₦airaland Forum

People who run around looking for miracle should learn from this.

Kagawa on SAF.

"He normally left the training to the coaching staff," Kagawa said. "The day or so before the game, he just turned up at the stadium or hotel.

"Although I had heard about the [hairdryer] rumour before going to Manchester, I hadn't seen any managers shouting that hard. It really was like a hairdryer, as he is called, he shouted really hard with his face really red, especially at the core players.

"It was my first season, so he maybe overlooked me a little bit and I didn't get shouted at very much. The fact that he can shout at leading players such as [Wayne] Rooney, [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes, Rio [Ferdinand] shows his presence.

"Those players have to take it in and cannot say anything, so the players respect him that much. His aura and his driving force are really great and I thought that's why he had the ability to manage those players.

"I think it was a great experience for my football life that I played his last season with him, someone who has the greatest number of titles in football and is a legendary manager. It really was a big moment to be with that kind of person."

The 26-year-old admits the demand for success created an "incredible pressure" at the 20-time English champions, but insists he does not regret his decision to join the club.



"There is incredible pressure. As you play under that incredible pressure, it's important how much you believe in yourself and your own talent when you play. And you have to show it on the pitch," he explains.
"Those who can keep achieving results are the big players at the big clubs. If you cannot get the results, you just can't play and move away. I think there are just two ways to go. It's very severe but it's very clear.
"There were a lot of things that you cannot experience in other places. I felt that Manchester United are a big club with fans and attention all over the world.
"If you show a good performance there, you'll get praised by the fans and get attention around the world. It was a very good experience to play in that kind of place.
"I also feel proud of Dortmund and the current football we are playing is one of the best in the world. And I want to show it off in the Champions League next season. I respect Manchester United, but I have respect to Dortmund as well."

Kante crucial for Leicester

All aboard the N'Golo Kante bandwagon. There can be no denying that Vardy and Mahrez have been the heroes of Leicester's season but it simply isn't possible to drag a team to the top of the table without efforts from elsewhere - just ask Willian.

Kante set the tone by twice dispossessing Willian in the first minute of the match and he's been doing stuff like that all season. No player in the Premier League has made more interceptions and he's among the top three for tackles too.

Kante's running stats
N'Golo Kante covered 12.2 kilometres, more than any other player on the pitch.

Against Chelsea, Kante won possession of the ball more times than anyone else on the pitch. He also covered more ground than any other player and did a job on the right flank in the latter stages. But it's not all destructive. Kante's forward pass started the move for the game's opening goal.

Mahrez is currently top on stat. Whoscored also picked Mahez as the best player in EPL.


To think Mahez is a winger. A right winger.

kokaneprodigy:
Una still won buy after after spending over 250Milla, u pple sha want to send United back to the village. make una fear God oooo.
But on a serious note man-u has been killing players of recent I doubt if a right thinking striker would wanna join cos after few matches he will start chopping bench and yall will start calling for his head.

PSG still dey buy, even after dem buy defender for 50 million. Anything to make us feared again. We gat to keep upgrading until we get there.

We should grab one of Lukaku or Vardy in January. If we cannot buy some of the best players in the world, we can buy the best in EPL like the way Bayern Munich did.

I wonder who between the two will fit the philosophy better. Lukaku gat height and will offer aerial threat and power. Vardy gat speed and intelligence.

Rumours : Lukaku

Although we are entering into the season of rumours which will not end until January ending.

chrisley024:
Before this win for Leicester, only one team has already accrued 32 points at this stage of the season and gone to miss out on a top four finish. That was Newcastle in the early 1990s.

Since losing to Chelsea in April Leicester have lost just one of their last 20 premier league matches (W13 D6 L1). Amazingly Impressive!



These guys should be taken serious and LvG and his team should step up immediately.

They will not beat City to the title. If Leicester is the obstacle, even Arsenal will begin to believe. But for us, we are not serious yet. Gaal looks like someone comfortable as long as he sees Mourinho and Klopp down there. For Van Gaal, all EPL teams are now equal.

