₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Ronaldo De Lima remains the greatest Number 9 of all time because via eye test alone, he was the perfect mix of a player able to impose himself on games technically and physically. He wasn't called "Il fenomeno" aka "The Phenomenon" for nothing. He was the best of the best in the Number 9 business.

He was a beast physically. Never afraid to run into the tough paths of Maldini, Nesta, Jaap Stam, and co.

And technically, he was one of the all time best. Lad could create something out of nothing from a standing position. His dribbling was a weapon hard to stop.

If Victor Boniface adds mastery of his physicality to the immense technical skills he has, then we have a striker capable of creating two kinds of chaos on his own. He can get there if he wants.

If Boniface improves his stamina, movement and reading of spaces (like Osimhen does), loses some more weight, and adds more lethality to his finishing, he genuinely could win the ballon d'or at some point. He is that good.

I think he has the highest ceiling of any Nigerian player, ever. Drogba vs. Ronaldo de Lima is the best comparison I've seen for what he is and can be.

robosky02:
Osimhen needs. Urgent. Prayers and help


4 goals at AFCON disallowed

PSG move fail

Chelsea. Deal. Fail

First Galatasary. Goal awarded to another

This. Guy needs urgent intervention

Imagine not been on CAF. Rader when he is still the reigning. AFOY


FIFA balondor. Did consider. Him

Napoli boo. Him out


Omo no be. .....hmmm

I am Victor's biggest fan, but I think one of the reasons all this is happening is because he has ridden on the hype a little too much.

Osimhen has nothing to prove anymore, he already has the accolades to back himself up. He needs to stop trying to meet up to the bloated hype/expectations people have of him, which only adds pressure to himself. Case in point, first Gala game, trying so hard and celebrating/claiming Bardakci's goal. Celebrating assists and own goals like he dribbled past ten players to score, etc.

We love him enough that whether he scores on his debut or not, whether he scores every game or not, we are still behind him. He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore, so he should reduce the stress and expectations he puts on himself, and have fun playing football. He is good enough that the goals will come. He doesn't need to score in every game to maintain his value, he just needs to score with the next chance in front of him.

Luckily, irrespective of all this, his game is still very unselfish, which speaks so much of his personality and play style. But putting that much pressure on yourself will make it inevitable at some point that your teammates might start to resent you for trying to 'steal' the spotlight.

This is why I love Victor Boniface so much. He very firmly positions himself as the underdog, as the 'second' Victor, as the unserious comedian. This is because as the underdog, people have reduced expectations of you, so you have a higher margin of error which you can use to make mistakes and gain experience necessary to improve on your game. But if you watch him slowly, his game is getting exponentially better. The improvements in his playstyle from Bodo -> USG -> Leverkusen first year -> Leverkusen second year are honestly mindblowing. See his two goals against Hoffenheim for instance. He wouldn't have taken those shots from those positions two years ago (and the second goal even as close as last year). His dribbling in tight spaces is getting refined, his stamina is improving, his hold up play is getting more mature, he is losing the ball less than before. All these are improvements from his game last season that he is slowly getting better at, and doing so away from the spotlight and the pressure of being the 'first' Victor. I wonder what he will look like in 2-3 years time.

We are overloading the wings and it is not working because we don't have a central presence. We should be playing W type passes in the middle instead, that is where Boniface shines like at Leverkusen.

drDoom3:
We will probably keep shithousing our way to win games like this.

It is not sustainable though, and if it fails, the team will look like farmers.

Not to beat a dead horse, but in football style of play is more important than temporary victories.

As I have maintained, our style of play was never sustainable, and when it did fail, our players looked like farmers.

For the future, we need to hire a coach that can reboot the team with a style of play that maximizes our attacking talent and the football intelligence in our midfield (i.e Iwobi, Ndidi, Yusuf and co). Amunike is my first choice.

Stillwater10:
Zaidu was very important to the success of this tactic. Aside his final ball, he helps pushes our attack

Zaidu not being there changes nothing. The problem is not Zaidu being there or anything.

The problem is what I and a couple other monikers have been shouting since. This formation and style of play is not sustainable. Hugo Broos found the perfect antidote to it: since we refuse to press high, play out from the back and open up the pitch. Then, quickly play a long ball into the space between the back line and the goalkeeper, and trust your smaller but nimbler and faster forwards to get there first due to their superior acceleration (not necessarily speed).

Now, the coach has to change the formation/personnel to counter this threat. But without testing any substitutes or new formations so far, the coach has ensured that we really don't have a back up plan.

We have been figured out.

charlesemeka85:
Ekong is very good at brining the ball out from the defense.

