₦airaland Forum

ChrisKels:
There is a big news guys, but I will have my lips sealed for now

Nwanna gwa anyi the gist. Emela ka anyi noro na suspense

Heard Oruma was introduced to the so called Pastor by his ex wife. Woman divorced him afterwards. Sad.

tbaba1234:
Uduokhai actual quotes

"I have not been to Nigeria often yet, but I talk a lot about it with my dad, and have kinship there. That's where my roots lie, it's important to me to stay on the wire. "The Nigerian federation has already pretended to Uduokhai, the player himself holds the decision open. "Of course, the German national team is the non plus ultra in world football, but also Nigeria is well staffed. Currently, I'm really open to both sides, "

I honestly hope we can pull this off. It'd be a huge coup for Rohr

goldfish80:
Sometimes, I wonder how they manage young players at Arsenal. Same was the case with Wilshere, always partying and smoking. It appears his life has taken a new turn since he married and had a kid.
If Iwobi got married, some of these excesses will be cut and he will become more responsible.
A guy in the comment page on DailyMail said he was always fined for late coming in training

Wenger still likes him that is why he'll put up with it and just give him a stern talking to. The moment Wenger feels he isn't going to step up, he'll just discard him like thrash. He did the same thing with Nicklas Bendtner till he got tired of the guy.
Anyways, Iwobi is a smart guy and he has family around to support him. Hopefully he doesn't repeat this again

tbaba1234:
Akwa United fans : See your 17 year old..

Chai!!

Loool this guy is minimum 20.

BascoVanVeli:
If they were really complaining about their CBs & DM they wouldn't have time to be concerned about Iwobi. This is how bad those players are but yet after every match the first thing u hear is Iwobi Iwobi Iwobi. The boy can't even post a picture without some clowns running him into the ground. This is to me even worse than the treatment Efe Ambrose received from his own fans at Celtic. I don't mind criticism as long as it is fair. I agree that he is not productive but that is not the reason arsenal is in 6th place.

I'm an Arsenal fan. The only player that hasn't been majorly criticized is Ozil. Xhaka had to turn off the comment section in his IG because he was getting death threats at one period. Bellerin gets abuse after abuse anytime we use lose or draw. Iwobi isn't been singled out.

TheGoodJoe:
Tell me what is terrific about Puel's CV? It is not just because he won a title and Lee Johnson is growing means he is a better coach. That is like rating coaches who won a title somewhere better than some young coaches who are showing exceptional knowledge of the game. Football is more than just titles. Pulls can not coach with such bravery.

Give Puel that Bristol team and he will not earning the kind of reviews the team gets.

Finito.

You do know Puel has a history with blooding young players right??

BascoVanVeli:
It is true and u know it. How many times do arsenal fans complain about their back line or midfield? I mean these defenders have made worse errors than John Stones did last season but the coverage has been shockingly less. Iwobi needs to improve but it is not as do or die as the fans make it. He might not have scored much this season but he has been helping his team.

Arsenal fans MOSTLY complain about their CBs and DM. Infact, Xhaka is criticized 20 times more than Iwobi. There's no agenda against Iwobi, but fact is he isn't anywhere close to his form of early last season. The form that made Wenger not go for Mahrez and Draxler last season. He's off form - there's no denying it. Anyone saying otherwise is clearly undermining his talent or didn't watch him well enough last season.

Farzat:
You argue everyday because you're devoid intelligence n sufficient points to win argument. [/b]I don't need to know u in person to know that you're not a successful person[b] and u think everyone here is on d same page with u

Stop being daft. He has a different to yours - does that give you a reason to say the bolded?

Later we'll hear Welbeck is hesitant to sign a new deal.
How can you have 5 CB and only one is anything close to world class?? Holding is thrash. Chambers is thrash. Mustafi is thrash. Per is old and have lost his legs. Imagine selling Gabriel and keeping Chambers?
This club is drifting into mediocrity and Kroenke can't see it. Sack Wenger at the end of the season.

KevinDein:
Wilshere was and has been great for a while now. When Ramsey comes back, I suggest Wenger plays a three man midfield, with him, Ramsey and Xhaka.

