₦airaland Forum

ChrisKels:
Aina's snub already yeilding bad fruit as Anglo Nigerian trio vow to turn down Nigeria if approached and their fear is that they might be treated like their colleague Aina.

Tom Dele Bashiru who once opted to rep Nigeria, lukas Nmecha, Tosin Adarabioyo and others are the ones listed for now who have vowed to turn down the NFF due to how poorly Aina was treated.

It should also send a signal to them that once being invited is not an automatic shirt.

They should go and try their luck with the 3 Lions then.

Good luck to them.

hapiness44:
Lol... No doubt, the ministry must move. .

Yes... whether the devil likes it or not.

KK555:
Ighalo in a Nigeria outfit. Could this be Nigeria's World cup outfit?

Enough of all these outfits-outfits talks abeg. Time for them to face the game and play football.

anibirelawal:
Chai, what a good wife.

You know she also has to play her part to hasten the ministry's movement to Camp.

You know what I mean.

I like her determination.

hapiness44:
Good morning @Seun , I am not giving up just yet, please help a sister move this to front page.

You need to display his contact especially a whatsapp enabled number. It will really help his course.

That body guard though

Martz101:
i may understand the fact thay you love keshi but truth be told, our squad in 2014 was not by merit.we won the afcon in 2013 and he executed most friendly before the worldcup with different players, players like uchebo, uche nwafor,Reuben,odulami, Ramon and babatunde displacing talented players like Uche brothers, Martins, Joel obi, Ogu and even key players that qualified him for the worldcup and won the afcon like ideye, Mba(for obvious reasons) and igiebor.

you can't compare this with 1998 team, we didnt go for the afcon 1996 and 1998 and were having less chance to test other new players, the players were basically the 1994 team + the Olympic team. Amokachi was not injured before the worldcup, he got injured before the Spain match, he came back against bulgaria and started, he got injured again before the Paraguay match.

our 2010 worldcup team was very very fair, it was the best we had, the like of ogbuke, yakubu, Martins,osaze and even an inform rabiu afolabi, who were you expecting in that team that you didn't see??

And on your odunlami, that guy had no business in that Keshi team, we already had enough with egweke and obuabona, even if keshi wanted a home base player, why cant he get a right back or left back to back Efe or oshaniwa, or even bring in an ogu or martins with that slot.that team was bias base,

they how many of them is still playing active football till now??after just 4years

Another top notch analysis from you man.

Humility017:
Dude should be glued to the bench....
that guy has never impressed me one bit.
nancho should start instead...because of his good positioning and clinical finish... he can also combine well with iwobi...trouble the crots defense with his good positioning the crots defense may be preoccupied with having him marked...as such gives other players the space to wreck havoc and shot from a distance....players like iwobi,ogu if he gets to start and ndidi....

If Rohr would adopt the 3-5-2 formation I would rather we have Iwobi and Iheanacho upfront. Iwobi to cover from the left wing to the center and also easily joins the midfield but must always be ahead of Mikel who will play directly behind the duo.

Iheanacho is a very deadly finisher but he only needs someone to pair with to wreck havoc.

Iwobi pairing with Iheanacho upfront is the coup I want Rohr to plot against Croatia.

LieDetector:
no. If it's in 2014, perhaps it was swept away by the nairaland tsunami then. A lot of monikers and threads went missing.

OK yeah....!!!!!

That great psunami that took place the night Nigeria beat Bosnia of course.

Safarigirl there you have it. The great 2014 psunami took away that "plastic fans" post.

Emm..... but can you.... compose another for 2018? We need it desperately.

ChrisKels:
For those thinking that Simmy will be the messiah, I'd rather have my fingers crossed than join the bandwagon.

Until he starts showing it, Chris wont sing his praises

Oga, no body thinks any player there is a Messiah.

