₦airaland Forum

Parrot69:
The South African striker, You mean Tokelo Rantie ?

I think yes.

elyte89:
He only needs to be more direct and we av another osaze in our hands

Another Osaze?

I think Ejuke has a different style of play.

I found this video on Youtube and decided to share.
Ejuke showings so far in the league, especially the current league season.
Not every of his displays were shown, for example, his last assist is not in the video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBVfWc8Tl0U

This guy has good midfield and wing play and can be a counter-attacking threat.

I observed the following:

Good dribbling skills.
Holding on to the ball.
Good passing.
Speed.
Good finishing.

zuchyblink:
Poor analysis. Be holistic about it don't single out players. In the history of football experienced teams do better than inexperienced teams. Football is for men not boys. It took the likes of Messi, Ronaldo,Yaya you're, Mikel and others years before they could win international trophies

Mr zuchyblink,

There are some things i would like you to know about experiences.

Some can go through many experiences learning nothing, either because they, do not understand what's going on, or are simply hardheaded.

Some experiences can be very negative and might come back to haunt.
You remember Kenneth Omeruo and that South African player, (what's that his name?)

Some old experiences can make learning or adjusting to new ways of doing things very difficult.
It is called retroactive inhibition in psychology.

Mr zuchyblink bearing on the things i have just said, you will have to jettison your experience talk and give focus to the best quality available.
If in all your experiences you are not the best in the role you play, of what use is the experience, Mr zuchyblink?

Messi and Mikel won trophies for their respective countries because they were the best available.

zuchyblink:
Let your analysis be holistic. Experienced teams do better simple

Mr zuchyblink,

What did the experienced Ahmed Musa and Moses Simon do against C.A.R?

humility33:
Pinnick is in the UK currently
Instead of him to use the opportunity to meet with Olise and see how he can get him invited for the next game even if he dont get to play

The man is busy talking of Ighalo return.
Sometimes i wonder if this men know and can analyse football

It is only one with low football Intelligence quotient that won't understand the problem with the super eagles from our last 2 matches is dearth of midfield creativity

C'mon this things are obvious now

You talk too much.
You seem to follow him about in the UK to know who he has spoken to and who he hasn't.

This is very low.

fabyom:
Onyeka too can play that role. However, it is disrespectful comparing Aribo/Etebo/Micheal to a guy playing in one obscure league. Aribo is playing right now, you can tune in! Nevertheless, Onyedika, Issaq, Amoo, and Nwakali will be a good addition. The bottom line is we have the players to compete!

I am talking about being in possession of the skill sets required for the role.
We don't need guys whose main occupation is just to recycle possession (and sometimes lose it).

League quality is never in the fore when a player's skill set is under consideration.

fabyom:
Sanusi was amazing today even though he didn't play the full game. We have the midfield to compete with any African team.
A midfield of Ndidi/Onyeka, Aribo/Etebo/Micheal and Iwobi/Iheanacho can match any team on the continent. Balogun/Awaziem, Ekong/Apokguma/Omeruo, Collins/Bassey/Sanusi, Aina/Ebeuhi. Ejuke/Dennis/Simon, Chuks/Kalu. Oshimen/Onachu/Awoniyi.
Those not invited yet: Sadiq/Desser/Ugbo/Okereke/Simy.
I don't see a better team on the continent, maybe a better coach but definitely not a better team.
Olise plays the same role as Aribo at club level. Aribo is a better player!

I will rather prefer Raphael Onyedika (a 20yr old defensive midfielder) in central midfield than the trio you listed.
He has more to offer

andrewbaba44:
I don’t like comparing naija players as I do respect all of them but you are saying nonsense with your full chest

Do you even know the meaning of class above ?

Anytime most of you guys hear the name victor Moses you begin to shiver and bring different agendas

Victor Moses enjoyed the quality of mikel and Onazi and better tactics and approach ? Just to talk say Moses do well you no fit ,you Dey give credit to other players

Victor Moses is not coming back to the eagles ,so rest with the downplaying

I find it somehow sentimental of you to think that i am downplaying Victor Moses, when i clearly stated the area where he excels.
As far as wing forward play is concerned Victor Moses has nothing on those guys. I would have preferred you counter me with good debate, but you will not. I will refrain from schooling you Mr Andrew, even though you really need it.

