₦airaland Forum

hismail1:
Pictures from today's training session

I used to worry about Tyrone Ebuehi's frail physic but from this pictures, he looks the biggest in the squad. Is he on steroids?

Danycrusoe:
One player to look out for is bascovanveli's fashionable Sakala, that guy tormented the Iranian defence, a major reason y they came from 2-0 down to 4-2 within 15 minute
s. meanwhile SA could just be out of the tourney

I will look out for Sakala. I only watched them once at the AYC and must say I liked what I saw. I'm a fan

kingphilip:
Zambia U20 vs Iran U20
Score: 4 - 2

I guess they've made it to the next round

Nice one. Seems Zambian football is on the rise again. Their clubs are doing well on the continent especially Zesco Utd. I'm not surprised with their U20 team progress, they play enterprising football. Kudos

TheSuperNerd:
Leicester City Working On Deal To Sign One-Time Arsenal Target Samuel Chukwueze


https://allnigeriasoccer.com/football_pics/85813Samuel.jpg


Leicester City are working on a deal to sign one-time Arsenal target Samuel Chukwueze from his Nigerian club Diamond Academy in the summer transfer market.

It would be recalled that the Emirates outfit had been nailed-on favourites to secure the signature of the exciting winger after the 2015 Fifa U17 World Cup.

Chukwueze and his entourage traveled to London to discuss personal terms with Arsenal, but the deal eventually suffered a setback as the parties could not agree on the payment method of his transfer fee.

''Leicester City told me they wanted Chukwueze while we were discussing about another player, so I sent the club his videos, '' said Chukwueze's representative Johnny Ogbah to
allnigeriasoccer.com .

''They asked me about his valuation and I told them they will have to pay the same amount Arsenal offered to pay. They are keen on signing him but no offer has been made.''

Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg, Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Porto and Villarreal have all been credited with an interest in Chukwueze after he won the Bronze shoe at the Fifa U17 World Cup.


**Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : fifa.com

Source: http://allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=23149

This is just agent talk. I don't think any of these sides are coming for this boy . Am not a physic but I see him ending up in Turkey at best. He might even be left with the prospect of kicking off his career at the NPFL like Alhassan.
His agent have succeeded in ruining his career. Kudos to them.

maidaboi:
Balogun out
who will you want to play along side Ekong between Awaziem and uche?

I expect Agbo/ Ekong partnership with Shehu at Rb.
Elderson should get plenty of minutes to balance out his lack of game time during the season. Its all about squad management and specifics.

Just saw the own goal by Tomori Fikayo. The young Mann scored from half way line under no pressure. Amazing stuff

The situation at Arsenal is toxic at the moment with the uprising against Wenger and the failure to secure champions league football. Hardly a nice environment for a guy like Onyekuru to thrive.
On a particular Arsenal forum, these white supremacists have been ripping into he club for their attempt to sign an unknown Nigerian with no caps for their team.
Excepts:

tbaba1234:
As far as i can remember, the Belgian systems has always produced quality youth players though, especially young African talent. Remember the Mpenza brothers.

The performance of the Belgian teams in the Europa league this year shows that the league can compete with the best.

Belgium of yester years weren't that productive when compared to their brothers from the other divide, Holland. They have always been the weeping boys of European football.
From 2002 down, they sparsely produced any good result in Europe or at the world stage.

On the back of their humiliation at home in Euro 2000, they decided to invest heavily on youth football. I understand they introduced a 4-3-3 system and made all academies across the country train young footballers in that system. The fruit of their work with their revamped youth system have seen them produce the world class footballers we have come to know these days.
Remarkably, they have overtaken their more illustrious neighbours, Holland these days.
We can learn a lot from Belgium.

By the way, the Mpenzas weren't world class players in the mould of Lukakus, Harzard brothers and Mertens like we have these days.

tbaba1234:
Lukaku,
Ndidi,
Vincent Kompany,
Eden Hazard
Vermaelen
Fellaini
Jan Vertonghen
Alderweireld
Thibaut Courtois
Keshi
Amokachi
Babayaro



All these players are products of the Belgian League. It is ridiculous to call the Belgian League a back water league especially with Its history of producing world class talent.

The Belgians revamped their football and built from ground up from their academies. They are basically reaping the rewards of their investment in youth football in the early 2000's after their abysmal outing at the Euros which they co hosted with the Netherlands.
The development of those Belgian internationals you listed should be attributed to the revamp of their youth football than the quality of their league.

TheSuperNerd:
If Southampton sign Kelechi Iheanacho on loan he would take St Mary's by storm
By Vincent Ralph.




https://cdn3-i.hitc-s.com/536/manchester_city_manager_pep_guardiola_speaks_with_kelechi_iheana_405342.jpg


According to a recent report from the Daily Mail , Southampton are interested in signing Kelechi Iheanacho on loan from Manchester City next season, and if the Saints can do a deal for the Nigerian he could take St Mary's by storm.