People have lost confidence is Ighalo. They just want to see what Simmy would offer. That's all.

safarigirl:
i can't find it.
Checked through all my topics and it is missing

Hmm... I suspect one of the mods who is a plastic fan must have done something.

elyte89:
I don't knw y...as bad as echiejile is
I still prefer him to idowu

As a Wing back or as a Full back?

safarigirl:
Na so
79' Iceland 2-1 Ghana.
The Ghanaians must be a second half team like us

Game finished 2-2.

MetalJigsaw:
Echiejile: I’m Ready To Play Wing-Back, Eagles Know How To Handle Croatia
June 7, 2018 9:38 pm


Elderson Echiejile has revealed that he will be prepared to play as a wing-back for the Super Eagles as Gernot Rohr ponders switching to a 3-5-2 formation ahead of their 2018 FIFA World opener against Croatia on the 16th of June, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.

Echiejile, who came on for Bryan Idowu in Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat to Czech Republic at the Rudolf Tonn Stadium in Austria on Wednesday, told CSN that the team will notdisappoint when they take on Croatia.

“I can play as a left full-back or a left wing-back, as you know football has evolved over time and playing in several positions enhances your versatility in the team,” Echiejile who made his 61st appearance for Nigeria in the defeat told CSN.

“I’m comfortable playing there.
“The game was tough but we will regroup to polish the areas needed to be improved on.
“Either position – as a left-back or a wing-back, that depends on the tactics the manager is deploying for any game.

“I feel we now have a clue on how to face Croatia, looking at their game against Brazil. We won’t disappoint Nigerians in Russia, we just want their full support to ensure we surpass our past achievements at the World Cup.”

Echiejile is also excited he made the final cut for the 2018 FIFA World Cup having missed out on the 2014 World Cup in Russia.

“Most of us were not sure, but I’m happy I made the cut and it’s time to do the nation proud,” he added.

The Super Eagles open their World Cup campaign on 16 June against Croatia.


https://www.completesportsnigeria.com/echiejile-im-ready-to-play-wing-back-eagles-know-how-to-handle-croatia/

Bros sorry you don't have what it takes to play as a Wing Back. Just hold that bench wey them give you first.

Kog45:
Oga icon4s i was on ghost mode reading different views and it was like whao Nigerians really love eagles..

Oh really surprised seeing a whole Chriskel losing hope and lamenting like a lost soldier in the wilderness.Initially i thought he wasn't him until he responded to a salvo from safarigirl and his friend Mujtahida nailed him.

He came out and said he doesn't know what came over him.Initially i thought he must have jammed metaljigsaw the broken bottle man cos Chriskel i know is a passionate super eagles fan.

My good friends Michael2 and goldfish80 never dissapoint.They remain real critics of Rohr even when he was winning believing tactically the man is not getting it right and to be candid Rohr is not getting it right now going by the friendlies.

Safarigirl,TheSuperNerd,icon79 O pari master and Joebie remain unshaken still showing total support for eagles.

Really surprised to see some monikers who are always on ghost mode came out in full force to share their views and different opinions ranges from team leadership of Mikel,Moses an obstacle to the team formation, Ighalo not good enough, Uzoho not that solid,Balogun/Ekong look vulnerable, Shehu finding it difficult,Iwobi should be used as AM,Mikel and Onazi supremacy rumours etc.

I sighted tbaba1234 doing his thing with hope,BasconVanVelli looking hopeful,Elyte89 showing his comical approach to douse the tensions in the house.Metaljigsaw looking at the team critically before he play his bet.Marzt still showing his undying love for some players in the team.Omanbala raising up his mind for better outing. Mujtahida believe there is no tension. Goke and Oasis believe there is hope if Rohr get it right.Andrew444,Realpoacher,Soetanoluwa,junnyake showing their moods with critical analysis of the team.

But forgiveness and Komkne really surprised me with their great analytical views of the team.They are indeed a lover of super eagles.

Icon4s reading your full comprehensive post showed patriotism of a real super eagles fan who is ready to swim with the team in any circumstances.