I am not in charge of player selection, therefore i will have the least of worries regarding that. Anybody can be recalled and i will still enjoy the game, nevertheless i am just stating the obvious.

It is very clear that Chidera Ejuke and Samuel Chukwueze are a class above Victor Moses when concerns are fixated on wing forward play.
There are obvious reasons enough for this conclusion. However Victor Moses is a maestro in wingback play.

For most of the coaches i have studied, Victor Moses will never displace these aforementioned players in their natural positions, that is, if these coaches will consider employing his services.

In Super Eagles, Victor Moses enjoyed the quality of John Obi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi in addition to better tactics and approach.
Now that Salisu Yusuf is back, let's patiently observe the unfolding of events.

charlesemeka85:
Hamburg defender, Jonas David has revealed his desire to represent the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the national level.

David, in an interview with Omasports, said he has always kept close tabs with the Nigerian national team and the country as a whole. He said representing the Super Eagles will be a dream come true and will be an honour to his father, who is Nigerian.

It will be very mature of NFF to reach out to him in any form so as to give him a sense of belonging.
Enthusiasm of this nature should be rewarded.

daveP:
Its my birthday...another year to look forward to.

Happy birthday daveP.
I wish you blessings.

Haaland is a superstar amid superstars, his performances accentuated by the quality around him.
Looking at Iheanacho's performances, some people might want to conclude that KC of Manchester City is way better than KC of Leicester City, but we know why it might look that way.

Osimhen on the other hand is a trusted friend you can rely on at all times, whatever the weather his presence and impact will be felt.

Haaland is so efficient at what he does, and that's it.

Osimhen is three players rolled into one. He, always brings that extra.
Imagine if Osimhen plays for C.A.R. Most of us will want to ban some of our defenders for life.
Defenders that are error prone will give you errors especially when someone is motivating (pressing) them to do so.
There will be so many back passes to the goalkeeper who will hoof the ball to save his life thereby squandering possession and inviting more press.

Employers of labour will want to keep an Osimhen at all cost, because there are moments when you will have to sacrifice efficiency for stability and still get results.

[color=#aa6c39]Rohr should jettison 4-4-2 and revert to the his traditional 4-2-3-1, for the following reasons:[/color]

It is very clear we don't have the players to execute properly a 4-4-2 formation.

We don't even have the composition of play that utilises well a 4-4-2 system.

Osimhen our star man thrives as a lone striker. He is clearly our star man because of his all-round contributions.
If there are players 4-4-2 have clipped considerably their performances, Moses Simon and Osimhen are such players. Osimhen's mobility patterns are greatly curbed. Osimhen's movement around the box normally draws defenders with him opening spaces for other forwards (our inverted wingers) to cut in and shoot. You need to give such a mobile striker like Osimhen spaces to run into, and he shouldn't be running into a fellow teammate.

It will push our wingers closer to the box: 4-2-3-1 will bring our wingers closer to the box so that they will have less ground to cover and with their pace and trickery, .get more shooting chances.

It will also brings width to our attacking front: the widermen occupying spaces out and wide will definitely draw out defenders at which they can easily maneuver. Drawing defenders into wide areas also makes for more accurate crosses.


Against a side like CAR that practice zonal marking especially around their own box, a 4-2-3-1 will bring width to our attack to draw them out and allow more mobility to Osimhen.

Frank Onyeka has won my heart.

It seems Frank Onyeka and Awaziem are competing for the roughest guy.

Modified:
They kicked and were kicked.

andrewbaba44:
Forgiveness did nothing ,what’s the need of this screenshot that means nothing ?

Can’t someone air out his own opinion again ?

Maybe once the opinion is against your favorite player he is trying to bring down the player

Rest bro

Let me show you this one as i believe his decision not to mention Ejuke's name as the player that created that scoring opportunity is somehow a mistake.