The same report suggests City are keen to sell him, meaning Southampton may be disappointed if they are not willing to fork out the £20million seemingly required. However, if City realise they would be making a mistake cashing in on him so soon and instead send him out on loan, the south coast is the perfect place to continue his development.

Iheanacho has scored 21 goals for City despite only ever making 20 starts for the club - the kind of record that prompts a double-take and a feeling of disbelief.


The majority of the 20-year-old's appearances have come from the bench, but given his innate talent in front of goal, imagine what he could do if played week in, week out at a club like Southampton.

https://cdn3-i.hitc-s.com/338/general_view_inside_the_stadium_before_the_match_st_marys_southa_224094.jpg


Saints manager Claude Puel has already proved astute in the transfer market and Iheanacho's temporary addition would allow his side to benefit while also ensuring City see what the youngster can do when a regular starter.

It would be crazy to sell the Nigerian so soon, and Southampton should do all they can to push for a loan move.

Iheanacho is the real deal, and if he did arrive at St Mary's he could be their savviest capture in many a year.

https://cdn3-i.hitc-s.com/379/southampton_manager_claude_puel_before_the_match_266467.jpg

Source: http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/05/16/if-southampton-sign-kelechi-iheanacho-on-loan-he-would-take-st-m/

I believe I made it known some months back that Kelechi will be a big hit at Southampton. The club and manager is just perfect for him.
I don't really fancy Dortmund with the rumoured exit of Zorc and probably Tuchel. Southampton is a better fit and quite a stable environment for a young player like Kelechi.

tbaba12345:
Several of the players named in the under 20 squad have also played for the under 21 but it is plausible.

The U21's have European nations cup to play in the Summer. Would be difficult to have one player feature in both tournaments at the same time.

BascoVanVeli:
Could be the reason Tammy was left off the English U20 team. He could be taking a step closer to the super eagles.

It's being speculated that Tammy have been promoted to the English U21's, which explains his omittion from the U20's squad.

tbaba1234:
Does the Technical Committee have to have regular meetings? Do they not have defined roles/jobs?

The super eagles have not had an official game since last year.. That might inform why they have not met.

The role of the technical committee is support, not to dictate to the coach. We do not want the Keshi era clashes.

Since their role is to support and they haven't sat since last year shouldn't that raise a question?
By the way, the technical committee regulate the activities of the various national teams, Super Eagles is not the only national team we have.

If they aren't having meetings, it means there is no framework or vision of the present board of the Nff,because they are the one to offer technical support.
Is it possible that the FIFA technical committee haven't had meetings for 11 months ?

Joebie:
so who do we blame? The head of the technical committee or does Pinnick decide when they should sit or not?
Secondly, don't try to fix a problem where there is no problem. There are many issues that need to be fixed in Nigerian football and in other spheres of Nigerian life. But certainly not the department of the SE coach. We are on course to world cup qualification and we will qualify for AFCON finally. People need to stop picking the wrong fight. I'm sure if these men have sat our position right now in qualification will be complicated.

Rohr has proved so far he has a mission and he is serious about it. Let's enjoy the game as long as we are winning.

In other words, because we are winning Rohr should continue his job without supervision?
Which serious organisation runs their business like that?
I believe in structure.
I hope you know the technical committee interviewed and recommended Rohr to the executive committee of the Nff?

It's not good news if the technical group haven't been functional for a year.

tbaba1234:
Garba Lawal statement centered around the selection of National team players. That should be totally the decision of the coach. The technical committee provides technical support for the coach, scouting, videos, reports on opposition etc but they do not select his team. Keshi had a running battle with the technical committee trying to tell him what to do. It is only the coach that loses his job when a team fails.

Theoretically, you are spot on but how much of what you listed was actually done by the technical committee?

Mr Lawal said that the technical committee have not sat since June 2016, which should be around the time we were in search of a coach if I am correct.
Lawal's revelation should raise more questions than just player selection.

It is not a welcome development if really the technical committee of the Nff have not sat since June 2016.
I see a lot of comments maybe out of relative ignorance about the job description of the technical committee, wave aside Lawal's revelations.

For starters, the technical committee is the backbone of any football federation. This department should be the made up of the very best football brains in the country.

They have an oversight over all the level of football development in the country including the female teams. Their job description ranges from inspection, data analysis, checks, technical report, reviews, recommendations, coordination of the football activities of the FA.

The implementation of this Committee not sitting since 2016 is that nobody wrote reports, analysed or captured any data about the U15 NPFL competition we were all hailing. Same goes for the U17 team that went to South Africa. It just shows how uncoordinated we do things here.
By extention, the Super Eagles is just exciting on thin air, because originally Rohr should be writing a detailed report on the direction and progress of the super eagles team monthly to the technical committee.

