₦airaland Forum

Lalaboi, wetin dey worry you? Why do you always have to beat me to the punch? Hehe

Chelsea have just announced that Scolari is taking over on July 1st.

Good news IMO. Thank God Ancelotti and the rest didn't get it.

I like all of them especially ewu peppersoup, suya, Onini aka Ippopo (Pounded Yam with plantain, palm oil and peppersoup), moi-moi, Egusi-soup or Efo-riro with pounded yam, jollof or fried rice, Fried Yam with fried fish stew, Yam with prawn and mussells (imgbe) stew, Bole and fish or peppermeat. All to be drank with Palm Wine. My favourite fruit is sweet Agbalumo/ Udala. Please don't get me started

Either the banks have stolen the money - or Abiola was truly abnkrupted by June 12 - and had planned to make the money back when he became President from our coffers.

We need to find out the details first befor we get arried away

landis:
what other details do you need?

You have $60bil and you went borrowing $360mil.

what sense is in that?

Yeah, but you don't know if the $60b is there to to be used to fight inflation, control interest rates, control the value of the Naira, provide insurance for bonds or to back other liabilities etc.

Reserves are used for many things, not just to pay for stuff you need.

Oh my God, do I have to come back to this conversation? .  .  . . . . .

nateevs:
I did not say Germany never had playmakers. My point is that VDV would have been considered very lightweight and too dribbling a player to play in the bundesliga years ago. Having said that anyway Hassler, Effenberg, Scholl even Ballack were never the brazillian-type very dribbling playmaker I am talking about.

Thomas Hassler was the Brazilian type dribbling playmaker. Go and watch the old tapes. He had no defensive input. Mehmet Scholl was small (and often played on the left-wing at Bayern) and Effenberg was pedestrian. There are many other playmakers who have played in Germany such as Lincoln, Okocha, etc.

nateevs:
That is an obviuos answer. . . all attack starts from Fabregas. He makes more passes than any other Arsenal player. Almost every goal they score he starts the attack.

Whether attack starts from him or not, he is NOT a playmaker but a conventional midfielder. He is the type of 'playmaker' we should be looking for. Adaptable guys e.g. Modric who can play in midfield but also have playmaking skills. 

nateevs:
I am not against wing play. I am a 4-4-2 fanatic. . . and you must understand that for u to be one . . you must fancy wing play. I just do not like the idea of play making from the wings. . it is one-sided and predictible.

Well, well, you want to play 4-4-2 with a playmaker? I have heard it all now. This is not 1994 mate. 4-3-3 or (diamond 4-4-2) are the only systems that allow you to play a playmaker in modern football. What did Holland play on Monday? 4-2-3-1 aka 4-3-3. You need two defensive midfilders behind a playmaker otherwise you are asking for serious trouble. Who will you play in our midfield. Makalele behind VDV? Just those two in central midfield? You will get slaughtered.

nateevs:
Secondly Lamps defensive?

You better believe it. No attacking midfielder presses like Lamps.

nateevs:
Are sure of what you just said ? Arshavin? Winger? Wait Ibime I think you think too much of wing play. Ronaldinho has played on the flanks on a 4-3-3 so many times under Rijkaard does not make him a winger. He is a natural central attacking midfield player. The player in those days we used to call No10. and so is Arshavin . .  if you have seen Advocaat employ 4-3-3 in a match situation and plays Arshavin on the flanks does not mean Andrei is a winger. He is a natural No10. He can't play the first group games of the Euro 2008. When he plays in the 3rd (which will obviously be of great signifcance) you will see what he does in the Hiddink team. I followed all the Euro qualifying games for Russia because of Arshavin and Bilyaletdinov (because I heard they were coming to Chelsea) and Arshavin play in the middle as the perfect playmaker.  hiddink obviously does not play a 4-3-3  . . . You are actually the first football fan that knows Arshavin that I know calls him a winger. Arshavin?

My point exactly . . . . . all these great managers take these brilliant playmakers and convert them to wingers. From Arshavin to Ronaldinho to Kranjcar to Joe Cole to Hleb etc etc etc. What does that tell you? That the position of playmaker is not viable at the upper echelons of World football.

