₦airaland Forum

iSlayer:
You don't have an argument. Portugal win compete and compete well. They may even outlast Argentina in the tournament and you know how huge that would be for you know who.

You do understand that in 2016, Portugal actually finished 3rd in their group. Then was it not Wales they faced in the semifinals? Luckily escaping the big teams on their way to the final, in the final I think Griezman missed a penalty or was it a seater and Portugal won in extra time. Take away that best loser spot Portugal would not have qualified at all, then had it been they faced better teams they wouldn't have qualified either, in the Copa America if you rank third you are going home. Then in the UNL they faced Switzerland and Netherlands, no Spain, Germany, France, Beligium even England, I am not sure I get the point behind that UNL honestly.

Taliban:
Yes I think you are correct, the 2nd penalty should have been retaken as well cos like you said the other players were encroaching in the box. But those things happen in football, VAR came to our rescue at the U20 WC twice. VAR helped us avoid a draw with the South Koreans, no way a human eye would have disallowed the South Korean goal as offside. Sometimes you win and other times you lose unfairly

Me I have moved on, well maybe not exactly because I am still praying for a Scottish win by a draw and Cameroon winning 1-0.

wayodude:
The key argument i hear the referee had was if Rojo could have deliberately headed the ball onto his hand. The answer to that in his view was no. That is not to say for certain that Rojo did not TRY to do just that and luckily pulled it off (low percentage chance i agree).

The argument of whether his hand was in a natural position as normally quoted in these situations is a non starter. The natural position of our arms are beside our torso. Any other position is not 'natural' but as a result of our conscious actions. Rojo's hand ...just like Sissoko's were not in the 'natural' position and the argument could also be made that ball ricocheted off Sissokos chest onto his upper arm, like you described "his arm by the way is barely inches away" from his chest!

You say Ighalo was in a better position than if he had a Penalty? Nah i disagree totally with that, he had to take snapshot under pressure.

Ok so what is a natural position? The 'hand beside the torso' is only applicable when you are in a suppine position, when you are running your arms can never be in that position and when you are jumping your arms can never be in that position as well for balance purposes. Sissoko was standing which I can grade as a suppine position so in that case the natural position of his arm was supposed to be by his torso, these are two different cases, Sissoko was standing while Rojo was jumping, the natural position of the arm in both cases is, IMHO, different.

Then again, Sissoko's handball gave his team an advantage from a possession standpoint, Rojo's handball actually put his team in a disadvantageous postion because no one was contesting for the ball with him so it can be argued that he was in control of the ball then he handled it and it landed at Ighalo's feet(maybe someone can send us a video linkl so you'd know how good a chance it was) creating an advantage for the opposing team. I believe one of the handball rules states that if you arm is in an unnatural position and is used to create an unfair advantage then it is a foul. There are many reasons why Rojo's case was way different

TheGoodJoe:
The ball struck Sissoko's body before his arm. No way was that a penalty and the referee should have gone to the VAR screen to confirm.

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders insists the Reds should NOT have been awarded a penalty in the first minute of the Champions League final against Tottenham.

“Obviously I don’t want to take anything away from Liverpool, I wanted them to win the game, but I can’t believe anybody thinks it was a penalty.

“For a start, ‘an unnatural position of your arm’, this law, they’ve got to bin it.

“You use your arms in a natural position to do different things when you’re defending.

“Sissoko is pointing to Tripper and I can actually tell you what’s come out of his mouth from the way he was pointing, he’s saying, show him down the line.

“He’s using his arms as a way of doing that – that’s the way you communicate sometimes as footballers.

“He’s put his arm up in the box to point at Trippier, so his arm is in a natural position to do that.

“Number two, the ball hasn’t even hit his arm! It’s hit his chest and rolled onto his arm – so how is that a penalty?

“Unless you’ve got blind loyalty, I don’t think any Liverpool fan if they were a neutral on a Sunday morning would say that’s a penalty.

“That was never a penalty.”

You see the guy is saying we should bin the most important part.

Is it outrightly naturally to communicate with your hands? Why then can you talk? The argument that it hit his body then his arm is for another day(although I agree I erroneously thought it hit his arm directly) but the main thing that will affect the ref's decision is the fact that you can't go about pointing in your box when the opponent has the ball.

