₦airaland Forum

TheGoodJoe:


Are you trying to prove that Aguero is not World Class? That is where you are totally wrong. You are saying 2009. Why not say 215 games by Benzema with 111

Aguero in a tougher League with 150 games scored 102 goals.

Apart from that, compare the kind of goals Aguero scores. We have lots of goals of Aguero skinning three defenders or more to score. Aguero comfortably hits from long ranges.

Do your self a favor. Watch Aguero’s best goals and Benzema's best goals and see if they are close.

I repeat, If Aguero wants to join Real Madrid today, Benzema will bench without complaining.

Lol. I am not going to convince you more than can convince me sha. See in madrid, Modric can shoot a lot better than Aguero, he used to do it in Tottenham, but he went to Madrid and stopped. Bale too hardly shoots though he has started shooting this season a little. So in Madrid Ronaldo does all the outside 18 business, you can't use that against Benzema. And Benzema gets a lot more injured than Aguero, so injuries should not be considered here. Let's just agree to disagree. To me he is just a good player, nothing more to him

TheGoodJoe:

It is Blasphemy when you say a World Class player is not World Class and hyped. Is Benzema on the pitch to provide assist or score goals. Aguero is better than Benzema.

Aguero has a true World Class tag and respected by top coaches.

There is no debate. Aguero is World Class.

Any thing less than Aguero is World Class is not true. Then saying Aguero is just hype is Blasphemy.

You are making biased comments. You said from 2009 till now, how come you didn't remember that Higuain was ahead of Benzema between 2009 and 2011 and Benzema used to play primarily as the winger there? Thus I included assists. And when you play for Real Madrid, the primary target is to get Ronaldo into a good position so he can shoot and score, thus the need to recognize his assists too. Finally Aguero has scored 25 penalty goals, do Minus that from his 102 goals total and see just how different their goals to game ratio is.

TheGoodJoe:


You are making blasphemous statements. If you read one of the articles I posted, the author stated, Aguero’s World Class status is not debatable. All you are doing is wasting time.

You are arguing what does not hold. How can you even compare or list Benzema over Aguero.?

From 2009 until today, Benzema has scored 111 goals in 215 games.

From 2011, two years later, Aguero has scored 102 goals in 150 games in an EPL many argue is harder to score than the La Liga.

Benzema is not up to Aguero’s level. If Aguero says he wants to join Real Madrid today, Benzema will bench.

Aguero is World Class that is the truth. Do not debate against the truth.

I did not say that Benzema is the better goalscorer. I said he is the better striker. Madrid has Ronaldo, with Ronaldo in a team you need a striker who can drift to the wings. Okay, how come you didn't include assists? Benzema trumps him considerably when it comes to assists and I can assure you that it is harder to score in the La Liga when you are not even your teams main goal threat. Not to forget that Aguero is his team's primary penalty taker, Benzema has never scored a penalty kick for Madrid, so maybe you will minus that too and we will see where Aguero ends up. When you also talk about chances created, dribbles per 90mins and so on, benzema comes out on top, you can check it on whoscored.com.

PS: A man's opinion is never a blasphemy. I am sure other people actually know that Aguero is not even close to Suarez, Benzema or Lewandowski, that bit is certain.

binhozie:
http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/27/only-three-current-manchester-city-players-regarded-as-starters-for-pep-guardiola-5907569/?iframe=true&preview=true


I switched fernandinho for Silva thou my bad

That wasn't an official statement by Guardiola na. That's just an assumption made by someone. I can sit right here and say that Guardiola rates Sterling higher than Aguero, but Guardiola didn't say that. Skysports even wrote a similar piece where they said Sterling is one of the best talents in City that Pep want's to work with. It's all just assumptions

TheGoodJoe:


Blasphemy. Kun Aguero is World Class. Please, Aguero is one of the few World Class players in the Premier League. It is just injuries that reduced his goal stats.

Watch this clip. These are only goals Aguero scored for Manchester City in 2016. Note, not 2015/2016 season. Only 2016.