It is funny you mentioned Barcelonas failure and attributed it to 4-3-3. You didn't mention it when they were winning everything did you? OK - for a test - name ONE successful team that plays with a playmaker. Name ONE Champion of their domestic league that plays with a playmaker. Is it Hamburg? No! Is it Villareal with Riquelme? No! Is it Werder Bremen with Diego? No! Is it Schalke with Rakitic? No!. Even Zenith choose to play Arshavin on the wing and as second forward. Where is this wonderful playmaker winning all the trophies? WHO IS IT?

The fact is, playmakers look good. They make themselves look good. But they take away from the functionality of the team. A team that employs playmakers is weak defensively, they press in their opponents half (because playmakers are too slow to counterattack) and they leave themselves open to counterattack.

It is the simple evolution of football which disproves your argument. In the 80's and 90's every single team had a playmaker. Now, they are rare to find. They have all been converted to wingers or central midfilders - simply because the playmaker system is not effective. Full stop.

And it is funny how you only recommend the playmakers who cannot be adapted to any other position to Chelsea. Why Diego and VDV? Why not Arshavin, Kranjar and all the other playmakers who are adaptable. What if we decide midway through the season that this playmaker shit is not working? What will we do with Diego and VDV then? Where will we play them.

nateevs:
Wrong.

OK, name one game where VDV has EVER been played as a central midfielder in a 4-4-2. You cannot. I have never seen it. Even Ritchboy had to jump in to correct you on this one.

nateevs:
Last question. . . accepting the fact that Chelsea will be changing the playing style next season . . . who will you like to see in midfield? If it's true that we will appoint Scolari or Hiddink bearing in mind that none will fancy Lamps or Ballack.

If I could have my way, our style will not change at all. We will just have better wing-forwards.

My team would be: 4-3-3:

Maka, Essien and Lamps in midfield (Ballack on the bench)

Ribery and Quaresma on the wing.

Balotelli/Gomis/Gomez up front.



The funny thing is, after all is said and done, VDV may work at Chelsea with Essien and Maka behind him - but only with two egbewedgers behind him, not one.

nateevs:
I think it's a bit too late in this century to stereotype the premiership. THe only reason play-maker type footballers have not flooded the prem is the calibre of coaches employed in it. When Managers like Hiddink, Scolari, zico and the likes start to invade th premiership it will all change. Diego and Vandervaart like players will never fit in the bundesliga years ago but now it's changed.

So what position did Thomas Hassler, Steffen Effenburg, Mehmet Scholl, Rosicky etc play? Germany has always had playmakers from time immemorial. You still have Rakitic there as well. Germany has always had playmakers.

nateevs:
Don't get me wrong. I am not insinuating that he prem has not got it's standards and unique features, what I am saying is the premiership is changing and if we employ such tactics in the prem it will work. Arsenal's type of footie was a taboo in the prem years ago but now it works.

So who is the playmaker at Arsenal? Don't gt me wrong, I am all in favour of having playmaker-type players at Chelsea. They just have to be adaptable like Fabregas, Hleb, Denilson, Rosicky etc are. I would like a playmaker at Chelsea, just not the type of playmaker you like. Those guys you are recommending are absolute lightweights.

nateevs:
The problem with playmaking from the wings is it's ease of readibility and predicability. You can almost tell what a Robinho, Messi and Ribery can do. Playmaking form central attack give options - it opens up the wings and having those type players on the wings like you mentioned will rain goals. . If you have a striker that reads passes well like David Villa or RVN . . better option.

Well, why do all th best teams employ wingers/wing-forwards? The wingers stretch the play, allowing space for the midfielders to get forward.

nateevs:
Whether a player defends or not. . it's the type of tactic employed by the manager. To be fair Lamps defensive input is poor. If we have a player that makes 50 decent through passes in one game and we have quick poachers and dazzling wingers, I don't mind him not defending. I just want a player that was made to pass the ball. Andrei Arshavin is one of them,

Na lie! Lamps best defensive input comes from his pressing in the midfield. Lamps is the best attacking midfielder at defending.

