TheSuperNerd:
Onyeka didn't make us miss Ndidi. He was a fantastic cover.

It is Iwobi's role that was sorely missed. A player who could play that role is the one missing.

Ndidi was missed. Onyeka covered good defensively and was fantastic with his forward drives, but his passing range is a let down. He is also not a genuine controller.

CornOak:


LET US HEAR WORD.

Regardless of what happened, these boys tried.

They tried actually, just that they can't give what they don't have. The team is tactically not balanced.

Pack your team with poor passers of the ball and what do you get.

Ndidi is sorely missed.

Bright Osayi's game against the tactical ingenuity of Hugo Broos was eye catching. We have more depth in the fullback role than in any other.

codemaniacs:


Which Osimhen do you know

The Osimhen i've watched at Napoli needs only 1 chance to score a clean goal even with his offside issues...


He should better go to Edo and bow down to the Bini Goddesses and Gods..

He should be wearing a vest with the image of bini dieties to clear his lack of confidence and self belief.

I know I have seen Obafemi Martins with a pendant of Oduduwa.

This is in contention to be the dumbest post ever to hit this thread. Imagine Osimhen bowing down to things that can't help him and has never helped anyone.

codemaniacs:


Which Osimhen do you know

The Osimhen i've watched at Napoli needs only 1 chance to score a clean goal even with his offside issues...


He should better go to Edo and bow down to the Bini Goddesses and Gods..

He should be wearing a vest with the image of bini dieties to clear his lack of confidence and self belief.

I know I have seen Obafemi Martins with a pendant of Oduduwa.

Rubbish.

Barryseal:

After Iheanacho's pk, a random dude hugged me so tight that he cracked my Samsung screen which was in my pocket. Went to the repairers for screen replacement today, they said its 250k

Sorry.

We are no longer defending in numbers

Curtisaxel17:
If not for our defence's solid performances, people would have been forced to ask Victor Osimhen some very frank questions.

Some people make it look as if the SE was struggling to score goals before Osimhen came on the scene and improved our goalscoring prowess.

In reality, the reverse has been the case. Ighalo played with this same team in AFCON 2019 and won the Golden ball. Osimhen took charge and gave us only one goal in five matches plus plenty of offsides and big chances squandered. Same team o.

The only thing saving him is that our defence is pulling us to the finish line. Any day the defence stops working, Nigerians will analyze Osimhen without emotions.

Osimhen is a vital part of our team's defensive character. Our defensive exploits are not just down to the defenders, the team's structure and character as a unit plays the most part.

drDoom3:


It is not sustainable. That is the issue.

Once we meet a team that can hold sustained pressure in our attacking third towards the end of games, or we fail to score first in a game, we will struggle.

Good observation. Peseiro's game management can make this a possibility, or not a possibility.

Mujtahida:

So they won us because they talked loudest? Which kind amala logic be this Bro?

Amala is good food, and so is my logic. It will be wonderful, if you can grasp the importance of words especially when charged with emotions.

theophilusj31:


The way the Angola players have been bragging ehnn those guys are scared to death,their boasting has fear underneath it . ....our players and coach have been unusually quiet,..no bragging,no chest eating,...... A wealth of experience has taught our players that it is better to wait till after the match b4 u talk,the Tunisia saga of the previous afcon still fresh in our memories. .

We should start talking, even louder than them. That's how Ghana bragged and talked and qualified for the world cup instead of us.

soetanoreoluwa:
Good morning family!
Today is my birthday..
SoarHighSuperEagles!!!!

Happy birthday, with many years of God's favour.

ChrisKels:
After making 9 saves(7saves in the box) and despite conceding two goals against Atalanta, Maduka Okoye makes sofascore’s serie-A team of the week.

Growth!

I reported much earlier Okoye's massive improvements. Some peeps on this thread were like "How many matches of recent times have you seen him feature to come about such a conclusion". I don't need to see any player on a match day to make an assessment.

Odunayaw:

We say the definition of madness is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

How can you admit their ideas were "cancelled OUT" and "they didn't succeed" and still say they weren't clueless?

Na me mess up as I engage you sha

Yes, you messed up big time through what you said. You are the one who was actually clueless watching the match, without catching to see the different ideas the Camerounians applied trying to get a goal. They didn't try one particular thing, they tried different ways that failed in application.

