₦airaland Forum

Odunayaw:
Just imagine bro! Players seemingly dead under Rohr suddenly burst into life under Eguavoen.

These guys are just bad losers.

The new coach syndrome.
And after that what did we get.

Mujtahida:
I really don't know what to say about the bolded but it's such ridiculous nonsense. So if a man says that he's spent sleepless night to arrive at a decision, it is an indicator of failure? I've never heard such inanity in my life!

Amidst this loss, all sorts of witless criticisms find expression like a dam letting out water from a muddy river.

"Efforts without intelligence will make excuses and failure"

What is the meaning of this word salad bro? Just because Eguavoen said he had sleepless night to determine who would be picked out of an already submitted 40 man list, now amounts to effort without intelligence? Was it only through effort and no intelligence that he picked those 28 players?

If we do not interrogate some of the things some of you say here, the tag that this place is for ogogoro analysts will stick. Na wa.

I predicted his failure from a pattern i observed of him, and the prediction came to pass even against my heartfelt and sincere desire. This is one of the worst AFCON outing we have had.
The prediction wasn't a ridiculous nonsense, inane, witless criticism or ogogoro analyses as you are trying to paint it. I am looking for more adjectives from you.

I want to push this question to you.
If you have been following Super Eagles and her players for quite some time, you are given 40 names to select only 28 leaving out 12. Are you telling me you will toil all day, adding sleepless nights to it, to pick a 28 man squad.

This question is directed to you. And remember you are not part of the Super Eagles technical committee, just a fan.

TheGoodJoe:
First, Eguavoen is part of the Technical Committee, not the technical crew. There are two different things.

Secondly, when you talk team work, formation, etc. You are talking of preference. However, Coach Eguavoen has a different perspective of the game. It is a pure offensive one but we used it to full effect.

That is down to him and his tactical acumen.

He also brought a clear improvement of players. Eguavoen is not for the glamor of possessive football. He wants it fast, direct and decisive. We saw it in full action in the four games.

When you are talking tactical flexibility, in the game against Tunisia, he showed it to the extreme.

Finally, saying we won by a lone goal against Egypt means you are only quantifying football by just the goal scored when football is far bigger than that.

It was debated extensively here and we totally outplayed the Egyptians.

So despite all your preferences, Eguavoen did it his way and gave a good account of himself.

Finito.

I doesn't matter whether he is part of technical committee or technical crew. The fact is, the players are not new to him. The players are not even new to me, how about someone who is closer. TheGoodJoe please give up on this one.

I agree with you it is just his preference, but he prefers a style of football with a crop of players that doesn't fit his preferences at all. Against Egypt out of a total of 15 crosses from Simon and Chukwueze, only 3 were successful. Against Tunisia only 1 out of 9 crosses were successful. Our long balls come mostly from our CB's to the wings, and not even from the midfield. Some of these long balls were not even successful. The successful ones were well anticipated and the wingers successfully marked out. The wingers were not even good at building plays from the midfield, because they are not midfielders, but inverted wingers.

Check out our passing accuracy, you will see how high the accuracy of our short passes are.
This tells you that we are more of a possessive side that loves to build up play not what Eguavoen is making us play.

We were a poorly coached side and Eguavoen's tactics and preferences dealt with us. i repeat he is a rigid coach. Only against Guinea Bissau did we see some flexibility, after which he reverted to his real self.

If Eguavoen did well, i will be among the people raising his banner. Hyping good works is part of what i love to do.

Parrot69:
This is a man who was short of Strikers who would have made a very big impact in this tournament.
This is also a man who had to assemble a makeshift team within a few days prior to the tournament.
Looking at the game against Tunisia;
Quite alright he was outsmarted, had it been we had scored an early goal like we did against Egypt, that game would have gone in our favor. But the Tunisians knowing our point man, caged him well.
On the otherside, Chukwueze wasn’t helpful.
Things got worse when point man no:2 who would have really changed the game got red carded few minutes into the game.
We had to rely on luck.
Had it been we had an AM, a good playmaker the story would have been different.

He was short of strikers, but he has Iheanacho, Sadiq, Taiwo, These players are prolific, or do you think they are not?

He has been part of the technical crew and shouldn't be short of ideas.

The man at the sidelines for the Tunisians, was the Tunisian assistant coach, not even the main coach and the Tunisians still carried the day.

