₦airaland Forum

drDoom3:
To make it easier to understand:

Daka is a good CF. He is one of the closest strikers to Osimhen you can find. Aggression, pace, poaching, name it.

Iheanacho is benching him at Leicester. Why? He is not technical enough. Everyone is fast in the EPL, so pace is not enough. You need to be able to link up play, spray passes, make intelligent decisions in tight spaces etc.

Osimhen cannot curve a shot. The last time he scored from outside the 18 was Atalanta with a low shot that the keeper flopped. All standard EPL strikers can score from outside the 18, can curve a ball into the top corner etc. These are the simple things.

Osimhen plays with Insigne so Osimhen is definitely learning or has seen how to curve a shot he just hasn't added it to his game..

That's why he needs to learn how to drop deep and sometimes to midfield and hold the ball so that he can allow other players run ahead of him.

Osimhen is technical, just that most Nigerians and most Nigerian sports journalists are trying to make him the scapegoat instead of admitting that most Nigerian local coaches are below average and local coaching and coaches need to improve.

BannedLarge:
My friend Osimehn hasn’t shown or proven anything that he is better than Tammy. Go and view Tammy CV vs Osimehn CV and see who has more goals. Mind you, they’re around the same age. Nigerians are deceived by running or fighting spirit/sentiments instead of analyzing based on empirical data. Osimehn showed me his true character vs Ghana. In over 180 minutes, he couldn’t score against Ghana. This season, he hasn’t scored against any big team whatsoever

What you're calling "running or fighting spirit/sentiments" is called " pressing " in football and that's how Nketia scored his 2 goals against Chelsea this night.

Nigeria conceded cheap goals against Tunisia and Ghana due to lack of pressing from Nigeria's midfielders and defenders..

if the Nigerian midfielders and defenders had Osimhen's pressing or "running or fighting spirit/sentiments" mentality then those cheap goals won't have been conceded.

JohnBullMySon:
Asides England, I don't know of any other European country that conditions your work permit on the number of National team games you have played as a non EU citizen. I think those EPL rules were even removed last year post COVID.

You may have a point, but being born in Nigeria doesn't necessarily make you an automatic victim of circumstance. Do away with that mentality. You could be limiting yourself if you start thinking like that.

Been born in Nigeria with the ambition of becoming a footballer who wants to play in Eng:land automatically makes the person a victim of circumstance.

He is talking about Nigerian youths who want to become footballers and go directly from Nigeria to England, only Ihenacho has achieved such.

He is not talking of Nigerian youths who want to become accountants engineers doctors etc.

superbloke:
I think the only thing Osimhen needs to be clear of Tammy is the technicality. At the moment, Tammy trumps Victor in that aspect and that is what gives him the edge. There's only so much speed and aggression can do for you (and I think Victor has more speed). A highly technical player will make up for that deficit with cerebral play.

What is this "technicality" you guys keep making noise about??

The only difference between Abraham and Osimhen is that Abraham drops deep and holds the ball which allows other players to run into scoring positions which leads to assists

While Osimhen doesn't drop deep and doesn't hold the ball and his usually trying to beat offside trap which means he doesn't wait for and allow other players run into scoring positions.

Abraham, Ihenacho, Awoniyi, Sadiq , Dessers, Moffi play similarly.

Give Osimhen a strike partner like Sadiq or Awoniyi or Ihenacho or Yira sor or Dessers or Moffi then put one of Ihenacho/Aribo/Iwobi/Awoniyi/Nwakwali behind them then at least 3 midfielders and you'll bring out Osimhen's performance.

Which is exactly what Mourinho does with Abraham who has a strike partner who also drops deep then another player behind them then 4 MIDFIELDERS not 1 midfielder as was the case with Eguavoen's formation and tactics.

MYND44issaSMOKER:
One Bitch down....

rule 2, rule 3, rule 19

OAM4J Mynd44 puskin dominique naijacutee FOD Sissy3 DisGuy justwise RoyalRoy dragnet Javanian kodewrita lordZOUGA semid4lyfe honeric01

Kog45:
Osimehn in Manchester utd is bigger than Osimehn in Napoli no matter the situation....I thought man utd played this season champions league and Napoli Europa.

