₦airaland Forum

Honestly I wonder why there is more pressure on messi to win the world cup than Rinaldo....everywhere I look..."is this messi's last chance?" "Messi's world cup legacy".... Or is a clue that the world stylishly regards him as the better player?...Rinaldo's name is brought up on far less number of occasions

Danielnino00:
Romero's injury was unfortunate... but note that I said "probably"



Argentina goalkeeping issue plus injury to some of their key players is further proof that they mayn't make it out of d group stage.. Iceland should sha not do a Ramos on messi

Romero got injured, ikeme succumbed to leukaemia... Such is life....both sets of keepers are inexperienced on the international scene....although caballero is more exposed

Danielnino00:
Our goalkeeping department is probably the most inexperienced heading to the world cup.. Our three goalkeepers don't have up to 20 caps between them.. though ezenwa has 24,only 4 were with the main team...

What will you then say about Argentina's three keepers?

komekn:
Actually that's totally UNTRUE.

Dominic Father said when he is 23 he will make the decision.

However, last summer when he was 21 and he had tied up his move to Ipswich Town. He then made a commitment to Nigeria essentially two years earlier.

Since that time Rohr and the NFF have been playing him Maradona left right and center. He us now back to Wolves recovering from Injury you we may see him in the EPL this season.

I noticed that a double standard was created for Jordan Torunarigha and Akpoguma both these players were essentially not interested. Nonetheless, Rohr and the NFF kept courting them. Meanwhile Iorfa was forgotten not even tested with a friendly invitation.

WHY

I was in a hurry to type hence I didn't include the 23 year decision making thingie by his father

But it still stands that due to that, his chances have been nearly ruined. NFF have moved on to catch other birds. Moreover its not as if the guy is one extraordinarily gifted defender. Had his father accepted then, his son will be in the reckoning now

Yes...ebuehi's case was similar.....I guess that's life for you

MetalJigsaw:
Guys, how do you see Joel as LWB? He's naturally left footed and energetic too... and much more experienced that Idowu.

Idowu isn't left footed and that makes him struggle to deliver good crosses... Even using His right foot instead of left

Hmmm......I'm considering this....

Humility017:
should that stop me from praying for the super eagles?
what's my business with others saying same prayers?

Sorry sir

solonnachi:
After the world cup, we must search out these guys;
Noah Bazee
Ola Aina
Henry Onyekuru
Junior Lokosa
Moses Simon
Abdul Ajagun
Peter Onuahu
Kelechi Nwakali
Umar Mohammed
Stephen Eze
Uche Agbo
Sebastian Osigwe
Ebere Eze
Chuka Akpom
Ryan Sanusi
They are just so much

Noah bazee has been invited by rohr before...it was rohr that found him in Germany...but he is very prone to injury and did not play the game he was invited for
Ola aina is a regular....he was just unlucky
Same with onyekuru....injury and lack of match fitness ruined his chances
Lokosa is under rohr's watchful eye....that's how I see it
Moses simon......a stalwart of our team....will be back soon
I don't know ajagun and umar Mohammed
Is it peter or Paul onuachu...anyways I've heard of him..rohr should give him a chance perhaps
Kelechi nwakali....one for the future
Stephen eze should continue to play well for his club and his breakthrough will hopefully come
I was going to say uche agbo is unlucky...but is he cursed?...he is always invited but never plays
Sebastian osigwe and maduka okoye will be monitored after world cup
I don't know much about ebere eze
Chiba akpom is not pulling his weight...arsenal boy status no go help am oo....he has to do something
Ryan sanusi only showed interest in playing for Nigeria around the period they conducted the world cup draw, saying he might not get into the Belgium team but he will get into the Nigerian team.now we've not heard from him. Will he show the same interest after the world cup? Only time will tell
Then as for Dominic iorfa....his father has pretty much battered his chances of appearing for Nigeria....seeing as the NFF hardly mention him...he was one of the early euro born players NFF first contacted...but his father refused, that his son will play for England... Issorite oo
On the flip side, I really hope we get torunarigha and akpoguma, fingers crossed we get them

Humility017:
me too bro...will start praying for the team as from tomorrow ..
like 2-3 minutes prayer for them everyday....
that will do...rohr needs more prayer at this point.

