₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Nothing official from Arsenal yet but.....


Nigeria Receive Good News On Russia-Bound Iwobi: Passed Fit After Injury Scare


https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/football_pics/38537Alex.jpg

Super Eagles winger Alex Iwobi is in line to play some part in Arsenal's crucial semifinals second leg match of the Europa League Thursday night against Atletico Madrid.

Allnigeriasoccer.com reliably gathered from a source close to the Nigerian international that a fitness test was conducted on Monday to ascertain whether the nimble footed forward can play at the Wanda Metropolitano following the hamstring-related problem he picked up in Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

"Alex will definitely play against Atletico Madrid. He was passed fit on Monday after passing a fitness test," the source who pleads anonymity exclusively told allnigeriasoccer.com .
"He (Alex) is back in training with the rest of the team and will travel with the team to Spain.
"The players know the importance of Thursday's game against Atletico. Its virtually the biggest game for Arsenal so far this season and Alex wants to be part of this big game.''

Iwobi picked up the hamstring injury whilst attempting to control the ball in flight after a long pass by Calum Chambers.


**Izuchukwu Okosi

Source: http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=27562

Russia 2018 WC Countdown: 44 days 4 hours 57 mins to go

Hallelujah!

MetalJigsaw:
A very good number 9. The question now is can he keep it up or better still improve?

Simi may likely gate crash the 35 man list. The team is generally in shortage of natural number 9s. And so who knows......?

MetalJigsaw:
I think Shehu's versatility is a good omen for Aina's chances in the RB position.

Rohr is not gonna move Shehu to the DM position because of Aina. The DM is already crowded.

Shehu has been solid and pretty consistent at RB and we need him to carry that into the WC.

MetalJigsaw:
Overhyped player.

But what could be the reason behind Ekong's relegation to the bench? It's baffling and surprising.

I am not bothered much about Ekong going to the bench cos i know his abilities. This is not the first time this will be happening to him. He delivers in the national colours.

Patapa his agent will work out a transfer for him.

But I cannot say same for Mikel Agu.

mbjane:
4 months but he will be fit for the World Cup seems the mundial is September

You will be watching your own World Cup 3months after we have watched ours.

asha80:
reduced how ?was he ok?does he think it is done by fiat?

Loz.. May be he doesn't understand the essence of Time Zoning.

Do you know that Russia has 11 different times Zones?

Russia's president in 2009, Dmitry Medvedev proposed that the time zones be reduced.

However all the games from all 12 venues would be played in regions that fall within only 4 time zones.That is GMT+2 to GMT+5

TheSuperNerd:
Coach Of Bologna Wax Lyrical Over Ex Nigeria U17 Star Kingsley Michael

https://i0.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_4464-1.jpg

The form of former Nigeria U17 midfielder Kingsley Dogo Michael has earned him praises from the coach of the Primavera team of Italian Serie A side Bologna.
Speaking after watching the 18 year old bag an assist and a goal for the Primavera in their 3-3 draw against Udinese, coach Emanuele Troise said Michael has grown way quicker than they expected.

”We never doubted him when he came to train with us before he turned 18 but the speed at which he has settled down has surprised most of us. He is progressing nicely “, the coach said.

Already the Nigerian has made the bench of the first team in two Serie A games this season, and it is believed that he will get a chance to impress coaches of the first team during pre season training ahead of the start of next season.
A member of the all conquering Nigerian U17 team of 2016, he has so far played in 23 Primavera games with two goals and two assists to his name in his debut season at the club.

He is expected to be named in the list of foreign based players of the Nigerian U20 team for their upcoming African Youth Championship Qualifiers against Guinea Bissau next month.

**Daniel Martins


Source: http://owngoalnigeria.com/2018/04/30/coach-of-bologna-wax-lyrical-over-ex-nigeria-u17-star-kingsley-michael/

Kingsley Michael is one of those players from Amuneke's U17 who's development has been progressive. Just still 18, he is a player to look out for in the next U20 class.

TheSuperNerd:
Success didn't start that game and you know it. What is Saviour Godwin doing there? What was Awoniyi doing ahead of Success even? Forget about preference... Success was more lethal as at 2015 and was bound to bring an all-round dynamism to that no.9 role. Iheanacho and Yahaya behind Success in a 4-3-3 will wreck defences... that was our best but Manu thought otherwise and chose Saviour Godwin over Yahaya and Even brought in a Sokari... average talents with no sense of adventure in them. What did they do in all their so called support to midfield? what? How many chances did they even create against Germany? We had the weapons on the bench and Manu was doing rubbish from the sidelines because of beef with his players. What childish nonsense.


