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OPPONENT WATCH

We have got to shut the crowd up in Nigeria‚ says Bafana coach Baxter
Stuart Baxter says if Bafana Bafana can shut the crowd up in the first 20 minutes of Bafana Bafana's 2019 Africa Cup Nations qualifier against Nigeria in Uyo on Saturday‚ it will be advantage South Africa.
Bafana meet Nigeria in their opening qualifier for Cameroon 2019 having never beaten their nemesis the Super Eagles in a competitive match.

This will also be Baxter's first game in charge at the start of his second tenure as Bafana coach.

"I think we've got to shut the crowd up. That's one of our big jobs‚" Baxter said ahead of his team's afternoon departure to overnight in Lagos‚ then flight to Uyo in central Nigeria on Thursday morning.

"If we let the crowd get excited‚ and Nigeria enjoy the game‚ then I think that's going to be a big plus for them.

"I think if we can turn that around and frustrate them a bit‚ and be better than they think‚ and have more to say than they think‚ then maybe the crowd could be a bit of a negative for them.

"I think that's important. And maybe if Niegria could have chosen‚ they might not really have wanted to play us in the first game at home.

"Because then there is the scenario that if they lose they're going to be under tremendous pressure from the beginning.

"So we have to use that. With the mental part of the game‚ the boys have to feel that this is one where we can spoil the party a bit. We can make it difficult for Nigeria."

Baxter said stifling Nigeria in the opening 20 minutes could be crucial for Bafana.

"It will be big. The critical phases of the game are always important‚ and I think the first period in this game is a big one.

"Because that will either bring the crowd into the game‚ or it will take them out a bit.

"If the first 20 minutes are not what they had hoped‚ then immediately the crowd will make their displeasure felt‚ then they will be baying for blood. And I think that will be advantage us."

The coach said Bafana's two draws against Nigeria - including having held a 2-0 lead in Uyo - in the qualifiers for Afcon 2015‚ which SA reached at the defending champions' expense‚ has helped chip away at the Eagles' psychological advantage.

"I think that having been there and having gone through it‚ it gives the players a sense of calm. I don't think we fear Nigeria as much as respect them‚" the coach said.

"The players have gone there‚ they've gone through the mill so to speak.

"They're thinking that they have gone there‚ and maybe if they had hung on they could have gotten the result."

Bafana and Nigeria are drawn with Seychelles and Libya in Group E.
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport

Eagles First Training : Arsenal Whizkid Stars, Alhassan Pushing For Starting Shirt

Akwa United offensive all-rounder Alhassan Ibrahim is pushing for a starting shirt against South Africa, in what would be his competitive debut for the national team if that comes to pass, having impressed the coaching staff during the training session on Tuesday.

Twenty players were divided into two groups, with Team A wearing green, while Team B suited up in orange.

Alhassan played as a midfielder for Team B, he was all over the pitch, taking the ball out of defense before initiating attacks. The ex-Flying Eagle played more like a box-to-box midfielder.

Teammate Alex Iwobi also sparkled, running between the defense and midfield to receive passes and distributed the ball perfectly.

Manchester City's Kelechi Iheanacho seems to be the designated penalty taker, the striker successfully converted his penalty kick after Etebo was felled in the box.

After the water break, Chippa United goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi replaced Ezenwa. The training ended around 1200 hours.

Confirmed Lineups

Team A : Ezenwa (Akpeyi) Troost-Ekong, Awaziem, Shehu, Maroof Yusuf, Onazi, Ndidi, Onyekuru, Kayode, Oshimen.

Team B : Alampasu, Agbo, Ogu, Ebuehi, Alhassan, Etebo, Agu, Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses Simon.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

http://allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=23325

We still dey Kayode versus Osimhen matter? How are they faring in camp? I am reading reports from the training session already

yes, two rival tribes in Edo state.

Icon4s:
If you call an Esan man Benin or vice versa if cutlass dey near your life may never remain the same.

Man City Make Check On Bayern Munich's Nigerian Superkid Ezekwem, Dubbed The Next Alaba
Published: June 06, 2017
Man City Make Check On Bayern Munich's Nigerian Superkid Ezekwem, Dubbed The Next AlabaBayern Munich's young Nigerian defender Kimberly Ezekwem displayed his skills at the recently concluded Puskás Cup.

