₦airaland Forum

Germany tried. But all these your Cruize, Crooks and roos are they team C?

dayokanu: @Katsumoto,

Did you see Sturridge or Rooney anywhere today?

BBC says England 0 shots on Target germany 5 shots

Thats to show how inferior they were to the Germans

I thought I heard England hit the post. How do they now have zero shot on target? Or post is off target?

dayokanu: What do you have to say about England being sodomisedd at home once again back to back this time by Germanys C team?

Do you now agree that no English player would play for Germany and that England is at Morrocos level

Which one is German C team? Give us team list and sub let's see.

Let's start from there. Although we will continue in the morning.

Usain Bolt 94kg, 1.95

Tyson Gay 77kg, 1.78



You guys should check these sprinters let's know if they too are unhealthy.

coogar: john cena is overweight & unhealthy....
however, he's a wrestler - speed, pace & acceleration is not the priority. being heavy, difficult to carry & the weight to pin the opponents down is their priority.

just because he's into sports doesn't mean he's healthy. otherwise sumo wrestlers or yokozuna is healthy & fit. stop comparing apples to oranges. neither anderson nor rooney are wrestlers, they are footballers.

It was when you mentioned unhealthy that I got surprised. Rooney not so healthy, and now Jonn Cena unhealthy.


I no believe. ..... I think you should just restrict the argument to weight. But I am not part of this argument. I am observing.

Coogar, how can you say Rooney is not as healthy because of his weight. Muscle and age adds to weight. As long as the weight is not from fat.

.....

Would you say John Cena is unhealthy? 6.1 or 1.85 at 114kg.
Rooney is 5.9, you can see his muscle all over his body.

leggo: already played

Okay. When was it played? They tried o.


@Dayokanu, now wetin you dey yan since?

Mexico '86
I saw it live when Maradona, Platini, George buruchaga, Rummenige, I have forgotten many oher names. These were the stars.

I saw it when Maradonna dribble past England and Belgium in the Q/S final. Also hand ball. I saw it when Germany ended Platini's dream. I think it was 2-0 and the 2nd was a lae killer goal. Germany vs Argentina in a 3-2 thriller in final. 4 years later they met again and Argentina was robbed and Maradonna was crying and shaking his head. UCL I think it was Ajax vs AC Milan. Kluivert scored the winner. I watched many of Ajax matches entoute to final. I can remember they got to final again and lost. I was 'bittered'. There was another final Stoickob and Romario lost heavily. It is a long time and my interest was no where as it is today to enable me to have remember names of players and like that. I remember we were always calling ourselves at home when we do some skills, like 'I did a Frabrizo Ravenalli today' ' I scored Bagio free kick today' . We used names like that, Paolo Madini, Seedof, Finidi, Kanu, Romario, etc.

Forgive any misspelt name.

I also followed Nigeria national teams-U17, U 20 and /Green Super Eagles down the lane.

I watched our junior teams seriously in world cup from '87. Nduka Ngbade, Chris Nwosu, Fatai Atere, Demeji Lawal, I think there was a Chris Nwosu, etc. Super Eagles, specifically from build up to Maroc 88. Nwosu winner header against Cameroun was denied. How Westerhof came and need a draw in Cameroun but we lost one nil with the likes of Etim Esin, Yis Sofoluwe, Keshi, Osaro Obobaifo, Adepoju, Andrew Uwe, Yekini, etc in the team. By 1993, Westerhof had used such competitions as WAFU cup to scout and get the likes of Amokachie, Finidi, Okocha, Tijani, Amuneke, Alloy Agu, etc over the years they replaced old guys as Nwosu, Uwe, Yisa Sofoluwe, Friday Elaiho, etc. Some other guys were tried but could make I eventually- Edema Fuludu, Ugbade (dropped from USA '94 sqaud), Mose Kpakpr, Richard Owubokiri, etc. It looks like Thompson Oliha, Kesi, Yekini, Rufai, Eguavoen, Okechukwu were the old horse who came from pre Weserhof into 'USA 94. Sunday Oliseh came in after we had clinched the world cup ticket with his first match in a 6-0 annihilation of Ethiopia. He was the MOTM. Rufai was recalled and Chidi Nwanu and Emenalo entering at the last minute before the world cup.