My people,this can't be good news.
I don talk my own.

stjudas:
1.3T per year? This people are mad; that's just 3.56kg per day!
Even as a scrap metal dealer, I buy over 2Tonnes of scrap metal everyday.

....Except the OP is high....

The numbers are actually 1.3M tonnes annually. My device nearly fell off my hand when I read the caption.

Danycrusoe:
thanks, some journalists on twitter who were at the game also debunked the accusations. more reasons y we need tv

Hello Danycrusoe, happy birthday to you

Icon4s:
Are you sure if this?

Cos last I enquired about him a couple of years back he was playing football under the Apogbon bridge in Lagos.

He traveled to England immediately after that tourney.
I recall this because the anticipated move was warmly received.

Icon4s:
I remember him.

Little or nothing was heard of him again after that tourney. He did not even make it to the U20s.

Same with Mathew Edile.

I think Edile trained with Man city for awhile. He seems to have disappeared into oblivion.

komekn:
My advice Ambrose should go to Brighton Chris is the most straight forward and honest Manager I can think of. Also tactically astute but mist important he is a nan of integrity.

I see Efe Ambrose breaking into the Super Eagles world cup team. Although it all depends on how he handles his transfer this summer. He's the right kind of guy to take to the world cup age wise and with his experience in consideration.
Its a no brainer if he's playing at a decent level next season. In my opinion.

maidaboi:
If we start using this MRI scan in our leagues in the next five years we will see changes

Which league? U13s? Or U15's? If you mean NPFL then that's not possible.
A 50yr old can play for any team if he meets the physical demands.

Icon4s:
Meaning that he remained a 17years old for 6yrs?

That is if he was 17 on his first sojourn.

TheSuperNerd:
NIGERIA’S HENRY ONYEKURU WANTED BY PREMIER LEAGUE TRIO

https://africanfootball.com/bp_images/2017/05/onyekurunew580.jpg

by Graeme Jackson



A trio of Premier League clubs are keen on signing KAS Eupen’s Nigerian striker Henry Onyekuru.


The Daily Mail reports that Everton, Southampton and Crystal Palace are all keen on signing the 19-year-old in the European summer.

The Nigerian youngster has hit a hot-streak of form for Belgian club Eupen in recent times and netted his fifth goal in the space of seven games in their 2-1 loss to Genk on the weekend.

In all he has managed 18 goals for the club this season and is fast becoming one of the most sought-after young strikers in Belgium.

The country’s heavyweight clubs, Anderlecht and Club Brugge, have reportedly made handsome offers to land the player, but his preference is to go to the Premier League.


Source: http://africanfootball.com//news/707108/Nigerias-Henry-Onyekuru-wanted-by-Premier-League-trio

If Southampton really wants him, it's a no brainer for him to pen a contract with them. I rate them as the most professional with handling and unlocking of the potentials in young players.
Henry will definitely thrive in such an environment.

Icon4s:
As them even dey carry those things for hand their conscience no prick them?

Lookman Haruna started coming to U17 camp 3 sets before he had a breakthrough in 2007. I believe he was made captain out of seniority having been in camp more times than other players.
This was made known to me by a confidant who trained with the team.
No surprises here.

terzurum5:
I am also of the opinion that if a player like Victor Osimhen is to be invited on the bases of his young promising talent, it shouldn't be at the detriment of chances for Paul, Kayode and Adi.

Victor Osimhen still has several years ahead of him. He can be invited to train but not to take up the chances of lads who have impressive stats.

I agree with you. Oshimhen does not merit the invite,let's call a spade a spade.
Calling up a guy who have just suited up once in the entire season ahead of seasoned pros setting their leagues on fire is not meritorious at all.
I wonder what stats Rohr have to justify his inclusion.

Another day, another goal for Kayode Olarenwaju.

tbaba1234:
The career of a sports person is short. Some get cut short by injury and some never make it to the professional ranks. Those that make it professionally have about a little more than a decade to earn as much as they can.

When it is all over, they need something to fall back to.

That is why education is important.

During their playing time, they can get coaching badges, degrees or professional certifications that set them up for life after football.

Having a good secondary school foundation will help them push forward later.

Your physical attributes fade quicker than your knowledge. They can have another career for 20-30 years after football.

I agree with you on this. According to report by CIES in 2015, the failure rate of young talented footballers making it to the professional level stands at just 1%.
For the records, about 12000 kids are admitted into the football academies spread out across England, only about 1% of these kids will play football for a living. The rest are spat out into the real world in a game of musical chairs.