Ace Blogger, Linda Ikeji And How She Turned Her Blog Into One Of Nigeria’s Most Visited Sites

Oct 19, 2013

Linda Ikeji started blogging in 2007 to share things that she was interested in with her readers.. Five years later, www.lindaikeji..com has grown to be one of the most visited sites in the country. As a regular source for news, entertainment, celebrity gist, gossip and many more, her blog continues to attract thousands of visitors daily. In this exclusive interview with Adeola Adeyemo, Linda shares her journey into the world of blogging and what makes her stand out. There aren’t many people as open minded and down to earth as Linda Ikeji. Any frequent visitor of her blog would know that. She has very little to hide and she is not the least bit pretentious . With Linda, what you see is what you get and a frequent visitor of her blog knows that she is single and searching. Dedicated “LIB Readers” know that she makes an enviable income from her blog and saved money to buy her dream car- a 2008 Toyota Camry in four months. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>


This openness about her coupled with her clever and quick way of bringing people news, information, jokes, pictures and many more from around the world on her blog has earned her the reputation as one of Nigeria’s favorite bloggers. Her blog gets over 50,000 visits daily and is a hotspot for online advertisers and people wishing to attract web traffic to their websites or blogs. Comments on Linda’s blog can be revealing, interesting and more controversial than the post itself. As one reader wrote “I visit this blog everyday just to read comments”
I caught up with Linda recently and we had a very interesting chat. Linda is friendly and easy going and I had the best laugh I’ve had in a long time



How did you discover blogging?
When I was much younger, I wanted to be a journalist. That was my dream. When I was about 10 years old, I was already writing. I wrote a few fiction stories in my notebooks and I gave a few people and they read and they thought I was a good writer. I used to really enjoy watching newscasters, people doing interviews, I used to look up to them so when I was about to go into the University, I put in for Mass Communication but I didn’t get that course, I got English. So when I finished school, and I had become a model and people knew me as a model, it was very difficult for me to go back to back to being a journalist so I just moved on from there. But then I discovered blogging in 2006 Incidentally.
That was the first time I ever saw a blog. I didn’t know what blogging was before then, I had never heard about it until somebody referred me to Bella’s site to go and see something she wrote about me, so I went there, I saw the story, I saw the comments and I liked what I saw.

What was the blog post about?
I can’t remember but it was something about me as a Nigerian based model.

So what really inspired you to start your own blog?
From then, I started reading her blog and one day I said to myself, I can actually live my dream, put stories together, tell people what is going on, so I created the blog that year. I created the blog in 2006 but I really started blogging early 2007.


What University did you attend and what did you do after graduating?
University of Lagos. After graduating in 2004, I started my own company, Blackdove Communications. It’s a modeling agency and event management company. I started modeling in 1998 and I quit in 2005. But in 2004, after I finished university I started my own company but I stayed within my comfort zone which was modeling so instead of being in front of the camera. I went behind the camera by running an agency, recruiting models, training models, getting jobs for models. I still have the modeling agency but I am not running it anymore.


There weren’t so many Nigerians on the internet in 2007 then as they are now. What was the traffic on your blog like then?
You’re right, but I still enjoyed it. I was getting like 200 visits a day and for me then, it was a big deal, honestly. Now I’m getting like 50,000 visits a day from up to 180 countries.
What do you think is responsible for this traffic?
I don’t know, I guess people just love what I do. And I’ve done some really controversial posts that gets people’s attention.
What has kept you going all these years?
The passion and the love I have for blogging, I really enjoy it. I enjoy writing stories and getting feedback, getting people to react to it. I was really passionate about it so I kept doing it.


When was the first time you made money from your blog?
2011 actually. It took me four years to start making money from blogging. I never even thought that I would make money from blogging. I didn’t start blogging with the mindset that one day I would make money from it. I didn’t even think that was a possibility, it never even crossed my mind. I didn’t say to myself that OK let me blog now and maybe in five years time, I will make money from it. I never imagined that it would ever happen. Infact, in 2008, 2009, I was putting free ads on my blog, I was telling my blog readers, please give me your ads and I will put them for free. But then in 2010, people started asking me for my advert rates and I was like ‘really?’ I didn’t even know what it was until I now asked a few people and they gave me their own advert rates so that is how it started.


How often do you blog?
I blog every day. If I miss blogging that means something happened to me or maybe my laptop crashed but I try as much as possible to blog every day. I spend some hours daily on the internet.


Where do you source for news?
All sorts of places. I can’t tell you.
You’ve been on .com for quite some time. Why haven’t you moved to lindaikeji.com?
Because my dotcom is not available. The domain name has been taken by some guy and I am not interested in buying it because he is telling me to pay thousands of dollars for it and I see no reason why I should do that.
Since you started blogging, many people have been inspired to start their own blogs.


