₦airaland Forum

Oasis007:
My preferred Lineups

joseph1013:
It's a strategy. If he loses in the group stage, he can point to the fact that it's a team he's building for the future.

Someone appointed in August 2016 is still looking for excuses. Smh.

soetanoreoluwa:
You are really having a good feeling about this AFCON?

forgiveness:
You mean ego on the presidency or NFF part?

forgiveness:
If Abuja was better than Port Harcourt why play in Port Harcourt?

forgiveness:
NFF should gain full autonomy before disrespecting their sponsor.

forgiveness:
The match was played in Port Harcourt. How many matches was played there?

forgiveness:
The pitch was put in order but Pinnick ignored and went to Port Harcourt.

Pinnick acted on his own accord by taken the team to Aso rock after he had disrespected the office of the Presidency.

Now, the office of the president has unleashed.......to chase after him and at the same time left the federation to Pinnick and co fate since he is the boss.

“The minister of sports has directed that the Abuja National Stadium should to put in shape for the Nigeria and DR Congo friendly match. We are putting everything possible in place to ensure that the turf is ready on time. As you can see, the pitch is now lush green, safe for some few patches which we are working on.

“We are putting in every effort to ensure that the pitch is put in good condition to be to host the Eagles versus DR Congo match. The Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was also here to inspect the pitch and he is more favourable to playing here from the way he spoke,” an official told Complete Sports.

Humility017:
Goal-greedy strikers hold the key to Nigeria's Afcon success
by Colin Udoh

Nigeria have always had the good fortune of being blessed with an array of attacking talent, especially going into an Africa Cup of Nations, and this edition is no exception.
As much as a good backline has always satisfied the maxim of "defence wins championships," it has been the swashbuckling forward line which has captivated the fans and shot the Super Eagles to continental glory on three occasions.

Witness: 1980 Nations Cup-winning forwards Segun Odegbami, Adokiye Amiesmiaka, Aloysius Atuegbu and Henry Nwosu, through to 1994 winners Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Samson Siasia, Finidi George and Emmanuel Amuneke, to combined silver and bronze winners Victor Ikpeba, Osaze Odemwingie, Ike Uche, John Utaka, Yakubu Ayegbeni, and the more recent 2013 winners Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa.
Even before kicking a ball in anger at this month's edition in Egypt, Gernot Rohr's class of 2019 is sure to rank amongst the most lethal of the country's selections, at least in theory.

They have scored a combined total of 87 goals in club football this season, a remarkable return which puts them in good stead for the title. But more on that in a bit.
Odion Ighalo leads a stellar cast of players who are almost as underrated as they are deadly. At least at club level.

Then, Ahmed Musa, Paul Onuachu, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Kalu, Samuel Chukwueze, Henry Onyekuru and Moses Simon make up the names that Rohr can select from to fill the starting positions in his front three at any point in time.
It is a fearsome selection. It is tough to remember when last the Super Eagles had such a deep pool of talented and in-form attackers on their roster, if ever.
Rohr has picked a forward line that is as diverse as it has been lethal infant of goal, a group so talented they can score in a variety of ways with deadly precision. And therein lies their strength: the ability to offer different looks to different opposition depending on how they shape up.

Ighalo is the typical, old-fashioned centre forward who led the rest of the African field in goals scored during qualifying, rattling off seven goals during the series. He offers brute strength, close quarters combat, headed goals and the fox in the box tap-ins.
The 29-year-old is also the designated penalty taker, and has a 90 percent-plus success rate from the spot.

Both Onuachu and Osimhen are Ighalo backups, offering largely similar but also slightly unique skillsets. Onuachu's long-limbed frame means he can reach farther than most with his lower extremities to claim second balls, or keep them away from the opposition at close quarters.
It also means he can generate more power than most from range with minimal backlift, like he showed in scoring against Egypt, and he requires next to no elevation to reach high balls. For a man of his size, his nimble feet also comes as something of a pleasant surprise.

Osimhen, on the other hand, is a younger and quicker version of both, who can deliver venomous rockets from distance with the same instinctive ease with which he can poach inside the area.
His 20 goals this season for RSC Charleroi are the second highest scored by any of the Nigerian forwards on the squad. Onuachu leads the way with 22.

Out wide, assistant skipper Musa is the orchestrator in chief. His pace has proven troublesome for even the best teams in the world, as he showed at two World Cups. Despite his small frame, he can also be deployed with success (as his time at CSKA Moscow shows) as a central striker.
Same thing applies to Onyekuru, whose 16 goals this season for Galatasaray is evidence enough of his clinical efficiency. He is just as quick, just as strong, as the best around despite being a slightly built player.

