₦airaland Forum

FLASH BACK:

Take a look at Sunday Oliseh's second match in charge (a friendly against D.R. Congo) of the Super Eagles. What does the starting line up tell you? See the picture below.

Also consider, Olusegun "Mathematical 7" Odegbami made these observations in "his humble advise to the team", after Nigeria's boring draw away to Tanzania, which was Oliseh's first match in charge of SE. (How true is it today?):

1. I think Mikel still has a few more years of service he could render the Eagles. The only proviso are that he must relinquish his captaincy and be ready to play strictly as a defensive midfield player, never venturing upfront for anything, providing additional cover for the shaky central defense Nigeria has been parading for some time now, and keep floating those immaculate passes of his to running forwards on both wings. No more, no less.

2. Onazi is still critically needed in the midfield with his endless running, tackling and shooting from a distance. His temperament must be kept in check.

3. Joel Obi, when healthy and fit, has the experience and skills from the Italian league to play as the creative attacking midfielder in the Super Eagles.

4. Victor Moses is still definitely needed in Nigeria’s line-up. His dribbling skills, acceleration and inventiveness for now are still unmatched. His presence in the team will help boost the confidence of the new comers and make them want to also freely express their individualism, a trait on which successful Nigerian players thrive.

5. Add to these tested warriors some of the emerging talents from the junior teams, and a new team would start to emerge. I am still not so sure what to make of Iheanacho’s ability, but Awoniyi is surely ready for a place in the front line of the Super Eagles.

Citation: Mathematical7.com
Odegbami, Olusegun. “The baptism of Nigeria’s new coach: Sunday Oliseh.”
http://mathematical7.com/m7/?p=528, 13 Sept. 2015

Aaron didn't get a look in until the Cameroon double header. Yes, someone must have suggested Samuel based on the physical aspect of his game when Rohr was looking for such. Don't forget that's how Nwakaeme also may have gotten into the picture. But Rohr still put Samuel on standby then.
Recommendations are legal. But the coach's decision is final. Rohr has ran the rule over Kayode. Kayode may have been left out for any of these reasons:
1. Rohr is not convinced enough with Kayode
2. He already sees Kayode's attributes in some of the players we already have
3. Rohr is still giving Kayode time to hit the ground running at his new club (Girona).
4. He doesn't feel Kayode is needed for Zambia

My brother there is no foul play. I can list a number of players that initially got a call up but were never recalled. Do you suspect foul play in their case as well?

Kog45:
OK u don't believe that,OK tell me why Aron Samuel was in d standby instead of Kayode or Oyekwuru?can u explain this,honestly only coach can tell u d reasons for d invitation.

That's how we do when we meet big countries na..

So that says a lot that they hold us in high regard.

Danielnino00:
The Zambians have gone all spiritual on this one

you are somehow oh. Entertainment first?!

somehow:
Technicality and beautiful football is low in the EPL unlike other major leagues and I rate these 2 higher than strength and speed. Football is entertainment first before "war".

I agree with you sir to a large extent.. But I think the most challenging league for an attacker is the Italian league.
Neymar will fare better in the EPL than in Serie A

komekn:
Really depends on what you mean by quality?

The EPL is not the most technically superior league in Europe, but with regards to speed and physical intensity it is numero 1 indisputable.

Not every top player cam cope with the EPL I actually think Neymar would not find it easy in the EPL.

Yes, to get Rohr's attention I think Rohr will firstly need to identify that he needs reinforcement in midfield. Next, and should Joel Obi be injury-free, fit and in form at that time, he will easily get a look in. Rohr knows the quality of the Italian league.

Kog45:
Joel Obi no doubt a very good player that i wish to partner Mikel in d midfield but something is glaring,for him to make d team is 40%,first is injury records,two he is not part of d team yet.

If he can shake off his injury issue then i can say getting to d team is half done,all he need to do is get Rohr attention for invitation,come to camp and prove himself.

Lawal had not been in SE for a about a couple years prior to the Sudan double header. In the first leg, he came in for Ambrose in the 75th minute. Elderson clocked 90 minutes in that game.

In the second leg, Ambrose was not listed. Elderson was dropped to the bench -- Oshaniwa took his place.

Modified
Hence, Lawal never pushed Onazi to the RB position, but for lack of options at RB

Kog45:
No, Ambrose and Echiejele were dropped to d bench coz of series of poor performance but d Sudan match nailed it.