Watch and tell me Aguero is not World class. In the Commentary, there was place the Commentator said Aguero scored 16 goals in his last 17 premier league games.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhNQA8EUqCc

Injuries reduced his goal stats and penalties inflated it. Do you know how many penalties he has scored this season? For me he is no where near the best strikers in this planet, my top 10 would be:
1) Suarez clearly
2) Benzema, quite underated
3) Lewandowski, enough said
4) Aubeumeyang, wrong spelling
5) Griezman, underated too
6) Higuain, underated
7) Zlatan, enough said
Kane, a little raw but ok
9) maybe this is where I can insert Aguero. Don't get me wrong, he is good but world class? Far from it, you mentioned his goal against QPR, for Christ's sake QPR?! Queen's Park Rangers! Tell me one good defender they have! Taiwo? Onuoha? I think they also came with Bassong then. Yeah, he scored 16goals in 17 games, none against Leichester, none against Tottenham, how many against Arsenal? How many against Manu? There is a reason why Man City had the worst record against the top 6 teams and that's because their starman did not deliver then, and Yaya is now too old to cover for him when it matters

[quote author=binhozie post=46219055][/quote].
Then you don't know the first thing about Guardiola. You should probably read the assesment made by Henry. He clearly said that Guardiola expects you to maintain a rigid formation until you get to the final third of the pitch. If you watch Bayern's games from last season, you will notice that their wingers will stay entirely out wide until the get close to the box, then they can dance around or do whatever they want and that's where I am afraid Debruyne won't work. He is more like a hybrid between a winger and a midfielder so that's not rigidity, and am not sure that Guardiola ever said that he will be a starter there please send me a link since it isn't even on google.

joseph1013:
rabzy is right. Kelechi does run for 90 mins and his movements off the ball remains one of his biggest traits. He moves alot and he is always calling for the ball. You just have to watch his recent games at Man City. He tracks back well too. A good example is the UCL match against Madrid. You can watch the highlights on Youtube.

He is definitely not the perfect footballer as he is very clumsy on his right foot and often fails to express himself in dribbling.

Actually I did watch the game live. There is a big difference between tracking back and what he was doing in that game. Madrid were the better team and City were playing a conservative game, he was playing behind the striker there and Aguero wasn't going to push back since he is the main threat. When you truly want to judge, watch his game against Crystal Palace when he scored a hattrick, or watch his game against Southampton, he hardly returns more than the center cirlce.

Meanwhile I am not arguing about his off-the-ball movements. Clearly he has that trait in his DNA and he is quite good at it, but off-the ball movement is not thesame as tracking back if that's what you mean.

rabzy:
The boy runs for 90mins. He is always on the move, his off the ball movements draws defenders out of position and creates space for his team mates. That's why he is always popping up in different places to tap in goals. He also tracks back to defend that takes a lot of movement and stamina and his pace is not bad.

You Sir have hardly watched Nacho's games. He runs for 90 mins?! Whoever told you that, even in the U17, Yahaya was doing the work for him. I didn't argue about the pace much though he clearly isn't as fast as Navas for example but okay. And he hardly defends. He stands in the center circle as the first line of his teams press, that's all he does, he is not like Bale who can chase his man all the way to his post, please, you made it sound as if Nacho is the perfect footballer ever, he has his flaws

But this is absolute crap.

I could care less about this policy since I'm already done, but my junior brother just told me that they have scrapped putme. I mean, are they even thinking at all either through their anus or anywhere at all?! Jamb is the main problem in Nigeria not Putme. Putme is the real yardstick, or how will they admit students now? Highest Jamb score first? But that's not fair knowing that a lot of abnomalities occured during this past Jamb, I mean Nigeria! Which way are we going?!

enomakos:
did you just said kun aguero is crap bro?

Yes I did. When it matters most he almost always buckles. He either scores a penalty or nothing else and he is injury prone. He is not world class, he is just a good player with a lot of hype

TheGoodJoe:

Nacho actually has a fast pace. Remember his goal against Manchester United Reserves. He is also very skillful but his role as a forward diminishes that. On the wings it is easier to express yourselves.

I did not watch Ighalo's goal against Luxembourg. I read Iheanacho made a blistering run. So I do not think pace is his problem.

Gundogan will still take a while to play because of his fitness. He has to work with the medical crew before playing.

For now, I see Nasri as someone who will benefit from Guardiola's system. Silva will play in the midfield and Fernandinho will pivot.

Navas will not play on the right because that will defeat the invert wingers play. Nacho is the best for that. He will adapt and I see Nacho fitting in.