The other three, Moses Simon, Samuel Kalu, and Samuel Chukwueze, are marked by their waspish frames, nimble feet and venomous firepower, in addition to a rapid burst of sprinters pace.
All three thrive on trickery, take-ons and hit the ball with such vicious force from range that they either score or set up tap-ins for the teammates.
Chukwueze is particularly adept at this and, as the only natural left-footer in the group, his ability to play as an inverted winger makes it extra difficult for fullbacks to stay with him when he cuts inside as he is wont to do.

This diverse combination of forwards is one that will have defenders cursing their luck. It is no surprise they have managed a combined return of 87 goals amongst them this past season.
As phenomenal a number as that might appear to be, it is still only second amongst the countries travelling to Egypt. Senegal's forward line have scored an astonishing 103 club goals between them.

And so the Super Eagles frontline will need to up their game in Egypt if Nigeria are to win the title. Their last two friendly games, against Egypt (sans Mohamed Salah) and Zimbabwe, yielded a grand total of just one goal. And they were playing at home.
In Egypt, they will need to do better. But at least no one can accuse this frontline of not knowing their way to goal. That, in itself, is cause for more than a little optimism.

Africa.espn. com

forgiveness:
NFF wants independence. Independence they have.

Why should the same NFF look up to the ministry of sports for support?

safarigirl:
FUCCCK Iheanacho. Iheanacho is not the only person in the team, football is a team sport, not an individual sport. if Iheanacho's progress is all that concerns you, tell him to go play tennis or golf, or a sport that will revolve around him.

Which one is Rohr's style will be detrimental? Was it not under Rohr that he amassed ten goals in the GWG? Suddenly, the same coach has a style that will be detrimental to him? How? Rohr, Puel, Pep, soon, it will be Rodgers who should make tactical formations for Iheanacho.

F.U.C.KKK Iheanacho

OMANBALA1:
You guys actually watch Super Falcons ...lmao. When I never ready to have a cardiac arrest.

TheGoodJoe:
“But the way Liverpool played, with the ball on the floor, and being released very fast to my feet, gave me a chance against the big guys." Suarez on how he likes his passing served.

This is why I am against Rohr’s system because it does not suit the way to get the best from Nacho.

Icon4s:
I don't think the like for Iheanacho is tribally rooted. Some of Iheanacho's strong lovers right from time are not Igbos: notefully : TheGoodJoe, Bascovanvelli, Humility, Joebie, Tbaba1234, Joseph1034 among other. So there is no basis for you to want to link the call for Iheanacho to tribalism.

And please keep that tribalism talk away.

Icon79:
To be fair, I don't disagree with anything you just said but I just don't know how and why I found the bolded quite funny.

I actually laughed out LOUD, believe it or not.


O pari

jihday:
did the coach confirm 3-5-2 or just some newspaper talk? anyway we'll know better by this weekend when we play Senegal

Mickael2:
If Keshi attempts something like this, Egunje will fill this thread by now. Who takes an injured player to a tournament when other GKs are available? Corruption

Danielnino00:
Rohr's choice of a 3-5-2 formation may not be purely for tactical reason...I suspect that he wants to include some of his favorite players in the lineup...


In defence, Balogun despite his lack of game time is still a very valuable player in the GWG..and Omeruo despite being third choice CB just had the best season of his career.. There's no way he would be benched. So its three at the back..

He will pick Kalu ahead of Aina at RWB I'm sure of that.. and Collins at LWB..
Musa and Ighalo up front...

The direct consequence of this is that we won't get to see much of Chukwueze and maybe Onyekuru too..

I hope we don't use that formation.... I don't see the need for it against African oppositions . Not even against the glorified Ivory coast and Senegal team...

edi287:
MANU GARBA: IHEANACHO DOESN’T EVEN CALL TO SAY HI

2 Comments / COLUMN, INTERVIEWS / By Solace Chukwu / June 10, 2019 / Africa Cup of Nations, Kelechi Iheanacho, Manu Garba, nigeria

There is a good argument to be made that, over the last decade, there is no more influential Nigerian coach than Manu Garba.

His name entered the mainstream consciousness in 2013 when he led the national under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, to victory at the Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Before that, he was a part of the coaching crew for the previous success at that level, as an assistant to the late Yemi Tella back in 2007.

That is not, however, an achievement that is particularly unique. Nigeria is historically the most successful country in the world at that age group, and the likes of Fanny Amun and the late Paul Hamilton have also led sides with considerable talent but questionable eligibility to success.