Agu is more of a defensive midfielder.

Joel Obi is fast and good with both feet. In fact it would be a delight to have both himself and Mikel because they can easily switch roles as AM and CM. Mikel can offer more defensively when needed, or when we need to hold on to the ball. Mikel can also go forward of course. Both players will have the freedom to roam provided there is a dependable DMF.

I think the battle is actually between Agu, Ndidi and Onazi, speaking defensively. Ndidi is also very good going forward, but he is young. He will get even better. Ndidi and Joel Obi no be mate, offensively.

Lastly, size will not be a big factor at the world cup. Ogu is not mobile enough.

somehow:
I think if Agu is to make the world cup squad, I would rather we go with Joel Obi than him, Mikel Agu isn't really a player you can hand over the SE midfield to judging by the 2 games I have seen him play for us of recent.

He's not really that good with reading the game unlike Joel Obi. Another point is that we have too many right legged players in the midfield and with Obi, a left legged player is achieved.

There was a particular shot Mikel Obi should have taken in our recent match if he was a left legged player but couldn't do that, it was a clear goal scoring opportunity I think in Uyo.

Lastly, Joel Obi can hold the ball and boss the midfield better than Mikel Agu.

I say we drop Agu and pick Obi (they play same position).

For size, I want Ogu to make the team incase we need to play against big body players which means Onazi would have to sit on the bench.

Midfielders I want to see in Russia

Mikel Obi, Joel Obi
Onazi, Ogu
Ndidi, Etebo

Alex iwobi either as an attacker or a midfielder.

Okay actually Ambrose was red carded in the AFCON opener (Burkina Faso). So Onazi played as RB in the next match, when we drew with Zambia at the group stage.

But i've just checked. I know the period you are talking about. It was the AFCON qualifiers in October 2014. It was a double header against Sudan. Ambrose got yellow carded in the first match. I don't know the reason for his absence in the next. But that was when Onazi took Ambrose spot at RB, and Lawal played Onazi's role. Hence a similar situation -- lack of options at RB.

Kog45:
Yea try to confirm

hahaha. Oga I don't believe that.

Kog45:
I believe getting national team called up required a lot of things and only coach can unravel it.

I can only remember Onazi playing as RB in one of the matches at AFCON 2013. But let me confirm that.

Modified
Okay actually Ambrose was red carded in the AFCON opener (Burkina Faso). So Onazi played as RB in the next match, when we drew with Zambia at the group stage.

Kog45:
No,we had a terrible match in one away that later affected our qualification,in d next match Keshi need to change d team,bringing in Raheem Lawal and Juwon Oshaniwa in place of Efe Ambrose and Echiejele respectively.Onazi was moved to RB and Lawal played DM,honestly d guy was superb.

You know, the Rio olympics afforded Rorh an opportunity to look at some of our players at that level. Shehu and Troost-Ekong were the beneficiaries. Rohr also spoke highly of Etebo at the time, but I think Etebo was injured so he didnt get an immediate call up. Did Rohr not see Azubuike enough? -- I can't say. But one thing I believe, Okechukwu will have a long spell with SE in future. Let's see how our bench fare against Algeria, then we can have more discussion about the options we still have out there.

Icon4s:
Azubuike has featured at senior level asides Olympics. Go and watch the Nigeria vs Egypt game. He IMO is one of the most underrated youngsters we have. While some others are being over-hyped Azubuike is being underrated.

I personally rate him slightly lower than Etebo.

I wonder who his representatives are.

I am sure you know i am not in the habit of hyping or projecting young players unnecessarily but if I see one that has the quality I project.

I am not Rohr but I will take him in my squad ahead of Mikel Agu.

Osmanlispor. Same club as Aminu Umar.

Modifield
Could also be because of lack of good options at RB

Kog45:
Pls where is Raheem Lawal, I remember this guy pushed Onazi to RB in one our Afcon qualifying match under Keshi.

Kelechi Iheanacho’s Start At Leicester Stymied By His Sense Of Timing

Richard Jolly | September 28, 2017 | 0 Comments

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/article319086.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Kelechi-Iheanacho-Plumb-6.jpg
Photo: Plumb Images - Leicester City FC/Getty Images

The finish was scrappy, the ball poked over the line from about a yard. The foul that preceded it went unpunished. It won’t be goal of the season. It won’t even be Shinji Okazaki’s goal of the season. Or, for that matter, his goal of the week.

