codemaniacs: Big lie, if Osimhen has ball control, hold up play, key passes then he won't be offside 1000 times.
You are the one with the big lie, but i will put the blame on ignorance. The offside calls might be usual when he is the last man to finish and is without the ball and then is off, while the qualities i highlighted were taken into consideration when he is with the ball and and is on and sometimes not the last man. The number of times Osimhen had the ball on him, he controlled it better, did not lose it even when under pressure held his own and was still able to get the ball to a team mate in good position.
codemaniacs: Osimhen has players at his class all around him..
It is Osimhen that is playing like a Serie C player and missing chances and been offside all the time as if he is an amateur.
do not defend Osimhen's lacklustre performance.. he is currently rubbish..
the chance he nodded wide when he was free he could have changed his running pattern from straight to diagonal and controlled the ball and scored but he does not have the intelligence to do that same way he does not have the intelligence to stay onside..
You can fault his abilities at finishing, but he excels in others, like ball control, press ressistance, hold up play, key passes etc despite being a center forward.
Sportilitica: Hmmm, maybe it is not Osihmen's tournament afterall. Or maybe he needs someone else upfront with him because he is having it really bad. I don't know what others are watching but I would rather play like this and keep winning that play entertaining football and lose. The team is not playing pretty football but they have 7 points. We were expecting them not to qualify but they have done so. We need competition in the goalkeeping department.
Osimhen is our most dangerous forward. He doesn't just have players at his class around him.
minfelix: But wait oo, i want to understand something, why Equatorial guinea draw with us..if they can actually score 8goals in 2matches…why was our scoring opportunity against them more than theirs in that first game?
Alhassan Yusuf and Iwobi were the difference makers.
Mujtahida: All that I can say of Nwabali is that I like his character. Watched an interview where he said that he was not satisfied with his performance against CIV and I'm presently watching an interview in the clip with link supplied where one can see his determination. I like him. I hope he proves his mettle.
Joebie: I watched the naija vs EG full match, and I don’t think we did badly. Also, I think the spate of substitutions in the team list leading to the AFCON may be a blessing in disguise. Alhassan, Onuachu, Moffi will all come good.
Observatiins from the EG game: 1. Osimhen will improve in his decision making as the tourney progresses
2. Zaidu is not fully fit. Peseiro should have played Bassey at LB. Bassey gives us better options going forward.
3. The Iwobi, Onyeka, Alhassan chemistry will improve and our forwards will continue to get good support from the rear.
4. Iheanacho was highly needed in that game. He is the kind of player that mends things if all fails.
5. Nwabili was solid in confidence level. Will his confidence level stay up there against CIV?
humility33: Chaves may dem dey beat for home 3 zero which day here
That team na trash.... notwithstanding i wish nwakali well but for now he is not super eagles material
We have much better players
You don't have any better midfielder when overall contributions is in perspective not even the Alhassan that we saw today, that is the plain truth. Nwakali created more scoring chances than what Ndidi and Aribo could do despite starting only one game in the last AFCON. Nwakali carefully intercepted passes more than Ndidi when the duo was paired, also in the last AFCON.
Papi85: even Mohammed Gambo is a better finisher than Osimhen
You have issues with inferiority complex, always trying to associate yourself with the next big thing. This was the same Osimhen you kept trashing when he was making efforts to pick himself up, the same trashing that you have now for Nwakali.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Paul Onuachu, and even Henry Onyekuru are more clinical in front of goal when compared to Osimhen. Note that Osimhen is also a good finisher. You will need more than talent to get to the top. Osimhen has more than talent.
Kog45: Oga Meli Meli,Eguavoen got it right against Guinea Bissau a weaken team in our group cuz he started Ejuke and Nwakali but got it wrongly against Egypt until 72 and 80 minutes when he introduced Ejuke and Nwakali respectively abi.
Oga Meli you love this guys and I understand wella,it happens but nothing we can do about it,Peseiro didn't picked them so let's move.
Sincerely,I want Nwakali cuz I believed he would give us more option but Peseiro has picked his team,let's see what will happen.
Don't get it twisted. I am not a man moved by just results. I said we won't go far during that AFCON campaign, and we didn't. Nwakali won't give us more options, he is the only option for the things that he does, the same can be said of Victor Osimhen and Wilfred Ndidi, they are the only option for what they do.
mostob: I personally like Ejuke due to his entertaining football but what you typed here are mere campaign.
