₦airaland Forum

Lol a few old players won't hurt.. We need a good balance.. I've just made my case with stats and quality recent videos.. make your case..

one thing for sure a completely young team won't do it for us right now.

Icon4s:
"I think we still need Martins", " I think we still need Osaze", " I think we still need Emenike", "I think we still Need Ayenugba even Eyeama". We should just kukuma disband this whole team and call back all our old "pensioner" players.

Turkish League stats
Season starts goals assists
16/17 Süper Lig Süper Lig Fenerbahce SK 16 4 4
14/15 Süper Lig Süper Lig Fenerbahce SK 27 4 4
13/14 Süper Lig Süper Lig Fenerbahce SK 28 12 9
10/11 Süper Lig Süper Lig Kardemir D.C. 23 14 4


Emenike has never been a high goal scorer. Not withstanding, he has done pretty well in SE colors. Scoring two goals at home to Monaco and one away at the Champions League last year shows his class.
Everybody knows he had a hard time in Turkey. I think his presence, physicality, speed, experience and good return at the big stage is what we need especially now against Cameroon. Going forward, that's another matter.

Check this out:

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

kennysville:
Hmmm! Emenike sha? now he scored a couple of goals since 2013 nations cup and suddenly a clamour? We need to learn on building on what we have presently. Emenike has been MIA goal wise, practically thrown out of his clubs. Didnt do well to stay in the premiership, neither did he do well with the turkish clubs he was with. Asking him to be part of this present team is like taking 1 step forward and 6steps backward. Personally, i am for progressive soccer. Even if he has the best goal to game ratio, i think he is bad news for Super Eagles.

I think we still need Emenike.

He scored 3 times against Monaco at the Champions League qualification stage last year.
1 assist against eventual Europa League champoins
1 goal against Feyenoord
4 Super Lig goals.

Currently he has one goal from only 2 minutes of game time for Olympiakos in the Champions League. I think he still has it. Plus, he is big, fast and experienced. Emenike-Iheanacho pairing against Cameroon. My people, over to you.

Enyeama and Emenike should call off their retirement. Together with returnees Mikel, Moses and Balogun, and new boy Ola Aina, I think we are good to go with the rest of the regulars.

The only outsider among the keepres is Okiemute Odah. Else, same old story.

Humility017:
considering seniority of players....
Chima akas ought to be the captain of the team.
I just believe a young vibrant goalie can be unearthed from the NPFL to grow wit other foreign base....that if....alloy agu does his job well.
More so, just hope the latter part of your reply is complied wit....
I rarely trust indigenous coaches after keshi romance wit agbim....and also his bizarre 2014 world cup list....

EXACTLY MY POINT

tbaba1234:
I have been a critic of Akpeyi way before the SA game. In fact, I have not even blamed him for the SA loss in any discussion.

Before the Olympics, I rated him as a decent keeper but his shaky displays in the Olympics, against Algeria, Senegal and SA have convinced me that he is not good enough to be number 1 in the national team.

It is not just one display, any keeper can have an off night. His recent displays have been shaky. He consistently mishandles crosses. If he was a young keeper, perhaps we could have made excuses for him.

Emmanuel Daniel during the Olympics qualifiers and sometimes in the Olympics was a lifesaver for the team. He made great saves to keep his team in it. Enyeama has done that for Nigeria.

If Nigeria is under pressure in Yaounde, Can we count on Akpeyi to keep us in the game if necessary.. His recent performances do not suggest that.

Nwakaeme worked a full shift an scored the first of two goals for Beer Sheva in their 2-0 win over Ludogorets in the 1st leg of Champions Leagu qualification. Super Eagles midfielder, John Ogu was also on for Sheva for the entire duration but was cautioned in the dying minutes of the game.

In another match, Club Brugge currently lead Baseksihir of Turkey 1-0, thanks to Dennis Bournaventure

Even the much celebrated Abiodun Baruwa of 3SC fame was in the bench when young Joeseph Dosu was in goal for Nigeria at the Atlanta Olympics. Who later became SE's first choice after the olympics? - Dosu of course. Like I said the days of Akpeyi is numbered in SE.

