₦airaland Forum

Humility017:
yeah...they are not good enough but ezenwa is better
even when he was the third choice goal keeper for enyimba he did so well in CHAN
take akpeyi to chan and watch him shake his life out, jiltering like a kid threatened with a cane

it is embarrassing a player of his calibre is still not composed
the other one uzoho is retrogressing badly

I agree with you on this

I have not seen Ezenwa shake like a leaf in harmattan the way Akpeyi does

andrew444:
If super eagles won 2 nill that is what you will say

I trust you for that

You sometimes attack the messenger without comprehending the post

I highlighted the fact that Senegal may have won by 2 goals because Tanzania was weaker. Or did you just ignore that part.

If SE wins with a nice display (like thy did in the last friendly with Argentina), I will commend them and if not, I have the right to criticize just like every other person and attacking me would not stop me from doing so.

andrew444:
They still won 2 nill ,you know African football is somehow

No team is yet to win 2 nill so far

Some will argue that they won by 2 goal because they faced a weaker opposition

Too many variables to consider

tbaba1234:
Nah, Tanzania has been horrible. Worst performance so far.

Still can't believe they would under perform given the hype that followed their unprecedented run to the AFCON

Earthquake3:
This Senegalese are average, they would struggle to score one against the Burundians

Tanzanian porous defence are making them look like France

lol

Now , we know the teams we should look out for.

Senegal has always been top on my list. That team is so juicy

See the tutorials they are giving on how to put small teams in their place

krattoss:
Amuneke and Tanzania gotta do it for the culture

Na so

Nostradamus:
LMFAO!!!this reminds me of Drake's music video 'best I ever had' those Salvador girls seem to have given up before the game start sef.it's pretty hard to defeat USA in basketball sha.i only of few countries that can assuredly defeat the US.not up to eight, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Australia,angola,maybe the Brazilian team can beat them if they're having a bad day.

They cannot beat the US

Countries that can:Lithuania, Spain, Serbia, France

The others can only do so in their imaginations

Sorry guys, I can't watch the match currently.

Please is Sadio Mane featuring for Senegal?

Bennycollins:
MTN fired him and hired who, if I may ask ? It was a shrewd way to discontinue the show they could not sustain, don't you get it ?

O don't think he was fired either. If not, they would have hired someone else and the show would still continue

In-Depth: How Nigeria’s unbalanced Super Eagles overcame Burundi’s Swallows

Nigeria eventually broke down a resolute Burundi side to win 1-0. Goal analyses the tactical battle that unfolded.

Nigeria will began their 18th Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Egypt against debutants Burundi on Saturday. After missing the last two editions of the tournament, the Super Eagles had something to prove against the 134th ranked side in the world.

Nigeria came into this game having had disrupted preparation. On the eve of the game, Samuel Kalu collapsed in training with a suspected heart attack, but thankfully it proved to be dehydration. He was left out as a precaution so Samuel Chukwueze started as the right winger.

After a bout of illness, Jamilo Collins was missing at left back so Ola Aina moved over from his more natural right-back position to cover. Kenneth Omeruo was preferred to Leon Balogun in central defence after a season of minimal game time for the latter at Brighton
In attack, Odion Ighalo was surprisingly left on the bench with 6’5” Paul Onuachu selected instead, whilst Ahmed Musa was also only amongst the substitutes. John Mikel Obi was back in the squad and started as the number ten.

Burundi selected Gael Duhayindavyi at left back in preference to Christophe Nduwarugira, whilst in central defence, it was David Nshimirimana who got the nod ahead of Omar Ngando.

The squad’s oldest member, forward Selemani Ndikumana was sent home after breaching camp rules. He would not have started, but gave the side one less option to change the game from the bench. Saido Berahino captained the side in attack.

Faty Papy sadly passed away in April from a heart attack, having been back on the bench for the final qualifier in late March.

Immediately from the start of the game, the initial plans were clear. Burundi had no intention of pressing high and exposing themselves in midfield. They went with a compact 4-4-2 shape, where both of their front men, Berahino and Fiston Abdul Razak would drop off to the halfway line and screen passes into Nigeria midfielders.

The wide players, Francis Mustafa and Cedric Amissi both looked to tuck in very narrow when the ball was on the opposite flank, whilst looking to stay close to their midfielders when the ball was on their side, encouraging passes out to Nigeria’s fullbacks. The Burundi fullbacks then looked to get tight to the wingers and try to force the fullbacks to play passes to their feet or more risky passes into the congested centre.