I think we need to continue showing that love even in unwarranted situations cos is our team and we have been long here talking about this team,so the recent performance should not weakened us like my good friend Chriskel who wasn't happy and i will not blame him cos if Australia could walloped Czech republic 4 nil why Nigeria losing to the same Czech.

Pls we should stop saying Rohr is hiding his check cards for WC,no the team is not getting it right and truth must be told.Let's hope for better performance at WC.

Egbon, to tell you the fact. I am not happy about the outcome of the friendlies. I would have loved the team to go into the tournament with confidence and high expectations.

But, it has happened this way. And that doesn't mean all hope is lost!

I don't believe Rohr is hiding any tactics. Yes he performed some experiments and saw the results. By results I don't just mean the score lines. I mean observations to be taken away into the WC.
Let us see how he will line up the team against Croatia.

I am not shaken.

What I have to say is WE ARE NIGERIA! and we are capable of shocking anybody. Take that from me.

Mickael2:
Rohr is using that to confuse our opponents so they will think corner kicks are our weak points

Nigerian teams of all ages have been poor with defending of set pieces and also poor in converting them.

Mickael2:
Quick question, so because I said the team has been poor that means I am against the team? I didn't want to say anything not until people started saying that Rohr is using these losses to confuse our opponents,, like that is totally wrong. you may say that we will pick up when the tournament starts proper, that us absolutely true. Like when I was in medical school, we played three friendlies and lost all by a combined score of 9-2 but when the college cup started proper we were invincible so yes it happens. That's my point here, just get that clear. I totally believe in the team which is why I make out time to come here and discuss about the team

You don't believe in this team. Sorry.

Mickael2:
it is one thing going against the coach's instruction( let's say the coach told you to be running inwards as the winger and you decide to be hugging the byline) and its another thing entirely for you to change your entire formation on your own. They definetly didn't just come up with the formation that day, they must have tried it in training on their own and decided it was the best. The fact that you do not know the difficulties that plagued that 98 team is...well either you are trying to deny the fact or it's just disappointing coming from you, no offence

Firstly, Look, there is no group or team that doesn't face challenges especially football teams. Not all get out to the public domain. You cannot as an outsider know exactly about all the challenges a team faces or faced. Get that clear.

And on players going against the coach's instructions, it is a common occurrence. They are not robots. They are the ones on the field of play and their footballing instincts sometimes tell them what to do and it is not all only about what instructions the coach has passed down. Sometimes the coach allows the players that little bit of freedom to use their footballing(especially for professionals) instinct at certain situations. I don't know the level to which you played football. But I am telling you based on my knowledge of football both as a player and as a coach.

And please this course you have chosen will not make you enjoy the WC. You have put your self in a position whereby if Nigeria should beat Croatia you you will not know how to face peeps here.

Calm down bro. Just believe. There is no harm in it. Even if we lose will that take food away from your table? You have nothing to lose if you believe and the team fails.

We are fans need to stand together for the team now.

Mickael2:
Discussion in 'Sports News' started by Chris Maduewesi,
Apr 8, 2014. Views count: 5208
0 Former Super Eagles player Garba Lawal has revealed how they went against the coach's instruction at the France 1998 World Cup to play to their own preferred pattern against Spain at the tournament.
Nigeria stunned bookmakers to record an impressive 3-2 victory over favourites,Spain in their first game at the tournament.
Incidentally Lawal was on the scoresheet for Nigeria that day,scoring from a tight angle with Mutiu Adepoju heading in one of the goals,and a thunderous strike from Sunday Oliseh securing the win over Spain.
Lawal said that then coach,Bora Milutinovic prepared them to play a 4-5-1 formation but they decided amongst them before their customary prayers not play to that tactics.
"The coach wanted us to play 451 but we knew that if we did that, we would have serious problems against Spain if we played with one striker. So we the players decided to play 442," Lawal was quoted as saying on Kickoffnigeria.com
"We changed the formation inside the field, before we prayed. And that was what worked for us.
"We know our normal game so we all decided to play what normally works for us," he added.
Lawal who was mainstay in the Eagles team during his active playing days however,advised players not to adopt that strategy.
"It's not something we will encourage the players to do. But if you all feel that the system is not comfortable, you have to change because





Like I told you, the talents got us that far in 1998, the problem now is that we don't have the talent so using that tournament as an example is inappropriate totally.