There are Christians/religious people from all 32 countries....but God can only answer one....Nigeria isn't the only team with ambitions oo

Eleniyan15:
I agree with your number 1, Etebo can coming to replace mikel in 60th min but it all depend on the scoreline

Number 2, moses should play LWB

My scenario involves both Mikel and etebo starting the match...with iwobi partnering iheanacho...in a way, moses is clumsy with the ball like raheem sterling...plus iwobi somehow performs better for naija than..let's say...arsenal...the guy reminds me of Thomas Muller... Good for Bayern...but better for Germany...

As for number 2, moses will still face the same problem idowu is facing, this is also the reason aina didn't make the squad...there is no jordi-alba kind of player in the team...when moses gets to the byline, he would want to cut and cross on his favorite right foot, something the opposing defender will pick up. Its the reason why Ashley young struggles as left back with england

Irrespective of whatever happens, the search for a good left footed left back, home based or foreign, should begin after the world cup ASAP

There is a reason why Chelsea fans will prefer to see Alonso as a left back rather than azpilicueta. Your favourite foot will always be your favourite foot

Thanks icon

I'm okay with a midfield of ndidi Mikel and iwobi....I just chose the trio of ndidi etebo and Mikel...because it seems etebo is more willing to assist in doing the dirty work and tracking back to check the runs of Croatian midfield, something iwobi may not be comfortable doing

But if iwobi is willing to assist in falling back and helping to defend....then lovely, he would be my preferred pick

You can read it above

Icon4s:
What of against Croatia?

I mentioned my line up against Croatia....and reasons why those players were picked

Icon4s:
For our participation in the WC, these should be our 5 most influential players:
Alex Iwobi, Victor Moses, Mikel Obi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi.

If up to 4 out of these 5 players can bring in their "A" game we will hit Croatia very hard.

I know Rohr is not so comfortable with starting with a 3-5-2 formation. But I think he has experimented with it well enough to have known the suitability of this pattern.

I suggest Rohr should go for it.

I initially suggested an Iwobi-Iheanacho front line but after certain considerations I switch to a Moses-Iheanacho front line.

Victor Moses: I know he may not be in the good books of many now due to his performances from the last 2 friendlies. But we know why. The break Rohr gave to him. At least his better performance against Czech shows he is getting back the flow of the Rhythm. Moses we all know throws discipline away when he wears the National team jerseys but we know how many goals he has scored from such selfish moves. Most of the goals he scored in the qualfiers were from his selfish runs. Same again against Poland.
Moses can be a deadly weapon for us when he brings his "A" game.

My starting line up against Croatia: 3-5-2.

................Uzoho

.....Omeruo..Ekong.. Balogun


Ebuehi..Mikel(CM)..Ndidi(DM)..Idowu
......................Iwobi(AM)

..............Iheanacho... Moses

Ndidi should be made to sit in front of the 3CBs and then Mikel the CM and Iwobi the AM. Iwobi and Mikel can intermittently switch positions in the middle.

Moses MUST be drilled to work with Iheanacho, Iwobi, Mikel and Idowu for him to function effectively in that position. Moses and Iheanacho are pacy players which is what we need to outwit the Croatian midfield including the excellent passing abilities of Mikel and Iwobi.


Mikel and Ndidi including the RCB and LCB should do well to cover for Ebuehi and Idowu when they make the forward runs.

With excellent tactical discipline and Luck too we can crack Croatia with this formation.