I guess I made a mistake with the words I choose. He may have the required pace(although I doubt that sha) but he does not strike me as someone who can run continously for 90mins, he still has a lot of work to do on his stamina before he can play there. I can almost bet 100k that Navas will be a sure starter. He is just the exact replica of Pedro, he provides maximum width on the wings and he covers a lot of ground. Sterling should start looking for a club.

And Gundogan, he is out injured, but his injury is not the kind that will take much time to heal neither is it a reccuring injury. Before the start of the season he will be a sure starter. Nasri has disciplinary issues just like Ibrahimovic so I doubt if he will make it there, no matter his talents

TheGoodJoe:

They are very few players who can strike the ball with his left feet like Nacho. I see Silva having two seasons in him. Silva has an understudy in Manchester City already. Manu Garcia who played against Chelsea in the FA Cup.

De Bruyne is also decent behind the attackers in the midfield role. Nacho will play as a wing forward/Support striker from the right. That is the switch I see or he plays as a false 9 when Aguero is not fit or needs a rest.

I honestly doubt that. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if Nacho is no longer a starter there. He either learns how to play as a lone striker in 4-3-3 or he will be dropped. Pep works with one true winger and one inverted winger, just like he was using Pedro at Barca then and let's be honest Pedro isn't the best, so also he will use Jesus Navas as that true winger. Who he will play in the david villaesque role still remains hidden, he may purchase someone to play there or he can just shift Aguero off(I swear I don't know why people rate that guy so high, guy is crap when it matters) but Iheanacho? No. He does not have that blistering pace and his one on one dribbling skills aren't so great. So his best bet is that Pep will play a forward line of Aguero-Nacho-Navas(Navas is a sure bet I can assure you) with Nacho as the false 9 nothing else to it. And Silva will play, Debruyne will hardly suit Pep's tactics. This is a position where Iniesta and Thiago played for him, now the semblance there is that both of them can move out wide and play as false wingers with good dribbling ability when the inverted winger moves into the box and well, Debruyne tried to play as a side midfielder against Madrid and he failed there, he used to play there for Wolfsburg but the requirements back then were not so tough compared to now, and Nacho...I doubt if he can play as a midfielder again. Gundogan will certainly be a starter the primary issue now is who their DMF will be because Fernando and Fernandinho? Bros make we leave that one till tomorrow

amagunnerfan:
Costa is not better than Neymar. Never. Douglas Costa is a very good player but not on the same level with Neymar.

Inter had no choice but to sell Kovaic. They had FFP law's hammer hanging on their head and had the opportunity of good money from Madrid.

They never wanted to sell him because of Yaya.

I am a blogger, I remember vividly writing on the transfer back then.

thank God you highlighted the fact that I said that he is a very good WINGER, he is at thesame level with Neymar when it comes to playing ON THE WINGS.

Now let's look at it using the basic skills of a winger;
Crossing: Have you seen Neymar crossing the ball before? I can assure you that he well not so good at it. But there is a reason why Lewandowski scored most of his goals from crosses, because Costa's crosses are always direct to the target and are wicked and vicious crosses, so Costa wins this one hands down.

Scoring ability: There is where Neymar's diversity counts in his favour. There is no argument here, he scores more than Costa, but have you seen the simple chances that Neymar has already missed? In every Barca match, Neymar misses atleast 2 clear cut chances, just that Barca keeps on creating chances so he scores a lot more.

Pace: Costa no doubt. Neymar is fast but he is not even faster than Carvajal. Costa would outrun Alba who is the faster player in Barca so that one isn't a contest and while playing as a winger that's what is required.

Dribbling ability: Well maybe just Neymar but Costa is no pushover here either. He can beat his man whenever he wants.

Now when you start talking about other stuffs like technicality, positioning and other stuffs, yeah probably Neymar will be better than him there, but when it comes to the skills you need to play as a TRUE WINGER, I'm sorry but Costa is better there

terzurum5:
[b][size=14pt]
Kingsley Madu, Moses Simon & Wilfred Ndidi on Tottenham radar
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[img]http://images.performgroup.com/di/library/goal_uk/ce/7/hd-tottenham-southampton-080516_1us4kl049ecxb1fkoc429s0x0s.jpg?t=-1870505628&w=620&h=430[/img]

By Shina Oludare

The Lilywhites are hoping to sign the youngsters having instructed their scouts to keep track of the trio in Wednesday’s international friendly

Tottenham Hotspur are keeping close tabs on Nigerian youngsters Kingsley Madu, Moses Simon and Wilfred Ndidi ahead of next season.


