₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Top post, Papa Haaland.

Short but in it are hidden Midfield truths about the struggles of our darling Super Eagles.

Amoo for AMF (in the long term future as we have Iwobi now) but Nwakali or Alhassan to be solve our Ball playing CMF issues RIGHT NOW.
But truth is, some will fight this because they have their own agenda. Some don't like the name Nwakali. Others don't know the name Alhassan and may think he isn't ready. Then some again will underrate an Amoo when they haven't watched him enough.


We have an underlying problem in the Super Eagles Midfield even in the presence of Aribo and Etebo and that problem is that we don't just pull off those lines-breaking passes through the middle. We don't create moments of deliberate forward passes that break defensive structures through the middle.


We don't oil the wheels of our passing game enough in the middle and that is because our current Midfield options are made up of "Workrate" merchants, Physical runners, 1-2 pass executors and short passers with the total absence of Bonafide Midfield conductors who are adept at Forward passing and effortless switch of plays via long balls and long-vision oriented lines breaking passes.

It is a huge problem for us and I really shake my head at the thought of an Aribo-Onyeka-Ndidi Midfield or even an Iwobi-Onyeka-Ndidi coming up against the best on the continent. We would be eaten up.




Why do I say so?


In the first case: Aribo-Onyeka-Ndidi...

...We would Match them workrate for workrate, and power for power but we won't match them Vision for Vision.... or Lines-breaking passing for Lines-breaking passing. We just won't.

An Aribo-Onyeka-Ndidi Midfield is badly unbalanced and has all three almost mirroring each other in most functions. We don't need 2 or 3 of the same. Onyeka and Ndidi are almost the same. Aribo is the most forward thinking of the 3, offers strong workrate as well BUT he doesn't know how to dictate plays. It is just not in his style of play. He is a good ball carrier but not a tempo dictator and hardly delivers lines-breaking passes against defensive deep blocks.


Watch him and see. A very decent player with good workrate and quick feet but he is not the midfield conductor most want him to be and it is not his fault. It is just not his style. It is not his in his skillset to dictate the tempo of a game.

With that Midfield, we would likely overpower the likes of Ghana, Tunisia and Mali, etc especially as Aribo has a knack for joining the attack as a late-arriving "invisible forward" and that can trouble teams on the continent that don't track Midfield runners from deep......

....BUT against the Likes of CIV, Senegal, Morocco, and Algeria (most especially Algeria and Morocco) we would be exposed greatly.
The deficient ball playing frailties in that MF setup of ours would show greatly. We just would struggle to create anything through the middle & struggle to dominate the ball for periods. We would look to the wings and what happens when they double up on our wingers (our true creative outlet in this setup)??

I have much to analyse on this but this would do for now.




In the 2nd case: Iwobi-Onyeka-Ndidi

Nna eh, this would fare a bit better because in Iwobi we have a true quick-witted Creative outlet through the middle but he would be primarily tasked with carrying out his roles between the defensive lines of the opposition... in the hole or space between the Opposition's DMF and their Defenders.

But the problem here is that Onyeka is no accomplished ball playing Midfield distributor. A decent passer and high presser but not as adept on the ball as a bonafide Midfield conductor in the CM role.

Ndidi would sit in this setup and shield and alongside a Midfield horse like Onyeka, you can say we would give a strong account in the defensive phases but what happens in the offensive phases?? Ndidi can occasionally send the long ball but he would be too occupied with defensive duties and positioning to do that too often.
And Onyeka mirrors most of the things Ndidi can do so that leaves Iwobi to sometimes drop deeper than necessary to try create something from deep and that gives the opponent an advantage as we would be one man short in the final third with no one operating between the defensive lines of the opposition's DMF and CBs.... thus Iwobi becomes overworked, does try to create a few chances and our finishing of few chances or half chances would determine our final result.
Doesn't look good in my books. We have seen this play out before vs Algeria just last year.

I could also go on with this analysis but I stop here for now.



It is under these lights of tactical/technical understanding of our Midfielders' abilities, attributes and Characteristics/styles of plays plus the numbers ofcos.... that I strongly believe that a Super Eagles Midfield of either:

1. Iwobi-Alhassan-Ndidi

2. Iwobi-Nwakali-Ndidi

.... Will strike the best dynamic balance in the middle game of the Super Eagles.

In either setups, we have a World Class Midfield shield in Ndidi... a true AM in Iwobi with quick Vision and capable of gliding into/through and exploiting the spaces left by the Opposition's DMF and CBs and lastly a bonafide ball playing Central Midfield Conductor/dictator who also offers very decent defensive shifts when in defensive phases of play, can easily exploit passing gap opportunities to deliver lines-breaking passes that disrupt defensive structures, can switch plays with any kind of passing (long or short) to create Attacking phases out of nothing, and more.