I was not as detailed with European players but I watched very ery many many matches. I knew many English plauers like Rush, Lineker,

South Africa beating Spain and they have missed many chances. On SS3, but they didn't indicate whether it's a live match or not.

dayokanu: You watched Mexico 86, early 90 CL and couldnt mention any specific game that stuck to your memory. Who you wan deceive

mention any game you saw in the 90's and decsribe the highlightsnot games of 2007 where you can go read the match report

Anyone who followed football in 98 would know the biggest story pre World cup was Norway beating Brazil

Sit down for one corner and learn about European football not what you see in Pool sheets

You are getting me angry. It marvels me that you sound that me watching Mexico '86, etc is tantamount to being a Pope. You amaze me. I am not answering you because it doesn't appear to be a big deal to me, although you sound it is to you.

Even if I were lying, I could use google to argue with you. You dey surprise me.

dayokanu: You cant mention specific matches you watched in those era?

Following pool result is what illiterate men do, They know Bristol on the paper but cant identify any of the club players

And mostly its lower leagues that are mostly featured in Nigerian pool, No be those papers dem dey use sell groundnut

For you not to know any Brazilian or Norwegian player in 1998 shows you are still a learner and newbie in European football

If you dont know what happened in 1998 How then would you know of key milestones like Bulgaria's Emile Kostadinov breaking French heart in 1993 and knocking them out of USA 1994 qualification

You are talking like a football kid.

What do you mean I should mention specific matches I watched in Mexico '86 and early '90s UCL? I can mention dozens even though my love for European football was just developing.

Secondly, what do you mean I don't know Brazilian players of '98? I was only asking for players who played a specific friendly match of which some of them probably didn't make the world cup list the next year. You be baby jor. There are times a coach test many new players in a friendly match.



I beg I dey watch plenty matches right now.

Over to France. Congrat Portugal, Ronaldo and Nani.

Nigeria football is making sense again.

3 or 4 years back, how many fans cared to watch. Super Eagles? I like the spirit.

Last night... What a match that was!

The. Boys tried. The only problem was the fact that they threw caution to the wind in the last 15minutes. They played an open game. The forward players were not bothered about any defensive duties. Mikel was weak tonight and the left back players is a big 'learner'. We didn't close our defence enough.

elampiro: Nigeria 2 Italy 1.

Half Time.

Nigeria came from behind. Dike and Shola goals.

Onazi is a good player. Moses is having a field day. Baloteli trying to be a beast he is.

NFF should always allow our boys play in Abuja pitch.

2-2 FT.

That guy that played left back today should never kick a ball for us again.

Mikel sometimes forget he is not on the field alone.

StarBoard: And peeps still believe Morrison was excess to requirements at United.
Rio says he would pay to watch Ravel train. I can understand that. Saw this clip on SkySports news and almost fell off my chair.
Didn't you say Kagawa was biscuit bone material and not fit to play in the premier league?
Rooney has everything to do with Kagawa because he doesn't want to play out on the left to accomodate a better passer of the ball in the hole position Rooney is supposed to be playing right now.
If you cannot understand that, then there is nothing else to say to you.
Keep waiting for DSTv when the facts are there for you. 100% pass completion, an assist and 11 chances created. Your boy Rooney cannot even fantasize about that when rimming Colleen in the ar$e.

I don't understand your argument. Was it in the EPL that Kagawa had the 100%? If you want to know Kagawa's strength, play him in successive matches in the hole without Rooney in the midfiled, then we can conclude. If by January we buy a midfielder and Kagawa performs, it will be a cheating on Rooney who has endured that role ever since without a sound midfielder.

Secondly, you don't need 100% pass accuracy to prove you are a good player. It doesn't win trophies, else Arsenal should have been ruling Europe and Ethiopia rule Africa. Ronaldo, Ribery, Robben, Ramires, Neymar and many more players do not have this accuracy but they are football beasts.

Nigeria 2 Italy 1.

Half Time.

Nigeria came from behind. Dike and Shola goals.

