Kog45:
Echiejele sudden drop of form?

somehow:
Yes, if he drops below the current form. Funny enough, over both legs, he did well against Cameroon. No goal came from his side. Even when the fresh legs were brought in for Cameroon against him and no one assisted him while the assault was ongoing, he still did his best. My point is that, Aina can prepare to start maybe away to Algeria or during nations cup qualifiers/friendly matches.

Mickael2:


i just did and I think that what I said was an understatement. If we play like that against Spain they'd have us for breakfast everyday of the week and twice on sundays, not to mention Germany and Brazil.

The defeciencies in that game were quite open, and I will be using instances too.
From defence: if Isco drifts into Echejile's wing(even if Echejile is there he will still beat him silly, no brainer really) and has enough space to operate that will draw Balogun out of his wings like he did a lot of times(this should actually be Onazi's role but Balogun was doing it, nice against Cameroon but deadly against top teams) that creates a Spanish over-load in the middle and we all know Isco's decision making is top-notch, a quick pass into the middle(if he doesn't fancy his chances against Balogun one-on-one anyways,just ask the Italians) and they will surely create a chance, Enyeama can only do so much. This is the defence first of all.


Midfield: the spaces left by Onazi continously was an eyesore. Against Spain, we can count that as two assists for Iniesta wrapped in a gift bag and delivered promptly. Just drift in, receive a pass and do the damage, the worse part is that Onazi when he sees that he is out of position will come driving in, at the end there will be two players marking one player(Iniesta) and what does that mean? Another guy is free, creating more space and you can believe that Iniesta will pick that pass with perfection. This is how the midfield battle is won. With Mikel as our Amf and Busquets(probably the best DMF in the world or top 2 at least) holding him off trust me Mikel's impact will be reduced markedly, of course Mikel's brilliance may shine through once in a while but Busq gets the upper hand 90% of the time, now what happens when Mikel actually gets the upper hand? Read on

do you fancy Ideye's chances against Spain? I do not. Iheanacho stands a better chance. But then you are talking about two of the best CBs in the game against a young lad who is yet to cut it at club level, now that is not a great sight to behold. Now all they need to do is isolate Iheanacho from Moses and Moses will start trying to beat all the four defenders plus GK, result? No shot close to goal and when Moses is having a bad day our attack is too.

The defeciencies in our game like I said were clear, claiming that we stand a chance against Spain(Spain are vastly inferior to Germany or Brazil) is pure fantasy. Trust me the performance that Siaone's team gave against Argentina was actually better than this performance by far, that too against vastly superior opponent. Our best bet is to pray we follow Ghana's path, I fancy our chances against Uruguay and other mid-level teams but top teams? We don't have the players, the technical ability, the coach or even the facilities to attempt it

Mickael2:



do you actually know that under Tata Martino we were a counter-attacking team? But Busq was still the boss.

Do you know that in the match against Pep's Bayern, Barca conceded possession but still Busq was not penetrated?

Do you even listen to yourself? Don't you know that it's teams that control possession that are more liable to counter attacks thus making the work of the dmf very very vital and important.


Mikel is nowhere close to the top 20 amfs in Eastern Europe alone, but Busquets has been doing this against top teams, even Pirlo could not take the midfield from Spain with Busq there and Mikel is not Pirlo, not even close, somehow you think Mikel will skin Busq? This thing is really confusing, are you in a bar currently?

forgiveness:


Oga! Busicat abi na Busqshirt is only good for Barcelona style of play.

During Guardiola's era his dirty antics was always to get sympathy from players by falling at the slightest touch.


Ok! Where was Busicat or Busqshirt when Barcelona dey chop sand for Chelsea hand? Was he not in the midfield when Chelsea players ghost passed him with him sisi style of play?

Who was in the midfield for Chelsea?

No tell me say na King Mikel Obi ooooooo.

Kog45:
My man i believe u know football but sometimes u talk football theoretically which is not always good,pls be practical.

It's too early to judge this team and based on their performances so far u are just making mockery of d team due to reason best known to u which i don't understand.

This is d first time in history of Nigeria world cup qualifications that we are having easy ride even d US94 squad find it difficult,needed to wait till last minute against Algeria before making it,though d team is not perfect yet but hope d grey area w be addressed.

I read your post with keen interest and i always discovered when u don't like particular player u condemn d team entirely,so i wasn't surprise with your write up coz Onazi Ogeny has been your headache in d starting line up and u use any slightest opportunity to thrash him down leaving your own Ndidi alone.

I remember against South Africa u pass d bulk of inefficiency of Ndidi on Onazi and u are still doing d same thing here.Even rating player like Agu and Esiti higher than Onazi which i find nauseating.Truly Ndidi is a class that I strongly rate but try to downplay Onazi contribution to d team is uncalled for.

forgiveness:


Oga! Busicat abi na Busqshirt is only good for Barcelona style of play.