I wonder how una Dey watch ball sometimes

Against a mid/low block any player is good at bringing the ball out from the defense, especially in a back three. You have more passing options, the opponents cannot double press you, you have CMs/DMs in Iwobi and Onyeka that can receive the ball, you have Osimhen you can lump the ball to. Very easy.

The problem is facing a high press in a back two. Once the options are limited, that is when you know who is good at bringing the ball out from the defense and who is not.

Moniter0:
This is undoubtedly the ideal formation for the Super Eagles this AFCON. Simon can come on in the second half whenever the team is leading and wants to defend from the front.
Iheanacho can create chances and also score when presented with the opportunity. And can also combine well with Iwobi and lookman for Victor to benefit.

Our playing style right now requires the two wingers to be fast, dynamic dribblers and pressers with good stamina. Only Moses Simon and Lookman fit that criteria.

I understand Iheanacho for creativity but his off the ball work is too poor to start in this system. The creativity comes from Iwobi and Nacho cannot play that role.

However I think he should come on earlier as a sub.

Samueltemi337:
I said this before the AFCON started


But charlesemeka85 and kog45 way nor Sabi watch ball dey argue

Ekong is like Maguire. Good in a team that prioritizes defending. Have him try to play the ball out of the back or generate an attack and you are asking for trouble. That is why he looks good in this team.

Mujtahida:
It's all risk. If Osimhen is subbed off 70 minutes, and the opposition scores or drags us to extra time, it will be dicey. That's why we need to bury our chances

Better to have a fresh James Milner on the pitch than an exhausted/injured Messi.

Odunayaw:
Yes, focus on the 15 and forget the 75

Ridiculous.

If you sit that deep against quality players consistently, you are playing Russian roulette, it is only a matter of time.

If that ball they hit the bar with went in, how would we respond? Osimhen was already gassed, Peseiro will bring Onuachu on to score two?

Odunayaw:
Those are those silly IFs you guys bring up. WTH!

Well unfortunately for you Moses is pacy and Lookman is an amazing ball striker!

And what do you mean terrorism tactics? Make una step up with una match analysis abeg

It is not sustainable. That is the issue.

Once we meet a team that can hold sustained pressure in our attacking third towards the end of games, or we fail to score first in a game, we will struggle.

Odunayaw:
JPes gave them the opportunity to shine how?

Given our quality, we could have played much better and won much more comfortably than we did. The last 15 minutes were living on the edge.

Odunayaw:
Individual brilliance?

Just de drive rough with your mouth de go

But it is true. If Moses Simon was a little less pacy, or Lookman isn't an amazing ball striker, we probably would be talking extra time, cos God knows we weren't scoring again in that game with those terrorism tactics.

We will probably keep shithousing our way to win games like this.

It is not sustainable though, and if it fails, the team will look like farmers.

jihday:
we must wrap up our next game before the 60th minute, these guys are exhausted

The guys are exhausted because Peseiro wants to play them into the ground.

Yusuf today was excellent. He should be coming on much earlier.

The reason we sat so deep in the second half was because Angola brought on fresh legs to win the ball and retain it. We couldn't press anymore because of exhaustion, and Peseiro is not seeing that. We had two players stretchered off because of fatigue disguised as pseudo injuries.

We keep getting lucky because the teams we play cannot mount sustained pressure in the attacking third later on in games. Once we play a team that can, or we fail to score first, we will struggle.

We are playing terrorism football.

Peseiro doesn't make sub until his players die on the pitch. Wahala

I dont think we need a back 3. Remove Zaidu and bring in a Yusuf, move Bassey to that wing. Zaidu is horrible offensively.

What does Zaidu have to do to get benched?

I am amazed Zaidu plays in the champions league. He plays football like he forgot his brains at home.

Ekong has horrible composure for someone that is supposed to be a senior player. Wayward clearances, it seems he has still never recovered from his error for Watford in the EPL those years back.

We need to see Nacho back. I would yank off Zaidu and bring in Alhassan to flood that midfield with energy.

Mujtahida:
He's right na when he's obviously wrong but anyway he's your disciple in training.

Don't be surprised if we physically match cameroun tomorrow.

We will easily physically match Cameroon.

Bassey and Aina physically dominated Ivory Coast. In the midfield Onyeka and Alhassan can match anyone, or at least draw a foul when necessary. Osimhen up top, much does not need to be said. Lookman playing as a striker for Atalanta has really helped him step up physically, I remember a duel he had with Seko Fofana in the Ivory Coast game, I didn't know Ademola was that strong.

komekn:
Your selection will see us get whipped, Violated and mashed up. Starting from the defence:

This is athletic power football ⚽ Omeruo ( expired drug) will get overpowered, outpaced ( slow) and out jumped and bullied. I remember how he got destroyed by Cameroon the last time.