Onazi is a good player. Moses is having a field day. Baloteli trying to be a beast he is.

NFF should always allow our boys play in Abuja pitch.

Nigeria vs Italy on going.

Coming back to thread later.

dayokanu: This is something copy and paste would never reveal to you

How can Norway be better than a team of Ronaldo, Carlos, Cafu, Rivaldo?



Just admit your football knowledge is limited to DSTV days. I am sure you know absolutely nothing about football pre 2006. In 2004 you were the tyre rolling champion of your area now forming football knowledge based off copy and paste

Norway beating Brazil was one of the biggest stories pre France 1998.

What you should be doing is learning about football from your superiors no be everything dem dey take argue

Around 1994-1997 I was under the tutelage of one bros who taught be European football and tactics He was a Juventus fan named Dipo. He is the only guy I respect. He would listen to commentary in Italian.

I learnt several things from him from how the Agnelli family became rulers in Juve, The influence of Luciano Moggi, How Hakan Sukur transfer broke down. He was the first person who told me why Oliseh would never fit in Juve and why Tacchinardi would bench him. I can still remember him almost crying that why cant Juve sign Sandro Cois whom I never heard of

And one thing He was the one who told me You only support one club, As at 1995 I was a Bayern, Ajax, And Juventus fan All 3. He told me I have to stick to one and not all

This is what you should be doing now instead of this half education you are brandishing on the web

If I con tell you my story now, you go see say e don tey me.

As far back as 1980s, I was already listening to BBC commentary on English club matches. One of my dad's area of business was pool promotion and compilation. I don't like bringing personal life into online forum, but before Coogar and starboard call me a liar, I want to bring some details. From when I was in primary 5, I was already involved in my dad's biz. I knew all the teams in div 1 to non league to scottish league teams. In the '80s. I liked Liverpool and Arsenal. But my interest in Man U came when I started watching satellite big dish with many matches with Arab commentaries. I started liking Man United fine football. My love was complete when Yorke and Cole came. I loved the partnership and the sense of football. From childhood I was a sports person and even grew up close to an arena with good sports facilities. Those early '90 I watched champions league live. When Romario, Bagio, Stoickov (is that the spelling?), Finidi, Frabrizo Ravenali were playing UCL I saw the matches live. I wached almost every match of Mexico '86. My uncle will wake my elder brother and I up to watch late nights. I was in primary school, but I can still remember the experience because it was my first world cup I watched when I came to sense of reasoning.

My uncle, my elder brother and I were all football players. I was the most skillful and a god in my neighborhood but my dad hated the idea of any of us playing football. As of my JSS, I would join Auchi Poly students school team to train and play to the admiration of spectators. The Poly team players will call me from the junior team to join them. E don tey me o.

See you guys at night.

If Ozil, Silva, Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Nasri and anyone else like, they should score 300/300 in passes. Rooney will be scoring and making higher assists from same position while also using his overall play to help United to win trophies despite a weak midfield support.

dayokanu: So you just started watching football yesterday?

if you dont know the players that played for Norway in 1997 nor those that played for Brazil

Thats why you should be here taking notes and not jumping into argument especially when your knowledge of football is limited to the time Rooney made his man Utd debut

Ribery and Le Blues played in a group with Spain the best football nation currently, Rooney and Englands biggest group opponents was Montenegro!! Now compare

So I should take note of players who played every friendly? Should I ask you the Nigeria players who played against Mexico in the friendly, you will be at sea.

Katsumoto: Football is not mathematics, yet you concluded that German should beat England by 7 - 0 just because some are making the argument that Rooney can't get into the German squad.

Norway v Brazil 1997
Tore Andre, Flo, Berg, Johnsen, Mykland, Leonhardsen, Rudi v Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Romario, Ronaldo, Dunga, Mario Silva

And Norway beat Brazil at France 98 group stages.

It looks to me that Norway was better than the Brazilian team of that time. What they lacked is self believe and determination.

dayokanu: Towards France 98 Norway beat Brazil 4-2 in a friendly

Does that mean any Norwegian would get into the Brazilian team of 1998?