For penalties the first and foremost consideration is if his hands are in a natural position, in Sissoko's case no they weren't, you aren't selling part of the field to an investor so why are you pointing? In Rojo's case he was in mid-air, his arms in that position would be for balance, your arms can't be beside you in the air, you need to be balanced. Now Rojo's case is confusing, while the ref was still trying to make it out the ball fell to Ighalo and the advantage was played Ighalo missed and then started pointing at his hand, a classical case of trying to eat your cake then have it

iSlayer:
This is too elaborate for a spot kick.

Again, the penalty taker doesn't react to movements by the keeper. The penalty taker picks his spot and smashes it in that direction. if the kick is off target that is up to the taker not the Goalkeeper so I don't agree with your position.

Naturally the gk reacts to the movement of the ball during a spotkick, if the player misses or not the fact is that you are interfering with the play, the fact that you are attempting to block the ball is naturally an interference and when you are interferring illegally(by stepping off your line) then it is a foul. Even if the player had scored, it would have still been retaken, so nobody can argue with the ref ordering a replay of the penalty, it is what it should be.

The core matter is that french players were in the box for the second penalty, they should have retaken that one too.

wayodude:
VAR remains controversial. In that Argentina game, Rojo's handball which would have been a penalty went to VAR and wasn't given. If we had that penalty at that time in the game we would have knocked out Argentina. The argument was that the ball bounced off Rojo's body and onto his hand..

Fast forward to champions League final and within a minute of kickoff the ball bounced off a spurs player and onto his hand ...VAR says penalty and Liverpool score.

So there we had similar circumstances go to VAR with different results

I do not think both incidents were remotely close

in the final, Sissoko was pointing to whoever that was and IMHO, Mane sighted his extended arm and struck it, smart play from Mane but Sissoko's hand should not be there, it gives a whole new meaning to 'unnatural position'. I can't remember the ball hitting his body before his arm, it went from Mane's boot to his arm, penalty anyday.

In Rojo's instance, he was alone and he jumped with his arm in a position that allows to stability in midair, his arm by the way is barely inches away from his head and wasn't exactly above his head, so when he headed the ball it was impossible to get his arm out of the way, however that may have still been a penalty(some refs may have given it) but recall that the ball then kindly dropped for Ighalo in a position better than a pk, advantage played and he missed, that's that. So two reasons why the PK was not given:
1) It was not a clear offence and in that case the benefit goes to the offending player.
2) we had an even better advantage

Taliban:
Peace then. I apologize for the wrong accusations then.

Could it be that the friendly was played behind closed doors for security issues? Truth be told am praying no security issues happen in this afcon just because of the terrorists attacks within the past one year in egypt.

According to the writeup we saw about the highlights of the game, try made it seem, the Eagles played well. However, am not sure if the report is objective in my own opinion. Then finally I know Ighalo has caused many people pain but he's not a terrible player. Not exceptional but he has paid his dues in world football. Even the Chinese guys won't pay so much for him if he was crap like some people make him look.

Truly I never viewed it from the security angle although I really don't think so. However other countries played in the open so it may be that their own location isn't exactly safe. I don't really know what could have caused that.

We have only read the report from the Nigerian media, of course they will be biased but at least they have pointed out that we created chances, that is a positive that can be worked on. Etebo hitting the crossbar with a freekick means he may have been working on that too, another positive. Friendlies are just to learn, once chances are created that means the play was good at least in patches and that can be worked on, although I really really really think Musa is the best second striker we have in the Eagles when playing a 3-5-2, after him should be Onyekuru before Samu, these guys are goalscorers, Samu isn't a natural goalscorer at all.

Then finally I am not saying Ighalo is terrible. Yes, it is arguable that he is our best striker ATM, 15goals in the season in the EPL isn't easy at all. But the problem I have with his crew is the believe that a half fit Ighalo is the best option we can muster, I don't think so. Naturally I don't concern myself with Ighalo but an unfit Ighalo IMHO is worse than Awoniyi.

Taliban:
True that, good man. Name calling nor good. But you should also call the other party who has said the iq of most contributors is low. Who has implied Andrew is senseless.

I think I need to address this.