A representative of Premier League side Manchester City was spotted at the Pancho Arena for the U17 tournament involving the youth teams of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Puskás Akadémia, Panathinaikos, Sporting CP and Budapest Honvéd.

The Citizens talent spotter was in Hungary to keep an eye on the most outstanding players in the tournament.

Ezekwem, a left wing-back who models his game on David Alaba, went the distance in all the matches played by Bayern, and came close to scoring in his team's loss to Panathinaikos.

Born June 19, 2001, the highly-rated Ezekwem represented the youth team of 1860 Munich before he joined city rivals Bayern Munich.

http://allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=23314

Ok he is from Edo state.

Kog45:
This is d reason i love nairaland especially this thread.I said d guy is from Igbo tribe but goldfish80 said NO d guy is from Benin now Icon4 baba said Esan.

ok kayode is in camp.

goldfish80:
Being top scorer in Austria and most scoring Nigerian player in Europe for 2 seasons in a row, all achieved while still under 25yrs, seriously indicate he's a talent who deserves a look in.

Onazi will keep getting invites until he is overshadowed in camp by one these newbies. That's how it works. Onazi is already part of the winning set up.

It will be impossible to ignore players shinning in big clubs. However they will still have to fit in to Rohrs tactics.

ChrisKels:
Sir forgiveness, how come u couldn't broker a better deal for Abdul Ajagun? While others are stepping up, he is headed for a small team in Lokeren.

If Azubike's move to either Monaco or Besiktas comes to fruition, with Mathews imminent move to Anderletch (Belgium's biggest club) this transfer window, then ur boy would be on a long thing.


Modified ; I think Onazi should find a way outta Turkey or better yet, make a move to a bigger club(in the mould of Besiktas, Galatasaray, Fener) because the competition might make him a victim of this looming stampede. I said this because in Nigeria, we respect clubs more than the talent in clubs. If Esiti (poor man's wanyama), moves to PSG hmm...I doubt Onazi would still be getting invites playing for Trabzonspor

Nice move. In fact I love the competition in the SE. Esiti will have to wait to get another chance.

ChrisKels:
While others were fighting their ways into reckoning, igiebor and his likes were busy blabbing


Exclusive – PSG Open Transfer
Talks With Gent Over Out Of
Favour Eagles Ace Anderson
Esiti
Anderson Esiti is in line for a big move away
from Belgium side Gent with French giants PSG
currently holding talks over his transfer.
Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that
talks are already on regarding his possible
transfer with Gent willing to let the midfielder
nicknamed the beast leave this summer.
Esiti joined Gent last summer for €1.5m from
Portuguese side Estoril, but the club have a
15% sell on clause in the deal that took him to
the Belgium side, which means they are also
entitled to a chunk of his transfer fee if he
moves to PSG.
Already Gent has quoted €20m as his price tag
to PSG, who are now looking for ways to beat
the price down a bit, as the player is high on
the summer transfer wishlist of coach Unai
Emery.
The 23 year old has fallen out of favour with
the national team selectors of Nigeria, and
despite his fine form for Gent in the recently
concluded season, he still wasn’t considered for
the training camp in France, and the game
against South Africa this weekend.

Right! Because it is in camp tht the coach instils his own tactics. If you can't measure up to his winning philosophy you will be phased out.

TheGoodJoe:
I do not develop ideologies. I study and you can find out that they make big sense. A good example is Osimhen's case. When I was hammering about training above game time, people argued. Today, Rohr is doing precisely that.

Someone like you should see that I was right but you decide to bury your head from the fact right in front of your eyes.

Another example is how you argued against Rohr checking on Oshaniwa. At the end, Rohr did precisely what I said. Invited him to camp, neglecting the lack of game time and seeing for himself if Oshaniwa was still good enough.

If Rohr is impressed with Osimhen's form in training, all those game time talk is nothing but Super Story. What matters is those who stand out in camp. Not historical data.

how Na? Lol

AIG07:
@Joebie. Sir, you're not kind o... You must have been a clinical finisher as a young boy. THIS IS BRUTAL.

*winks*

Eagles must contain Furman to win
by Iwedi Ojinmah 03 June 2017, 09:35

Nigeria kick off their quest for a berth in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday in Uyo after failing to make it to the last two editions, in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Sacrilege for the west Africans considering how football crazy the country is and that they have appeared in 17 previous competitions and five World Cups.

