₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
As seen above in 2024☝️

Poor man? I dont think so. At 21, he has all it takes to rise to that sort of player. He is an exact Yaya Profile. Bigger potentially than a Poor man's standards.

I believe I was the first to point out Uche's Yaya Profile traits.

Where was Yaya at 21?? He was in Belgium. At 22, Yaya was in Ukraine.

At 23, Yaya was in Greece. At 24, he was at Monaco in Ligue 1.

He joined Barca at 25. And then made his move to Man City at 28 and Boom!!! Yaya's Legend was formed at City!


Uche at 21 is still very young and has time on his hands. But Chelle has to figure out quickly what we in here already know. Uche is our Box to Box Weapon.

I guess I'm underrating him then. I pray he goes on to fulfil his potentials. It's to our advantage anyways

yinkeys:
You know ball brother
Maybe he’s a ball carrier that can make things happen
Sharp transition from defense to attack

Exactly. A poor man yaya toure

I think Chrisantus Uche problem is our technical team (Chelle and NFf) inability to correctly profile him. They don't know what position he's best at. Wrong profiling of players has been a long standing problem,eg Iwobi,lookman,Simon. I think he's best as a box to box cm where he can use his energy

QueenJazz:
Olakunle wasn't terrible per se. For me, he was just... there really.

I'd rate him a 6 or a weak 7 over 10. He didn't mess the bed, but didn't really stand out either.

that guy wasn't a 6. A 6 would be semi Ajayi. That guy was a 4 at the most generous rating and that's for him running around

TheSuperNerd:
The idea of Akinsanmiro is if Chelle can please play a 3-man midfield.
So yes, if Akin is called just like how Uche was called, I am afraid we will still see a 2 man midfield.
So while personnel is also important, I can agree it is also a tactics issue.

We all saw how more balanced we were in the middle with more presence after Onyeka came in for Adams. We had Onyeka, Ndidi, Iwobi on the pitch at the same time. Not that this is our most tactically balanced 3 but it beats the 2 man setup of Iwobi x Ndidi.

what in your own opinion is our most balanced formation and tactics

MetalJigsaw:
Let's not conclude yet bro. He played only a few minutes. It would be unfair.

he didn't play a few minutes. He played 45 minutes plus additional time. Over 10,I would give me a 3. And that is mainly because he put in a little shift to press. His positioning was wrong,didn't open up to receive passes,few times he got the ball he didn't know what to do with it. It was obvious this level is far too high for him. He's not international football level quality by a long stretch.

CapitalCee:
The coach need to replace Ndidi with Onyeka or Onyedika Permanently.
We should continue with the flat 4-4-2.
GK: Nwabali.
DF: Ola Aina; Fredrick; Bassey; Zaidu/ Agu.
MFD: Lookman; Iwobi; Onyedika/Onyeka; Simon/Chukwueze.
FW: Osihmen and Adams.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru will be back too for the play offs.

Iwobi isn't a cm. Lookman isn't a winger. Moses is useless on the right as he can't use his only trick there. Just repeating the same mistakes we have all been pointing out.

I have a question. What's is the reason for our obsession with 442 though. Even after trying for several years and matches without any long term success,why do all coaches still stick to it. Is it like an NFf imposed formation or what. I remember the early days of Rohr,he used 433 to great success till he started trying to shoehorn ihenacho into the line up and use 442 and it went down hill. Today we all saw how immediately our game got better immediately we changed to 433 after Onyeka came in. I'm sure next game we will be back to this same 442. Is there something we fans don't know that the technical committee sees or something.

NIGHTMARE0O7:
Its not being unfair lookman tends to hold ball too much to score his own gaols which chukwueze gets the ball and looks for osimhen.

Chukwueze played with same simon and performed while lookman played with him 3 times and didnt show up.

