₦airaland Forum

Joebie:
Amuzie debuts and clocks 90 minutes in Lugano's loss away.

This is actually a good news for Rohr.

blueto:
I will have Iwobi start ahead of Simon against Zambia. Simon is better against less tactical but physical teams like Cameroon. But against tactical and less physical teams, I will prefer Iwobi. Even Simon did not impress against the same Zambians in the first leg because Zambians are a tactical side. Iwobi performed better than Simon in that encounter and even got a goal and created some good chances. For those saying he has been poor against African teams, he struggled against physical sides, but not against less physical teams like Zambia from the south. We shouldn't use the South African game as a yardstick because the team was generally unimpressive that day. Zambia is a tactical side, not physical. Iwobi will fare better against them. It only took Ndidi's long throw and some brilliant exchange of passes from Mikel, Iheanacho, Ideye and Iwobi to unlock their defense the last time, not some kind of direct football that Simon plays.

To be honest,we didnt really play very well against Zambia but the early goals gave us the boost. I just finished watching Nigeria vs Cameroon and Zambia and I had to be very thorough to detect all the misses,pass,tackles..etc. Ekong is a serious weak link in both Zambia and Cameroon. Dude,panics alot and loses and gives away passes. Same with Omeruo,Mikel. We need better cohesion. I wouldnt play Mikel in AM position,CM yea but not AM.

Kog45:
meaning Nwakaeme is an ideal striker for Rohr formations.Let me see him in national colour then i rate him.

He perfectly fits the bill and I am sure you know this. Dude is well built,has skills ,pace and eye for a goal. Kayode will struggle to be in the bus to Russia. I have this invisible confidence the guy will blow.

Ambrose is a fantastic ball player but dude cant cross a danm ball.

[quote author=Kog45 post=60983068]Ideal how?[/quote

He is strong and can withstand the pressure up front,at least he looks like he could.
just like Ighalo we want somebody who can create a real threat in our opponents zone. Somebody who will not be bullied by tough defenders like they always do to Iheanacho. Additionally, I dont fancy Kayode to be out top 9 he hasnt proved anything.

Kog45:
I thought Nwakaeme play too in backwater league which is Isreal.

Nwakeme is an ideal number 9 Kayode is not.

Good news for Amuzie. I have confidence that with some playing time this guy can keep Echiejile on the bench.

Kog45:
On Ekong u are right,am always having my reservation even right from Olympics but of recent in Super Eagles he has improve and d presence of Balogun always give him that boost,as u said always shaking with ball on ground,hope Rohr is watching.

Truly on Awaziem,d young man is doing well in his club,hope we beat Zambia,i w love to see Balogun and Awaziem pairing .

Joel Obi major issue is injury,a fit Obi cannot be ignored.All we need from him is to be injury free.

Yea,if we can get the Zambia game out of the way then we can give some reserve players chances to be observed and assessed. I need to see more of Mikel Agu,Ogu,Nwakeme,Onyekuru,Kayode,Awaziem, Amuzie the left back,Eze,Adeleye,Ebuehi etc. I dont believe Ekong is the best we can offer.

Kog45:
U are right,only Rohr can tell us d reason for players invitation,all we need is result,if he failed he faced d music alone.

Honestly i want Kayode,Oyekwuru in d team but Rohr is d coach and he knows what he want regards players invitations and we must respect his decision.

Onyekuru need to do more and so is Kayode...Being the highest goal scorer in a backwater league is not enough to give you a nod over players like Ighalo, Kelechi and even Nwaneme.

I know everybody like to ignore this but William Ekong has been shaky in defence. Very excellent in the air but mostly flat with his feet. The presence of a world class player beside him hides a lot of his flaws. Chidozie Awaziem should be given more playing time to adapt. John Ogu can play there ,too.