1. What do you mean by passing skills? What are the end products of his passes?
2. I don't think Ejuke is as defensively sound as Moses Simon.
Passing skills refer to short passing, long passing, chipped passing, crossing. Eye tests and then every football website that analyse football and provide player stats has shown Ejuke to be involved defensively more than all of our wingers including Moses Simon. In the match against G.Bissau during the last AFCON tournament, i have never seen any of our wingers get involved defensively in the degree Ejuke got himself involved. Don't be ruled by just feelings, open your eyes. Study.
Odunayaw: Was he invited? Let's discuss who were invited and stop dragging us back
Eguavoen made similar mistakes in his tweakings, the only time he got it very close to right, G.Bissau went down and very well, we domintated proceedings. But because we failed to hammer on these issues regarding personnel invitations and tactical setups, we are stuck in the past without significant leaps, we are caught in a loop. You are the one who is failing to clear the blockades on your path while accusing someone who is making obvious the blockades as the person dragging you back. I don't want you to be a fool.
MetalJigsaw: Ejuke is needed in this team at least to create competition. Majority of our wingers are have been disappointing. They're not doing their jobs at all.
People seem disappointing and lazy when made to do things that are not quite natural with them.
If 4-4-2 continues to be Peseiro's preferred formation, then it is very clear that he selected a team that is not balanced at all. Wingers in 4-4-2 are supposed to be integral in phases of play build up. The invited wingers don't excel at those, as they are pure forwards, who are wired to be finishers. Wingers in 4-4-2 are more involved defensively. The invited wingers do not have the tactical understanding nor even the technique to carry out the defensive roles required of them, because those kind of roles are not natural with them. We have good players but in the wrong setup and combination.
Chidera Ejuke brings more passing skills to his game than some of the midfielders that we parade (midfielders like Frank Onyeka, Joe Aribo) and all our wingers. I know this revelation will not go down and well with some of you, but it is the truth. He also does more defensively than all of our wingers, from tracking back, to man marking to tackling, to making clearances of the ball etc. All these qualities of him are because he is a midfielder that is used as a winger.
mrwilliams9: This is true, even Argentina played a 4-4-2 at times during the last WC but the difference is the 4 across the midfield had at least 3 actual midfielders in Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Alex Mac Allister. It was more of a 4-3-3 as Messi would play as a RW and Alvarez as ST.
We play 4-4-2 but with only two midfielders. That is the issue.
This is one of the most intelligent observation and analysis i have seen so far. My initial proposition for personnel deployment from the left wing through the midfield to the right wing were: Chidera Ejuke, Kelechi Nwakali, Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi. The aforelisted players are all midfielders, with Chidera Ejuke and Alex Iwobi having the ability to play as wingers.
Chidera Ejuke is the fastest and the most technical of all our wingers. Ejuke's dynamism can be applied to suit many tactical approaches. He fits very well in Peseiro's preferred 4-4-2 not just because of his ball playing abilities but also because of what he does defensively.
dijon: Please dead this Nwakali this Nwakali that....lets give our support to the players called up. Nwakali was never in the consideration of 27 players not to talk of the 25 called up. Nwakali can never win the Afcon for us nor make our midfield fearsome...Nwakali is not better than any of the base line midfieldercalled up. I watch his game almost every other weekend am opportune, i have not seen any extra ordinary play he does. He is good but not fantastic...just there.
An indepth analysis into what Nwakali normally does, and then given the type of forwards that we have, and how they like to play, the presence of Nwakali in our midfield boosts our chances of winning any match by at least 30%. I say this with every authority as a sound football analyst and can defend it anywhere if i want to.
femianski: He still had a way to slot in Nwakali like we won't notice
Nwakali created more scoring chances when compared to Ndidi and Aribo in the last AFCON tourney despite starting only one game. You want to make me believe he doesn't deserve a mention or a slot in. I believe we all mean well for the Super Eagles.
Our AFCON ambitions suffers another heavy blow, if Ndidi's predicted absence holds sway. Ndidi is vital to how we foment plays, Ndidi is tactically indispensable in S.E. Pairing him with Nwakali could have gifted us a great edge.