Facing them will be Bafana Bafana, ranked 11th in Africa and 65th in the world and in the past this would probably have prompted a snicker from the Nigerian faithful. After all South Africa have never beaten them in any competitive game and only once in a friendly when most the Eagles big guns were MIA.

Back to back draws have changed all that.

Ironically, the man who led the Bafana charge then, Stuart Baxter, is back in the saddle and hoping to reproduce the magic of November 17, 2004 in Johannesburg. Two of his key players in achieving this will be Itumeleng Khune at goalkeeper and Dean Furman in midfield, both of whom he has already identified as the kind of battlers he needs for the big game.

While Khune’s experience and skill need no explanation, some may raise eye brows at Furman. Certainly not in Nigeria where the mercurial midfielder has always performed amazingly against them. Sure it may have been Rantie who circumvented Enyeama twice on the way to scoring a brace in November 2014, but it was captain Furman who sealed the Bafana middle and turned it into a sticky mouse-trap for the likes of Emenike, Musa, and Ikechukwu Uche, expelling them from the Equatorial Guinea Afcon.

A year later it was Furman again at the Mbombela Stadium who spearheaded the South African defence against Nigeria by playing deeper than normal and again clawing out a 1-1 draw.

Furman is a rugby player in a footballer's body and we say that without any insinuation of being dirty. He plays feisty and isn’t pushed off the ball. His tackles are mostly on point and at six feet he isn’t easily beaten with the lob unless it is weighted perfectly. With Mikel Obi out for Nigeria it will be interesting to see how he fares against the talent-overloaded Nigerian midfield that Rohr is still tinkering with.

Considering that the Sparrow Hawks dominated the Eagles (despite losing 3-0) in their last friendly in ball possession (52 v 48 per cent ) the table is set for an exciting duel as Nigeria are still not playing coherently in this part of the field. Dial up the knob on drama since the Eagle’s Onazi - most likely replacement for Mikel as midfield General, plays with as much temperament as Furman.

Nigeria are about to play three of the biggest games in their modern football history and they come back to back to back. In the first two, against Bafana and then Cameroon for Russia 2018 on 28 August, they must hold serve at home. It's as simple, and yet as difficult, as that.
Up front with his best player Victor Moses out due to toe surgery, Rohr must get his strikers on point and to stop being so wasteful. In addition to his midfield dilemma described above, he must also have his back line step up and continue to be stingy. Sadly for the German, all the good work done so far in this department keeps falling apart each time Balogun picks up another injury and can't dress - as is the case again.

However, most pundits agree that most importantly Rohr must render Furman useless by making him chase the ball right from the opening whistle to the very end, and keep him out of position. This means Nigeria must stretch the game and find a way to use their speed not just to reach the South African 18, but then pepper Khune with grass-cutting screamers.

The game is set for Saturday, June 10 at 6pm CAT and will be live on SuperSport . With the west African Monsoon season now in full bloom, there is a high probability of rain.

https://www.supersport.com/football/super-eagles/news/170603/Eagles_must_contain_Furman_to_win

Let me tackle your points one by one so hopefully you get it finally.

If it isn't 'solely' on club performance, then what is it?

One thing you need to realize is that just because Ajagun for example starts and plays regularly for Roda does not mean he will be given the same opportunity should another coach be in the helm of affairs in Roda. So what does that tell you? Take for example, Awaziem became a regular feature for Porto main team towards the end of the season before this that just ended. But their new coach didn't see him good enough to be in the main team, hence his demotion to team B throughout last season. A similar thing happened to Sadiq Umar at Roma. My question to you is this, why would you think as a national coach you can go based on the judgement of all club coaches as regards player preferences? Coaches know that coaches have different playing philosophy and they can make different decisions as to who starts or who plays where. So back to what I said. A national team coach will not take club performances as the ONLY yardstick to determine who gets invited first. It's totally okay for a coach to see a thing in a player especially as he has his own playing philosophy. Pep prefers Jesus to Iheanacho. As much as we may be sentimental because Iheanacho is our own, Pep still succeeded in getting a Champions League spot for Man City, and Jesus played a large role in that. So what am I saying here, the goal of every coach is to win and they would choose the players they think that can help them achieve that aim -- again think playing philosophy.

Why was Onazi who played very little part in John Obuh's U17 team invited to the National team ahead of Sanni Emmanuel?

