys:
Like you can do any better
Many people here are failed footballers who never made it pro or just fans who can only take action with their sweet mouth
No abuse my naija midfielder o
What you’re doing ain’t constructive at all
Just beer parlour noise post drinking

You're a proper 🤡

I d9nt expect better from you

minsfelix2:
Nigerians are playing in weak leagues...GNB wey beat us yesterday dey play for Barca,Madrid,Mancity abi?
This crop of eagles are just too lazy, toothless, cowards, and lacks character abeg.
If everyone can add that aggression we see in defense like Bassey and in attack like Osimhen we won't be losing 3-0 to GNB...if it were CIV or Senegal beating us 3-0 I will agree it's due to them having players playing in top leagues against our boys playing in weak leagues

I agree with you on this

We weren't inferior in terms of ability. We just lacked the right tactics and hunger

123jamessmith:
I was really worried, when I saw the list of players call, with only 4 midfielders. The coach is still relying on onyeka, ndidi,and iwobi midfield trio, because they somehow exceed in Afcon.
It needs to start injecting new players in the midfield.
I will always start frank onyeka instead of ndidi in DM.
Onyeka cover more ground, and tackle very well.
Anyway, let's keep our fingers cross, and hope we somehow get the ticket from this group.

Do you watch football bro??
Ndidi is better than frank bar physicality and that's because Ndidi isn't as strong as he was because of age
Frank is just a headless chicken that doesn't know what to do with the ball

TheSuperNerd:
From the Russia Friendly List....

In Goal, I hope Chelle will be brave here and risk dropping Nwabali. Let us see Atata or James. I dont get what Nwabali's problem is with "diving" all of a sudden.

Okoye was the plan for this AfconQs window obviously with Nwabali to play the friendly. The list reveals that much but then the Club Media Duty of Maduka and the "wait to see Cardi B" again happened... and Chelle switched from Okoye to Nwabali for the qualifiers.


With Bruno's mess at LB vs GNB, Isaac James just made his audition a must watch. He will likely start vs Russia ahead of Kenneth Igboke. Will he fail or will he shine? Time will tell.

At RB, Bright struggled all game vs GNB so it would be nice to see Abdullahi Bewene again. Bewene's debut went very well vs Poland and he was also solid when he replaced Christian Akpan vs Portugal in the 2nd 45. A chance to further reinforce his place as a solid RB option.

At CB, Bassey's best partner remains Benjamin Frederick who is just returning from a troubling knee problem. So in Bassey's absence, it is either Frederick starts here alongside Fernandez OR Fernandez pairs Akpe Victory with Frederick to come in later.

In midfield, may Chelle spare us the Ndidi/Onyedika show and unleash the new guys. Already spoken on this earlier.

We need to see these lads in action.

Wilfried and Ridwan are CDM profiles.

Chibuzo Nwoko is a left footed versatile midfielder who can play DM, CM/Box-to-box.

Stephen Fumen Michael is a CM.

Mubarak is a CAM/Box-to-Box CM. Top workrate too.

Aderemi Adeoye is a local talent playing in the NPFL and bound to form the core of the U23 Eagles midfield due to availability. He is a CDM with setpiece ability.


In attack, bench Akor. I no wan see am. Blend the young lads like Edokpolor (a forward who can play centrally and on the channels) and Umar Abubakar with Simon Moses and let us see.

Abdullahi Umar... I have seen him but I dont exactly rate him bigger than Stanley Iheanacho and other U23 forwards but we will see.

Kelechi Iheanacho? Well, with the nonsense shown by Lookman and Akor lately, it makes you wonder. Lol

In all, this Russia game is a game to properly assess the new guys most especially at LB and in midfield. Really dont care about the result at this point.

Burst my head bro

I don't always agree with you but his breakdown was a masterpiece!!!

I'm highly pained but we move

Also, what formation would you prefer chelle uses. That diamond formation is archaic, you know

EElopa:
Eric Chelle i beg you in jesus name can you please move away from Ndidi and Onyeka. There is nothing of any substantial we can achieve on the global stage with Ndidi and Onyeka playing midfield for Nigeria. Emotions are high today but like i said earlier this could actually be a disguise in the sky. Going forard

Goalkeepers
Maduka Okoye
Author Okoronkwo
Stanley Nwabili
First choice should be a fight between Okoye and Maduka. If a good prospect emerges or become available, drop Nwabali. Staley Nwabali is old and is not really getting any better.

