₦airaland Forum

charlesemeka85:
Etebo likely to join on loan with an option to buy. Deal is imminent

Watford seems to have fallen in love with Nigerian players

Oldboss:
The home-based players of the Super Eagles of Nigeria
have another chance to show why they deserve more
opportunities in the senior national team when they play
friendly matches against Canada, Ghana and Cameroon.
The team recently lost 4-0 to Mexico in an international
friendly game played at the Los Angeles Coliseum in
California, United States.
Speaking after the game watched by over 50,000 fans,
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick,
revealed that the federation was on the verge of finalising
arrangements for the friendly games, which would hold
before the 2022 World Cup qualifiers begin later this year.
He added that the matches would hold in the 73,000
capacity M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, United States.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick (centre) with home-based
Super Eagles at training camps
“This is the launchpad we are providing for you to
showcase your talents,” Pinnick said while addressing the
players. “This team is our pride, and we will keep you and
monitor you because you are the next big thing in Nigerian
football.”
“In October, we will be flying the team to Baltimore for
friendly games against Ghana possibly, Cameroun and
Canada, maybe. We will sort that out in the coming
weeks. We will tidy up all the documentation. You will be
playing at the 73,000 capacity M&T Bank Stadium.”
In the game against Mexico, Nigeria presented a team made
up of players from the Nigerian Professional Football League
(NPFL) with Ibrahim Sunusi, who plays for Montreal FC the
only foreign-based star in the squad.
The team’s inexperience showed as they fell to the
Mexicans with goals from Hector Herrera, Rogelio Funes
Mori and Jonathan dos Santos.
Read more: Home-Based Super Eagles Suffer Heavy
Defeat Against Mexico
Speaking on the game, Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot
Rohr, praised the team for ‘a good outing.’
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr
“These are young players playing in front of over 50,000
fans in a foreign land. It was not easy but they showed they
can play this game,” Rohr said. “We are very happy that
fans are returning to stadiums after a long time playing in
empty stadiums.”
“Mexico is number 11 in the world and our young team
consist of the best players in the professional league at
home. They have learnt a lot from this game. I saw some
interesting players who could be useful in our next World
Cup qualifiers. Some of these players still have to work to
improve physically.”
Rohr explained that the game was part of Nigeria’s
preparations for the World Cup qualifiers, which will start
with a home team against Liberia on September 3.
“A few days later, we hope to play against Cape Verde
before meeting Central African Republics,” Rohr added. ” It
is a long way to the World Cup, but this match has shown
that some of the local players can play in the World Cup
qualifiers.”
“The match was a good lesson for my players because
Mexico are one of the favourites for the Gold Cup.”

npfl players are too raw to pick up and work on.
Rohr is allready picking and working on raw talent.
Maduka Okoye is an example. He picked him up from division 4 in Germany.
Europe based players are easy to refine because they are allready in a condusive environment.
There are many players based in Europe that Rohr can easily turn to world class and
market them to a top 5 league.
Rohr also did well for Samuel Kalu and made sure he stated in Bordeaux.
Rohr should concentrate on players like kelechi Nwakali, Obinna Nwobodo, Muazum etc
and see how he can make something out of them. There is hope for such players.
Products of our youth teams still have a lot of hope.
Adewole oladoye in particular may be world class very soon as he had a sensational debut for Gent
Abbass idris who just broke into a team in portugal is there e.t.c
Again i repeat, home based players are too raw to refine.
To refine a home based player takes at least 2 years and those obscure leagues
are doing the job for us as they can move on from there to better leagues in Europe.
NPFL PLAYERS ARE SIMPLY NOT READY
THE PROBLEM IS THEY ARE LOST IN THE NOSTALGIA OF THE PAST
Anayo Iwuala is not George Finidi of Segun Odegbami and Sety Mayi is not Austin Okocha
that played for Rangers.

