₦airaland Forum

goldfish80:
The French team of 1994 was not all about Cantona. David Ginola who I rate just below Romario as the best striker in Europe was also in that team.

I don't like bringing up clubs players played in to judge them.
Over the years we have seen below average players turn out forthe best teams in Europe.

Remember a certain Thomas Gravesone when he was signed by Real Madrid?
How about Pascal Cygan at Arsenal. Bebe and Luke Chadwick at Man utd.
Yaya Sanogo would not get into my street team but he is earning a living playing for Arsenal.

Take away hard tackling from Roy keane's game, you will see a below average footballer.

TheGoodJoe:


Didier Deschamps
Back in the 1990′s, flamboyant France and Manchester United star Eric Cantona derisively labelled Didier Deschamps, the captain of the 1998 World Cup winning French team, a ‘water carrier’.

The current Les Bleus coach, who used to play as a central defensive midfielder, did not for sure have the skill and panache of a Zinedine Zidane, Cristophe Dugarry or a Youri Djorkaeff.

But his importance to the side lay in the fact that his constant presence in front of the back four enabled the likes of Zidane and Djorkaeff to focus on their attacking game, and paved the way for the French team’s first and so far only ever success in the competition.

Employed in a similar role at Juventus, Chelsea and Marseille among other clubs during his career, Deschamps is a true success story, maximising his potential for the best of his team.
http://m.sportskeeda.com/football/world-class-water-carriers-the-importance-of-holding-midfielders

That was why Zidane referred to Makélelé as the Engine of the Galacticos.

TheGoodJoe:

“Roy Keane’s passing was probably the best I’ve played with, in terms if getting it in to the forwards’s feet”, said Rooney to reporters.

goldfish80:
LOL... You subtly agreed with me that Didier Deschamps lacked the skill and guile of better players around him look Dugary, Zidane etc...

Although I never would want to undermine the roles the old school DFM played for their teams.
Am judging them purely on their technic and passing abilities of the new school DFM these days.
Dunga also falls into that category of old school tackling machines with no skills DFMs.

goldfish80:
Rooney is not the most intelligent guys around but even this one is a new low for him.
He rated Keane ahead of schooles in passing abilities?

Rooney is so out of his depth on this one. Lol

TheGoodJoe:

Sadiq Umar is taller than Ginter but he is an amateur when compared to Ginter. Sadiq is not stronger than Ginter. As for Free Kick Amuzie ballooned, that has to do with experience. Many up coming players rely on power that skill. That will come with time.

As for five yards pass, yes under pressure, players miss it a lot.

Yes, the Germans pressed the living day light out of us. It remember someone say, why did Amuzie not pass that ball to Mikel. I asked the person, "Did you see the three players around Amuzie?" Difficult to think under those conditions.

I feel a compact set up would help but, the coach had his plan.

goldfish80:
My point is that they are professional footballers, they should be able to deal with pressure. What is point of their training regimen if not to play under pressure.

If they don't want to play under pressure, they should at home fiddling with their thumbs and not on the pitch.

TheGoodJoe:
That is what I said about Barcelona players when Liverpool put four passed them. They could not deal with the pressure. The likes of Messi and Iniesta should forget football. LOL.

It is a difficult game and pressing is difficult to defend against. Watch Arsenal on their good day when they flog teams like Chelsea.

goldfish80:
Rooney is not the most intelligent guys around but even this one is a new low for him.
He rated Keane ahead of schooles in passing abilities?

Rooney is so out of his depth on this one. Lol

goldfish80:
Barcelona were not physically in tune when they played Liverpool. Their coach admitted just as much.

Two seasons ago, I remember Redbull salsburg whipping Bayern Munich 3:0 in a pre season game. They pressed and strangled Bayern to death in midfield because they were sharper.

TheGoodJoe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2RVQx8J2Sk

Watch Keane vs Juve and be entertained.

OdenigboAroli:
Is it not obvious that Siasia has nothing left up his sleeves? Failed at u20 world cup,failed at Beijing 2008,failed to qualify Nigeria for Nations cup,failed to win the Olympic gold a second time! This guy is a colossal failure! It's time he take a bow. Bring on Amunike let's try a new hand or should we wait till Russia2020 before we start preparations.

forgiveness:
No, I don't mean fast game, I mean the way we use to control the game against fast playing teams.


Just play slowly and frustrate them.

tbaba1234:
In other news, I got married this weekend. Friday and Saturday. I barely watched the match. Saw highlights though.

Who has watched the Germans play? How good are they?