Please first read my response to his post, then you can make out my point.

forgiveness:
There was a through ball Iheanacho passed to Osimhen leaving him racing into the CAR box 18 with only one CAR defender chasing beside him but Osimhen blew it away. I don’t know why he didn’t try to cut across the defender in the box 18 which could had fetched us a penalty peradventure the defender commits a foul on him or leave him facing the goalkeeper to beat.

That was the replica of the exact positions/situation Awoniyi scored two goals just recently.

However, Osimhen also had a clear chance to score in the second half when his ball hit the post (not sure what actually happened) but it fell to one player before it finally fell to Awoniyi whose shot was blocked.

The coach should show the clip of the match to them and tell them what to do when they find themselves in such circumstances.

An experience striker will definitely get something out from that Iheancho pass.

In short, I don’t want to hear Iheanacho didn’t do anything in that match. I beg to disagree because he gave a through pass that freed Osimhen in a perfect and comfortable position enough to do the damage.

Hence, I recommend we play 3-4-1-2 with Iheanacho occupying the 1 in that formation.

I believe we will score goals.

Forgiveness, my man.
At the words in bold, you didn't even bother to mention the name of the player that gave that pass to Osimhen.

JohnBullMySon:
In the game I watched yesterday, creativity wasn't the main issue, but rather we were mostly unlucky in the box, thanks to a dogged and rugged defence. Saying creativity is the issue, is just looking for what to say. We did not play badly at all. But majority of you guys here only judge with goal and nothing else. CAR was just lucky. We can can still score them up to four goals with that same tactic. All it takes is a little more composure and seriousness in attack.

However, we must still think of new ways to destabilize a stubborn defence, especially when it is taking too long to score.

We did not play badly you say? You think just passing the ball around is playing good football.

Creativity was the problem going forward.
I have seen teams get punished severely for packing the bus.

TheSuperNerd:
Why our attack struggled: Osimhen, Iheanacho (sub: Awoniyi), Simon and Ejuke.

Before I state why we struggled... let's have a small recap.

The game ended 0-1 and WE DIDN'T HAVE A SINGLE SHOT ON TARGET. WE didn't really trouble the CAR GK at all. What does that say?

It says many things. One is that our attack was rendered impotent.

But we did have a few chances. Most were half-Chances and none of these chances were created by our midfield. Bcoz our midfield created absolutely NOTHING.

The whole creative burden fell on the Wingers and the hustles of the strikers feeding off the scraps in the final third. And CAR knew we would use the wings. So they doubled up on our wingers making it hard to get through as often as we would have liked.

But we did on a few occasions through Osimhen's pace setting up Awoniyi twice but we couldn't get the goal. Awo tried because those chances weren't exactly clear cut. They were chances worked out via the industry of Osimhen.

Awo had another chance aerially which fell kindly for him from the right wing. An Aina cross but he didn't connect strongly.

But Our best chance of the game came via the creative genius of Ejuke who kept daring and probing to make something happen all game.

Ejuke cutting in, twisting on the ball, scanning any openings eventually found one and fed Osimhen in the second half and Osimhen took it in his stride to hit a strike that somehow rebounded off the post and fell for Awoniyi who couldn't finish. That was also a half chance and yep we couldn't convert.


Osimhen had his turns twice. One from a header which he didn't direct properly even though under pressure.

And another from a strike he mustered on his own from a quick turn using his weaker foot. It was close but not on target.

Simon Moses tried all he could to get some crosses in but they just weren't working.

Kelechi Iheanacho had one half and while he got a few good touches in and had a few attempts to make something happen, there was a sense of disconnect between himself and his attacking partners. He was neither here or there with respect to his role behind the striker. He is not one to interpret the #10 role properly because he is actually a hybrid. A Support Striker and a forward who can play off another forward.



But why did our attack really struggle?

It's simple. The Midfield failed going forward. And these are the connections...

▶️Our wings were the supposed source of creative potentials but it was cut off due to resolute strategic defending and a deep defensive block set-up by the CAR tactician.
They doubled up on our wingers reducing any chances of major creative actions from both sides in our favour. Ejuke did get through once or twice but that was it.

▶️With the wings cut off, the midfield didn't step up to the creative plate. We laboriously moved the ball about without any true penetrative passing or Lines-breaking passing moment. No quick transitions... No intense or swift switch of plays which normally should have cracked the organizational wall of the CAR defensive blocks.