Your explanation for Chidi Nwakali coming in no hold strong ground for hia ooo because as at 80mins in a knock out round game, going for broke was the only option any true coach who wants to win will do. Manu even had one sub left to use but didn't wanna use it..... Imagine he only used two subs... and you want me to believe he did his best? and He had tactical reasons for every decision made... no way Chief... Manu was just being an ass in that tournament and it cost us dearly.

Why bring in a midfielder in the 80th when he could have been brought in earlier in that make or mar second half.. and why be so conservative on subs? This man had one sub left and didn't use it for the team's good... his ego and pride just got in the way and he failed..... so woefully.

Well, if you recall I was one of those that really criticised him for choosing to start Awoniyi ahead of Success tournament long. I recall that was about the first issue that caused a clash between me and one big fan Of Awoniyi here. Loz...

Against Brazil, Manu's overly attack minded set up cost us. Subsequently, it downed on him that we were not gonna cruise through just like at the last U17 and so he went conservative. He then preferred midfielders that could also support the defense. That is the tactical approach he chosed.

On Saviour Godwin over Yahaya, remember Godwin scored a brace in the first group game he started. Saviour and Sokari contributed more than attacking to the team. Yahaya and Iheanacho really exposed the defense in that first game but Godwin and Sokari provided more cover.

I perfectly understand the approach you have preferred but I have taken time to explain Manu's choices.

Selections like these happen and you will ask if the coach has gone nuts. For instance do you know Westerhof benched Okocha and Amuneke until the final of the 1994 AFCON? Amuneke started in the final and scored a brace. Okocha was obviously a bigger talent than Thompson Oliha but why did Westerhof always play Oliha ahead of Okocha even at the World cup? Tactics my brother. The coach has his tactics and also knows which players he needed to execute it.

TheSuperNerd:
Removing or Leaving Ezeh's name does not reduce the strength of my point. Garba had a super bench brimming with the very best creative and attacking talents and he messed it all up. Period.

And I have read all you wrote to Sir Tbaba. It is you being Manu's Attorney. You are just explaining things supposedly from Manu's eyes but I can also tell you that It is not all that so. Coz it is not the whole story of that 2015 debacle. Manu's reasons were not justifiable even tactically. All those are just cheap reasons to hide under to cover up the main issue. Manu and Ugbade had something personal against Nacho and Yahaya. It was so clear even in Ugbade's post-tournament comments. Lessons have been learnt but the truth must be told... Manu played a fast one on Nigerians by benching his very best. Period.

When Awoniyi and Success were already on the pitch. you still want to flood the team with Iheanacho, Simon and Yahaya?) Players that do not do enough to support the midfield. What happens to the midfield?

I have already explained why Chidi Nwakali was brought in.

Joebie:
Shehu ahead of Agu as DM in Bursaspor. Interesting. Do we still need Agu, considering Shehu’s versatility?

Mikel Agu, another hyped player.

TheSuperNerd:
Chief, you are only doing your best to make your stand look like Manu Garba's but I can assure you that it is not. At least not for the most parts. Manu and Ugbade had something against Nacho and Yahaya. Whatever it is, the two players involved wisely didn't want to talk about it. They moved on with their careers and decided to let the drama of that 2015 debacle die down. We all saw the players' reactions on the bench in that Germany game... Nacho, Yahaya, Ezeh, so much attacking quality on that bench and Garba chose to bring in C.Nwakali... Abeg... Chief.. you don try serving as Manu's attorney but truth is that substituation of Nwakali going into the game in the 80th min just sealed it. Manu's decision to keep Nacho and Yahaya benched was beyond tactical.. it was personal. That is the bloody truth.


And on North Korea... Chief.. hapu that talk... we both saw how weak N.Korea was even from their very first game against Hungary. They were bloody weak and could be torn apart by any decently average Nigerian U-20 side...they could not expose the frailties in our so called stabilised midfield... Our midfield did not stabilise.. we just met teams that could not exploit how bereft of ideas that midfield was...

Germany came in and exposed it and Germany was not even spectacular sef.

