₦airaland Forum

TheSuperNerd:
Good to see Awo get some action FINALLY this season. His first appearance since being put in an induced Coma back in May, earlier this year.

But I am more locked in on the Upcoming Serie A fixture, Pisa vs Hellas Verona.
Akinsanmiro vs Orban coming up and both are starting.

Still missing Aina like dis

Akor and Ejuke both on the bench as host Sevilla are a goal up against Mallorca

Boniface starts for Bremen

Truidstarr:
Awoniyi wey people dey bash here some days ago...he starts today. Hope he comes good.

No he won't, not now or ever Awoniyi is basically a case of a player being told to play as a striker because he has impressive upper body strength and decent speed, he does not possess the littlest hunter's instinct or movement that would give him an edge over any average defender, his career would have panned out better if he had turned to a center back

Goke7:
He listened to the so called proponents of tiki taka whereas even right now a whole Oliseh is advocating for just scoring one or two goals during the playoffs and lock shop! Hope you can see how humans are? Dem go push you enter inside well if you no borrow sense

Na TheGoodJoe mislead am 😜😛cos the rumor was that Finidi was coming to this thread to read and he read TheGoodJoe's tactical emphasis on tiki taka 😂😂😂

MetalJigsaw:
I think God wants us to qualify but learn a lesson first. That Lookman's selfishness and overdoing is one of the major reasons we've not been scoring goals. Guy is good no doubt, but he selfish make we talk true.

If he played that match I don't think we would have scored as many goals. His absense was a blessing in disguise. Though he's still the best partner for Osimhen upfront

Chelle really needs to talk to him.

I was about to state all of the above in a post when o read what you posted. Very apt.

Now here is the perfect opportunity to really X Ray why we were not scoring in the absence of Osimhen.
The 2 major culprits are Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon. And add to that aimless passing of our supposed midfielders.

We all can see on several occasions where Lookman would prefer to shoot or do useless take ons when he could just have passed the ball. I dare say he is one of the reasons why Boniface looks useless on the pitch if we are really gonna be honest and not be sentimental in the name of APOTY. The less said about Moses Simon the better. My take on him is well documented.
It is a big problem when every player on the pitch think o themselves as super stars and so can't work together to get a common result. Each person playing for his own bottomline whether by way of fame or better contracts at club level. And now Nwabali don join the shoulder raise too. Nobody fit correct him.

The first rule is unless you are Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, you need to play as a team and for the team.
Wearing the Super Eagles jersey is not to be taken for granted. As a player... you are not doing us a favor. So if you are not gonna give 110 percent in a game, then get the hell out of the way. We have so long enthroned mediocrity in our way that our players are so comfortable with it. They practically wallow in it when they play at the national team. Now can we honestly answer which team played against Benin Republic? Was it because it was imperative to win? How come we didn't approach all other games like that? So we got ourselves into this mess. I have said it before. This mediocre way of thinking started with one coach who always qualifies us with a game to spare. The guy sabi massage ego so tey our players don't even feel bad when they lose to teams like Madagascar and Central African Republic. Drawing 4-4 after going up by 4 goals. Abi is it not the same players? That was when we started hearing things like there are no more minnows in Africa.

It is time to get players on merit and not on sentiments. If we discover a new player better than Alex Iwobi (and quite frankly, there are lots ... please dont ask me where cos somehow we got a Fredrick) we must be ready to throw em in the fray against all sentiments. Play the team according to its strengths. Period

Meliforme:
Thank you Mujtahida for making me see this video.
Sunday Oliseh's submissions reveal a sound tactical depth.

I quite agree with him on the notion that we should stick to a conservative approach for the time being.

In my opinion, we should stick to a conservative approach for the following reasons:

Our composition of play does not allow for a quick recovery following a counter attack.
This is down to coaching, and it is an issue that can be corrected.

The absence of genuine creative midfielders.
We need at least two creative midfielders who are also good at winning back possession, to make something out of a possession style of play
We have shown that we can dominate possession, if we choose to, but the absence of a creative midfield has made us easy to nulify. We have wingers that can create, but no genuine creator operating mid field. Iwobi's EPL exploits has come from the wings. How many chances has he created for S.E players whenever he is operating through the middle.

It took me some time to realise that Iwobi is not yet a genuine midfield profile. If he must operate mid field, he needs at least two supporting midfielders with him operating a very advanced role.