We might win this AFCON. Our defensive setup is novel, i have not seen this composition elsewhere. I am yet to come up with a way of breaking this defensive setup without running a high risk of conceding goals especially when the team with this kind of setup has a forward like Osimhen who defends from the front and is also a very potent counter attacking threat.

Odunayaw:
They were clueless because they were neutralized. Thanks for making my point for me

I did not make your point for you. The camerounians had clues that didn't succeed. The Camerounian coach is sound from what i saw as the game went by. He had clues but wasn't successful with his clues. To be clueless means to be without ideas, they had ideas going forward, you could easily see their pattern of passes and attempts to penetrate, but were canceled out. They had ideas, they had clues that didn't succeed.

Odunayaw:
My my! Too happy to see Cameroon clueless

Cameroun played good football, they weren't clueless, they were just neutralised.

Mujtahida:

Horrible how? This man. He did his best in the circumstances

What will you say, if it were Uzoho. Go rewatch the goals.

The Cameroonians were afraid of Osimhen, it affected everything they did, they feared counters.

The Cameroonian goalkeeper is Uzoho v0.5. Horrible goalkeeping.

ThunderFireAgba:
The 2nd lineup is somewhat better cos of the chances we have been missing in the tournament.
Iheanacho now gets to step in behind Osimhen as the SS. He will be the joker as this setup is for tactical attacking football for: re-bounds, spilled catches, zip play with the wingers(were he has excelled greatly with his one-touch gimmicks), coordinated passes in the midfield also.

The midfield doesn't need much on this setup is a one quick transition from the defence to the wingers.
I chose Burno Onyemachi over Sanusi cos of his discipline on the ball.
Bassey moves back to pair Ekong.

Formation is 4-2-3-1.

Remove Onyeka for Iwobi.

BascoVanVeli:


Do u still believe this lie?

He is not as bad as painted, but the least when compared to other invited Super Eagles Centre backs.

Mujtahida:
You go sabi coach ooo

Yes, thank you ooo.

We were very lucky to get away with a midfield that has Onyeka and Aribo, irregardless of the coach's efforts at conservative football, you will need a level of control and cordination, you need a nucleus, midfielders who are tacticians with good techniques. Onyeka and Aribo are not the kind of midfielders that can give you those, (Frank Onyeka has his unique applications in midfield but should not be relied upon as an anchor). The midfield is the engine of any team.

codemaniacs:


Goals win matches not overall performance..

Football is team sports, overall performance can help your team win games.

mostob:
You might get carried away by just looking at the little successes. Little successes are meant to be stepping Stones . They're for inspiration and motivation.

People that get carried away by little successes might have already gotten what they want, if you are still hungry, won't you be in want for more.

codemaniacs:


Keep deceiving yourself.

Same osimhen that couldn't score against Ghana and qualify SE for the world cup.

It was both Uzoho and Osimhen fault the SE did not qualify for the world cup.

You are talking about finishing while i am showing you his overall performance.

mostob:
There is a big difference between failure and not meeting your own standard.

His standards might be high, nevertheless he needs to appreciate the little leaps. Big successes are little successes that add up, look down on a little success and stagnate and then decay.

codemaniacs:


Big lie, if Osimhen has ball control, hold up play, key passes then he won't be offside 1000 times.

You are the one with the big lie, but i will put the blame on ignorance. The offside calls might be usual when he is the last man to finish and is without the ball and then is off, while the qualities i highlighted were taken into consideration when he is with the ball and and is on and sometimes not the last man. The number of times Osimhen had the ball on him, he controlled it better, did not lose it even when under pressure held his own and was still able to get the ball to a team mate in good position.

codemaniacs:


Osimhen has players at his class all around him..

It is Osimhen that is playing like a Serie C player and missing chances and been offside all the time as if he is an amateur.

do not defend Osimhen's lacklustre performance.. he is currently rubbish..

the chance he nodded wide when he was free he could have changed his running pattern from straight to diagonal and controlled the ball and scored but he does not have the intelligence to do that same way he does not have the intelligence to stay onside..

You can fault his abilities at finishing, but he excels in others, like ball control, press ressistance, hold up play, key passes etc despite being a center forward.