STATIC NIGERIA
In the first 25 minutes of the game, Nigeria had 69% possession but had very few ideas of how to move Burundi’s compact block around. Daniel Akpeyi, perhaps selected in goal for his superior buildup play to the other goalkeeping options, would look to slowly play out from the back. However, with a lack of incisive passing ability in Nigeria’s backline, Burundi were given few problems.

The main moments of quality came from Alex Iwobi on the left, playing diagonal passes inside when on the half-turn. However, Nigeria had a right-footed left back too in Aina, and no one in defence or central midfield that was comfortable on their left side, most of the side’s attacks broke down on that flank.

Omeruo was allowed the ball for long periods and had made 64 passes by full-time, but not one single line-breaking pass along the ground. In the first five minutes, he gave the ball away twice, once with an under-hit pass to Aina and one rushed punt forward when under only minimal pressure.

When Nigeria did get the ball into the final third, they had a significant aerial target in Onuachu but no movement or runners around him. The selection of veteran Mikel as a number ten meant Peter Etebo, the side’s most dynamic player off the ball, was used in a deeper distributing role that he looked ill-suited for. A simple switch of these two players’ positions would benefit both players’ skill-sets.

Prior to the tournament, Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr warned his side that their opponents in the Afcon would play direct football, telling German sports magazine Kicker:

''It [the Afcon] is operated on with long balls and then pressing, it's a different style of play, there are more surprise effects compared to the World Cup.”

This proved true for Burundi, who played long from the game’s kickoff and had little interest in trying to play out from the back. The majority of goalkicks by Jonathan Nahimana were played long onto the head of Abdul Razak, with the midfield getting close to support for second balls.

Frederic Nsabiyumva also looked to play early long passes forward, often to left winger Cedric Amissi, who was excellent with his back to goal and could bring the diagonals down. On the opposite flank, Mustafa also challenged very well in the air against Aina.

Nigeria’s lack of anticipation or urgency to pick up the second ball was alarming, with Burundi gaining possession from nearly every knock-down in the first half. They would play through central midfielder, Gael Bigirimana from the second phase possession and he brought genuine quality to their play.

In the opening seven minutes, Berahino was found twice between the lines as he operated just off Abdul Razak, drawing Omeruo out on both occasions. With Wilfred Ndidi not focused on screening passes in-behind him, the Stoke City man had a hand in the first half’s best chance.

William Troost-Ekong was pulled out of the backline by Berahino dropping off, and Bigirimana played a perfect ball over the top for Amissi’s diagonal run off the left flank into the space vacated. He could not beat Akpeyi from a clear one-on-one chance, which had unsurprisingly come after Burundi collected the second ball from their long goalkick.



ROHR MOTIONS FOR CHANGE
In those opening 25 minutes, Nigeria’s only real threat had come from inverted winger Chukweze on the right flank, who was cutting in and causing problems, having one shot deflected away for a corner and leading a dangerous counter-attack. This had come from Burundi’s own corner and was a rare occasion Nigeria could attack space in the first period.

After the lifeless start to the game by Nigeria, Rohr was clearly seen motioning for his central defenders to play direct passes up to target man Onuachu. This changed very little for the side as Burundi were still picking up the second balls. Onuachu even tried to drop off a few times, pulling Frederic Nsabiyumva with him, but Mikel was not the player to go beyond and Iwobi was instead looking for balls to feet.

Nigeria did manage some half-chances from individual quality, such as from Iwobi’s “Cruyff turn” after Aina had mishit a cross, and another opening after Ndidi ran with the ball in midfield, finally bypassing an opponent. The other openings were after Mikel had flicked on a long throw, and later the captain headed a corner wide.

The second half continued in the same direct way as Iwobi and Aina rained in crosses from the left, clearly under instruction from the coach, and this led to several corners. Mikel was also getting closer to Onuachu for second balls, whilst the target man won one freekick which led to Omeruo heading wide at the back post.



MUSA AND IGHALO CHANGE GAME
After 58 minutes, Rohr withdrew Mikel and brought on Ahmed Musa as a left winger, with Iwobi moving to number ten. The side immediately looked more balanced and had greater width on the left flank. Iwobi set Musa away down the left after a one-two with Onuachu and the winger later got around the side of Omar Moussa with sheer pace to win a corner.