Revert back to 4-3-3

You think Wenger would do something this obvious??

daveP:
The most succesful tackles in the EPL, the only dmf that goes in for a tackle and comes out without a booking. That clinical stat would surely attract them cos Case and Kova don't come that close. Mind you he tops the EPL by these stats. But he's still a work in progress.

Madrid already have Case for that. Unless Case is leaving, Ndidi would be foolish to go to madrid even if the opportunity came across. Apart from Kovacic and Case, they have Llorente and Ceballos still in the reserves.

Roland17:
Since Wenger loves cheap, I won't mind one of Tarkwoski or Ben Mee. They are very good defenders

Already linked to Tarkwoski. I want one of Manolas/Koulibaly/Skrinar. Wenger needs to stop being stingy and go big for a bloody CB.

Why didn't Wengay switch to a back 4 when Koscienly got injured?? He should've brought on a midfielder(Elneny or even coq) or Walcott. What has Walcott done to this fool?? 19 goals last season and he isn't getting a fair shot?

Soft penalty. Regardless we were poor. We sorely missed Ozil and Ramsey. Iwobi needs to learn how to shoot in an arsenal jersey.
Top 4 is slowly out of reach again

Spy360:
Sometimes Ozil is the one who gets to go deeper to initiate attacks. That job is being done by Wilshere recently. That makes neither of them DM. In fact, like you rightly mentioned, Wenger does not actually play a DM or Holding midfielder. He plays a double pivot as he did with Vieira and Petit.

That for me was the reason why we conceded 3 against Liverpool. Our defence was so exposed like when breeze throws up a woman's skirts.

Welcome back, long time.

Thanks man. Our midfield structure in that game was pitiful to say the least.
At least with Jack back, he can drop deep and dictate since Wengay doesn't seem to trust Xhaka to do so.

joseph1013:
AWARDS FOR THIS THREAD 2017

I should have done this well before now but it kept escaping me. Let's cut the aggressive banters and have a little fun.

So, I will be listing out some categories and you are allowed to nominate the posters of your choice. You can also add the categories I have omitted. This will last for 72 hours. At the end of which, safarigirl, if she agrees, will announce the winners on Thursday, 4th January, 2018 by 7pm.

CATEGORIES
1. Most Controversial Poster
2. Most Interactive Poster
3. Most Intelligent Poster
4. Most Resourceful Poster
5. Most Respectful Poster
6. Most Consistent Poster
7. Most Positive Poster
7. Best Sense of Humor
8. Most Critical Poster
9. Nicest Poster
10. Most Influential Poster
11. People's Favourite
12. Best Friends
13. Top Dramatic Topics
14. Honourable Mention: I, by the power vested on me by this thread, unanimously give this category to THESUPERNERD. Whoever does not accept should go and report to Buhari.

Any other categories I'm missing?

PS: Apologies the get-together could not happen. I am out of the country.

cc: AIG07, Isahalbash, Safarigirl, Joebie, Kog45, Goldfish80, daveP, kennysville, realpoacher, tbaba1234, komekn, Mujtahida, certitude, humility017, forgiveness, enomakos, TheGoodjoe, Mikael2, petrobros, Bascovanveli, TheSuperNerd, chrisoblog, loogan, do4luv14, icon79, maidaboi, terzurum5, Okpekyandega, Icon4s, TheSuperNerd, lakesidepapa, goldfish80, Xzbit91, lexyman, Humility017, ChrisKels, bigblangston, goke7, Chrismario, Daninya11, shawwal1, ganiyat2adeyeri, yemyke001, edi287, krattoss, eseose9, oasis007, jihday etc.

I tender my unreserved apologies if your name is not here. Let's have some fun.

1. My main G Forgiveness
2. Joebie/tbaba1234
3. Goldfish80
4 . Mujtahida/tbaba1234
5. Junnyjake
6. tbaba1234
7. Elyte89
8. Mickael2/goldfish80/Komekn
9 . Joebie
10. Icon4s
11.tbaba1234
12. Komekn and Forgiveness
13. Nacho vs Mbappe, G Jesus, etc. 'Is Mikel a Chelsea legend?" "Foreign born players"

krattoss:
wengers confidence and trust on iwobi knows no bound. .