I won't be surprised when he becomes 3rd choice by year end

chrisooblog:
bros e tire me. akpeyi that was even second choice at the rio olympics what sense does it make that he is the super eagles number 1 when he couldn't even displace an u23 goalkeeper. i find it even funnier that to defend akpeyi some people are bringing out old mistakes and unrelated performances of ikeme to justify akpeyi's poor form

Anyone who have been following or reading my comments on This forum will know I hardly use the term world class. The point is I'm by far more comfortable with Ikeme in goal. I'm sure we can post videos of gaffes by even the best keepers. Ikeme has far more experience and is well tested playing in the championship over the years than Akpeyi. The best keeper shows it again and again. Akpeyi is not even the better than all the NPFL keepers. If that's a lie give them a chance and u will see what will happen. Akpeyi's days are numbered in SE.

goldfish80:
Ikeme became the first choice goalkeeper for Wolves in the 2013 season. Mind you, this guy ais 31 years old. He only became first choice for his club at 28.
In England, he is considered average who has had a fair share of his own gaffes down the years. You can see some of them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbX3vYoMf5k


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3r7wwvEYkM

Even last season he had a few shockers. You may not know this because you don't follow the English championship but that's the reality. Ikeme is not world class like some have been thinking. His case have become absence making the heart grow fonder.

The goals he conceeded against Zambia and Egypt are just identical to the ones Akpeyi considered. But people want to kill Akpeyi.

We have to be real, we don't have any proper world class goalkeeper.

Lol just read that about 5 NPFL officials were sanctioned by LMC.

What they really need is a point system for every bad call that manipulates the outcome of a game. These referees should be banned for at least a season. A second ban should be a career ban.

But hey it's a Nigerian problem. Think about how many judges, police, public official etc deserves a life ban. With our mentality, it's always going to be a problem. No where in the world is perfect, but Nigeria is a lost cause.

goldfish80:
Earlier in the season against Rangers in Nnewi. Rangers scored a beautiful goal from a free kick which was ruled out and 2 dubious penalties were awarded to Ifeanyi Uba, they missed one and scored the second one. 1 nil to Ifeanyi Uba.. Lol

My whole point is Nigeria can do better than an "OK" keeper. I'm 100% confident that we have at least two better keepers out there.

goldfish80:
I am not of the opinion that Akpeyi is a world class goalkeeper. I cant delude myself into believing that. I think hes an OK keeper, I mean look at his record when he played in the npfl, he was one of the best we had in the league. I recall he was Heartlands !st choice goalkeeper during their run to the finals of the champions league. He was pretty solid alongside Ike Thankgod and Chinedu Effugh at the back. Ezennwa was his number 2 at the time.

If he was as bad a goalkeeper as you all are making him out to be, I wonder how he managed to get to this level. Most of the Npfl goalkeepers can only dream of getting their team to the caf champions league finals.

Even if we must crucify him, lets wait until such a time he does that rather than cook up false accusations just to nail him.

Shorunmu have said something about this guy and trust me, IKe shorumu knows him very well from his days as a national team trainer.

Dem no be U17 players when we dey try discover Na. For me camp is to pick the best. It's a time for comparison as regards who can play best to match strategy etc.

komekn:
There are two camps for me.

The first is the proving camp of your football club where you are day in and day out. After you have proven yourself in your club that becomes the justification for invitation to the SE set up.

The SE camp is where strategy, tactics and team plans are established. You have limited time to assess the players most times you will hardly get up to 10 days in camp when the football season is in session.

It is not the place of player discovery or individual player experimentation. For that reason we should be inviting Obagoal, Ideye, Ighalo and Anichebe to camp.

For them to confirm thier pedigree not to discover it.