We need midfielders who cannot only win possession, but can hold the ball, dribble their way through tight spaces, deliver accurate passes and create chances.
I can only see two midfielders with those abilities: Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and Kelechi Nwakali

Honestly, I will pick Ebenezer Akinsanmiro above any midfielder in S.E as things stands because of my studies of him. He ticks every box and much more.

Playing without a creative midfield makes our players overwork, making these players injury prone

We should all throw our support around Eric Chelle as Oliseh has advised and hope for the best.


I will stop here

This should be forwarded to Chelle. Sound analysis bro

Ragingthunder:
what? Only Morocco has reached the semis, maybe you meant quarter-finals

Mistake obviously

BankyGee:
This is why I want us to go to the World Cup! WE WILL COOK!

Make them first give us Jordan for a start 😂

We go too cook them

BankyGee:
After the latest Transfermarkt update for the Premier League, Calvin Bassey got a +€3M rise that saw him hit €28M!

This figure now makes him the:
🥇 Most expensive Nigerian defender 🇳🇬
🥉 Third most expensive Nigerian Player 🇳🇬
🥉 Third most expensive Fulham player 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🥉 Third most expensive centre-back in Africa 🌍
4️⃣ Fourth most expensive defender in Africa 🌍
1️⃣0️⃣ Tenth most expensive centre-back in the Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
3️⃣8️⃣ Thirty-eighth most expensive player born in 1999 📅
6️⃣0️⃣ Sixtieth most expensive centre-back in the world 🌎

Dependable. Reliable. Available. Relentless! 💪🏾
THE Rock! 🪨🇳🇬
Naija baller 🇳🇬💚⚽

This guy still has one or two big moves to make

chrisooblog:
Thanks D'Law for the recommendation.

First time I'm watching Oliseh's podcast. Enjoyed watching it though was rolling my eyes a bit when the lady moderator started gassing Oliseh that his era was the most disciplined and focused bla bla bla.

Anyway back to some of the points raised in the discussion. Yes I agree with them that this is the time to get results. Playoffs is not the time for s*xy penetrating passes but results. Win ugly or boring just get the win 1-0 1-0 I don't care just achieve the win.

Oliseh spoke about being auto-critical I think we've begun to see some of that from Osimhen, Ndidi and Bassey. Call out each others BS before it harms the team.

What they said about Lookman is spot on. Dude hasn't had a proper preseason so is a few weeks from his full form. He will get there let's just be patient. That said I think a super sub role should is what he's good enough for now.

Also concur that Ekong shouldn't be a starter in the defense for the time being.

She obviously was born then or must have been a child. Those guys were not the disciplined at all. Oliseh himself though was soft on the players on that point. He knows.

Wilfred Ndidi vs Tom Dele-Bashiru. Both start against each other in Turkey's Super Lig as their respective sides battle, Besiktas vs Genclerbirliği.

Arierhi Kparobo on the bench for Mjondalen vs Aalesund in the Obos Ligaen. First matchday squad involvement since the U20 WC.
Same as Sani Suleiman who starts for AS Trencin vs Skalica in the Slovak Nike Liga.

Ibrahim Said Starts for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

MetalJigsaw:
What about the recent pass to Adams. Lookman probably would have attempted to dribble the defender or just shoot wide.
Lookman is a top player but he needs to work on that.

And I think Chukwueze should retain his spot. He really spots Victor quite easily.

That's because they played together from u17 days. Somethings would just come natural

Meliforme:
Thank you Mujtahida for making me see this video.
Sunday Oliseh's submissions reveal a sound tactical depth.

I quite agree with him on the notion that we should stick to a conservative approach for the time being.

In my opinion, we should stick to a conservative approach for the following reasons:

Our composition of play does not allow for a quick recovery following a counter attack.
This is down to coaching, and it is an issue that can be corrected.

The absence of genuine creative midfielders.
We need at least two creative midfielders who are also good at winning back possession, to make something out of a possession style of play
We have shown that we can dominate possession, if we choose to, but the absence of a creative midfield has made us easy to nulify. We have wingers that can create, but no genuine creator operating mid field. Iwobi's EPL exploits has come from the wings. How many chances has he created for S.E players whenever he is operating through the middle.

It took me some time to realise that Iwobi is not yet a genuine midfield profile. If he must operate mid field, he needs at least two supporting midfielders with him operating a very advanced role.

