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That reminds me. Where is Kingsley Madu and Maarouf Yousef?

Super Eagles Left Back Position: A Puzzle Yet To Be Solved
Published: September 07, 2017
Super Eagles Left Back Position: A Puzzle Yet To Be SolvedI probably should bow my head down for not raising this issue for sometime but there is always time to bring up this issue.

However like the proverbial saying, it is better late than never.

First and foremost I'd like to congratulate Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr and his technical team for largely selecting the right players.

The relative lack of intense criticism of his squad attests to this, only there were and still are some reservations over the recent exclusion of Olarenwaju Kayode, Kenneth Omeruo and Henry Onyekuru

But that is to be expected as expectations on player selections vary from one person to the other.

There is however the bigger concern that the left back which is being occupied by Elderson Echiejille leaves much to be desired.

It will be the biggest mistake ever in my humble opinion and any intentions to have this be a reality is better aborted at this early stage in the ultimate interest of the Super Eagles.

My beef is why we keep insisting on playing Echiejille at that position when clearly we are not getting the best out of him.

The fact is that the Sivasspor defender has lost two or three yards. As if it couldn't get worse, Rohr has always kept faith with the former Monaco man of all people at left back! This is indeed extremely alarming.

We have much problems with Echiejille and we now want to compound it by not giving him competition.

I wouldn't bore coach Rohr with names because I know as he reads this piece (which he often does) all the probables will emerge fresh in his mind.

All I can say is that, rather than saturating his defensive unit, he should have kept a closer eye on the artificially well-loaded left-back position.

Why not look the way of Ola Aina, Kingsley Madu, Stanley Amuzie and Maarouf Yousef to solve the puzzle?

Abayomi Ademetan


http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=24550

Oga, assuming u be small pikin, I for don pull your ear well well oh..

we've played several big teams in all our world cup appearances. Now let's talk facts. how many times were we trashed?

Mickael2:
I swear you aint making sense

haha.. type it a third time..

AIG07:
Na because of people like Mikael2 e de pain me say we couldn't assemble our best u-23s for the last Olympics. All this talk of Germany, Brazil wouldn't have surface. Baba take ya time. Na because of people like Mikael2 e de pain me say we couldn't assemble our best u-23s for the last Olympics. All this talk of Germany, Brazil wouldn't have surface. Baba take ya time.

Me sef i don't understand this argument.

The real question is, are there any untested outfield players in the team, excluding the latest new invitees?
I believe all have played at one point in time (friendlies or not). Let's start from there. And I could be wrong with my assumption.

Humility017:
then we should stop inviting 23 players...
it is outright nonsense when we already know those to play and those not to play...

this double standard leaves me surpised...
let me tell....You see some of those players i
on bench could have even done much better than some on the field that day...

even rohr with all due respect is not a world class coach per se....

lol

Chrismario:
We Neva qualify,, una Dae predict our quarterfinal's opponent

Well it's a debate.. IMO, none of those performances you mentioned match the one in question. I can definitely go back to watch them again.

Mickael2:
I have a few off the top of my head. A 4-1 mauling of the Malians who later defeated Ghana. 3-0 against Mozambique at the....2010? Afcon, they held us to a draw a few months before. The 3-1 humbling of Argentina. Oh and I can't forget the 2-1 defeat of Ivory Coast, the scores suggest a close game but the only shot/goal Ivory Coast had was from a Didier Drogba dive

lol if instructions alone could bring such cohesion in any team, there would be no need for friendlies my friend. Let's just wake up in Russia and get it started..

I'd just advise us to watch the match again. Then we can continue this discussion. And im speaking of the Nigeria vs Cameroon game in Uyo.

daveP:
Maybe its not the way he shouldave put it. Again, they might have been simply playing to instructions. but its WIP for now.

some of us will be psyching these Spaniards etc oh and making our beloved SE players tremble, typing all this on Nairaland lol

Anyways my bro. Let me ask everyone, when was the last time we saw SE display such masterclass as a team? when? when o?

TheGoodJoe:
Where was Busquets when Mikel performed well against Spain? He forgot to reduce Mikel's effect in that game. Busquets was Looking so much I thought he was Lucozade.

And I've been calling for Echiejile's competition long. But most of us maintained he is trusted and experienced -- agreed. But when better competition (teams) comes knocking we will have no choice but to fix what is actually broken.

Kog45:
Echiejele sudden drop of form?

you no be baba for nothing. in fact, i was impressed because I had expected Cameroon to play more as a team, considering the many matches they had going to that game. in fact we looked like a team that had played a lot more together. I saw a great degree of understanding and cohesion in that SE team, on that said matchday.

tbaba1234:
How exactly?