Defenders

Right Backs
Starter - Ola Aina
Back up - He will need to get a backup for Ola Aina.
Candidates Bewene Abdullahi, Christian Akpan and Ryan Alebiosu

Left Backs
Starter - Bruno Onyemachi: I don't really rate him highly, but he is the best we currently have.
Back up - Zaidu Sanusi: If he is on form, I don't really mind him starting.
- I will watch the new left back Issac James to see what he brings to the table. I am completely open for him to become a starter if he impresses.

Center backs
Starters : Benjamin Fedricks and Calvin Bassey
Back ups Emmanuel Fernandez Chibuike Nwaiwu and Victory Akpe

Midfielders
Eric Chelle needs to fix this midfield: Alex Iwobi, Dele Bashiru, Tochukwu Nnadi, Ebenezer Akinsamiro, Alhassan Yusuf, Rafael Onyedika. If we can get Francis Onyeka and Lesley Ugochukwu then I will drop Rafael Onyedika and Yusuf.

Wingers
Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Yohanna Zadok, and Femi Aziz

Strikers
Victor Oshimhen
George Illenikhena
Gift Orban

I agree with you almost 100%

Zaidu is a taboo please. With all due respect, never mention that guys name again among professionals

Ebenezer akinsanmiro isn't as good as you guys tout him to be. I'm not seeing the hype honestly

Al hassan yusuf in 2026?? Haba na giy!!!!!!

minsfelix2:
I know our boys might not win all the matches..in the remaining 4games I see a 3win and 1 draw or worst still 2wins, 2draws....in same vein GNB will not win all their matches, those guys are not SA, they will goof some where, either away to Madagascar or even home to Tanzania..they will drop point las las drawing Tanzania in their home and drawing or losing to Madagascar away..make we dey watch

Una don open this una rubbish calculator

Guess what, not every team has a poor mentality like the SE

It's also possible the guineas wikln the remainder of all their games too, abi you think that those boys haven't been energised by what happened

minsfelix2:
I wanna see that Bewene,Naiwu,Benjamin Frederick pairing with Bassey at the defense...we need young boys that wanna make name abeg...all those Ajayi should be retiring alongside with Ekong, even Osayi...Since after Afcon 2023 Ola Aina has been playing rubbish for super eagles, since after Lookman won the AFPOTY he has been playing rubbish in super eagles, nobody should come and bug me with "Lookman is a tournament player" baba Lookman and Akor thrived at Afcon simply because of Osimhen's presence...go and watch all our Afcon from 2023 to 2025, Osimhen's darting runs and bullying runs draws defense to him leaving space for Akor/Lookman to have a good Afcon campaign...abeg bring in Femi Azeez,Zadok Yohana let's young hungry boys come and show themselves biko.

Just watch as all of them will go back to their clubs now and start scoring mumu goals especially that girl striker with pink lips...

I don't even wanna talk about the Russia friendly.. Iheanacho has been scoring for Bursapors, just put him vs Russia, na so he go dey open mouth like elede

Tolu arokodare

A very useless player

Franktom247:
What happened to the Nigerian assistant coaches to Chelle?

I still woke up pissed with yesterday's game Guinea Bissau beating Nigeria like Malawi beating Super Falcons

Football is going into comatose in this country

The former or chased Nff President will just be laughing at home

Those Nigerian assistant coaches are crap

Those positions given to them were purely political and to probably suit aggrieved parties because Those guys are very poor mentally and tactically

Anything Nigerian and local just pisses me off at this point

SymphonyRad:
Players that need to phased out:

Ndidi
Onyeka
Akor
Osayi-Samuel
Ajayi
Simon Moses
Awoniyi

Players that should be on probation:

Lookman
Chukwueze
Iwobi

Players that should be introduced:
Any of the U23 players that impress against Russia
Gift Orban
Tim Iroegbunam
Akinsanmiro
(Feel free to add more)

Ozoh

Erharon - I heard it'll be difficult to get him

Dapo afolayan to give lookman a competition for his shirt

Alebiosu but I worry about his fitness record