BascoVanVeli:
I know we should be happy about the 4 points but I just feel we could have got more. Cameroon were still at a fragile state and were there for the kill. We lacked killer instinct in our tactics even our subs were drab and made no impact. I honestly won't be at ease until we officially qualify because I can see 2 very difficult games against Zambia and Algeria.

blueto:
indubitable! buy he played and scored from that position against Zambia and also made other brilliant passes. He can also timely switch to the center from the wings.

LogoDWhiz:


Yea, glad with the result even though I'd have been ecstatic with the win.

Yea bro. Been a while. Seem you've changed contact.

Hope school is going on well?

forgiveness:


If that be the case I will like to see play in that role for both club and national team constructively before the world cup.

I don't buy of using players in a makeshift positions just accommodate them in the team.However, Joel Obi is the man able to replace Mikel Obi in this role and he is still very young. I don't think he is using his football age, so I think he will around for another 7 - 8 years provided he stays injury free.


He is the best amoung the lots and plays regularly in that role in a better league where CMF is highly emphasised.

For now, Nwakali must prove himself in his club before he's considered for the future.

We all saw Azeez Ramon who was the third best in the U17 world cup not living up to expectation though he bloomed ahead of his peers.

If Joel Obi is not in the team OTHERS can be considered. I mean Abdul, Raheem, Sokari, Azubiuke etc.

forgiveness:


Apart from your defense and midfield which are spot on, your goalkeeper and attack get k-legs.

I no wan see Akpeyi and Ezenwa for that list if Enyeama and Nwokolor are available.

Na one day man go stand.

In the attack, Ahmed Musa is still very much needed. Therefore, Onyekuru should be retained in the standby list.

However, I don't see why Azubiuke should be ahead of Raheem Lawal when we know he's far better.

People have forgotten that Raheem won the best player of the tournament in the first edition of CAF U23 despite coming third and that he has been playing consistently in Spanish third tier and the Turkish top league for donkey years.

In short, we know he ignored his club to play for us in that competition and that damaged his move to la liga that season. Many of those who ignored the national team for their club then have been given chances and some are still in the national team. You see life!?

That's why I will never stop calling out for his inclusion in the national team.

komekn:


I no say you like argument.

The reason why Origi left is simple Solanke has displaced him. Origi played 43 games last season if that's not a regular player, what is. Particularly in a big club with a rotational system.

There are two issues. Here the rising quality of Solanke and the impact of Origi being at Wolfsburg for Osimhen your golden boy and his progression.

forgiveness:


Origi out Solanke in. Is that too hard to understand?

All the matches Liverpool played so far, Solanke was on the bench. Why?

Mickael2:



I doubt any of these players can do what mikel does. It's not just about being creative, you can see sometimes that Mikel just slows the ball down to a halt so that everybody can cool down and the opposing team will lose steam, Iwobi for sure cannot do this he doesn't have the stamina to do that. it's not about who can pass the ball quicker but who can hold the ball when there is too much pressure, that's what we are missing without Mikel

comodo:
Nwakali is with VVV Venlo, on loan anyway, but maybe we will start seeing him after the international break,

TheSuperNerd:
Excellently said... that is it. A ball holder under pressure.... Honestly.... I think Iwobi being young can still grow into that kind of player... he got the potentials but right now he is not there.

Joel can can come close.... he is kinder similar to Mikel and even struck up a bright partnership with him when they played a few times together... it was very short.

Ajagun well.... he is a good ball holder too.

None of them have got the Super experience and Class Mikel possesses in his role but at least we can have them as solid backups... while we groom a player of Nwakali's quality for the long term future... I see the same swag, class and confidence of Mikel's plays in Nwakali but he needs to step up first a bit more and prove himself worthy in the dutch topflight.

daveP:
Still same contact o. last hurdle @school by His grace. Good the team is jeling fast.

TheGoodJoe:


Origi left because he does not want to sit in the bench. He wants to play regularly. That is why he went to Wolfsburg. Not to sit on the bench with Solanke. It is false saying Solanke displaced Origi. That is what is what I call self illusion.

forgiveness:


That's is why I said 'to me'

I came to this conclusion after comparing his effectiveness on both positions, and he came to in the no 10 role.

komekn:


How do you know that? Did you speak to his coaches or agent.

You can argue Chei !!! When Lukaku reach Everton nobody tell Anichebe sat make him begin find level.

Solanke deh score dem put deh guy before you, the writing is clearly on a big Neon sign board. Your time don reach to find level. All this one u deh I tyre 4 u.

TheGoodJoe:


There are also off-the-ball movement Mikel makes that is a key part of his performance. He slowly detects gaps on the field and fills it. I do not still get the whole playing format but it is an interesting study. That is why I propose a youngster studying him closely.

LogoDWhiz:


Good to know.. Success then.
How far with politics?

Will check it out @ contact!