1. Goal number 2: rehearsed set piece..

2. Goal number 3: Classic counter

3. Goal number 4: Excellent team goal

That win had a lot to do win team work

Actually, you need both team work and individual brilliance to fare well especially against big teams. But I like to engage people in a more mature manner. Maybe if we both go back to watch the build up to all the goals we will come to one common conclusion.

daveP:
Its kinda like a 57/43 ratio. it wasnt that obvious but it was there in the 1st half. its nothing to worry about though since big teams do it also. the defence was the most glaring. organized teamwork. wingers usually go solo mostimes, so maybe thats the individuality he meant.

Lol. U no lie. We believe making noise in the media does a thing.

daveP:
Its a naija syndrome. All the way from the presidency to even the electrician awarded a big contract. We are yet to recognize the power of a Press secretary like other developed countries. The way he even clamors for Abraham, i pray it doesnt hurt us at last moment of selection.

Me too. Would love to see Dele Alli shake his head in disbelief.

But wait, let's stop dreaming of playing Brazil in the QF when we haven't beaten Denmark.

jotey:
I want England like crazy

Individual brilliance and minimal team work? Hmm... Lets both watch the Uyo match again.

Mickael2:
with that performance against Cameroon, we would be 2 goals down against Brazil, atleast a goal down against Spain and 4 goals down against Germany after 20minutes. Make no mistake about it, that game was won by individual brilliance, a repeat of that performance(exactly that performance) against Belgium will be a white-wash no offence

And that is the reason for my earlier disappointment -- we had the chance to beat Cameroon by at least two goals, and at worst protect that one goal.

However as regards the use of 'fringe' players, I'd rather keep the core of the team say 5 or 6 indispensable players against Algeria. It's part of the team building process. To support Komekn 's idea of finding our actual best players, blending our presumed best XI is not enough with the long term in view. We need to try some players who do not only deserve tje invite but have already demonstrated they can add value to our team e.g Joel Obi etc

a

kennysville:
God bless you sir for that post! I dont know when we as Nigerians will start to strive for excellence and demand it in every of our endeavor. I hear a lot o people say stuffs like we wanted 4 points from the game against cameroon and that 4 points will suffice. This same attitude is what we will carry to the world cup. One win and 2 draws.

The match against cameroon was ours for the taking. We were busy wasting chances. Chances that victor moses dare not miss in his club. Moses can be excused of course. He has done well for the team but let us ask the question, is that the best he could muster? Really let us ask ourselves. Could we have beaten Cameroon @ their home? I leave us to answer that.

As per the final match against Algeria, i think the starting 11 over the past 2 games are our team and it should remain so for blending purposes. That way there is the understanding amongst the team members. Sorry for those of us that have our favorite players on the bench but the fact is.... it is what it is

Lol in your dreams. Some of us would love to believe that.

Modified.
Let's give you Aina. Can u compile a UK-Nigerians XI that is capable of beating us?

quickly:
In U.K. Super eagles can produce at least 2 teams of players that can trash this current se team.

Yes very normal in fandom. Hopefully we are going to disgrace them and they will dread us forever. Take note I'm not hoping that we just beat them. As long as Rohr is both cautious and confident, I'm comfortable.

AIG07:
these pages look like a zambian fan pages. Well I no blame them. It's good to have hope. Cos Hope keeps the spirit alive and gives it strength to push on.
Though me no fancy any online arguements on supremacy with other african countries.

And that is not equivalent to saying Echiejile will definitely start(?)

somehow:
You said Rohr would have started Aina bar the late clearance right? Please boomark this chat, come October 7th, Ederson and Shehu won't be replaced by anyone. At least for the Zambian game.

Oliseh walked in you say? Which match did he walk into? Was there a void he walked into or he displaced someone already mounting that position?

For all I care, Aina wouldn't displace Ederson come Oct 7 except illness or injury happens or maybe sudden drop of form.

I am not saying Aina is bad so no need telling me about his prowess.

Should your dreams come true, It would only make us stronger. Any better performance than that Cameroon show in Uyo can trouble any team in the world. That performance should be our standard from now on

pyrex23:
The dream i had yesterday.....
We qualified buh we were drawn in another group of death
Belgium
Brazil
Germany
Nigeria...


Na dream sha...but e fit happen

We have two youthful sides. Rohr will study their tapes and do the needed, finding the best way to approach this game. And I think such thoroughness in preparation is the best way to approach every game. The goal should always be getting the best result possible.

forgiveness:
I understand your point or mindset before the second match against Cameroon but now wey sand sand wan enter garri na nko!

We can't handle this game with kids gloves.

However, I noticed that this Zambians carried out the replica of our plan against Cameroon in the second match. They were just defended and luckily they had a goal.