The club scouts watched the trio in action during Nigeria’s 3-1 win over Luxembourg on Tuesday night, and they were second half substitutes for Yusuf Salisu’s men at the Josy Barthel Stadium.


19-year-old Ndidi features for KRC Gent in the Belgian Pro League and has a contract until 2020, while Simon who boasts of six international caps for Nigeria remains a player of KAA Gent till 2019.

Madu who will clock 21 years by December is a player of Slovakia’s AS Trenčín.
http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4110/nigerians-abroad/2016/06/01/24172522/kingsley-madu-moses-simon-wilfred-ndidi-on-tottenham-radar?ICID=HP_HN_2
[/b]

Please o, these boys should stay where they are. These English guy's are pure racists, even if Ndidi turns out to be better than Eric Dier, he won't start ahead of him because he is English, same goes for Madu since their two fullbacks are also English, please remain where you are and develop further we still need you. Move to a team in Spain if you must,they don't segregate over there.

TheGoodJoe:


I do not know him. David Bettoni. He played in the Ligue 1 of France and worked with Zidane with the Real Madrid reserves.

Zidane might know him from his French playing days.

I only asked because most teams these days tend to just replace their managers with their assistant managers when the time comes. So maybe I will keep an eye on him and see if he is the engine behind the Zidane train.

TheGoodJoe:

By the way, I will pay my humble respect to Toni Kroos. In history, the true best players are mostly overlooked by the flashy attacking players.

Pirlo who was a big part of AC Milan who reached three Champions League finals and won two. Kaka go the praises but Pirlo proved his magic when he was the inspiring force that led Italy to the 2006 World Cup triumph.

Xavi: Who was part of the Spanish conquering Nigeria '99 squad and was part of the Spanish team that lost the Olympics finals to Cameroon in 2000.

He was part of the Rijkaard's Barcelona winning squad, a crucial part of the Guardiola dominating Barcelona that won the Champions League twice. He was a multiple league title winner and won the world Cup and Euros with Spain.

Messi got the praises but Xavi was the thread that held them together.

Toni Kroos: Looks the next in line to take over these great pass masters. He was part of the Bayern team that lost two Champions League finals, to Inter Milan and Chelsea. Part of the winning Bayern side of Heynckes and has won two Champions league with Real Madrid.

He also won the Euros and the World Cup. Statistics of the official statistics crew picked Toni Kroos as the best player of the World Cup.

Messi and CR7 might get most praises but deep in the midfield, there is a marshal who is the best.

I salute Toni Kroos.

Before these men was Zidane, Now we have Toni Kroos who will be next? Kelechi Nwakali?

Kelechi Nwakali didn't cut it for me exactly, but maybe that's because I am judging him as a 20 year old rather than as a 17 year old which he is.

You couldn't be more correct. Xavi should have won the Balon D'Or in 2010, by July he had already completed 1000 passes that year, damn he was way too good. Then like you aptly mentioned Pirlo. He took Juve to last year's final but Madrid tabled a 70m offer for Pogba instead, now Pirlo is gone and Pogba could do nothing. If not for Dybala who stepped up during their slump Juventus would have left empty handed. Almost every Champions league winning team has their own workhorse who is almost always underated, Scholes, Mikel for Chelsea in 2012(Yes!) and so many others. It is only when you look at a game tactically that you appreciate their efforts really

TheGoodJoe:
He is a genius and I praise Zidane for his humility to go and understudy Guardiola at Bayern. That was a huge step.

I also see what you said coming. The 3-6-1 formation coming. It is a big risk but it might succeed. I am waiting for it.

But, what was he thinking when he took out Toni Kroos for Isco. The midfield crumbled after that and Toni Kroos had the highest passing accuracy in that match.

I swear eh! When they made that change, Nepa took our light which they graciously gave us that day after almost a week, so before I could on my gen they had already made the change. When I saw Isco I thought Bale got injured and had to leave because Isco could play as a winger too, but when I saw Bale i started rejoicing. The middle opened up entirely, it was clear that Modric was now tired, i think he was the player with the second most number of minutes for Madrid all season so I can't blame him and I wanted Madrid to lose too, and if Atletico had maintained that thesame intensity after they scored they would have won that game in normal time infact. That was very very poor. Do you know who his assistant manager is there?