I hope it pays off

Iwobi needs to start repaying it quick. His end product is lacking.

tbaba1234:
Those stats are inaccurate, Ndidi is averaging 4 tackles a game. No way, he is averaging 2. Anything

These are the stats from whoscored.com

I used a per 90 metric as Ndidi have played more minutes.

jihday:
koulibaly and Benatia should be the ideal CB pairing

Yeah it'd be between Benatia and Hengazi to pair Koulibaly

korlahwarleh:
why will Gueye replace Ndidi?
Ndidi's country qualified ahead of Gueyes
Ndidi and Gueye both play in the same league, Ndidi has better records, more blocks, more tackles won e. t. c
Or are you using their "blackness" ni?

You do know Gueye is Senegalese right??

korlahwarleh:
why will Gueye replace Ndidi?
Ndidi's country qualified ahead of Gueyes
Ndidi and Gueye both play in the same league, Ndidi has better records, more blocks, more tackles won e. t. c
Or are you using their "blackness" ni?

You do know Gueye is Senegalese right??

PDPGuy:
If you were to select an African all-star 11 for a World Cup match next year, which players would you pick?
Note: You can only pick players from the 5 African nations that qualified for the World Cup.

I’d go with the following:

——————-El Hadary—————-

—-Shehu—-Ekong—-Balogun—-Idowu—

—————-Ndidi—-Onazi————

———————-Mikel—————-


—-Salah——-Sane——-Victor Moses——

Koulibaly for Ekong
Gueye for Ndidi
Ghoulam for Idowu
Ziyech for Onazi (move Mikel to CM)

nelszx:
You are a real PDP guy
Benatia for Shehu
Idrissa Gueye for Onazi
Msakni for Mikel
Fathi for Balogun
Ziyech for Sane

Benatia is a CB.

Moses Only Nigerian In France Football Team Of The Year, Nominated For CAF Best Right Winger
Published: December 31, 2017
Moses Only Nigerian In France Football Team Of The Year, Nominated For CAF Best Right Winger
Chelsea star Victor Moses has been named to the African Team of the Year for 2017 by celebrated French football magazine France Football.

The right wing-back was the only player of Nigerian descent that made the prestigious list.

The list contains Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, (both from Liverpool), but there was no spot for Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was listed among the five substitutes.

Moses had a banner year in 2017, helping Chelsea win the Premier League title and reach the final of the Emirates FA Cup; he was also Nigeria's most outstanding player on the road to Russia.

The 27-year-old missed out on the Confederation of African Football and BBC Player of the Year but is among the favourites to be named in CAF's Team of the Year at next week's gala ceremony in Accra.

He has been nominated for the best right winger in Africa in 2017 by CAF along with Keita Balde (Monaco, Senegal) and Mohammed Ounnajem (Wydad Athletic Club Casablanca, Morocco).

African Team of the Year (France Football)

Essen El Hadary (Egypt, Al-Taawoun), Nabil Dirar (Morocco, Fenerbahce), Medhi Benatia (Morocco, Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal, Naples), Faouzi Ghoulam (Algeria, Naples), Victor Moses (Nigeria, Chelsea) , Naby Keita (RB Leipzig, Guinea), Jean-Michaël Seri (Ivory Coast, OGC Nice), Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool), Sadio Mané (Senegal, Liverpool), Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon, FC Porto).

Substitutes:

Fabrice Ondoa (Cameroon, AC Seville), Ahmed Hegazy (Egypt, WBA), Thomas Partey (Ghana, Atletico Madrid), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco, Ajax Amsterdam), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon, Borussia Dortmund).

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com

http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php

I can't wait to see what Wengay does when Ramsey gets back from injury. Ideally we should be playing a 4-3-3 with Xhaka, Wilshere and Ramsey as our midfield 3. Ozil, Lacazette and Alexis will play as our front 3.

Spy360:
Its either your Tv or your eyes. One of them definitely needs to be changed.

Wilshere plays 10 and has always done so for Arsenal. Actually Wenger uses a double pivot midfield with Xhaka. But still Wilshere is the more advanced player.

There's no structure or whatsoever in that midfield 60 percent of the time. I've seen games where Ozil is deeper than both Xhaka and Wilshere. Wengay is not a serious human being. Why he insists on pushing Xhaka so far up is something I'll never understand.

PDPGuy:
If you were to select an African all-star 11 for a World Cup match next year, which players would you pick?
Note: You can only pick players from the 5 African nations that qualified for the World Cup.