Different factors. It COULD BE at the time the Super Eagles was already loaded in attack and needed options in the midfield. If we needed strikers, Sani maybe would have been invited to see how he can measure up against the big boys. It is not SOLELY based on club performance that Onazi got the nod first. TAKE NOTE i'm not saying a player will not get the nod first SOLELY because of club performance. I am saying it is not a standard. It does not always obtain, as sometimes other factors come into play. so in the case of Sani vs Onazi it depends on whoever was the coach at the time and what he was looking for. There is no set standard in player selection. Different timing, different coaches with their playing philosophy, different scenarios. Which is why coaches have to assume responsibility if they fail, and get the praise if they succeed. Isn't Rohr winning?

If club form doesn't automatically translate to international performance, how do you who will perform at the national team?

If you are a coach you will know what you are looking for in a player. I've said it before that there is a science to this game. Although some made mockery of me. But we need to ask ourselves why has USA got to the quarterfinals of the world cup? Even South Korea has go to the semi finals of the world cup. these teams can never come near Nigeria when it comes to talents. How many of their players can you name that will do very well in Europe for example? So you dont just pick a bunch of talents, blend them together and expect magic to happen. First as a coach you need to already know how you want to play, and be able to spot the RIGHT talents that will suit your winning formula. Ability to read your opponents.. so many things are involved. I may already have a winger in the mold of Moses Simon who is a dribbler and may not want another winger similar to that player. I could be looking for something else at that point in time. It's got nothing to do with just preferring a specific player, unless of course the coach is tribalistic or an agent coach lol like some of our coaches in the past.

Do you mean the one cleaning and warning the should be called to the national team fast fast while the that just started shining should continue forever until he convince the coach he is old enough to retire ?

This kind of question is unbelievable. Let's assume that we invite Orji to the SE today, but suddenly he is demoted to Bologna team B by a new coach, and Osimhen is now scoring goals for Wolfsburg, will you use this criteria to drop Orji and invite Osimhen instantly? Will there be any sense of stability in the team if we make invitations solely on what we see weekly in Europe? Any coach that makes decisions like this will fail out of confusion. Always think playing philosophy and realize that coaches differ. The only reason why we were criticizing Pep is because he was not fielding Iheanacho and at a time Man City wasn't doing well. But as soon as Pep got it right and landed Man City a UCL spot won't we be stupid to criticize him? The goal of any coach is to win matches, and as long as they are succeeding THEY ARE RIGHT.

Is Etebor Okocha? Ajagun is up against Etebor not Okocha because if we talk Okocha then Etebor na small pikin
oga let's remove every sentiments. Based on our qualifiers so far, Etebo is among the top 3 SE performers. Isn't it stupid to say Ajagun is better than Etebo considering our context of world cup qualification? I was just making a point that versatility is not a good enough yardstick for determing who is a better player. Hence, I mentioned Okocha. I could have a playing philosophy that only needs a couple versatile players, because what may matter to me more is them having mastery of a particular position. Another coach may want to be very dynamic that he thinks he requires as many versatile players as possible. different coaches different vision.

Now, that you've seen that Ajagun is more versatile than Etebor, you've started singing another tune.isorrite!
No I was just saying even if you are right in that assertion, it doesnt make Ajagun a better player. Coaches deplore players based on how they want to play or/and based on the personnel in the squad. Ajagun MAY have never been considered in the number 10 position if he was in the books of Feirense for example. Again, different coaches, different vision, different squad. It's hard to standardize these thigns. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Etebo can play as left forward, right forward, left midfield, right midfield, main striker, support striker, as a number 10 as well.. Before the Algeria game he was never seen as a defensive midfielder. His performance in that game is now history. Is that not versatility? Or are you just going by transfermarkt.com.. lol Conte thought Moses could play the Right Wing back role, and it worked. These are the kind of decisions we give coaches BIG credits for. Rohr got it right with Etebo. Who would have thought that..?

Can you please mention the name of Etebor's club?

That I have already done. And his name is Etebo not Etebor, Eteboh, Etebou etc.. it's just a five later name lol

forgiveness:
If it isn't 'solely' on club performance, then what is it?

Why have you not clamored for Sanni Emmanuel?

Why was Onazi who played very little part in John Obuh's U17 team invited to the National team ahead of Sanni Emmanuel?