During Guardiola's era his dirty antics was always to get sympathy from players by falling at the slightest touch.


Ok! Where was Busicat or Busqshirt when Barcelona dey chop sand for Chelsea hand? Was he not in the midfield when Chelsea players ghost passed him with him sisi style of play?

Who was in the midfield for Chelsea?

No tell me say na King Mikel Obi ooooooo.

Mickael2:



Maybe someone vexed you, after you must have calmed down, go and read that post again. I clearly stated that Ndidi wasn't contributing anything attack-wise or you also want me to blame Ndidi for Onazi's mistake before I make you happy?


Tell me how we qualified for 98 world cup, I think with a game to spare. Stop the hype, this team might be good but they are not close to it. Telling me you fancy your chances against Spain in the round of 16 is biased sentiment at best

kennysville:
Lets ask ourselves this. Keshi won Afcon with a set of players. Then we went to confederations cup with another batch of players and then we got to the world cup with a different set of players again. Where is the cohesion? That is what i meant when i said the team needs to be solid in understanding.

So are we to blame the losses in confed cup and the world cup on Keshi's tactical ineptitude-ness? Or please help me analyse the 2 scenarios.

Bottomline in my sincere opinion, everyone cannot play! If it doesnt fit into the plans of the coach realizing that the team is still relatively young, then we must understand that their time will also come. This is why we dont invite players based on sentiments. Different games require different approach. For instance we diddnt need muscles against algeria. Why? They arent the physical type. Against south Africa, we lacked precision in the midfield and leadership. Finally against cameroon, we played both skill and aggression.

In other words, we need to define who does what at what time properly before all these invitations roll out. Lets not be ahead of ourselves here. Rest assured, when the final world cup list is released, we might be shocked that people who were supposed to make the cut never did. There can only be 23players then. In as much as ladies have so many jewelries and accessories, still, they cant put it all on for an outing. Same goes with our football.

Everybody cannot play!

Goke7:


make una no make laugh fall person for ground morning o! Busi wetin

forgiveness:



Yes, we should be careful at this point. Nevertheless, some player like Aaron Samuel should be removed and replaced with a better player like Kayode.

However, Ike Uche deserved to be called and whether he performed afterwards is not an issue. He deserved to be called at that point. Oh-ha!

So, we should not bring that yardstick to deprive players doing well at this point. GBAM!

Forget Oliseh, he seems to be an hypocrite. Igboun wey flopped big time was still retained and played regularly for the Super Eagles.

He didn't give the boy chance.

Mickael2:



Maybe someone vexed you, after you must have calmed down, go and read that post again. I clearly stated that Ndidi wasn't contributing anything attack-wise or you also want me to blame Ndidi for Onazi's mistake before I make you happy?


Tell me how we qualified for 98 world cup, I think with a game to spare. Stop the hype, this team might be good but they are not close to it. Telling me you fancy your chances against Spain in the round of 16 is biased sentiment at best

soetanoreoluwa:
Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham must weigh depth, potential in Nigeria offer

Tammy Abraham is embarking on his first season in the Premier League, but a major career decision lies ahead. Nigeria hope he will play for the Super Eagles in international competition instead of the Three Lions.

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham is on a season-long loan at Swansea City, and is being targeted by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as a potential new recruit. The London-born striker has played for England up to the U-21’s, but would qualify to play for Nigeria through his father.

NFF president Amaju Pinnick, who grew up with Abraham’s father in Nigeria, is hoping that their friendship will help seal the deal for the 19-year old’s international footballing services. As Abraham has not yet appeared at senior level, the door is still open for him to swap allegiances.

We are working on getting Abraham. Tammy is like my son, his father and I grew up in the same neighbourhood. – BBC
This is not the first time the NFF have approached Abraham and his dad. The Federation spoke to them in July 2016 and to sound them out on the prospect. At the time, father and son felt the youngster’s focus should be with England. Nigeria’s UK chief David Doherty said of the meeting:

We spoke to his dad, met with him and his dad. The chances are that in future he could play for Nigeria if England Three Lions is not certain. But for now he is in tune with England, the option is open. – All Nigeria Soccer
Abraham has a big decision to make. Should he chose Nigeria over England, he would not be the first Chelsea player to make the swap. Nigeria have a record of succes when it comes to claiming potential England stars for their own. Victor Moses and more recently Ola Aina have both made the switch. Abraham will need to consider several options before making up his mind.

His first consideration should be how likely he is to play. The Super Eagles’ current strikers include Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa, both of Leicester City. Musa is the more experienced of the two, having played 62 games and scored 13 goals. Iheanacho, who has a much better goal-to-game ratio, is the future. He has played only 11 games, scoring six goals.