The npfl players of the present just cannot cut it easily.
Stop living in the past. Rather try and improve the league and things will
fall in place.
Stop looking at these players with the eye of the 90's our league has sunk very low.
STOP LIVING IN THE PAST

WHY FOOTBALL ACADEMIES HAVE MORE TO OFFER THAN THE NIGERIAN LEAGUE PLAYERS

Why academies outshine NPFL clubs in talents export – Agents
’Tosin Oluwalowo
30 July 2020


Nigerian football agents say the prospects of playing for top European sides is the major reason why a large number of the country’s up-and-coming prefer playing for academies to play for Nigerian leagues clubs.

Football academies have been the latest exit point for Nigerian players seeking to join top European clubs, with Golden Eaglets captain to the 2019 U-17 World Cup in Brazil, Samson Tijani earlier this month sealing a lucrative move to Austrian champions, Red Bull Salzburg, from Lagos-based academy, Collins Edwin Sports Club.

Super Eagles trio, Samuel Chukwueze, Wilfred Ndidi, and Kelechi Iheanacho sealed moves to big European clubs from local academies. While Chukwueze joined Spanish LaLiga side Villarreal from Umuahia-based Diamond Football Academy, Ndidi joined Belgian Pro League side, Genk, from Nath Boys Academy of Lagos, with Iheanacho moving directly to Manchester City from Taye Academy of Owerri.

A look at the present Eagles squad shows that only Ahmed Musa, Oghenekaro Etebo and Daniel Akpeyi played in the local league before moving abroad.

While the list of Nigerians who have joined big European clubs from little-known academies is on the rise, Nigeria Professional Football League clubs, the nation’s flagship professional league, has struggled to Import quality talents to Europe.

Those who move usually find themselves in the backwater leagues in Europe.



Some agents, who spoke with our correspondent, said Nigerian league clubs paraded too many old players and expensive, which puts off European scouts.

“Most NPFL clubs don’t have quality young players; they rely on older players with experience. NPFL clubs also put big money on the players. When you place $1m or $500,000 on a player, the club which wants the player will want to see his quality and age. For them to invest money, the player must be young. You can’t place $1m on a player that is 29 years when the clubs can get younger players from the academies,” an agent, Marshal Mbre, told The PUNCH.

Read Also
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COVID-19: NPFL clubs to test players before matches
“Most NPFL coaches don’t take time to develop their players and teach them what they should know, because at a certain age, you can’t learn again. The clubs who claim they have feeder teams also place players who are relatives of government officials in the teams, they just keep them there to pay them allowances. I have gone to an NPFL club and the feeder team players are older than the first team players. They just take in players who are short and claim they are aged 15 or 16 when in fact they are older than the first team players,” he added.

Another agent, Friday Kujah, stated, “Nigerian clubs pick players from academies and sign them on maybe a three-year deal, but when a foreign club shows interest in the player, they demand for between $300,000 and $1m. Nigerian league clubs are only using the players as personal properties and an avenue to make money.

“Academy owners are ready to invest in players and train them to bring the best out of them but when NPFL clubs hear a player has trained, they will start making demands from the clubs.”

Sunshine Stars chairman, Tajudeen Akinyemi, said NPFL clubs’ penchant for old players made it difficult for them to export talents to Europe’s top sides.

“When the likes of Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Mutiu Adepoju left for European leagues, they left from our local league. But presently things are not working like they used to be, we are lucky that we still have academies that are producing talents,” Akinyemi told The PUNCH.

“I once asked a player who came for trials in Sunshine his age and he replied me, ‘are asking for my football age or real age, sir?’ The difference between his real age and football age was nine years. So, clubs must ensure they recruit players who are really young, not old ones with fake ages. This is where we got it wrong; we must find a solution to this type of thing. And if we don’t do it, the NPFL will have a lot of problems.”