To be honest....this is the line up I will prefer against iceland....because we are likely to see more of the ball in that game

Sunnypa11:
The best formation for the current Super Eagles is 3-5-2!
With the mentioned formation,Super Eagles held their own and looked unbreakable in the second half against a cruising English National team with some unravelled national treasures.
Francis Uzoho is a done deal for goal while expectedly, William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun are important to the defence line.
Joining the 'Oyinbo wall’ is a midfielder in John Ogu,It is very important to note that most of the defenders are right-footed including Kenneth Omeruo and the Israeli based Ogu is also as tall as Croatia striker,Mario Manzukic who will be an aerial threat all night.
Balogun will defend from a comfortable right side of the defence alongside a mobile Tyronne Ebuehi just as Ogu who is very calm in possession will be giving Bryan Idowu a needed assurance from the left.
Wilfred Ndidi will be winning the tackles as Oghenekaro Etebo create an industrious midfield zone to neutralize Luca Modric and Ivan Rakitic.
John Obi Mikel big game stability and experience put him in an advanced and familiar position with lesser defensive duty in yet an important position.
And there comes the mysterious dynamites leading the line together.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Alexander Iwobi both ruined Argentina together in an unimaginable manner in the most fruitful Forty-Five minute of Coach Gernot Rohr.
On display in Russia last November was pace,precised attacking passes,chemistry and top-class decision making.
The aging backline of Croatia could suffer same damage and it must be noted that Iheanacho always enjoy a companionship upfront while Iwobi is magical in freedom and the formation gives the Arsenal youngster the popular suggested advance role infront of Mikel.
SWITCH : John Ogu and Kelechi Iheanacho could both be replaced with Victor Moses and Odion Ighalo to switch back to 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 as the situation may require.

http://www.nigfooty.com/2018/06/super-eagles-most-underrated-mysterious.html

I slightly prefer this line up to the others because of two things

1) Croatia and Argentina are going to see more of the ball.
This is certainly bound to happen...our midfielders will look to try and nullify their efforts and block their final passes. However, Croatia will still have more ball possession
If we play just Mikel and ndidi, ndidi will be overworked as Mikel does not have the legs and energy to mark the Croatian midfielders when we don't have the ball. Ndidi will be forced to do a lot of work and he may be exposed...he can't be everywhere
With etebo in the field, ndidi will have support which he got from onazi during the qualifiers, while the workload for Mikel will be reduced

2) for the LCB, the only reason ogu makes it ahead of omeruo or awaziem is because of his height and his stronger left foot. Yes, he is slow but he brings balance to the back three on the left side. Had it been idowu was left footed, omeruo or awaziem would be a sure bet to start. But 2 right footed defenders on the left side of defence wouldn't strike a good balance there....so there we go

3) finally, moses does not make the team because he cannot be trusted...he suddenly feels like the neymar of Nigeria not knowing he is more of a raheem sterling... He does not strike me as a team player and would likely not contribute to defensive duties when things are getting tough..if he can change this, he is definitely a starter in the team, but if he keeps this up, he cannot be trusted and should be benched. He may then be good to unleash against the tired defenders later in the game.

Everyone and their opinions

Whether you like it or not, rohr is doing a great job with the team.....we are not going to win the world cup but it will have been foolish to assume so in the first place...Nigerians were on a high last year...based on how the team was playing...we've lost some friendlies now and we are clamouring for a raft of new managers....so what makes us different from the English media?

You people seem to forget how toxic the mood was prior to rohr's appointment.... Have you forgotten so soon?...Nigeria was in shambles.....a lot of fans did not care about the team....rohr has come in to lift the mood and create a family... And now he should be crucified because we lost some games

Let's face it.....we are greedy, selfish. Like oliver twist. Hence, we will never appreciate someone's efforts irrespective of what they do

While it is getting obvious Nigeria should use a 352 formation...my questions are....

1 should victor moses start the match?

2 if yes, what position can he play in, so as to get the best out of him?

