AndSunGorilla: Someone had insinuated that the the Libyans were not cleared to land at Uyo directly because Uyo is not an international Airport hence the reason they had to land at PH. Is there any truth to that?
can’t be true, they aren’t the first team to come to Uyo for a game
TheSuperNerd: Olisa Ndah ruled out of action for the rest of the year due to a feature of his tibia bone in his leg. His club, Orlando Pirates has announced.
Sudan coach James Kwesi Appiah has praised his Nigerian analyst Muhammad Bashiru Saidu after a 2-0 win over Ghana in a 2025 AFCON qualifier in Libya.
Sudan held the Black Stars in Ghana before they won in Libya to climb to second place in Group F with seven points from four matches.
Angola have already qualified for next year’s AFCON with 12 points, Ghana are third with two points, while Niger are bottom on a point.
Appiah has since praised Saidu: “His expertise and analysis were instrumental in our success against Ghana. He brought a fresh perspective to our game plan, and his recommendations paid off.”
Appiah, a veteran coach with extensive experience in African football, said Saidu’s credentials and exceptional abilities will revolutionize the sport on the continent.
“Muhammad has the potential to change African football,” he asserted.
“His understanding of the game, combined with his UEFA CTSM knowledge, makes him an invaluable asset to any team.”
Muhammad Bashiru Saidu is poised to become the first Nigerian to complete the prestigious UEFA Tactical and Strategic Management Programme.
[quote author=TheSuperNerd post=132424946]CNN too. Meaning as e touch UK, e enter American mainstream media space as well. The Libyans didn't calculate this well at all.
chrisooblog: The loss to Italy in 1982 seriously affected their football mentality. The pain from that loss forced them to adopt a pragmatic style that has diminished the beauty and ethos of Samba football.
Yes they won the 1994 and 2002 WC but their performances in both tournaments save for a few flashes was so boring that we hardly remember them other than the fact that they won it.
I think AE needs to reach out to the Monaco and Sparta Prague kid Olatunji Victor. Those guys have hunger and drive like oshimen
We also need to integrate Kelvin Akpoguma and some of the German guys Chima and Co into the team to see what they have to offer at least if we qualify on Tuesday with out last 2 match remaining we can use it to see what they have to offer
Ilenikhena maybe just to cap tie him, Victor Olatunji doesn’t even start for his club in Czech
Meliforme: I did not mention Ejuke, you brought him into the conversation.
I am not the only one who reckons Ejuke's technique to be above average. A lot of independent analysts are professing it.
Football technique is not all about dribbling, as dribbling is not the only skill in football. We don't currently have a winger who is better at passing the ball compared to Ejuke, that is why he is labelled very technical. Our wingers are not that excellent at the game of passes, especially when it comes to using long balls to switch plays.
TheSuperNerd: You misunderstood the second point. It is not an overcommitment of resources to one side. It is a strategic placing of your lads starting from the 2 lads closest to the ball position when in possession. The closest to the ball are the two lads forming a triangle with the winger holding the ball and seeking to create gaps through interplays with teammates and movements.
The rest defence is set easy as the opponents have all 10men behind the ball.
And I don't know how you are seeing the point on outside shots but it is a tool created only by the usage of Deception as explained and the offensive overloads and switch plays tactics.
You use outside shots or in the box or top of the box shots when the space or half space is created to hit them. See Iheanacho's example vs Low block Tanzania... in 2016!!
Kog45: Haha🙂….Boniface had it so good with Leverkusen cuz of club tactics but In National Team it’s a different ball game,now he has been a starter in the last three matches with no much inputs but let’s see what will happen in Tripoli
Boniface will be fine, he probably need to go to a tournament with Nigeria, the players will train more and also spend more time together that will allow both his team mates and the coach to understand him better
TheSuperNerd: TheGoodJoe is actually right. His video examples may not be the best but he is spot on. Stretching a low block defence and creating offensive overloads in between their defensive lines would eventually distort the low block shape and create space for us in the free 8 zones offensively giving room for cutbacks into that area leading to precise outside or in the box shots or giving room for another final ball to locate a free teammate in the midst of all the chaos.
Bringing in a dribbler as we saw with Chukwueze is good but it was against a tired inexperienced Libyan defence. If it was against another die hard north African defence like the Moroccans or Egyptians, Chuks' or Ejuke's dribbles won't be fruitful in the end in many circumstances. Dribbling is risky and you are more likely to lose the ball dribbling into a crowded zone than holding on to it. Dribbling is nice but it is not the sure fire way to break down low blocks unless the dribbler is supported by offensive overloads which takes some of the markers from his way.
And getting plenty corners is not a guarantee again. The low block side would just crowd their box with all 11 players + their GK. In that instance, it is the Iheanacho scenario vs Tanzania in Rohr's first game that will crack such a defence. Lethally precise outside shots.
So TheGoodJoe's analysis is right.
In a nutshell...
Against low blocks... ▶️Stretch them with 2-way wingers (wingers who can switch between going on the outside and on the inside)
▶️Create Offensive Overloads. Against 10men camped in their defensive half, move in at least 7-8 of your lads in and around their defensive lines but closer to where the ball is to create passing options and spaces that confuses the low block structure.