Ikeme Just recently promoted? Lol.. Enyeama now surplus to requirement? You seem to have forgotten Enyeama's fine record in Ligue 1 in recent seasons. Please can we even boast of Akpeyi at any point in history, besides one or two good showings? It's unfortunate you like to defend the average. For me, Nigeria can do far better in that department. Let's not go too far, lets learn from neighbors Cameroon.

goldfish80:
Which of our keepers is feared? Even Ikeme was just recently promoted as Wolves first keeper. He used to be Wayne hennesey's Lieutenant for a good number of years till Wayne left for Crystal Palace. HE is not considered one of the best in the Championship.
Abi Vincente Enyeama? he has been laid off by Lille as things stand.HE is surplus to requirements to Bielsa.

To be honest, sometimes I don't understand our big time charly attitude. We have to come down from our high horse and face reality.

If they are still scoring, why not? But my point is they should not start based on past glory. Let them still do the battle in camp. Hiwever our youths should be allowed to develop, just like Iwobi is getting hia chance at Arsenal. It will pay off big time in future.

komekn:
I disagree they are the potential future but currently they have not arrived.

Ighalo is proven and tested he may have had a barren period but it seems he is coming back.

I watched Ribery, Defoe, Alves and Ibrahimovic are currently top world class players. They are right at the top in world football, shockingly they are all over 34 years old.

They are not the past but the very present top class future.

If they were Nigerian we would have denigrated them and thrown them on the scrap heap. Just like what we have done and are doing with Obagoal, Ideye and Ighalo to mention a few.

The question is are these youth players who have not even played a full season of professional top flight football better Currently than our experienced and tested top players

I agree. The best should be in post

We have seen inexperienced keepers make their mark in big games. Call the psychologists to assertain if that keeper is ready for the big, and if he is, why not?

TheGoodJoe:
I want the best keeper in goal. I am rooting for Alampasu because I feel he is the best. I want Emma Daniel, Alampasu and others screened and the best selected.

I just explained this not long ago. Leave bias in any form. Select the best after careful consideration. Not experience or because you like the player. Screen and select the best. I have said this for too long.

The latest is he is under consideration by Rohr.

Our GK is our biggest problem in terms o personnel because we can't beat our chest and say we have a good replacement for Ikeme, since we know Enyeama. For the other positions we can at least mention names with confidence. Just when I was thinking we need to recall Emenike he banged in a goal today. Looking at his record he has never been that high scoring forward at the club level, but has hardly dissapointed in a high profile match for SE.

Talking about tactics etc is another topic. But Nigeria deserves a better keeper than Akpeyi. We are bigger than that. I know we have that keeper if we give them a chance. Akpeyi is not even feared in South Africa, where he plays. Are u kidding me?

goldfish80:
I honestly don't believe goalkeeper is our biggest problem. I am more interested in the outfield playing personnel and strategy. I really have sympathy for Akpeyi,its unfortunate people have made up their minds about him and there's no going back for them.

Rohr seems to be the kind of manager who pays attention to psychology, which explained why he dropped Omeruo. I guess the new Gk trainer was brought in to psych up the GKs, especially since Nigerians have opted to run them down for reasons best known to them.

If Akpeyi proves his nerves are made of steel, then he starts.
As simple as that.

People clamouring for Emmanuel Daniel are misinformed. That guy have not played competitive football for about 1 year. It will be a joke if the Nff invite an unproven, inactive keeper for our biggest game of the year.

And the hand writing will definitely change. If Gabriel Jesus and co had not delivered, Pep will have been forced to fall back to the rejected stone. In this case the truth is we have options. Watch and see what Rohr is about to do.

soetanoreoluwa:
One thing you should get Mr Rohr didn't believe in alamapasu to man the post ....the way pep didn't believe in nacho... The hand writing is already on the wall for everybody to see...

Lol lets not crucify Akpeyi. He was not the SOLE reason for the loss. However, I've never been confident in him. He could be the SOLE reason tomorrow. He is not reliable enough. Simple. For those who love him to be between the sticks, watch as he will be fizzled out very soon. Lol

goldfish80:
With 3 mins left on the clock you expect magic when we couldn't hit a shot on target all game long?

