₦airaland Forum

Samueltemi337:
You want to play etebo in the wings in a 4-4-2 formation


where does Lookman fall in this your formation?

Yes. Nobody in the current crop of invitees can do it better.
if you know who can, please tell.

Lookman will play SS as a sub.

Samueltemi337:
Thank God you aren't our coach

What exactly is wrong with the setup.
I stand to tell you that if Peseiro decides to go 4-4-2 , this is actually the best thing you can come up with based on the pedigree of players in camp, and also on the quality of opposition. Aribo's presence as an SS is a booster of humongous proportions.

activities2:
Possible XI against Portugal


but if I see any 4-4-2 then it will be final that Jose Peseiro is just another un serious coach

4-4-2 won't be a bad idea against the might of Portugal, as it will enable us maintain a good defensive shape.

Etebo and lwobi will man the left and right side of the midfield respectively, while Onyeka and Ndidi will man the center of the midfield.

Aribo and Moffi as SS and CF respectively has a lot of promise, with Aribo dropping deeper when we don't have the ball, making it more like a 4-5-1 off the ball, crowding the midfield, ipso facto helping to shield our CB's and goalkeeper.

I can't think of any other midfield deployments especially on the left and right midfield other than that of Etebo and Iwobi. These guys will not only win possession, they will help maintain possession with their passing, our forwards will benefit immensely from their chipped passes and long balls.

komekn:
English football is influenced unfairly by non football variables to a large extent. Protectionism means players can be protected from better players taking thier position.

Most club football recruitment directors are looking for the best players with the best deal for themselves not necessarily the club. Which takes priority the best deal or the best player is open to debate.

However, this means that there are quality players who have been overlooked or side stepped to make way for thier preferred players. This is an opportunity to get players before they become big news.

I have watched Onyedinma it's quite surprising he is still playing for League 1 Millwall. He started playing first team at 17 in the championship.

Onyedinma was being pursued by Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool when he was 16. Somehow politics has taken over. Unlike Tyrone this guy can cope with any kind of physicality Cameroon will throw at us. But needs to be capped asap I predict a premiership club will be making moves for him soon. This guy is considerably better than Lookman.

It's for the Nigeria official to be proactive in getting those players who are very good quality but not recognised and or unfairly treated. In a sense thier loss our gain, we should be discovering them before they are discovered by the big English clubs.

Komekn, please come out and tell me you are not the one that wrote those, especially the ones in bold letters.

jihday:
Nwakali is having a good season but bros try to dey fear God

I dey fear God.

This is the fact.
A complete midfielder in very simple explanation, can play the DM, CM and AM roles. You can say this for Nwakali, but not for Eberechi.

dijon:
Confirm agent i greet you...

You made me laugh in Telugu.

In the present state of things and if you look well, Eberechi is not as important to our team as you guys make him to be. He is not coming to add anything new.

charlesemeka85:
and u will prefer Yusuf in the b2b/Central midfield position instead of Alex?

Yes, with very fine reasons.

charlesemeka85:
very complete but hv been languishing in laliga 2 for the past 2-3 seasons? Baba no dey deceive ya self but face fact.

If scouts can comb obscure leagues in Africa,Asia,south and Central America to unearth talents I see no reason none is yet to see what majority of you see in nwakali to recommend him to clubs in better leagues

The fact is what i am facing. Nwakali is a more complete midfielder when compared to Eze.
Promotion can sometimes be delayed.

charlesemeka85:
hmmmm

If eze decides to switch to us that AM position is he’s unless he underperforms

To justify your claim who is that AM in the current super eagles set up that will push eze to the LW position? Don’t say iwobi because I believe jpes will prefer to deploy him as the teams CM/b2b midfielder

Eze will slot well at AM, but why play Iwobi as b2b, when there is Alhassan Yusuf.

TheSuperNerd:
This is why he was utilised box to box more often at FCM. Funny how same Basco said he was exactly like Raphael Onyedika.

If he watched Onyeka that much back then, he would have known the difference.

The problem with folks here is they are so fixated on defending a lad rather than just seeing the actual truth on same player.

Onyeka is direct but he is limited. Not press resistant and his ball playing is crap. But his energy is noticeable and he is very vertical playing with his penetrative and pressing runs both on or off the ball.

I know this much and beyond but what irks folks here is how I label Onyeka as limited. But that is the truth. How they feel about it is their problem.


I mean, there is a reason why a few tactical football accounts have reached out to me on Twitter in my DMs for my views and takes. It is no coincidence. Haters and idiots can only keep on hating and idioting.

All I want is the Best for the Super Eagles and having a limited Midfielder in our midfield won't do us much good.

