₦airaland Forum

TheGoodJoe:
Sorry but the bolded is far from the truth. It is clear you have never watched Raphael Onyedika. Try to watch his games. His is a quality player and opposite of what you posted.

He is fast. He is skillful. Very skillful for that matter. He is gifted in the short possession play. A tidy short passer. Good for combination build up plays. He is also gifted in delivering long balls and switching play.

Onyedika is also tenacious, a good defender. Also good at box to box runs too.

When it comes to DM/CDM role, it is criminal to start Iwobi ahead of Onyedika in that role.

Watch this clip to have an idea about what Raphael Onyedika offers.


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

MallamSpicey:
As far as midfield goes, these are the players that should form the core and depth of our MF going forward. Enough of the daft habits of recycling the same 3 or 4 midfielders every time who offers us absolutely no creativity.

1. Iwobi- I honestly don't really rate him that highly as I feel he has fallen off but he still offers experience at least. But to be fair to Iwobi, Peseiro played him out of position at the AFCON and nullified his attacking qualities with all the defensive pivot duties he was tasked with...Iwobi IS NOT A DM, and can't thrive in a 2 man midfield system where he has to press ,Iwobi isn't that guy.

2. Ndidi- The impact of Ndidi can't be emphasized enough, he was sorely missed at the AFCON especially with his experience and improved ability to press high thanks to his Leicester form...An Onyeka/Ndidi anchorship would have given Iwobi more freedom to influence his creative duties more.

3. Frank Onyeka- I believe he announced his name in a big way at the AFCON, absolute Trojan workhorse who gives his all for the team and does the dirty work like no other...Ndidi will find joy pairing with him since he loves to bomb forward to join the attack and can trust Frank the Tank to mop up any mistakes behind him.

4. Michael Folrunsho- Needs no introduction, this is one player who will give you work-rate and a good eye for passing abilities, I don't know why NFF haven't approached and capped him yet when he is still in the fringe radar of Italy.

5. Nwakali- somewhat of an enigma as much as a fan's favorite, in the eyes of many he's supposed to be our own Pirlo...I personally think Nwakali would have fit so perfectly like a glove in that 343 formation Peseiro used at the AFCON...especially when you factor in his set piece abilities and good passing IQ (seems like an opportunity missed).

6. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru- This lad should be tried out as that under-study to Iwobi, not only does he have a good creative ability to his game, he offers work rate as well and can actually pop up with goals here and there. I don't know we never saw more of him after his last cameo in the Mozambique friendly game last year.

6. Tim Iroegbulam- I have watched this kid and he is definitely a baller, he's a perfect modern day Box2Box midfielder who can dribble well and pass brilliantly as well, now back to Aston Villa from loan and he's one to watch...read somewhere he's not far off the radar of an international call up to Nigeria soon.

8. Ifeanyi Matthew- When you want a very cerebral and composed midfielder who plays with the finesse of a prime Mikel, look no further than this lad. I daresay the ONLY reason he has not been called up yet to the SE is because he plays in the Swiss league, and has no connection to "Top Ogas in the NFF" that he can bribe.

Fringe players to be looked at: Daniel Daga, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Victor Eletu, Obinna Nwobodo, Ibrahim Olawoyin and Tochukwu Nnadi.

Whoever will be the coach whether Peseiro or not will have to start building our midfield around these players if he really wants to succeed. The only reason we lost that final to Ivory Coast was down to a paper thin and overworked midfield, and we had no bench to balance it out.

Notice how I didn't include Aribo, cause I honestly think he's currently not good enough to be a mainstay player in that team. Aribo needs to fight his way back at his club to prove his hunger cause a division 2 bench warmer who gets sparse minutes every now and then isn't deserving of a place in a serious nation team.

ThunderFireAgba:
AM, SS he's good at both.

charlesemeka85:
❤️🔥

MetalJigsaw:
I thought Orban is a striker?

ChrisKels:
The over all best player of the tournament not considered in the team of the tournament? Doesn’t make sense to me

MetalJigsaw:
Peseiro obviously didn't learn the lesson against South Africa.

safarigirl:
You get?

I don't know why empathy is such a foreign concept to fans.

Do they think they're more affected by the loss than players themselves? These tournaments are part of the players careers, they are used in their profiles and used to judge the success of the career. You wey no dey pitch, no fit dey more interested in the win than the people who give 90 minutes of their sweat on that pitch, so, to pile on them on top their own feelings of failure is wicked.

semid4lyfe:
I'll rather win AFCON than get to the world cup semi finals

safarigirl:
In 2022, we crashed out in Round of 16, I came here and said the team failed, make we no blame anybody.

Yet, the Nigerian mob used the opportunity to pour so much bile on Okoye, man had to recuse himself from this AFCON. Till today, that boy cannot post without one degenerate posting rubbish in his comments.

Today again, we have lost, I have come and said, "It's team failure, no need to single out any player", yet, once again, a mob fights for their rights to a scapegoat.

It is the team that failed. Not Iwobi, not Osimhen, not Aina, not Chukwueze, not Zaidu. The team failed. Nobody hold their side 100%, so, to single out one person in a team loss is wickedness.

The entire team was poor. Let us be just in criticism and not constantly single out one person for hate. If na only one person fail, we for face am, but this one was team failure.

Odunayaw:
And after the goal?

Odunayaw:
What logic na? Did you hear how silent the stadium went when we took the lead?

Anyway, na the team give you this chance sha

Mujtahida:
Joebie Joebie. This prediction thing, you guys take it too serious and see how you hedge yourself. If we had won, you'd have said you predicted it. Now we lost, you still saying you predicted it.

It's just a coping mechanism. Too afraid to be vulnerable.

TheGoodJoe:
Nwabali's case is not just a goalkeeper thing but for the whole team. Just because a coach does not call the right players does not mean he has scouted well. We need to have an open mind and thoroughly keep building the squad. Let where you play stop being a criteria but what the player can bring to the table.

Finito.

Ppogbae:
The coach surely got his tactics wrong, but is it worth it to get rid of him? Do we go all the way back to square one again?

comodo:
Congrats to all the players. There comes a time when you will be found out. Congrats to Nwabali. Congrats Ekong. You have done your feat. Same things. Against SA. They were just using our MF as express road.

kennysville:
For me Chukwueze should not have started and I saw iwobi lost most times in the game which basically leads to breakdown in the midfield. Maybe we go rest on top this attacking talents small and concentrate on what has largely been lacking in the team which is our midfield. Enough of concessions of possession. It's not our style. It may have worked thus far but it can only work so far

TheSuperNerd:
Our approach in this second half is part of the reasons I don't rate Jose Peseiro as our coach. His attacking side is poor but I give him credit for taking some advice on and making some changes in our personnel selection.

Didn't expect him to get far with his 442 but his changes to 433 and then 343 saw me take notice of what he could be cooking. He went with what worked for him and gave a nation Joy.

I wouldn't mind him staying beyond the Afcon to continue the WCQs path but I also won't mind him leaving especially knowing that we need a proper coach who can come in, fix our midfield properly and fully utilise the powers in our attack.



We went 1-0 up and should have not let our foot off the gas in the second half. We should been doing a double over CIV today if we had taken the game to them for the first 25mins of that second half.

It is well. Well done to the lads. But I am not happy. Coming this far, taking the lead and losing it this way makes me sad.

We move.

TheGoodJoe:
The strength of an attack lies in a well coordinated and oil midfield. If we can't get a sound midfield set up, we can't flourish in attack.

Joebie:
My AFCON winner prediction:
1. The eventual winner will come from West Africa
2. The eventual winner is coached by a native of the country