₦airaland Forum

Okoye made brilliant saves that kept us in the game.

Yes, Nwabali has an edge over Okoye when concerns are on anticipation and aerial claims, and therefore has the greater potential of saving that thunderbolt of a strike that flew to the goalpost meters outside the 18 yard box, but it doesn't make Nwabali the better goalkeeper.

Between the two, whoever starts in a match, depends on the coach, and many modern coaches will prefer Okoye. Okoye is better at ball distribution, and can pull saves of the ball that will have Nwabali struggling because he has a more dynamic balance.

It appears like the two goalkeepers are built differently for the kind of saves they can make, but I think Okoye edges Nwabali in the overall.

Odunayaw:
This Bewene guy did well. Not great offensively but this one will see out Awaziem coming to that role

Please leave Awaziem out of this.
He is one of the Nigerians shining brightly in the football leagues they play in.

In the French Ligue 1, and according to Fotmob:
Accurate long balls made by any player per 90 has Chidozie Awaziem seating third in the stats ranking.
And he seats first in clearances of the ball made by any player per 90.

AndSunGorilla:
two Bashiru's were listed on the bench.

Ok

AndSunGorilla:
OO9
2 Bashiru's on the bench? Na mistake?

What is unique about him?

Subzero047:
Adingra was comfortably cooking Aina at the Nations cup when he made the move they are not on similar levels

Cooking injured and tired Aina.

Goke7:
So the players too don’t get injured when they play for their clubs? We will say the clubs are not managing them well too? Is it not injury playing for club that made osihmen miss some of our World Cup qualifiers?

This your point no enter as injury can occur playing for country or club. As the clubs protect their interests we too as a country has our interests to protect too. Atletico bought Lookman following a spectacular performance at the last Afcon.

I don't think you read my points well.

So you justify playing Ademola Lookman back to back in two consecutive games (a 4-day gap) for 90 minutes plus.

It is well

realpoacher:
As it stands, we may have to start a campaign on Twitter to force Gala and Athletico to release Osimehen and Lookman.


I can't stand not watching our full squared against some of the best teams in the world

Bad move.

Those players won't even get invitation to the National team if they are clubless.

Goke7:
We can’t win major tournaments this way if they are injury prone or their clubs will always have their way then it’s time perhaps to move on without them.

It also means this is the true strength of our football and we have been living fake life.

Featuring a player for a combined 180 minutes in matches that are not that competitive is a schoolboy error.
Many may look past this, but i won't.

Just look at Ola Aina, until a player comes down with injury, you won't bother a substitution. You won't factor in variables that may cause injuries such as number of minutes, pitch surface, temperature and altitude, and physical signs of exhaustion. I could recall a game where Bright Osayi Samuel was exhausted, they still kept him without taking into consideration that physical exhaustion can make a player more prone to injuries.

These players are not managed well. This is both on the NFF and on the coach.

In the last AFCON, if Wilfred Ndidi was managed well, his injury situation couldn't have made made him miss matches.

Ademola Lookman played a combined 180 minutes in the friendly matches against Iran and Jordan.
If this is not poor management of a player, then what is it. Friendly matches are not that competitive.
I will not blame Athletico Madrid for deciding against releasing him.

Victor Osimhen is injury prone. I am not even sure if he has recovered from his arm injury.
Exposing himself to a system were players are poorly managed with a coach that is not discerning enough is risky.

I won't blame some of these players when they make decisions like this. Many of these players honour their call ups with unresolved injury cases, and are still not managed well by coaches that are desperate to get results.

Some player risk their club careers and still not get minutes to play, only to get back to their clubs and find themselves at odds with their club managers.

SymphonyRad:
Iwobi and Ndidi aren't getting any younger boss, come next world cup they will be in the twilight of their 30's if we make that one...so better start getting used to that word "phasing out" cause it's the inevitable part of football, just like life.

Yes, they will be phased out as their careers won't last forever, but I pray we get better replacements.

lbrichman2:
Your second paragraph is gold

That statement should be framed

Yes, thank you.

ThunderFireAgba:
After this game I'm beginning to question the cohesive trio of
-Alex Iwobi
-Onyedika
-Ndidi and
-Frank Onyeka.
What have we been doing with this midfield for the last 4yrs??

Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi and Frank Onyeka retains their places in the starting lineup.

What Alhassan, Tijani, and Nnadi will achieve in five sequences of passes, Alex Iwobi can achieve in one stroke of a pass.
However, the only advantage that i saw in Alhassan, Tijani and Nnadi is in the cover they provide to the backline, their recovery rate is good, as well as their positioning during phases of defense.

SymphonyRad:
Sodiq was utterly rinsed in this particular game, na for here I confirm say the bobo no be am at all 😂

The blame shouldn't be entirely on him.
The coach that allowed him to play the fullback role without a thorough consideration of his qualities should be served the larger blame chunk.
The fact that he was allowed to continue on the pitch even for the duration the second goal rested on our goalpost says a lot about the kind of errors to expect from the coach.