We need midfielders who cannot only win possession, but can hold the ball, dribble their way through tight spaces, deliver accurate passes and create chances.
I can only see two midfielders with those abilities: Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and Kelechi Nwakali

Honestly, I will pick Ebenezer Akinsanmiro above any midfielder in S.E as things stands because of my studies of him. He ticks every box and much more.

Playing without a creative midfield makes our players overwork, making these players injury prone

We should all throw our support around Eric Chelle as Oliseh has advised and hope for the best.


I will stop here

.

South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie on Nigeria going to the playoffs

“I heard you earlier saying that we (South Africa) will also root for Nigeria,” McKenzie said in an interview shared on X by South African journalist Robert Marawa.

“I want to make it very clear: I wish for them not to qualify. I just want to make that one clear. They tried… I knew what they did behind the scenes. I want them to lose.

“Nigeria must not go to the World Cup. Another African country must go.”

Ragingthunder:
South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie on Nigeria going to the playoffs

“I heard you earlier saying that we (South Africa) will also root for Nigeria,” McKenzie said in an interview shared on X by South African journalist Robert Marawa.

“I want to make it very clear: I wish for them not to qualify. I just want to make that one clear. They tried… I knew what they did behind the scenes. I want them to lose.

“Nigeria must not go to the World Cup. Another African country must go.”

I can't wait for south Africa to be humiliated on the world stage,An opponent of South Africa is a friend of mine

do4luv14:
I dey tell you, VICMO go dey assist VO9 steadily
And sharp too

Ain't happening. Vic Mo is Lookman pro max. Selfishness personified and egotistic

QueenJazz:
Nigeria has been in the Round of 16 three times (1994, 1998, 2014), which remains the highest number of knockout stage appearances for African teams. They've also won the highest number of World Cup games as CAF representatives. That is World Cup consistency for any African nation.

Also, your facts on the deep runs are off: only Morocco has reached the Semi-Finals. Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana all peaked one round earlier in the Quarter-Finals. Subsequent outings haven't really favored them too. I don't think Cameroon has managed to qualify out of the group stage since 1990. Same for Ghana after the 2010 WC.

My point still stands regardless: those 6 nations I mentioned are the Big 6 from CAF when it comes to global football.
Egypt and Tunisia are 7th and 8th based on number of WC appearances, but like we've already noted, they don't really perform well at the WC.

Yes I agree that these nations are the big guns but I do not see them as being high achievers at the world cup on a consistent basis. That distinction belongs to Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, England, Holland, Spain (recently sef) We need to do better.

I made a mistake about Morocco. They got to the semis at Qatar. I think Morocco first qualified in 86(checked 1970) and didn't show up again until 1994 and then 98 with Mustapha Hadji. They were knocked out first round. They were absent until 2018. Now they've qualified back to back.

I believe with this expanded quota, the big guns will be more consistent in qualifying for the Mundial.

Amedino99:
only morocco reached the semi final........

Correct, bro

Mujtahida:
Yes I agree that these nations are the big guns but I do not see them as being high achievers at the world cup on a consistent basis. That distinction belongs to Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, England, Holland, Spain (recently sef) We need to do better.

I made a mistake about Morocco. They got to the semis at Qatar. I think Morocco first qualified in 86(checked 1970) and didn't show up again until 1994 and then 98 with Mustapha Hadji. They were knocked out first round. They were absent until 2018. Now they've qualified back to back.

I believe with this expanded quota, the big guns will be more consistent in qualifying for the Mundial.

To be fair, I wasn't comparing them to the likes of Spain and Argentina etc. lol. That would be a stretch obviously. I'm talking of comparative performance among CAF teams. Cameroon, Morocco and Nigeria have had the most WC appearances. Given the overall poor performance of CAF teams in general when it comes to the World Cup, the fact that they have been frequent competitors is relatively impressive.

CAF teams obviously need to step up their game, but I'm just drawing the line between teams like Cameroon and for instance... Mali, when it comes to global competitions.

QueenJazz:
To be fair, I wasn't comparing them to the likes of Spain and Argentina etc. lol. That would be a stretch obviously. I'm talking of comparative performance among CAF teams. Cameroon, Morocco and Nigeria have had the most WC appearances. Given the overall poor performance of CAF teams in general when it comes to the World Cup, the fact that they have been frequent competitors is relatively impressive.

CAF teams obviously need to step up their game, but I'm just drawing the line between teams like Cameroon and for instance... Mali, when it comes to global competitions.