Well if you still do not understand then OK

See, sometimes players go against coaches' instructions but you saying they made players selections by themselves was a big fat lie.

ChrisKels:
Lol my people una no get chill oo. About yesterday Lol, i made almost everybody wield one weapon or the other ready to haul it at me hahahaha, guys I needed to shake the thread for fun, some caught it, some didn't. Klexycole, come on, I have known your moniker for long and we have discussed one or two things together before, na just just say your punch heavy, I come say make drop u one to gain balance. Bro no think am.

But its quite funny that the honorable members of this thread thought I was serious when I wrote that Rohr be sacked before the Croatia match Chai

I believe Rohr ain't blind to his errors and how to curtail them. Hence, he already knows his go-to formation and the personnel to execute it. Even though I feel I am kinda deceiving myself by saying this but I believe Rohr is trynna play smart on his opponents so as to take them by surprise at the main event proper.


That said, my expectations remain low until we bring down Croatia and Iceland.

Soar on the galant soldiers of the black race

Dodorima to all Eagulians in here.
✊

We are no kids here. You meant what you said. This your comment now is an after thought.

goldfish80:
Loosing to Yugoslavia is no shame at all, knowing the turpsy turvy and bad air surrounding the team at the time. By the way, we are talking about a blockbuster country called Yugoslavia. A country that upon their break up, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia,Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina have all qualified individually for the world cup, they are hardly Czech Republic. Even Netherlands assembled some of the best players in the world at the time who went and played the best football in France 98, if not for the painful loss in the semifinals, they were about the only team that could have stopped France winning the cup. These guy played against a Nigerian team who switched tactics durring the usual team prayers before kickoff in the middle of the pitch.

Finally, make exception for you saying I have a defeatist mentality, especially coming from you who wrote off the chances of the Chan team even before the first whistle. I recall you saying you dont think the team will win any of their group games and their failure will result in Nigeria dropping in Fifa ranking. I haven't even written off the chances of this team but I am called a defeatist.

Firstly, so England that beat us this 2018 are not a good team.

The Czech Republic you are commonising now were the Czechoslovakia of the yester years. Slovakia does not make any meaningfull impact so the bulk of the Czechoslovakia team would have been from Czech Republic if that country still existed today.

Talking about the CHAN team I never mentioned they will not win any group game.What I said was that they better not lose to any of our group opponents so to as to avoid a dip in FIFA ranking. This is different from saying they will lose all their group games.
Plus I didn't see anything in that CHAN team to make me look forward to their games.
If we raise another CHAN team tomorrow to play a another competition I will still not be excited about them because I have Lost confidence in the league.

That scenario is a lot lot different from what we have here for the SE and our WC chances.

I cannot force u to have hopes on our SE. The choice is yours. But don't also stop me from having hopes on the team.

Mickael2:
The level of sentiments here is just....alarming.

I for one would expect Icon4s of all people to know that in 1998 due to our bad performances the players took over, in fact we virtually didn't have a coach, the team picked itself and played the way they wanted. We won against Spain but we lost our last two matches 3-1 to Paraguay and 4-1 to Denmark. Considering the talent in that team we should have performed better if we had a coach.


Now this team hardly possess the talent. It's bemusing that they will say that the team showed it's character against Argentina and the same set of people will say that friendly games don't matter. Czech were roundly humiliated by Australia but for some reason we(some) want to believe that the coach is hiding his preferred tactics, that's the most nonsensical deduction any sane human being could ever make. so the coach is making us lose these matches so we would be considered the underdogs? So what were we before? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Back then the talk was that Mikel would make our team better but we have passed African opponents. We have gotten to a stage where all eleven players matter and the coach's ineptitude has been laid bare but some want to believe that he is losing just so that we will be considered underdogs? I don't know if I should call that sentiments or outright stupidity. I do support the SE though but at least everyone knows I have had my reservations towards Gernot Rohr and others are starting to see why(just like I had with Onazi)

That comment you made about we not having a coach at France 98 and that players were making selections for themselves was a big fat baseless lie.