It's not as if I am scared of them but I don't want us to start for the world cup when we have not finished the job.

On thing about the Zambians is that they are very inexperience but youthful, and I hope we use their offside traps against them.

Lol my brother, I too said something similar, remember? My hope was that we beat Cameroon in Yaounde and Algeria beat Zambia. Then I said our last two games will be for experimenting. But behold! Well, let's take it a step at a time.

Modified
I'm sure Rohr will be taking the OCT 7th match seriously, doing the needed preparation for what will most likely be the final fight.

forgiveness:
Na wa ooooooo! Where dis kin mental dey come from? I hope say..... dem never qualify dem don dey look down on Zambia as if say dem come watch fine stadium for Uyo.

Ok, na.

I remember that very well. And for a while we have been improvising for the RB. Now that Shehu has finally settled in there, We need to turn our attention to the LB and do it quickly.

adegwurulez:
I remember very well when balogun came into the team pre-worldcup, he was a central defender but at that time the oboabona-omeruo partnership was working excellently. Ambrose on the other hand was proving to be a big headache. What keshi did was to ease balogun into the team as a RB.

Barring injury, balogun would have been our RB at the world Cup.

Oh where have you been?!

adegwurulez:
One other thing I noticed in the Cameroon matches was that, ighalo most times drifts with the ball to the right when the middle is choked. This movement draws a central defender with him to the side leaving space behind. Now ighalo sees this space and intends to drop a pass only to notice there is no Nigerian player there. What does he do? He holds the ball a little while, waiting for a green Jersey, but by the time one gets there, the defence has already regrouped.

I believe if we were playing with a typical SS, we would have seen lots of goals. But our formation doesn't allow this so it therefore lies on either the AM or the Right winger to take up this space.

Mikel is slow and won't get there on time, it therefore falls on Simon to take up this spaces and free up for a pass.

A case in point is our world Cup match versus Bosnia. Emenike drifted to the right, received a pass, bullied the Bosnian defender, and osaze was there to receive his pass.

Ighalo also for all his energy is surprisingly deficient in pressing. This is one area he should learn from iheanacho.

I believe this team just needs some few tweaks and we'll be good for Russia.

I duff my hat for you!!!

adegwurulez:
I agree with your notion that we should go with the best player for the RB position. But one apparent flaw in that's logic is that it operates in isolation, It doesn't factor in the team as a whole.

Okay let's run a simple simulation. Let's assume shehu is rated 7/10 as a RB and Aina is rated 8/10 as a right back and 7/10 as a left back. Echiejile on the other hand is rated 5/10 as a LB. We can decide to play Aina as the RB cos he's obviously better, this then leaves us with Echiejile as the undisputed LB.

A technical team will always exploit this lacuna by playing a fast and skillful right winger. At this point, our desperation for a world class RB would seem foolish because for all his good works at the right flank, he'd always be sabotaged by our weak link(LB).

On the other hand if we decide to play shehu and Aina as wing backs both with a 7/10 rating, they'd be to an extent balance in the team.

Of course these are all assumptions. The only reason we should allow Aina slug it out with shehu for the RB position is if we find a competent replacement for uwa. Only then can we welcome the competition of having Aina and shehu slug it out as right backs.

But I don't think Rohr is planning on that. From his last list, uwa was the only natural LB which means Rohr is looking at converting either Aina or Ebuehi to LB.

Even if Aina proves he is a better RB compared to Shehu today, would u prefer he play as RB? Then how do u fix the LB problem. Competition for positions is a continuous process.

Right now we need to fix our LB urgently and I'm sure Shehu won't be playing there. So would U rather leave Shehu on the bench and Uwa on the pitch just because Aina is a better RB?

Shehu is indeed very comfortable as RB now. It's working for us now. And it don't need to be fixed. Team building is a continuous process.

komekn:
You don't seem to get my emphasis.

I am not advocating dropping Shehu but increasing competition, it may be that in the absence of a true left back that Aina can do a good job at LB in the short term. However, I really want to see Aina play RB and see if he is better and or as good as Shehu. Whatever, the outcome let the best man play.

I have watched Aina since he was 16 and he has played RB and LB but his preferred position is RB, he is currently within weeks the best RB in the Championship. It could be he may bring more to the RB position than Shehu, we simply do not know .

Thank you! I could not have put it better.. The problem is while most of us think, player A versus player B, coaches look at the big picture. The team picture as u put it. Some of us want to see who is the best RB, but the priority should be fixing the most crucial problem, the LB.