Arshavin is a winger/forward who cuts inside but his primary position is winger, not playermaker.

nateevs:
I watch the bundesliga because of VDV, Gomes, Ribery and Diego. VDV's versatility is what does not make him pinned to a particular position. He can play in the middle of a 4-4-2, on the left of a 4-3-3 as well as on the right of a 4-3-3. In the midlle of a 4-3-2-1 as well as on the right and left of it because I have watched him so many times. I have seen several players become big stars at a later age, so his time at Ajax does not mata anymore. Drogba, Lampard are examples. He's 25 and I think he can improve. The reason many big clubs are not after him is because he is injury prone. . but Real still paid £24m for Robben.

He can NEVER play in the middle of a 4-4-2.

He has played on the left of 4-3-3 many times but never impressed cos of lack of pace.

His only true position is playmaker.

I don't think injury had much to do with his transfer to Hamburg. He was desperate to leave Ajax cos he had lost motivation. He did have some injuries especially in his early years, but nothing like what you are making out. Definitely not even close to Robben and Van Persie level.

Don't get me wrong. He is a brilliant player. I just question whether he will work in the Premiership. Also, I remember his numerous poor performances at Ajax so I am more skeptical than you are.

nateevs:
Come to think of it what do you call Joe Cole, Kalou? Winger? Striker? none of those. What do u call Ronaldo? Winger? This guy probably crosses the ball twice in 3 matches. Striker? Obviously not. yet he scores more than every striker in the world. So some players are like that. They are called free-role players,

He scores more than strikers? What is his record. I would imagine he scores on average 18 goals a season - of which 8 are penalties and 5 are freekicks. Is that really worth it - to build a whole team around him?

nateevs:
No mata what Drog's age is. . I still think he should not go for £18m . . He scored 90% of Chelsea's goals over two seasons. If he was french, he will be their No1 striker. . . . .

Drogba has two more years, three max. Henry was sold for £16m so £18m is a fair price for Drogba. He relies on his physical attributes so his performance will decrease with age. Most strikers in World football these days are already worthless by 32, 33. He also has no re-sale value so his transfer value is detiriorating at £6m per year. It is a fair price.

nateevs:
Vander Vaart is too slow for the Prem? Are you sure you watch him? How do Mikel, Makalele and Ballack cope? Vander Vaart is quicker than Lampard and Ballack put together. . . His asking price is £18m . . aw is that over priced?. . Did you see the Holland - Italy game yesterday? For those that had a one-game opportunity, that is how Rafael is season long; so he is no fluke. 

Wait Ibime, we have to get at least two playmakers this summer, one senior, one substitute. If not, we have messed up the summer and we will never attain the type of football we all crave for. Now in your opinion, who would you choose? These are your assertions:

Muotinho is too small
Deco is old
Van dervaart is overpriced and too slow. .
Diego is expensive
Ronaldinho is used up. .
Kaka is too expensive

I like playmakers - just not in the Premiership. The only one I can see succeeding is Kaka because he has pace to keep up with counterattacks and is genuinely a second striker if need be.

I prefer my creativity to come from the wing like Ribery, Messi, Ronaldo etc.

Your definition of playmaker is people who cannot defend. There are people who have skills to play-make but can also defend and they are all currently occupied as central midfielders. People like Fabregas, Iniesta, Sneijder etc. This is the type of player I prefer.

We don't need to carry anyone in our midfield.

Maybe you just started watching Van Der Vaart in Germany but I am an Ajax fan and I've been watching him since about 2000. His last three years at Ajax stank and that is why no big club came in for him. In the end, he lost motivation and settled for Hamburg. He is too slow for a playmaker. You cannot compare him to Lampard and Ballack because they are conventional midfielders who have defensive input. Van Der Vaart has none. His position is undefined. He is neither striker nor midfielder and I do not know any team in England that employs any player in that position. He is not quick enough to keep up with counterattacks. If I lie, go and watch Van Bronckhorst counter-attack for Hollands second goal and tell me if Van Der Vaart was quick enough to keep up or not.

debosky:
Van der Vaart is quality, so is Moutinho - but the latter is not a creative player and would essentially be in competition with Essien and Mikel - Chelski do not need another holding/defensive midfielder.

Since when did Moutinho become defensive midfielder? Is it because Scolari played him and Deco in the same team on Sunday? Moutinho always has been an attacking midfielder for Sporting.

