Mickael2:


Oga go and sleep

The team already put me to sleep. You are the one waking up.

eterisan:
Where are those shouting awaziem up and down...come out now! The kid looked lost in that defence today and was clearly culpable for the first goal..how can he let his man get a free header? Rohr must be regretting starting him now..the occasion was just too big for him..our defence was all over the place after we conceded..

cut the young lad some slack, the midfield ahead of him wasn't great today either so he can be forgiven

Rohr f.up big time, he was changing attackers when it was clear the midField was rubbish, bringing Ogu to sit as a Dm was just what the game needs. Btw Onazi is waste

TheGoodJoe:
Much respect goes to Onazi today. He worked his socks off and led the team with his heart. We are lucky to have a player like him. He did his best to influence the game but it did not work out today.

please sir goodjoe don't start
what did onazi do?
same player I watched..

that could not make one connective pass upfront

kennysville:
Is it me or did Rohr adapt to lone striker in front? Hw many times will we av to learn that 4.4.2 is our formation and that Iheanacho is not a 9. For crying out loud we have Onyekuru and iheanacho and Kayode as strikers. What was the plan? Make iheanacho draw defenders so that etebo can score? Playin lone striker is a thing of Pep Guardiola not super Eagles. Very disappointed @ the coach. Frankly, u need the physicality of John ogu in the middle of the park. The game plan for today is so inexplicable ... even the subs. It was so obvious on the pitch today that we lacked leadership.

That would've made sense if we had someone who could dictate play from deep. Unfortunately neither Onazi or Ndidi can do that. Ogu should've started with Mikel not around. Rohr should've taken a risk and started Onyekuru.

Mickael2:


it's quite simple to see. meanwhile I saw the typo, you said Henry might have been better than Onyekuru

Yea, meant Iwobi

Failure is the precursor to Success.

So it's better we realise where we are instead of being delusional. Friendlies are indicative and not conclusive about progression.

Where did we go wrong

Before this match I asked the question is this team the best collection of players available to Nigeria certainly not.

Now possibly they will give Rohr the free hand to invite the best players. If Enyeama was in post we would not have conceded any of those goals. He would have screamed instructions to the last defender to open his eyes and stop ball watching.

Enyeama was in Uyo and nobody could say let's call him in. Unnecessary bad belle politics in the NFF.

Mickael2:


cut the young lad some slack, the midfield ahead of him wasn't great today either so he can be forgiven

Exactly, the midfield was dead, Onazi was just running around like headless chicken.

edi287:
Starting a midfield 3 of Ndidi - Onazi - Etebo wasn't a wise idea. Iwobi should've played as a 10 with someone like say Onyekuru on the wing. We missed Mikel and Vic Moses no question. No need to panic. 5 more games left. We have to get a result at SA.

yeah
hopefully we beat Seychelles in our next match
Libya beat RSA... next
then we can take off from there....
I am still hopeful

edi287:

That would've made sense if we had someone who could dictate play from deep. Unfortunately neither Onazi or Ndidi can do that. Ogu should've started with Mikel not around. Rohr should've taken a risk and started Onyekuru.

Ndidi can actually dictate play from deep but that was not his obstruction today unlike the match against Senegal when he totally bosses everything and was spraying over the top passes like they were his birth right. however with Onazi in the team he was instructed to push further up where he has to put ground through balls and that is not one of his strongest points. one of the two had to sit but sentiments sha

Humility017:

Dear thanks for the encouragement
I am just scared I don't want us to miss the next afcon...

we will not miss it. We have five games left to make up for the mistakes.

We did not play with our full team today remember, and the boys are young. We all need to cut them some slack, none of them is happy we lost and we don't need to worsen their pain by making these negative statements many are making now.

They need support and encouragement, so while we rue missed chances, singling out players and blaming them is not the way to go. They win as a team and lose as a team

TheGoodJoe:
Osimhen is a star.

for the future no doubt, but we should wait for the future to arrive before we start inviting him

We need a shot taker in the team. We needed people who could confidently take shots outside the box. Where are the likes of Musa Muhamad?

To those that know,Alampasu is better than Akpeyi. Why we keep choosing Akpeyi beats me.

Humility017:


please leave awaziem alone
how about your midfield that could not make one connective pass to the striker....
midfielders wit no shot on Target
Nigeria had over 5 corner kicks today and could not convert any

I de vex abeg..the midfield didn't connect today..iwobi was a passenger nd nacho was his seat mate. Let's take this as one of those days...going forward the team as a whole will learn lessons from this..hope they rise ..when the 4 of ikeme, balogun, mikel nd moses get back the team will be stronger surely..I am still hopeful.