Do you feel intimidated by the competition?
I think competition is healthy. I’ve been there longer than most of them and fortunately for me, I’m on top of all of them so I don’t feel like I’m competing with anybody. There is enough space for anybody on top. I welcome any blogger that wants to come on board, I try to help as many people as I can. I have a blog list where people go from my blog to other blogs.


How old are you?
31
Any regular reader of your blog would know some things about you which most people would call personal. As one of them, I know you are single and searching. Why do you share such personal details with your readers?
Everybody knows I’m single. I’m always saying it, I’m desperate.


Don’t you think that is too personal to share on a blog where millions of people across the world can read?
I have absolutely no problem with sharing my personal life with people, that is how I am. I don’t have any apologies for that. People are shocked by it but that is who I am. I can’t explain it. It’s just that if there is something going on with me, I don’t mind sharing. There are some things I don’t share, and some things I don’t mind sharing. If others have a problem with it, I don’t have a problem with it.


The issue of female genital mutilation is something you’ve shared with your readers and some may feel it’s a bit too personal to be out there. Why did you do share it?
That is not private, that is something I can share with anybody. It’s like saying if you were raped then keep quiet. A lot of women would keep quiet but I won’t keep quiet, that is how I am. I don’t know how to keep such things to myself, I have to say it. I feel like you have one life to live, why would you go to your grave with all those kind of information.


When were you circumcised?
I don’t know. I was circumcised as a baby that is all.


Don’t you think making such information public would turn off your prospective suitors?
Who cares. If it turns them off then they are not the people meant for me. The person that is meant for me would be turned on by it.


Can you date someone younger than you?
No, never.


How about someone who doesn’t earn as much money as you?
Yes I can. How many young men make the kind of money I make? If I’m waiting for somebody who earns more than I earn, I might probably be doing it for a while. There are a lot of guys who earn more than I earn but if I meet someone who earns less than myself, that is fine, as long as he has his own money. But not like a jobless guy, no, that will not happen.


How much do you earn monthly?
(Laughs) More money than I thought was possible.

Do you ever think you will one day get bored or tired of blogging?
I love blogging too much to be tired of it. A lot of people are trying to start blogging and I tell them, I hope you are starting it for the right reasons, because if you are starting it for the wrong reasons, you are going to get bored and tired, and you’re going to move on. If you do it because you love it, you’d stay there for a while but if you do it because you want to make money, after a while, you’d want to move on.


Do you run the blog alone or do you have other people on your team?
Right now, I’m doing it solo, but eventually I’m going to get people to help out. Maybe it’s because I’m single and I don’t have that much responsibilities. Probably when I get married and have kids, other things would take my time so I’d need people to work with me then but now I’m enjoying doing it solo.


You have this ability to turn almost anything into news. For instance, how does a celebrity buying a new car become gist?
I put it as a post, and it comes back with over 50 comments, so how is it not gist? I do it deliberately because I know that buying a car is not that a big deal, but if I put it, it becomes gist.


Why do you get really naughty, like putting up a post that links to some pictures and you say ‘for guys only’?
My blog is a fun blog. I do all kinds of things. I tell people, if you find it offensive, don’t come. I know that I have a lot of male readers and I’m a very mischievous, naughty person. So it’s just for fun. Some people take it too seriously and I really don’t care about such people.


What else do you do apart from blogging?
Nothing else for now. Blogging takes care of me.


Blogging must have opened a lot of doors for you right?
Definitely. Blogging got me a visa to America, I just showed them my blog and they looked at it and gave me a visa. Blogging has given me more money than I thought I could ever make. Blogging has given me friends, most of my friends I met through blogging, people I’ve met from far and wide. Blogging has given me access to red carpet events. Before they would not even send me but now everybody wants me to come to their events, half of them I don’t go. It has opened so many doors, I can’t even explain it.


What do people like to read online?
Mostly gossip. Serious news and gossip


But what is one sure to find when he or she visits your blog?
Gist and gossip


You have earned quite a reputation among some celebrities, especially female actresses and a lot of them don’t like associating with your blog because they feel you slander them quite often.
It is not true. I respect actresses, most of them. I am mischevious and naughty, but I don’t go on my blog and start insulting everybody. I don’t insult people, except maybe people in government and I have no apologies to those ones. But I’ve never gone on my blog to insult Rukky Sanda or Genevieve or anybody. It might be that people say negative things about them so invariably they feel that I’m the one instigating it. Personally, I’ve never insulted any actress on my blog. I just write a gist or put a picture and people start insulting them. You can’t blame me for that.
But they get offended by this…
They should try not to take it too seriously because first and foremost, these people are anonymous people, so anonymous shouldn’t bother you. If somebody you know comes and insults you, that is different, but these anonymous people are having fun most of the time. Some of them don’t mean what they say, it’s just fun.


