₦airaland Forum

Mujtahida:
Your argument is specious. On the surface it sounds reasonable but once a person probes deep it is empty. Eguavoen did not brag. He made a factual statement. You read it and ran to town with it saying he boasted.

And on the 7th day, God rested. Why? Because in six days he made effort.

A man said he had sleepless night to make a decision. You said that is why he failed. If something requires deep thinking and painstaking effort for Mr A and for you, you it requires no effort does that automatically give you basis to presume that Mr A is a failure?

Some women do three days in the labor room before giving birth, while another woman, in two hours she's given birth. And then the one who used 3 days, comes to church and testifies that she was 3 days in the labor room before she gave birth. Then one woman in the congregation would say, 'I see patterns, you are bragging, I see that your child will fail'. Then if anything happens to the child, the woman would jump up and say, 'I said it, I knew this child would turn out wrong from the moment his mother was bragging that she labored for three days to birth him.'

If the absurdity in the above scenario is lost on you, then I can't help you.
Make I end this exchange here abeg.

Please to clear some misconception about the scriptures. No creation activity took place in the night. Creation was done in the morning and in the evening. God rested not because of exhaustion but because he has completed his work.

I am not against working at night, but please let it not be a sleepless night. To imply a sleepless night indicated that the matter was somehow puzzling to his mind. His mind kept him awake and gave him away to sleeplessness. His mind was restless and confused. This is a deficiency, and should not be discussed in the public.

As a member of the technical committee, it shouldn't be so difficult for him. He should have a first hand knowledge of the players.

Who and who are even in the list of the 28 man squad, that it was so much a puzzle that his mind couldn't leave him alone. I wish he could come out in the public to say what fabyom has made of the statement.

I said it wasn't good and we have seen it

TheGoodJoe:
That is a lie.

Prove that it is a lie.
I even want it to be a lie.

Who likes bad news.

Mujtahida:
I do not query that you predicted that he'd fail. It is the basis of that prediction that I find laughable.

Now come to think of it as a matter of practical reality: even two options where one has to choose one or the other can be very testing not to talk of choosing 28 players out of 40.

Even Christ with his prophetic eye spent sleepless night in prayer just to choose twelve disciples yet he still chose a Judas you are here talking down on Eguavoen.

So in your mind choosing 28 players out of 40 should be as easy as knife cutting through butter right? And since the man said it wasn't easy for him, you saw failure. Pardon me but you appear to be like those people who once they enter exam hall, they finish quickly just to flatter themselves that they are intelligent and laugh at those who do not finish so quickly.

I'd tell you that choosing 28 players out of 40 would definitely give me and many other persons sleepless nights and the fact that he knows these players is what makes it even more difficult, not less.


I truly find your thinking absurd. Absurd not because you think choosing 28 players should be easy but because you think that since it gave him sleepless night, it meant he was going to fail.

You have explained everything. You have mirrored the same mindset. It will give you sleepless nights and you will brag about it, but it won't be the same for me.

We love toiling, we love exhaustion because it gives us the feeling that we are doing our best, and the excuse we will give should failure happen.

The Tunisians allowed us to do our normal huff and puff, toiling and sleepless nights and what was the result. We had only one shot on target while they had three. A depleted squad that were tactically drilled.

You can worry yourself to frazzle and have sleepless nights over little, but i tell you it will make your thinking very slow and you won't be able to quickly come up with solutions when big issues arises.

fabyom:
Saying he had a sleepless night doesn't necessarily mean he did. It's a soothing way to address those not selected that they are not forgotten! It's a human relation term. Ivory coast drew with Sierrialeone but defeated Algeria. My G, football is not mathematics.

Equavoen's tactic was spot on. In the first half, Algeria had one shot on target which came in the first 5 minutes.
Their tactic is to neutralize our attack and hit us on a counter. Equavoen knew that's why our forwards did not press in the first half and Moses withdrew a bit backward.
This is a knockout stage you don't just go all out against the 2nd best team in Africa.

In the 2nd half, we decided to be more proactive because Equavoen could see what the Tunisians were trying to do.
Iheanacho lost the ball and they countered, a long pass to Aina's position just needs Aina to trap the ball but he lost it. These are the little loss of concentrations that made Rohr prefer Awaziem to Aina.
Before our backline could recover boom a straight waving shot, took a bounce in front of our goalkeeper. A routine save with two palms but Okoye went with one (Bad positioning).

Equavoen saw a need to press their backline which Iheanacho and Awoniyi were not doing. He brought on Olayinka to press and Iwobi to control the midfield (Switching to 4-3-3) formation. Simon to drive in and Sanusi to go wide. Same with Chukweze and Aina. As we began to take charge of the game Iwobi miss-timed his control and ... red card.

Nevertheless, we maintained the game plan and there were several occasions Simon drove in and Sanusi drifted wide to receive the ball.
This game plan allowed us to press the Tunisians even with 10 men, and when Sadiq came on, Olayinka took Chukweze position drifting in and Aina going wide. That was how Olayinka was able to locate Sadiq unfortunately he shot wide (P.S: Sadiq and Olayinka gave it all, pressing, running, and dribbling).

Simon was able to locate Ndidi twice just outside the 18-yard box and he shot unbelievably wide. You don't give such space to a player like Partey or Kessie and won't pay dearly. Ndidi's shooting let us down. Comoros scored a free-kick from 30 yards but we have no player that can score from 20 yards. Wow!

Equavoen got his tactic spot on as it allowed us to control the game without headache, unlike our previous qualifiers.

It was the qualities of our players that let us down. A keeper that can't save a direct shot, a striker that failed to convert a through ball, a DM that can't shoot, and a 10 that got a red card.
Even with 10 men, we had the chance to equalize. Hardluck but as Iwobi wrote on his IG page, the Super Eagles shall be back. Patience my people!

Are you speaking for Eguavoen, or you are making connotations from what he said. Please do not do that for anybody, allow people to express their minds and to explain further what they meant if the need arises.

We lost to a depleted squad, that sums up everything

There wasn't much difference between Rohr's later days and what Eguavoen served us. Where was the entertaining football? Ekong with his normal duties of looping the ball after some stringing of passes at the backline. Our idea of going forward remains the same. Rohr plays with a thin midfield, the same with Eguavoen. Our midfield maintains it's identity of racking up tackles and defending, because we are very thin, and can't hold our own there. Our midfield is just part of our defense.

Some of the analyses you guys are dishing out is just an attempt to explain what you guys thought Eguavoen was thinking. Pundits are hilarious sometimes. Allow the coach to speak for himself. You guys sometimes use terms the coach have not used all his life.

You are very funny, you said we controlled our game without headache.

Odunayaw:
Picking just 28 people is easy. Picking a SQUAD will give me sleepless nights for I'd be picking based on my philosophy, character of players, adaptability etc.

If him saying he had sleepless night is what is paining you, na you de have sleepless nights over him sleepless night

At the emboldened, have you not been following these players for a long while to ascertain those.

Having sleepless nights so as to pick players he is supposed to know from the back of his hand is not good. It doesn't speak well of him.

Odunayaw:
You're only proving that you're part of the get-result-anyhow set... nothing more. So cut those epistles you've been dropping. No de disguise.

Just know you're not converting any of us, know this and know peace

I am not a member of the get result anyhow set. That's why i don't encourage gambling.
I believe in variety, dynamism, and playing to a team's strengths.
I believe in dynamic principles and formulae as a way of life.

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.