Copyright PUNCH.

https://punchng.com/why-academies-outshine-npfl-clubs-in-talents-export-agents/

They need to perform brain surgery on npfl coaches. They do not teach their players ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL. npfl players have zero knowledge of football tactics and do not play with their brain.
maybe coaches should have some level of certification before they are allowed to coach. It seems any tom, dick and Harry can coach in Nigeria.
From what I know if a player is not educated in modern football tactics by the age of 21 it becomes difficult to change.
This is what is happening to npfl guys. It may be those above 21 simply cannot be trained again as they are set in their ways. The ignorance is irritating. This is why they will fail trails in Europe. Even the players need reorientation and brain surgery. They are a product of horrible coaching. I am tired.

Ovoke, Ndala and Babawo close to joining Armenian club Saven FC

NPFL GUYS AT IT AGAIN, PLATEAU UNITED PLAYERS GOING TO JOIN ARMENIAN LEAGUE.
GOING TO OBSCURE LEAGUES JUST WHEN PINNICK SPOKE AGAINST IT

[url]http://www.brila.net/ovoke-ndala-and-babawo-close-to-joining-armenian-club-saven-fc/
[/url]
Plateau United FC trio, Bernard Ovoke, Issah N. Ndala Jr, and Ibrahim Babawo are on the verge of joining the newly-promoted Armenia Premier League club Saven FC.


The trio jet out of the country on Saturday to finalize their transfer to the club country ahead of the 2021-2022 campaign.

JohnBullMySon:
In a standard game, our players would have gotten a lot of cards, both yellow and red. What sort of playing style is this?

Is this what Philosopher1979 calls the African style?

Abeg na the Atlanta 96 style I dey talk. Also the u17 of iheanacho set. These boys have finished embarrassing us. I don tire for npfl guys

We will equalize and win the match

Ppogbae:
Just finished watching Amaju's inspiring speech to our home based guys. We could be facing Ghana, Cameroon or Canada in October. Moreover, he derided the idea of home based playera hastily signing contracts to play in countries like Belarus, Lithuania, Cyprus and other countries alike. He mentioned that he believed they were capable of going to top clubs and leagues directly instead of going through the lower leagues of Europe. He also went on to say that our guys are much better in quality than MLS players, despite the large gulf in quality of the facilities and infrastructure that exists between the two leagues.

What a speech.

Actually the North African league is better than all these obscure leagues in Europe like Latvia, Lithuania etc.
You don't expect an Alhaly or zamalek player to head to Latvia; that will be rubbish. Even the Nigerian league is better than these nonsense backwater leagues in Europe.
I read the speech online and Amaju promised that henceforth the nff will monitor their transfers and will not let Agents exploit them and send them anywhere.
That was a fantastic speech

BascoVanVeli:
That would mean we won 6-2 cos Nwakali's cracker was also 3 goals

Stop allowing the White man to deceive you. If nwakali went to the world cup he would have collected the midfield from Lucas modric. He could also have dominated Argentina in midfield.
He may have some "tactical deficiency" like not marking but there is no perfect player.
The way black origin players are treated is wicked. Nwakali contribution in midfield will have gotten us out of the group stage while the white man is saying he is not good enough.
2 years from now he will have improved and he will get a good team but we do not have to wait till that time.
European s can be funny.
Let us just express our African style and we will be okay

JohnBullMySon:
Yeah. Everyone normally has this weird feeling that something out of the ordinary will happen. 95% of the time it doesn't.

I'll say, whatever will be our best game in that match will happen while the scores are still level. Once Mexico tips it over, it becomes a rollercoaster.

The only way we would get a shocking result is to play as a team, sit back and park the bus throughout. But trust NPFL guys, they'll want to dribble and attack.