If club form doesn't automatically translate to international performance, how do you who will perform at the national team?

Do you mean the one cleaning and warning the should be called to the national team fast fast while the that just started shining should continue forever until he convince the coach he is old enough to retire ?

Make em just convince with hard labour while de other dey come collect allowance even em no dey kick ball?

Orji just started shining because dem dash position for Seria A!?

Is Etebor Okocha? Ajagun is up against Etebor not Okocha because if we talk Okocha then Etebor na small pikin.

Now, that you've seen that Ajagun is more versatile than Etebor, you've started singing another tune.isorrite!

It is nolonger about been versatile it is about been favored ba!

Ajagun is better no 10 than Etebor, you can take that to the bank.

Can you please mention the name of Etebor's club?

While you're on it, list the names of his team mates. Thanks

Yes reports have it that
Ebuehi, Mikel Agu, Onazi, Ogu, Onyekuru, Osimhen, Akpeyi, Kayode and Alamapasu are all in Uyo

do4luv14:
Report has it that the super eagles are in uyo now, how true is that

cc DGUDJOE,SUPANERD, TBABA, JOEBIE, MADAM SAFARI,
4GIVNX a,d ICONS with OPARI MASTER

exactly!

Like I would always say, "as long as we are winning..."

Mujtahida:
Internet coach-speculations, opinions, second hand information, surmises, approximations, guesses etc. These things are good in their own place and as fans sometimes that's the best we can offer but It can never ever be the equated to the living experience of the coach and his players. Coaches will fall or stand by their decisions. God help Rohr.

Welcome to Naija Sir Rohr.

do4luv14:
Guys wahala dey ooo,
MUSA and SHEHU wan make ROHR vex, cos of fast ooo

I can't comment much about his u20 performance because I've not watched any of the games. But I know he started the tournament as a sub. I now see he starts even even in the knockout stage and England is progressing. I'm sure he will be demoted if he is 5.5 kind of player. As regards sideways passes, we can't be sure he is not playing to instruction to hold possession. The Ejaria I know in Liverpool is not full of sideways passes. Now we are talking premier league verses U-20 World Cup.

Mujtahida:
Joebie shey you see what I said about Ejaria and affirmed by omanbala if I remember well enough?

Exactly. Let's shift our attention to those are being fielded. Invitation alone is not a big issue.

chrisooblog:
spot on! now let me bring the issue of agbim constant selection under keshi. we all rightly doubted his quality but we waited to observe him in some of our matches before we placed a final judgment that he is not super eagles material. i haven't formed an opinion on osimhen yet because i've not seen him in action for the super eagles yet. i think the boy at least deserves the benefit of doubt to prove his quality or lack thereof

If you read my logic about limelight in our Orji vs Osimhen argument you will get the point. Even in other spheres of life timing is a big factor.
Osihmen got to limelight after scoring a record 10 goals at the U17 WC. Subsequent coaches ran the rule over him and were very impressed.
Rohr inherited the idea of Osimhen. Watched him in training and was convinced he is a prodigy. The boy has already made a solid impression.
It will take a season of failure for his light to fade. If it bothers you so much that he gets invitation, I'm sorry you are going to be troubled for a long spell, ESPECIALLY when the boy starts showing his stuff in Wolfsburg. Awoniyi kept making the matchday squad and was fielded consistently despite his inability to score in the Eredivisie. It took him a few final games to prove that he is not finished yet. Both NEC coaches were not fools. You can's see what they see by being an internet coach.

Oasis007:
That's the Reason I've been avoiding making Comments on this Thread. Hatred?! Why should I hate him?

Why should I take my Critics on his Invitation so personal to the extent of hating him?! Can you tell me the Reason Isaac didn't make List?! He's also a great Lad with huge Potentials. So why didn't he make the List and no one is crying or wailing over it?!

It's very simple to answer - he's unfit, match rusty and couldn't get enough playing time at his Club. Forget what some Newspapers were saying about his Attitude at the Camp, we ain't there, hence we can't be so sure of their Reports on him.

Are you saying Osimhen is fit enough to be in the Team?! How many Goals did he score for his Club that warrants is inclusion in the List?! Guess you wanna tell me he's just back from Injury?! Then he should be allowed to recuperate, coz we ain't playing friendly Match against South Africa in Uyo.

How many positions has Shehu played under Rohr? The last time I checked we needed reinforcements in both full back positions. The problem have not been solved yet.