Although it took 15 minutes after Musa’s introduction for Ighalo to come on, it also coincided with Burundi starting to tire. The two wide players had worked themselves into the ground and Mustafa went off for Elvis Kamsoba, whilst Amissi was struggling with his defensive duties having switched over to the right flank.

There was immediately greater movement in attack for Nigeria after the change. Ighalo ran in-behind onto Musa’s pass with the outside of his boot, and then the winner arrived.

Aina carried the ball in-field, pulling right back Moussa out and then playing a surprise backheel which wrongfooted David Nshimirimana. Ighalo raced through to curl home. In a game where Nigeria had lacked ideas, movement and creativity, the one moment of improvisation led to a goal.

BURUNDI RALLY
The goal had come at the worst possible time. Not only was it late in the game, but coach Olivier Niyungeko had just withdrawn the creative Shassir Nahimana for a more defensively-inclined replacement in Christophe Nduwarugira.

They did put some late pressure on Nigeria, with Akpeyi first dropping a deep diagonal pass and needing to save from close range on the rebound. Then the goalkeeper flapped at a corner after Abdul Razak has spun away well from Troost-Ekong, whilst Amissi headed wide under pressure after a deep cross from the left.

None of these were clear openings and despite their goalkeeper’s troubles, Nigeria held on fairly comfortably.



SUMMARY
This was a very impressive, compact performance from a Burundi side who did not lose a single game in qualifying and created the best chance of the first half here. Their direct style and strong link-up play from their strike pairing was impressive, whilst the midfield were excellent at winning second balls. They can feel disappointed not to take a point from this game.

Nigeria, on the other hand, looked unbalanced throughout. With no real width on the left, Mikel completely unsuited to playing as number ten, and the central defenders unable to buildup with quality, most of their chances came from off-the-cuff moments.

The fact that Nigeria played essentially a long ball game from the 25th until 70th minutes shows how few ideas they had. The introductions of Musa and Ighalo were key, not just for their technical quality, but because Iwobi could move centrally, Mikel went off, and the route one option was removed.

Rohr has tough choices going forward, but if he fails to make the changes which he never did at the 2018 World Cup, then Nigeria will struggle to fulfil their potential at this tournament.

https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/in-depth-how-nigerias-unbalanced-super-eagles-overcame/1kz5ixo7wpsu61l8751eljysm3

Odunayaw:
So no one talked of Iwobi's cryuff turn?

It was a joy to behold abs it completely caught the unfortunate Burundian defender unawares

Oasis007:


See as Bullets dey hit me from every angle coz of my opinion?! If by the way you Guys assumed I'm bias or tribalistic..... So be it.

I know none of you offline, neither none of you knows me either. This is just a Forum that brings us together.

If we can't engage in a Discourse without being emotional, then what's the Essence of the Thread?!

Everyone must be on the same Boat?! I must force myself to like what I do not appreciate?! I owe no one an Apology or more Explanation. If you have problem with my views, deal with it, call or tag me whatever you like.... I don't care anymore.

Darkelf wanted Mikel out of the Squad, you all called for his Head. He gave his Reasons which are logical and eventually evident in the Match.

Wasn't he condemned, called Names?! Are you all kids on this Thread?!

Thanks Kog45 for the matured reply. It's just that I've not got over his Miss at the World. Lol!

Bro, I feel you.

Many of them are immature men. Its silly how they react when you don't support popular opinion. We are created to be different and thus would have different opinions. Many people here can't deal with this simple fact. Some others result to name calling. Its sad really

Humility017:
just take a look at your last paragraph.
your pessimism is top notch.

mind you we are beating Guinea by 2 goals to nil...
my only problem is akpeyi it seems he has started a new relationship with Rohr...they're both in love currently.

the goal keeper is something else even ezenwa an home base goal keeper will not make that errors.
we all watched ezenwa during the CHAN tourney the fantastic save and performance.

Don't you know I'm a renowned Pessimist. But I prefer to see myself as a realist

Florblu:
For people saying his rent shouldn't exceed an 100k, can you please show me where to rent a comfortable room for 100k in LAGOS. If you mention Ipaja, Ayobo, Mowe, Ibafo, etc I will stone you because he will end up spending his money on transport fare and even drugs to maintain his health.