CR7 is the main center forward at man utd. Osimhen can't bench CR7 so that means they will change his position to winger..

Osimhen should not move to any club that already has a center forward playing every week.

Kog45:
Okay depict this......

Codemaniacs...Osimehn how about your injury

Osimehn....go and ask your Papa.

this will be due to his poor Public Relation management and poor education and regarding Nigerians as lesser than him ( e.g pride ) ..

that's one of the reasons he needs to be subbed off early when playing for S.E until he reduces his pride..

mostob:
Seriously man....are you in anyway referring to the Ikpeba' s comment?

yes

Kog45:
Code man,your last paragraph summed it all

Sir,Osimehn is not yet there,Napoli is a big club in Italy and only known for signing Diego Maradona,nothing more.

I want to see Victor Osimehn in Real Madrid,Barcelona,Bayern Munich,Man utd,Arsenal,Chelsea,Man city,Liverpool,these are real clubs that can gives Osimehn real platform.

Disrespecting ex eagles,he should go and read about our own Etim Esin and Tarila Okoronwanta,also about David Ginola,Eric Cartona,Paul Gascoigne,these are players that hate criticisms,despite the talents they failed to fulfill their potentials.

Ikpeba criticism was fair enough and mind you he did not singled out Osimehn for blame against Ghana,funny enough he said this as a pundit.He should know that as a player,his performance on the field of play is subject to public scrutinies.

Right now and with the competitions they qualify for, Napoli is bigger than Arsenal, Man Utd has started struggling for Champions League and Europa League positions.. S.E needs players playing in the Champions League and Europa Leagues season after season..

If Napoli guarantees European Football every season then Osimhen shouldn't move to clubs that will bench him... he already has a real platform in Napoli...

I say he only needs to improve because he is young.. left to me, he his already "there" as long as he is starting games..

if his going to change clubs then he should move to one where he will start often..

Barryseal:
The former players are disrespecting him? Can you imagine

the former players were and are looking for scapegoats when the main person they should have been calling out was their friend Eguavoen, his lack of midfielders, his coaching tactics and his coaching staff..

they could have also said Osimhen should have been subbed off and replace earlier..

the only sensible thing they said was that Osimhen should control the ball more often instead of trying overhead kicks..

fabyom:
If you know Oshimen personally tell him to sit up and learn.
He should stop all these silly memes and concentrate on his football.
He still has a long way to go.
Trying to be a guy man by disrespecting former players will not help his career.
My2cent!

The former players are the ones disrespecting him and respect is reciprocal. it's human nature to disrespect people who disrespect you.

Disrespecting former S.E players can only affect his national team career and not his club career and that's if the NFF president allows it.

He does not have a long way to go since his already playing for a top team.

He only needs to improve on certain parts of his game.

Pidginwhisper:
Osimhen sometimes struggles with positioning.

most times not sometimes and his always in between defenders instead of looking for space..

at least he has started dropping deeper than the last defender..

he needs to learn how to drop deeper and work with the midfield..

Subzero47:
What are your other options, I want to know them

Updated midfielders List
Aribo
Nwakwali
Onyeka
Iwobi
Ndidi
Tijani
Bonke
Onyedika
Alhassan Yusuf
Ramon Azeez ( recent addition )
Iyayi Atiemwen ( recent addition )
Anderson Esiti ( recent addition )
Dele-Bashiru ( recent addition )

jieta:
Coach i have a question?

Odunayaw:
That's right! The runs!
Intelligent runs will make even a turd pass to you.

A good example of this is one of Osimhen's goal against Lesotho. Where this former Granada guy was able to give a splitting pass to Osimhen because of the run

I've completely forgotten about Ramon Azeez.

andrewbaba44:
None of midfielders are intelligent like Parejo Baba

Ndidi is class but not creative ,maybe only iwobi can do that .

It's not just about intelligence it's also about if there are other players around him making forward runs he can pass to.

If it was S.E under Eguavoen and his coaching crew there will be no other player to pass to or the players won't make forward runs they'll just stand by parejo side waiting for him to pass.