The truth is that Milan are the only bidders for Drogba and I think £18m is a fair price for him considering his age. I agree Uchenna that his best days may be behind him. The only question is why did we turn down their bid for Sheva. Even £1m is a fair price for him considering he is a liability and his wages are draining us to the tune of £6m a year. Maybe he is Romans spy in the dressing room?

@ Nateevs - I do not believe all these transfer rumours coming out of the bridge. £15m for Deco? Yeah right! Who is willing to pay more than £9m for Deco considering the season he just had and his age. If Chelsea are really serious about this Deco thing, they should consider the statements Jose made in 2005. He said that he is glad that he didn't sign Deco because he doesn't think Deco could adapt to Premier League.

BTW, do you know we were linked with Pirlo a couple of days ago. Absolutely laughable. Transfer rumours gone haywire. Either that or Roman is a big big fool. Who thinks that Pirlo is adaptable to Premier League? He is the only defensive midfielder who needs protection in front of him. They call him a deep lying playmaker. Haha.

Van der Vaart is overpriced and too slow for Premierleague. Moutinho is already worth £20m and does not make sense for a prospect to be worth that much already. He is definitely too weak for Chelsea.

Can't wait for the new manager so all these silly transfer rumours (or Romans tinkering) are put to bed. Right now, I would take any manager just so that Roman doesn't go crazy buying absolute thrash.

It is simple - most people only get scared when the plane is taking off and feel like their stomach is lifting . . . . . you have to lean forward when the plane is taking off and you wont have any problem.

Igwe Ocha must be the name of only the Ikwerre (Igboid) side of Port-Harcourt. I do not see the Okrika part of Port-Harcourt naming themselves Igwe Ocha. From Amadi-flats up to Oil Mill is the Ikwerre part whilst Isaac Boro Park down to Borokiri is the Okrika section.

As for the naming of the Port Harcourt, we have many places in Port-Harcourt named after the old colonials. From Churchill road to Harold Wilson road etc.

@ Nateevs, No to Deco and Eto! Deco is old and so is Eto. Eto was caught last December when he said that Roger Milla gave him his shirt when he was 6 or 7 years old before the match between Cameroon and Zambia. The journalists checked the records and found that the match was in 1985, so Eto must be 30-31 years old, three years older than he claims to be.

Moutinho is too small for Chelsea. Not strong enough and not enough goals. He is a typical Arsenal player.

Gomis is good IMO. I watch French football round-up every week and he has everything that Drogba has plus a bit more pace and better touch. He even has the personality of Drogba, very boisterous. St Ettienne were asking for £12m when Newcastle enquired, so I don't know where this £20m is coming from.

On the other hand, Balotelli has claimed that he has no love for Inter as contract talks were shelved. We should go for him as well. Mario Gomez is still available for circa £18m as well.

nateevs:
I think you are missing the point with . . . you are making comparism with two different types of player values. Let me tell you where you are making a mistake. You are making it sound like value of the team is so crap, the players are not even worth of a division two appearance. .

There are two ways to value a player. . the amount at which he was brought to the club (purchase value)
the amount he will be sold at this minute. .(present value)

Benni Mcarthy signed a three-year contract with porto in 2003. . he was transferred to blackburn with one year left on his contract. . obviously made him cheaper - £2.5m . . . Chelsea were about making a £13m bid for him . . now that's his present value. .

Santa Cruz £3.5m to Blackburn was with Munich for 8 years . . which tells me he might have been a the end of a second 4 year contract . . which obviously made him cheaper as well. . . now how much will you buy him if you want him . . £3.5m? Absolutely not!!!!

David Bentley is a player of class, he is that good he is thought of as the next David Beckham, the only player in history to score 3 goals in one match against ManUnited. . .

Tell me he managed to get good players cheap. . then that's a different thing. . not emphasizing that he achieved a lot with a cheap squad.

Now my point is Hughes had players that could break into the first team of many premiership teams. .especially in Moyes' and Redknapp's teams . . which means he had a very decent squad. . not that he had the lowest budget in the premiership. . . making it seems he had worse players than Derby. . Brad Friedel is one of the best GKs in the premiership for the love of mike. .