TheGoodJoe:

Why are the wingers inverted? So they shoot instead of crossing. Inverted wingers are tagged (Left Wing Forwards) that forwards is because they strike more than crossing. Wingers play with their natural wings on the touch line to cross.

The reason why someone like Messi, CR7, Neymar, Bale play a kind of free role is because they are not restricted to stay on the wing.

To explain it further, with one support striker in the four four two formation, the Support striker has a FREE ROLE, compared to the out an out striker.

In a four three three formation, the inverted wingers are actually support strikers with free roles too.

So you can not say because Success plays on the wings, he can not strike. Neymar strikes for Brazil even in recent games.

So if Neymar and Messi can strikez how can Success not strike?

they are tagged WF to differentiate them from traditional SMF ie side midfielders which are the conventional wingers we know. They still do cross the ball just that their foremost function is to cut it and shoot.like their name entails, left wing forwards are wingers as much as they are forwards, Neymar plays as a support striker because 9 times out of 10, during a game, Barca's formation changes to 4-1-2-1-2, that's when Messi enters the middle and becomes the extra midfielder, at that point Alba and Alves the fullbacks are now the ones providing width, Neymar joins Suarez in the middle and the formation changes entirely so it alters the wings they are playing infact. Ronaldo has a free role so we can't really judge there but look at Bale, a true WF in a rigid 4-3-3, he is a true winger, he crosses and shoots, you hardly see him close to the box waiting for a chance to poach, that's the perfect definition of a WF there

TheGoodJoe:

I am still yet to understand Del Bosque dropping Juanfran of Atletico Madrid on the bench at the last World Cup for Arbeloa. Like, what was he thinking. Maybe Tiki Taka things.

don't fret yet, he will definetly do something worse this year. Maybe he will play with 6 midfielders in a game again, he thinks that football is not dynamic, well if he succeds we will call him a genius sha

TheGoodJoe:

Whether Savic kept a cool head, whether Ronaldo did not score before, from his performance that night, he was the better choice, not most experienced. It is about the better choice. Simeone felt Savic was the better choice and played him.

Zidane was a technical director to Florentino Perez, the President of Real Madrid. So if you think Benitez was the man behind the buying decisions, you are wrong. Zidane admires Kovacic and Real Madrid decided to get him. He was a good addition and fits the current passing midfield theme of Real Madrid. Qualities you see in Casemiro, Modric and Toni Kroos.

Zidane plays a big part in Madrid. That is why despite his experience in coaching top football, Perez gave him the nod to coach the team.

and we will arrive at the same point yet again. Judging by precedents Gimenez would have definetly started, he was the best defender in their semifinal against Bayern Munich, he was performing consistently but when it happened Savic was chosen because he could do the job which was keep a cool head and defend well which comes with experience but lets agree to disagree.

I don't know much about Madrid's system but I thought Zidane was the B-team coach before he became the first team coach? Just curious but i do not know much about that aspect so maybe you are right there

TheGoodJoe:

Success is actually a Striker and not a winger. In the traditional 4-3-3 formation most Spanish coaches adore, the three guys up front are strikers. Just as CR7, Bale and Benzema.

Some feel Bale and CR7 are wingers but it is actually a support striking role. The Support Strikers play on the wings during games.

Saying Isaac Success can not strike is like Saying Messi and Neymar can not strike.

Watch Nacho play as a second/support striker in a traditional 4-4-2 formation with one of the strikers as a support. You see Nacho drop deep and drop to both sides of the wings.

In the 4-3-3 formation, the support strikers do the same thing but play it on one wing.

That is why I expect Nacho and De Bruyne to play more on the wings under Guardiola with Nacho on the left. De Bruyne on the right.

Just like we have seen CR7 and Neymar play as Strikers the season and excel, Success can comfortably play as a striker and excel.

You got it all wrong. They are not support strikers, they are inverted wingers, still wingers. Cr7 has a free role in Madrid, that's why you see him there but even then you can see him cutting inside and shooting, that's why he is called an inverted winger, otherwise known as a winger playing on his weaker foot so he can cut in and score. Robben is also an inverted winger, Ribbery also but they are not support strikers, a support striker is hardly ever used in a 4-3-3 because it reduces the width that can be utilized

TheGoodJoe:

Your points are riddled with holes. First of all, what Savic did in that finals was nothing short of amazing. He was easily the man of the Match. Giminez would never put such a performance. Diego Simeone was sure Savic would match Ronaldo. Remember, CR7 did not beat Savic once. He was definitely the defender with most blocks. For the job to be done that night, Savic was the man. He did not fail and left the pitch with his head held high.