And most of the forward players will already be in front waiting for the ball to magically reach them.

andrewbaba44:
You are right about Moses Simon being on Gerard Moreno shoes and won’t pass that ball ,but another question you should ask if which of our midfielders can still that brilliant build up like Dani Parejo deceiving more than a player

Ndidi , onyeka , Nwakwali , iwobi, aribo and any midfielder who has other midfielders or forward players who drop deep around him can have brilliant build up like Dani Parejo..

that goal started with Estupinan to Parejo to Lo celso to Moreno to Chukwueze.

Another thing to note is Gerard Moreno drops deeper than the opposition defense line and sometimes to midfield then runs with the ball with the intention to pass or cross into the box or shoot at the goalkeeper..

Another thing to note is that the Super Eagles formation has less midfielders than Villareal's formation and build-up for the S.E is usually from the full-backs or defenders to the wingers to the strikers or the wingers take the shots and NOT from the full-backs to midfielders to another midfielder to winger to striker to another winger then winger or striker takes the shot..

Villareal had four midfielders on the pitch Capoue, Lo Celso , Parejo and Coquelin, In their formation, Lo Celso can also make forward runs and temporarily play as a winger or right wing forward role and Parejo also makes forward runs and plays a central forward role.

for the Chukwueze goal, Coquelin had been substituted for Pedraza who is a winger but can also play as a left back this also means he can play as a left midfielder and even if he wasn't involved in the build up to the goal.. Villareal still technically had 4 midfielders on the pitch or at least 3 midfielders on the pitch..

these 4 Villareal midfielders drop deep to help the defense that's why they could build up like that, If it was in the Super Eagles there will be nobody in Lo Celso's position to receive the ball then pass to Moreno , so Dani parejo ( or the S.E midfielder ) will have to use a long ball over the opposition midfield and defense to get the ball to Moreno's position and since its a long ball it means the opposition defenders can head the ball away..

what the Dani Parejo pass to Lo Celso means is that at least one opposition player will be drawn out of position to get the ball from Lo Celso and there were 3 Bayern players on Dani Parejo so that pass alone took out 3 Bayern players.

you're making me write essay.

Ppogbae:
How the heck do we have these folks banging in goals week in, week out but fail to secure a simple win over Ghana in 2 legs?

We are slowly turning into another Ivory Coast.

wingers not crossing especially moses simon and chukwueze...

strikers trying to score extravagant goals instead of simple goals especially Osimhen.

strikers and wingers who don't drop deep to help the midfield and defense especially simon, dennis, chukwueze for the S.E.

strikers who don't drop deeper than the opposition defense line and fail to beat the offside trap especially Osimhen.
e.t.c.

there were counter-attacking situations in the Ghana match where Moses Simon could just run and cross or pass into the box but he always chose to slow down or stop so that he can try to dribble the Ghanaian or opposition defenders which stops the S.E counter attacking opportunities.

the goal Chukwueze scored against Bayern, If Moses Simon was in Gerard Moreno's shoes Moses Simon will not cross or pass into the box for Chukwueze to score. Moses Simon would have waited for the opposition defenders to catch up and regroup before losing possession to the opposition..

then bad coaching from E:guavoen...

JohnBullMySon:
Those players you mentioned had obtained elite status at their clubs.

Tell me one player who made it to those national teams solely on performance in an age grade competition?

Ronaldo de lima

Denílson

Ronaldinho

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Xavi

Iniesta

e.t.c..

Bigzigg:
They are all largely unpolished..

When Equatorial Guinea won those cups, the level of the game was still poor. Then, it was just about Nigeria, South Africa, EQ. Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon...The gap btw these teams and others was very large. Such is not the case today, okay... We've got strong teams in Ivory coast, Mali, Zambia, Tanzania, Morrocco, etc.

While progress is being made, the standard on the continent is still low. Problem is, Nigeria hasn't been improving.

You have to leave those young girls to prove themselves at the U20 first.

Bigzigg:
Are you seriously comparing those girls with the players you named above? Cool down, bro, the coach knows they have a very long way to go. At least, let them prove themselves at the U20 world cup.