First I never said that the IQ of most contributors are low, from where did you get thag? I just said the quality of the discussions are low, I mean spending ten pages going back and forth on which team has the better players, I mean that is a low quality discussion, not that anything is wrong with it but I don't think it engages a lot of people like an analytic conversation would. Low quality conversations is not the same as the people engaging in it having low IQs, no way Sir it is not even close.

Then on the second part I pointed out that Ighalo is not our best striker if you ask me, then he went on about the fact that I didn't say anything after the Zimbabwe match and asking if I watched the Senegal friendly, how is that connected to what I was writing? That was why I asked him the sense behind his comment, no offence intended really

Danielnino00:
Ezenwa could not even command a starting shirt at Enyimba.. Theo Afelokahi and Fatau Dauda were ahead of him.... Our goalkeeper trainers/scouts are simply being lazy

Thank you very much, Afelokahi is the name I have been searching for. If anyone says he isn't better than Ezenwa then I may sue the person to court

Earthquake3:
You are complaining about his performances against Algeria but you didn't watch his display against Egypt

Thing is you can't judge by one performance, Only Rohr and the trainers in camp know who is in form

The problem is that other goalkeepers have not been invited to camp. We can all conclusively agree that we don't have any goalkeeping talent in Europe ATM, by now a few NPFL goalkeepers should have been called up to camp so that they can be checked

Marjoribanks:
Please name one.
That useless idiot we took to Poland just fall hand.

I cannot name one because DSTV has decided that I won't be watching NFPL matches again. However, Ezenwa was Enyimba's third choice goalkeeper, third choice!!! No way can you tell me that the two guys that keep him on the bench aren't better than him.

One of the guy's keeping him on the bench isn't even good enough to make Ghana's AFCON team!!!

Earthquake3:
Ezenwa has been excellent in his performances for the GWG, There may be better but we don't know yet

There hasnt been outstanding goalkeeping performances from the league

Excellent? I am guessing you didn't watch that match against Algeria, dude couldn't even catch a back pass even if he used his hands.

By the way I think at some point Femi Thomas was exceptional, watched some of his games but u don't know about now, put Ajiboye and Ezenwa in the same club and Ezenwa will sit on the bench for 38 league games. I don't really know the names of the goalkeepers but someone can help out. I seriously don't believe that Enyimba's former 3rd choice goalkeeper is the best we can get from the NPFL

Earthquake3:
Who is there to scout, Maduka Okoye that conceded 22 goals in 11 games or the Sylvester guy

When Rohr said the guys in camp are the best we have, he may be right

I don't believe that Ikechukwu Ezenwa(who is injured by the way) is the best we can get from the NPFL. I can boldly beat my chest and proclaim that some NPFL goalkeepers are better than at least Ezenwa and Akpeyi and maybe Uzoho. However I don't think the goalkeeping issue is on Rohr. I believe the goalkeeper coach should be the one handling that

Joebie:
and the keepers between them were whack.

Wasn't Barthez in there somewhere??

Earthquake3:
You didn't watch the match but you made so many conclusions

The conclusions are not based on the match, rather on the style of play of the individuals involved and under sports analysis I think you can deduce who can play well with who judging solely on their patterns.

However I did add that we need to watch the highlights at least first, it could be that they gelled, true, but naturally if all three players play the way they play normally then the analysis up there is just what I believe will happen

andrew444:
Nations Cup never start you don start argument

Anybody wey start make dem support the player ,no be all this ones wey una dey talk

I didn't remember you guys ranting against Zimbabwe,maybe because ighalo is not there

Food don ready for una ,like say you even watch the game against Senegal

Smh

There is a reason why I don't converse with you, because it is usually impossible to make any sense out of your comments

ChrisKels:
Lol bros mi, calm down, dis no be masturbation or head job matter, dude started the match and misfired as usual

When they will be shouting that Ighalo is our best striker I will just be wondering, is that how poor we are now?

darkelf:
No be so bros

I wan't sure of the Naija Score, that's why.

Seems we lost and we failed to score...again.

Why do I feel that this is the run-up to the WC 2018 happening all over again, We all know how it turned out for us.