Let them dance with the ball, dribble and attack. Better to loose 5 2 than a one nill loss. Guardiola philosophy of attacking football comes to mind.
If the express themselves good teams will come for them park the bus won't help them in the long run. They should play their normal game without fear and dance with the ball.

maidaboi:
Maybe not Dennis, we want him to impress
enough to help us, but not enough to get a call-up.
Now, there are some very talented Nigerian
forwards about, but considering there were some
domestic-based forwards in their most recent
squad (including former Leicester carthorse Ahmed
Musa), this perhaps is a small window!


copied from Watford forum talking about losing players to Afcon

there are some very talented Nigerian
forwards about

this got me smiling

It shows our football academies are doing something impressive. Generally our football is improving. It was horrible 7 years ago when nobody wanted our players and they end up in obscure leagues like Finland.

andrewbaba44:
Marcelo Bielsa the magician

Please post link

Here is the link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.caughtoffside.com/2021/07/01/leeds-united-eye-a-second-transfer-from-relegated-la-liga-side/amp/

Leeds united interested in kelechi nwakali. His wonder half season at Alcorcon is attracting attention.
Besides I want him to go to Leeds. Marcelo Bielsa plays technical football and will get the best out of him. It will be a dream move. Leeds will fit him perfectly

Frank onyeka may be a serious talent.
Check the link below
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.squawka.com/en/liverpool-vs-fc-midtjylland-jota-salah-fabinho-ucl/%3famp
Here is a report against Liverpool
All Nigeria Soccer Log


Top Tackler, Interceptor, Most Fouled Player Frank Onyeka Shines Against Liverpool
Published: October 28, 2020
Top Tackler, Interceptor, Most Fouled Player Frank Onyeka Shines Against Liverpool
Danish champions FC Midtjylland missed out on their first Champions League point following their 2-0 loss to an under-strength Liverpool side at Anfield on Tuesday night.

It was goalless at the break but in the second half, Diogo Jota opened the scoring before Mohamed Salah scored from the penalty spot to double the advantage.

Picked as one to watch before the game, Nigeria international Frank Onyeka lived up to his billing, impressing in a ninety-minute shift despite Midtjylland's loss.

Based on the player ratings by football statistics website Whoscored, Onyeka was the Wolves' third best performer in the loss to the Reds with a rating of 6.65 and only Jens Cajuste (6.77) and Alexander Scholz (6.69) got more marks.

The Super Eagle was the most fouled player on the pitch, winning a game-high five free-kicks for his side and he was also the leading player when it comes to tackles (4) and interceptions (3).

Onyeka was accurate in 87.5 percent of his passes and won one aerial duel.

FC Midtjylland return to Champions League action when they host Ajax Amsterdam at the MCH Arena on November 3.

If

They were fighting over match bonus with nff officials and some of the players were carrying women.
Also, the coach was brought in a few months to the tournament.
indiscipline, bad administration everywhere.
The team was not focused on the match.
In fact, forget our victory over Spain. We had quality players but the team was divided and in disarray.

elyte89:
Dt Denmark match was an hallmark of lack of concentration, high indiscipline when it mattered most..same thing happened in USA 94;against Italy and it keeps repeating itself uptil date ..na African problem

realpoacher:
We can't defend against set pieces neither can we score them

We are quite poor tactically in football and most sports for that matter

The only thing we are good at is Jam-body football


Nonsense

Part of our problem is we allow Europeans to dictate what a good player is for us.
We Africans need to play our Unique African style and express ourselves. We did it under Westerhoof
Nwakali bossed atletico Madrid midfield but we think he is not good. I'm sure nwakali will boss Pogba in midfield and shock everybody.

andrewbaba44:
I heard tolu arokodare has joined amiens

How true is that?

Seems to be true. He will join up with Stephen odey there. Check the link here

https://www.courrier-picard.fr/id207321/article/2021-06-28/arrivee-dun-attaquant-lamiens-sc-en-provenance-de-cologne

BascoVanVeli:
I don't want to hear any more nonsense about the league not being professional because the same people complaining don't want things professional themselves. The same people complaining about players leaving the league now feel it is ok to take a scouting trip in the middle of the season. I am glad I brought this up.

You should be happy npfl players are bein used. That is a sign of progress. In fact uche unuansoye and Seth mayi are two attacking midfielders I have high expectations for. Also give us the low down on Samuel Nnoshiri.
At least they are given a chance. U too dey complain. At least let us be satisfied with the progress being made

Clementoke:
Complete Sport nigeria reports that Napoli are planning extending Osimhen while also inserting a release clause in the contract. The question is, what are they seeing that some of his countrymen have refused to see?