I am shocked some people are rating Etebor ahead of Joel Obi but maka why ? Is it because of injury ? Enefee dike ,ekee ekpo ya! Joel Obi is just about world class and the only player that is currently above him is Mikel Obi,nobody else. If Joel Obi becomes fit before the world cup I will take him ahead of Etebor and even Iwobi if you consider the later an attacking or CM.

leathalbeast:
your team has never been good from day one and the last straw was Benin outplaying you guys with 1 man down . I was reading comments as a guest when icon4s was telling you guys that the Ghana team you beat wasn't motivated but you guys thought you beat us on merit. now look what happened to you.... you were never a match for us but you didn't notice. your team is whack and the earlier you change it before Chan starts, the better for you.

This hurts but its true... Rabiu Ali and Salisu killed us...lol...chai. Two Northerners....lol

Again,this is not a jab at northern players but I have made my point and I will stop here.
Sanni Kaita was a fantastic defensive player before he ruined his career...One of my favourite. I don't need to tell you I am not a tribalist, I have a track record. Go through my post history.

somehow:
Garba lawal and rabiu Ali speedy players? Chai see person wey say him sabi ball!

Now let me help you with list of northern midfielders that you obviously pretend not to know.

Garba Lawal
Rabiu Ali
Yahaya
Abdullahi Alfa
Ibrahim Alhassan.
Etc

To try to make this a region thing shows that you are not to be taken serious. I only chose to entertain your folly. There is no region or country that can fill any position if they have to so swallow your myopic view about life and don't bring it into football.

Signing out from this discussion.

Garba Lawal is not famous for his creative abilities,my nigga. Stop getting emotional about this because I am not a tribalist .

Rabiu Ali hasn't gone past Kano Pillars where he is a little god of some kind.

Yahaya is a winger who is still trying to find his feet.

Alhassan is a SS striker.

Name one natural and accomplished creative midfielder the north has produced or keep quiet.
I don't care if you take me serious or not...Are you my wife? Lol. I don't care about people on Nairaland who doesn't take me serious because I care less. Don't dump your insecurities on me.

Certitude:
I feel sad for Musa...He has what it takes to have developed as one of the best but I don't know who or what to blame...

No ,he doesn't have what it takes to be world class... I know Musa from his days in Kano Pillars. Musa is a speedy player with with a lot of shots who gets lucky and score some breathtaking goals . The most inconsistent Nigerian player ever!

Kog45:
Oh i don't know that was d basis for this arguements.

Good lets go down to memory lane,before d emergence of Henry Nwosu,Eim Esin,Jayjay Okocha, Sunday Olishe, Mikel Obi,player like Haruna Ilerika,Muda Lawal ran d show in d late 70s and early 80s.

Haruna Ilerika was like Jayjay OKocha,very good and solid midfielder.Muda Lawal can be compared to Sunday Olishe.

On northern extraction i w named Garba Lawal as d biggest to come out from north but cannot be compared to Mutiu Adepoju as far as national team is concern,also sani kaita that I w rate at par with Seyi Olofinjana.

Northern extraction player like kadiri Ikhana,Moses Otolorin,Kafaru Alabi also did well but not as influential as Ilerika and Muda Lawal.

Nevertheless we don't need this coz National team belongs to every players irrespective where u come from and this thread is too beautiful for tribalism to derail it.

I am not here to compare anybody to the other....I am just saying that the northerners rarely produce midfielders in the mould of Oruma,Okocha,Okwaraji,Etim,Oliha Henry Nwosu and Mutiu. You don't often find these type of players in the north.
Garba Lawal is not a typical attacking midfielder. Khadiri Ikhana is from Edo,Otolorin and Alabo though I don't know them sounds Yorubaish....We know what I mean by northern players....like Niger and Chad kind of north.

Again I am not comparing regions because I can see you throwing your brothers names around....Forgiveness brother...lol

somehow:
Point 5 western midfielders that have played in any national team.

Move on if you can't provide the names and I never compared the north to the west. This is about a quality that is lacking in an average northern players. Most of them are speedy players like Garba Lawal,Tijani Babangida,Ahmed Musa and Rabiu Ali. By the way ,the west has produced some amazing midfield players in Ajagun,Raheem Lawal,Mutiu,Muda Lawal,Haruna Ilerika.

somehow:
This one self don talk sense for him eye be that o. Basing natural skill on region lolz.