Frank Onyeka shouldn't have made the leap straight to the EPL.
I believe the coach's instructions is also affecting how he plays.

mostob:
I'll pick Rabiu Ali ahead of Eberechi Eze....
You can not use us catch cruise and expect us to accept you back...

This is not about catching cruise.
Eberechi Eze is a fine player, I rate him above some of our forwards.
We don't exactly need Eberechi Eze in our midfield. We can do without him there.
If Eberechi Eze decides to play for Nigeria, he will have to compete for a starting place at LW.

Papi85:

Kelechi Nwakali is more complete as a midfielder when you compare him to Eberechi Eze.

As far as Nwakali doesn't play for Liverpool, you will not rate him.

BascoVanVeli:
Frank can only play what the coach tells him to play. If he was allowed to play his game he would be carrying the ball 20 yards at a time.

Seems like you have known Frank Onyeka since his days at midtjylland.
He is very direct.
I love his forward drives with the ball. I love his energy.

Truidstar:
All this Nwakali talk will soon die
. Eze is coming. You heard it here first.

I will pick Kelechi Nwakali over Eberechi Eze, any day, any time.

May God help Nwakali.

Daninya33:

Why are we not putting international friendlies to good use?,Is it not an avenue to assess players strengths and weaknesses?.
We have a large poll of players that can add depth and grit to the Super Eagles Team A and B,U23 and U20 national team.

JP doesn't strike me as a coach who is ready to try new things.

We keep squandering opportunities to try new players most especially in midfield which is our major challenge.

@TheSupernerd has been honest and patriotic in his analysis of our midfield dilemma.
We already know what Ndidi,Etebo,Iwobi and Aribo can offer in midfield and it is not good enough.
I don't even rate Bonnke and Frank.

Hey, it's time the coaches give opportunity to players like Alhassan Yusuf,Kelechi Nwakali,Onyedika,Ejaria and others.

We cannot keep repeating the same thing and expecting the same result.

We all saw what the midfield trio of Didier Deschamps,Zidane and Djorkneff achieved in France 1998. It was a balanced midfield.

I rate Etebo and Frank because of the uniqueness of their contributions to the dynamics of a game.

Tomori, Tammy, Eze, Olise et al, deserves to get what they want out of life. I encourage them to keep improving until it becomes very difficult for the English FA to overlook.

TheSuperNerd:
Cameroun, Ngadeu and Vawulence

November 9:

Cameroonian Defender, Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui says,

"I am a hungry lion... we will reach the final of the FIFA World Cup... we are going there to die on the field."


November 10:

He was not called up to Cameroon's World Cup team.


#Qatar2022DiariesMD

Players like this one normally struggle with discipline and are very prone to errors.
Dude believes fuming all over will take his team to the finals.

I ponder how he will cope with his emotions after the drop.
I feel for Ngadeu.
May the Lord help him recover. Amen.

Is it true that Noah Okafor contacted Gernot Rohr in a bid to represent Nigeria in 2018?

andrewbaba44:
Money Dey Croatia ?

You won’t even see a 10k euros weekly player at dynamo Zagreb ,let alone other small teams

Money made him leave Boavista.
Money made him go to Turkey.

Starting roles (regular football) made him go to Croatia

jihday:
dey deceive yourself

Tell me exactly the deceit .

BannedLarge:
If he isn’t presently our best CB then who is If dem born you well mention balogun, Akpoguma, ekong, awaziem or semi ajayi. Tell us who is presently our best CB…. The problem with Nigerians is that, we exaggerate our players ability and always believe that, there are world class players at our disposal

Awaziem, Balogun, Omeruo.

komekn:
He was in the shop window in Frebch league one had one season end of the season nobody interested. He had to descend to Turkey .

It has been downhill since

He wants where the money is.
He doesn't want to play second fiddle to anybody (He is not interested in bench roles)

komekn:
So why has his career always been on a downward spiral ❓

Culminating in him playing in the backwaters of Europe in Croatia.

I don't think it is down to his footballing.

BannedLarge:
Ajax can afford to play at at Lb but we can’t because he is our best available CB

He is not

fabyom:
Bassey had a great game when he switched to left-back. Ajax needs another CB to unleash Bassey at left-back.

My admiration for Bassey began when i saw the friendly game against Arsenal, while he was at Rangers, in that game he was played as a left-back. Bassey won me over.

When i saw him played as a CB, i was like wow, what a versatile player. The quality that i saw in Bassey made me believe that he is an upgrade to what we have in S.E especially at CB, but a closer look at Bassey as a CB revealed what looked like a deficiency, but which is actually a strength when he is deployed rightly

Bassey is a world class LB and should not be wasted at CB. He has qualities that makes him a good LB and at the same time limits him as a CB. He has the skills of a fullback. He anticipates well as a fullback, but makes poor judgements as a CB and there are good reasons for this.