Yea, I'm glad.. The team have a lot of potential.

solonnachi:
Isaac Success may not go to Russia 2018. He doesn't seem ready

solonnachi:
Isaac Success may not go to Russia 2018. He doesn't seem ready

daveP:
okay now. aluta continua, they say, but not for me sha. we are seeing the revival of passion once again.

solonnachi:
Abeg ooo. What of Bazee Joel. No one seems to be talking about him anymore. Is he no more relevant to Super Eagles?

whizola:
All hail ‘Balogunbauer’
It is in observing the simplicity of football that we appreciate its complexity.
That there are three basic departments to a team — defence (of which the goalkeeper consists), midfield and attack — is easy enough to grasp, and is essential in understanding what is unfolding. Yet, in any good football team, the interaction between these is fluid enough to create varying levels of originality. All books in the earth, after all, consist of the same letters used in an infinite order of variableness.
What was all that hot air about? Well, the Super Eagles moved one step closer to Russia 2018 with a fine performance in Yaounde, drawing 1–1. For me, it was a very meaningful result; the game in Uyo was something of a caricature, as the latent superiority of Gernot Rohr’s side was greatly exaggerated by the haplessness on the day of the African champions.
The most important thing to pick out is that it showed us the level of selfless sacrifice this team can put in toward achieving a goal. From back to front, there was a focus that has not always been familiar within the national team. As Cameroon dominated the ball, the wingers dropped in and the team was extremely compact out of possession, allowing no ingress whatsoever through the middle of the pitch.
Defensively, there has not been a better display from a Nigerian team in ages. Much praise has gone to the pair of Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong (more on them later), and while they were great, it would be a disservice not to acknowledge how well the rest of the side did to make their tasks easier.
Ironically, it was going forward that this team showed some worrying concerns. Averaging 2.5 goals a game, you would not think this side has a problem advancing up the pitch. It is however becoming clear that this team is not just one that counters very well, but may be one better served by employing that by default anyway.
It is well said that you can tell the identity of a team by its style of defensive midfielder. A possession-based team will almost always employ a playmaker at the back of midfield: it needs to circulate the ball and look for gaps, after all. A transition-based team will broadly want an energetic, mobile ball-winner to regain possession and transfer it forward quickly.
Who is the deepest midfielder in the Super Eagles set-up? Ogenyi Onazi, a terrier-like battler who plugs gaps and harries opposing attackers. Interestingly, he is partnered, just ahead, by Wilfred Ndidi, himself a roving ball winner who plays simple, unambitious passes.
The most comfortable the Super Eagles looked last night was when Cameroon had the ball. When the home side’s intensity dropped somewhat, and this team tried to build up, the problem with such a defensive double-pivot in midfield was clear: how to advance the ball into the attackers?
In Mikel John Obi, Victor Moses, Odion Ighalo and Moses Simon, Nigeria have a quartet that seems to riff very well together. Ighalo now offers movement (in a transformation that makes one wonder how far gene splicing has advanced in China), Simon pace, Moses dribbling and Mikel is the binder whose ability to both hold possession and play one-touch passes holds it all together.
How do you get the ball to them when neither of the two deeper midfielders is (a) capable of evading pressure, or (b) passing incisively? That was the major dilemma presented to Nigeria yesterday.
Cameroon’s best openings of the first half came when they pressed Onazi and Ndidi. It didn’t take long to figure out something had to change. The first bit of proper build-up occurred when Mikel came slightly deeper, put his foot on the ball, spun and sprayed the ball wide left. It however leaves the team with one less man in attack.
Realistically, Moses comes inside and the left-back bombs forward to maintain width in this situation. Well, our left-back is Elderson Echiejile. Suffice to say he is no marauding full-back.
So, unorthodox solution. Balogun spent much of the latter part of the first half in a role closely approximating the old-fashioned libero, running with the ball out of defence in order to transfer it forward. Having played at full-back before, and being stationed on the right of Mainz’s back three last season, it is something he definitely has in his toolbox. Problem solved, yes?
Well, no.
First of all, what then happens when the opposition cotton on to this? In the second half, Cameroon got wise to him and proceeded to block him off in the build-up, letting Troost-Ekong have the ball. Did anyone notice how often Ekong gave the ball away in the second period, trying to pass between the lines? That wasn’t his fault.
Secondly, knowing Balogun’s proneness to injury, what happens when he is unavailable? How does this team build up?
I have some solutions, but those will come in a later post. This is already a lot longer than was initially intended. Your resident Super Eagles worrywart will sign out by stating the obvious: this was an immense performance by our young national team, and we are now a point away from making the World Cup. Crazy.
P.S : I would hold off on lighting Ikechukwu Ezenwa’s funeral pyre. His rush of blood to the head is a flaw that extends beyond him to locally-based goalkeepers — judging when and how to come off the line is a frequent weakness. So I would not

blueto:
Going by the ratings (since I didn't watch the full match) I will adjure the coach to replace Mikel with Ogu and not Agu should there be need for Mikel's replacement in the next game. I know that Ogu may be "slow" but the good works that he does with the ball on his feet and his positioning can make up for such a lapse. How he positions can ensure that he covers the defensive holes and gaps that can be exploited by the opponents. His decision making on the ball so far has also been palatable. And his ability to take long range shots is also an added advantage.

tbaba1234:
Shehu Abdullahi is showing that he will not make it easy for anyone to take the right back spot from him. He is improving in that role. Perhaps, the competition is always forcing his improvement

Mickael2:



I doubt any of these players can do what mikel does. It's not just about being creative, you can see sometimes that Mikel just slows the ball down to a halt so that everybody can cool down and the opposing team will lose steam, Iwobi for sure cannot do this he doesn't have the stamina to do that. it's not about who can pass the ball quicker but who can hold the ball when there is too much pressure, that's what we are missing without Mikel

tbaba1234:
Joel Obi is in great form and should be given a look in.. He is experienced, plays regularly in a top league and can play the creative role.