₦airaland Forum

Players are playing for VAR penalties in this AFCON. Our attackers and defenders should take note.

Amedino99:
funny enough na nigerian design am

Maybe the person come from Ayan house.

9JAMac10:
Osimhen selflessness in this tournament needs to be studied. We all complain about his temperament on the field while some even question his leadership qualities if he would be worthy to be a captain. Fast forward today, he was made captain and I see him being the coolest ever. Selfless, calm and impactful. A top professional

he should be selfish abeg, just 1 AFCOAN goal so far, for our talisman??.

Tchinaidi:
Super eagle no get that energy for power football o.E beta Make we even meet this North Africa teams than teams like DR Congo, Senegal and Cameroon walahi

Abeg we no want North African teams. And who told you we don't have energy for power football? We sef no small bro.

BankyGee:
Eric Chelle ball 🧠⚽🤭

Even if na yellow card, Simon for try collect. Only him here without anything behind his name.

Clint02:
Abeg make Ryan quick recover before the other games o.

Yes o.. Make dem squeeze bitter leaf juice on top the cut. E go quick close. Just saying

Starboytwo:
Go rewatch the match boss.... very sweet..

Boss pls any link to rewatch the match

mostob:
Yes o.. Make dem squeeze bitter leaf juice on top the cut. E go quick close. Just saying

Bitter leaf keh,

Make Dem fry red oil put on top that cut, within 24hrs e don cover

Papi85:
Baleba to man united loading……….

Small side ways or forward pass wey onyedika go try make we no go hear word for this space 🤦‍♀️

Chakam!

Humbled as always. 📸

9JAMac10:
Osimhen selflessness in this tournament needs to be studied. We all complain about his temperament on the field while some even question his leadership qualities if he would be worthy to be a captain. Fast forward today, he was made captain and I see him being the coolest ever. Selfless, calm and impactful. A top professional

people criticize what they don't know

TheSuperNerd:
Chakam!

Humbled as always. 📸

shatap 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

A complete midfield clinic.

100% accurate long balls (6/6) are included in those passes.
His range of passing is a weapon we have not fully utilised. Short, medium-range, long-range. He has it all in his arsenal.
And he has great ball striking. All his 3 Super Eagles goals are bangers. Beauties.

Joebie:
Onyedika passes vs UGANDA

I wish you saw the game because now na highlights u go run go see. Go watch 90mins of that game. Make out time and u will see why I have always waxed Lyrical about that lad as Ndidi's Upgrade.

Note that I am glad Ndidi is on form at this Afcon especially as he is Captain and I sincerely hope he keeps it up and leads us all the way to the title but you see Onyedika. In him, we have his upgrade and we can build around him by adding Akin, Uche, Nnadi and others for the long run.

Just go watch the game and see that Nerdie hardly misses on proper player profiling.

charlesemeka85:
shatap 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

All you Naturopathic doctors prescribing bitter leaf juice, red oil et al, wey una certificate and practicing license?

I Read a comment were someone said Cyriel Dessers is a Defensive Striker.

In terms of 3 group matches, this is the 3rd time in Afcon History for Nigeria but in terms of Group matches at all, it is number 4 time counting 1992 Afcon.

3x are 2006, 2021 and 2025.

I was almost chearing tears just now. How can Mali produce a world class coach like Eric chelle and Nigeria with so many great Ex international cannot boost of a good manager.
Is a very big shame.

Do you know that all of Raphael Onyedika's 3 goals for Nigeria have come from only 3 competitive starts and that all 3 were assisted by one man, Samuel Chukwueze?

Yes. Chukwueze assisted Onyedika in that WCQs game vs Benin that saw us lose 2-1 under Finidi's tutelage.



Also, Onyedika has 8 Super Eagles Starts from 19 caps counting the Egypt friendly just before Morocco 2025.

Only 3 are competitive starts. The other 5 starts are friendlies.

Joebie:
who to drop though? Ndidi?

Drop Moses Simon, If you can play all your midfielders and drive forward.
Personally, I'd play iwobi as used in his club or close upfront near the goal. And my midfield 3 will be Ndidi, Onyeka and Onyedika. Total midfield shutdown. Trust me, our loose balls that occur near opponent's vital area will be driven home

mostob:
Even if na yellow card, Simon for try collect. Only him here without anything behind his name.

🤣🤣
Una get talk for mouth o

Kog45:
Hmmm,come see comments here on Onyedika and Bashiru before the kick off as if Iwobi,Ndidi and Onyeka are Iniesta,Xavi and Basquet...getting real performance in the middle Onyedika is the man or else we get knockout as competition progresses.

Well said . Onyedika deserved playing time . Someone who played champion league matches but relegated to the super eagles bench

Igoh Ogbu was solid vs Uganda by the way. A huge influence on our buildups from the back and a firm presence too defensively.

Igoh Ogbu, Calvin Bassey, Benjamin Frederick. Add a fast rising Vince Osuji at Club Brugge and a few more talented heads like Nwaiwu and Chukwu and we are stacked at CB.

The Super Eagles Central defence is gonna be arguably Africa's strongest for the next decade post-Ajayi, Post-Ekong.

This Afcon is the transition period for the defence.

Emmy450:
he should be selfish abeg, just 1 AFCOAN goal so far, for our talisman??.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that, especially for a team that is gunning for glory. And that is the real genesis of our Super eagles football woes. SELFISHNESS!!!! Not forgetting that Osimhen misses 6 chances to score 2. I'd take an Afcon title over top scorer award that put Yekini in trouble with his team mates

Chelle's 4-3-1-2 dynamic variant setup is the formation to expect in the KOs.