Let me point out sometime we lost to Paraguay in our last group game because we had already qualified and secured top spot and so the coach fielded his fringe players. Paraguay needed the win to go through and they got it. That game was 1-1 at half time and our boys just took their leg off the gas in the later stages of the game.

Now, what is your point in all these?

That Nigeria will crash out at the group stage? Well that is your expectation and hold on to it.

I have my own hopes and expectations and leave me with mine.

goldfish80:
First of all, having the ability of making critical analysis of what is in front of you is not defeatist mindset. Defeatist mindset is yielding to the opposition even before the fight began, I have been careful not to do this because I know Croatia, Iceland and the Argies have their own problems, but that doesn't mean I will the ostrich and deny the problems of our own team.

Saying this is "just a friendly" is not enough because history will always remind us 100 years from now that on the 6th of June, 2018 Nigeria lost to Czech Republic.
The example of the Siasia team loss to Denmark shouldnt be used as an excuse because a huge chunk of the members of the team didn't make it to Rio. Also the overraged players were not involved in that mini tournament. It is not the same scenario with this Super Eagles team that we know 98% of those who will make the team to Russia since January this year. Simy Nwankwo was just the sole gate crasher.

Finally, I wouldn't fall for using past examples to judge this team because it was a different scenario we have as compared to now. In 1998, we know the problem with the team, things like player animosity with each other, fights and disagreements over money, appointment of a new coach few months to the world cup. The scenario was totally different from what we have now.
The Super Eagles have never had it this good. These guys are flying on chattered flights, bonuses have been settled, no change of coaches, first class camping site and the same set of players. What's the excuse of these shabby performances?

So in 1998 players animosity, fight and disagreements over moneys made us lose 3-0 and 5-1 to Yugoslavia and Holland respectively?

If you check through you will see an earlier post where I highlighted what we should be worried about and also some positives from the friendlies. I also said the team deserves all the criticism it will receive from now till 16th June.

No matter what you cannot tell me you don't see some positives about the team.

You earlier said I am applying damage control measures. What damage? Are friendly results part of the points to be gathered for the World Cup? Do they count?

See, I have hopes in this team to Soar high in that group. But if they fail to do well so what?

You want to end your own World Cup even before the kick off. That is your own. I am going into the world cup with expectations. It is once in 4 years and I want to enjoy it please.

princfred:
Lol. Actually the post was supposed to be my last. As am too angry over being banned because of an altercation with one Aboki which i perceived mainly because it was with an Aboki. I just had to drop the post before taking my final leave having since the level of gibberish here all weekend long. Too bad i will miss you all but i cant patriciate in a forum where some ethnic group commands more respect just based on their tribe or religion. Imagine having to sign up tp being a muslim before commenting in the muslim thread while te muslims are free to faff around and even get someone banned in other thread�-Utter nonsense and promotion of bigotry.

Bro, the remedy is to stay away from the politics section. It will save you plenty of headaches.

Humility017:
he needs to be humbled....to be honest.

No I don't want him humbled. I would rather want him to humble himself.

Loogan:
Only in the national team!

That is it.

OMANBALA1:
Whenever Moses is with the ball he makes the right run, throw the right leg but he will never put you through with a simple pass. I am re-watching the match again in very little details and you can see why our attack never click when Moses is there...At around 12th minutes there was a simple pass he could have dropped for Iwobi to finish up but he attempted to dribble his grandfathers once more and lost the ball and he Iwobi was so mad and frustrated.

Moses is not a tactically disciplined player.

princfred:
Sharrap there . What do you know about football?

