₦airaland Forum

Humility017:
then...if you know Ramos too do have bad days...then awaziem shouldn't be left out...
the dude too had a bad day.
omeruo playing in that match won't have prevented the SA from winning the eagles that day...
someone like Mikel and V.Moses presence would have made the difference not playing omeruo

jerryclinton:
It still baffles me how Alloy Agu remains our goalkeeper trainer. He himself and Ike Shorumnu were not very good keepers you can easily recall their exploits when they played for super eagles. To me they were average and at times fringe keepers. Why is Peter Rufai never our goalkeeper trainer?

Icon4s:
@ your first paragraph. That's why I said I can only consider Odegbami and Chukwu among Nigeria's top 10 best.

I know Felix Owolabi(aka Owoblow) Wella. Growing up way back some of us used to take his identity on the field of play. Particularly wingers.

Adokiye was good as a winger but I still rate Emmanuel Amuneke ahead of him.

Amuneke that was so lethal that his every move was electrical and would always create panic in the opposing defense. Created and scored lots of important goals for Nigeria even with his short stink in the national team owing to injuries. To play for Barcelona FC no be beans o.

He and Finidi were rated among the best Wingers in the world then (though no official ratings)

Talking about WC slots. Even if there was only one slot available for Africa in that 1994 we would have taken it. Gba bee.

Muda Lawal was a midfielder then right? Can't remember. But if he was, compare him with the likes of Oliseh and Okocha.

The 94 team erased the numerous heart aches we had in the 1980s.

O I remember one clip I saw of the qualifiers for the 1978 WC. Tunisia Vs Nigerian. A Tunisian player called 'Hagger'. We lost that game either 3-0 or 3-1 after losing the first leg 0-1 in Nigeria.

Icon4s:
I am not faulting Odegbami's analysis of the SA game.

I was only elaborating on what someone said about his choice of Nigeria's best players.

I may not have followed the 1980 AFCON but o have memories (though faint) of the end of Odegbami's generation. IE 1982 WC qualifiers and 1982 AFCON. Even though most of the memories were re-televised matches I watched in the mid 80s.

If I want to make a list of Nigeria's top players ever from that era I will only consider Odegbami and Chukwu.

The 1994 Class had better quality.

Odegbami and his mates that could not qualify Nigeria for any world cup? Then playing teams like Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt was like Arsenal playing Barça or Bayern. Pessin go almost piss for body.


I have a 90mins video of that Nigeria '80 AFCON final. The standards displayed by the Nigerian players was nothing compared to the 94 Class.

You cannot tell me Adokiye was better than Amuneke. Amuneke from 1994 to 1996/97 was about the most deadly left winger in the world!

I know those guys played good football then. Apart from the popular ones like Odegbami, Okala brothers, Chukwu, Adokiye, Muda Lawal, Ogedengbe, Silvanus Okpala, I still recall some Like Okey Esima, Tunde Bamidele, Haruna Elerika and so on.

But I think they (Odegbami and Co) are over exaggerating their abilities . They are not much better than the Maroc '88 team IMO that had Stephen Keshi, Austin Eguavoen, Sunday Oboigbe, Ademola Adeshina, Henry Nwosu, Samuel Okwaraji, Rashidi Yekini, Wole Odegbami, Monday Odiaka, Bright Omokaro, Peter Rufai, and Co.

Icon4s:
Haha haha.

Seems the only Eagles he credits is his 1980 winning class.

Ask him to pick 5 best Nigerian players ever and 4 will come from his set.

He said Akpeyi is the worst Eagles goalie ever. He forgot there was one Chigozie Agbim. Hahahaha.

Icon4s:
Haha haha.

Seems the only Eagles he credits is his 1980 winning class.

Ask him to pick 5 best Nigerian players ever and 4 will come from his set.

He said Akpeyi is the worst Eagles goalie ever. He forgot there was one Chigozie Agbim. Hahahaha.

Humility017:
how about the assist omeruo gave....the Zambian in Ndola...?
was that not an aerial ball
I don't hate omeruo....but everyone is making it look....as if omeruo playing that day would have make any difference....
same omeruo that gave rantie an assist few years ago and same RSA played same pattern they played few days ago
no difference...
I don't hate omeruo....but the truth be told...his inclusion on that day won't have make any difference.....

komekn:
I would like to see what objective indices were used to pick a player who has played only 45 minutes of football all season in bottom relegation threatened Bundesliga club and who is recovering from Injury.