Hughes could have had a cheaper squad to Moyes's and Redknapp's in terms of transfer value of players, he did not have an inferior squad in terms of quality. . Friedel, Bentley, Cruz, Mcarthy are all decent players.
Hughes is a decent coach. . . agreed!!! Is he what you think he is? we'll know at ManCity. . .

Stop misyarning. Those players are now worth money because Hughes made them so. If Blackburn were finishing 15th in the table (which they should be), none of those players will be worth half their current price. Players in successful clubs usually cost more. David bentley had a poor season with Norwich before Hughes signed him. He was half the player then that he is now. Why did Santa-Cruz and McCarthy sign for Blackburn? Cos they respect Hughes. Would you swap Portsmouth or Everton squad for Blackburn squad? What of Tottenham or Newcastle?

This is the point and the reason why Hughes has overachieved - Blackburn have a very thin squad except for the striking department. Can you name Blackburns midfielders? Lemme name them. Tugay, Mokoena, Johann Vogel and Steven Reid. These are not exactly top players are they? Yet Sparky gets the most out of them. In a 38 game season, you need a good squad, not just a good first team. Blackburn have a very poor squad, yet Hughes always had them competing. When Pedersen or Bentley were injured, who came in? David Dunn. When the defenders were injured, who came in? Bruno Berner and Khiznashvili. Not exactly comparable to the millions of pounds Moyes and Redknapp got sitting on the bench. So whatever you have to say, it is not correct. The guy did a fantastic job with a thin squad, a small budget and now he is at Man City. He is not scared to take his chances. What did Moyes and Redknapp do when Newcastle came calling? They tucked their tails inbetween their legs and ran because they prefer the stability their small club offers them. But Hughes is a big boy manager. He has taken a gamble with ruthless Thaksin - just goes to show you his calibre.

Finally, your last point is SO irrelevant. Who did Cardiff beat to reach the final? They got a lucky draw, so what? Millwall did the same a few years back. I judge managers mostly on League performance, not the lottery of cups. That is why I always opposed Ancelotti.

Mutu has been ordered to pay us £9.8m for his cocaine wahala.

The last thing Obama needs is Africa endorsing him. It will only play into Republican hands.

^^^Ibo girls are very fine and very clean.

But the most beautiful girls in Naija are Rivers girls.

Some people cannot control themselves. My girl once pulled my d.i.c.k out in the corner of the club and started stroking it. We were there with her cousin and her cousins boyfriend and I had to rebuke her because it looked like people could possibly see what was going on.

5 similarities between Obama and Ibime:

Both are smokers
Both are about the same height
Both were teachers (although my own was only lesson teacher)
Both are very charismatic
Both are slow to anger


MallamMusa, please stop joking.

N240m? I doubt it. More like $240m.

MyTempID, please take your Obama-hating elsewhere. Nobody wants to hear it. Kudos to Obama for winning the ticket but I think he needs to make Hillary his running mate to heal some of the divisions.

nateevs:
Yes, and Roman contacted McFadden, had dinner with Brad Pitt, Andy Gray and Paul Scholes . . . Hallie Berry is on the Chelsea short list . . . met with Bruce Willis in Germany, asked Mugabe if he could manage Chelsea in a five star hotel in Warri, as if that is not enough he is considering himself for the position!!!!
Bloody hell what the hell is wrong with all you guys!!!!. . . what exactly about all these stories is so convincing. . ?

Ibime I think you reacting. . . a clear consequence of waiting for the manager to be appointment. All this gist about Roman meeting heaven and the rest were all presented by the same media that said we were linked with Hughes.
. .

You act like you don't know your Roman. The guy is subject to capricious whims. Should I talk about his constant chasing of Ronaldinho last season when he was prepared to pay £80m or his constant chasing of Kaka? Or his meeting with Palermo president to try and sign Amauri? Or his sacking of Mourinho? Or appointment of Grant? Or his chase of Erikssson? Or his chase of Ancelotti? Or his signing of every player that Pini Zahavi recommended for inflated prices? The guy is a bull in a China Shop who chases every skirt without any shred of footballing common sense.