And who says Torunarigha won't displace Aina at LB tomorrow? And like wise Aina displace Shehu at RB. But the reality is we will not be finding any new LB to face Zambia on Oct 7th.

adegwurulez:
I don't think you understand completely what joebie is trying to say. Joebie is looking at the big picture, the team picture. Aina is good as both LB and RB. Presently, we're more pressingly in need of a left back than a right back. If Aina displaces shehu, it only solves the problem of our right back, we still have to search for a good left back. On the other hand, if we allow shehu to continue as RB and switch Aina to the LB position, we would effectively solve both problems, killing two birds with one stone. It's smart actually.

7 SEPTEMBER 2017
The Guardian (Lagos)
Nigeria: Super Eagles' Fringe Players to Face Algeria After Zambia Clash
NigeriaSoccerSportWest Africa
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By Christian Okpara
The Super Eagles' technical crew will give players, who have not had the opportunity to play for the country in the on-going Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying series to feature in the last game against Algeria. That is, if the Eagles beat Zambia next month to confirm Nigeria's qualification for the Copa du Mondo.

Zambia surprised bookmakers on Tuesday when they went to Algiers to beat Algeria in their matchday four game. That victory took Zambia seven points, three lower than Nigeria, who will host them in Uyo on October 7.

A win in that game guarantees Nigeria the ticket to Russia 2018 World Cup. The Guardian learnt that fringe players, including home-based stars and some based in Europe were originally billed to take on Zambia until the Chipolopolo took the decision out Coach Gernot Rohr's hands in Algiers.

One of the officials, who pleaded anonymity, said in Yaoundé on Monday that the qualifiers also serves as preparation for the World Cup, adding that it has given the coaches the opportunity to assess the mentality of the players that have featured in the series.

"The coaches know what the players in the CHAN team can do, but they also want to see them in grade A games. "If as expected We beat Zambia to qualify for the World Cup, there will be no need to play against Algeria with the players in the main team," he said.

I will say improvise. Shehu has cemented a place at RB for now. If there is anything that needs to be changed quickly, it's our LB. let Aina replace Uwa. That's a more realistic demand, as oftentimes we don't fix what is not broken. eventually, maybe before the WC Aina could displace Shehu at RB, hopefully when we have secured Torunarigha, Ojo etc

komekn:
Within weeks of playing in the championship he has been voted as the most outstanding right back. That's not an easy feat.

He may be in the Championship but he is definitely premiership quality. The Championship is a stepping stone to the EPL. The most highly rated and expensive left back in England does not play in the EPL but for Fulham in the championship. That's Ryan Ssegnon he is only 17 they have already rejected bids of £30 million.

Ola Aina is quality, I wanted to see him tested at least ad a substitute. Shehu has done well, buy how well? we can't make a true assessment without comparison. Let's see what Aina can do, the quest is to improve not remain static.

Qualifying for the World cup is one achievement but putting in a team that can put in a performance to compete and even get to the finals is another.

We will need to keep improving constantly evaluating players and creating competition to get the best we can possibly get.

That's promising stats

Lordabas:
Ola Aina: Has won possession in the defensive third more times (34) than any other player in the Championship this seaso {whoscore. Com}

Those forward options look good enough. We know it took a while for Ighalo to replicate that fine club form in SE. Some players will come good immediately. Others may get their chance time and time again, and like in your Ijeh example, some will never be good enough (Also remember the likes of Ujah and Akpala). There are several young strikers that have shown great promise.. but their eyes should be more on Qatar. Well, we'll see.

Kog45:
Jobie,do we need any soothsayer to tell us Aaron cannot do it or even it w be suicide to start Nwakaeme(hope u remeber Peter Ijeh)in that team at d expense of Ighalo and Iheanacho.

This is football and national team should not be for mediocres.It should be for players who merit it and are ready to give it all.I think it's high time Rohr centred his attacking options on pool of players like Ighalo,Iheanacho,Kayode,Ideye,Oyekwuru.

Ighalo had it so good at EPL before moving to China,Nacho highly rated player in EPL with very good goal ratio even in d national team,Kayode had a wonderful season in Austria last season,signed by man city but loaned to Girona in la liga,Ideye a good player behind any striker(remind me of siasia)now in la liga,Oyekwuru doing it for Anderlecht,for God sake what do we need again and any player that w break in to this team must be exceptional striker

Prior to US 94,we already have our strikers(Yekinni,Amokachie, Siasia,Ekoku)so this campaign should not be an exceptional,not only attackers but in other department of d game.

"seems like" -- I wasn't too sure. Thanks anyway

tbaba1234:
Not a first.

In 1993, a world cup qualifier between Egypt and Zimbabwe was annulled due to crowd violence. Egypt won the game 2:1.

The game was replayed in Lyon, France. It ended 0:0.. Zimbabwe topped the group.