But in all lookman is better than simon sha.
He is a bit selfish thats his problem

The issue is we are using lookman in a wrong position. Play him as a striker besides oshimen not on the wings or on the right and he will turn up

yemyke001:
See as midfield balance as we switch

who would have thought that if one adds 1 plus 1 it's going to be 2. The technical committee,Chelle all need to be flogged

Zanusi has gone down numerous times. Take him out. Take out Simon and even that olakunle guy.

Unlimited22:
Na all this thing we dey talk

What is a player like that doing in the eagles
That was the chance to introduce a useful midfielder and push iwobi forward

that's what I would have expected. Does Chelle know Iwobi plays as a winger in his club. It's ridiculous forcing him to be a cm. He's already tired.

Who's this olakunle guy. Clearly out of his depth.

Fredricks is very good. So composed on the ball. This is why it's important to give other players a chance rather than using the same set of players everytime.

Moses needs to be taken out. He adds absolutely nothing,doesn't attack not defending. Push Iwobi where he is and bring in a midfielder to stabilize

9JAMac10:
I think it’s a blessing in disguise that lookman is suspended for the next game. Honestly lookman too selfish and has been terrible for the national team in last couple of games . Nigeria can win without lookman

That's because we are playing him out of position. Lookman is not a winger or creator. He's a finisher. Plays best as supporting striker,striker or inside forward. Just like putting oshimen on the wings then complaining he's not effective or the way we have been complaining about Iwobi for years

kennysville:
Akor Adams score today now, people rush discard Tolu Arokodare, in a team that has never enjoyed a blissful midfield since 2019. NA so we dey do. The next shiny toy

be like you dey my mind. Always looking for the next hero or victim is our major problem. Instead of fixing the system,creating enabling environment we will be looking for a hero or scapegoat everytime

After every match,we keep blaming different players. If it's not Iwobi it's Ekong or someone else. The tactics is terrible. This was very evident in the last 10 mins in which even when it was obvious ndidi and Iwobi were tired,he left them and brought in defenders and we started falling back to pack the bus. Lesotho had two glorious chances. Instead of fortifying the midfield. He go dey do rubbish. That's the effect of tactics. If this man is not putting players out of position he's making wrong substitutions. Same thing against Zimbabwe shore up the midfield he brought in Boniface,then we conceded last minute. Same thing should have happened today but somehow we escaped. I hope he or someone close to him sees this pattern and he learns from it. The midfield is the engine of the team,you can't outstrikers or out defenders a terrible midfield

Rockyrascal:
I thought is 2 goals

You're right. It's 2. Only if we didn't concede that goal would have been one and easy but 2 is a lot for our team that hardly score goals

So we need to beat Benin by 3 goals to qualify. South Africa will win Rwanda and top the group. We will beat Benin by a line goal margin but finish 3rd. Hope everyone learns their lessons going forward and we do better for the next qualifiers

I hope Chelle sees that packing defenders is not the way. You need the midfield to lock it down. Lesotho had two very good chances that an average team would have scored from and those two came after packing defenders.
Also Nwabali needs serious talking to. He too dey do. He would make mistakes and be blaming others. All in all,Chelle isn't the man for me

Does Simon have this man nudes or something. Just take him out and bring a midfielder and push Iwobi to the wings.

Wondering when this man will take out someone and bring a midfielder to lock down the game. This is giving Zimbabwe Vibes where we conceded a late goal

It's funny how people are reacting like this isn't what's suppose to happen. Football is tactics,putting players in their best positions,using the right system. It's not by packing names and strikers. Lookman isn't a winger. He's an inside forward or support striker. He will always look to shoot. Put it beside oshimen simple or take him out. That's what he plays at Atalanta. Simon is useless on the right cos he can't use his one trick there. Iwobi should be far closer to the strikers. We need one more dm so we can push both full backs forward to overload the wings and the wingers can tuck in closer to the box. That's the only way to break down this team. Anything apart from that,we are staring at another draw and the official end of our world cup 2026 qualifications dreams

If for some reason we are obsessed with playing 442 which I honestly don't think it's the best formation for our team. A 352 is a better fit.
The best way to maximize our player playing 442 is to play 2 dms or cms any two of Onyeka,Onyedika ndidi or even uche. Iwobi and Moses Simon should fight for the left wing, but never at the same time. Chukwueze and nathan tella should fight for the right wing. Iwobi can also be moved to the right. Lookman and oshimen upfront. Lookman can be withdrawn for a Tolu. That way we maximize our players and make it balanced. This current set up is not the optimal one and we have tried it more than 20 times and it has never worked.