So why has Shehu only featured as a right back but not considered as the solution there?

Mickael2:
this thread tire me. When people question Shehu's inclusion in the team because we have better fullbacks some people will say it's because he is versatile(I even accepted that assumption), now it's Ajagun's turn and you guys are saying Rohr doesn't want versatile players, what then does Rohr want?

Ok thanks for the correction. Someone is quickly making Ajagun a golden horse o.

safarigirl:
on this thread, goldeñ horses are not necessarily indispensable, they are the players who we defend come rain come shine. Na because of them we fit rack up 10 pages in an hour. Those are the golden horses in this context.

And while V Moses may be an important player, he is not a golden horse because he is not.dedicated to the National team and quite frankly, I have not seen an argument concerning him that has racked up to four pages, even less ten. Generally, there is a lukewarm feeling to him.

Etebo is certainly on a maybe list


The golden boys are the ones threadmates are most passionate about. Even Aluko and Solanke could make the list of maybes

The problem is when we think a player has done better at the club level and should be considered ahead of another right away. Guys there are several factors in play. Invitation and dropping of a player is not based SOLELY on club performance.

Personally as a coach, if Osimhen impresses me in camp, the likelihood of me inviting him again is higher than inviting someone who JUST STARTED shining at club level. Coaches know that club form does not automatically translate internationally, which is why they give it time, until they are convinced they should give a new player a chance. Guys lets not forget that Mikel Agu has been in form all season. He just got his chance. But Orji just started shining..

If some of us here were coaches our player invitation list will change drastically every time because we go by the players performance after every club match. na wa oh.

And to the Ajagun matter. It is one thing to say he deserves a call up. It's yet another to say he is better than someone who have been flawless for SE, just because he seems more versatile. If Okocha were playing today will you say Ajagun is better because he is more versatile? Rohr may not need that versatility in the team at the moment. A jack of all trade is not necessarily a master of any. Versatility does not always mean better. Yes Ajagun could be an option in the future. I'm not saying he is not good enough. Just because he is #10 in his club does not mean if he were in SE right now he will be considered ahead of Mikel, Iwobi, or Etebo in that role. We are talking about Roda JC for God sake. Can you name another player in that team? Are they even still in the Eredivisie?

goldfish80:
To the best of my knowledge, nobody said Osimhen is not talented, even Million Koma is talented. The question have been if he has done enough to merit a senior national team call up in the past season? The answer is a resounding No! If we had qualified for the U20 world cup in Korea, he might not even be a sure starter for the team because someone else must have stepped up to the plate, just like Awoniyi stepped up and took Isaac Success's place at the last championship.

This Osimhen matter don tire me. Does he usually make matchday squad for SE until the latest friendlies? There is room for a joker in a team. Ronaldo 9 went to USA 94 without kicking a ball. Did he deserve it? But the rest is history. What Rohr sees is what we can't see. When you have ran the rule over the boy personally, you can criticize. It's too early to judge Osmhen's club performance unless you just hate the boy.

All the players we are clamoring for cannot make the starting 11. Invitation and integration is a gradual process especially in a winning team like ours.

Oasis007:
Sentiment aside, the Invitation of Osimhen is wrong. Like some Dudes here, I keep asking myself the justification behind his Invitation but I couldn't come up with any tangible Reason.

Some are saying the Coach knows what he's doing and believes in the Potentials of the Lad, but to me that's simply an Excuse. Why are we clamoring for Iheanacho to leave Man City for any Club for playing Time?!

Is it not because we want him to justify the Coach's Confidence in him as well as for him to perfect his Skills on the Pitch?! Ain't we sure of his Potentials?! Osimhen should have been allowed to fully recuperate and prove himself next Season before inviting him to the SE Camp.

45 mins of playing Time for a whole Season doesn't justify his Inclusion in the Team presently.

Na wa. To determine the golden horses, the question is who is indispensable as regards starting for us when we have a full house. Please don't put etebo in that league of maybes. I won't start Iwobi against Cameroon. Etebo has been unplayable CONSISTENTLY. No commit sin o..