Concerning Chukwueze. Playing an inverted winger as a midfielder shows how poor their understanding of personnel deployment is, and the way he was used is just funny.

TheGoodJoe:


What you are typing is perception. Judge Eguavoen for his on field performance. He was voted best coach of he group stage. He gave us the fear factor. United the team and brought back belief.

And those guys over tried. I am proud of them.

So spending sleepless nights because of little to know time is a fact.

Not worth criticising but praising.

Yes, what i typed is my perception, because i have seen failure and success to identify when someone is on the wrong route or on the right one, although my learning is progressive.

How splendid was his on field performance judging from the calibre of players he is coordinating and the quality of the opposition he faced.
We are talking about Egypt, Sudan, and Guinea Bissau, not Belgium, France nor England Against Egypt we were Just lucky to win with a lone goal. Our wins were also partly due to what i term the new coach syndrome. We faced a well coached Tunisia who were quicker at making decisions and lost.

Mr TheGoodJoe, this is a coaching problem. Individual brilliances got us far. How do you see our passes and coordination as a team. Little wonder no player of ours made the team of the group stages, emphasis is on teamwork. Forget about the thrills, we were a poorly coached side. When i saw our lineup against Egypt, especially the tactical setup, I knew we wont go far, but i said maybe it's just against Egypt, then i saw the lineup again and again.

You are a football analyst, and a sound analyst at that. Please tell me how appropriate is a 4 2 2 2, 4 4 1 1 or 4 4 2 tactical formation given the kind of players we have. How suitable is it? How good is our composition of play, our long balls from defense to the wings, and the concomitant off tangent crosses? We are a poorly coached side.

There is no fear factor with us. Tunisians outsmarted us with a depleted squad and showed us how deficient and rigid we are in tactics.

Eguavoen is part of the technical crew, the players are not new to him. Telling us he spent sleepless nights to pick his players shows a deficiency. To me it might be political, and a way to excuse a future failure. I said it is a loser mentality. A loser starts making excuses with his efforts even before he finally meets with failure.

Samuel Chukwueze's game for the S.E started on it's decline when we switched to 4-4-2. Imagine playing an inverted winger like Chukwueze as a midfielder.

His performance is not as woeful as some people are making it to be, even though beyond expectation.

TheSuperNerd:
What game did you watch? Did you miss the part where Ndidi saved Okoye's blushes in the first half with that goalline block/clearance?

Tunisia had 3 shots on target man. We only had ONE. One!!! Zero shots on target sef in the first half alone.

So what nonsense are you even saying??

We even had more possession but we clearly didn't use most of it through the middle. We were clueless through the middle.

Our best game remains the second team that played vs Bissau. We were so tidy in possession yet so creative going forward. We hurt them from so many parts of the pitch and not just through the wings.
We diversified in that game and how Eguavoen failed to mix it up to confound the tunisians when he knew they would be ready to match the tactics of the first XI really shows how monotonous his tactical approach was.

He didn't have a good contingency plan. It's funny funny I had 2 and he as coach had none. Funny.

TheSuperNerd, please tell them.
I don't really know how they watch games.
Saying that the Tunisians had only one shot on target is baffling.

TheGoodJoe:
Where you guys get this tactically outclass from beats me. We were the better side. So Eguavoen was not tactically outclassed.

I don't want to call Eguavoen a poor tactician.
He was not just outclassed, he was in want of ideas.

Have you forgotten that I said Eguavoen showed the mentality of a loser when he talked about his sleepless nights spent in the effort to draft the 28 man list. I said that it shouldn't be so. Life is predictable, we spot patterns, and we tell.
Eguavoen was clearly in want of ideas.

Coming to tell us the boys tried, is akin to saying i spent sleepless nights drafting the 28 man list. Efforts without intelligence will make excuses and failure. Eguavoen was outclassed.

Dude also knows subconsciously that he will fail and you can tell from his speeches, his excuses etc.

JohnBullMySon:
Eguavoen's tactics is more of like "Go into the pitch and do thy best, play this position. If you tire or underperform, I'll change you".

Rohr had a tactics, one that we grew tired of. But I don't think we can move forward with Eguavoen, honestly. Players need to be told what to do at times. Freedom can be detrimental. Let's see what Peseiro brings to the table. And hopefully it will be alright.

No, not at all.
It was more like, use your skill and initiative to execute instructions and tasks given.