Mickael2:
the guy used to be my best player between 2013 and 2014, his complete capitulation is the reason why I just can't trust him again

Mickael2:
Onazi of 2013 is not the same as Onazi of 2017. If you try that stuff then we will end up having a 3 man backline or the chances are that he will continue conceding dangerous freekicks. The criticism we have of his game is his lack of positional discipline and you want to play him at LB?

Icon4s:
All just because Alampasu didn't make match day squad. Haha haha

The truth is there are no good goalkeepers in Africa any more. I mentioned this fact months ago.

If I look into the NPFL for instance I can't even think of any goalie that is credible enough to face Cameroon in the absence of Ikeme.

No just mention Alampasu o bc that game go be like horror movie. I no go watch.

I don't even know why Emmanuel Daniel is being ignored. I have more confidence in him than Alampasu.

Let us see the goalies Rohr will invite against Cameroon.

kennysville:
Hmm ... the day Omeruo will fluff his lines again, u will still come back and say he is no good. Frankly, I am not sold on Omeruo. That dude fidgets a lot at the back. Dont worry, cameroun game is next. We will see how his expereience plays out. Experience. Experience, how did Echiejile fair in that game? Would u honestly beat your chest and say he had a good game?

I think we still dont get it. We lost the game from our midfield. Talking about rookie defender or whatever the case is , is practically immaterial. We have seen good midfielders make defenders look soooo gorgeous. And when all that is not in place,
Same defenders get jittery. And thats just exactly what happened. We lost the game from wrong tactics and bad midfield combo. PERIOD!
Anyone but omeruo please

Joebie:
Anybody who holds tight to his/her beliefs can never grow. As humans we need to keep learning. I was wrong about Awaziem.

OlaMiki:
USELESS LEKN FATODU TRYING TO LAUNDER BUKOLA SARAKI'S DIRTY /CORRUPT IMAGE , AN IMAGE THAT IS OVER DIRTY WITH CORRUPTION , THE BEST PR IN THE WORLD WILL FAIL .

YOUR USELESS PROTEST IS ABSOLUTE NONESENSE , LET BUKOLA SARAKI OR UMAR -CCT CHAIRMAN SUE SAHARA REPORT IF THEY ARE SURE OF THEMSELVES

sarrki:
If the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do

Saraki (Mesu) is the leader of the house of corruption

sarrki:
The day pmb allowed Mesu ( saraki ) to preside over the Senate

I know we are in for a long Ride

He's ready to ruin any meaningful achievement of this administration.

He's a serial traitor and betrayer.
He betrayed his father how much more any other pers

TheGoodJoe:
We can run in circles but the fact remains, when Rantie nodded that ball, it was close to Akpeyi and he should have saved it. The ball was close to Akpeyi.

BascoVanVeli:
This is the same reason Awaziem started.

Joebie:
Yes we need players that love to play for Nigeria. Because when problems come players are the first that can be affected psychologically. Well the game at hand is Cameroon. Many of us will resume the arguments once again as regards player selection. In football, 1+1 is hardly 2. Which is why we have to take every situation differently. We lost the South Africa game for many reasons than one or just two. I'm really hoping that Rohr will be more tactical going forward. And will do LOTS of studying the opponent.

I just watched the Senegal-Nigeria friendly again, because I think that match is one we have to look at in planning to play Cameroon. Football is a science. Your best players will not necessarily play well in every match they feature. Cameroon is a very physical side. they are big and also robust. They can convert half chances in forwards like Vincent Abubakar. Why your favorite player could be very good in his own right, he may be reduced to nothing against an opponent like Cameroon.

I think we have put so much weight on players like Iheanacho and Iwobi prematurely. Let's be realistic to realize that these players have not FULLY established themselves in Europe with lots of TOP games under their belt. While they have a very bright future, they are not reliable starters especially against Cameroon.

Let's continue the debate constructively with our next opponent in mind devoid of favoritism.

TheGoodJoe:

I have no problem with Awaziem starting. Our midfield lost shape, coupled with Echiejile forgetting his defensive duties. In a better organized defensive set up, he will excel. I have no doubt about it.

do4luv14:
good you use "IF" the desire to put on those gloves again for Nigeria is still burning in his mind, and besides you can never say never,

as for technical committee, we have incompetent hands in that office in NFF,

but if we can give ROHR an AMUNIKE, or A SIA1, with AMUSA ADISA, or IKE SHORUNMU

then we are good to go

jerryclinton:
My line up against cameroun


success musa

iheanacho mikel ogu moses


Echiejile ekong balogun omeruo


Ikeme

zicky:
Yea we can give excuse for ndidi or Agu that they are Rookie or no national team experience bt wat can we say for Onazi.
Guy that match pain me, if we had lose to libya or one other small nation, I won't feel this much pain.

zicky:
Don't misunderstand me, you said Ndidi and Etebo was poor and I say Onazi was not better, hw will I say any of our player had a good game after losing 2-0 at home to SA, they all had a bad game bt Onazi take more of the blame. To who much is given much is expected.