What has been the most gratifying response you’ve gotten from a reader of your blog?
I have something called ‘Dear LIB readers’, and I have ‘Question of the day’ where I put up sensitive issues. I’ve gotten quite a number of mails from people saying what I wrote and the comments they read changed their lives; that they were going through similar issues and when they read the comments, they were able to get some advice.


What future plans do you have for your blog?
I’m looking for ways to take it to the next level, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do but I plan to take it to the next level.


We totally enjoyed talking with Linda Ikeji and we hope you enjoyed reading too.
http://dailymail.com.ng/ace-blogger-linda-ikeji-and-how-she-turned-her-blog-into-one-of-nigerias-most-visited-sites/

.............






Linda Ikeji grated the above interview in October 2013, I doubt if bloggers earn so much. She even started with free adverts. Hope Seun can allow free adverts too. Lol, just a joke

chrisley024:
Leicester leading us by 6 points! That I didn't want.

We should actually be leading them by at least 6 points.

raumdeuter:
Suarez is only able to deliver those moments because he has other players who collaborate with him. Take him to Madrid and let him play with Ronaldo or Bale and see what would become of his play. Ronaldo or Bale who would rather shoot than square the ball or do a 1-2. Or would get mad that he didnt allow them score.
Ronaldo didnt score a free kick for over 12months yet no one was allowed to take freekicks for madrid

Ronaldo is a wing forward yet he is always in the box waiting for deliveries and occupying the same space as his number 9

Vs Bayern last season. Suarez missed multiple one vs one chances until Messi bailed them out. If not his team would have crashed out also

Suarez is a better 9 than Benzema but Benz is also a world class striker

You said it all. I am done.

Dadehmola:
The only difference is that Suarez was making up for those misses with breath-taking moments of magic and single-handedly bailed his team out on numerous occasions...

Benzema on the other hand, would always guarantee a horrible miss even if he scores 2 consecutive hatricks...

Yes, Suarez and Aguero are capable of starting something wonderful and ending it inside the net. Suarez is world best striker, no one has disputed this.

But Benzema is one of top 5. A great build up play and a good finisher. He is now a dribbler, creator+scorer.

Good night.

raumdeuter:
Benzema was retained because he plays and combines better with Ronaldo while Higuain is selfish and prefers to go alone

benzema doesnt mind Ronaldo taking the stage and in Madrid gelling with Ronaldo is the number 1 attribute expected of an attacking player

This is reasonable enough.

Dadehmola:
when i said..



Your response was..



Which means that you agreed he was is synonymous with ridiculous misses..

Elampiro.. Nothing has changed. Benzema is still the same striker who is almost always certain to do something stupid in front of goal in at least every other game.

I disagree with you Benzema is by far a better finisher now.

Imagine Benzema has 8 goals already in 700 minute this season. His link up play is superb.

2012/2013 Last season before Higuain was sold

Laliga
Benzema 1803 11 goals 11 Assists
Higuain.. 1769 16 goals 5 Assists


UCL
Benzema 536 mins 5 goals 4 Assists
Higuain 487 mins 1 goal 2 Assists


2011/12 Higuain beat Benzema hands down in Laliga. But Benzema did far better in Champions League.






One can begin to ask why Benzema was retained. It could be he was better in bigger games. The stats wouldn't also tell us the quality of oppositions Higuain player against in Laliga. Whether Benzema was being pulled out once Madrid leads by two goals, whether he was also rested in small games.

In 2012/14 Suarez conversion rate of Clear cut chances was below that of Welbeck and I think Sturridge too. Suarez also missed the highest number of Clear cut chances in the EPL as at February/March it was composed. But he was the best striker in the world.

So all these gifs and clips could also pass for Suarez.

Benzema has never taken (scored) a penalty.

Dadehmola:
I wish i could convert these to Gifs..

Most of those misses happened within the last 18 months..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eTidrL96rs


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4EEtqaWWs


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB0s2mZWwM4

Watch those videos and confirm Benzema's status as an otu oshi

If you did same for Suarez, Aguero, Kane, Vardy, you will come out with same results.

weedtaker:
i have no problem with suarez aguero et all being a better scorer than benz.. But what benz does, no other striker comes close. The only striker similar to benz is rooney.