The players did play according to instructions.

12large1:
As for iheanacho, if coaches cannot play him as a Top 9, let him be benched. Coaches trying fit iheanacho on the team has resulted in us having an imbalanced squad. Iheanacho you’re now competing for a position with Osimehn. You’re not a midfilder

You just read my mind.

I don't want to call Eguavoen a very poor coach.

Our winning streak was down to what i term the new coach syndrome. When i saw our starting lineup against Egypt, that was when it dawned on me that we wont go far. You guys should have noticed that i was among the few that wasn't singing Eguavoen's praises.
I don't want to call Eguavoen a very poor coach, because he seemed to be getting it right until what i don't know started getting into his interpretations.

I said earlier that a 4-4-2 tactical setup is never the way forward, but it appeared to be the setup that Eguavoen will likely employ. When he touted Ejuke and Nwakali as key to his intents and purposes, i was alit with some glimmer of hope for the following reasons:

Ejuke is a winger that can drop deep to collect the ball, do some playmaking with the ball or run with the ball towards the opposition given his insane speed, This is one the reasons why he can also and rightly be termed a midfielder, he is a midfielder in his own rights. He is a winger that slots well as a midfielder. He has the passing accuracy, and good with long balls

Nwakali is a midfielder who can dictates play and creates chances.

I thought he understood the importance of these players in his proposed tactical setup, but i was very wrong.
Those players have no business sitting on the bench.

What Eguavoen could have done.
Start Ndidi and Nwakali in central midfield, Ejuke (or even Olayninka) and Aribo on the left and right midfield in a little more advanced positions. Aribo will do better when closer to the opponent's 18 yard box than he will in central midfield.

Ejuke is more tactical than Moses Simon and Chukwueze and therefore a better fit for Eguavoen's tactical formation. Good tactics is one the major attributes of a midfielder.

It is very glaring than Eguavoen sacrificed the midfield, that he needed the most. The midfield that is supposed to be the strength, the fulcrum and the engine that should drive his ideas.

lloydtruth:
We all know how Osihmen plays, he helps the midfield, bullies the opposing defenders, and takes his chances. Awoniyi was nothing of such and brought absolutely nothing to the team. Even the only goal he scored in the tournament na fluke.

How people compare Osimhen to Taiwo beats me.

Meliforme:
Eguavoen coming out in the open to tell us how he lost sleep drafting the 28 man list makes it look like he might not win the AFCON.

I have seen this kind of behaviour more in losers.

I pray he meets people that can help change his thinking and approach.
I pray we lift the AFCON trophy.

My criticism of Eguavoen started with this.

TheSuperNerd:
Eguavoen tried but he didn't diversify his tactics enough. Our tactical approach was too easy to analyse. It worked against Egypt because they didn't see us coming. But we repeated same thing vs Sudan and it became our pattern.

Our most tactically balanced game came against Bissau. We hurt them from various parts of the pitch. We created so many chances from different attacking scenarios. We showed a different approach tactically yet Eguavoen didn't think it wise to take a little bite from that and mix it in with our main strategy so as to counteract the obvious plan of the opposition to try nullify that main strategy.

Today we didn't even have a shot on target. Not one. We didn't create anything also through the middle yet Eguavoen benched our highest chances creator. See ehn.... football is not about sentiments or listening to what a majority say. You go with the facts and best analytical decisions.

Amunike is still my #1 pick for the SE job. More tactically diverse than Eguavoen. But yes, Egu tried.

I remember you used the Algerian situation to warn against this outcome.
This is not our best starting eleven.

We kept talking about the influence of Nwakali, and what the team really needs.
The truth is not always with the majority.

andrewbaba44:
Osimhen absence didn’t .

That's your opinion. The difference is clear.

COOL10:
Lethargic football - Bronze
Sweet Football- Round of 16 exit

Make your pick

Let me see any body hype any of these players again.

I will hype the players, and blame the coach.
I was the first to criticize Eguavoen on this thread.

COOL10:
Results are the most important thing in football.
As much as I love Tiki taka football, if such good football play doesn't result in goals, it does more harm than good.
Johan Cruyff said it, Guardiola said it, Xavi said it.

We rely so much on our wing play and that cost us today.

Give me results gaddammit

Not true.

zuchyblink:
It is better to play rubbish and win than to play entertaining football and lose

Have we been playing entertaining football.