Icon4s:
The selective criticism was unimaginable.

Hate, hate and favoritism. Not good at all. The credibility of some of our judgements here was tested. And o ........ Too bad.

Icon4s:
Go back and watch the 2-2 we played against SA in Uyo in 2014. Watch how our idolized Enyeama handled the situation when he was one on one with Rantie for their second goal.

Please everyone should re-watch that video on YouTube.

kennysville:
If akpeyi did what he did that led to the 2nd goal in a professional league in Europe, he will promptly be axed! Plain and simple


Lets get something right. A goalie is also a part of the defence. And so as the last line of defence with a one on one situation, and he had closed the attacker down, the logical thing to do is to prevent the guy from making any further contact with the ball. If he had to jump the guy, so be it. Worst case scenario, he gets a red card. If we lost 1nil, we wont be this annoyed. In europe, its called taking one for the team. We could at least hustle and still get a draw. Moreover the incident happened way outside our18 yard box. The moment the 2nd goal went in, the morale was totally down.

So in my books, Akpeyi desevedly got the sticks or bashing he deserved

goldfish80:
I think we should get over our mindset that good players cannot be found outside the major leagues. This assumption will hurt us real bad in the long run.

I understand we want to brag that our first 11 are all big players from big leagues but without putting into cognisance the balance of the team and formation being implemented by the coach.
Where I'm going in all of these is that guys like Adi, Ideye and Nwakaeme will suit a lone striker system better than Kelechi. But it appears we don't want to hear those names because they aren't in the big leagues. The minute Adi or Nwakaeme gets a contract with a Seria A club, they will be called up. That can't be right.

Some of us kicked against the invitation of Osimhen ahead of the Adi and co. With the benefit of hindsight, one could argue that Nwakaeme, Adi or Ideye would have posed the South Africans a bigger problem with their hold up play.

The South Africans hate playing against bigger opponents. Recall it was these same SA defenders and goalkeeper Uche Nwofor took to the cleaners in their back yard with a brace. He even scored khune with his back heel.

If Kelechi must play, he needs a big strike partner.

zicky:
TheGoodjoe never said Iheanacho had a good game, if I understand me well he just gave reason why nacho game appear poor against SA which I somehow agree with him, Nigeria lost 2-0 to SA at home, the whole team was poor bt the midfield was a disaster.

Icon4s:
Your first paragraph is just the summary of why our attack could not break down the SA defense.

For eg in that first half Iheanacho was practically kept off on several occasions. There were through balls from the midfield in that first half but they were either intercepted by their organized CB pairing or they kept Iheanacho off.

To rescue the situation, Iwobi had to play wide to pull usually two of the defenders to him. Expecting a disorganization of the CB pairing which could have given room for Iheanacho to operate. But his lack of athletism limited him to wide positions plus the SA defenders made sure he never made progress into the their 18yards box.

Etebo in an attempt to break the defence started making solo runs - what he is known for but his finishing touches let him down as he was always putting himself in a difficult position to aim at goal. Etebo's problem now I think is the 'Jack of all trade but master of none'. I think we need to define the role he will play for the national team and confine him to it. I recommend the CM. The role he played against Algeria.

Simon Moses has not improved a bit. He is not a starter IMO. He tried to use his skill and pace to outwit the SA defenders but his crosses were either not timely or too wide. At a point he was just playing crosses not directly targeting any player and expecting a miracle to happen.

Iheanacho was not much involved in the game. The major highlight I have of him was the pass he gave to Etebo that he missed. Secondly were the countless times he was caught in off side positions. The SA coach probably after seeing Iheanacho at City has understood that the only way to stop him from playing is not to allow the balls to get to him. We saw that happen several times at City this season. Iheanacho rides on the back of good Atracking midfield and wings play. He is still our most lethal finisher.

Kayode substituting Iheanacho was when the game ended for Nigeria.

Let me analyse Rohr's thinking before the substitution: We were on a 4-3-3 formation and under sparadic attacks from SA. Depleting the midfield further by removing either Iwobi or Simon would spell more doom. In the balance of play SA was having the upper hand in the midfield at that point in time. He left the two wingers and pulled out Iheanacho with the expectations that Kayode who is more of a natural striker than Iheanacho would have been able to use his pace and skills to outwit the SA defenders on a one on one basis. Alas it turned out that Rohr over estimated Kayode's abilities. At a time in the game I asked if Kayode was still on that field.