This is my point too. Benzema is not overrated. Suarez is the best striker in the world. But Benzema is an all round player and even currently doing better than Suarez in goals per minutes played.

Dadehmola:
The same Benzema who is notorious for missing sitters at critical moments??

Dude is a french-speaking Welbeck 1.5 abeg...

I am sure you watch Benzema last in 2012/2013.

homesteady,

You're right on penalty. Suarez penalty was this season against Villarreal. But that further puts Benzema above him this season.

Every other stat regarding to minutes played and goals per minutes stands. The second chart shows Suarez has taken one free kick in Laliga this season and another one in UCL. Benzema doesn't have this privileges. No single penalty since his arrival in Laliga.

weedtaker:
leave dis arguement joor, dia's a reason a rich and powerfull team like real madrid still ve benzema in their team.

Higuain appeared to have far a better scoring rate than Benzema in Madrid. But Madrid retained Benzema. I might go to check out that stat when I am free.

homesteady:
Lmaoooooooooooo!
Suarez did not score any PK, and I think the 1st time I saw him playing a freekick for Barcelona was this season!

You like analyzing things, I wonder whether it skipped your memory that Suarez would also suffer from lack of match fitness (he was even fat), he would have to acclimatize to the new league, he played for like over one month before getting his 1st goal for Barcelona.
Before the start of this year, which team was the best in the world? Madrid! Barcelona only became stronger in the 2nd half.

The records has it that Suarez scored a penalty in Laliga.

Secondly, on his fatness, that was his headache. Afterall he would be fresh towards the end of the season when others were fagued out. Some players go on injury and return banging in goals.

homesteady:
Lies! Since Higuain left, he has been a sure 90 minutes player, till 2nd half of last season when Chacharito came and stole some few minutes and this season that Benitez has been trying to rotate the squad by bringing in Jese.

You are the one that is lying. Secondly, there is no other way at looking at minutes played. For the benefit of doubt I am going to prove you wrong that Benzema got substituted.

2013/2014 season
Benzema started 34(1) games.
34 X 90 minutes = 3060
Actual total minutes played that season by Benzema was 2798.


2014/15
Benzema played 29(0) matches.
29 X 90 = 2610
But he played 2312 minutes.
..............



Let me help you to understand a situation when a player is not or hardly substituted. An example is Van Persie 2011/12 and 2012/13

2011/12
Van Persie 37(1) starts.
37 X 90 = 3330
Actual minutes played by RVP 3334.

2012/13 season
Van Persie 35(3)
35 X 90 = 3150
Actual minutes played by RVP 3123








* I have not taken added time into consideration which could have been average of 2 mins each half, 4 minutes full time. I also left out the details of the one match he came on as substitute. These should have extended the gap between the possible minutes Benzema could have played and the Actual time he played. So now you understand Benzema was actually being taken off. Also, the details of matches are not far fetched

Elxandre:
But he is starting and setting Bundesliga on fire now!
15 goals in 12 matches sounds nice.

I can see you still think of him in terms of his United days, but he's improved as at last session season and is quite good, especially in a team playing 'good football'.

I think he would have helped united this season, with all those crucial chances wasted with wayward finishing and lack of presence in the box.

No one is saying he shouldn't have been helping us now. We have all agreed on this. But don't forget Van Gaal played him in three matches this season. He didn't fit in. Wilson did not also fit in

But Marshal and Memphis were supposed to be better finishers but they are still struggling.

Elxandre:
He gets substituted every time since he gets fatigued deep into matches. That's the reason for the 132 minutes played over Suarez.
How many free kick did Suarez score?

Liverpool must have been very strong for Suarez to have won an European golden shoe with 31 league goals

He gets substituted because Madrid has many players that needed game time. Ozil, Di Maria and Higuain were on rotational. Later Isco, Chicharito.

Haven't you noticed that Benzema gets substituted more in small matches? It's mostly because of giving everyone playing time.

weedtaker:
bring out lewys stats in the last 3 buli seasons, aguero's in the last 3 epl seasons and suarez in the last 3 epl seasons let us compare, and how many did tevez and rooney scored during their time at man.utd playing with C.ronaldo?

The stats won't tell anything except you request for the goals per minutes played. Benzema gets substituted out in almost all the matches.

chrisley024:
This is operation wipe out epl teams.

City will progress.

As for Arsenal, hope Wenger won't advocate for Europe place for UCL round of 16 exit?