When you consider these numbers are culled from a developed country like England, when you try to relate this to Nigeria with even a greater number of population and poor structures, you could be looking at numbers less than 1% making it to the professional level of the sport.

The numbers are even worse when the NBA is being considered. Out of about five hundred thousand high school basket ball playing students, only 48 get drafted to the NBA. Just 0.03% make it through from high school to the NBA.

For clarity sake, out of 10000 high school basket ball players, only 3 will end up in the NBA.

We have to realise being talented is not enough, the journey to professional sports is a race to the bottom.

Kids must be educated at all cost. Standards needs to be set because if we encourage truancy among kids who belive they are talented in music or sports, we will end up having a society filled with sparsely educated illiterates who were deluded into believing their talents will forever see them through.

Am of the opinion that football should go hand in hand with education. When I say education, I mean atleast senior high school.
The elite academies in the world have entrenched in their modus operandi education and football mixed together.

Here is an except of the famed Barcelona mestalla operation ;

The students wake up early at 6:45 to shower and brush their teeth just in time for breakfast at 7:00. The school bus pick-up is then at 7:30. Unknown to many, a large amount of their time is spent studying. School is from around 8:00 to 14:00. It’s then lunch and free time until around 16:00. Then there’s added schooling and training, times differ depending on the age group, but training tends not to be any longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes. It’s then time for another shower and a coach journey back to La Masia. Dinner is at around 21:00 which is followed by TV/Internet until 22:45. The students brush their teeth and go to bed at 23:00 in order to rest sufficiently enough to repeat the process the following day.


"Scouted from across Spain, the young players who live at La Masia play surprisingly little football - just over one and a half hours per day. "Instead, there is a heightened emphasis on school work, with players expected to attend extra classes with tutors at La Masia once they return to the centre after a day at school. This way, the students who do not make it into professional football can opt for university or find employment ."

"Not all the chosen ones will make it to the top, of course. Which is why dealing with failure is one of the academy's key areas of focus. The kids need to have a "Plan B," as Folguera puts it. The club's values code impresses the importance of patience, humility and hard work upon its pupils - and these are values the parents of the aspiring players also have to take on board. They need to be clear in their own minds; if you've given everything you can to attain your goals, there is no shame in failing to reach them."

The gospel truth is that when kids are starting out you never can tell how far they could go in professional sports. Kids need a good education foundation so they have a fall back option if it all goes South. A tiny % of kids admitted into academies actually make it to the professional level.
Nothing is guaranteed in football or any professional sports. If world class academies adopt this strategy, who are we to disagree with them since the results are starring us in the face.

komekn:
This is not news, the special relationship of France with its former African colonies. Gives them direct access to the French league 1.

Ismaila Starr left local Senegalese football straight to Metz. He has had a good season and is on the radar of top clubs for a big money move, he is just 19.

These examples of Francophone footballers moving straight to the French league 1 from thier local leagues is very common.

That was exactly my thought when I read about the development. Makes it even more disturbing that Vincent Enyeama had to go for trials at Bolton Wanderes when he was the first team goalie of the Super Eagles at 2 nations cup and back to back Caf champions league winner.
If you can recall, he was meant to replace Jussie Jaskelinnen (spelling) but somehow he was not offered a contract after trials, rather he saw himself in Isreal.
I don't think Bolton have had a better goalkeeper than Vincent in the history of their existence.

Danycrusoe:
baba eshe gan sir, it'd good to elders like u in the group. Agba yin a dale sir. ee ko ni dagbaya.


for the older elders mention please come and take ur period to tell us a story o. Elders like enomakos, kog45, komekn, forgiveness, Goldfish80, Tbaba1234, TheGoodJoe

One of my favourite Nigerian defender of all time was unfortunately not featured on both pictures posted.
I mean the late Uche Okafor. I still cannot belive Uche took his own life. A man in the threshold of something great as a pundit on Espn and a football coach in True United States. If not for the cold hands of death, he would have no doubt managed one of our national teams and contributed immensely to the growth of Nigerian football like Keshi, Siasia and Eguavone have done.
I still have memories meeting him on a flight so many years before his demise. Great guy.

maidaboi:
THANK GOD IS FRIDAY AND MY BIRTHDAY

Thank you Lord Jesus for adding another year onto my years today, i pray that this year will be a blessing to me and the super eagles

i will like to use this medium to beg for forgiveness from this forum members if there is anything, post, comments that i made that you feel that i am guilty or wrong please forgive me, as i forgive those who i think did me wrong.

This thread has even gone beyound football that sometimes we discussed about our personal problems, lets continue to live as brothers and sisters, i pray that this love and freindship will have no end and will grow day by day

I also want to use this medium to thank all wellwishers, only God that will repay all your wishes.

THANK YOU ALL.....!!!

Happy birthday to you.... I wish you all the best in your endeavour. Big ups.