If you are Good enough you are old enough...

If Barca had left messi, fati, Pedri and Gavi e.t.c to play youth football they will not be scoring the match winning goals that they scored and are scoring..

Pedri won't have been in the senior team to score the winning goal against Sevilla.
Messi won't have been the player he is today...

ceejay80s:
Pls be quiet, how old were u then?

I can't keep quiet when I see a lie..

I'm debunking his lies version of history that Ig:bos have been marginalized since the 1950s.

Rafaell:
And who caused it ? Is it not the same Afonjas n Almajiris that marginalized, terrorized n harangued the Igbos so mercilessly all the way from as far back as 1956 till date in this God-forsaken kwantri called Nizooria. Are they not the "Monsters you made" Go and listen to Burna Boy again !!

from the 1900s to the 1950s to 1960 till 1966 Igbos were the ones in powerful positions..

It was after independence at 1960 where the regions were fully in the hands of the major regional ethnic nations that Igbo leaders like N:namdi Azikiwe who was the president of Nigeria started to marginalize the indigenes of other regions from getting employed in federal institutions in their own region using his presidential powers which was one of the reasons for Ahmadu Be:llo's and Akintola's anti I:gbo comment.....

for example, federal Universities and institutions in northern Nigeria had more I:gbo lecturers and i:gbo administrators than northerners and it was the same in the western region there were more I:gbo lecturers and I:gbo administrators than Yoruba...

It was so bad in the western region, that N:namdi Azikiwe had the guts to want to be premier of the western region and Yoruba leaders were against it and when N:namdi Azikiwe and his other I:gbo leaders noticed they couldn't gain control over other regions they started a coup to kill the leaders of the other regions and abolish regionalism and replaced regionalism with unitary government because they thought they will be in charge forever...

the entire southern Nigeria is suffering the aftermath of 1960s Igbo leaders decisions ( aftermath of the civil war )....

TheSuperNerd:
Funny how this report partly shows a glimpse of what I already knew.

Eguavoen and Amunike were clearly not in sync with each other. Eguavoen didn't listen. This is why I say this loss is majorly on him.

Amunike did complain about Dennis' unwillingness to track back/track a man and truly it is that one moment of lackadaisicality that earned Ghana the throw-in, in the first place. Then from the same throw-in, Dennis again didn't track his man.

Abeg, I have read and seen enough. Eguavoen is a true dunce.

And Ghana actually switched to a 4-5-1 at the beginning of the second half. The DM dropped back to the back four to make it 5 at the back leaving 4 in the middle and only Afena up front in case of a quick counter.

Inability to read opponent tactical switches and then not being in tactical sync with your assistants further exposes Eguavoen for the one dimensional dummy he is as a coach. Tufiakwa!!!!

Eguavoen is not a dunce... Eguavoen and Amunike were in sync stop trying act as if Amunike wasn't part of the coaching crew.. Eguavoen, Amunike and the coaching staff all failed...

the thing you should say is Eguavoen is a typical adult Nigerian who must have things done his way and other opinions are nonsense... A lot of people on this thread also have the same mentality..

Subzero47:
Only Ndidi, Aribo and to an extent Iwobi are competent enough on an international level the rest are just there

Eguavoen's coaching has shown that it is what you do with what you have that matters.

competent midfielders in the hands of a coach with poor tactics will make them look like incompetent midfielders...

those midfielders are competent enough to play in Euro:pean leagues so that means they are competent enough for the Super Eagles.

5inchdick:
let's quit blaming these players. The coach wey play them no sabi their strengths?

Eguavoen was trying to make "some people happy" concerning the player selections and players that played on the pitch and relies on luck.

So even if he knew their strengths he has to play some players so that he doesn't annoy "the people his trying to make happy".

Subzero47:
Well I'm glad this thread is getting back to normal my take is that until we have 6-7 competent midfielders we are going nowhere as a footballing nation

S.E already has 6-7 competent midfielders.