CB's have to be Ekong and Bassey ( Afang with pounded yam) eee no get contest. Aina is deceptively fast and strong with football intelligence and arguably the best passing and crossing range in the entire BB team that's both left and right feet. Zaidu all brawn and no brains I'll play Aina LB and Osayi RB.

Alhassan be like fowl that breeze go carry go. He has no physicality and poor stamina and not enough inventive creative technicality, add to that he is short no aerial ability it's over against Cameroon with tall midfielders a big liability.

Raphael is a very strong immobile brick 🧱 wall that has zero creativity, Onyeka is much more mobile they offer very little inventiveness and creativity they are both water 💦 carriers but the best is Frank ( great stamina)

Forwards only two choices without question Ademola and VO, who should play wing Simon or Chukwueze, I don't know both have different issues and they can't cross consistently with quality. Poor end product.

Midfield has to be Iwobi (AM) plus Aribo and Onyeka with a bit more creativity coming from Aribo.

It's going to be a long hard day , Cameroon are fired up .

Alhassan is twice the player any of those midfielders you mentioned are, the same way Kante is thrice the player each of them are.

Starboytwo:
One of this commntator on startimes do not rate Naija chance at all. His Co partner asked him which teams is it?

He be like, Senegal and obviously Morocco.

The other guy asked again, are you sure Nigeria is not there in the mix, especially with yesterday match? And apart from osimhen that we have an EPL midlfield.

He be like " we don't have a world class goal keeper and our back is shakey" etc. And proceded to add CIV in the mix as host nation.

My point is I'm so happy they not giving us a chance. Until we meet them and beat them.

The fact that we beat CIV doesn't mean we are doing well. We have a horrible team with individual talents. Because Osimhen can hold up to create chances from nothing and Bassey and Aina are 1v1 monsters doesn't mean we were better than CIV. We can't keep playing like this, it is not sustainable.

komekn:
I forgot to say two of the best goal 🥅 keeper in Africa Mende and Onana.

This game is POWER 💪🏿 plus Power and athletic physicality IT'S RAW

Loving 😍 it

Two Lions🦁🦁 at war

Both goalkeepers are horrible, and made horrible mistakes today. The goalies for the lesser sides who have to save millions of shots every game to keep their teams still in contention and to keep scorelines respectable are better.

Gift Orban to Olympique Lyon here we go.

Yusuf singlehandedly carrying the midfield.

Iwobi and Onyeka need to wake up. Abysmal performances from them.

Ekong and Ajayi so shaky. Both decent 1v1 but horrible ball-playing. Ajayi so athletic though.

Second half if the midfield refuses to wake up switch them up.

komekn:
I would disagree.

I will be very BRUTAL, he plays like an aboki, no football ⚽ intelligence and very limited technical ability.

Plenty of running and stamina but almost no end product. Aina is not a LB but has far more football intelligence technical ability and end 🔚 PRODUCT. In this regard Aina is better, don't know much about Bruno apart from doesn't seem to be getting much game time and is not first choice.

Why is he selected for the SE 🤔

Aina does not have much football intelligence. Amazingly athletic though. Reece James' athleticism without the composure and passing abilities. Very good one-on-one, until he meets a winger that doesn't rely on physicality to beat his opponent.

Zaidu can be very erratic. He does some things very well though, like overlapping and crossing. Also decent one-on-one. There's a rawness to his game that I just don't like, it gives me the feel of poor coaching in his formative years.

Bruno IMO is the best of the three. Intelligent and non-erratic, keeps things simple. Very conservative with recycling play and keeping possession, which makes him the most stable of the three, but also the least likely to contribute to the attack. Gives the feel of a CB converted to LB.

Overall it depends on the opponent and game plan. Some games would be best with an Aina, some with a Zaidu, some with a Bruno.

BascoVanVeli:
I'll take Semi over Tosin. For me they cancel each other out defensively but Semi is much better on the ball.

Semi Ajayi has the worst passing I've seen in a professional football player. Watch the Zimbabwe and Lesotho games over again.

Amazing one-on-one defender, wonderful aerially and can go on a rampaging run, but on the ball play is passing not ball carrying.

Lookman scores the winning goal for Atalanta. Now on 7 goals along with Osimhen.

Maduka Okoye keeps a clean sheet against Serie A top 4 side Bologna.

Sadiq Umar starts for La Real against Sevilla and Sergio Ramos.

Chukwueze starts for Milan against Fiorentina.