123jamessmith:
Moffi has been giving so many chance to impress with the super eagles, he has always failed. Is time they stop inviting him. He's not a super eagle material.

For a player that provided two assists.
He did well today.

Papi85:
Nnadi is also very good and composed in the ball. In addition he is good tackler too and covers alot of ground

Both him and alhassan impressed me in this game

Nnadi, Alhassan, and Tijani are hardworking midfielders, they cover a lot of grounds, provide defensive cover and tidy in their passes.

Hardrive:
The reason why most of our strikers fizzled out Boniface, dessers, arokodare etc was because many were not given the opportunity of playing 2 upfront. The coach was trying to play them like osimhen. In such situations, goals would be hard to come by and Nigerians don't have the patience for that.

They do not have the quality of Femi Azeez.

Alex Iwobi's midfield presence is burgeoning into something gargantuan.
He is now a massive advantage.

His performance against Newcastle today gave Fulham reasons to keep playing him there.
Iwobi has his ways of moving the ball and locating players in open spaces.
He knows when to hoard the ball and when to quickly release it, offering coordination, stability and dominance

Napoleon55:
The result of this particular game was not Okocha's fault.

People are grossly unfair to Okocha and his talent especially on this game,

If the team(especially Rashidi) had converted 40% of the chances Okocha created on this game(Nigeria vs Italy),it would have ranked him among the greatest individual world cup performances of all time.

I had to go back and re-watch this highlights, and I counted at least 8 chances that he created that would have resulted into goals if our strikers were lethal that night.
And this is not even the full match.
Okocha would have went home with at least 4 assist if those chances were utilized by our forwards.

Yes,there were some misplaced passes,but the good ones far outweighs the bad ones.
If we had won,people would have much appreciated what he did that day.

Thank you.

Odunayaw:
Chidera Ejuke.

Yesooo.
Dribbles completed per 90 in La Liga, has Chidera Ejuke at the top of the list with Lamine Yamal following closely.

I vote TheSuperNerd.

No Super Eagles player comes close, save one.

Papi85:

Jay-Jay Okocha vs Italy - World Cup 1994
pic.twitter.com/fb5NhPUd9E

— SIR AHMED (@midopido21) May 11, 2026

/video/1?s=46

EElopa:
Samuel Chukwueze is a frustrating player, but he is very talented. I really understand why so many Super Eagles fans have grown tired and frustrated about his hot and cold performances for Nigeria. I am certainly one of those fans that have been on a lookout for a prospect for that right-winger position for Nigeria but having watched Azeez for two matches in a row now, I am not seeing that quality. Football is not rocket science. When you see a quality player, it will flash. A couple of years ago when I was watching the Nigeria U20 team, it took me about 20 mins to completely identify Benjamin Frederick. After watching him for 90 minutes, I turned around and told my friend that this boy will be marshalling the Super Eagles' defense in two to three years. I am just not sold on this Azeez dude. I have absolutely no problem with the young man as a person, but from what I have seen, he is not better than the options we currently have.

A player that created 18 big chances in a single season is a real deal.
If he maintains the same consistency when he steps into the EPL, then he is undisputedly more productive than all our wingers.

There are lots of things he does well, but his shortcomings can be worked on.

Papi85:
while Ejike is world class

Emeka Chaves, it seems like Ejike will be starting today against Real Sociedad.

Papi85:
while Ejike is world class

Even If I call him world class, you will still come after me.
Your aversion for the league he plys is well documented.

Anyways, above average could be anything above average including world class.
Are you now satisfied?

Above average

[quote author=Papi85 post=139303757]

Chibuike Nwaiwu v Göztepe pic.twitter.com/Qq9JBO9g5Z

— Emir (@EY61_) May 3, 2026

]

Kog45:
Okay but how many of his matches did you pointed this out, especially during Afcon...

None was obvious during the AFCON, but in the EPL

You cannot compare the technicality and tacticality of EPL football to that of AFCON.
You have more stretch of games in the EPL than in the AFCON, enough to discern lapses.

Kog45:
Just a game off now poor positioning,bad anticipation....Oga,Calvin Bassey of this season has good positioning,very good ianticipation and reason why he is highly rated in Fulham or abi not the same Bassey of Afcon

I don't make opinions on just a single instance.

I just pointed out areas he needs to improve.

lbrichman2:
Bassey has outgrown Fulham

I am simply pointing out the areas he needs to improve and whether he has outgrown Fulham is another topic for discussion.

It is so sad to remark that Calvin Bassey's defending is not yet Elite.
Good defending is not all about duels.

Positioning, good anticipation, are all components of good defending.

Alex Iwobi may not bring much to defending, but this Fulham team is missing the stability, coordination and creativity that he offers.

lbrichman2:
Beautiful breakdown

Thank you.

He was good.
Solid performance.

He played a more offensive role, and it payed off.
His assist is wonderful, but more wonderful is winning most of his duels in the opposition's half, for me this is a beautiful thing because of the options it opens up for the coach.

Papi85:
https://x.com/Medley1_/status/2048822137398460891/video/1?s=46

lbrichman2:
I feel you my man

Alright.