Because as I dey see am so....the guy is really annoying sometimes and may have to be benched so as we can use the players who played against Argentina, to good effect

darkelf:
Fly, Eagles fly

Posted By: Ade Ojeikere On: June 9, 2018

Let us tell ourselves the truth – Nigeria cannot win the Russia 2018 World Cup diadem, with the lackadaisical manner in which our players prosecuted the first half of their last three international friendly matches. That they are playing safe is an unacceptable excuse, given how other players slated to participate in the Mundial approach their countries’ games. What our last two friendly matches have shown is that Nigeria will be at the Mundial on an excursion, except something drastic happens to the players’ attitude. For now, it is despicable. Sad.

Gernot Rohr should fix the defence. Our players are slow to react to crosses. The taller ones, particularly who wait until the ball gets to them before reacting. At the Mundial, strikers will snatch the ball by reacting first. And bang the ball or nod it into the net for goals. The flank defenders are left vulnerable because those who man the midfield and the flanks upfront never fall back when they lose the ball.

Those who attempt to fall back to mark are slower than the millipede. It is ironic watching taller Nigerians marking shorter opponents. Are the players expecting Rohr to teach them what to do? Please, senior national team players ought not be taught this basic skill. It should come to them naturally.

The roof top of The Nation Sportinglife’s office almost came down as Neymar riffled home Brazil’s opening goal in their 2-0 victory over Croatia at Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool FC of England. The game was Neymar’s first since he copped an injury that almost ruined his chances of participating in the Mundial. I leapt onto my feet watching Germany’s goalkeeper Neuer show no traces of being rusty, even when he had been off the pitch for over 249 days due to an injury. Neymar and Neuer are big stars whose countries must feature those games. Neuer, in particular, is a World Cup winner. But they chose to subject themselves to scrutiny. That way others in the teams wouldn’t feel cheated.

Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr goofed by allowing Victor Moses a few days to celebrate his wedding anniversary instead of going to Nigeria’s World Cup camp which opened in Uyo penultimate Monday. Rohr has unwittingly created an Animal Farm setting in the Eagles. I hope it doesn’t haunt him when the chips are down in Russia. Moses is an integral part of the Eagles and should be made to play in all our friendly games, especially as Wilfred Ndidi is still recuperating.

Moses was a shadow of himself and rightly so, because he didn’t subject himself to the training drills others had in Uyo and Port Harcourt when DR Congo held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw inside the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium. Moses’ penchant for missing Nigeria’s friendly matches is legendary- when he isn’t injured, he is asking for days to rest or feigning injury. Yet, he gets fielded in our matches and becomes a cog in the wheel of progress.

Moses is Nigeria’s poster boy to the Mundial and he has not applied himself to the team’s build-up matches. Moses’ conduct reminds us of John Mikel Obi’s days at Chelsea. Sadly, other nationals who play for the Blues don’t behave like the Nigerian duo with their countries? ‘’Why are we so blessed?’’

Rohr has been fine with his selection, but his decision to field Moses ahead of Kelechi Iheanacho defied tactics as the Chelsea star was lost in the game in England. He neither marked nor provided the passes to free the strikers to score goals. Moses had only one moment, where he dribbled an English defender who fell on his knees. He lost the ball shortly, making such a dribbling, a foolish act.

Iheanacho trained more with the team than Moses before the game against England. He even played in the first half of the game against DR Congo and was definitely in form than the latter. Perhaps, Rohr’s excuse would be that Iheanacho had a knock, yet he shouldn’t have played Moses for that long. Good player, no doubt, but he selects matches and may not be part of Nigeria’s subsequent matches, given what we saw from the boys who drilled Europa Cup champions Atletico Madrid inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo. The Spaniards won the game but they confessed that those young Nigerians stretched them to their limit.

However, England’s game served its purpose. It has forced Rohr to adopt the 3-5-2 formation which he employed against Argentina and the English in the second half. It worked for the Eagles against the Argentines with their historic 4-2 whiplash of the former World Cup champions. But England’s manager Gareth Southgate opted to park-the-bus, like they say in coaching, by putting enough men behind the ball. This defensive net held the rampaging Nigerians after their early goal in the second half, scored by Alex Iwobi.

