Barryseal:

The first thing you compare strikers with is goals before looking at other things. Alvaro Morata would have been classified as world class and potential Balon dor contender if strikers weren't judged on goals.

Danielnino00:


I'm really wondering... Part of the reason could be due to our goalkeeping coaching department... Maybe it's time for Alloy Agu to quit that role...

Barryseal:

Jonathan David wasn't the main striker last season. Thank God you mention Burak Yilmaz who was the main striker while Jonathan was the second striker and evn played in midfield at times till this season, when Jonathan played ahead of Yimaz.
We can roll back the years to their time in Belgium where Jonathan David (23) recorded more goals in Belgium than Osimhen(20). So when you say Osimhen is better, I want to know the metric used to assess and find him better.

zuchyblink:
Tunisia Lost to Mali, Gambia and BF without scoring a goal but almighty ghen ghen football fell to a dead team. Before the BF match I called Tunisia a dead team and that is what they are.

TheGoodJoe:


Now you are talking with respect to the point raised. That is what I am drawing your attention to. He talked about playing style and you talked about goals.

zuchyblink:
Tunisia Lost to Mali, Gambia and BF without scoring a goal but almighty ghen ghen football fell to a dead team. Before the BF match I called Tunisia a dead team and that is what they are.

TheGoodJoe:


Or, Alloy Agu gets kicked out. Eguavoen should not let their friendship stand in the way. If Alloy Agu can not scout quality keepers for the team, he should go.

Barryseal:

Jonathan David wasn't the main striker last season. Thank God you mention Burak Yilmaz who was the main striker while Jonathan was the second striker and evn played in midfield at times till this season, when Jonathan played ahead of Yimaz.
We can roll back the years to their time in Belgium where Jonathan David (23) recorded more goals in Belgium than Osimhen(20). So when you say Osimhen is better, I want to know the metric used to assess and find him better.

Danielnino00:


Pinnick once promised Ikeme a job in the goalkeeping department..We are still waiting .
Enyeama is also available

andrewbaba44:

Strikers is all about goals oga

You guys haven’t change this narrative since the Haaland comparison

TheGoodJoe:


If Eguavoen continues, he needs to make a hard choice. I know Alloy Agu used to be a teammate, and number one goalkeeping choice at one time with the Super Eagles, however, goalkeepers make or break teams.

Sometimes, I wonder what would have been of Mancini at Manchester City, if he did not have Joe Hart performing at that level.

Eguavoen needs to know we need a goalkeeper coach that will work with the team scouts to find three high-grade keepers. They must not come from clubs in Europe or America. They could come from the local leagues. We should scout academies in Europe and locally.

Donnarumma was 16 years old when he made his debut for AC Milan. So the spread should be wide.

Eguavoen needs to insist on this, three to five names. If indigenous, they can start camping locally earlier than when the squad arrives but we need to treat the goalkeeping role seriously if we are to achieve something from this generation of footballers.

TheGoodJoe:

The Evolving Role of Strikers in modern Football

But there is a growing breed of forwards who are following the footsteps of Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, Lazio’s Ciro Immobile or even Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli. They operate just like a joker in a pack of cards. They will exploit half-spaces, create a window for their teammates, drag their markers out of their position, and while doing this, won’t shy away from scoring critical goals for their team.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/sports/the-evolving-role-of-strikers-in-modern-football

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I told you before, read the article, enlighten yourself and understand there is more to attackers today than just goals.

Barryseal:

Your last paragraph says it all. I find it insulting if I was told Okoye and Uzoho are the best talented goalkeepers out there. The chase for already made have spoilt the managers of super eagles and turned them lazy.

They are waiting to be told a goalkeeper appeared out of nowhere to play for Sevilla. Automatically, he is invited and installed as Nigeria's number 1. The hard part of scouting and coaching is not in their books.

This what landed us Uzoho, while Rohr didn't trust our talents back home to the extent he went down to German 4th division to get Okoye who wasn't even number 1 in his team. Okoye only became number 1 in his kickabout German team after he was called up to the Super Eagles and played against Brazil. Imagine if we had invested the resources spent on Okoye to 2 talented boys from home, gave them same level of exposure through friendlies and qualifiers, we won't be dead in that position as we are now.

drDoom3:
I never though I would ever say this, but the smartest decision Arsenal can make right now is to sign Paul Onuachu, for a multitude of reasons.