Musa's introduction was to introduce more direct play as Iwobi was practically kept wide and we made more incursion into the SA defense as he was even able to combine well on one or two occasions with Kayode. But the player to finish those moves was not there. Had Iheanacho been kept in the game.... who knows?

Osimhen, was the final trow of the die. We were 2-0 down already and so he just had to gamble by pulling out Simon. Osimhen made some good touches and edge of the box moves but not good enough to make anything happen.

Mikel and V. Moses would have obviously made the difference. What the SA defenders did was to keep Iwobi and Simon in wide positions something Moses would have been able to break with his dribbling skills, pace and direct play.
Mikel would have been able to break down the organised SA defense with his dribbling skills, ball holding and shielding abilities plus timely release of the ball for Iheanacho.

If it is doable I would have pleased with God to take Mikel's age back to at least 25!. We are not ready to move on without him.

All these wahala was bc we met a very organized defense.

Then also I think Rohr spent more time focusing on our strength and not much on SA's weaknesses while reverse was the case for SA.

I have the belief that we still qualify. We can also beat SA away.

I wish Ikeme, Balogun, Mikel And Moses quick recovery. They are the back bone of the team. August in not far away again.

Icon4s:
Your first paragraph is just the summary of why our attack could not break down the SA defense.

For eg in that first half Iheanacho was practically kept off on several occasions. There were through balls from the midfield in that first half but they were either intercepted by their organized CB pairing or they kept Iheanacho off.

To rescue the situation, Iwobi had to play wide to pull usually two of the defenders to him. Expecting a disorganization of the CB pairing which could have given room for Iheanacho to operate. But his lack of athletism limited him to wide positions plus the SA defenders made sure he never made progress into the their 18yards box.

Etebo in an attempt to break the defence started making solo runs - what he is known for but his finishing touches let him down as he was always putting himself in a difficult position to aim at goal. Etebo's problem now I think is the 'Jack of all trade but master of none'. I think we need to define the role he will play for the national team and confine him to it. I recommend the CM. The role he played against Algeria.

Simon Moses has not improved a bit. He is not a starter IMO. He tried to use his skill and pace to outwit the SA defenders but his crosses were either not timely or too wide. At a point he was just playing crosses not directly targeting any player and expecting a miracle to happen.

Iheanacho was not much involved in the game. The major highlight I have of him was the pass he gave to Etebo that he missed. Secondly were the countless times he was caught in off side positions. The SA coach probably after seeing Iheanacho at City has understood that the only way to stop him from playing is not to allow the balls to get to him. We saw that happen several times at City this season. Iheanacho rides on the back of good Atracking midfield and wings play. He is still our most lethal finisher.

Kayode substituting Iheanacho was when the game ended for Nigeria.

Let me analyse Rohr's thinking before the substitution: We were on a 4-3-3 formation and under sparadic attacks from SA. Depleting the midfield further by removing either Iwobi or Simon would spell more doom. In the balance of play SA was having the upper hand in the midfield at that point in time. He left the two wingers and pulled out Iheanacho with the expectations that Kayode who is more of a natural striker than Iheanacho would have been able to use his pace and skills to outwit the SA defenders on a one on one basis. Alas it turned out that Rohr over estimated Kayode's abilities. At a time in the game I asked if Kayode was still on that field.

Musa's introduction was to introduce more direct play as Iwobi was practically kept wide and we made more incursion into the SA defense as he was even able to combine well on one or two occasions with Kayode. But the player to finish those moves was not there. Had Iheanacho been kept in the game.... who knows?

Osimhen, was the final trow of the die. We were 2-0 down already and so he just had to gamble by pulling out Simon. Osimhen made some good touches and edge of the box moves but not good enough to make anything happen.

Mikel and V. Moses would have obviously made the difference. What the SA defenders did was to keep Iwobi and Simon in wide positions something Moses would have been able to break with his dribbling skills, pace and direct play.
Mikel would have been able to break down the organised SA defense with his dribbling skills, ball holding and shielding abilities plus timely release of the ball for Iheanacho.

If it is doable I would have pleased with God to take Mikel's age back to at least 25!. We are not ready to move on without him.

All these wahala was bc we met a very organized defense.

Then also I think Rohr spent more time focusing on our strength and not much on SA's weaknesses while reverse was the case for SA.

I have the belief that we still qualify. We can also beat SA away.

I wish Ikeme, Balogun, Mikel And Moses quick recovery. They are the back bone of the team. August in not far away again.

TheGoodJoe:
You are making it look as if keepers do not save close headers. They do and that ball was close to him. We can not change that fact.