Nigerians watched in awe as the Eagles wobbled against a starless Czech Republic that didn’t have former Arsenal FC of London’s ace Rosiky and goalkeeper Petr Cech. With such a team, it should be a stroll in the park for the Nigerians, given our players’ pedigree. The Czechs exploited our weakness in aerial battles to score their only goal. What stood out was the failure of our central defenders to mark their men during set pieces, such as the corner kick which resulted in the goal.

Indeed, the most difficult balls to contend with by goalkeepers are close range headers. And it behoves on our defenders to pick the nearest free opponent during such goalmouth melee. Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho did well with the first header but the rebound fell on an unmarked Czech who riffled the ball into the net. That was a cheap goal, which could have been averted had a defender stayed with the scorer. Our players must be told that our group opponents sent spies to watch our matches. Teams wobble when the opposition attacks them at their weaknesses. I hope this won’t be our portion on June 16 against Croatia.

Nigeria cannot afford to lose her first game, especially against the background that the Argentines will be battling newcomers Iceland in their opening game. Should the Argentines whip Iceland, the losers will pull all the stops to avert another defeat against Nigeria in the second game. A win for Nigeria over Croatia will not only be a morale booster with three points, it will also give us the impetus to beat a losing Iceland, even if they lose to Argentina.

With six points, Nigeria would have equalled her best performance at the Mundial, leaving the last game against Argentina a mere formality. But, the permutations by iconic manager Jose Mourinho raises an interesting poser in the event that Nigeria and Argentina win their two matches in the group.

The two countries will be fighting for the group’s leadership but the critical question will be which of the two countries will like to draw France in the second round? Argentina won’t like to play against France, ditto the French, won’t cherish a fixture against the Argentines. So, which country will love to play the French? I pray we draw Australia in the Round of 16, following Mourinho’s prediction. Nigerians would be glad to have the Aussies. If it does happen, Nigeria will join the league of African nations that have played in the quarter-finals.

In the last edition, the French eliminated Nigeria in the second round and didn’t look like the team to beat us. We have the players to beat France if they play to their potential. Indeed, our players spent the night leading to the French game in Brazil sharing $3.8 million cash instead of training or resting. If there wasn’t the money distraction, perhaps we would have given the French the fight of our lives, reminiscent of what we did to Brazil at the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games, where we turned the table against the Samba Boyz in one of the semi-final matches. The Samba Boyz led us by 3-1 but the Nwankwo Kanu-led squad turned it around to 4-3. The Brazilians were sobbing like kids after the final whistle. Nigeria went on to win the Olympic Games’ gold medal, beating Argentina 3-2 in the final game.

Rohr has challenged us not to press the panic button based on the last two losses. He took Moses, Mikel and Iwobi through the gym work while their colleagues trained. It is clear that the trio are our best. When they are not fit to compete, we are always in trouble.

“We’ve nine days to be ready for our first match vs Croatia, as at today, we are not ready. I am not sad because of this result, the result that matters will be in Russia,” Rohr said after Wednesday’s match.

Good to know that Ndidi is fit because he would bring steel into the defence, a quality missing in the team while Ndidi was injured. Onazi was too fat to cope with the demands of the position. He has promised to improve. Will he get a second chance? That is neither here nor there.

http://thenationonlineng.net/fly-eagles-fly-3/

The writer of this article thinks that quarterfinal is Nigeria's birthright.....I really feel for rohr....if he loses....the vultures will be out to kill him

darkelf:
I beg to disagree with you on that bro

African has not performed excellently at the world stage because of bad leadership and corrupt sports administrators

God is fair. If anything, a nation of 180 million people like Nigeria has produced talents that were not harnessed. The environment is not conducive and even soccer agents are greed personified