I hope I am wrong sha

Rohr is concealing his tactics according to the master himself Icon4s.
Either that or the players are saving themselves for the tourney proper, why injure yourself in a friendly game or play your best game when tournament never start . These are the deluded remarks we heard last year prior to the world cup, this year again the team is busy going to the beach and other relaxation centers, and I am wondering how that will help their performance. I remember in the previous world cup, the English team routine was train, sleep, eat and FIFA game breaks, the only reason why FIFA games were even accepted was because it improves your movement as a player but no, we are going to the beach to 'enjoy' ourselves days to a tournament. Make we dey look.


On the other hand if we did play a midfield 3 of Ndidi, Mikel and Iwobi then it is easy to see why the team didn't score. It is clear from this formation that Mikel will sit deep and Iwobi will be ahead of Ndidi and Iwobi likes playing one-twos, is it with Ndidi that he will play that? Ndidi isn't good enough to play that at all, then ahead of Iwobi you have Chukwueze who is more concerned with beating his man than playing short quick passes and Ighalo who would rather play a more direct football, you can then see that this team cannot possibly play to Iwobi's strength in that 3-5-2 formation. IMHO if we play a 3-5-2 then Mikel should be in the AMF role, Iwobi as the second striker and whoever starts in the forward role can start, at least Iwobi will be able to combine with Mikel and play one touch football and open up the defence, either that or Iwobi goes to the bench totally, it is not as if he ended the season on a high note anyways.

But make we wait for highlights at least

Earthquake3:
The fact is his still our best striker and highest goal scorer for the AFCON qualifiers

Unless you want to dispute that

The best striker part is possibly untrue mainly because other players have not had the opportunity to show their worth.

However you mentioned that he is capable and experienced which I countered, that doesn't change the fact that he was our highest goalscorer in the qualifiers albeit with 5(?) goals against Libya, L-I-B-Y-A

Earthquake3:
As capable and experienced as Ighalo?

No offence but 'Ighalo' and 'capable' should never be used in the same sentence. The same guy that choked against Argentina when it mattered? I can count the number of games that he performed well with my fingers and I would need just one hand for that.

And this is his first Afcon, where exactly is the experience talk coming from?

Earthquake3:
An unfit Ighalo is much better than Iheanacho

Guinea took Keita to the Afcon

I am not taking sides but I think the two cases are different. Guinea has nobody else, we can point at 3-5 other capable players

TheGoodJoe:
The taking time is where the criticism lies. We should not be taking time in preparation for the AFCON but selecting a team of fit players. If one is unfit, he should have been dropped, not selected to be recuperated in camp in preparation for the AFCON.

No agree oh. Why should they invite a half-fit Ighalo ahead of Iheanacho who by the way offers more in an attacking approach/offensive player. Rohr already decided who he wants to take to Egypt so Ighalo's injury didn't really concern him much. Isn't that so?

Dude, seriously

BascoVanVeli:
He is not on Samu's level.

Icon4s:
Meaning we are going to the AFCON with an unfit striker in Odion Ighalo.

This is totally not acceptable. Simon was dropped from the WC squad because of injury now it is Ighalo's turn and nobody is saying anything.

Not as if he is a Mohammed Salah or Sadio Mane.

Call me an Ighalo hater if you like but I will always say what is right or wrong. Rohr has just lost my respect with this one. Period!

Make that an injured striker and an injured goalkeeper. Let us just say they are his favourites instead of using the 'B' word

jihday:
did the coach confirm 3-5-2 or just some newspaper talk? anyway we'll know better by this weekend when we play Senegal

Just a newspaper report

jihday:
why go with an injured keeper? goalkeeper don finish? is it that bad that we can't get a replacement for ezenwa, cos i understand he's been nursing the injury before the end of the NPFL season. Akpeyi is a calamity waiting to happen

If Keshi attempts something like this, Egunje will fill this thread by now. Who takes an injured player to a tournament when other GKs are available? Corruption

Curtisaxel7:
My guess is that Rohr will start with the 4-3-3 and then change to 3-5-2 in the knockout stages when we face the big boys.

You have made a good observation, 3-5-2 means our darling Chukwueze won't play. Unless we will start him as a strike partner to Ighalo, and given Musa's performance in that role at the WC, I think the Musa-Ighalo strike pairing has come to stay.