What sets Garba apart, besides recency bias, is the style with which his side beguiled the world, and the sheer output of his group of youngsters. A free-scoring, counter-attacking style saw the team plunder 3.25 goals per game over the course of the competition, a staggering number considering football’s fundamentally low-scoring nature.

Understandably, Garba evinces a great degree of pride at having defied one of football’s fundamental truisms, and in his discussion he gravitates time and again to that 2013 side. So what made them so special, so cohesive, so irresistible as an attacking force?

“That team had an abundance of talent, but not only was the squad talented, we had ample time to stay with the players,” he says.

“Honestly, we had the opportunity to teach them all that you need to teach a player in terms of playing and performing at the highest level. To be fit technically, tactically, physically, psychologically and mentally.

“So we knew what every player could do at any moment. In fact, even in that team, you could close your eyes, pick a starting 11, and everybody would function very well, because there was a synergy. They were used to each other. The team was just like a family.”

Embed from Getty Images

“…just like a family.”

The base though, the platform on which it was all built, was talent. The ubiquity of natural footballing ability in Nigeria is now almost anecdotal, but it is easy enough to understand when one considers the mostly unrivalled popularity that the sport enjoys in a country of over 100 million people.

That fact has not always translated perfectly though, as the recent outing of the national under-20 team at the World Cup in Poland attests. However, in terms of identifying and harnessing the talent pool, Garba stands out: both in terms of quality and quantity.

This eye for talent in its primal state, along with his emphasis on creating the right mental and physical environment for his players – for instance, he talks up the underrated benefit of a proper night’s rest both as a key part of player performance and as an excuse to restrict the use of mobile devices – is what has defined a successful coaching career to date.

A midfielder in his playing days, he captained El Kanemi Football Club for over half a decade, winning back-to-back FA Cup (then known as the Challenge Cup) titles in 1991 and 1992, and losing out to Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the semi-final of the old CAF Cup Winners Cup with the Maiduguri side. He describes himself as having been “naturally gifted with an abundance of technique”, and while it is not beyond the realm of possibility that this assessment is slightly massaged, it has certainly informed his preference when it comes to talent identification.

“What I look for in a player is technical ability: if the player is able to control the ball very well, can pass very well. Technique for me is paramount.

“After technique, a little bit of awareness of what to do in particular situations. That too is very important, because they say a good player is oriented all over, including his movement with or without the ball. Even at such young ages, I try to find such players.”

It is that technical excellence, as well as lucidity in decision-making, that so defined his 2013 team, and made them lethal on the break. Set up in a 4-3-3 shape, and with Garba encouraging expressionism and near-total positional freedom, that Nigeria side tore through opponents, scoring 15 goals over four matches against Mexico and Sweden, the competition’s next best teams.

The front three comprised, first, Isaac Success and then Liverpool loanee Taiwo Awoniyi, lightning-quick forward Musa Yahaya – Garba insists he was the best player in that entire tournament, and is “surprised” at the lack of progression of a player with potential to be “one of the best players all over the world” – and a certain Kelechi Iheanacho, whose exclusion from Nigeria’s final squad to this month’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has cause a stir.

The Leicester City forward has struggled to find his feet in the Premier League after an initial promising start at Manchester City. In the season just concluded, Iheanacho played barely over a thousand minutes in all competitions for the Foxes, scoring twice; in March, he was dropped from the national team after coach Gernot Rohr expressed concern over his focus and mentality. His inclusion in the provisional AFCON squad was widely considered a last chance to win back his place in the team.

Embed from Getty Images

Iheanacho has struggled to find his feet at Leicester

It is a long way to fall for a player who won the Golden Ball in 2013, and on whom the hopes of a nation had come to rest. It also means that, of the players who passed through Garba’s hands, only Wilfred Ndidi, Francis Uzoho and Moses Simon will be in Egypt.

While the 53-year-old admits it is his “personal joy” to see those players in the final squad, he is rueful about Iheanacho’s promise, which now appears to be ebbing away: he has been “watching from a distance” and directs some of the blame toward the player’s handlers.

“I don’t know whether it has to do with personal problems, psychological problems, or lack of adaptation with the players he plays with.

“We expect their managers to be monitoring their performances and their way of life too, which is very paramount. Even when they’re not at their clubs, even on holidays, they are supposed to be monitoring what their players are doing. But unfortunately most of such managers are just after the money.”

While he is wary of making any definitive judgements on a player who he admits “doesn’t even call to say hi” – the revelation, while devoid of rancour, is tinged with disappointment – he makes some pointed observations about African players in general, and why they fail to fulfil their potential.