Modified
And you no mention a whole Victor Moses. I hope say u no get hidden criteria

safarigirl:
is Aluko a number 9? I used to think he plays a similar position to Iwobi

Anyway, contrary to what some may feel, I don't think Osimhen is a golden horse on this thread, a lot of people are largely indifferent about him in fact. Nobody here has ever called for his inclusion, so I don't see what makes him an 'untouchable'. The defense of Osimhen's inclusion has more tto do with keeping faith in Rohr than protecting Osimhen.

As far as I know, the only golden boys on this thread are Mikel, Iheanacho and Iwobi and then maybe Etebo and Alampasu come close.

French Open WTA

Three tops seeds fell Sunday.
Venus Williams fell like a pack of cards to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky after taking the first set
7-5, 2-6, 1-6

14th WTA ranked Kristina Mladenovic of France overcame 4th ranked Garbine Muguruza of Spain
by 2 sets to 1

Meanwhile former world number one Caroline Wozniacki continued to amass points in her bid to move up to the top 10 when she overcame her 9th ranked Russian rival Svetlena Kuznetsova, to reach the Quarter Finals. The four Grand Slam title still eludes the Dane despite her holding on to the Number one spot for a long spell in the past. Will she make it this time? First she will have to beat her next opponent in World number 47 Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia, who came back from losing the first set to send WTA Number 22, Samantha Stosur home.

ATP Event
At the Male event, the chances of winning a 10th French Open title remained bright for world number 4 Rafael Nadal, as he continued his cruise towards the championship match still yet to drop a set. However, if he succeeds to win his quater final bout against world number 20 CArreno-Busta, he will meet a stronger challenge in the semis. And that will be the winner of the QF match between Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic. Both players have beaten Nadal on clay. Although Djoko have not gotten the better of Nadal this year, he has beaten Nadal four times on clay in the past, one coming in the QF French Open in 2015. Thiem on the other hand, will have a chance to beat Nadal for the second consecutive time (having beaten him in Italy last month) if he is able to withstand the baseline mastery of world number two Djokovic.

My people let's not forget it was same way they were saying why Osimhen and not Odey. Coaches are not fools oh. They know what they see in a player that matches their philosophy. The fact is Osimhen is very much in Rohrs plans that he will never hesitate to keep him near the team as long as he is not injured. Orji will get his chance. No be who get invite first go go Russia.

I will give you a direct answer. Osimhen came to the limelight first. he was noticed, ised by previous coaches and Rohr inherited the idea of Osimhen. Ran the rule over him, and believed in him. Orji is now just coming to limelight, hence still behind in the pecking order.

When it gets to his turn we will see if he can outwit Osimen. I heard Orji played as a 9 at Bologna U20 or was it Bologna B, so the comparison is healthy IMO.

Mickael2:
thank you. Now here is the question, Orji is also a lad for the future so he falls into the same category with Oshimen, why exactly was Oshimen preferred?

No pun intended. This is an unforgivable sin

forgiveness:
First of all, we never knew Etebor and Iwobi could play dat position until they were given the chance to prove themselves despite the fact that they were nobodies before they played for the national team.

Ironically, Abdul Ajagun who was already an established player with Panathinaikos, and was very much influential to them lifting the Greek version of FA cup, helped them to place 2nd twice in the league, and played in both the Europa and Champions league qualifiers was mischievously, deliberately and unjustly overlooked for an academy player and a NFL player.

Now, you are asking who is better.

I will say give him also the chance to prove himself but until them, i go dey talk.

However, Abdul is better than Eteboh.

He is better than Iheancho, Iwobi, Aluko and Etebor when it comes to playing more than 5 roles effectively.

Abdul can do better. Next.

Yes based on club performance ALONE.

Mickael2:
but do you agree that Orji deserves a spot ahead of Oshimen, yes or no

But majority coaches are not playing 3-4-3 right now.

AIG07:
Nope. Just as it also seen in the case of formations deployed in football over the years. From 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and now 3-4-3(more coaches are adopting it). Majority of coaches adopts/follow trends as a result of change in football patterns while others decide to deviates and stick to what de believe will work for them. This doesn't mean that those who deviated will fail.
*it all boils down to individual's CHOICE*

you can decide to build your team around Form(i.e prioritizing form ahead of class) while another coach decide to say no-it is class first. All well and good-it depends on how you view it.

After today's loss, the trio of Edomwonyi, Igiebor and Oboabona are relegated with Rizespor

Neither do you. I'm only saying its a long time considering the timeframe of Rohr as our coach

Icon4s:
You don't know Rohr.