1) Has every quality Vlahovic they were chasing for so long has, just less sleek. He has the height and strength, the hold up play, the link up with midfield, decent pace, excellent finishing. Only difference is Vlahovic carries the ball a bit better and is more fluid in his movement.

2) Cheap. Arsenal will get him for 25m max.

3) Temporary solution. It will be almost impossible to sign any big name striker in January (Vlahovic was a special case, he wanted to leave). Auba and Nketiah are out, Laca is struggling with fitness. Arsenal need a striker now, else their season is as good as done. Isak, David, Osimhen and co. can't leave their clubs fighting for UCL in January. Solution: Sign a cheap but proven goalscorer who is still not too old and can deputize when the real big boy comes in.

4) He's an Arsenal fan.

Danielnino00:


Some folks are even clamoring for Arthur Okonkwo..lol...
I can agree that we may not find enough quality outfield players in our league due to the crude nature of play there, but the same can't be said of goalkeepers. After Cameroon, I can't think of any other African country that has ever produced better goalkeepers than us.. Shorunmu, Rufai, Dosu, Enyeama, Ejide and even Dele Aiyebugba were good goalies... The current crisis we are experiencing in the goalkeeping department is simply due to the nonchalant attitude of Alloy Agu and whoever are working with him...
Sometimes,it doesn't matter how well a team plays...a bad goalkeeper can make all the difference..

andrewbaba44:
Nigeria is out of the tournament for sure before some of una use that one enter me

But what do most of you guys see in this Cameroon team that you rate them if I may ask ? This people no sabi play ball abeg ,to lay accurate pass self Na wahala ,no pattern

They will surely win todays game ,but if this team wins this tournament then African teams really have a long way to go

TheLoneCitizen:


Both clubs now in advanced negotiations. Matter of when rather than if.

Amoo is Copenhagen number 1 priority this window.

Hammarby holding out for 4.5 million.

Danielnino00:


Some folks are even clamoring for Arthur Okonkwo..lol...
I can agree that we may not find enough quality outfield players in our league due to the crude nature of play there, but the same can't be said of goalkeepers. After Cameroon, I can't think of any other African country that has ever produced better goalkeepers than us.. Shorunmu, Rufai, Dosu, Enyeama, Ejide and even Dele Aiyebugba were good goalies... The current crisis we are experiencing in the goalkeeping department is simply due to the nonchalant attitude of Alloy Agu and whoever are working with him...
Sometimes,it doesn't matter how well a team plays...a bad goalkeeper can make all the difference..

andrewbaba44:


When I say strikers I mean when playing as a number 9 and not playing behind the striker ,when playing as a number 9 scoring goals is the koko

Thomas Muller is not playing as a striker for long ,immobile is a number 9 and only offer goals

Thank you

Icon4s:


They are the "indomitable Lions of CAMEROON". That is what they have been known for. They will not play good football for an entire tournament but they mostly get the job done. I see them like the Chelsea of African football

It is not just an issue of home advantage cos the previous 5 editions Cameroon won were not on home soil.

They know how to play tournaments especially in Africa. Like I had mentioned earlier, before the AFCON kicked off, as far as the AFCON is concerned I will always rate teams like Cameroon, [b]Nigeria [/b]and Egypt ahead of likes of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria and Morocco, irrespective of the form any of these four teams is in.

The only team we thought could have challenged Cameroon in this AFCON was Nigeria. But we screwed up big time against Tunisia.

Icon4s:


I can't agree less. Especially at the knockout stages, a goal keeper can make so much difference. Look at the Burkinabe goalie, yesterday. He helped Burkina Faso secure that lead.

But the only shot directed at Okoye all tournament, he couldn't save

My fear from the start was in that goal keeping department. That goal changed the entire complexity of the game. The 4:4 draw against Sierra Leone in Benin and the goal we conceded against Cape Verde away really exposed Okoye's weaknesses but I guess the goal keeper trainers were blinded.

Francis Uzoho would more likely have saved that shot.