Are you seriously trying to make me belive that you haven't witnessed a team conceeding a goal towards the end of a gear while they go in search for an equaliser?
The same scenario played out. Dont know why Akepyi is being held responsible while nobody held Ikeme responsible, same scenario.

I wonder why nobody blamed Ikeme for the goal Egypt scored in Kaduna. It was almost the same scenario we had with Mo' Salah. Why didn't Ikeme come out and collect red? Akepyi even managed to come out and challenge but Ikeme sat on his arse.

Unless you guys have a beef outside football with Akpeyi which I don't know about. Its mental to hold him response for that goal.

I expected Sagay to at least expatiate. He just resorted to calling Fayose names. Now who is different? Just like a case of a passerby abusing a mad man.

Modified
My position on Fayose. I've read his many utterances. Just as it is very logical to to oppose this government and the ridiculous things happening on the presidency, the way you go about and in fact your choice of words can easily reveal the type of person you are.

He reminds me of the ever-tweeting Donald Trump. There is a time to talk, and a time to shut up if you don't have something logical to say. How about we all wait till the 27th lol? Didn't he say all the drinks in the table were Nigerian drinks? Do any of us see wisdom in that? Smh

Yes but at his age I'm emphasizing that what's most important is money before his impending retirement.

do4luv14:
and he will still bang in goals there,
he isn't finished yet, if not for westbrom, and stoke city

Osaze should go to China

tbaba1234:
Indonesia?? Sinama Pongolle is banging goals in Thailand. Should the French consider him?

Osaze is far better than the league, he is playing

I disagree. Iwobi has risen through the ranks at Arsenal. His best shot of continued development remains there. Wenger is good for him...until he establishes himself fully -- when he becomes indispensable. Then, he will be world class ready for a great offer elsewhere.

Danielnino00:
Even Iwobi should go on loan. I don't want to get carried away with his ore season performance yet. If Sanchez stays,then Iwobi would find playing time hard to come

I think he should have taken the Fenarbahce offer. EPL is not for everyone. Nigerian players should stop forcing it. We've seen great players do badly in the EPL. It's all about style of play and if you can't adapt well just move.

Another player is Success Isaac. Maybe a second season for both will prove me right or wrong.

Danielnino00:
Guys,do you think its high time Ahmed Musa leaves Leicester (permanently maybe)?

The no.7 jersey has been taken from him already. that's a clear indication that his role in the team would be limited next season.

Yes we have options. I doubt Akpeyi is better than all of these:
Alampasu, Daniel, Uzoho and Nwokolor

Remember, our U23 goal keeper coach saw Daniel better than Akpeyi. So I don't trust all Agu's decisions.

tbaba1234:
With all honesty, I can't trust Akpeyi for any match. Always shaky and does not exude confidence.

Give Daniel or Alampasu a shot, they can't be worse than Akpeyi. Afterall, Ondoa was inexperienced too..

The problem I see here is this post shouldn't have attracted people of other tribes but Ibos alone. It's hard to change people's belief and mentality. If you believe something wholeheartedly you would only see/find information that strengthens that belief but discard anything that refutes it. Leave people to their ways. Tribalism is Nigeria's number one problem. And people form every tribe in Nigeria are tribalistic, which is why we can never face our real issues. I've long given up in Nigeria, because i've given up in the common man where the hope of Nigeria truly lies.

I'm good o.. And you?

Mujtahida:
How are you doing Bro.

Agreed. which is why I said, "chance".

Humility017:
he has never been impressive playing for Nigeria

wisdom!!!