Carrasco did not play as a striker. So how did you expect Simeone to drop Torres for Carrasco. Pepe is one of the fastest defenders. That is why Griezmann and Torres who are pacy strikers were the best options.

Mancini never wanted to sell Kovacic. He was actually Mancini's best player. Zidane respects the boys ability. There was no way Mancini could stop Kovacic when Real Madrid wanted him. That is a pure genius.

Your own errors are there too. I said when it came to the most important game, Savic was picked ahead of Gimenez because of experience. Atletico has played Real Madrid 2 times already prior to that game this past season and Ronaldo didn't score even once although he was fit then, so you are now saying that a Ronaldo who is just returning from injury can do what a fit Ronaldo could not do? Savic was choosen because he could keep a cool head in such situations and cool heads come with experience so you see my point?

Pepe is not even close to being fast. I don't know if you watch these games but he is not fast, that's why Varane has been ahead of him in the pecking order for most parts of the season. And oh,when you choose a player above the other, you will have to adjust your formation, which is what Simeone did. I mean Carrasco has already played as a support striker before, just that Griezman moved into Torres' role as the main CF, heck during the beginning of the season when Torres was rotting on the bench, Carrasco/Martinez were the ones playing there! And you do realize that when Carrasco entered the pitch, Griezman moved out wide and their formation changed to a 4-3-3, now do you think that they couldn't have started the game with a 4-3-3 all along?

Kovacic came to Madrid before Zidane became the first team coach. It was Benitez who hired him. Mancini was playing him out of position because he favoured other experienced guys there. And this is Inter Milan, they can hang on to their players if they want so it's not as if it's Sporting Gijon

Icon4s:
Well ur 2 cents is well appreciated here.

We do not doubt Siasia's technical competence and tactics. What we have been against is his choice of players.

Starting with ur point of d players being too young to handle d busy off season. This is the same period the U20 WC is also played. If U20 players can handle featuring for their clubs all year round and playing d U20 WC in summer what more can u say abt U23 players hu are full professionals and senior national team players already. They can cope my brother.

Going back to team selection u jst mention Awaziem and Madu to b d first on d list nt i can tell u it is Oduduwa and Amuzie that are first on Siasia's list. You rate Awaziem so highly bt Siasia would pick Oduduwa 10times before thinking of Awaziem. He will also pick Amuzie 10 times before considering Madu.

You made mention of Ndidi as d prefered DMF choice right? Bt Siasia would pick Azubuike 10times before considering Ndidi.

He prefers nt to invite players that will b competition to "his boys".

That is just what we have against him, Siasia.

well my judgement was based on the fact that he was willing to drop Mikel the last time out for other players because of discplinary issues. And yes, I watched the Olympics qualifers, God! Those defenders were awful to say the least but that was all he had then since most clubs didn't release their players for him, but if he wants to stick with those crappy players all in the name of continuity then he has turned into Del Bosque who selects the worse from the bunch. But for all we know he could be using the Tourney as a means of appreciation knowing fully well that he won't take the lot of them to Brazil. The point is that we can't decide till the final list is made available

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tbaba1234:
Left to me, I will start Success over Ighalo. Ighalo has been off form for months...

they do not play thesame position. Success is an out and out winger at Granada now, he is lucky that he plays with both feet so he cuts in and shoots sometimes and crosses the ball at other times but he is no more a striker

TheGoodJoe:
I want us to kill the term experience when it comes to squad selection. It is not just a Nigerian thing but it goes on even in club football.

That is one thing I admire about Coaches like Mancini, Guardiola, Simeone and Van Gaal.

Who is the best player based on form in every position? Shay Given at Man City was a far experienced and established player. When it was time for Mancini to choose who was his Goal Keeper for the season, he chose a less experienced and a less established Joe Hart over Shay Given.

At Manchester City, Mancini did not hesistate to drop an experienced and established Lescott for Savic and later Nastatic.

Watching Savic play and mark out CR7 and Benzema at the Champions league final in the Atletico vs Real Madrid game made me nod my head.

Indeed, Savic was a massive talent in defence. I could feel Mancini smiling as he watched that game.

Coach Westerhoff did not hesitate to drop experienced names for the less experienced ones like Amunike and Oliseh.

