₦airaland Forum

mostob:
Statistical analysis you would have quickly used to push your evil agenda had it been Kalvin Philip is a Nigerian. Are you not ashamed of what you type at times?

I like objectivity, rationality anchored ⚓ on substantive facts.

You are way too prejudiced and assumptive in the negative.As a man thinketh so he is.

Having a different opinion doesn't mean evil agenda.

mostob:
Here in Nigeria, we don't know him. If to say Nigeria crashed out in the group stage, I'm sure he won't refer to Nigeria as his country. What an hypocrite.

I know him Maybe you do not ,so speak for your prejidudiced self.

maidaboi:
Adebayo and Osho both start against Man Utd

Adebayo was injured in the warm up and so is unable to play today unfortunately.

I really believe Adebayo would have scored today.

Ogbene is a terrorist to Luke Shaw unfortunately he can't play for Nigeria. Luton are giving Manchester United serious problems.

Although it's 2-1 to United

maidaboi:
So Haaland is allowed to missed chances but others aren't right?

If you were to move away from preconceived notions, you will notice I said ITS DIFFICULT to criticise Haaland because he continuously consistently scores wherever he goes he is literally an enigma.

That's the reality.

What is the unspoken context comparison to VO.

Goke7:
we need ball-playing midfielders, that's why we can't boss games, and is putting too much pressure on our defence and keeper. Let's not be sentimental about this Iwobi, that team will never improve if we continue this way. we need midfielders who can impose themselves on our game. Is Iwobi that kind of player?

Nwabali had no business conceding two goals today, it's unfair to that guy who had saved us so many times in this tournament.

Outside of Iwobi in that current squad there is no quality outstanding ball on the deck, technically gifted, skilful, with a good passing range midfielder, that creativity and unpredictability and innovation BETTER than Iwobi., FACT.

Onyeka will run all day but creativity zero and Onyedika will bulldoze for you and Alhassan will buzz around looking busy but producing little.

Aribo I reserve judgement because he came in a positive player playing negative defensive. With little time to do much.

safarigirl:
Dem wan kill that boy for midfield, but ask these people which serious team operates a 2-man midfield and they will come up empty.

Everytime Iwobi this and Iwobi that, meanwhile midfield is non-existent and Iwobi is carrying everything on his head.

Get Iwobi some decent support for once, and if he doesn't perform, you can chat rubbish. You put a nigga in a 2-man midfield and then insult him for being run ragged. If na you dey 2-man midfield, you go survive?

Abeg, if you people want to vex, pour your anger on that plague in Aso Rock and leave Iwobi TF Alone!

Thank you

Goke7:
Let's all be honest and this is no bashing any body, he should make his way out of the team, there is no use. After over 70 caps is this what we will continue to get haba. People can make excuses about the formation, but you need more from your experienced players in the team. We can't continue to spoon-feed Iwobi, if he's not willing anymore he should be excused. That Ghanaian analyst picked him out as our weakest link teams could exploit and it has happened as he said it. If Angola knew better dem for pepper us more than they did.

The negative defensive posture and structure failed Iwobi not Iwobi failed us.

Samueltemi337:
How many EPL teams are interested


Chelsea and Arsenal


I don't want Osimhen to go to Chelsea


Arsenal will be good but definitely not Chelsea

None of these teams in my opinion will be a good fit.

They will not create play around him , VO thrives as a point man a quintessential number 9 not in an elaborate interplay and interchange team like Arsenal maybe a bit more with Chelsea.

Look at Arsenal the goals are coming from all over the team not just the strikers.

BankyGee:
You still keep these four pictures since 2012? Lol 😂

They are on the web with simple click on Google try it and they are from November 2022.

Goke7:
if na isoshimen miss the chances wey haaland miss today we no go hear word for this place o

It's difficult to criticise Haaland.

Because since the day he first kicked a football ⚽ he has been phenomenal.

Every league he has been to he has broken records.

Currently from 19 games he has scored 16 goals and is one again in his second season top of the premier League. As an international 29 games for Norway and he has scored 27. This dude is a freak it's crazy 😧 this guy is just beyond description incredible.

What makes you world 🌎 class is CONSISTENCY, even with defenders doing PhD thesis on Haaland they still can't stop 🛑 him completely. Anywhere he goes he is always top and don't forget he is just 23.😯😯

Amedino99:
I don too argue rubbish for my life. See kalvin Philips wey person dey follow me argue say na better player.

You are making your entire assessment based on statistical analysis that's very misguided.

Joebie:
if we remove every sentiment and bias, this boy has earned the right to be entered into the convo. In fact we shouldn’t even be speaking o Sadiq Umar. Akor Adams has been experiencing a goal draught since notching 7 goals in Ligue . Who is REALLY better so far this season.