I warned against 4-4-2.
We don't have the midfield for that.

andrewbaba44:
Osimhen will not do anything in this game oga

Osimhen absence didn’t hurt us

You Dey watch ball so ?

It did hurt us.

TheGoodJoe:
You forgot Chidera Ejuke.

Thank you for reminding him.

jihday:
Errrmmm….. but…. Never mind

This is beautiful.
When you have a good companion as a wife.
In good times and in bad times.
These pictures are now in the list of the sweetnesses of the day.

[color=#003300]One quality Chidera Ejuke needs to fuse into his game, to live up to expectations.[/color]

Chidera Ejuke is a gifted player who brings loads of technique to his game, but there can be more to what is already mused about him, if he brings leadership to his gameplay. Yes leadership is what he needs. The following are some of the leadership components that he needs to make more conspicuous in his geste:

[color=#005500]Teamwork:[/color] Football is teamwork. The ability of a person to work in synchrony with different people is leadership. Your teammates can make or mar you. Ejuke will shine more when he appreciates the importance of placing more premium on teamwork. Establishing connection and camaraderie with teammates both on the pitch and off the pitch will make the synergy that can magnify his performance.

[color=#005500]Responsibility and initiative:[/color] Taking the responsibility of making things happen. Being the man that drives the team forward. Accepting the blame when you fail, or make mistakes. Infact making yourself the talking point for the team woes and successes. Ejuke is currently the fastest in the current assembly of players and the player with the most technique. He has the speed to make dashing runs into the opposition's half and the trickery to remove obstacles that might disturb his flight. His passing accuracy is good and his long balls are also good. Let responsibility inspire confidence and remove fear. Ejuke should demand more of the ball and always place himself in good positions to receive passes.

[color=#005500]The right spirit:[/color] There are times when things may not go as planned and one may find oneself down the pecking order. Maintaining the right spirit is the decision to keep cheerfulness and accepting all things in good faith, hoping for the best. The refusal to lose confidence.

If Ejuke has these traits imbued into him, i believe he will put smiles on many faces, supplying just the required amount of positive thrills and entertainment, and winning games.

It is very good that these players are vastly improving in the areas they are mostly criticized.

EJuke won 4 tackles only behind Ndidi who has 6. Frank Onyeka has 3.
Moses Simon completed 7 dribbles, Ejuke completed 3.
Simon with goal bound shots in recent games is now more productive as a forward and it is a good booster for the team.

IDENNAA:
Are you insinuating I am lying ?

Just for sake of peace I live in Equatorial Guinea....case closed.

Don't say you live in Equatorial Guinea because of people who don't admire progress. Instead of attacking the points you raised, they pile attacks on your person.

The fact that you left the shores of Nigeria to the U.S shows progress. The fact that you can spend time on Nairaland while living in the US as an immigrant shows how far you have gone.

Don't let them drag you down, don't let them make you say things that you don't even desire.

komekn:
What makes your chosen player's the best ❓

I don't know if you have not noticed but football has progressed in the last two decades. Dribbling and playing to the gallery with skills and show boating will not get you anywhere. Ejuke is that type of player he may find it hard to go higher unless he changes..

However, end product, football intelligence, work rate, team discipline garnished with technical ability, skill and dribbling WILL get you FAR.

Considering Onyekuru club form it's not been great and or the league he is playing in Greek league rated 20 in Europe.

On the other hand Onyekuru has had some very good multi million £ transfer. From Everton to Monaco to Olympiacos. He must have made millions but his club performance are not good. Although he is laughing all the way to the bank.


.

Yes, Ejuke is the third best dribbler in the world according to CIES football observatory, and the seventh fastest player according to fifa 22, but i tell you that if those are all he brings to his game, i will not rate him.

I hope you know that no player in S.E is as technical as Ejuke. I am talking about a forward that drops deep to carry the ball. Ball carrying and holding on to the ball are some of his strong points. You can study his heat map to ascertain what i am saying.

Aside Olayinka no other forward is better than Ejuke at man marking, combined with his speed, Ejuke becomes a very good tool at the high pressing game.

Having you taken time to study Ejuke's passing accuracy and long balls. He passes with good accuracy.

As far as game tactics is concerned, tactically he is one of best, if not the best in the crop. I am still working on this aspect, i can tell you that he is better than Iwobi, Simon and Chukwueze, but i can't really say for Olayinka and Onyekuru, that's why i said that i am still working on this aspect.