Icon4s:
Sadiq Umar started brightly in d tourney bt lost composure at d knock out stages. I laughed when peeps said he should b playing basket ball.My take on him has d potential to become a great striker by he is nt yet in the class of Success and Iheanacho. God enough he is in a fantastic club like AS Roma. We expect his rapid development. The Super Eagles coaches should keep a very close tab on him. He may also b handed a Super Eagles call-up.

Azubuike Okechukwu is another player that proved his mettle. He will definitely give Onanzi a run for his money. He , just like Ndidi, has joined d competition for d DMF position in d Super Eagles.

Stanley Amuzie to me is a major revelation of this tourney. He has staked a major claim to d LB position of d Super Eagles. He is ahead of Madu.

Shehu Abdulahi has showed dat though he is nt a natural RB he is still our best RB option for now for the Super Eagles.

Troost Ekong to me was our most efficient player in this tourney.What would we have done without him? He has made a great statement that finally he has matured enough to b a Super Eagles regular. Good replacement for Injury prone Balogum/ Omeruo.

Sally Popoola, though my gifted height wise, is a baller. He is a very creative midfielder. His introduction in d Germany brought creativity to d midfield. This lad needs a consideration in d Super Eagles more so as we dnt have creative CMFs

For the other players they were just a share waste of time. Seth Sincere I must single out for his age and fact that he still plays in d academies .

Mickael2:
I agree with everything else you said except these.
Sadiq Umar did not start well and did not end well. we were just lucky that our AMF covered him then, when Mikel who is.not a goalscorer moved into that AMF position we saw just how good he was. AS Roma is not known for developing strikers either, they play more with wingers and tall strikers for crosses alone but the issue is that this slow guy can't even nod the ball. he missed a clear header too. I am not even looking in his direction at all.

No, he won't give Onazi a run for his money, he.has already displaced Onazi. he is vying for the spot with Ndidi right now, Onazi should just is more like a squad player now.

Did we watch the same Stanley Amuzie? the guy is not better than Madu and Taiwo is currently the top scorer for his club in Finland so he should get another run in.

We have Odubajo who is.by far the best option we have there. Sheri was not comfortable in attack at all. He was defensively solid but modern football requires attacking fullback.

Troost Ekong should not be a replacement for either, he is better than both of them. with Awaziem coming up too we might just have some decent defenders for the first time in a long while.

Recheck, after he came on, we didn't even cross the centre circle again. he brought zero creativity to the game just that the fans liked his stature and probably confused him for Ezekiel.

Sincere was absolutely brilliant considering his lack of experience. he is very very fast and calm. he can dribble out of defence, he is just like Pique without the errors. He is a modern day ball playing CB and if he moves to a good club, expect something big from him.

Mickael2:
I agree with everything else you said except these.
Sadiq Umar did not start well and did not end well. we were just lucky that our AMF covered him then, when Mikel who is.not a goalscorer moved into that AMF position we saw just how good he was. AS Roma is not known for developing strikers either, they play more with wingers and tall strikers for crosses alone but the issue is that this slow guy can't even nod the ball. he missed a clear header too. I am not even looking in his direction at all.

No, he won't give Onazi a run for his money, he.has already displaced Onazi. he is vying for the spot with Ndidi right now, Onazi should just is more like a squad player now.

Did we watch the same Stanley Amuzie? the guy is not better than Madu and Taiwo is currently the top scorer for his club in Finland so he should get another run in.

We have Odubajo who is.by far the best option we have there. Sheri was not comfortable in attack at all. He was defensively solid but modern football requires attacking fullback.

Troost Ekong should not be a replacement for either, he is better than both of them. with Awaziem coming up too we might just have some decent defenders for the first time in a long while.

Recheck, after he came on, we didn't even cross the centre circle again. he brought zero creativity to the game just that the fans liked his stature and probably confused him for Ezekiel.

Sincere was absolutely brilliant considering his lack of experience. he is very very fast and calm. he can dribble out of defence, he is just like Pique without the errors. He is a modern day ball playing CB and if he moves to a good club, expect something big from him.

zicky:
Sadiq thanks for you service to the U-23 team, but please we don't need you no more just stay far from our national team .

Icon4s:
I still maintain Ekong's performance has only boosted his chances for the Super Eagles starting line-up and nt dat he is now better than Omeruo and Balogun. Omeruo or Balogum would still have put up a very good performance if they were in this Rio Team.
Ekong's experience at competitive levels really reflected in his performance. Sincere and Amuzie hu were d two least experienced in d back line struggled.

I have always been an apostle of "experience in the defence". If that team had either of Omeruo or Balogun to partner with Ekong at CB we would nt have conceded some goals we conceded in this tourney. Siasia wasted that slot he gave to Akpeyi. It should have been given to a CB like Balogun. Ambrose or Obaobona also would have paired with Ekong better dan what Sincere did.