It is the height of Stupidity and Wickedness on the coach's part to bench his finest attacking players who could push for a goal when we badly needed it to stay in the competition. But it seemed Manu made his choice to crash out by sending Nwakali C. in on 80 mins when we needed goals and not a DMF/CM.. imagine! This is youth football afterall... and being adventurous is part of the game and one of the absolute beauties of youth soccer. When one moment of adventurous brilliance can produce magic out of nothing... We had that on the bench in Yahaya, Nacho and even Moses Simon and Ezeh... and Manu looked the other way proudly .... that is f**king shameful Chief... f**king shameful.

Firstly remove Chidera Ezeh from that your list. That boy was no where near a threat at that U20 tourney.

I believe I have explained the tactical aspect of that game from Manu's eye view to tbaba. No need to repeat things.

chrisooblog:
my favorite anthems apart Nigeria's own are German, French, Russian and South African

Wow, so you have taste for Anthems like I do,? I love all those 4 you mentioned. But don't you like the American anthem too?

Lets go back memory lane:
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast, 1994 AFCON Semis.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY4q43juBbY

WELCOME TO RUSSIA!

FIFA's official Video for Russia 2018:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTYgpGdvFa4

As we do a count down to Russia 2010 kick-off, I have decided to share some things as part of my contributions to The sights and sounds of Russia:

Starting with the national Anthem of Russia. That happens to be about what I like most about the country . It happens to be my 3rd favorite national anthem. (1st Nigeria, 2nd USA).
With English lyrics.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOAtz8xWM0w

Petrobros:
Watch as someone will cease this opportunity to start shouting "Ajagun and Aluko" up and dan

Hahaha, I would want to believe it is not that serious.

Let's wait for the medical report to be out.

A no know which kain injuries be this?

Oya where are the prayer warriors of the house?

tbaba1234:
Any news on Ndidi scan results?

Iwobi's Hamstring injury too

MetalJigsaw:
Sorry for who? Oga I'm not one of them.

So who are the "them".

MetalJigsaw:
Remember some people wanted him to be invited few month ago.

Sorry, the ship has sailed.

MetalJigsaw:
Where is Bathelomeo Ogbeche? Is he injured?

Does anyone see him making our 30- man list? :-XWhere is Bathelomeo Ogbeche? Is he injured?

Does anyone see him making our 30- man list?

Which 30-man list?

You mean a List of spectators to Russia?

tbaba1234:
If he introduced Nwakali in the 45th or even 60th minute, I would understand..

Nwakali was brought on in the 80th minute... 10 minutes to go... You have to go for broke... No need for cute passes in the middle , go direct..

You can not leave Iheanacho, Yahaya, and Simon Moses on the bench and you are struggling to score??

Why wait till 80 minute to change the midfield??

Simon Moses Iheanacho and Yahaya could have provided a moment of magic for you to score even against the run of play.

His selections and choice of substitutes were just too poor..

I am not Manu. Neither did I work with his crew.

The coach knows his players better than the fans.

The choice of Simon, Iheanacho, and Yahaya as the best players is just our opinion.

In as much as I criticised Manu and the team all through that tournament, against all odds here, I also saw things from his own eye view.

tbaba1234:
You are going out of a tournament in 10 minutes and you do not go for broke?? If you wanted to improve your midfield, do it after half time.. In 10 minutes, what do you want Nwakali to do? Before he gets into the game, the match is over.

Whether 1:0 or 3:0, you are going home... With 10 minutes to go, forget midfield, get more men in the attack and launch the ball to them.

At 1:0 you are still in the game.

When you are chasing a game you still need to make substitutions based on the balance of play.

The Germans were still bossing things especially in the midfield and you want to deplete the midfield to 3 when the 5man midfield could not cope. Manu reduced the midfielders to 4 when he introduced Success and probably needed a midfielder that could provide the needed link with the strikers which was why Nwakali was brought in. Because Awoniyi was cut of supplies due to the supremacy of the German midfield.

Now, when you are chasing a game and you are totally in control dominating. It is easier for you to even throw in 4 strikers cos your opponents are just defending and not possing any goals threat. But a situation where your opponent are 1:0 up and yet are playing to get a second goal refusing to go defensive. But meanwhile it is still 1:0 and you still have a chance in the game. He probably thought the introduction of Success and Nwakali could help things at least an equalizer while still trying to maintain a balance in the middle.