RELATED STORY: Chelsea's top six all-time best players from Africa
Domestically, Abraham is getting Premier League game time on loan under the stewardship of former Chelsea coach Paul Clement. Musa and Iheanacho are behind Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki in the pecking order at Leicester and struggling for game time.


Should he chose to switch, with the experience that he is currently gaining Abraham would be able to command a place in Nigeria’s starting XI. Next, he has to think about how likely he is to get into the England team. There is no question he would make the squad, but would he be anything more than a bench-warmer?

England’s incumbents are Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Abraham’s nearest rival in terms of age, Marcus Rashford. Abraham would challenge to replace an aging Vardy and the injury prone Sturridge and Welbeck. He may, however, struggle to oust Kane and Rashford right now. In time, if continues on his current trajectory, he has every chance of making an impact in a team that has struggled to achieve anything in recent years.


The last consideration comes down to silverware. Either option gives him the opportunity of a major trophy every two years. He would compete in the World Cup with either of the two, the Euro’s with England or the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria. His chances of picking up a trophy with England are at best slim. With Nigeria, the AFCON is almost a certainty at some point. As for the World Cup, neither side has come that close to winning the trophy recently.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick thinks his country are in the ascendancy, though.

You take a first look at the [Nigeria] team and you see players like William Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Leon Balogun, Iwobi, Chidozie Awaziem, Tyronne Ebuehi, Kelechi Iheanacho and now we have Aina as well. I believe we are so blessed and that this team will cause a big stir in Russia, and if not in Russia, in Qatar in five years’ time. – BBC
NEXT: Chelsea voted in a world of uncertainty with Premier League deadline shift
Whether Abraham earns that level of positivity from anyone in the England set-up remains to be seen. Wherever he ends up playing, that country will have a player who has scored goals at every level he has played.


Sponsored Stories
Tammy Abraham is embarking on his first season in the Premier League, but a major career decision lies ahead. Nigeria hope he will play for the Super Eagles in international competition instead of the Three Lions.

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham is on a season-long loan at Swansea City, and is being targeted by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as a potential new recruit. The London-born striker has played for England up to the U-21’s, but would qualify to play for Nigeria through his father.

NFF president Amaju Pinnick, who grew up with Abraham’s father in Nigeria, is hoping that their friendship will help seal the deal for the 19-year old’s international footballing services. As Abraham has not yet appeared at senior level, the door is still open for him to swap allegiances.

We are working on getting Abraham. Tammy is like my son, his father and I grew up in the same neighbourhood. – BBC
This is not the first time the NFF have approached Abraham and his dad. The Federation spoke to them in July 2016 and to sound them out on the prospect. At the time, father and son felt the youngster’s focus should be with England. Nigeria’s UK chief David Doherty said of the meeting:

We spoke to his dad, met with him and his dad. The chances are that in future he could play for Nigeria if England Three Lions is not certain. But for now he is in tune with England, the option is open. – All Nigeria Soccer
Abraham has a big decision to make. Should he chose Nigeria over England, he would not be the first Chelsea player to make the swap. Nigeria have a record of succes when it comes to claiming potential England stars for their own. Victor Moses and more recently Ola Aina have both made the switch. Abraham will need to consider several options before making up his mind.

His first consideration should be how likely he is to play. The Super Eagles’ current strikers include Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa, both of Leicester City. Musa is the more experienced of the two, having played 62 games and scored 13 goals. Iheanacho, who has a much better goal-to-game ratio, is the future. He has played only 11 games, scoring six goals.

RELATED STORY: Chelsea's top six all-time best players from Africa
Domestically, Abraham is getting Premier League game time on loan under the stewardship of former Chelsea coach Paul Clement. Musa and Iheanacho are behind Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki in the pecking order at Leicester and struggling for game time.


Should he chose to switch, with the experience that he is currently gaining Abraham would be able to command a place in Nigeria’s starting XI. Next, he has to think about how likely he is to get into the England team. There is no question he would make the squad, but would he be anything more than a bench-warmer?

England’s incumbents are Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Abraham’s nearest rival in terms of age, Marcus Rashford. Abraham would challenge to replace an aging Vardy and the injury prone Sturridge and Welbeck. He may, however, struggle to oust Kane and Rashford right now. In time, if continues on his current trajectory, he has every chance of making an impact in a team that has struggled to achieve anything in recent years.


The last consideration comes down to silverware. Either option gives him the opportunity of a major trophy every two years. He would compete in the World Cup with either of the two, the Euro’s with England or the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria. His chances of picking up a trophy with England are at best slim. With Nigeria, the AFCON is almost a certainty at some point. As for the World Cup, neither side has come that close to winning the trophy recently.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick thinks his country are in the ascendancy, though.