He can play as a lone striker. A lot of strikers can't play as a lone striker. That's why drogba succeeded at Chelsea. Also he can easily disorganize a defense and he is a pressing striker.

Subzero047:
You are the one that said Dessers was better than Osihmen and Haaland, hope you have not smoked your usual thing

I never said that. Quote me where I said that about desserts

12large1:
He isn't better than osimehn fam. (All due respect)

With time, he will be better.
Even theoretically, he is with his wide range of abilities. At least he is more creative as a forward.
He once had 17 assists in a single season in Serbia, The problem is his maturity was late and
he has not done it in a top 5 league.
Personally i rate players on tactics and technique andnot just league or stats alone

Sadiq Umar will emerge as the best Nigerian striker of his generation. Time will prove me right. He is the most technically sound player we have.
His technical and tactical abilities are very impressive. He will outshine anyone foreign borns or not even Tammy Abraham.
He is skillful, strong, can play as a lone striker, good in the air, creative, technical, he can play in a Guardiola team.
As I said time will prove me right. Maybe Joshua Zirkzee might defeat him but he is going to be a mega star. Strikers like him are rare in football

JohnBullMySon:
That was when the World Cup was being played with felele and drugs . Make Dem come win am again na.

Na money be the problem. Nowadays South American teams can't keep their stars. A good player in Santos is in Europe as early as 16 years old.
If the money invested in the Chinese league is invested in South America, it will catch up with Europe in less than 5 years. The difference is not much. South American teams can still win the world cup easily. Europe just has the money to buy the best South American players. Some of the world's best coaches and players are South American. Knowledge and development of football is still in South America and the rivalry will still be there

realpoacher:
At this point I don't care if the Hungarians go home, they have really given Germany a fight
.

If it were a certain Rohr that was their coach, he probably would have been singing like a canary to the whole world about how useless his team is ,and how they won't survive a group of death

The funny thing is that we have better players than that of the Hungarian team. Yet Rohr does not believe we can beat a team like Spain. Rohr is technically limited.

andrewbaba44:
Who swear for morata and spain

Another missed pk for them

Morata has to work on his finishing. Spain needs a finisher badly. I believe Moreno is a better finisher than moratta.

According to owngoalnigeria wisdom ubani and Peter agba gave been signed by standard liege.
Does supernerd or any one else have more information about this

dozai:
He should simply use the time to gather all coaching certificates he will need for his 2nd missionary journey. He is a lucky man say money no exchange hands. And him no influence any match result. Already 2yrs don pass. Since it was backdated to 2019

Actually Siasia could have been the perfect assistant to Rohr. In fact Nigerian football badly needs Siasia. He is good at youth football and he can handle our chan teams. He could have qualified us for the Olympics and chan if he was the coach. He could have succeeded where Amakpabo failed

Good for you

good

Get your scholarship now

Philosopher1979:
[/b]

Sorry, i forgot about them.
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typicalgamer:
That’s my prayer let him make first 11

Perform well on ucl and earn a big move.

Mid table clubs don taya me for our players

You should be happy. I remember during Keshi's era nonsense league
was common to our players. We had players from finish league, lithuania, latvia albania etc
At least now is an improvement.
But Awaziem will do well in Besiktas anyway.
A portuguese league player is better than a Turkish league player.
I mean portuguese league is the 6th best league in Europe (just behind the French league)
and so he will do well there going by my logic

Subzero047:
Players rarely leave the Turkish league for higher leagues and Turkey is a league that has no tolerance for mistakes as Awaziem is not a finished product, he needs a league with low pressure where he can play and develop and make a transition to a bigger league easily

Inshort he needs a new agent

I don't understand, but the portuguese league is better than the Turkish league. He is even the captain of Boavista and he has played in the Spanish league before and so i don't see the reason why he won't do well in Besiktas. In fact, he will enter their first 11 immediately.