▶️Use Deception. This means fool them into expecting crosses while using cutbacks. And when they feel they have figured out the cutback trick, deceive them again by using actual timed crosses aimed at a zone with at least 3 or 2 of your lads.
▶️In the Free 8 zone where the receiving player for the cutbacks is, he is licenced to use his ball striking to damage the opponent and draw blood with goals.
▶️Use Switch plays tactics too. Lure the opponent to one side and quickly switch play to the other wing and quickly hit them using the space created before the low block shifts to that wing can recover shape.
▶️When using Dribblers, have 2 passing options available to them in a triangle format so that the dribbler can use footwork to execute sweet 1-2s and open up spaces in behind the low blocks.
▶️Don't double pivot when playing against a low block (e.g. using Ndidi and Onyeka vs Libya's lowblock was counter productive). We need only one #6 and he must be highly pass-progressive.
Chikena.
yes cutbacks I agree but just playing shots from outside the box? Omo una fit play 50 shots without success, we could have brought on Iheanacho yesterday with the aim of playing those shots and he may not even hit the target, long rangers/curlers is an art very few players have mastered. Your second point is quite risky tho, overload on one side and you loose possession to them before you blink you could have a Torres bearing down on your Valdes very quickly and the last point is a no brainier, it’s why I thought Onyeka should have been removed by halftime.
TheGoodJoe: The bolded does not add up. I am talking of how to beat a low block. That is when the team is camped deep defending.
I am a City fan and I watch it week in week out. We have Grealish, Savinho, Doku, Bernardo Silva and sometimes Foden.
I have watched tricky players run at Low blocks repeatedly. I watched The last two games of Bayern and even the Leverkusen game was against a low block. I am not saying running at them does not work but I am about the best approach to break it.
Long range curlers is where the space lies. If we go with time - space theory, you will see that running at the wall is not the best approach.
How do you best beat the set up below? The space in front of them is where players can get more time and space on the ball.
most low blocks put 10 men behind the ball with no plan to score, they just want to kick the ball away unlike a defensive team that will put at least two men in a position where they can quickly counter if the ball falls to them. Shots and curlers from outside are quite tough when you have 10 players inside the box willing to throw themselves at the ball, in most cases players will end up playing the ball too high because they always have to rush their actions.
minfelix: asin eeehnn this is just ittt🔥🔥…an ultra-defensive team doesn’t need those shot narratives OGA!! get a pacy winger/dribblers and also a tricky midfielder that can split you in nano seconds with mad passes..its either they hack a player down in box18 or clash on each other for an owngoal… Those kinda stubborn defense needs; 1.Moses simon energetic+skillful run 2. Chukwueze tricky runs that can create space for banana curve/R-2 kinda goals 3. Ejuke’s foolery on a one on one with defender These guys has to be consistent and not giving up, cos las las them go chop one or two defenders. Finally an ever ready striker to pounce on the effort of these wingers
you are very correct, even Mancity against Arsenal, it was when Grealish came in and started running at the deference that Mancity started looking dangerous and they eventually got their goal from a corner kick caused by his dangerous run.
TheGoodJoe: I wonder where you drew the idea of aimless. Aim is actually key. Watch Lamine Yamal's goal against France in the video below. That is the solution for dealing with low blocks.
When a team plays this way, it forces the wall to break and come out to stop the shots. Thus, creating room for the forwards to exploit.
Tiki taka play is very much key in this. Using the widths to drive the low block deeper, and spreading the wall. Switching play and dropping the ball to the free 8 zone for curling shots.
I think you are confusing a defensive team with a team on low block, a defensive team doesn’t put 10 men behind the ball but a low block does. So this your theory of playing plenty shots may not hold, IMO the best way to break a low block is what we eventually did to succeed, get a pacy dribbler to run at them, they’ll panic and either cause PK or you start getting plenty corners
Amedino99: im not ready is not what a 26 year old uncapped player is supposed to be saying. clear rejection. if he rejected us in fulham, he wont accept us in chelsea
sometimes we harshly criticize the NFF , if Omorodion didn’t tell the world we tried inviting him I’m sure many people will be calling the NFF names for not going after him, this George that some people are insulting the NFF and other forum members who knows maybe he already turned us down because the French have already started wooing him
junnyjake: I'm not happy with the list, but, I wouldn't use that as an opportunity to blast local coaches.
We saw how Rohr made Shehu feel like that RB Position was his birthright.
This man kept on inviting Uche Agbo for years without giving him a second of action. He was inseparable with Mikel Agu.
if he was a local coach I’m sure they’ll say he’s collecting bribe, Rohr was regularly dropping Aina for Shehu, even though we had Osimhen and Taiwo he was almost on his knees begging Ighalo who was playing in Saudi to come back
Sports › Re: "The Super Eagles Thread: The Road To AFCON 2027, 2028 And 2030 World Cup by jihday(m): 1:22pm On Oct 17, 2024
Joe don deteriorate sha. Which kain thing I just read