My brother the thing tire person o. Say make them sack Rohr before the Croatia game just because they lost 2 frienlies in a row.

princfred:
So Rohr should not test all possibly combos and position before the tournament? He should just play the best and win all friendlies then any injury to any of "the best " during the tournament and the team crumbles abi? Just like during the last WC when an injury to Onazi ended the teams game due to lack of plan B. Rohr is doing exactly what friendlies are to be used for- test different personnel and plans with different formations. Not play only the best giving away team structure for opponents to work with and counter.
Beyond the negative unconstructive low IQ blabs littered here which does not address core technical issues, the team is not terrible but a lot of work needs to be done especially up field and for defense of set pieces.

Now he knows Iwobi can replace mikel in deep position. Though Mikel is still better in deep position since he can throw long and short passes and Iwobi is better in No 8 role since he is a quicker passer.

The team plays well on their half but needs good coordination in the opponents half and thats where Ighalo needs to step up. He should help to make play by drawing back and using the flanks too rather than just waiting for the final pass. He can only get balls by having good positioning and playing with the team from deep to keep off from defenders rather than sticking with opponents defenders all day long. The team has to work on final balls too.
The team also need to attack the right places in the opponents half.

Moses has to combine his power pressing with quick passes too. He should stop trying to dribble all the time as that makes it easy for defenders to read him.

John Ogu falls back to do defensive duties way too much causing the other midfielders ( in this case Iwobi) to fall too deep and do too much work to join attack hence i prefer Onazi if only he can buckle up.

Idowu is ok defensively not soo much offensively where he doesn't seem to know exactly what to do; giving a good pass instead of trying to score from the wrong positions, making a run to the left to widen attack.

Nacho can only play from the left. Thats from where he can cut in and blow a shot a lay/ pierce a pass like Mata. All the talk of him serving as a double 9 or 8 is gibberish unless one does not acknowledge reality.

Above all, combative marking in the opponents half is lacking and imperative .

Wow, wow, wow. God bless you for this post. Such intelligent and we'll structured analysis. But may I point out that Iheanacho is more lethal when played from the Right. We need him as a goal getter and SS. If we needed him as a winger we can then place him on the left as you have opined.

TheSuperNerd, please look for a very nice place in the house and put princfred. We need to welcome him with a very good reception.

We need more of you here please.

goldfish80:
This is nothing but damage limitation, because I recall you saying after the Congo friendly that we will know more about this team after the England game.
I find it perplexing you're saying this now.

Ow of course we have definitely known more about this team and we have learnt a lot.

And I find it even more perplexing that you can completely write off a team based merely on friendly matches. And even more perplexing that you will always seize every opportunity to talk down a national team you claim to support.

I have been long enough in this game to know the extent to which outcome of friendlies can affect the performance of a team when the major tournaments starts.

Even just recently Siasia's U23 team lost 6-1 to Denmark in a friendly game just before the kickoff of the Olympics. But when both teams met again but this time at the Olympics what was the scoreline? 2-0 for Nigeria.

See, I am not afraid of failure. Even if the team goes to Russia and loses all 3 matches will heaven fall?
I cannot just go into a major tournament like the FIFA WC with the mindset that we will crash out at the group stage.

Finally, always having a defeatist mindset will do one more harm than good. It pays to always remain positive even when all odds are against you. That alone can spur you on to success in life. Food for thought.

elrony:
Spain will still pummel this current squad blue black!!!
Not 7-0 tho

Oga, thank you.
Please come and be going.

Bolowolowo:
Super Eagles run-up to France 98:

Jamaica 2 Nigeria 2
Germany 1 Nigeria 0
Yugoslavia 3 Nigeria 0
Netherlands 5 Nigeria 1

We finished in round of 16. At the end of the day, friendlies are carry no weigh and bear no significance.

#GWGTillIDie
#GWG4QF

the scoreline seemed to be getting worse with each passing friendly.

If it is now they will use 1+1=2 and say Spain would hammer us 7-0 or 7-1 in that First game.