Guardiola did not hesistate to drop a highly experienced Marquez for a totally less experienced Pique.

If you are good enough, you are Old enough.

I can also give examples of those same coaches favouring experience.

Guardiola choose Robben and Ribbery over Douglas Costa, Costa for me is the best upcoming winger, I may even argue that he is better than Neymar and I'm a barca fan too, but if Ribbery and Robben are fit, both will start and I can assure you that Ribery atleast isn't better than Costa, just more experienced.

Mancini at Inter right now was trying to purchase old Yaya, he had Kovacic but he sold him to make way for the more experienced Yaya, and let's be honest Yaya has lost it, he lost it after that season that he scored 20 goals.

Simeone plays Torres ahead of Carrasco and Correa, you may have probably seen how good Carrasco is but you really need to watch Correa, that guy would have sent Danilo off, but he starts with Torres, why? Experience. Not to mention that Gimenez is clearly a far better player than Savic but who started the UCL final? Savic, why? Experience bro.

Van Gaal no be coach abeg, no dey involve that guy when we start discussing about top coaches

My 2 cents on the whole issue.

First of all, the allegations that Siasia has already decided who he is going to Brazil with is false, why? I mean look at the players he left behind, Success, Nacho, Ndidi, Iwobi and so the likes, they are all starters for their teams or atleast regular bench players. And this season was just completed a few days to the announcement of the squad, these are young players, they cannot handle another competitive tourney after such a long season. And even if they manage to do, it will affect their performances next season, and believe me next season will be pivotal in most of their careers, with Pep coming to City, Nacho needs to be at his best physically and mentally, with the purchase of Granit Xhaka, Iwobi needs to be at his best too next season, same also for all of our youngsters, so this isn't even an issue, he is looking beyond the tourney. These are already technical players who are involved in technical trainings in their respective clubsides so yes, they can blend in 2 months when they arrive so I totally support Siasia on this one, the players need to prepare for next season, it's not easy being an African starter in most European teams, one mistake and you are gone.

Then also, the issue of the injured Segun, I have watched him play before,he is not our best defender, granted but in the qualifers he was our best BALL-PLAYING CB, for now we do not know what Siasia's favoured formation will be but if he requires a 4-3-3 then we need a ball-playing CB more than we need a good technical tackler of the ball, that's just the truth, but I do believe that considering the foreign based defenders that we will also invite, he wont be the best ball-playing CB in the tournament for us so he wont be a starter just a bench piece and that is understandable. And please, Ndidi is NOT going to play as a defender for us! He will be our go-to-DMF, I mean this is a tourney where Neymar and the likes will be attending, we need a good quality DMF not just defenders, I can assure you that without a good DMF, atletico madrid's defence will look like crap and not to mention that we already have Awaziem there who I believe should be the first name on the team sheet, and Kingsley Madu(is he still below 23?) so we have a strong defence line without Ndidi. We should be debating about the formation and technical mindset with which we should approach this Olympics and not doubting the coaches decisions which in the first case clearly is in the favour of our young talents, and in the second case, clearly in favour of building a team that can suit his tactics. Make una no kill me, just my 2 cents

adeyemi2015:
Iheanacho in 2010 and in 2016 respectively with the same man - Ahmed Yusuf!

why is Iheanacho's head that big? I hope he becomes our Ruud V. N sha

Ighalo should not be invited for the next international games. Please, we have extremely better strikers, Ideye has been better than him today, who in this world is worse than Ideye?! Jesu! how is this guy a professional footballer?!

As I was saying this Iheanacho just dashed him a goal. I said it, no matter who is playing up top with Nacho, the person will score goals, nice play

I knew it, with two strikers up front, one of them being Iheanacho, no matter the other striker we will score many goals. Iheanacho loves one-two football, and this kind of football provides enough chances for both of them to score as many as possible. And with Iwobi as the AMF, he can curl the ball superbly, I swear this Nigerian team will work wonders with a decent coach

Brestar:
Get used to it bro. Onazi our DMF, Mikel plays a more attacking CM position when both of em are starting.