Because the Japanese international’s strike against Liverpool on Saturday was his second in four days and his fourth in six matches this campaign. It is the sort of return that is more associated with Kelechi Iheanacho. Okazaki, whose first 80 games for Leicester had yielded a mere 12 goals but a Premier League title winner’s medal and an appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals, is the selfless worker turned strangely regular scorer.

In contrast, Iheanacho is yet to open his Leicester account. That is scarcely a criticism: while he averaged a league goal every 107 minutes for Manchester City, he has only spent 105 minutes on the pitch for his new club. They have come in the form of one start and three substitute appearances, almost exactly mirroring his ratio at the other City: he began 12 top-flight games and had 34 cameos.

His tales of two Cities may bear certain similarities. Iheanacho has a gift for being in the right place at the right time in the penalty area, but not in a broader context. His emergence at the Etihad Stadium hinted at a glorious future. Then Pep Guardiola, the scourge of the specialist finisher, arrived. There were times earlier this year when Iheanacho was not even on a bench shorn of strikers.


He decamped to Leicester in time to see Jamie Vardy rediscover the sharpness that deserted him in the first half of last season, Okazaki to score at, for him, an unprecedented rate, Leonardo Ulloa sign a new contract and Islam Slimani stay after speculation he would be sold.

Iheanacho’s unfortunate sense of timing seemed apparent from the off. He limped off 17 minutes into his friendly bow, in effect ending his chances of starting the season in the team. His competitive debut came as a substitute on the opening night at Arsenal. He entered the field with Leicester winning 3-2. They lost 4-3. Craig Shakespeare’s gamble of introducing a second striker backfired.

His lone start came against Huddersfield. If the notion, both behind his selection and his £25 million signing, was that Vardy could forage more on the flanks, leaving Iheanacho to occupy the penalty area, the theory was only tested for 69 minutes. Then the England international was reunited with Okazaki in a partnership whose chemistry is proven.

Three days later, Slimani and Okazaki scored against Liverpool. After a further four, Vardy and Okazaki did likewise. It illustrates the staying power of the sidekick supreme. Opponents and team-mates alike can testify to Okazaki’s tenacity. He has scrapped for his place after the arrivals of Slimani and Iheanacho in successive summers. Now £54 million of seemingly more prolific forwards look like replacements.

Such duties seem inescapable for Iheanacho. For the meantime, anyway, he looks destined to remain a super-sub, a man whose capacity to make an immediate impact and whose eye for goal – and his 12 in the Premier League have come from just 55 attempts, giving him an impressive 22 percent chance conversion rate – renders him a perennial option but who struggles to displace those deemed to have more of an all-round game; that problem seems compounded when Okazaki, who appears his opposite, a player admired for everything bar his finishing touch, starts scoring.

But it taps into a wider issue at Leicester. They have been unable to wean themselves off their title-winning blueprint. The 4-4-1-1 formula remains their most effective. They have made 11 signings in the last 16 months and only Harry Maguire and Wilfred Ndidi have become first choices. Even then, asterisks have to be applied. Robert Huth has not been fit since Maguire’s arrival. Ndidi in effect filled the spot N’Golo Kante vacated six months earlier.

In short, none of Leicester’s greatest team have lost their place. Rightly so, perhaps, given the magnitude of their achievements. Yet if the signing of Iheanacho, like that of Slimani, seem designed to change that, Okazaki is dragging them back to their past, with typical willpower and atypical potency, while Iheanacho seems stuck in his, forever on the margins, never the main man.

—uMAXit.com

Yea I just stumbled across that stat yesterday. I was actually looking for the particular week he made the best XI for the top 5 leagues combined.

kingphilip:
don't forget he was in Serie A's best 11 in the month of August o


Joebie hope I'm correct

of course if he is not fit he can't be ahead of anyone. Only Mikel is ahead of a fully fit Obi. I'm not the coach. But I would prefer Mikel in a more stabilizing CM role than AM. I've made this argument before.

Icon4s:
You mean if Joel Obi is fit he will be considered ahead of Mikel?

