₦airaland Forum

Jodera:
Na just Martinelli previous seasons dey make me calm for am cos I no just understand this Martinelli.

He can't even beat his man one on one again. He's not that dangerous again in the box, and his goalscoring which is his greatest asset that endeared us to him, he's losing touch of that quickly. I mean, the two big things that endeared us to him(goalscoring and beating opponents), he's fast losing it. I don't just understand.

We need that fluidity in front line. Last season, GJ was predominant moving to the LHS, this season he's now moving to the RHS more. Omorr.

But all in all, Martinelli needs to step up. I just wish Esr can come back to his main form and push Martinelli big competition in that spot. I'm not too feeling Trossard there. Havertz also should be helping in creativity. I watch Odegaard and even though his creativity have dropped but that's partly due to Saka been crowded out so there's no much space for him to thrive.

Anytime the chance present itself for ESR to nail a spot, he usually gets injured. I don give up on that guy.
Same thing with Nelson.

Odunayaw:
Every time I see that guy's name I wonder the kind of mockery he survived in secondary school.

However, it is Sithole. Pronounced See-tow-lay

He is lucky he is not a Nigerian.
thanks for the pronunciation sha.

Jodera:
Na the number one sef be the Koko.

Last season we were more fluent cos if the RHS is choked up, the LHS would cause devastating effects on opponents. I remember beginning of season when the LHS was our strongest weapon, then Saka and Odegaard were still gaining momentum. Before December, both sides were very explosive.

Now, the LHS is so so dead and this is me being conservative on this fact (right from Midfield up to the attacker — Havertz/Martinelli combo) and it's putting undue pressure on the RHS.
With how tight the RHS is, Saka still tries to create chances and still have a go at opposition GK. Almost everytime!!.

How many clear cut chances comes from the LHS?

The thing is that opposition coaches knows our LHS is the weakest in every department. Havertz and Martinelli, not creative enough, Zinny not good defensively. Reason why our RHS is given more attention when we're attacking and our LHS is given more attention when we're defending.


Until we fix that LHS up, we go still dey talk about how Saka and Odegaard are always ineffective

My observation and opinion tho

You have said it all. Let me also add that Martinelli shares the biggest blame here. Both White and Zinny doesn't overlap yet Saka is more productive. Carlos Cuesta needs to sit Martinelli down and do his magic on him. I really can't pinpoint exactly what went wrong with Martinelli.

And, to get the best out of our wingers, we need to stop being rigid. Nothing stops Jesus and Martinelli switching.

Joebie:
South Africa names 23

Sh"thole? What a beautiful name!

If we want Saka to be isolated with just one defender,

1. The left side must find a way to click.

2. Odegaard must learn not to drift to the wing.

3. Saka himself needs to come inside sometimes.

daveP:
they had all the time to rest well, yet see nonsense display. Tooooooooo predictable. Arteta better give these two wingers competition asap. Seems they're now super comfortable. Rubbish!!

Ode can be really frustrating sha. If na dat him wavy hair no dey let am play well, he should cut it off. Simple pass, baba go dey dance kurukere. Come see the way I was fuming during the match.

These players should be investigated for match fixing. Did they deliberately lose or na swear dem swear for them?

Brighton dey do Tottenham wetin no good. 4-0 now

Una see those front five, all of them dey craze. Everyone of them.

BlueRayDick:
As much as I like him as a player, I think we need to let Partey go . It's frustrating seeing him play a couple of games, get injured and recover in time to go for AFCON or international break.

Make we just look for another person & buy

I agree. We should move on.

iamoyindamola:
All of a sudden partey is back in training and afcon camp opens next week
Make this old man they go abeg he's paid his dues through but enough is enough
We got rice baeby

Bro...I just dey vex. We have been missing him for months suddenly he is fit for Afcon. To make it worse, he might bring another issue home from Afcon.

Jodera:
No Havertz tomorrow.

Would we see Jorginho or ESR.

I would prefer ESR but then, it's too sudden to be a starter. Moreover, Arteta have already decided on Jorginho sef

Trossard will start

Marjoribanks:
How did that work out against Zimbabwe?
The goal we scored came from Aribo's long pass from deep to Nacho! Same way he gave Osimhen that awesome assist against S/leone.
Aribo can shield the ball better, marks better and gives better long passes than Iwobi.
Iwobi dribbles better in short spaces, and gives better short passes!

When Iwobi arrived at Fulham, Marco played him in the Super Eagles (CM) role then he noticed Iwobi couldn't play it so he moved him to the wings (the role Paserio gave to Iheanacho)

Southampton plays Aribo from deep (CM) and the team is reaping the reward!
Aribo actually started his career as a CM at Sunderland!
My observation is based on watching the players over a long period of time not just when they play for Nigeria.

All Super Eagles need is just that position switch to succeed!

No sensible coach would play Iwobi as a CM against Fofana, Kessie and Sangare!

You need to go back and watch both to know their similarities and differences bro. Ire o

dijon:
I would go with current form and playing time....
Nwabili ;Osayi, Kenneth, Bassey, Bruno; Ndidi, Onyeadika, Alex; Simon, Osimhen, Victor.