I hope CAF contingent performs well. It's time. I just feel we'd do well. There's something about the way this whole thing has played out for us.

Ragingthunder:
I can't wait for south Africa to be humiliated on the world stage,An opponent of South Africa is a friend of mine

I blame the NFF and Finidi George for bathing us with spit.

On a normal day, when we want to talk of rivals, South Africa aren't even in the top 5 of African countries that we worry about in international competitions. They barely make top 10.

Our true rivals are: Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Egypt

Occasionally we also drag with: Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast

Anyone after these nations are our kid brothers. We honestly should be paying them no mind.

kennysville:
I was about to state all of the above in a post when o read what you posted. Very apt.

Now here is the perfect opportunity to really X Ray why we were not scoring in the absence of Osimhen.
The 2 major culprits are Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon. And add to that aimless passing of our supposed midfielders.

We all can see on several occasions where Lookman would prefer to shoot or do useless take ons when he could just have passed the ball. I dare say he is one of the reasons why Boniface looks useless on the pitch if we are really gonna be honest and not be sentimental in the name of APOTY. The less said about Moses Simon the better. My take on him is well documented.
It is a big problem when every player on the pitch think o themselves as super stars and so can't work together to get a common result. Each person playing for his own bottomline whether by way of fame or better contracts at club level. And now Nwabali don join the shoulder raise too. Nobody fit correct him.

The first rule is unless you are Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, you need to play as a team and for the team.
Wearing the Super Eagles jersey is not to be taken for granted. As a player... you are not doing us a favor. So if you are not gonna give 110 percent in a game, then get the hell out of the way. We have so long enthroned mediocrity in our way that our players are so comfortable with it. They practically wallow in it when they play at the national team. Now can we honestly answer which team played against Benin Republic? Was it because it was imperative to win? How come we didn't approach all other games like that? So we got ourselves into this mess. I have said it before. This mediocre way of thinking started with one coach who always qualifies us with a game to spare. The guy sabi massage ego so tey our players don't even feel bad when they lose to teams like Madagascar and Central African Republic. Drawing 4-4 after going up by 4 goals. Abi is it not the same players? That was when we started hearing things like there are no more minnows in Africa.

It is time to get players on merit and not on sentiments. If we discover a new player better than Alex Iwobi (and quite frankly, there are lots ... please dont ask me where cos somehow we got a Fredrick) we must be ready to throw em in the fray against all sentiments. Play the team according to its strengths. Period

Lookman is just too selfish. Among our forwards, it's only Osimhen and Iwobi that I can say are unselfish.

In Osimhen, we have a star. The team should play for him because he plays 200% for the team.

Ragingthunder:
I can't wait for south Africa to be humiliated on the world stage,An opponent of South Africa is a friend of mine

With them it's now crossing over from banter and rivalry into the realm of hatred. We will deal with them soon.

Nottingham Forest has fired Ange Postecoglou.

15-20mins after Fulltime loss vs Chelsea, Evangelos Marinakis drops the hammer.

He can see that sacking Nuno was a mistake. The man was doing well. Have Forest a structure

That is how aina never played for ange because of injury.

semid4lyfe:
By the way, how far with Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.

When last did England invite them? Are they even in the camping roster for their world cup preparations?

And to think that both would have been mainstays in the Super Eagles if they'd decided to represent us. It's a pity.

As yoruba people will say.... won kìí sìpè ìnàró fun abuké. That is to say there is no need encouraging a hunchback person to stand upright. They have made their bed. Let them lie in it.

Amedino99:
That is how aina never played for ange because of injury.

Has Ange been sacked yet?

Update..
Yes he has
About time!
They should employ Sean Dyche ,the relegation specialist

Spainever:
My problem with Tunisia is that when they qualify ,they struggle to win a single match at the world cup.

that team dey very unstable
Only teams I can bank on in the world cup is Morocco and Senegal

chrisooblog:
Love the way Victor is building that kind of CR7/Messi like aura around his teammates.

All his teammates love and respect him.

When you show workings... you get respected. Respect is earned, not given.

Paul Onuachu GOAL!
🇳🇬🦅🔥

kennysville:
Ain't happening. Vic Mo is Lookman pro max. Selfishness personified and egotistic

How, prove it he is lookman pro Max,

That his mazing runs will go well with VO9, including his diving to decieve ref,

Out of nowhere he will strong moves with his daring runs

So prove it