₦airaland Forum

Ibime:
Senegal are playing Cameroon in AFCON QF on Saturday.

Lets all pray for Sadio Manes success so he doesn't return for next Tuesdays match.

In other news Burkinabes and Bertrand Traore have topped their group and are through to the QF. Aubameyangs Gabon don comot with 3 straight draws.

Even if they're to lose to Cameroon, jet-lag should be a concern coming into the Chelsea game. He would probably need to sit-out our game.

Ibime:
He WAS Barcas style.

I'm sure Zizou never planned on going into any match with the intention of not dominating possession and to play on the counterattack like some water carrier.

TBH, Zizou should he compared to his fellow AMs, not CMs. AMs cannot dominate possession like CMs. They have to wait to receive the ball.

Good POV. Thanks for your input

Ibime:
Yes, Xavi central midfield dominated possession in every match from 2008-2014.

Could it be Barca's style of play helped him? Zizou never played with a team who were all about ball retention.

HBD Fashola Balogun Shola. Balogun of Russia.

Ibime:
Xavi always. No one dominated him at his prime. People dominated Zidane.

Does stats agree with this? Cos that's an area most folks rush to draw conclusions.

Ibime who'd you pick between Zidane and Xavi for your midfield duties and why?

Goaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllll

8 fvcking points clear.

Good sub. Have that midfield congested, dominate play and push them Hull boys back.

Meanwhile, Costa seems to be the only one who really means business on that final third.

Hazard and Pedro are not just here or there.

Alonso and being clumsy. He'd kill us one of these days.

Costa is the man. Forget everything wey we just dey yarn.

Grown men talking teen punnanies? What could look more silly on a Sunday afternoon?

No need arguing any further. The man himself has come out to say he isn't good enough.

Case closed!

Ibime:
What you are not getting is that he did not reproduce it at Bayern. Like Griffon stated, when he met technically superior teams in Madrid and Barca, his limitations were exposed and he was disgraced.

Actually, what he has proved rather is that he cannot do anything unless his players are majorly superior to the opposition.

Any manager can do that.

Any manager can do it EOD. It can't be managerial brilliance.

Kagawa10:
Until Conte backtracks and builds his success around Terry and Ivanovic, you aint saying anything!

Every Coach needs as much quality in his team even if he's an alien!

Ogbeni stop shooting yourself on the foot. Conte didn't demand for the best legs to replace JT and Bran. He jettisoned them for an average joe like Moses and an erratic Luiz.

He is still building his success around average players. WTF was Alonso before he came to Chelsea? Pedro was dead and gone until Conte came around.

Be bright nigga.

Kagawa10:
Conte could do that because he had options unlike Pep!

Everyone has always known Moses to be a headless chicken pacey touchline winger hence, converting him into a wingback is nothing strange, just the same way Valencia was converted!

Anyway, You've admitted that the likes of Terry and Ivanovic are already past it but Pep has more of these 'past it' players in his city's team, so what is he suppose to do? Fry beans with them?

Abegi, let's say things as it is.

You're obviously clutching at straws right now. Just keep mom if you cant present a better rebuttal than this.

Everyone knows Moses to be a headless pacey chicken yet no manager dared to deploy him as a wing-back? He's been at Westham, Liverpool, Stoke yet no manager considered him good enough for that position. An Italian with little knowledge of the English game comes around and decides not to buy a proven wing-back but to go with a chap who has never had a shot at that position. And you think that isn't managerial brilliance?

It seems like you're in possession of a little knowledge of the English game. Which 'past it' player in Man City won't nail down a place at other PL clubs?

nateevs:
This is your own definition of managerial brilliance. Someone else comes along and says, guys you know what? I know another way, however I require a precise nature of resources to achieve it. He reproduces it at two different clubs, wins over a dozen trophies while at it but somehow, you think he is wrong and you are right.


This is the part I really need someone to explain. Why do they think he is wrong? Because he chooses to do it the way you are not accustomed to?

Pep's cant be managerial brilliance, it is choosing the easy way out. He is refusing to test himself and evolve. He is refusing to accept the challenge of working with relatively average players.

Common sense should inform you that a manager's chances of winning a silverware gets enhanced when he decides to stockpile his team with the best legs. That is akin to football manager where teams with the highest rating players tend to walk the league easily. Is that your definition of managerial brilliance?

Kagawa10:
Why isn't Conte doing it with ageing Ivanovic and Terry? Or why did Chelsea play shite with these players until they were ousted from team? Answer these question first!

This says nothing. Conte is bright enough to see that JT and Ivanovic has no business with the first team anymore. Bright enough to switch to a 3-man backline. Bright enough to convert a PL reject Moses into an amazing wing-back.

He didn't need to ask for 11 perfect players to get the needed results, he only needed to be bright. That is managerial brilliance.

Nateevs and Nihilist, I don't know what your definitions of managerial brilliance are, but I personally think it is doing the right thing and getting results with a 'less perfect' team.