When people ask for questions, let's be realistic. Op can rent a room of 200k as long as he is ready to safe heavily. He will need to cut out lots of irrelevant expenses and double his effort in getting a better job or at least start s side hustle.

Thank you jare

Your post makes the most sense.

klexycole:
Then you have no business criticizing the team, thanks.

I will continue to criticize as I deem fit

Its my opinion and no one has the right to tell me when or how I air them. Hope you got that now?? Hope I'm clear ??

andrew444:
I don't know what you really see in Egypt ,Egypt is not that of a good team ,if you are rating them because they are the host then I agree with you

But if you are rating them as a good team then you are a joker

Mohammed Salah ,ahmed el Mohammady and their goal keeper are the only players who will start at the eagles

Till then.....

klexycole:
Sir, no offense but what Icon4s said about you seemed to be true. You only handpick and identify the team's weaknesses alone without stating the areas they excel (at least, appreciate their effort).

Since last night, you've been complaining and pointing out their flaws and more, but I haven't seen where you praised the team or highlighted their area of excellence (perhaps I missed this part?).

Nevertheless, even though some of your points are fantastic, your believe in the team's strength is still highly unimpressive. Apparently, you should know by now that most Nigerian teams usually start slow at tournaments and improve with every passing game.

Ultimately, I am not against your opinions, but you should try and balance your submissions. The players haven't graced the tournament just to lose - they are determined.

By the way, build up and preparations for the next game have already commenced. Let's hope they correct their mistakes and offer a better display in our next match.


...The Land is Green

I will reserve my praises for when we beat Senegal, Morocco, Egypt and the likes.

For now, i choose to remain conservative. Thanks

andrew444:
There is nothing wrong in him shouting at the defence

If akpeyi have no business in the eagles so do ezenwa and uzoho

that's why I said Alloy ought to be investigated just like Salisu.

Our GK dept is this weak and he is the GK trainer

BascoVanVeli:
Actually FIFA forbids government interference so how is Pinnick now a government official? If you meant to say something different then say it but don't come and be acting like what you said was so complicated

Oga, I don hear. I don't have stomach for much arguments let's end it here biko

BascoVanVeli:
Be a man and admit Pinnick is the disgrace. What does the government have to do with bonuses?

Is Pinnick not a government official? I said govt officials because he is not the only problem, he is part of the multitude of problems

Abeg, dey try understand sentences sometimes na

Smaller teams in this AFCON are relying on set-pieces to do damage.

If Nigeria can't score from set-pieces, we need to at least perfect the art of defending them well

Our Idiotic keeper punched a ball to the opposition and still had the voice to shout at the defence

That Akpeyi guy has no business in the SE. Alloy Agu ought to be investigated. Even Rohr ought to know by now that thre's monkey business going on in the GK department

Ekong was really poor yesterday tbh

With all this nonsense, why won't Super Falcons be mere Local champions.

Why do Nigerian Govt Officials derive Joy in bringing the Nation Disgrace

https://www.nairaland.com/5260668/super-falcons-protest-unpaid-bonuses

maidaboi:
second rated player after aina by whoscore should be dropped?
well it's your opinion

He will offer much needed explosiveness against our opponents when the game is in its later stages. I'm not saying that he shou'd be dropped just because of Performance.

BascoVanVeli:
He loves kicking them but they are no good or at times unnecessary

Thank God you guys saw what I saw

safarigirl:
This is a blatant lie.

His finishing and decision-making is suspect (so is Musa's to be honest, abi no be Musa wey go hold ball, we go talk say nothing wey e wan use am do) but his crossing is decent.

I don't think so

Musa is Musa...everybody knows. Can't teach an Old Dog new tricks but Chukwueze still has room for improvement.

His crossing is below average

gustav25:
Rubbish ..look at them coming here to vent after a match they laboured to win . Same ignorant hypocrites who said on the encounter involving the Pharoahs of Egypt and the Zims that Egypt won't win this AFCON simply because they laboured to win 1-0 , are now they ones beating their akpu,Amala,starch and akpu inflated chest shouting no team can stop them after labouring to win 1-0 also !!!!! So ironic and hypocritical beings !!!