You haven't made any point. Point 5 northern midfielders that has played for any national team.

If people like Ali,Okoro,John and Mathias is the best we can produce then the Nigerian League has absolutely nothing to offer.

tbaba1234:
This is what i do not understand.. Why are we packing old men to a tournament of this nature? Wafu cup is a small tournament.. Why not use it as an avenue to expose younger players? Rabiu Ali is almost 40. Many of these guys have no national team future.

Very apt. But ,this is still Nigeria with our warped mindset in everything we do. They have a seniority thing going on with the home based eagles and this extends all the way to the clubsides. The oldest players get to be invited because they have been in the league longest ,so,therefore,must be considered firstly. I am surprised Ibenegbu and co wasn't invited this time...Nigeria is a very sick place!

mostob:
I have read some comments so far and i must say,we forgot many things during the match. Only their 1st goal was legit. The freekick that led to the penalty 4 the 2nd goal is pure rubbish. Their 3rd goal is not anywhere near a penalty and their 4th goal should not have stood because Ezenwa already have the ball. Kudos to the eagles,they tried wella and pls somebody should tell Salisu not to dare bring that gabreal to CHAN o. #soareagles

Gabriel is a very sleek attacking player with loads of skills. Salisu is a horrible coach and should not have coached this team.

Anyways , most of these guys are already in their late 30s. They don't have much to offer....I am not losing sleep over them.

I have nothing against northerners because they are really cool but I am yet to see a northerner that can man a midfield satisfactorily....Maybe on the wings but definitely not in the middle. Playing in the middle requires some special characteristics that are not common in a northern footballer. I could be wrong but I am basing this view on sheer observation.

I am not surprised by the way Ghana whooped this spineless home based eagles like little kids. I said it here after the first game with Siera Leone that this team is very poor. Salisu is a crappy coach and he chosed a confused Rabiu Ali to anchor our midfield.

Friday John shouldn't have worn the super eagles jersey...Dude has nothing to offer.

Okpotu is a typical physical Nigerian league player. Youth football development is our only hope. Most of these league players started playing from the street and never learn the rudiments of the game. Few can't trap a ball under tension and have no technique. Look at the Benin republic,Siera Leone and Ghana and you can see the quality in their play and individual skills.

That Friday John of the WAFU Eagles is such a shitty player. Please,is Eduwo injured?

Enough of this noise about these over hyped English player...They can even take Iwobi if they want.

zoboizee:
Osas has being our weak link right from the sierra leone match. He got skinned hands down. He's only good going forward.

He is not a strong man in defence but overlaps really well.

BascoVanVeli:
It was his cross that led to the second goal.

A single cross is not enough to redeem you in a 90 minutes encounter. I know Chima Akas way back and I thought he has the potentials to compete with Echiejile. Now,he is going to sleep.

Eze was lucky no to have gotten a penalty...Ghanaians were cheated there. Eze is a bit reckless some time. He has ways to go but improvements has been recorded.

In summary,we didn't play too well,in fact we haven't play well in this tournament. Ghanaians and the Siera Leonians has impressed me the most.

Eze has gained a lot of experience and cemented his position in the central defender....A complete and disciplined defennder. And what an excellent ball player.

Apart from the free kick Okoro scored against Siera Leone I have seen much of him...Nothing spectacular.

Adeleye is a great prospect. He showed great promises hope. Great tackles , strong aerial technique and a ball player. I will have to see more of him.

Chima Akas has lost him mojo. He used to be a terrific left back packed with some rockets on his left foot. His overlapping instincts are dead and he can barely defend well. I guess old age is kicking in. Most of these guys are in their 30s.

Aremu is a real baller all day...tackles,aerial battle and what have you....Him with Adeleye and Eze saved us from getting raped by the domineering Ghanaians in the second half. Aremu needs to go PRO....Real talent and I am hoping he is not 30yrs.