I’d go with the following:

——————-El Hadary—————-

—-Shehu—-Ekong—-Balogun—-Idowu—

—————-Ndidi—-Onazi————

———————-Mikel—————-

—-Salah——-Sane——-Victor Moses——

Koulibaly over one of Ekong and Balogun. Idrissa Gueye over Onazi.

TheGoodJoe:
I doubt Mikel started as a ten. Keep in mind there was Lampard in the team. I think Mikel played more in a double pivot system.

Mourinho saying Pogba can defend and also play a creative midfield role is not a certification that Pogba can play as a defensive midfielder with discipline. What Carragher highlighted in his words and you can find the video on youtube shows that Pogba does not possess a high level of discipline in his game.

This is one of the top qualities of Mikel that kept him at Chelsea for a long time.

Note also, when Pogba plays, he either has Herrera or Fellaini to shield. Very risky throwing Pogba in the midfield to carry the burden of organization.

Yeah he played in a double pivot. Truth is he never got to fulfill his potential. He could've been a bit more expansive in that DM role but he chose to keep it simple all the time.

TheGoodJoe:
You make it sound as if Pogba shields the defence. He does not do that and he does not know how to do it. Mourinho could play Mikel Obi ad his defensive midfielder but will find it difficult to play Pogba there.


Read this excerpt of Jamie Carragher's take on Pogba in the first Manchester derby last season.

“For a central midfielder in a game of that magnitude, I think for the first 40 minutes it was one of the most ill-disciplined performances you will see.

“The only way to describe it was like watching the best player in the schoolyard that runs where he wants and does what he wants.

“Five minutes into a Manchester derby, when you know the centre of the pitch is so important to stopping Man City, he finds himself in a left-wing role trying to receive the ball.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I felt so sorry for Fellaini. He was left on his own in the centre of the pitch and there was so much space.

“Pogba has cost what he has cost and he has done what he has done, he’s not a kid. He is 23. You find yourself looking at situations where Man Utd are leaving acres of space in the most important part of the pitch against a Pep Guardiola team.

“His job, when you are playing in a two in midfield, is to be disciplined, especially against Silva and De Bruyne. It is either he has got it wrong or Mourinho has given him licence to do what he wants and that is wrong.”

You might praise Pogba for his flamboyancy and driven shots but as Carragher explained, sometimes his play lacks discipline and looks like a schoolboy in the pitch. He lacks a key ingredient Mikel Obi has, discipline.

Reports suggest United, whom Pogba left in 2012 for a compensation fee of £800,000, will break the world transfer record to re-sign Pogba, with the fee predicted to rise to a staggering €120million, depending on bonuses.

But Mourinho believes the 23-year-old boasts a rare combination of qualities possessed by such Premier League greats as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Scholes, who retired after United's last title triumph in 2013.

"We have number 10s, we don't have what I call a [color=#990000]second midfield player, who is strong enough, powerful enough, but has creativity and scores goals," he told BT Sport.

"Lampard, Scholes, Gerrrard - the second player who sometimes scores more than the number 10 but defends like a number six. They're difficult to find. These three unbelievable players represent that."
[/color]

I remember Jose said he wanted Mikel to develop both sides of the game (can't find that article anywhere). Funny thing is he started only 10 of the 24 games in his first season as a DM.

Icon79:
KPOM!

And he had the skills to be as good as Pogba if not better. One thing with Africans especially Nigerian players is their tendency to settle and become comfortable wherever they are. If I have the talents of Mikel, I would never have stayed one day on Chelsea bench. And that's because there's no way I would've settled.



O pari

Had numerous opportunities to move to Inter and Valencia, but we know why he insisted on staying...

tbaba1234:
Iwobi had a bad first half, that was clear. Wilshere is playing a deeper role and is not in competition with Iwobi.

Iwobi has not been bad this season. I have seen games where Iwobi is one of the few Arsenal players doing anything of note. But i go online and see ridiculous comments. Sanchez has been far more atrocious but does not get as much stick.

Iwobi needs to convert his game play into goals and assists. Fans do not read stats on whoscored.com, all they see are goals and assists.

Honestly the real problem Arsenal fans have with Iwobi is his lack of end product.