Modified:

cc: TheSuperNerd.

TheSuperNerd:
2 central midfielders with one of them being Ifeanyi Ifeanyi was always gonna cost us because he was so undisciplined on the day. Brazil didn't play with four natural midfielders... They played a 4-3-3 I think... With Gabriel Jesus coming from the wings into central areas. They also had a big no.9 that destroyed us scoring twice.
Manu is the one who got it wrong. Why not fix it with Nacho and Yahaya and apply it in the next game against weak North Korea? Abi North Korea for beat us too abi with Nacho and Yahaya in the team? That is bollocks! Manu failed us.

This is youth football. You don't rule out any team ahead. You don't just assume ahead that N. Korea is weakest team in the group.

Iheanacho and Yahaya played themselves out of position, against the Coache's tactics. He put them on the bench in the next game and the midfield became solid and we went without conceding for 2 games and scoring 6 goals.

We were to face a highly fancied German side in a game neutral pundits put us as the underdog. My brother, the best thing for the coach was to remain compact in the middle. He fell back on the midfield with which he won his last two games.

Yes I will agree that Manu failed us because his team failed and he made the players' selections.

tbaba1234:
He introduced Nwakali in the 80th minute.. Only 10 minutes to go.. Is that not the time to go for broke?

Yahaya, Iheanacho and Simon Moses could have produced moments of magic to draw us level.

At that point in the game, the Germans were still the more dominant.

You do not deplete your midfield further when you are not topping in terms of possession. In fact your attackers will not see the balls again.
Nwakali was probably introduced to send the long balls to Awoniyi and Success.

TheSuperNerd:
Actually it was reported that we indeed went for a 4-2-4 against Brazil in the first game. We knew we were playing 4-2-4. It is Manu's central midfield choices that cost him more in that first game. He blamed the wrong players and he also didn't even attempt to fix anything. He just dumped them and brought in players that gave us a false sense of hope. Had it been Germany was our next game after Brazil, that team Manu switched to would have been trashed big time. Because they would not even have the time to settle in.


And against Germany playing a 4-3-3 with Nacho and Yahaya would have produced some goals for us. Germany were not spectacular. Mali even beat them. Manu's decisions weakened a team lacking in experience. He killed us by dumping our best on the bench.

I am glad you acknowledge the team played a 4-2-4 against Brazil.. What kind of a formation is that?

The truth is Manu intended to set up a 4-4-2 formation but Yahaya and Iheanacho rather than to play to also support the midfield they were majorly attack minded.
They didn't play according to Manu's plans and that was it.

2 Nigerian midfielders versus 4 Brazilian midfielders what were you expecting.

tbaba1234:
Iheanacho was left on the bench.. Yahaya was left on the bench... Simon Moses was left on the bench, Ezeh was left on the bench..

His two subs was Isaac Success after the first half and Chidi Nwakali around 80th minute.

Can you imagine that?

You needed a goal and left all that attacking talent on the bench for 90 minutes..

That was terribly poor by the coach.

Manu started with a 4-5-1.

He later introduced Success thereby switching over to a 4-4-2. Chidi Nwakali's introduction was what I cannot really explain much. But a player like Chidera Ezeh would have offered nothing in that game.

The Germans were still having the upper hand in terms of ball possession which was why he was cautious about depleting the Formation to a 4-3-3 . He probably felt he needed to win more balls in the middle which was why he introduced Nwakali.

TheSuperNerd:
Chief... The midfield did not stabilise... We just met weaker opponents in North Korea and Hungary to give us a false sense of stability. There was no stability. Sokari and Saviour were average talents using weaker opponents to shine. When they met a more decent German team what the f**k did they even offer? Absolutely nothing! That is the truth.

Had Nacho and Yahaya played against North Korea, you would have witnessed goals rain beyond 4-0. But I said I don't wanna do "what if's" but I make an exception to this one for thevsake of making a point. North Korea were that weak.

Ifeanyi Ifenayi was doing little or nothing in that DMF role and that cost us dearly too. So how is that Nacho's and Yahaya's fault. Many could have easily instructed the lads to stay compact when off the ball and then go all guns blazing when with the ball... But he didn't even give Nacho and Yahaya another chance... He just dumped them to the bench. Like I said Manu is yet to tell us the truth of what happened in New Zealand... because his reasons are the darndest things ever.