Concerning Onyekuru, no winger in the current crop is better at finishing, he is very skillful, I don't really want to go into Onyekuru's style of play, but you might get it wrong many times if you continue to judge a player's quality by the club the player plays for, or by the woes he has been through at his club.

forgiveness:
Lied we were playing through the tight spaces and as a result got a free kick and a throw in that resulted to goals, right?

Through the same passes through the tight spaces we created goals that were either saved by the keeper or hit the goal post, na lie?

My man, you are the obvious liar here.

Eguavoen instructed the players to move forward and play through tight spaces which led to many goal scoring chances but you are here trying to give a different and false narrative to what actually happened.

Accusing and condemning the players for playing that way when it was actually how the coach wanted them to play.

You better pass Eguavoen?

But it is very easy for you to believe Nwakali and Iwobi played to the same instruction of the same coach that instructed those players to push forward, huh? Double standard.

Which kind of coach will instruct his players to play through tight spaces.
Can you cite any publication quoting him on this.

forgiveness:
em close dem mouth. Kkkkkkkkk

Peter Olayinka is the dude i even wished would start against Egypt.

Why?

Because no winger in S.E is better defensively plus he is also creative.

Why didn't he start?

It is an important game and i think he is a newbie, his teammates will get to understand him with time, team cohesion and chemistry is paramount.

You will always reason along ethnic lines, i will not tell you to stop, it is your life, it is your decision. I refused to reply to kog45 when he asked for my lineup, because he is navigating the same route.

And let me tell you something, Moses Simon is a good player, you can tell from his exploits at Nantes, MOTM performance shouldn't even be far from a player like Simon, but as far as the LW is concerned, he is not the best we have got. There is Ejuke, there is Onyekuru.

The best is what i will always clamour for, irrespective of ethnic affiliations, not minding if i am the only one calling for it.

Mujtahida:
It is not for nothing that Aribo plays in the first team ahead of Nwakali. Only bias will make anyone pick Nwakali ahead of Aribo yet I know Nwakali has his own bit to contribute but he's clearly not at par with Aribo and you know what? The technical crew knows this!

This is not true.
If you rate Aribo, please continue, but do not speak for the technical crew.

Aribo and Nwakali are very different players whose roles are complementary, and both can be given a starting berth at the same time.

And i tell you that as far as the S.E is concerned we don't have a player like Nwakali.
He brings something that no other player can.

komekn:
7 years ago as a youth player of 17 , should we dust the history books.

Can you give us something that's makes reference to senior football not youth football. So please tell us the award's .

You called him a never do well.
That means he has never done well.

He is currently representing our nation.
His stats against Sudan is impressive.

History is important.
Nwakali has international awards to his name.
I pray that someday i will have international awards too.

komekn:
The explanation given he is the only quality Midfielder that Nigeria has acces to, that can do long balls and bring stability to the midfield.

When did we start playing " police game"

That is a complete aberration from truth and fact.

We are starting a never do well over those who have done well in clubs and leagues much higher than his

With the hundreds of Midfielder

It is wrong for you to call Nwakali a never do well.
This player has international awards to his name.

TheSuperNerd:
Joe Aribo vs Sudan: Impressive showing.

Aribo in 65mins:

94% passing accuracy (43 accurate passes)
29 passes in own half.
14 passes in/into opposition half.
1/2 accurate long balls (50%)
1 shot on target
1 shot off target
100% dribbling success (2/2)
8/12 ground duels won
1/1 aerial duels won
4 tackles
2 interceptions
1 foul committed
Was fouled twice.
9 recoveries.
Lost possession 7 times.

Also, Had a key pass to Awoniyi that set up a very good cross pass that was not utilised in the end. The stats didn't pick that up as a Keypass but I do.



Cc Idennaa. You asked for it.

This is intimidating.
This is massive.

This is the kind of stats Etebo will give on his day, no wonder Etebo is playing in the EPL for Watford.

Actually, I likened Aribo to Etebo the very first time i saw him play for the Super Eagles.

andrewbaba44:
Moses Simon was man of the Match

I said I should remind some of you guys

Oga meliforme what do you have to say about Moses Simon and how many possession did he lost yesterday

Kudos to Moses Daddy Simon for winning MOTM.
I am so happy for him.