This is the solution... but ofcoz... some would keep analysing along the path of "My Faves" is not mentioned. I am here talking what will lift the quality of our midfield plays so that we can finally see our attack reach its craziest potentials.

One of the big reasons our attack struggles most times is because of the imbalance and lack of ball playing nous in our Super Eagles' middle game. Leaving the burden of creativity to the wings make us too predictable and easy to strategise against. A balanced Midfield makes us more dynamic and kinda unpredictable coz of the presence of a ballplaying dictator which can switch our plays either through the middle or via the wings. His long Vision permits him to do that.

Our midfield ball playing struggles continue. And Rohr hasn't fixed it yet despite calling in Kingsley Michael and Innocent Bonke as new faces. Kingsley impressed for a newbie as he kept the ball maturedly and showed good cover in the middle while Bonke Played the role of MF Destroyer BUT the Ball playing problem persists.

We have enough personnel to cover the "workrate angle" in the middle. Even Iwobi is very hardworking in the GWG. What we need now to fully lift the quality of our midfield plays is a player capable of "exerting control" over proceedings in tandem with Ndidi's and Iwobi's complementary qualities.

We have the workrate... now we need the control.


Chikena.

God bless you real good bro... I still argued not long about this... I can tag you on one of the post.
I keep saying Ndidi, Nwakali and Iwobi is the best midfield trio that look balanced for now.

Cc fabyom and subzero

Lush100:
Msrtinelli is a CF.

That is where he thrives.
Go and look at his goals

Check all the matches where he scored and tell me the position he played. His goalscoring run during his first season was as a result of his constantly moving to the box giving Tierney enough space. That's why I said he needs to get inside the box more instead of running to the bye line. He is not a CF bro

Jodera:
Lol... It's just like man u fans saying greenwood is not a Cf

He always look lost anytime he plays as a CF and his linkup play is not that good. I will like him to play as a LW with Auba at the top...

Gbas gbos everywhere...

I posted sometimes ago about how our NT is made up of our very own players who we nurtured...I was referring to the likes of Victor, Kelechi, Ndidi and co...

Olise will no doubt add quality to our midfield but that doesn't mean we should start wailing because he choose Algeria over Nigeria.

What we need to do is for NFF to go back to the drawing board and reshape our grassroot football. I'm 100% sure more quality players will emerge.

Now for those saying Nigeria is a bigger footballing brand than Algeria so Olise should play for us...with due respect that's an ignorant statement. There are many things to consider before choosing a country you want to play with... I can bet those saying these will not allow their ward to play for Nigeria when you consider the current state of the nation.
Chriskel was right, you all should stop tagging his view as political. Sport is a sector of the economy. If the economy is shaky, it will affect our football.

Make we forget Olise and concentrate on our OWN. Amoo is not doing bad in Sweden. Talents are emerging here and there.

How sure are we that this Olise will give his ALL if he decides to play for us.

We move

Roland17:
We need to start playing Martinelli in the CF position. We have drifted away from playing him in his best/ natural position to now playing him as a winger, consequently, the kid has lost a lot of his confidence.

He is not a CF.

fabyom:
When last did you watch SE plays? It is glaring you don't watch SE matches. I don't have the time to argue with you! Peace!

Oga , argue with fact not by when we watch the SE match last. Your Aribo is still trying to adapt to the pitch? No be the same pitch Kingsley Michael played on? No be the same pitch we played on when we scored 4 goals?
Some of us always complain about how the SE can't string 5 passes together. Do you even know why?

Counter me with facts, don't run away.

daveP:
Sanchez will be a free agent this coming January.


I'd take him back, especially if his wage isn't going to be a bottleneck. That LW side needs him. What do you think?

If he still has that fiery hunger and passion, I'd take him. Especially considering the poor form of Pepe and the fact that AFCON is around the corner. Apart from his ball playing skills, one thing I admire about him is his transmissible passion bug. But where does this leaves Martinelli?

fabyom:
Aribo scored against Ukraine and Brazil! He is still adapting to the pitch. Aribo, Ndidi, and Nacho supporting Oshimen. Chuz and Iwobi on the wings! This is how we will continue to play as long as Rohr is in charge!

You mean you'll move iwobi to the wing so you can accommodate underperforming Aribo alongside Ndidi and play your most clinical forward as a ten? Wait, shey na akpu the like of Ejuke and Henry come sell for SE?