Anyway , Black stars will definitely bankulize they super chickens when we meet . Allah, please make these heathens play the Black stars in the Quarter finals so they can gnash and lament for ages

On this you're right and I support you hundred percent

There are no minnows in football again and every Nation has a point to prove

The match against Guinea would be tricky. Just cos they couldn't win Madagascar doesn't mean they are poor. If we underrate them, they could make us pay dearly.

I predict we will also win by a lone goal or worse case scenario, we draw

Oasis007:
Stats are there to check Sir..... How many chances created by Chuks for 90min+?! How many chances created by Musa despite coming in the 2nd Half?!

Kindly spare me of fluidity and directness ish!

He knows the truth but won't acknowledge because he just likes Chukwueze

The truth is Chukwueze can only dribble and run. His final ball is very suspect.

His finishing, decision making and crossing are below average. He really needs to work on this areas. Personally, I don't think he should start next match. Maybe Simon Moses or Musa if they are fit

Mickael2:
The passes weren't awful but just say that the defenders anticipated the passes. It was more of the defender did well, than Musa did not pass well. I do not see the basis behind starting Chuks, if we want to point out errors, there was on instance where Iwobi was right in front of Chuks and he kicked the ball out for a throw trying to locate Aina who was miles away when a simple pass made more sense, there was also a counter where he skinned the first guy then instead of simply squaring for Onuachu he tried a banana pass which the defence was all so glad to cut out. Full of tricks yes, but atrocious decision making, I don't see why he will start ahead of Musa if you ask me, he has his own decision making flaws, but IMHO, he is an upgrade on Chuks. See how Musa's direct running won us a corner as well, I can go on.



Anyways. I don't know why it seems like I watched a different match that wasn't exactly fulfilling. The Burundians created at least 5 3 on 2 situations against our CB, they created well over 4 clear cut chances and if not for a combo of poor passes, poor finishing and a rare GK save, we would have been talking about 3 goals conceded, factually the Burundians bypassed our midfield like it did not even exist, there was a particular 3 on 2 situation where one of the Burundians was unable to give a 2 yard pass to his teammate who would have been one on one. Or should I mention the chance where they skinned Ekong and had a clean run at goal but the guy messed up? Arguably, from an attacking sense this might have been an okayish game, but the midfield and defence were atrocious, that too against Burundi, the worst team in the tournament (statistically). I really am glad that Rohr has come out to acknowledge that the team was poor at least they will work on it. Ndidi and Etebo forget their jobs of shielding the defence multiple times in the game which is why I agree that one of them ought to be axed for Mikel to sit deep entirely, however I would suggest Ndidi is dropped because Etebo is a better shuttle that can move the ball higher up the pitch.

All in all I think the only place we had real issues was with the two DMFs not doing their job, I don't think we would have defeated a better team at all.

Thanks for shedding light on this. To think that Ndidi was voted MOTM by CAF. Makes one wonder how they rate players.

ILLICITblood:
no matter how tired i am.. I still rush to Nairaland because of You Guys


Thumbs up

This is my two cents though


Akpeyi made some saves but I believe it's nothing Ezenwa or Uzoho can't do.. He was jittery.. Made alot of schoolboy's errors which is not new to Akpeyi.. I believe If we want to go far.. Akpeyi must be dropped


Our CB

Ekong and Omerou were solid.. La Liga really groomed Kenneth

Full backs

Please let's appreciate Torino.. they really upped Aina's game and it's a testament of y Nacho has to leave England.. Shehu was good until his injury while awaziem settled in well

MIDFIELD

abeggy Nigerians can complain

Ndidi and etebo r ballers
Mikel was slowed but controlled the game.. He is hardly dispossessed and we need such a player in the game

ATTACK

Chuckwueze was full of running but he should do well to connect to other players
Paul IMO was not bad.. most time,had to run to the midfield to support,use his height well
Iwobi was good.. That his turn in the box was delicious.. When he dropped to the midfield, He moved the ball better

SUBSTITUTES

Awaziem wasn't as good as Shehu offensively but he wasn't bad too

Musa was full of running but his last balls were just 'musaISH'

Ighalo,like i always maintain, He is our best striker ITM.. He can bully defenders, run into space and can finish


generally, super eagles played well
Burundi gave good accounts of themselves
it was a good night of football

Good morning and Happy Sunday to you all

Musa has been like that since his first days in the SE. I wonder why he has failed to improve on that aspect