“One of the greatest problems is that most African players don’t know how to manage success. The moment a poor boy from a poor family background begins to earn big money, some of them forget the career entirely that brought them into such fame. They lose focus and begin to buy expensive cars, and living expensively instead of concentrating on the game.”

This inability to manage success, in his mind, is down to a deficit in education.

Nigeria has a literacy level under 60 percent, and a lot of its most talented footballers through the years have sprouted in underprivileged areas and the inner cities. With footballers earning increasingly mouth-watering pay packages, that image of success sees a lot of them opt out of school in favour of pursuing a full-time career in football.

Garba, a graduate of the University of Maiduguri who paid his way through school by playing in and earning prize money from sub-regional football tournaments, is acutely aware of his responsibility to steer his young players toward education.

Embed from Getty Images

“Education is a great bane to African players, because most of them lack the educational background to take care of themselves personally. So, (a combination of) education, getting huge money suddenly and then failing to manage that success are some of the causes of why African players cannot make it great.

“I tell some of my players that, for us, even when we were playing, we didn’t leave school.

“Life after football is very important. Even apart from regular school, there are some of these schools that they can employ teachers to come and teach them (privately), or part-time. Earn a certificate somewhere. At least they will be able to communicate very well, to know they dos and don’ts wherever they go. This will help to enhance their life after football.”

His passion in this direction is clear, especially when he speaks of his children’s academic achievements, eyes agleam, and he remains an avid learner himself. He holds a CAF A Licence, and admits he has picked up “one or two things in brainstorming sessions with colleagues”, as well as by using coaching resources available on the internet.

While he acknowledges that talent identification is not an exact science – “Players come in different generations,” he says – his desire to find and groom the best continues to burn brightly, even as he prepares another crop for the 2019 Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.


Source - thesupersub

Taliban:
OK my brother as me no sabi argue, you win. However I doubt balo had more game tme this season than KC. I think Rohr did the right thing by inviting KC to at least according to him assess him first hand. Balos bench warming was so bad that he didn't make match day squad towards the end of the season not to talk of making any cameo appearances.

Taliban:
You know if we stop at that point, Balo won't have been invited. So both professional bench warmers were invited to be assessed during training and as you know, the training sessions were enough for one person.

Taliban:
Did you see the phrase "and" training sessions .

DrLikita12:
My understanding is that the penalty brought it to 1-1.

DrLikita12:
It was a draw 1-1

DrLikita12:
He should but there is no need to bring up something like this right now. It was over six years ago, he was a kid then and this is unprofessional from a coach.

DrLikita12:
Kano Pillars' fans invaded the pitch with dangerous objects after their game against Rangers. Rangers got an 87th minute penalty which annoyed Pillars' fans.
There are videos all over twitter

DrLikita12:
Maybe he's unaware it's 2019.
Iheanacho needs more people to encourage him not tear him down.

charlesemeka85:
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has inferred that the decision to axe Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho and Rotherham United defender Semi Ajayi was taken before yesterday's friendly before Zimbabwe.

The German revealed that he had been monitoring the performance of Nigeria players before they stepped foot in Asaba, adding that it was difficult for him to rate the players because of the rainy conditions in the friendly vs Zimbabwe.

In truth, Rohr already made it clear from the word go that he was dropping a striker and a midfielder, and Iheanacho and Ajayi fall into the category of players.

''You cannot judge from one game in these conditions. We already have our opinion before the match because we observed them throughout the season and we saw what they did and also all week in the training sessions,'' Rohr said post-match.

''We had seven training sessions to see the fitness, confidence of the players. It's not this match alone that will give us a decision on the two players we have to drop.''

As many as seven players classed as offensive players were given a run-out against Zimbabwe, but Rohr has stressed that won't be the case at the Africa Cup of Nations.

''You see that we played with seven strikers, all the strikers who deserve to play. We started with 3 strikers, the others came in.

''Normally in a match you cannot bring so many strikers. We played with a lot of offensive players.

''We have Chukwueze, Kalu, Henry, Osimhen, Paul, Simon also. The choice of dropping two players is really difficult for me,'' the former Bayern Munich defender concluded.

iSlayer:
Senegal equalize at the death. AET 3 - 3


Penalties.

Meliforme:
It will be difficult for our darling Super Eagles to beat any opposition on that Asaba pitch. We rely so much on wing-play. The pitch layout does not allow good wing-play. Our widermen needs width to draw out the opposition defense. Any opposition coming to defend against us with good zonal marking strategy can keep a clean slate, as they do not need to do much to clip our forays. To defeat any team on that pitch, we should retain the ball in our own half to draw them foward and then release long balls to pacy fowards with good finishing skills.