Any coach that believes in Bassey will play him at LB and allow him to develop further in that role.

If Ajax desires let them continue him at CB and watch the opposition exploit Bassey's obvious weaknesses at CB, a situation which is quite unfair, and has a way of affecting his confidence.

chrisooblog:
At the moment I can't put my hand on my chest and tell you who is better than Bassey in the CB position for the SE. Balogun who I would have pointed to some years back is not the most comfortable on the ball and also lacks pace. Omeruo is not it right now, Ekong always has a mistake in him, Awaziem still lacks defensive awareness and sharpness while Semi Ajayi is not exactly the wall of Gibraltar.

Akpoguma who one could have mentioned was definitely the weaker CB when Nigeria faced Algeria recently.

Bassey is a young upcoming player so it's not surprising you will fine flaws in his game at the moment. How many 21-year-olds not named Saliba are world class CBs at the moment? Give Calvin time he'll get better.

Defensive awareness and sharpness is one of Awaziem's forte, and it is one of the qualities he has above the others.

What makes you think that Omeruo is not it right now? I want to know.

Regarding Balogun, is pace the first quality you consider in a CB.

I am yet to put a finger to the reason why Bassey started games ahead of Balogun at CB position in Rangers FC. I don't think it is for footballing reasons.

Bassey is a fullback, it is written all over his game, i mean his skills and decisions. As it stands, I will pick Awaziem, Balogun, Omeruo ahead of Bassey, they thrive better at CB.

BannedLarge:
Funny enough, Bassey can cross a ball well but he is our best CB at the moment and will be wasted at LB

Bassey is not close to being our best CB. His flaws in that position is obvious to the keen eye.
Bassey is best as a fullback. It is his best position for now.

solonnachi:
Guys! Its my birthday... Thank God for His mercies.

Happy birthday Solo,
More joys to you.

TheSuperNerd:
Joe Aribo FT Stats for Southampton on Saturday.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton - EPL Matchday 14.

Played 90mins+ (CF/SS - in a two man attack, drifted to both wings too).
58 touches.
2 chances created.
1 big chance created.
33/38 accurate passes.
87% passing accuracy.
100% accurate long balls (2/2).
1 shot on target.
5/9 ground duels won.
1/5 aerial duels won.
5 recoveries.
100% tackles won (4/4).
2 clearances.
2 headed clearances.
Was fouled once.

*Aribo won the most tackles (4) in the game.

This is not just impressive, but rare.

From the above we can deduce the following:

Massive contributions to defense - Those stats are quite rare for an SS and or CF. This is incredible.
Creativity - Dude created two chances, one of which was a big chance. This is very good.
Passing - Dude recorded 100% accurate long balls. This is an improvement from the Aribo i used to know, that rarely attempts long balls even as a midfielder, even when he attempts it falls short of meeting the target.

Joe Aribo is the kind of forward that we need in S.E.

TheSuperNerd:
Thanks Meli.

And yes, we can have both onfield but you see one has to choose a side of the discussion to debate. I chose to play against even though I am a fan of Eze. I guess I wanted to pick the harder route on my debut. Lol

So yes, Eze and Iwobi together is tactically feasible and can work but again, looking extra carefully at both, the passing ranges of both lads are similar. I personally will switch things up a bit and put another Midfielder with broader passing range to complement Iwobi.

And then Eze's Defensive numbers aren't so decent. I will ensure the MF with a broader passing range picked also offers enough defensively.

You are right, Nerdie.

in my assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of our players, Eze may not have a starting berth especially in midfield, however the left wing is open. He has what it takes to start there depending on the how the coach intends to approach the game.

TheSuperNerd:
TheSupernerd debuts on Naijafootballers TV show

So uhmm... I took out time away from work on Monday (reshuffled my schedule) to make my debut on Naijafootballers' football cruise show.

Naijafootballers are Organisers of the Annual Ballers Awards and they have a huge media presence on Instagram.

So uhmmm... It's my debut on their show. Expect to see more of me via that medium.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2by1u8YDnME


Gracias!




P.S: Now many curious ones will see the face behind the moniker. Lol

Enjoy, for those interested.

Nice one Nerdie.

Ebere Eze will play second fiddle to Iwobi, but we can have both on the pitch.

TheSuperNerd:
Raphael Onyedika. My God! What a solid Performance at the heart of Brugge's Midfield against one of the very sound sides in the league. A Top 4 battle.

So comfortable with the ball at his feet. So calm yet very solid in physical duels. Beautiful Passing range.

Raphael Onyedika, the long ball specialist.