▶️With the Wings cut off and the Midfield practically creating nothing in terms of Forward passing or Lines-breaking passing or tempo plays, the attack got cut off from supply, and it left the likes of Osimhen feeding off the scraps by dropping off to the channels a few times to use his pace and ball carrying ability to get forward and try make something happen. Could have worked as he created two chances but it didn't in the end.

This also caused Awoniyi to drop deeper to link up the play and still having to run back into the final third to try connect with or finish off any Attacking move in offensive transitions.

Our attackers were starved and overworked all because we had a Zero-Creativity and Poor Ball playing Midfield.


▶️Our attack will continue to suffer until we get the right midfield balance.

In a three man midfield, the right balance will always have:

1. The CAM (Creative hub) that operates between the lines in the space between the DMF and the CBs of the opposition. We have that in Iwobi.
Akinkunmi Amoo is one for the future in this role as well.

2. The CDM (Defensive shield) that holds the midfield and acts as the base of stability, composure, calm and solidity in front of the defence. He is the World Class Shield of the Middle game. We have that in Ndidi. Backup could be Onyeka.

3. The Ball Playing Central Midfield dictator (CM) who orchestrates the team's plays, dictates the tempo and effortlessly links midfield and attack in smooth transitions. He lines-break with his passing, deliver forward passes from deep, switches play at will with long balls and Vision and also contributes defensive shifts that complement the CDM while also offering creativity that complements the CAM.
Lads such as Alhassan Yusuf, Kelechi Nwakali, Ovie Ejaria and one or two others fit the bill soundly, technically and tactically.


Our midfield needs this balance.... BADLY.

Even In a 4-4-2, a CDM and Ball playing CM works just as well. You just have to get the personnel right.


This is why our attack struggled. And it is all Rohr's fault. He has never addressed this anomaly in our Middle game.


We boast only Midfield Runners, Workrate Merchants, box to box midfield operators with not much ball playing nous, and defensive MF walls.... but we lack the one piece that completes our Midfieled. That piece is a Ball playing, high technical Midfield dictator with top passing ability that line-breaks, oils the wheels of our passing game and directs the tempo


If I can see this, analyse this and be proven right time and time again in our games most especially this one we lost quite badly, then what in the hell and the heavens is Rohr doing? We have a huge midfield problem and it needs to be fixed. And Only the right personnel can solve this.

Our need for midfield dictators is glaring and cannot be overemphasized.
But i tell you the truth, Rohr doesn't need them, because of the way he sets up his team.
He sets up his team to play like underdogs, that is, sit deep, and then break on the counter.

Whenever we meet smaller teams that cannot match us toe to toe, we have all the possession but will not know what to do with it.
So it is either we pass the ball around without any plan on how to break down the opponent, or we hoof the ball like Ekong does and then lose ourselves to the frenzy.

To break down oppositions we need to understand and interpret space, and movements around this spaces, It is this coordinated movements in space that opens up passing channels that can be exploited to hew down the opposition. Vital to implementing this, are midfield players who are quick In making creative decisions, who are blessed with good vision and adept at short and long range passing.

If Rohr doesn't change his orientation and consider doing much calculation planning and drilling before games, then he should be comfortable coaching countries whose fifa rankings are above 100 because he will get good results with them, he will lose games, but not with a wide margin. Every coach will always give results with a certain calibre of squads.

So Nerdie you can gift Rohr superb midfield dictators, and you might end up blaming the midfield orchestrator who wasn't even shown a plan.

Odunayaw:
Meh, just flair. That was the difference between them both. If Rohr keeps looking for how to play Nacho with this damned 442, Frank will be exposed against a better team

Whether played as a DM or CM, Frank will never easily get exposed. We have a player in Frank Onyeka.

Kog45:
Oh Westerhoff must have turned this team to a great team.

I remember Westerhoff preferred calling home based Finidi George over foreign based Tijani Babangida....Westerhoff preferred Zamalek Emma Amuneke over prince of Monaco Ikpeba....Westerhoff preferred Yekini,Siasia,Amokachie over Owubokiri,Mike Obiku,Ohenhen.