Okay my brothers and sister(s)

Let's calm down. It's okay to take a defeat. What Rohr learns from it is what matters most.
Let's take some positives:
1. It is not impossible to pay south africa back in their own coins in the reverse fixture
2. It's better we get a reality check before we face Cameroon. This was just it.
3. We expect that Rohr will be even better in player selection and formation in future

Remarks:
1. Having a good domestic league is very very important. It played to SA's advantage.
2. Baxter knows us too well. He boasted about what they will do to us. And they did just that. It doesnt look like Rohr spent a considerable amount of time studying the opponent. I made comment about the playing style of South Africa. We lacked a cohesive midfield. That's very important when playing South Africa.
3. Our forward line are too individualistic. We need more team players in this team. Moses Simon may be good in his own right. but how many link up play can he pull up?.
4. Iwobi for once should be tried in the number 10 role in the absence of Mikel. That's his preferred role. in fact in my dream starting line up, I had him play behind Onyekuru or musa and Iheanacho (the former more individualistic, the latter more surpotive). Because Iwobi is great at link up plays. Musa should have got the nod from the start if not for fasting. I think he needs time against South Africa. They are scared of him and he can be a distraction.
5. Iheanacho will offer more to the team if we stop playing him as a 9.
6. The team is lacking the right experience. It was somewhat built around Mikel. Should I say we just paid the price?
7. We must return back to 4-2-3-1
8. Etebo was the most lively today among the forwards. Outlines his quality. But today was not his day.

MODIFIED
9. Awaziem needs more experience. Should not be a starter in an important game. I was wrong judging from the non-competitive friendlies. Omeruo would have done better than last time against South Africa.
10. Our defensive options is still a problem. And MUST be fixed before our next game.

MODIFIED AGAIN
11. So you still think we have safe hands in Akpeyi and Ezenwa?

edi287:
I didn't watch the game. Do we have a valid excuse for this loss or were we just outclassed??

No Excuse!

* We got it wrong from the word GO. Our tactics was not the best for our players. I never bought the 4-3-3 formation. Iwobi and Moses simon ain't suitable for that formation. You only use that kind formation when you have V. Moses and Musa who can invert n play wide.

*Ndidi and Onazi could have been ask to stay back and shield the defence in our usual 4-2-3-1 allowing Iwobi to marshall the midfield-he could have architected a goal. While Etebo moves to the flank

* Bringing out Nacho was a mistake-he could have been deploy behind Kayode -HE STILL REMAINS OUR BEST BET OF Getting a Goal

*Mikel was greatly Missed- No replacement for him yet. Same goes for V. Moses, Balogun and Ikeme

*Starting Awaziem was a great gamble that cost us.

Finally this team needs a 'SAFE PAIR OF HANDS' #BRINGBACKENYEAMA!

TheGoodJoe:
With the arrival of Osimhen in the Team, it is only matter of time before he takes over that role. Within the few minutes he had on the pitch, the young man showed drive, passion, determination, skill, work rate and the ability to cause defenders problems.

I totally disagree with anyone saying Iheanacho is not a number 9 because in this game, the problem we had was not creating chances for the forwards. Ironically, the best chance came from Iheanacho to Etebo which Etebo missed. If Iheanacho had more chances like that, he would have taken it.

Time we adapt to a 4-4-2 attacking set up. With Osimhen and Iheanacho we have a fantastic pair. With a better set up midfield, we can create loads of chances and cause havoc to opposing defenses.

no.offence but did you just type this with a straight face?

olapluto:
Onazi terribly exposed today. Couldnt pass, couldnt hold the midfield and lacks positional sense. That 2nd goal was primary school stuff.

Onazi is not an attacking midfielder.

Ndidi did not do well enough as a DM to provide cover .He was more interested in scoring than providing cover for the defense and that exposed the INEXPERIENCE of the CB pairing.

Awaziem was evidently lost and could not cope with the persistent pestering from the SA attackers. He was not aware of Rantie for the first goal and almost gave away a penalty. Thank God the ref had mercy. Plus so many way-ward passes.

Ekong did well in the first half but also got lost as soon as we conceded. He was supposed to be a leader in that defense but his fragility was also exposed.

Lesson learned: We are not yet there.