What makes you guys think an astute gaffer can't win the league with the current Citeh side? That team is the best in the country and some bald ninja somehow thinks those boys don't fit into his philosophy. If Pep can't mount a serious title challenge with the current Citeh side, then he's simply tactically inept and definitely over-rated.

Managerial brilliance has it that you must get results with that not-too-perfect team at your disposal. And that can be actualized by creating a setup they would thrive in, a system that would suit them. You should know when to park the bus and lock up. You should know when to go all out. You should know when to drop the ball and dominate play. You should just know when to do the right thing. That is managerial brilliance defined.

Conte is doing it with Chelsea having faltered with his first approach. Mourinho has done it at a lot of places (Porto 04 being the biggest). Carlo showed that class with Chelsea years ago, switching from a 4-3-3 to a diamond formation etc. Fergie achieved success at United playing different styles. Wenger was tactically on point in 2002.

These managers share two things in common; tactical flexibility and a winning philosophy. Those are the traits that differentiates them from Guardiola. Unlike the latter, these managers would succeed anywhere b'cos they create systems that suits what they have. It is the only philosophy they know not some tiki-taka balderdash.

Pep's decision to acquire an eleven that fits his ideology isn't a masterstroke. It is a no brainer what the move is really all about, he's simply showing once again how limited he is.

Nihilist:
Surely not!

Ibime:
Rubbish signing.

Anyway he belongs to Villa not Boro.

Those darting deadly runs can prove to be useful at some stages of the game. Not a spectacular one, but I personally love to have this sorta kid on my bench.

Chelsea have approached Middlesbrough over the availability of winger Adama Traore, according to Sky sources.

Omo sign him already!

nateevs:
Roman will be financing the Stadium from his pocket. This is one of the few avenues club owners are left with (FFP restrictions), should they desire to inject cash directly to the club. Roman has not been able to directly inject money into the club for many years now. This is his chance. Half a billion will not make him broke; especially as he is injecting it into a fixed asset.

The club could easily increase turnover through the gates by as much as 30%; sign lucrative deals with naming rights etc. All this increases propensity for profit-making. This is the line I expect a football-loving, Chelsea-loving man like Roman to tow. Not selling players to achieve it.

Roman who is not afraid to fire Jose a second time, mid-season, for below-par performance, does not strike me as the same man who starts flogging players to raise money.

Meanwhile I see DonJazzy wants to sell Hazard and buy Lukaku. Weh done Sir!
Please share some of what you are having.

Best way to make use of resources. Microeconomics defined thoroughly.

Meannwhile, It seems like Oga Fraudiola is trying to save his job. The report on The Sun this morning has it that Citeh are willing to cough out £100m for the signature of Lionel Messi.

This man cant win jack without the best legs.

Someone is trying to pass expo.

“Thinking of the reasons why Spurs beat them, any manager needs to think, ‘Where can we hurt them? Where is the space?’

“Now against this Chelsea system, the space is always around the wing-backs. It is either in front of them or behind them.

“When the wing-backs are high the space is behind the full-backs and teams can try to expose that by playing the long ball down the line and picking up the second ball.

“When Chelsea go to a back five, the problem is the distance that the two midfield players have to cover. It’s a big problem for Chelsea.

“That’s where the space is, either side of the central midfield players, and that’s what you need to exploit against Chelsea.”

- Jamie Carragher

Tottenham were able to do so thanks to two expert crosses from the right foot of Christian Eriksen onto the head of Dele Alli.

donjazet:
its not always about the name. look at bamidele alli at tottenham

Bamidele Alli? Must be of Welsh descent.

afrodoc2:
He is a good player but he has to do more in the Champs League and for his national team........plus Neymar IS better

Iniesta (2003-2017): 11 UCL Goals, 12 International Goals, 34 League Goals.

Oga if there's anyone who must put in more work both on the domestic and international fronts, it has to be Andreas Iniesta. Sadly, he's 32.

You cant wave aside his unproductivity with the assertion, that stats dont tell the whole story of his influence. If he must enjoy that defense, i dont see a reason why Hazard who has outscored him at all fronts in a short playing time fail to get that defense too.

Some newstand pundits here branded Hazard a failure last season 'cos he wasnt scoring but i dont see 'em giving Muller who has scored just once this season same treatment.

Una sentimental views and double-standard approach over certain issues for here fit win an oscar award sha.

We're missing Costa's physical presence in that box but mehn, I'll gladly take the fluidity I'm seeing in that final third.

We need to make that count though.

Ibime:
Na today wey I sell Alonso for FPL wey him know say him go score

Sold the ninja too for Azpi. Na those useless folks at Evening Standard force my hand.

afrodoc2:
Lol. Iniesta is a great midfielder the stats don't tell the whole story of his influence especially in big moments.
Meanwhile who are the ones here waiting for MMM? Cos after tomorrow na to start counseling sessions and support group for them o.

I expect you to read out the emboldened to Raumdeuter and his lapdogs when they come calling for Hazard's head.