You people should just drop this argument. Until we get a better no 10, Iwobi no dey go anywhere.

Subzero047:
Iwobi may be good against Benin and CAR but he would not work against your Algerias and Senegals a huge factor about a midfield is its work off the ball and I believe the Ndidi, Onyeka and Aribo trio will hold its own against African and European heavyweights and Aribo is a creative outlet and you want to play Ndidi, Nwakali, Iwobi? that is even weaker than our current midfield

Oga, against the smaller teams you mentioned, how did Aribo performed? How many chances did he created? How many goals? Remember that it was Iwobi that scored the only goal that confirmed our 2018 WC ticket, he scored against Cameroon during AFCON, what about his goal against Argentina during that friendly? What about his assists too?

And playing Frank alongside Ndidi will unbalanced our midfield Oga.
.

Parrot69:
You nailed it. The best potential trio!
This guys will hold down any Grade A team whatsoever. I pray Nwakali gets his chance in the SE.

Exactly..I pray so too. IMO, he is the only player I think play similar to Mikel.

Samueltemi337:
But we played with Etebo Mikel and Ndidi during the world cup and it wasn't bad

It was not bad but it could have been better in there was a slight exchange of roles. Mikel as the DLP and Etebo using his energy to press and acting a s B2B. That was why we were totally dominated in that Croatia match. Choosing a starting line up at times is more about synergy and understanding rather than form.

Subzero047:
Ndidi, Aribo and Onyeka is our best midfield enough of the Iwobi nonsense, I have been saying it that midfield has everything, balance, ball control and creativity and it allows Aribo to arrive late into the ball and serve as a shadow striker without having to worry about defensive responsibilities, if we had a midfield of Ndidi, Onyeka and Aribo the Algerians won't have seen it easy to dominate us

You can't play with Ndidi, Aribo and frank and expect your midfield to be balance and creative. As far as SE is concerned, Iwobi is very crucial to our set up. You can't displace him. If everything works out the way I hope it should, I want a midfield trio of Ndidi, Nwakali and Iwobi. Now that is a balanced midfield. But oga Nwakali still dey wilderness, I pray he ARRIVE soon

BlueMann:
Una no go win the league sha...


When we meet again, we go correct the mistake

Bookmarked.. Na here we dey bro

BlueMann:
Abeg abeg abeg...na 3-2 oh, where u see 6-1?

Oh...I just confirm now. How person wan know sef when dem just dey beat nonsense comot every team. They beat reading 4-0 in their last match.

iamoyindamola:
As they sign Pariss and kept mediema I knew something is up
They have beaten the 2 league contenders in Chelsea and city

I do watch their highlights.... Those girls dey ball abeg and they have a good goalkeeper

Arsenal women on rampage

Defeated Chelsea 6-1

Defeated man city 5-0

Defeated Spurs 5-1


Abeg...make dem cut small soap for me.

Our first eleven is taking shape...Arteta should rather add quality replacements and back ups rather than experimenting.

Ranmi Oladele

Tomi Dairo

Benson

Gabriel De Maga

Tijani

Parte after parte

Martin Odegbami

Emily Orowale

Nicki peperempe

Bukky sakabula

Emefiele Obadina airways


With Lacasera, Maltina as backups for the forwards...Samba Lokomba, River Niles and Granite backing the midfield up...Pablo Escobar, Rob, Suara and Tafa backing the defence up. We should be able to at least do better than last season.

Wetin you think?

daveP:
But i think the lab experiments of coachito is what's making it look like Nelli is that bad. Especially as KT doesn't gel with him any time he plays there. Might be wrong. But i think 9 is okay for him.

If Pepe is trusted, Nelli should be more...

Martinelli can't play as a 9 unless we're using a fluid front three. He and KT rarely gel because he likes to drift to the bye line instead of cutting inside. This leaves little space for Tierney to execute his anywhere belle face crosses. Martinelli needs to play closer to the box. He is a wide forward, not a winger.

And...
One of Auba, Pepe or Laca needs to step up. I think we are the only top team lacking a player that brings in that *X-factor* . The signing of Bruno lifted Man u, and now they have Ronaldo. Liverpool has Salah, VVD and Mane. Chelsea has Kante, Jorginho. Man city has KDB.

Xhaka was supposed to be our midfield boss but baba dey accumulate cards. Auba too dey play like NEPA. Partey who was supposed to take over dey enter hospital steadily. Tierney is bout to get affected too. Instead of signing players, they are piling up responsibilities on the youngies.

