₦airaland Forum

Moroccans are not pulling punches this one I'm hearing that they have again appointed the referee for their last match against Cameroon for tomorrow and how they are using advanced technology to study our tactics.

God dey!

I'm looking at it from an ability angle not so much body of work.

Truth, is we didn't produce many great RB but if I'm forced to choose it will have to be Eguavoen.

raumdeuter:
Bro you are tripping, What body of work does Aina have for club and country to be in Nigerias top 11 of all time

Polling booth award winner whose claim to fame is winning an underage tournament which you yourself said shouldn't be rated.

raumdeuter:
2 time AFPOTY, Only Nigerian to be top 10 FIFA POTY, Winner of our biggest trophy the Olympics who carried the nation on its shoulder in our biggest moments while Iwobis uncle was doing shakiti bobo in midfield

Amunike and Finidi supporting Osimhen with better crosses.

MorataFC:
I know raumdeuter will disagree with inclusion of Okocha.

Me sef have my reservations about the list.

Also Aina at RB for me.

MorataFC:
I know raumdeuter will disagree with inclusion of Okocha.

Me sef have my reservations about the list.

Please remove that overhyped carry along who couldn't score a single goal in 9 senior international tournaments for Nigeria on the left attacking side.

MorataFC:
I know raumdeuter will disagree with inclusion of Okocha.

Me sef have my reservations about the list.

Ndidi's transformation under Eric Chelle has been a beauty to watch.

Someone that was all tackle and energetic running now retaining possession and distributing balls with confidence.

Pity this evolution in his game didn't happen 3-4 years earlier.

TheSuperNerd:
Firstly I need us to understand that Onyeka performs 2 major functions in our setup. He is the other half of the double pivot (pairing with the main CDM) and also the RCM when the diamond shape shifts a little forward with him (Onyeka) and Iwobi occuping the right and left halfspaces respectively.
His boundless energy and ability to roam and cover ground more and even faster makes him suited to double-pivot and also function as the RCM.

Now, Onyedika came in vs Algeria replacing Ndidi and immediately slotted into that Central DM position. This already reveals Chelle's idea.

Can Onyedika be switched for Onyeka? Maybe. He did perform something similar to the man Simon replaced, venturing between RCM and CDM but was majorly found occuping the central space in front of our defence. He stayed disciplined positionally. Iwobi was also still in play but staying a bit more central too as Simon on the left was present.

Ndidi hardly ventured away from his central role as the main CDM vs Algeria. This is what Chelle sees in Onyedika. A like for like who will sit and be tactically sound enough to stay positionally disciplined.

So the first point on why I believe Chelle will not swap their roles is Onyeka has the propensity to roam and want to be everywhere at once and that can see him leave position if deployed as the main CDM. The first point is tactical positional discipline. Ndidi and Onyedika are more positionally disciplined centrally, in front of the defence than Onyeka.


Another point is the buildups. The 1st phase of posesssion buildup initiation. Ndidi, under Chelle grew and morphed into the sort of CDM that can receive from the back and distribute to either Iwobi leftwards or to the flank on the right. Onyedika is even far more comfortable receiving from the back even on the half turn under pressure (saw it vs Algeria) and distributing.

Onyeka does not seem the kinda profile who executes the Ndidi role like Onyedika.

So the question is this... will you still swap them? Will you sacrifice Onyeka's energy to roam and combine double pivoting with RCMing just to push a 1st phase initiator away from the role where 1st phase initiation takes place?

Whoever is in charge of getting tickets for the game on Wednesday should help out the Nigerian supporters to acquire as many as possible.

Don't want a repeat of the 2023 AFCON final where everywhere just blur with Orange.

Boys need every little support they can get.

Jobless lot. Was it the referee that prevented them from having a single shot on target against us throughout the match?

They will be okay las las.

9JAMac10:
Algerian Football Federation: The refereeing decisions in the last match against Nigeria cannot be overlooked, as they raised questions and left widespread dissatisfaction, striking at the credibility of African refereeing

JP had Onyedika so why did he decide to go hyper defensive?

Fisayo too he didn't invite.

The major difference in this squad is that Eric called more midfielders and is using them adequately.

Imagine how Aina would have been cooking with this setup at the AFCON.

JP overused the Haram approach. I understand for Ivory Coast and maybe Cameroon but haba Angola and SA!?

Goke7:
But let’s cut paseiro some slack this present team has more squad depth. We had no Ndidi in the last Afcon. It was even the absence of Ndidi that completely changed our formation in the last Afcon. I hope we don’t truly miss Ndidi against Morocco. Akor is another player that has added to the depth of this squad. No Akor last Afcon too.