This coming weekend the German Klassiker is coming up Bayern vs Dortmund do you think those German players would want to risk injury over a meaningless friendly with a country who just lost at home to freaking Chile?

I can't remember the calibre of players or any key player Norway had in '98, and I don't know the players that played for Brazil. But most importantly, I can't remember Brazil ever making arrogant or ridiculous or controversial statements. Xavi, Tores and other Spanish players said one of their qualities is to respect their opponents.

Haven said all that, from the talks here so far, Germany should beat England 7-0 whether a novelty match or garri match.

Overall:
Rooney has shot England to world cup, scoring from a 2nd striker or number 10 position while Ribery with the whole of Les Blues quality is still looking for a way. Football is not mathematics and we should be carefeul the way we bring players down just because they don't play as we will want them to (play in a particular way like having 1000 pass accuracy over 1000).

dayokanu: Germany players dont care about friendlies they only play in the tournament. Its only in friendlies that England shines when they get to tournament they freeze

Since 1970 tell me how many tournaments England performed better than Germany or in your lifetime How many times has England done better than Germany?

Germany is not Englands mate let England struggle with countries like Luxenburg and Morroco.

Is this a kind of an excuse already?

A team that Rooney (England best) cannot get a place even in 2nd eleven should have no problem beating England 7-0 with eyes close and even in a novelty. Why are you telling me when Metusela was born?

StarBoard: Please stop showing us this.
The Rooney fraternity will not let us hear that he is the best player for United.
elampiro will say he is biscuit bone material.
Or that Holland is not a top team.

Second time you mentioned my name now. You guys said no Rooney argument, yet you are inviting me. What has Rooney got to do with Kagawa's 100% score? I am trying to repeat (see a replay) the match on DSTV, not been able yet.

I am unlike you guys who pray that some United players should have bad games so that you have something to argue against them. Kagawa had some bad games for Japan very recently, no one called Rooney. Also, in the Confederation cup it was same thing. He had a good game against Italy and you guys almost brought down this thread. Server wan crash. But he didn't do well at all against Brazil and Mexico and this forum appeared like there was a funeral.

I beg leave me alone to enjoy this intern'l break. The world cup qualifiers have been very interesting. Ivory Coast has god of soccer to thank for surviving a major scare at 90th minute. An invincible spirit tied the legs of two Senegalese players from scoring an empty net to make it 2-0. After the scare Ivory Coast leveled 1-1 as Senegal pressed for the winner. These are very interesting. Oya go and watch tonight's friendly.

.......
Meanwhile we are getting ready for Germany:

Wayne Rooney
Looking forward to the game against Germany tomorrow, always an entertaining and competitive match. It should be a good test for us and hopefully we can put in a better performance than against Chile.



.......
Dayokanu, pray hard that England don't beat you. I go ban you for here. I will tell you a billion reasons why no German player can get a place in the Ghana national team. However as it stand today, no German player can get into Brazilian or Argentina national team.




I don log out first. Lol

.

Onazi. That guy was superb. He is a very good midfielder.

Ogbeche77: if not that NFF is headed by bunch of nicompoos, do they even need to be relying on FG for funds, football in Nigeria is a brand, can't all these agbada wearing mofos attract sponsors

I agree with you.

They also are supposed to attract people back to our local matches. Get people to talk about and love our football again. Use some celebs to put some good side attractions. Put street adverts ahead of matches. Try a lot of ideas.

@Ogbeche77, I thought NFF were to rely on sports ministry for money. Are we saying Fed Govt is broke? I think the NFF officials and the team get some tips from the governor and they enjoying it. I don't see any reason why our boys who play in fine pitches in Europe won't complain of a bad pitch. They go to Malawi, Namibia, etc, the host use a bad pitch as a weapon against our European based players. We play host to them and we give them the advantage again. We could argue on a one off that the bad pitch was to the disadvantage of Ethiopia tikitaka style of play. But we are bigger than these yeye calabar pitch.

Are NFF members not ashamed of Calabar poor pitch? Or we just okay because we are winning matches there. I have never liked the state of the pitch.