Anyways, I think 4-3-3 is a sure bet for the group stage matches at least, if Chukwueze makes a huge impression, Rohr may be forced to pick him ahead of Musa to pair Ighalo in attack when he reverts to 3-5-2 in the knockout stages. Otherwise, Samu may have to sit it out like Iwobi at the WC. Sadly.

That's the way it is.

If the second part happens, then why didn't the boy just play in the U20 World Cup? I do not think he is exactly above that level, and it would have done his ratings no harm at all but that's by the way.

I have never seen/heard that he can play behind the striker or with a striker in a double-9 kinda formation so is it something that will work? He may turn the formation to a 3-6-1 by running constantly to the flanks and we both know Rohr will start Ighalo who isn't much of a goal-threat so we may become toothless.


By the way I read a report that the coach now favours a 3-5-2 although it is conflicting with this recent Owngoal report of 4-3-3

Truidstar:
@Mickael2, I sight u bro. Wetin dey happen, u know dey talk for the matter. How u dey?

Bro, the talk here tire me oh. Like seriously, weeks to Afcon and with the coach confirming that we will be playing a 3-5-2 formation all them still dey talk here na Senegal get better players pass Ivory Coast, are you for real?

By now we should be deep into analysis, playing a 3-5-2 formation does it not automatically mean that Samu will sit on the bench through the tournament? Because I don't see where he fits. Playing a 3-5-2 also means either Ighalo or Oshimen will start and not both, Rohr will favour Ighalo, does that leave Oshimen on the bench? Should Iwobi start in our midfield since we have seen that a 3-5-2 needs plenty of runners, ball carriers/shuttlers and energy in the middle and Mikel will not bring any, do we play Iwobi too who is also not an engine room nor a ball carrier? If it will be a 3-5-2 what exactly is Shehu doing in the Afcon? There are only 4 CBs in the team and the formation requires 3 CBs at a time, given Leon's injury record was it wise dropping Ajayi for Shehu? Who will play in the hole right behind the striker? Apart from Musa, who else can comfortably play there? These are some of the tactical discussions we used to have back then, now it is just rape talk and which team has the better players as if that will help us win any trophy or improve our chances.


Anyways Bro, I dey just dey wait for Afcon proper and Copa America

theblackjack76:
And if he works very hard, performs outstandingly, reforms to the lad we all once admired, and succeeds to use the AFCON to revive his career, what's wrong with that?

The only thing wrong with that is that it will change our national team to a rehabilitation center for floundering players to put their careers back on track while the deserving players are not called up. I am not sure that is what a country's national team should be all about

M7even:
If this is your overall assessment of the player that makes him good for you . I believe u are good to go. What a good football scout u are.

Why do we hail Ronaldo if not for his ability to score somehow(even diving)? So why bashing this lad because of the same thing?

Olulong:
Exactly that's why i won't blame only scouts, I blame the coaches more. To think that more than 12 Foreign Born came to camp with the flying eagles and he picked only 3 and he has only started one of them in the competition is just so annoying. Instead he has decided to use Grandpa Offia and Great grandpa Effiong. If the other guys he shunned go on to have good careers for thier adopted country we start regretting and wishing "Had we known". The only players I'm looking forward to in this competition are Dele, Ofoborh, Makanjuola and Zacalla because those are mainly the position we need bodies in the super Eagles and they look like they could have a long career because they r still young. the rest will probably just fizzle out in no time

So just because they are foreign born they should be chosen over indigenous players?

There was a time when Basco complained about the leadership of Amaju Pinnick.

Now that has come back again to my mind. Look at the state of our U20 and women's team, when was the last time our U17 qualified for the WC? Forget the camping and the money put into place, I'd say nepotism and favoritism has eaten deep into the system since he came in.

I mean a case study is this U20. For all the complains about Sia1 using his 'boys', his boys never disappointed and his teams have always produced at least three players for the SE, Taiwo, Mikel, the RB that died in an accident, Ambrose(or was he 2007 U20?), I can go on about other players who had succesful stints for the SE. Even Obuh's team produced players as well but look at this team, a total disgrace, tactically and otherwise. We need to question Amaju's presidency or at least question the members of the technical team of the NFF