Nwakwali
Onyeka
Iwobi
Ndidi
Tijani
Bonke
Onyedika
Alhassan Yusuf

elyte89:
We viewed lookman performance as been good because odas were so bad dt we didn't notice lookman performance dt day was just average and nothing more.those guys were disappointing

Lookman played well and when he came off that wing became toothless.

Lookman played that wing better than Simon.

Beloved03:
I wonder how no one is talking about the inability of our boys to hit long range shots from outside the 18yard box.

The last SE midfielder who could do this were John Ogu. I miss his powerful pack of shots.

Ndidi is to Nigeria what Partey is to Ghana (both the only world class players in the teams) but while Partey is able to carry Ghana forward at decisive games Ndidi doesn't. He (Ndidi) needs to re-learn how to take those shots.

andrewbaba44:
You can’t give what you don’t have

Our players doesn’t score with shots at their clubs

Amoo can take long range shots...
Onyeka can take long range shots..
Samuel Adegbenro can take long range shots...

Ndidi cannot leave his DM role often to be taking shot unless there's another DM or midfielder on the pitch to cover him or forward player that drops to midfield to cover but most of the time it's another midfielder..

Partey plays as a CAM for Ghana and drops to midfield to also support the other DM.

When Fred runs forward McTominay is there to cover.

When Kante runs forward another DM or midfielder is there to cover.

In summary atleast a 3 man midfield is needed to create long range shooting chances.

Under Eguavoen it was mostly a 1 man midfield except the times Ihenacho dropped deep.

do4luv14:
And it's usually the local coaches that failed us

And Eguavoen was the coach on the two occasions.

COOL10:
The senseless OAPs are talking again. Sometimes e dey do me like say make I enter my phone go knack these people small sense.

on which station

komekn:
I really don't know to be honest, but with regards to club football I would say Bassey is way ahead.

A good barometer is to see how many clubs will put in a bid to buy him and how many put in a bid for Bassey.

I very much doubt if Bassey will be in Rangers next season most likely the EPL but I don't see Sanusi moving to La Liga , EPL ,or a higher league.

I'm not talking about club football so keep your barometer to yourself..

Porto plays in the UCL so if Bassey moves to an EPL team that's not playing in the UCL that means he still can't lace Sanusi's boots especially for the S.E..

RaymondJohnson1:
Brilliant. We simply don't have an organised way to attack. This was not emphasized enough on this thread after the painful AFCON exit. All we heard was Okoye dis, Okoye that.

Teams practise how to get the ball from their goalkeeper to the opponent's net. Teams practice how to score from set-pieces; how players are to be placed, the different angles the player could play into, the movement after the freekick is taken, but our team lacked all of this. I wonder what they do in training....... na to they jog on the field and crack jokes during the training, na im they know pass.

NFF should please get a team of committed home-based players that will play together more, learn basics of the modern game, learn how to string accurate passes together, learn how to shoot balls from outside the box. We should have a sound home- based team.

It was emphasized on this thread and why a lot people on this thread clamored for more midfielders..

what you're explaining is the job of midfielders and can never be played with a thin midfield like A.E super eagles.

In A.E team, most of the time the strikers , wingers and attacking midfielders are all by the box waiting for the ball to magically come to them instead of dropping deep and helping the midfield.

Most of them are too attack and offensively minded. That's why anytime S.E played 3 midfielders their gameplay was better..

Now imagine if S.E played 4 midfielders or the wingers drop to midfield often to make it 5 midfielders.

drDoom3:
We are simply not efficient in attack against drilled teams. We create many half chances instead of proper chances due to poor passing, decision making and build up play. When we do create decent chances, our attackers don't communicate well, make the wrong decisions or just outright miss.

We lack organization and efficiency in the way we are set up. We struggle to find ourselves on the pitch. We didn't know how to attack, we struggle to maintain possession in attacking areas and control the tempo of the game because we cannot pass.

We are relying on one lucky ball to Osimhen instead of setting our team up so that we have regular direct balls to him in good positions. It shows our coaches are either lazy tactically or just not knowledgeable enough on the modern game.

It's both.

The coaches are lazy tactically and not knowledgeable enough on the modern game.

They rely too much on luck and religion.