Okay, even if we want to include Mikel and Onazi we still can, we can easily play a 4.... God knows we can't include Mikel and Onazi in our starting line up but I am still toying with two possibilities. We need 2 strikers up front definetly, so am still thinking of a few formations. We can play a 4-3-3 with the normal defence, Mikel and Onazi as the two DMFs, we don't need them to attack just shield the defence and move forward once in a while. Then Iwobi(who I believe is the best AMF we have right now) in front of them as the sole AMF. Then the forward line is where the problem lies,it is easy to see that the best option would be a forward line of Simon-Nacho-Moses. But this removes Musa who has a tremendous workrate, it also removes Ighalo who can hold up play and Iheanacho can not play up front alone, he thrives on one-two touches and off the ball movement, he is not much of an aerial threat so crossing the ball won't make sense here, he is not the most powerful either and replacing him with Ighalo? Well Ighalo has been poor for us let's face it. So no, we can't accommodate both at all, except if we can risk 3 defenders at the back, I don't even want to enter that one yet sha

saintmark88:
This team can't score a goal

Exactly, and this team will concede a lot without retaining possession. Who in this world plays a 4-2-3-1 without any defensive midfielder? You are playing two box to box midfielders meaning that just like Rakitic for barca for example they will both push into the opponents box, who will be defending then? And please don't tell me that Onazi can play as a true DMF, his tackles are rash and late, he pressures the opponent no doubt but with him there means we will see a red card.

Then the scoring part, when was the last time you saw Nacho playing as a midfielder? You either play Nacho as the striker or play him as the SS, he is not an AMF! Your players were pretty much okay, but the formation does not suit them. My humble opinion? Ok.

The Goalkeeper and defence line will just be like you said, although I would want Alampasu to be our Casillas, you know, start playing now that he is still very young. The defence is superb although I might replace the LB with Madu, but that's just me though.

Then the midfield has to change completely. I saw with you did there when you excluded Mikel, which isn't so bad actually. But with a 4-1-3-2 which is what I intend to apply, Mikel has to start, or some other true defensive midfielder, we don't need a box to box midfielder here, we need Busquet or someone like that, Mikel can do that, i believe Ndidi can too so I will go for Ndidi. Then the 3 on top would be easy, Moses Simon and Victor Moses easily the wingers (but Victor Moses isn't always available so just put in Musa there), then the front two will be either Ighalo as the main striker and Iheanacho as the support striker or better still, Iheanacho as the main striker and Musa as the support! Iheanacho is the deadliest striker in Europe, why should we play him as a midfielder then?! Iheanacho hardly puts pressure on teams so Musa's workrate will compensate for that, not to mention his pace and trickery. This formation provides versatility, we can play a direct style of football with Moses and Simon pushing up, we can retain possession with Mikel/Ndidi and Iwobi( yes Iwobi, he is an arsenal academy graduate, holding the ball is what he does best.) we can couter attack, with Moses, Simon and Musa, couter attacks would be the norm. We can play through the wings and use our crosses(but i hate that one sha, we don't have the height and presensce so to say). And this teams has goals, from the wingers, through the Attacking midfielder to the main striker, all of them can score a shitload of goals(except Musa sha, that Aboki I no understand am) so yes, we need to play to our players strength not just playing any formation we like

Marcelini:
Suarez wasn't the only one who emerged top goal scorer in his league. Ibrahimovic and Higuain did. But Champions league supersedes all domestic European title.

Ronaldo isn't just the all time leading goal scorer in champions league history, he is the leading goal scorer in the just concluded edition of UCL and the two previous one, if that point is slow to you, then it's maybe because you are not understanding it.

Yes his first season Madrid failed in the round of 16, but ever since then, stars have come and left Madrid( ie Ozil, Khedira, Di Maria, Alonso, Casillas, Kaka) the only thing that remained constant in Madrid was Ronaldo. He has scored 50 goals plus for each of those 7 seasons now.
So it's quite ridiculous to pin Ronaldo and Madrid resurrection to Modric or Di Maria, as with or without those two, Ronaldo and Madrid will continue soaring on.

thats why there is something called Uefa coefficient ranking. All leagues are not thesame and even if you include those ones, Suarez still tops the goals and Messi the assists, so I don't know where you got the impression that the UCL is the ultimate.

Your second point seems funny thing I believe I have addressed it already.

And that's the only reason why they are winning. Modric has been constant mind you. Same as Marcelo but that's not the basic thing. You said stars have come and gone, why? Because they lost form. And that's why Madrid still wins at all,they continously buy the best players in the world and replace the best players in the world with the newest best things in football, so why won't they get to the champions league semi each year?!