LOST SUPER EAGLE INFO:

Ekigho Ehiosun --> FK Gabala (Premya Liqasi, Azerbaijan)

LOST SUPER EAGLE INFO:

Ekigho Ehiosun --> FK Gabala (Premya Liqasi, Azerbaijan)

You like arguing in circles. I've already made my point with stats. Barring injuries, only can Mikel can be considered above Joel Obi in AM/CM. Of course the coach decides who starts regardless.

Napoleon55:
then in place of who? as DM,CM or AM? NDIDI,ONAZI,or MIKEL?
is he going to play as a wing forward,compare him with MOSES and IWOBI. from these 5 mentioned players, who is he going to bench if he must start?

Whoscored stats for Azubuike this season:

Icon79:
Not really, but I still can't get over all his exploits in Rio


O pari

J.Obi is a CM/AM

Icon79:
As a defensive midfielder, I really won't go that far. I have followed Joel Obi's career and I like him a lot but Okechukwu Azubike is a solid DM. Short and simple.


O pari

By demonstrating excellence in a few games Enyeama will easily get the nod ahead of Ezenwa.

Icon79:
Yea, let's pray and hope that Vince gets a club by January. Or else we'll have to schedule a dozen friendly matches, in the summer, to get him match sharp before the world cup proper.


O pari

Correction on AllNigeriaSoccer report:

Torunarigha did not foul Gero. Torunarigha's left hand touched the ball while Gero was trying to beat him in the 18 yard box.

I totally agree as regards that length of inactivity.

But it's not like Ezenwa was a regular with IU prior to his recent exploits with the Super Eagles A and B team.

In the same vein, if Enyeama could get a few games under his belt before the world cup, he should easily displace Ezenwa.

Icon79:
Absolutely! Especially when you consider the disaster the legendary, but the then clubless, Peter Rufia caused us at France '98 World Cup.
No matter how good you are, a keeper needs to be match sharp in order to perform. Hence, if Enyeama has not played any competitive match for over 1 year before the World Cup, I would be very concerned if we use him as our #1 keeper in Russia.


O pari

Firstly, countries take more than 16 players to the world cup. The argument was who will Joel Obi bench? (Ogu and Etebo have not been starting). A fully fit Obi will not only make the list to the world cup, but will also start. Take that to the bank.

Napoleon55:
i don't think so,it's still all about who is most qualified to represent us in the world cup and who is not

Opa ri

edi287:
In terms of pure ability, Joel Obi Is far better than those 2. If he's fit, he makes our world cup squad easy.

Azubuike is playing top flight football for the first time in his career, if I'm not mistaking.
There is nothing to check about Shehu right now -- Cyprus, seriously?

Here is Azubuike in the Turkish second tier (16/17 season)

soetanoreoluwa:
Can you help me check statistics of Sheu, azubike..? In their respective clubs..

I know what am saying we have seen good players not getting a good deals abroad and we have just there players finding themselves in top clubs in Europe... Considering his injury worries... No club ...i repeat no club will put their money on any injury prone player..


I like Joel Obi but good agent help him alot... He has been in Seria A all his life... And that's also working for him too.. I can see it again he got a good agent...

Season 2016/2017

Joel Obi (Serie A) VS John Ogu (Ligat ha'Al)

Modified:
For more than twice the amount of time Joel Obi spent on the pitch, Ogu could only equal him in assists.
Ogu picked 8 yellow cards compared to Obi's 3

We are talking Serie A vs Israeli top flight

I rarely use the words word class. But for him I will say near world class. Could he have been world class by every standard? -- definitely

FAMILY247:
Even though I also won't take Joel Obi to a competition like the World Cup considering the fact that he is injury prone, but the truth must be said the guy is world class midfielder and very far from been an average player.

changing the goal post. We are talking about who is a better passer. it's already an established fact that Obi is injury prone. We want to know what both players have done while on the pitch. And I can go back in time to give you the stats. Take note that i'm not even considering the leagues where they ply their trades. Ogu plays in the Israeli League for goodness sake

soetanoreoluwa:
Check how many matches has he played in his entire career ?let start from there

Moreover this is a start of just three matches....

Good agent don't guarantee this. See below:

Modified:
Did somebody say he is a bad passer of the ball. Let me add John Ogu's (not even considering the leagues they play)

soetanoreoluwa:
Good agent... Likewise echijiele... Good agent.


You have good agent you get good club