Dannyxy:
Iwobi looses the ball a lot under pressure in midfield, he cant beat a press player Toh composure, yes he as eye for final pass but can’t control a midfield, Ndidi is a box to box midfielder that is aging.


Where is the midfield control?
This is the reason we are hardly composed and loose games or draw games, we don’t control the game, we let opponents grow into the game, and like that iwobi or ndidi looses a ball in bad places, quick run to the right, they square the ball, ekong does his ekong thing, chakam we are down 1-0…

Let’s get at least one decent ball holding midfielder, I miss Mikel o, even etebo was decent.

The reason is that Iwobi isn't a cm or dm. Ndidi is as you said box to box. That combination can never work in controlling a midfield. What amazes me is we have tried this over 5 years and under different coaches and no one in the technical committee has ever thought to themselves that this doesn't work. I wonder that the technical committee members do sef

So he still stuck to this Iwobi,Simon and lookman arrangement that has never worked. Fingers crossed. Hopefully magic happens

yinkeys:
He’d play Lookman where he’d be ineffective like always lol

you play lookman who's Africa best in a wrong position because of Simon. Indirectly you are saying Simon is better than lookman. If he wants to play both of them. Just play a traditional 442 with 2 dms,Simon on the left and Iwobi on the right,then lookman and oshimen upfront. Simple. No he will rather play players out of position. It's crazy

comodo:
U dey talk Chukwueze. That last name wey Dem smuggle in sef. Olakunle Olusegun. See as Dem hide the name

Exactly. What's the use of including him instead of another Cb like ogbu,Jordan or akpoguma. I really want to know the thought process of those in the technical committee

Odunayaw:
Why does this always come up sef?

just racking my head as to why a normal thinking coach who knows what he's doing will compile such a list having 5 CF with oshimen available and just 3 midfielders and yet you want to play a diamond formation that's based on midfield. Fingers crossed

Why does the list look like something the NFf technical committee complied and forced on the coach. It's only those ancient thinking men in that committee that would think because you need to win you invite 5 CF with no midfielders. How are the strikers going to get service and how many can you play at once. Either that or Chelle is out of depth and it's tactical understanding of the grade is extremely low. I just hope he abandons this his stupid 442 diamond or he gets sacked before the afcon if not he will disgrace us there.

I think our best formation going forward should be 352.
Gk - Nwabali/okoye
Cb- Fredricks,Ekong,Bassey.
The two outside Cb should be people that are agile. Ekong should always be in the centre. Other options are akpohuma,Jordan tournigba,igbo ogbu,Awaziem
Wingbacks - Rwb - Aina,osayi. Lwb - Felix agu,onyemachi. When sanusi is fit,Felix can be moved to the right and osayi dropped. He's not been convincing.
CM - the formation uses two dm who will cover the wings when both Wingbacks push forward to stretch play and constantly put in crosses and cut backs.
Onyedika with any of Onyeka,Ndidi.
AM - given a free role to orchestrate the attack and find the strikers and full backs with penetrative passes. Will also help in the defensive aspect.
Iwobi, Chrisantus uche,Fdb.
Attackers - Lookman and oshimen. Arokodare,moffi,desser as sub.

Players like Moses,chukwueze can be in the squad as options in case we need to change to a 3 attack but they should always start on the bench.
Nathan tella can be played at Rwb instead of osayi

Nwabali
. Fredricks. Ekong. Bassey
Aina. Onyedika. Onyeka. Agu
. Iwobi
. Oshimen. Lookman