When players show interest in Nigeria, people will bring in bias. When they don’t declare na still problem. Do we really like progress?. By the way all the SE players that made the official AFCON XI are dual citizens who committed to us. Wetin we wan talk now?

I knew Elijah when he was at Fulham, at 16 he was already 6"3 plus and that time l likened him to Kanu he was very skilful.

Fulham at a stage had one of the best football ⚽ academies in England then we use to call them the Nigerians so many Nigerian origin players.

The role he has to play in Luton town doesn't allow for to much skill or maybe 🤔 the skill has been trained out of him in the quest for end product.

But he is a powerful athletic very good striker, he has scored 9 goals and theu play Manchester United this afternoon don't think they can beat an in form United but then you never know. It is the EPL.

They have a few to quality players who are finding their way back to top level performances, like Townsend, Barkley etc

Osho is a CB of Nigerian origin he is good but not the best, Ogbene plays for Ireland although he was born in Lagos.

If Adebayo gets a goal he will have scored 10 this season and counting from 24 games that's very good.

charlesemeka85:
what do u gain with all these your nonsense?

I responded to this nonsensical and misleading proposition with objectivity, see below.;

You all overate this EPL of a thing too much. Awoniyi, Adebayo, Watkins, are scoring regularly in that overrated league.
Osimhen has played against them 4 times and simply destroyed them.

Blueelf:
I am a Liverpool fan but he did us bad

Stop using selective pics to arm your bias

You fit they deceive others but when it comes to LFC matters, I watch all our games closely. VO killed us oga

I watched the game up close and personal.

Konate had him under lock and key, Van Dyke shepherded him out as well.

How many assists and goals did he get against Liverpool over the two legs please ❓

Please you are welcome to post the pictures of VO violating Van Dyke or VO out muscling and out pacing Konate or anything else.

Bannedlargedx2:
Despite his tactics, osimehn missed couple of sitters and free headers. You guys just don’t want to admit because he is your fave but if it was another player, you would had pounced on that player. Remember, Lookman scored 3 goals in the same team. Osimehn needs to refine his game in order to truly be world class. He has a fighting spirit, a warrior, never say die attitude, hard worker. He just needs refining

Thank you.

Marjoribanks:
You all overate this EPL of a thing too much. Awoniyi, Adebayo, Watkins, are scoring regularly in that overrated league.
Osimhen has played against them 4 times and simply destroyed them.

Picture of VO destroying Liverpool.

Meliforme:
Kelechi Nwakali, Michael Olise, and Zaidu Sanusi can be relied upon for good crosses of the ball.

You should not put Olise in the same sentence as the other two it's an insult.

TheGoodJoe:
Put Haaland in that situation, and he might not even score a goal. Does that mean Haaland is not world-class? See how Osimhen worked with Spaletti and how he excelled. Tactical setup plays a big role in performances.

You are effectively saying that VO is better than and or on the same level as Haaland.

And when I say a lot of you are blinded by emotions sentiment and favouritism, you will say I am a hater.

Instead of you talk about the player's individual attributes you are talking about managers Spaletti.

This was how when KC was impotent you were blaming all the managers in Leicester and limited game time.

TheGoodJoe:
Put Haaland in our setup and he won't flourish in that setup. They might have scored more than one but won't excel in their full capacity. for the system Osimhen found himself, he performed 110%. It is hard to criticise when you see the player put in effort.

VO sweated blood and almost died trying his absolute best for his country. His work rate phenomenal,his aggression unparalleled, he plays with blind rage and is relentless, nobody likes him he is a warrior.

People have called him world class and to be world class I am afraid he has to do more. Scoring 1 goal in the whole tournament is unfortunately not good enough. Irrespective of all the other things he does in the games.

Bannedlargedx2:
That second goal that haaland scored would had Been missed by osimehn. I used to tremendously hype him prior to Ghana vs Nigeria 2 legged game. Afterwards, I realized that he is just a power, never say die, warrior that flops in big game. I wouldn’t criticize him because he puts his life on the line for us with the amount of hustling that he does at game. He just needs to refine his style

Agreed without question ❓

If he wants to be truly world class he has a lot of work to do.

Joebie:
Osimhen will perform exceedingly well in the EPL. But he needs a reset before he takes up that challenge IMO.

Yes he can do as well, it all depends on how they set up the team since they have different playing styles.

Why do you think so 🤔

Objective appraisal based on attributes comparison and the nature of the EPL .

You are already making excuses even before he has arrived considering the bold.

That makes your proposition contradictory.

Amedino99:
it's obvious that ndidi's lesser number of games is due to his injuries but go on.

That's not in dispute but it's part of football ⚽ injuries and how you manage them.