Look, there is no smoke without fire. Chelsea is a club which have a corporate strategy - I read it on Mihir Bose blog that Chelsea insiders told him that the board were backing Mark Hughes for the job. Mihir Bose is not a journalist to talk any and anyhow - however, you can have as much strategy as you want, but when you have an owner who is a loose cannon, all planning is out the window. All planning - that is financial, managerial, tactical and even on player acquisitions. How can Chelsea achieve all its goals, financial and otherwise when Roman keeps meddling in its affairs.

@ Debosky,

You are not ashamed to compare 20+ years in management (Redknapp) and 10 years (Moyes) to 3.5 years (Hughes). In 3.5 years, Blackburn finished 6th, 10th and 7th. The best Redknapp has ever finished is 7th with West Ham despite having people like Joe Cole, Lamps, Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Kanoute, Sinclair, Di Canio etc. Moyes is a good manager but his brand of football is stifling. You say Mark Hughes lost 6-2 at Arsenal. Didn't Moyes lose 7-0?

Blackburn first 11 cost less than £16m: Friedel (free), Emerton (2.5), Nelsen (free), Samba (0.4), Warnock (1.5), Bentley (2.0), Reid (1.85), Vogel/ Tugay (free), Pedersen (1.5), McCarthy (2.5), Santa-Cruz (3.5). The whole squad cost £28m.

You are not ashamed to compare him to Moyes - Yakubu (12.0), Johnson (8.0), Fernandes (10.0) - just three players cost as much as Blackburn squad.

Or Redknapp - Muntari (7.0), Diarra (6.0), Utaka (7.0), Defoe (7.0) - just 4 players cost as much as Blackburn whole squad.

Despite this, Hughes has reached 3 F.A Cup semi-finals in 3.5 years, finished 6th, 7th and 10th. Every team in the Premiership spent more than the whole Blackburn first team is worth - just this season alone. Shame no dey catch you to make unfair comparisons? Mark Hughes is on the up and destined for great things. He has 3.5 years in club management, he has done it in international management, he is a man at the start of a great career - unlike Redknapp who is at the end of his and achieved nothing and Moyes who is at the middle of his and may still achieve.


What have Spalletti or Prandelli achieved to be linked to the Chelsea job? Or is it because they are foreign?

I have no interest in Rugby although I played for my secondary school team because I was big and strong for my age and they selected me.

If you go to any British University, you will find that the Rugby team always engage in pseudo-homosexual activities such as drinking pints while naked etc -  that is why people consider the game slightly homo.

Many Nigerian boys try to be 'gangstas' whether in America or not. Even in Naija we formed gangs and did some gangish shit. Yankee has nothing to do with it. It is just childish runs.

Why Igbo people dey open their nyash for Yankee? They make us sound like some backward community.

Maybe Mr President wants to finish his countries tourism industry off.

Stop dreaming!

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=723059

[center]Milan's Champions League Dream In Tatters?[/center]
Milan’s hopes of playing in next season's Champions League have been dashed after the Bulgarian FA (BFU) decided to give the UEFA license to Levski Sofia.

Il Diavolo appeared to have been handed a lifeline as Bulgaria’s FA has asked that champions CSKA Sofia be thrown out from the Champions League due to financial problems.

Reports suggested that Milan would be given the place as the highest UEFA ranked team not in the competition.

However, Rossoneri hopes have gone up in smoke as it has emerged that the Bulgarian authorities are likely to give the Champions League place to Levski Sofia leaving Milan with the UEFA Cup.

The Rossoneri failed to qualify for the Champions League after Fiorentina beat them to the all-important fourth placed finish.

Milan had been involved in the past six editions of the competition and now they will return to the UEFA Cup as they did back in 2001.

It was Milan’s less than vintage campaign this season in Serie A which proved to be their Champions League downfall.

There was another surge in hopes when Portuguese champions Porto were removed from the competition this afternoon, but it is expected that Benfica, who finished fourth in the BWIN Liga, will claim their place.

The San Siro club will now have to wait until next year to get their chance in Europe’s elite club tournament but they have to ensure they improve their league form considerably if they are to achieve their Champions League ambition.

Salvatore Landolina

How can anyone win 100 caps when they all retire at 28?

Milan have begun talks over Drogba:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=720207