Bruno at LB. Bassey and Ajayi at CB. Osayi/Ryan at RB.

Midfield 3 of Ndidi (Captain), Onyeka and Iwobi.

Lookman in the hole but close to the front 2 of Osimhen and Akor.

It would be hard to fit Onyedika into this setup from the start unless you want us to sacrifice Onyeka because Ndidi and Iwobi are sure starters and are also on fire at this Afcon.

Moses Simon is not even a starter anymore so Kennysville, your kind suggestion wont exactly fly.

do4luv14:
Bitter leaf keh,

Make Dem fry red oil put on top that cut, within 24hrs e don cover

Oshey native doctor 😂😂

TheSuperNerd:
Chelle's 4-3-1-2 dynamic variant setup is the formation to expect in the KOs.

Bruno at LB. Bassey and Ajayi at CB. Osayi/Ryan at RB.

Midfield 3 of Ndidi (Captain), Onyeka and Iwobi.

Lookman in the hole but close to the front 2 of Osimhen and Akor.

It would be hard to fit Onyedika into this setup from the start unless you want us to sacrifice Onyeka because Ndidi and Iwobi are sure starters and are also on fire at this Afcon.

Moses Simon is not even a starter anymore so Kennysville, your kind suggestion wont exactly fly.

This should be the permanent line up for the super eagles unless there is tactical changes
Adams Osihmen and Lookman upfront
And three midfielders - Iwobi, Ndidi and Onyeka , Onyedika can come in 70 minutes for any of these trio . Simon has no business starting any game ,but it appears the coach love 😘 him .

Onyeka or Onyedika: KOs football, Chelle's choice

Now to be honest, a midfield 3 of Onyedika, Ndidi, Iwobi should give us more control and extra passing class in the middle. I believe it will free up Ndidi a bit to be the roaming battering midfielder who can tackle and also drive forward while Onyedika sits deep to orchestrate and allows Iwobi to play oftentimes closer to the final third to do damage more frequently.

Building up with Onyedika at the base, Iwobi at LCM and Ndidi doublepivoting and RCMing seems a bit more balanced to me with Onyeka coming in later to shore up things if need be, tactically.

I would prefer it and drop Onyeka but then the chemistry Onyeka has with Ndidi and Iwobi is key as well. Onyedika has not exactly started a lot of competitive games alongside those latter 2 and I think this alone would make Chelle stick to the midfield 3 he started with vs Tunisia.

Also, Onyeka is a harder worker than Onyedika but Onyedika excels at keeping things simpler and tidier than Onyeka.

Onyeka is a hustler while Onyedika is a metronome.

Onyeka covers more ground than Onyedika but
Onyedika has better positional intelligence than Onyeka.

Onyeka is a combatant and will roam to snuff out danger while Onyedika reads the game to cut out passing lanes.

Both Onyeka and Onyedika are good at arriving late into the box to ball strike. So we can be rest assured this quality will be present if we drop one and start the other.

So this is a choice for Chelle.

Onyeka's Grit, Power and relentlessness or Onyedika's calm, poise and control. Both are Solid defensively but have their distinct strengths.

And truthfully, Onyeka edges on Team Chemistry metrices for now.

elyte89:
Not possible…with a deep cut ?

Omo.

TheSuperNerd:
One of the main differences between Nigeria's Perfect Group Stage run back at the 2021 Afcon in Cameroun and this one in Morocco 2025 is:

🔮 The Afcon 2021 team relied heavily on Moses Simon. He was the main man in that Eguavoen team and key to the monotonous long balls plan executed constantly from the CBs. Mark him closely and it was all over.
But this Morocco 2025 team under Chelle has more than one dangerman to rely on.

The starting midfield (Ndidi-Onyeka-Iwobi) of this Chelle team is also stronger than the starting midfield (Aribo-Ndidi) Eguaovoen paraded.

The history of Afcon 2021 will not repeat itself. This Super Eagles team is going far in Morocco.

Very true.

But I must point out that Eric Chelle seems a fast learner and is quite adaptable. So I wont be surprised if he makes and applies a tactical tweak. In the absence of such, I expect him to stick to the two Striker-One SS approach and 3 man midfield setup.

Time will tell.

TheSuperNerd:
Chelle's 4-3-1-2 dynamic variant setup is the formation to expect in the KOs.

Bruno at LB. Bassey and Ajayi at CB. Osayi/Ryan at RB.

Midfield 3 of Ndidi (Captain), Onyeka and Iwobi.

Lookman in the hole but close to the front 2 of Osimhen and Akor.

It would be hard to fit Onyedika into this setup from the start unless you want us to sacrifice Onyeka because Ndidi and Iwobi are sure starters and are also on fire at this Afcon.

Moses Simon is not even a starter anymore so Kennysville, your kind suggestion wont exactly fly.

BankyGee:
Gbamsolutely 💯

Wait what was happening in this pic sef

kennysville:
Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that, especially for a team that is gunning for glory. And that is the real genesis of our Super eagles football woes. SELFISHNESS!!!! Not forgetting that Osimhen misses 6 chances to score 2. I'd take an Afcon title over top scorer award that put Yekini in trouble with his team mates

yekini has both so dont downplay that thanks