When I look at many wingers today, it reminds me why Giggs and may be Becham were special- That final ball. Some wingers will successfully find themselves in the 18 box or dangerous area, but that great decision to pick the right team mate with the ball, and whether to put it on his leg or head is mostly lacking.

Portugal should have ended everything tonight if they had some great thinkers in the box area.


I watched the France match live, repeated the Porugal match and watched a great part of England match. I tried. Now sleep time.

The England coach looks like want to experiment new ideas. He has a long way to go.

Why did that Ronaldo header against the bar not go into the net? Painful. It should have been 2-0. Portugal deserve a much better scoreline considering the performance.

Nani seems to have his form much revived. Moyes training style is helping our guys with speed.



France walks tight ropes. Their undoing was their attempt to get every ball to Ribery. He was properly caged tonight.

Here's another to help you recall your memory on the subject:


Rooney’s ease in midfield & other tactical notes from Man U vs Stoke.

By Surya Solanki

Posted on April 15, 2013

Manchester United stepped one inch closer to the Premier League title with a comfortable 2-0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

Michael Carrick opened the scoring for United just after five minutes before Robin van Persie doubled the Red Devils’ lead with a well-taken penalty midway through the second-half.

Squawka discusses the various tactical notes from the game.

Wayne Rooney in Midfield

In an interesting set-up, Sir Alex Ferguson opted for Wayne Rooney to partner Carrick in the centre of the park. The most obvious reason that one could think of for this move was the physical style of Rooney.

Carrick struggles against robust teams like Stoke as does Tom Cleverley.

Hence, with a strong presence such as Rooney, not only did United have more steel in the midfield to cope with the Potters’ play, but also a player to provide added support to Carrick.

As the game panned out, Rooney did a marvellous job in his makeshift role.

The England international distributed passes with great efficiency and vision from a deep position. Many of his passes were directed to the wings, which helped United stretch the play and not get too narrow.  Stoke’s lack of pressure made it altogether easier for the England international to control the tempo of the game.

Rooney also fulfilled his defensive commitments and provided constant support to the wingers both during attacks and when defending (as his heat map suggests).

Stoke City Press in the Final Third

With an average possession of just 46% this season, Stoke are clearly not good at keeping the ball. They like to defend deep and catch their opponents on the break with high balls to Kenwyne Jones.

Against United, the Potters’ tactics were almost the same.

The back-four ensured there was nominal space behind them and the midfield stayed tight in front of the backline. Stoke’s players rarely pressed Carrick or Rooney and hence, the two had ample time to pick out passes and orchestrate the game, albeit most of the long passes played by the duo were easily intercepted.

However, in the final-third, Jones, Jonathan Walters, Charlie Adam and Ryan Shotton did put some amount of pressure on the United players. The Red Devils stutter when pressed in their own half and Tony Pulis clearly wanted to exploit this weakness of his opposition. .

Nonetheless, instead of really trying to win the ball in dangerous areas, Stoke were content with just delaying United’s build-up. Consequently, the Red Devils passed the ball around their defenders and central midfielders until Stoke started to retreat.

Moreover, as soon as United had even one step in their hosts’ area, Stoke stopped with any pressing and formed two rigid backs of players in-front of Asim Begovic’s goal.

Potters Down the Right Wing

Following is a graph of Stoke’s long balls against United.

It can be seen, most of the Potters’ long balls were directed towards the right side of the pitch as Stoke targeted Patrice Evra’s lack of height and Carrick’s susceptibility under physical pressure (Carrick was playing as the left central-midfielder).

Jones often moved onto the right side of the pitch to receive these high balls. The 30-year-old either tried to head the ball onto one of his teammates making a run behind him (mostly Walters) or tried to hold on to it and form link-up plays.

However, United mitigated this threat admirably well.

First, whenever a long ball was directed towards Jones, instead of Carrick or Evra, it was United captain Nemanja Vidic who monetarily moved out of position with Jones (Vidic was man-marking the striker) and dealt with the aerial battle. This resulted in Jones being able to win just five of his 11 aerial duels.

In addition to that, when any of the Stoke players (Walters or Adam or Shotton) made a run behind Jones, the former was closely marked and followed by a United player. When Jones tried to hold the ball and team-up, the Red Devils quickly outnumbered him (primarily with Vidic hunting him down aggressively) and won the ball back easily.