Mujtahida:
@Vanbonattel I want you to pay attention to words and the perception they create. Look at this scenario: I go to a community and settle there. My children grow up there and eventually get into positions of power and influence and then I take pride in their achievements by telling those in the community that my sons are DOING WELL by SERVING the community through their positions and that I am PROUD of them.
In this way I can take pride in their achievements without drawing unnecessary hatred(human beings are naturally prone to envy and hatred not to talk of when one starts putting it to their face) but imagine if I go around town shouting at every drinking joint, every social gathering: 'my sons dominate, they dominate and will continue to dominate ' how would you react? The fact is I want to take pride in their achievements but in the first instance I would have done it with tact, sensitivity and wisdom and in the second instance would have done it foolishly and it might even be counter productive if it leads the community to boot my sons out of their position of power and influence.

Let's call a spade a spade. Ighalo is back! and he deserves another chance.

junnyjake:
Well, six goals in 4 is a good place to start.
Asides him and Adi, we don't have any other player with their level of fitness.

oga the problem in African countries besides some Nothern African countries and SA, is don't want to tackle the real issue.
We have companies in Nigeria that can sponsor our leagues big time. But the government have a huge role to play that they have not been playing.

Let's tackle the real issue and stop looking for an easy way out. We need to unite and face government at the three levels. We need to demand accountability and a good environment for indigenous companies to grow.

Just yesterday I was listening to Brilla FM and Rosa Collins was on air. Can you imagine a lady who have labored for this country as a well decorated athlete in the past and have sacrificed her sweat and money towards the growth of athletics in Nigeria was fizzled out of contention for the chairmanship of AFN without an election and someone was anointed who has no business in sports. All thanks to the sports minister, Solomon Dalung. We all know that he is not competent. But we can make noise on twitter, instagram etc, but we cannot all unite in one voice to ask him to step down. We all desired soccer gold so much at the olympics and watched as the Nigerian team was disgraced by this same sport minister. No body said nothing but made noise.

What's wrong with our athletes and sportsmen demanding him to step down, else they will not compete. It would have been better Mikel and Co chose not to compete unless he steps down. Will we, the masses have united behind them in such action? That's our problem. but we are busy abusing ourselves along tribal lines and politics.. we do not know our problem. Football is our comfort zone and we will always seek ways to enjoy the EPl or find the easier route so as to enjoy football.

Let's go back to the basics so football in Nigeria (who should lead Africa) can REALLY grow.. please leave all those cosmetic approach talking about partnering with gulf countries. First things first.

Modified
Chinese Government has always been pro-China. That's the kind of foundation you lay for your companies to grow. Do you know how much China is pumping into their league?

goldfish80:
You know what you're saying is far from what is on ground.
The reality is that African countries apart from the North Africans and maybe SA do not attract good corporate sponsorship,this is very clear.
Even kit sponsorship deals between Africa and major brands like Nike and addidas are nothing to write home about. You cannot blame the kit makers because they want to make money and Africa don't have such market to patronise them. We prefer made in Aba Jersey than the real ones, so why will they put in top dollar to sponsor us? Will a white man in Germany buy Nigerian Jersey?

How much do you think can be generated for image rights from African friendly games? If a company acquires image rights to broadcast Nigeria vs Senegal game in London for £10M, do you think they can recoup that amount and make profit from pay per view TV? We overrrate ourselves alot. Do you think Europeans bother if Nigeria is playing Senegal?

The only institution that can generate mega money for Africa football is CAF. Imagine if they can sell their TV right for $3 B for a 5 year period (which is a far cry from what the premiership is getting). We are talking about $50M+ earning for each African country added with what they can generate themselves. That is what we are talking about.
If maybe a Uganda can get this kind of money and invest in youth development and capacity building you can imagine how far they will come.

The practical solution to getting this sort of endorsements is by affiliating with the gulf countries. It is very simple.

On China, they are improving tremendously. They a have qualified for the World Cup before. I think they played in the world cup before Nigeria qualified (I maybe wrong). You're not saying they won't qualify for the World Cup with the current expansion as we have after investing billions? Come on.
This right off attitude was what cost us that South African match. We didn't want to hear the South Africans were improving. We still brag our shoulders that they are our wife, just like we did before Ghana made a mess of us in that famous Craven cottage friendly.