People have been clamouring for the team to be disbanded. But I'll no. You cannot win every game.

We take this as one of those bad days in office and work on our weaknesses.

komekn:
Failure is the precursor to Success.

So it's better we realise where we are instead of being delusional. Friendlies are indicative and not conclusive about progression.

Where did we go wrong

Before this match I asked the question is this team the best collection of players available to Nigeria certainly not.

Now possibly they will give Rohr the free hand to invite the best players. If Enyeama was in post we would not have conceded any of those goals. He would have screamed instructions to the last defender to open his eyes and stop ball watching.

Enyeama was in Uyo and nobody could say let's call him in. Unnecessary bad belle politics in the NFF.

But Enyeama was in goal in d last match against South Africa and conceded two goals.

What a game.

Very typical of the Super Eagles we always know.

There are key areas we need to improve on, this game went a long way in highlighting those points.

Rohr shouldn't be under pressure, for any reason, it's the game, and it happens.

komekn:
Failure is the precursor to Success.

So it's better we realise where we are instead of being delusional. Friendlies are indicative and not conclusive about progression.

Where did we go wrong

Before this match I asked the question is this team the best collection of players available to Nigeria certainly not.

Now possibly they will give Rohr the free hand to invite the best players. If Enyeama was in post we would not have conceded any of those goals. He would have screamed instructions to the last defender to open his eyes and stop ball watching.

Enyeama was in Uyo and nobody could say let's call him in. Unnecessary bad belle politics in the NFF.

if NFF won't make the first move, then Enyeama should offer his services.

You don't just sit by and watch a team you are passionate about combust. If he approaches them and they say no, then by all means, I will take up Enyeama's fight too.

Two people cannot be hot tempered and make leeway, one person has to be ready to calm down and it will not always be the erring party.

Personally, i am not sold out on Etebo. Playing Iwobi on the left as a winger was a gross error. I feel iwobi should be more groomed towards bein a proper 10. That etebo is a workhorse doesnt mean he is desirable in that position. I can understand if he was a supporting striker but not as a 10. Which is why in the absence of Mikel Obi, Augustine Azubuike comes next. And the reason is the guy can boss the midfield. Azubuike is confident and is as deadly with passes.

Going to the goalie department, This should be the last time Akpeyi mans the post. As the last line of defence, he shd take one for the team which means if he had to run the dude off the ball and get a red card, thats where indecision is his problem. He is not decisive! Even in holding of a cross.

I no tell una.

Iheanacho is not a striker.

Iwobi is not a winger.

Etebor is not an attacking midfielder.

You don't make kids your third choice striker.

Eyes don clear.

Kog45:
But Enyeama was in goal in d last match against South Africa and conceded two goals.

do you know how many goals he saved in that game? I lost count of the number of times he saved one on one versus rantie, there was one he saved during the dying minutes and he carried the ball almost to the enter circle before launching it forward, I can't forget that play ever

kennysville:
Personally, i am not sold out on Etebo. Playing Iwobi on the left as a winger was a gross error. I feel iwobi should be more groomed towards bein a proper 10. That etebo is a workhorse doesnt mean he is desirable in that position. I can understand if he was a supporting striker but not as a 10. Which is why in the absence of Mikel Obi, Augustine Azubuike comes next. And the reason is the guy can boss the midfield. Azubuike is confident and is as deadly with passes.

Going to the goalie department, This should be the last time Akpeyi mans the post. As the last line of defence, he shd take one for the team which means if he had to run the dude off the ball and get a red card, thats where indecision is his problem. He is not decisive! Even in holding of a cross.

There are many players ahead of Azubuike.

Pair understanding is very important. These SA players know themselves very well. Look at their cohesion and Baxter just got employed. Most of our players are good in their own right. But to work as a team, they have to complement each other.

Mickael2:


I have said it before, Onazi and Ndidi will never work together and forget the fact that Onazi has been working hard, his passes especially the long ones still need a good deal of work, and he should stop trying it every time he gets the ball

PietroRico:
Na the boys Wey Una dey hype be this. Bunch of dirt bags. Mtcheww.

Reading through the past few pages, one would think we were almost on par with France in terms of football ability.
These boys simply cannot play ball. Simple.
Footballers that cannot make simple 3 yards passes, na footballers be this?

sir. It seems this was their first game you'll be watching. Go ask Zambia, Algeria they'll tell you more.

I see this defeat as a blessing in disguise. Rohr and the team will learn from it.