United Fail to Penetrate

As aforementioned, Stoke deployed a deep defence and the midfield closed down any gaps in between the zones. With Adam dropping back, Kagawa’s drifting in from the left didn’t give United an extra man in the midfield either.

Thus, all this, combined with lack of pressing by the home side meant that although United had little problems in dominating possession, Stoke had no space left behind them (for Javier Hernandez or van Persie to run into) or between the lines (for Kagawa or Rooney to get into).

This compelled Fergie’s troops to pass the ball in their own territory in search of ideas. Stoke, on the other hand, were happy to let United make strings of aimless passes, even if it meant not seeing the ball for long intervals.

Stoke Look for the Equalizer

After the half-time break, Stoke played with more grit and determination and Pulis ordered more men forward during attacks.

This made easier for United to find openings in the attacking third.

It didn’t take long before Rooney played an inch-perfect pass to van Persie in the 66th minute, who was subsequently fouled in the penalty area by Andy Wilkinson. The Flying Dutchman converted the spot-kick moments later and sealed the game for United.

http://squawka.com/news/2013/04/15/rooneys-ease-in-midfield-other-tactical-notes-from-man-u-vs-stoke/201304157255

Refreshening your memory:



Is Wayne Rooney the answer to Manchester United's midfield problem?

The forward has impressed when deployed in the middle and could embark upon a second stage of his career there



Monday 15 April 2013 14.11 BST

Wayne Rooney was the metronome in midfield for Manchester United against Stoke, accurately stitiching together forward moves. Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Jamie Jackson

The decision to drop Wayne Rooney into midfield yields match-winning displays. This act was spied again on Sunday as he ran the show in Manchester United's 2-0 win over Stoke City from the central berth Sir Alex Ferguson fielded him in.

Rooney lined up alongside Michael Carrick and ended the contest with a higher total pass count of 81 to the 75 of the 31-year-old who is the manager's established midfield don. Seeing Rooney zipping around to find team-mates with a zest and vision that makes him a Paul Scholes with pace – as with the pass that led to Robin van Persie's converted penalty at the Britannia Stadium – has become familiar as Ferguson utilises his total football abilities to work the corridors between attack and defence.

In a 2-0 Champions League group game win over Otelul Galati in November 2011 Rooney was the stand-out performer as the Scot hailed his "great awareness" in the withdrawn role. He had also played there in the previous match when Everton were beaten 1-0 at Goodison Park, part of a reaction from Ferguson to the 6-1 derby drubbing from Manchester City a week earlier.

On Tyneside last October Rooney starred in a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the head of a diamond formation that allows Ferguson to harness his creative and attacking instincts to ruthless effect. After that game, Rooney tweeted: "Really enjoying my new midfield role, always involved."

Yet if positioning Rooney deeper harvests game-changing performances Ferguson is also conscious of his potency in attack. At 27 the blistering burst that terrified defences for England at Euro 2004 has been lost but his goalscoring returns have been consistently high. Sixteen strikes in 33 appearances for United in a season disrupted by injury and which has featured speculation about whose colours he may wear next term is still an impressive return.

Given these numbers it was a surprise to hear Ferguson say he played Rooney in midfield against Stoke to give him a "different role" to revive his confidence. The campaign has also featured Ferguson's intermittent references to the size of Rooney's frame and the need for him to keep on playing to maintain match fitness. As he ages and stamina wanes, this could prove the factor that eventually takes Rooney back from United's front to middle to embark on a "second career", just as Ryan Giggs was remodelled from flying winger to crafty schemer. As Ferguson says: "He has all the qualities you need to be a central midfield player."

For Rooney there are no doubts: "I feel I'm a good enough footballer to play anywhere on the park," he says. "That's not being big-headed. I feel I am capable of doing that. If the manager wants me to play there, I have no problem in doing that."

Yet after 197 goals for United in his natural-born scoring role, the Rooney option may be currently just a useful strategic one rather than a permanent solution to Ferguson's midfield conundrum.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/apr/15/wayne-rooney-manchester-united-midfield-answer