Your program of injury prevention pre match and post match preparation.

Unfortunately, many a player have had their careers cut short and or progression stifled by injury.

If he had not been injured I am almost certain that he would have played every game in the championship.

Jude Bellingham at age 16 played 42 out of 46 games in the 2019/20 season in the Championship in his relegation zone Birmingham city club. He is just 20 and has scattered La Liga.

Ngole Kante for four seasons didn't miss more than 2/3 games in each season of the premier League. His injury prevention program considering he runs more than any other player in the EPL must be phenomenal.

The same goes for Messi and Ronaldo

MallamSpicey:
Good for him but he should do more, not implying he isn't good enough never to be called up again cause I know there's a really good player in Aribo...but truth is Aribo has fallen down the pecking order so bad in that midfield that even Peseiro preferred benching him almost all tournament that he made the #10 shirt look embarrassing to wear... That's not a good look on his part (let's leave sentiments aside and be honest for once).

I commend and appreciate your humility and ability to change your position in the face of the facts.

I Appreciate you this is how discussion should be, not emotional 😞 prejudice and abuse.

You presented a discourse of untruths saying Aribo is struggling to get on the bench, you casted aspersions on the Championship implied in your diction. Saying he needed to get into a first tier league before he can be considered.

Tell me a second tier league where the top performers are courted by the best teams in the world.❓

You ommited the fact that KC and Ndidi play in the championship ,that's double standard and prejudice. In addition KC is seriously struggling in the Championship and is out of form.

Joebie:
E get why I say “reset”. Osimhen will not be under pressure in the French league.

The French league is not as strong as the EPL and it's better to go there if you don't want to be challenged.

Can VO do as well as Mbappe or comparable to him in the French league ❓that's the expectation from PSG and the fans.

forgiveness:
I just checked Aribo's stats and I could see he started 6 out 9 last matches.

I personally don't think Aribo was able to do much and was largely disappointing in my opinion.

But the question, is why ❓Aribo is about attacking and is more of AM. In a retrogressive negative defensive set up formation and strategy he cannot thrive so he will become almost useless.

In this AFCON l haven't done the stats but just from my own personal visuals. The player that instigated more attacks and forward passes,crosses resulting in an attacking opportunity was AINA.

That says something about the team set up itself.

We have decided to abslove VO of any criticism as an untouchable. Yes, VO huffed and puffed, chased and fought relentlessly but he could not blow the house down. He had several chances but fluffed his lines, we have overwhelmingly exonerated him of all responsibility here as an untouchable

VO is considered to be world 🌎 class by many here, for me the key component of world class is CONSISTENT OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE in all situations. In the AFCON like it or not VO did not perform world class. I wonder if Haaland, Benzema ,etc was in the Nigerian team would they have got just one goal 🥅🤔.

Joebie:
I'm in support of Osimhen moving to PSG. He has achieved it all at Serie A. it will be a time to reset, be the best in Ligue 1, then launch himself again to a bigger destination -- EPL?

Seria A is rated higher than French league one.

With regards to 🤑💸💰 great move but football ⚽ I'm not so sure.

First of all he has to meet great expectations and always be compared to Mbappe, that's undue pressure.

daveP:
See how you're so so sure about this and calling someone solid bang average. If someone calls your more technical faves bang average, you no go wan gree now o.

The Belgium league is not a top league in Europe, it's rated number 8. It's essentially a stepping stone for the better players to move on.

The top players in this league don't stay too long before moving on to bigger and better clubs and leagues. The average players will.be there for a lot longer.

Consider Ndidi left his local academy 14 January 2015 Nath Boys Academy with a transfer fee of €180,000. On the 30 of January two after leaving Nigeria. He played his first game for Genk in the Belgium league.

He was in the Belgium league for one and half season before Leicester City payed in December 2016 a fee of £17milion by January 7th Ndidi was playing in the EPL.

VO played one season in Belgium league before going to Lille.

These are top players that's why they moved so quickly.

Do you truly think Onyedika is a top player ❓or just an average one in the Belgium league.⁉️

I want to see exceptional player's in the SE not bang average ones like Onyedika who are essentially one dimensional DM.

I do think right now Ovie and Tega are below average, however put them on the Belgium league and they be well above average. But as much as they are below average in my opinion they are far more technically superior and skilful than Onyedika. Who was described as being very skilful.

Tim Iroegbunam is on a different trajectory of quality.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am disturbed by your crass double standard , could it be prejudice ❓

Ndidi is not playing in the EPL but the Championship and he has played 16 games. On the other hand Aribo has played 20 games. But you castigate Aribo as being a bench warmer and not good enough

Southampton have had three managers in the space of 12 months , current manager Russell Martin regards Aribo as a crucial TOP player. See screenshot below, but you don't 🤔

Southampton are number 3 in the Championship with a game in hand. The Championship is the most high quality and expensive second tier league in the world. Ask Etebo one of our best players in recent times how difficult he found it. Or you can ask KC why after 20 games he has scored only 5 goals.