Barryseal:

Arthur Okonkwo looks talented and to be honest much more talented than Uzoho and Okoye but he needs to play first team football not reserve league. Hopefully he goes on loan next season as Arsenal are getting a 2nd choice GK from MLS.

In the home front, I don't think Rohr was properly briefed on the goalkeeping potentials back in the league. Ezenwa at a point was 2nd choice for his club but top class for the Super Eagles. A top rated goalkeeper like Afelokai has been displaced by a young Sochima at Rivers Utd. That's the kind of potential we have in that position. What these guys truly need is exposure and proper conditioning.

Our Olympics and U20 teams have always had goalkeepers from home and they never failed us at any tournament with errors to the levels we have seen with Uzoho and Okoye.

Barryseal:

Your last paragraph says it all. I find it insulting if I was told Okoye and Uzoho are the best talented goalkeepers out there. The chase for already made have spoilt the managers of super eagles and turned them lazy.

They are waiting to be told a goalkeeper appeared out of nowhere to play for Sevilla. Automatically, he is invited and installed as Nigeria's number 1. The hard part of scouting and coaching is not in their books.

This what landed us Uzoho, while Rohr didn't trust our talents back home to the extent he went down to German 4th division to get Okoye who wasn't even number 1 in his team. Okoye only became number 1 in his kickabout German team after he was called up to the Super Eagles and played against Brazil. Imagine if we had invested the resources spent on Okoye to 2 talented boys from home, gave them same level of exposure through friendlies and qualifiers, we won't be dead in that position as we are now.

andrewbaba44:

Strikers is all about goals oga

You guys haven’t change this narrative since the Haaland comparison

TheGoodJoe:

Freedom to roam and passing abilities

Although Immobile’s goal ratio is impressively high, his heatmap shows that he does not just hang around the opponent’s penalty box. In fact, he ranks only 21st in Serie A in touches in the penalty box with 5.11 per 90 minutes.



Immobile’s mobility also shows up in his mileage. On average, he covers 10,452 meters per game, ranking first among the Serie A forwards in this category. He does not only move without the ball to offer passing solutions to his teammates but his explosiveness and balance allow him to successfully dribble up the pitch with the ball at his feet.

A team player

Thanks to his physical strength, Immobile is a crucial outlet for Lazio to release pressure when the opponent is pressing high. Oftentimes, Immobile is seen dropping deep down the pitch to receive the ball, hold it diligently, and allow his defenders and midfielders to step up their lines.

Immobile’s work for the team does not stop here. In fact, he often tracks back defensively when he acknowledges that his teammates are out of position.

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/ciro-immobile-italys-all-round-striker

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This is a very interesting analytical read on Ciro Immobile and highlights what is key for modern-day strikers.

You can not just use scoring to rate strikers today. They have a lot to offer tactically and I personally see the role evolving further.

However, team play, defense, build up, exploiting gaps, etc. are some of the attributes that comes with modern-day strikers.

TheGoodJoe:


Or, Alloy Agu gets kicked out. Eguavoen should not let their friendship stand in the way. If Alloy Agu can not scout quality keepers for the team, he should go.

andrewbaba44:


100 million was rejected for a 28 year old koulibally ,take note

Danielnino00:


I'm really wondering... Part of the reason could be due to our goalkeeping coaching department... Maybe it's time for Alloy Agu to quit that role...

TheGoodJoe:


When you think of Atlanta 96 squad, having Emmanuel Babayaro, Abiodun Baruwa, and Joseph Dosu. To me, personal choice, Dosu was even the weakest.

Abiodun Baruwa was the best penalty keeper I ever saw. He was so good at close range. Then now, it looks like if we can not find good keepers for the country and it has gone on for too long. I remember Ike Shorunmu, I think against Germany was mind-blowing. Save after save.

Now we get frightened when a test come for keepers. I hope this get sorted out soon.

darkelf:


Well said

We need to replace our GK trasiners

It's obvious they are not doing thir jobs

They are just colecting salary and egunje

It's their job to scout and recommend GKs to the Senior National Team

But no....sometimes it beats me why we can't just get rid of mediocre officials in all strata of the Nigerian Society