If it was in another country I would have agreed but in front of your fans park a semitruck? I doubt it.

He no go try am even if logically that's the way he should probably go. Pride won't allow them to cede possession to us.

yinkeys:
What if Walid Regruagui chooses to play exactly like his Morocco 2022 World Cup side
Playing without the ball & counter attack
That side knocked out Spain & Portugal if you remember, very lethal
Since they don’t have our attack firepower like we do
Chelle should prepare for everything o

To be fair it's not only a Nigerian coach problem.

In 1994 when Oliseh and Siasia had a spat during the WC, Westerhof took sides and benched Siasia who up to that point was one of our most effective players.

Who knows with better man management maybe we would have played Siasia against Italy and potentially won the match

Goke7:
I think the problem with most of our ex-players is their ability to manage the best of our players in the squad. Imagine the spat between Osihmen and Lookman, I tell you, most of our ex players as coaches would have taken sides. This was also Findi's problem, as well as Oliseh and others. I think this is where Siasia was the best of them all. Only Keshi got away and delivered results after freezing quality players like Ike Uche, Martins, and Osaze out of his Afcon-winning team, and that was because he still had quality in the likes of Victor Moses and Mikel Obi.

Night and day.

Good thing I see so far from this tournament is that the personnel look fresher and less tired unlike 2023/2024 when we were running on fumes by the time we got to the finals.

The guys were so tired and worn out they could barely muster strength to even cry over their finals loss.

Danielnino00:
Side by side comparison of our current AFCON team with the 2023 AFCON team..

Egbon I think it was Iwobi that won MOTM for the Tanzania game.

Kog45:
CAF normally use MOTM as a strong criteria and this is a tournament.....Semi Ajayi won it against Tanzania, Lookman against Tunisia and Mozambique, Onyedika against Uganda,and Osimhen against Algeria.

By popular demand

Best performance of the tournament from the guys considering the level of competition and high stakes of the game.

My player ratings:

Nwabali (7.5) - Practically on holiday. Still not comfortable with the way he punches crosses. Liked how towards the end he switched to using his hands instead of his feet for ball distribution.

Osayi (8.5) - Best game in a SE jersey without a doubt. Defensively astute snuffing out all danger. Did well going forward pressuring the Algerian fullbacks.

Bruno (9) - Also his best game in a Nigerian shirt. Has definitely tied down the LB position for the foreseeable future. Beautiful cross for Osimhen's goal. Like spare change Mahrez was in his pocket all day.

Ajayi (8.0) - Cool, calm, and professional display. Mopped up at the back when needed also made crucial interceptions.

Bassey (8.5) - Uncompromising defending full of energy and grit. Taribo would be proud.

Onyeka (8.0) - The Tank was everywhere as usual popping up here and there to sustain pressure and keep the ball moving. One of our unsung heroes for sure.

Ndidi (8.5) - Good performance from Captain Wilf. Kept possession well and made sure the Algerians didn't have breathing space. Unlucky to get a yellow. Experience will be missed against Morocco.

Iwobi (9.5) - Run out of superlatives to describe his genius. Precise, visionary, and exquisite midfield play. Best performance from a Nigerian midfielder since Mikel in 2013.

Lookman (8.0) - Was also a threat to the Algerian defense. Took a back seat today in favour of his attacking partners who performed excellently on the day. Speaking of attacking partners...

Akor (9) - Plays like someone who has been in the national team for years instead of months. Technically astute and direct. Perfect partner for Osimhen bringing control and deftness to the latter's energy and pace. Goal was the highlight of the game which is commendable considering his poor miss in the first half.

Osimhen (9.5) - Man of the match performance from the leader and legend. A bit quiet in the first half exploded in the second. Algerian defense will be having nightmares about him. Victor is one of those players that is inevitable. You know he's coming but nothing much you can do to stop him.

Subs:

Simon (7.5) - Came on to retain possession and add some defensive cover. Made some attacking forays with his dribbles. Still need him to offer more of an attacking threat to help put away teams on the counter.

Onyedika (8.0) - Kept the midfield ticking effortlessly despite Ndidi's departure. Unfazed on the ball. Banking on him to deliver in the semis.

Fisayo (7.5) - Didn't do anything too risky. Kept it simple and moving.

Awaziem (N/A) - Didn't see much from him. Came in to shore up the backline.


Eric Chelle (10) - Tactical master class. Can it get better?

lbrichman2:
Drop your player ratings Chief

Now that the euphoria of yesterday's victory has begun to die down we now focus on Morocco.

Apart from being the host country Morocco is a well drilled tactical team. From watching the Moroccans Ibrahim Diaz seems to be the most critical pillar in their attacking arsenal. Not dismissing their other forwards but Diaz seems to be their most potent weapon from what I've seen.