I didn't get to watch the match on Saturday but I'll like to say something about Pepe...

I think a positional change might help Pepe but I'm not sure that won't affect the entire team. One decent thing I can say about him is he has goal instinct. Arteta should find a way on how he will set up the team so Pepe can move freely and be closer to the box instead of staying on the wing.

This is also applicable to Martinelli. We need these two inside(the box) rather than outside(on the wing)

So, as it stands, we're not sure AFCON will be aired on Supersport.

I can't even remember the last time I watched SE match.

Well, If you get CONSAT decoder, make una go recharge am.

chidi1:
Boy, I really miss the days when this forum was made up of bright minds that could hold an intellectual discuss without direct confrontation ( safarigirl, supernerd, Komekn,thegoodjoe, Hannibal, mostob etc....era come to mind). Since this kid joined this forum in May of this year, I have watched with appall as he continues to directly insult people that don't agree with his inane ideas. Dude, there are classy ways to express your obtuse ideas without direct confrontation. Maturity demands that you attack the idea not the individual. I guess that is why I continue to call you a kid.

I look forward to your response and for you to prove my point....

My brother, better leave the guy... He is well known for his uncouth and rude manner on this thread. I just pray somebody on this thread doesn't arrange something for him offline.

Spy360:
AMN is pushing to start ahead of Lokonga Vs Norwich. He has a strong case going by the opinions during training.

Sambi should start abeg .... We can't trust AMN with midfield duty yet.

Akinbahm:
We didn't neglect the midfield in fact if you follow our arguments u will know before the attack must click they must be strong connection between the midfielders and the attackers.

That's why we opposed the view of defence first before the attack and sighted example when both the midfielders and attackers do their job respectively defenders will flex at the back and we cited Arsenal of invincible, Man city, Barcelona, Bayern, Liverpool, PSG and Leicester of 2016 those aforementioned got deadly attack (midfield and attack connected) but lack defence.

Barcelona VS Bayern 8-2 it was so because Barça attack was blunt compared to Bayern own both team don't have defence.

PSG VS Man city last season 2-1 & 2-2. Man city was successfully because PSG attackers lost a lot of goals that would have burried the match in first half during first leg.

PSG VS Bayern despite Lewandoski not around PSG knew what faced them that night in fact I will say LUCK on their side second leg. Thats is another example if your attackers (midfield and attack connected) are deadly forget about it.

Chelsea VS Man city. Kante stole the match and won the game for Chelsea because he made those defenders at the back to b on their feet by running against Man city players without any breathing space though their attack was dull (Werner and Havertz) if not by first half Chelsea should b celebrating with nth less than 4-0 ahead.

I rise my brother...

well said bro....you are spot on.

Spy360:
Lol @ economist but you are right.

Its my opinion that players in a team should be categorised as either attackers or defenders. So when I say defense it includes DM, or when I say attack it includes AM and wingers.

Some people categorise into defense, midfield and attack. Depends.

OK..I get you now bro

Napoleon55:
pls I'm sorry ,it was a mistake, I was referring to d other guy that called someone mad

it is 12Large not subzero

12large1:
You must be very MAD! do you think this is 1980? You're playing an away game in an artificial turf with almost half of your first 11 unavailable and saying that a draw will be a bad result?? Personally, I believe that we should aspire and aim to win, but a draw is still acceptable considering the circumstances

Not everybody has a defeatist mindset like yours. We should be going there to get the maximum point, not to be building up excuses.

Spy360:
Who's is in the wrong company?

Defense first: Edu, Arteta, Spy360, Roland17, Afrodoc2

Attack first: Kokanepyramid, iamoyindamola, Jodera, Akinbahm, Fkhalifa

I've shared my opinion on this sometimes ago but why are you people overlooking the midfield? If our midfield is good, other departments will improve. Look at the way Lukaku was using our defence to catch cruise the other time, why couldn't he did the same against Liverpool? It was because their midfield was good. The money wasted on Ramsdale and White should have been used to get midfielders with Ryan and Saliba getting the nod but the mumu board no sabi economics. On a lighter note, I think Wenger was able to run this club because he is an economist.

Jodera:


Dem suppose dey shy with their money too oo

Money and shyness no dey the same group my brother...

Jodera:
Lol... So na behind close doors Arteta wants now?

I heard most of our players are shy...

I think we should commend Arteta for keeping us at the top of the table. I just check the 'behind closed door friendly' league table and we are currently first with 3 points and 4 goals difference.

Trust the process

Jodera:
Just when you brought this up, e com turn jinx

e shock me too my brother