I'm not referring to Almighty God....I'm referring to this force spirit ( whatever you want to call it) that has followed other countries. Corruption is just one angle.....but you can tell me that all governments were corrupt in EVERY edition if the world cup Africans participated in.....also...there are non corrupt countries who haven't won the world cup....e.g Netherlands...it should tell you that its more than just corruption

comodo:
Please we I don't agree that we don't have the players. We do biko.
All SE needs to do is play for each other, play simple passes, avoid ball watching & always monitor the runners. I just watched our match against Czech rep. Our wing backs especially Shehu has a PHD in ball watching & not reacting to the runners. My coach used to say they are more dangerous than the man with the ball. Cos the man with the ball will draw the defence out & play a killer pass. If SE avoids these errors, they are good to go.
All the goals SE scored Argentina were just from simple give & take passes @ the right time. It would have even be 5 if not for unnecessary dribble from Iheanacho while Iwobi was free begging for the ball.

To win the world cup?.....I'm not sure....there is a reason why there are bookmakers favourites....and Nigeria is not one of them

We are using sentiment to reason this thing, saying we have players.....if you ask an Icelandic person before the lists were released....is it not the popular players (premier league?) That will be mentioned?.... That's if they watch the premier league....we are not seen as a threat and so it will be normal if Nigeria finishes last in the group...all we can do is to pull off a Costa Rica or a south korea

Truidstar:
Proverbs 17:28

I will say Nigeria is a disorganised country....but today we are better prepared than in previous tournaments

I will say Nigeria don't have the players....but Costa Rica shocked the world in 2014, not to talk of south Korea in 2002

I'll say Nigeria is not lucky....some will claim that there is no luck in it

What should I say then? Why can't we or other African countries win? Who did we offend?

Create any Nigerian team you want....none will win the world cup....whether player A was invited or player B was left out...nothing much will result from it...same old story...that should not be our concern

Why I'm very happy is due to the fact that I'm now interested in super eagles after such a long period of indifference....the mood is less toxic now
Long story short, irrespective of whatever happens in Russia, I'll like gernot rohr to continue as the coach of the Nigerian team

krattoss:
if God of football refuses to come to us, we go to him/ her/it

If that is the case, other countries who haven't won would have gone to meet the god of football nah....its simple, we no reach....
I thank our coach for all he has done so far....I wish we got some of those foreign left backs

I really love this arc because it will silence the doubters that say an arc can't succeed without the strawhats being in it
Meanwhile @ sage naruto, you are the guy that created the boruto thread....its a huge shame that boruto is a more popular manga than one piece in Nigeria
Do you think luffy will have a son? Some say his name will be buffy, like boruto and ichigo's son

If you watch the FIFA world cup pop up channel S14 on dstv, the FIFA world cup documentaries, you'll realise with the stories told....there is a feeling that the spirit of football has followed certain countries...Brazil Germany italy, it recently smiled on France and then Spain. Nigeria does not even come close in terms of the total world cup teams in history in who the spirit has followed

Nigerians.......
We simply don't have the players to compete in this tournament, in addition the god of football does not care about us and other African countries....
Don't condemn the players before we have even kicked a ball....let's just be hopeful that god of football smiles on us and other African teams...to finally reach the semi final or final....fate has not been kind to us at all

Anyways....check out this game....marvel future fight... And you'll see a lot of characters.....who can tell me the names of thanos' goons in infinity war??

I'm trying to join them....good community... They're savages as well....roasting characters and spreading memes....reddit is top notch....my boy sanji has suffered terribly at their hands

Are there people who patronise reddit often here?

Please is kishimoto the author of this boruto series??

Yo.....where are the one piece fans..... surely even boruto would have finished before one piece ends..join the moving train....

Yo.....arrange the 11 supernova from strongest to weakest

2nd task..... arrange the 11 supernova from most favorite to least favorite....

I want to know

Also who will come out victorious in a battle between the akatsuki and the entire marine organisation

I'm a big fan of the armoured Titan anyways it appears eren has the coordinate powers with him...

Attack on Titans animation should be the best I've ever seen

lol been watching Attack on Titan since 2015[/quote]

Can someone please link me to the one piece discussion forum??