Hakimi who's freshly back from injury is another main player to be wary off.

One thing is sure alarm bells would have gone off in the Moroccan camp watching how we dismantled the Algerians yesterday. So no surprises they will doing double duty analyzing our tactical approach and how to stop us. Hope Coach Chelle has a plan B incase they figure out our approach.

Ndidi will be a big miss but Onyedika brings a potential better technical presence in the middle of the park.

Our players should prepare their minds that they will be player 11 against 13 (including opposition players, refs, supporters and maybe CAF establishment) and be triple careful.

NFF should hawkishly monitor who will be appointed as match officials for our game against Morocco so that they appoint someone with sense not someone who will allow the Atlas Lions get away with blue murder like they did with Cameroon in terms of fouls.

For the tactical officionados in the house how do you reckon we beat the tactical set up of the Moroccans and their pressing power?

cc: Supernerd, Goodjoe, Mujtahida, Goke etc

Same here.

Been seeing arabic and french posts out of nowhere.

Ibime:
I made the mistake of clicking on their wailings on X last night. Now my whole Twitter feed is in French and Arabic

Losers from yesterday's games just dey para.

Ivory Coast fans follow join.

https://x.com/Endette__/status/2010094324688793670?s=20

Iwobi for me. Yes Osimhen and Lookman might look like the logical picks but I think Alex's impact has allowed all our attacking players to flourish giving them the foundation to terrorize defenses.

Look at all the games Iwobi has featured in. His defense splitting passes intelligent passing has given the team a balance I haven't seen in many years.

Kog45:
Oya house best super eagles player so far in AFCON... let's use this Sunday to pick

Not since Mikel in 2013 have I seen such a domineering performance from a Nigerian midfielder.

I pray Iwobi can help us deliver this AFCON.

If he does he's officially out of Okocha's shadow.

andrewbaba44:
Call lookman your best player at this afcon so far ,call osimhen your best player ,call Brahim diaz your best player which is all good

But the best player at this afcon so far is Alexander iwobi

Hey a broken clock is right twice a day.

NFF was due one right coaching decision.

Blueelf:
I am not satisfied with the answer I have gotten so far from this thread

Why did Mali not hold on to chelle? He's the only thing NFF has gotten correct in decades.

Who advised NFF to go for chelle? Because those guys are too dumb to recognise coaching talent when it's staring them in their face. Someone with actual working brains must have lent NFF some of his functioning brain to make that decision

There are some things I just need to understand

Cc thesupernerd, mujtahida, thegoodjoe

Definitely not as dominant though equally as free scoring.

The matches we dominated that year were against SA, Morocco and Tunisia (kinda)

Blueelf:
I think the closest most-dominant tem we may have ever had at the AFOC in this century must be the 2000 team

And even that team was not as dominant

Bro! The way Osimhen left him flat on his back and Akor made him lie down needs to be investigated.

Mujtahida:
Naija wicked oo. That Luca Zidane been dey plan use clean sheets negotiate enter Madrid, naija show reduce him market value go down down

Good afternoon everyone.

Still ecstatic after yesterday's win.

To receive no single shot on target after two games is super impressive to say the least.

Algeria too will have to go back in memory to recall the last time a team manhandled them the way Nigeria did yesterday.

Fantastic viewing.

Can I getta Akor do you want more?

We totally suppressed the Algerians and made them look clueless. Very dominant win. If not that we respected them sef it could have been a 3-0 or 4-0 whitewash.

charlesemeka85:
from the first whistle they looked scared and uncomfortable

We pressed them like Agege bread.

ChrisKels:
They didn't give us any respect, we forced out the respect from them with the way we approached the game from the first blast of the whistle. We were breathing down on them and they became jittery

We showed up all armed ready to unalive them.

My players of the Match are Osayi and Bruno.

Top class fullback performance.

Reduce a mighty Algerian attack to 0 shots on target.

Dominant statement win if there was ever one.

Thank God for the win.

For all the haters and antagonists put some respect when addressing the Super Eagles!

D'Law na Baba God we dey look o this one Animals, Inanimate objects and feelings they predict otherwise.

Mujtahida:
E remain babalawo make I go meet.

Bia ChrisKels, don't you know any powerful Dibia that can run this thing for us?

5pm Nigerian time.

ChrisKels:
By the way, wetin be the actual time for the match? Na 17 abi 20?

Wish Boniface all the best.

He's a fighter and will come back stronger in Jesus Name.

charlesemeka85:
Werder Bremen have announced that Boniface Victor will undergo knee surgery, and the 25-year-old is not expected to feature for the club again this season. Get well, Vic 👏

@copied