Iheanacho And Yahaya were not really midfielders. They were more of forwards. They didn't do enough to support the midfield. Starting both of them is like playing a 4-2-4 or 4-3-3.

Manu felt he needed to play a 4-5-1 formation. Awoniyi was his preferred CF. So he needed to stuff the midfield up with players who were natural midfielders. If you bring in Yahaya and Iheanacho, due to their attack-mindedness you will be playing a 4-3-3. And more so if you play Success and Awoniyi together it means you are playing 4-2-4 just like in the Brazil game.

The Germans seemed to have set up a 4-5-1 formation. Playing a 4-3-3 or 4-2-4 would have been suicidal against German sides that are well known for playing a compact midfield set up.

I understand you and Tbaba's point of view but I am also giving you Manu's point of view.

tbaba1234:
That does not explain why he left so much attacking talent on the bench when we were chasing a goal..

He was too conservative in my opinion... You can get away with playing average players against Hungary and North Korea but when we faced Germany, you needed your best players on the pitch.. We did not have that.

So when the Attacking talents were introduced what difference did it make in the course of the game.

Manu thought his team was invincible.He thought he was favorite to win the WYC but Brazil brought then down to Earth. You are playing a 4-4-2 with Iheanacho not one of the two forwards. Iheanacho is naturally an attacking player and simply slipped into attacking positions leaving gaps in the midfield.

He then switched over to 4-5-1 even sending Success to the bench. He got two excellent results with it and you expect him to swing back to that formation against Brazil that made him concede 4 goals?

TheSuperNerd:
That was a Brazilian team having Gabriel Jesus and was easily the best team at that WC. They just fell unluckily to a stoic Serbia side in the final. Germany were not even close to half of Brazil's quality.

And on Manu's words... Those reasons are flimsy. They are not true. Manu his under that reason to shy away from the real reason he benched them. Even after we crashed out, his assistant was taunting Nacho saying Nigerians should stop blaming the crew for benching Nacho and co... That if Nacho was such a super star, he should be benching Aguero naa at City and starting games.... When this was a Nacho only beginning his professional life at City. Imagine the malice. The truth of what happened is still untold... But Manu and Ugbade had other funny reasons other than "not doing enough to support the midfield"

Bros, the problem with Iheanacho against Brazil was same thing Pep pointed out. That is Iheanacho's involvement in overall play.

He was more focused on scoring to justify his rating as a top goals scorer thereby leaving gaps behind him.

Remember both Success and Awoniyi both started that Brazil game. Manu set up a 4-4-2 formation. Meaning Yahaya and Iheanacho were midfielders in that game. Were-as what we saw was a 4-2-4 formation. Iheanacho and Yahaya were supposed to support the midfield but they didn't. Manu deployed Sokari and Saviour in the AM positions and the midfield stabilized. I understand your point about the strength of Brazil as an opposition. But in a situation where a set of players give you two straight wins without conceding after conceding 4 in the first game what do you expect?

tbaba1234:
North Korea were the weeping boys of the group.. They were beaten 5-1 by Hungary and 3-0 by Brazil...

In the Hungary game, we were not very good for large spells.

Bulbwa and Savior were average offensively, they fell back to defend which appeared to be what Manu was looking for but we lacked penetration and we paid for it when we faced a quality side.

Penetration that we had and scored 2 goals but conceded 4?

In case you have forgotten, Manu pointed it out that Iheanacho and Yahaya did not do enough to support the midfield which was why they were dropped.

Manu is a coach I respect a lot for his attacking setup. And so he taking such measures is something we need to look at critically. Haha, ask any coach, you don't change a winning team.

My only complain tournament long was his preference for Awoniyi over Success.

tbaba1234:
That was still our best game in the tournament especially in the first half... Manu just needed to make sure the players understood what he wanted from them.

In the other games, we were grinding out results without playing particularly well..

What are you talking about?

We won the other group games very comfortably. 4-0 against N. Korea and 2-0 against Hungary.

Iheanacho and Yahaya did not start those games. The defence and midfield were so very compact in those games.

Yahaya and Iheanacho were forward thinking players and never did enough to support the midfield which was largely why we conceded 4goals against Brazil.

Godwin Saviour, Benerd Bulbwa and Kingsley Sokari did excellently well in the midfield in those other 2 games. So why bench them against Germany?