The championship is way better than the Scottish league which is rated number 10 in Europe. Something to think about before you dismiss it.

Your analysis is botched, the minute you talked about Nwakali and audaciously compared him to Pirlo you lost all credibility and objectivity. 😳😳

Iwobi is the most creative player in the SE. Because a manager decided to play the most negative, backwards defensive type of park the bus football. You cannot blame Iwobi a positive forward player for all the mishaps.

VO Africa 🌍 best scored one goal in 7 games and no word of criticism. But you castigate Iwobi without restraint and dismiss his unique abilities and outstanding quality.

In your analysis you want a SE midfield with Onyeka and Ndidi and just one creative player in Iwobi. You have no eyes 👀 .

TheGoodJoe:
Football is beyond what you feel. You are the one actually making sentimental inducements and far from logic. Look at the image below, from Transfermkt. Look at the bigger circles in each box. You can see Raphael Onyedika is more defensive than Iroegbunam. So when it comes to primary role, Iroegbunam will have more flair in his style of play over Onyedika. When it comes to defending, Onyedika is more naturally suited.

So, your comparison is actually out of logic, and finally, your earlier assessment of Onyedika was amateurish because it is clear you have never watched him.

First box Iroegbunam, and second box is for Raphael Onyedika.

By the way, keep in mind that AC Milan fought to sign Raphael Onyedika. He is not just one name from the streets.

Finito.

Look at what you are saying, "AC Milan fought to sign Onyedika" then why is he still in Brugge ,, did brugge beat AC Milan and they ran away.


Once again you are changing the narrative . You said Onyedika is fast and very skilful. You substantiated your position, YouTube video, with several games compressed into an 8 minute video. From your video I found no evidence of exceptional skill, technical ability and or speed. Physicality yes, but not much else.

To explain my understanding of skill and technical ability. I made a comparison of my not good enough players for the SE currently. Tega and Ovie who I consider skilful and technically astute who both play midfield.

It's clear we have DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS for the SE , l am seeking excellence you are seeking sentimental based mediocrity.

I went into a fairly long write up about the quality of top level DM Holding Midfielders in the modern game. Players like Rodri, Rice, D. Luiz, Nkante as the standard we should aspire to.

But you want something much lower in quality and ability

charlesemeka85:
Iroegbulam is better than Onyedika. Hope u don happy now?

Mk we rest abeg 🤣🤣🤣🤣

He probably is but we shouldn't made deductions on sentiment but some level of rational objectivity.

TheGoodJoe is a implying that you don't need exceptional skill and technicality to be a top level exceptional DM.

typicalgamer:
We can’t count up to 3 exceptional players

But you want a full squad of exceptional players going forward bro na you go train them o

I counted three exceptional midfielders from the EPL.

We had the option to take 27 players we took 25 to the AFCON and a number of them were passengers and carried along by sentiment and long standing service but with nothing to offer.

It's your squad depth that gets you through in a two week grueling physically draining tournament, so you can rotate players and change system formations and adapt playing styles to do different challenges.

Definitely in that 27 should have been Fisayo and Tella.

TheGoodJoe:
You were talking of skills of Onyedika and talked of Ejaria's skills. Ejaria is naturally a winger their dribbling patterns are totally different. He is a creative player while Onyedika is a defensive player.

Simple.

The discourse started with your claimed assertion that Ralph "brick 🧱 wall" is VERY SKILLFUL to substantiate your view you posted a YouTube video clip with several different games of Ralph compressed into a few minutes.

You asked me to look at the video to show Ralphs super speed, exceptional skills and technicality. I found absolutely none. Maybe 🤔 you have a different definition of what you call skill, technical ability and speed than everyone else.

I then by comparison presented two players I feel are not good enough for the SE right now currently,that's Tega Onomah and Oviemuno Ejaria. Thier video clips to show what exceptional skill and technique actually is from my understanding.

In addition I put in two individual YouTube video of Tim Iroegbunam in seperate games to give a more objective insight into Tim. Not compressed video of ,7/8 games. But two clips of individual separate games.

And you have now departed from the original discourse to say that Ralp is a DM therefore cannot be expected to be as skilful as Ovie and Tega as you imply in your response. Tega and Ovie play DM more so Tega but are all very skilful. But not 🚭 good enough yet until they play regularly in my opinion for the SE.

You said nothing about Tim Iroegbunam, why not make a comparison of Tim and Ralph.