Walahi Rohr would have messed up 94 team cos he would have dropped Siasia for Owubokiri or Obiku...Rohr would have love starting Ikpeba over Zamalek Amuneke...

How on earth would Ebuehi not making Nigeria 23 team.He jumped on Sanusi just cos he signed for Porto when it was damn glaring that the guy is average.

A young Uzoho who made his WC debut in 2018 lost his place to a very average Okoye but a good ciach would have continue building a world class keeper in Uzoho.

Walahi with Rohr we are in a crossroads.

Rohr should come out in the open to tell us his game plan going into games. and the players he has trusted with roles.
Let's know if the players aren't playing to instructions or that they do not have what it takes to prosecute the roles assigned to them.

All i see in our games are just individual improvisations and brilliance.
Against Sierra Leone i made it bold that our EPL boys won us that game. (Andrew444 came for my head for saying this).
Against Cape Verde, Osimhen's brillance.

Five years is enough for us to read Rohr's winning approach and at least know what he is doing during games.
It is enough to know the right set of players to work with, it is enough to improvise good patterns for winning and good rhythm and communication among players. Patterns and transition in patterns that can be read.
Life, to a great extent is predictable, and nature is maintained by patterns.
I make it bold that if things continue this way we will not qualify for Qatar2022. Yes i said it.

Gernot Rohr is not building any team, until his young assembly of players gets old, then he will begin another building phase.

charlesemeka85:
indon disown am

Really?

charlesemeka85:
that joe aribo na minus 1

You must be a very good entertainer in real life.

Are you not called Papa Aribo.

Kog45:
Clemens Westerhoff a dutch.

I asked because i know the man is not Gernot Rohr.

What will happen if Westerhoff were to handle this current crop?

Nostradamus1:
italy is a counter attacking team that dont build from the back.

Stats can back this up. Btw, building from back depends more ball playing cbs and a good dm. Mention one super eagles cb that can build from back. Mention any of our defenders that play in teams that build from back

Balogun, Akpoguma are defenders you can trust to make good passes that will enable a building from the back.

Ebuehi is a ball carrying fullback.

Kog45:
Don't mind me joor you know I don watched different generations of eagles but for some people telling us 94 class were overrated,no I will not take that...so I needed to go to archives that Segun Odegbami,Adokiye,Muda Lawal,Christian Chuckwu of 80s will enter this team with ease talkless of 94 team.

Oh creative midfielder but I thought we are criticizing Victor Ikpeba for expressing his opinion and funny enough some started comparing Ikpeba with Iwobi,forgetting Ikpeba was former Africa footbalker of year.

Sure Rohr must go,forget Pinnick by the time Nigerians turn the heat on him he got know say Warri dey come last.

Who was the man that coached the 94 class.

edi287:
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think the team played well when that criminal Salisu Yusuf was part of the coaching staff.
Maybe I'm overthinking things...

Sallsu is a good tactician, our game against Luxembourg where he played i think a 4-5-1.

Ppogbae:
This makes no sense. We were clearly ineffective on the wings (CAR picked this up and tied us up there) and lacked a midfield. How would the inclusion of such players ameliorate these areas of concern?

Good fullbacks and midfielders we make good wing play.
We have good wingers to make things happen.

Ndidi, Frank, and to an extent Etebo are the only midfielders we have.
Frank impressed me. He should be a first teamer. either in CM or DM.

What is blocking Nwakali's invitation?

12large1:
The administrators that failed to pay a coach for 8 months. Which sane qualified coach will accept such nonsense? Look at the nonsense pitch for seasoned European professionals. Everyone is to be blamed TOHR inclusive

CAR also played on the same pitch.

COOL10:
Lol

Well,I'm not Rohr, so I can't say why he has agreed to stay with the team but one thing is certain : When you owe a family man and his players for that long you don't expect the team to shower you with as much dedication and loyalty as you would expect. You've already proved that you're incompetent on your own end so wouldn't it be unwise to demand what you can't give?

Let's just keep supporting the team in the best way we can cos even if we sack Rohr today, what guarantee do we have that the next coach would be treated better?

Any coach that fails to deliver will meet his sack.