Icon4s:
Bros chill. The weight of expectation on this lad was too much.

Tell me, are Junior Ajayi and Taiwo Awoniyi any better off?

I had wanted he and Awoniyi to play with the Flying Eagles team, since they are both still very much eligible. That would havel really given them a good development opportunity. But, unfortunately the Flying Eagles have crashed out. Sadiq is still elligible for 2020 Olympics. so hu knows he fit don turn to the "next Kanu" by then.

TheGoodJoe:

Ekong impressed me a whole lot and I hope he continues developing. I enjoyed him when he tried to push the game from the back. His highline control was brilliant.

Indeed, he is ready to put a fight for the Starting place in the Super Eagles.

Amuzie showed lots of Stamina. That is something that he has in abundance. He runs up and down the flanks comfortably. He lacks the composure to create dangerous chances for the attack. He can whip the ball with force. He just needs to work on his accuracy.

I expect the current Super Eagles coach to play with more stability and composure. I see Madu fitting in also. With Oshaniwa also, I think our back can cope. I hope the coach calls Oshaniwa and carries a fair screening for the left back role.

Sadiq Umar has speed and the talent to become a top rated striker. He needs experience and training to perform regularly at the top level.

Seth for a make shift defender was okay and deserve praises. People just look at result and avoid the work put in. Seth did not play his natural role, so we should expect mistakes.

There were a lot of positives to go home with.

terzurum5:
Nigeria call up 5 Rio Olympics stars, Etebo snubbed but Osimhen in.
https://africanfootball.com/bp_images/2016/08/etebo580_new.jpg
Etebo not called up by new Eagles coach

by Samm Audu

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has called up five players from the Rio Olympics but with top scorer Oghenekaro Etebo overlooked just as Nigeria U20 star Victor Osimhen got his first Eagles call-up for next month’s AFCON qualifier against Tanzania in Uyo.

We first told you


The players from the Olympics are goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel, defenders William Troost-Ekong, Shehu Abdullahi and Kingsley Madu as well as captain Mikel Obi and Imoh Ezekiel.


Youngster Victor Osimhen, who will sign a professional contract in January with German Bundesliga Wolfsburg, has been handed surprise call-up as well by the new Eagles coach.


The match is a dead rubber, as both teams have been eliminated, but Rohr and the Super Eagles are using the game as rehearsal for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series Matchday 1 clash with Zambia in Ndola in October.


The Franco-German, named Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles by the NFF two weeks ago, has called up three goalkeepers, eight defenders, four midfielders and eight forwards for the game scheduled for the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo on Saturday, 3rd September.


Captain Mikel, whose sterling leadership of the Nigeria U23 to the Bronze Medal match of the Rio 2016 Olympics has drawn global applause, is joined in the midfield by the energetic Ogenyi Onazi, Belgium –based former youth international Wilfred Ndidi and Israel –based Nosa Igiebor, who has not featured for Nigeria since missing the cut for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.


Emmanuel Daniel, who has done his reputation no harm with some breath –taking reflex saves at the Olympics, joins Carl Ikeme and Ikechukwu Ezenwa to fight for the gloves, while home –based Jamiu Alimi finds a place amongst Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Chidozie Awaziem, Abdullahi Shehu, Musa Muhammed, Elderson Echiejile and Kingsley Madu in the defence.


Rohr, a former defender, has also opted for a strong attacking line, with assistant captain Ahmed Musa leading Kelechi Iheanacho, Moses Simon, Victor Moses, Imoh Ezekiel, Odion Ighalo, Brown Ideye and youngster Victor Osimhen.

All the players have been directed to report in Uyo on Sunday, 28th August 2016.

FULL LIST:

Goalkeepers: Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Emmanuel Daniel (Enugu Rangers); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (FC IfeanyiUbah)


Defenders: Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz 05, Germany); William Troost-Ekong (Haugesund FC, Norway); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Porto, Portugal); Jamiu Alimi (Kano Pillars); Abdullahi Shehu (Uniao da Madeira, Portugal); Musa Muhammed (Istanbul Basaksehir, Turkey); Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco, France), Kingsley Madu (AS Trencin, Slovakia)


Midfielders: Mikel John Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor, Turkey); Wilfred Ndidi (KRC Genk, Belgium); Nosa Igiebor (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel)


Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Leicester City, England); Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Imoh Ezekiel (Al-Arabi Sporting Club, Qatar), Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England); Brown Ideye (Olympiacos FC, Greece); Victor Osimhen (Wolfsburg FC, Germany)

http://africanfootball.com/news/639357/Nigeria-call-up-5-Rio-Olympics-stars-Etebo-snubbed-but-Osimhen-in