What I'm saying is that China shouldn't be written off. They have a serious project there. Europe and the rest of the world are concerned with the Chinese project, while Afrikans are waving them aside. What a paradox.

my point is that Japan and South Korea did not go the extent of China (saying the same thing), but they have always fared better. The truth is the Chinese sports culture focuses more on sports like gymnastics. Hence, most of their best athletes were least likely to choose football/soccer. How do you get your best talents in football when most opt to play other sports?
So i'm just saying that S. Korea and Japan always produced better players in football compared to China, which is why they have always been ahead.
The Chinese government's new fanatism in trying to make China a powerhouse in football at all costs will not pay dividends even in the mid-term run (And i'm talking a century). Some countries don't just cut it football talent wise.

England have always had a great football culture and a wonderful league but are still yet to DREAM of winning the World Cup. Take note that winning the World Cup is in question here (you brought it up).

Talking about Spain. Come on now! Like I said if you got me, some countries can do all they want but they will have to wait centuries. Other countries can achieve it considerably in a far less time with investments in their league.. because they have other factors pointing to their favor.

Nigeria is one country that always have the potential (and i'm not saying this because I'm a Nigerian). Come to think of it, we put our all in football, but the only one thing stopping us is a better league/development structure. Need I say we have been dreaming of winning the world cup? It's always been a realistic dream.

goldfish80:
I appreciate your points but the truth is that what the Chinese are doing cannot be compared with what these countries you listed attempted.

If it was a sexual escaped, it will be considered very dry and apologetic if you try to connect what the Koreans and Japanese attempted with that of China.

The case of England is like that of the famous under achieving Spain and Portugal. Their time to shine will come.

We are still waiting for England to win the WC. Japan or South Korea will win it before Chjna dreams of it. You can read between the lines.

Modified.
When it comes to the World Cup, you can wear a pig lipstick but it won't change it. Some countries don't just cut it. Yes having a good league and good development structure is important, but some countries will have these but will still wait centuries to win the mundial.

goldfish80:
Bringing the gulf countries in will increase the number of countries who can actually host the thing. Apart from South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia, no other African country can conviently host the tournament. We are talking about a 2 year interval between two tournaments.
There's no shame in accepting the reality on ground. Cameroun are toiling already just to host the next one.

Football have gone beyond kick and follow. We are talking about various aspects of the game African countries have not even started developing.

Talk about sports science, technology and what have you. China have already invested billions to this. The project in China is already attracting the best across the globe. Just take a lost at all the coaches working in China. We are talking about 2 World Cup winners and dozens of championship winning managers.
The Chinese players don't need to go to Europe, Europe is coming to them. After looking at how far their project have come in just a few years, one wonder what could be in the offing in the future. I haven't even talked about Chinese buisness men buying top European clubs, the implications is that you may see Chinese teams play in the Champions league in the future. This can easily happen since they are gradually gaining the voting power by acquiring those clubs

You may say this is just about league football, but it is not. Everything is heading towards winning the World Cup. Every world cup winning country have a good league at home.
There is a method to their madness. If Africa cannot explore options on the table to inject more money into the game here, no prayers or juju can make us win the World Cup. Not with events unfolding across the globe.

China are building capacity to go one better than South Korea. What is the African project if I should ask? Prayers?

A nation of 180 million footballers.
What do you expect when we have a poor football structure. We ONLY rely on FIFA age-grade competitions to discover our talents and HOPE that they reach their full potential in Europe.

komekn:
When will he reach that full potential when he is 30

He has had a lot of opportunities but it's not by mistake he finds himself in an obscure team in Turkey. What is worrying is that he represents the Creme De La Creme, of our defence for the SE.

He is far from World class and he is nowhere near top class but he's the about the best class we have. A nation of 180 million people and we are struggling to produce top players. Wahala deh Oh !!!