The lineup I posted was a 352 which is actually better than 442 we are currently parading. As for the GK, JPes benching Uzoho at AFCON will be a big shocker.

Bassey is really not convincing as a CB. He would be found out. He either plays as a LCB in a back three or as a LB.

Spy360:
One interesting fact about Arsenal is that we haven't yet played our best team.

Do we even have a best team?
IMO, I don't think so. We may not be at the stage where we can confidently change the entire lineup and there won't be a drop in quality. But, we are not a 11-player team either.
Can you put out that best team please

Arthur Okonkwo kept another clean sheet as Wrexham won 1-0 against Swindon.
It's his 7th clean sheet in 13 League Two appearances.
#LoanWatch

Amedino99:
abi oo as if no be osimhen own blood carry am go court because of money.

Thank you. Sibling o...not partner fah.

dijon:
If JP is not technically deficient SE would sail into the semis...and from there with a little luck we might come home with the Afcon.
If i may ask, name your starting attacking players...

We have the players...what is lacking is the tactic.

My lineup would be
Uzoho, Ajayi, Omeruo, Bassey, Aina, Bright, Ndidi, Onyedika, Iwobi, Victor, Osimhen.

Not really sure about that back 3. All of them are average.

Whether black or white, the prayer is for us not to fall into traps disguised as women.

Some black women sef get their own wahala. Once you show interest in them, all their family problems automatically become your responsibility.

May God help us.

dijon:
Nice one bro...but i beg to differ. This midfield would not work against sangare, Fofona and kessie.
Aribo and Iwobi do not mark. A starting midfield of Ndidi, Onyeadika and Iwobi will balance the game and allow the 3 man attack to function optimally then changes of personnel can take place as the game demands. My opinion.

Actually, I went along with the midfield combo he chose. Preferably, I'll also go for Onyedika, Ndidi and Iwobi midfield. That would be a blend of technicality and physicality.

iamoyindamola:
Wait na
Make them come Emirates fess

See eh, all the teams wey don beat us so far, I don get them for mind.
Funny enough, they won through VAR controversy.

Marjoribanks:
Like I said in my earlier post, Joe Aribo is the only player we have similar to Mikel!

Put him beside Ndidi and move Iwobi to support Osimhen.
Playing Boniface and Osimhen together will be disastrous while playing just a single DM.

Yes! Boniface is skillful but he is also Lazy! You can't play such player with just one DM!

Inter and Roma play 2 upfront- But both strikers are hardworker. Bellotti will chase you to the defense. Thuram always running!

Aribo is not similar to Mikel please and you can't play him as a CM. He likes attacking the box with his late runs. In a midfield of Ndidi-Aribo-Iwobi, Aribo will be the most advanced of the trio with Iwobi rather sitting deep.

Fkforyou:
I like the fact that Aston Villa is being humbled.

I hate the fact it was not done by us.

Shegzdave:
Time to cook and Party😌😁

You Gerrit. The rice that has been playing since is uncooked. Imagine if the rice is cooked....ooh lah lah lah

Timber and Partey back in training.

Merry Christmas

MetalJigsaw:
Na oversabi dey worry u. Who told you that AMs don't exist anymore?..

You can give an example then.

Lush100:
Of which most are injured or play below expectation. Partey,Timber, ESR, Tomiyasu, Veira all injured. Kwikor, Jorginho below par. Nelson and Ramsdale not given enough play time.
Only Nketiah, Trosaard, and Tomiyasu are regular sub.

Exactly... Injury has really affected our bench this season.
BTW, you forgot the pensioners too.. Elneny and Cedric.

Kbs468:
Do we indeed have subs?

Of course not. What we have is only standard first 11

Our improvement in squad depth has made it difficult to notice how injury has dealt with us this season. Below is our 2nd eleven which automatically refers to our 'subs'

Ramsdale, Kiwior, Timber, Tomiyasu, Partey, Jorginho, ESR, Vieira, Nelson, Nketiah, Trossard

How many teams in EPL can boast of team B as strong as this?

Samueltemi337:
Ndidi has really improved
Maybe he is just the 10 we are looking for
A midfield trio of Ndidi Iwobi Onyeka

humility33, this is the post. I countered him that there is no more #10/AM in football. The role has been redefined. It has nothing to do with whether Iwobi is a 10 or not.

humility33:
Iwobi is a better AM. If given the right CM and DM to pair with. Trust me Iwobi will deliver on a good day as an AM.

Pair Iwobi with Ndidi and Alhassan and see if he won't deliver like 30/20 mins to go replace him with either Akpom/Iheancho/Boniface and see if we won't win matches

The talk is not about Iwobi. I think you should go through the posts again.

Danielnino00:
Napoli can't play the Covid card this time around. Again, if ADL is smart, he should know that Osimhen going to the AFCON, albeit a gamble, could pay off for him. Napoli is shit this season. Going to the AFCON and putting up a monstrous display would help keep Osimhen's market value stable and convince clubs to trigger the release clause in his contract. IMO, winning the APOTY won't be enough.

ADL may not be thinking that way. Let's hope Osimhen will have no issue representing us at AFCON.