You take a first look at the [Nigeria] team and you see players like William Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Leon Balogun, Iwobi, Chidozie Awaziem, Tyronne Ebuehi, Kelechi Iheanacho and now we have Aina as well. I believe we are so blessed and that this team will cause a big stir in Russia, and if not in Russia, in Qatar in five years’ time. – BBC
NEXT: Chelsea voted in a world of uncertainty with Premier League deadline shift
Whether Abraham earns that level of positivity from anyone in the England set-up remains to be seen. Wherever he ends up playing, that country will have a player who has scored goals at every level he has played.

https://theprideoflondon.com/2017/09/02/chelsea-victor-moses-showed-quality-winger-nigeria-win/

Mickael2:



Haba now, talk like you have sense for once.

Barca-Chelsea games have always been close, Chelsea will park the bus complete and nick one goal, how is that Busq's fault? Please do you even know the work of the DMF?

Mikel played DMF for Chelsea, Barca had atleast 6shots on target plus a missed penalty, they penetrated Mikel just that they couldn't score, totally different and if you watched that match you would understand.

Now I understand why you talk football like a kid sometimes, typical Chelsea fan

Icon4s:


Tammy would be a great addition to the squad. But I hope he is personally interested in playing for Nigeria.

TheSuperNerd:
Sir Joebie....

Sir Mikron is a long time member of the house..... biko... nothing to welcome "newly" as far he is concerned .... Rather, we say, "Welcome Back Sir Mikron, Sir AIG07's twin partner"....

Icon4s:


Tammy would be a great addition to the squad. But I hope he is personally interested in playing for Nigeria.

mikron:
my guy i bin take small leave now im back. where are my guys?

adegwurulez:

@bolded for reals? It doesn't matter if he performs or not? If performance doesn't matter then we can as well go to the world Cup with some bunch of farmers.

See ehm... In football, the coach bears the brunt of his decisions. I see people here castigating the coach for inviting Aaron Samuel only when it had been reported that he flopped in training. This same people had at one point questioned Aaron's continous snub. This same people never spoke up when he was called to replace Iwobi, only after he flopped.

See that's the kind of fans we have, today shehu shouldn't be in the team because he plays in Cyprus, tomorrow shehu is the best thing since sliced bread. Today ezenwa doesn't inspire Confidence, tomorrow he is Enyeama's reincarnate.

You and every other person clamouring for Martins won't come and apologize if he's called up and flops, hell you might even blame the coach for calling him. If I'm correct, keshi gave him a chance which he couldn't grab but because he's the great Martins, he should be given a hundred more, while someone like onazi that can kill for the team should be kicked out.

Typical Nigerian mentality. The grass is always greener at the other side.

adegwurulez:

@bolded for reals? It doesn't matter if he performs or not? If performance doesn't matter then we can as well go to the world Cup with some bunch of farmers.

See ehm... In football, the coach bears the brunt of his decisions. I see people here castigating the coach for inviting Aaron Samuel only when it had been reported that he flopped in training. This same people had at one point questioned Aaron's continous snub. This same people never spoke up when he was called to replace Iwobi, only after he flopped.

See that's the kind of fans we have, today shehu shouldn't be in the team because he plays in Cyprus, tomorrow shehu is the best thing since sliced bread. Today ezenwa doesn't inspire Confidence, tomorrow he is Enyeama's reincarnate.

You and every other person clamouring for Martins won't come and apologize if he's called up and flops, hell you might even blame the coach for calling him. If I'm correct, keshi gave him a chance which he couldn't grab but because he's the great Martins, he should be given a hundred more, while someone like onazi that can kill for the team should be kicked out.

Typical Nigerian mentality. The grass is always greener at the other side.

forgiveness:


Every squad player must be tested prior to the world Cup in other to avoid what happened to us against Italy in 1994, Greece in 2010 and against France in 2014 when some players where delibarately injured but we couldn't replace them with a better quality players.

To avoid another reoccurrence, we must see how we play without Mikel, Ndidi, Onazi, Moses, Balogun, Ekong etc in the team.

Bigger teams does that regularly.

Kog45:
This is endless arguments that would yield no result.Jobie said no need going into argument with Mikel faithful meaning what u are pro Mikel but Jobie forget that Michael2 is anti Mikel meaning we w not gain anything from your discussions coz both of u w be biased in your analysis.

Ditto to me i w be tagged pro Mikel coz i always hold sway for him.It was on this thread people are rating Etebo,Ndidi,Iwobi higher than Mikel but of recent they are keeping mums waiting for bad performance from him before they come out in full force.

I remember my real fisticuffs on this thread was with Michael2 and it was centred on Mikel,some even believed am from South East whereas am a Yoruba man from northern part of d country.

My defence of Mikel is not always personal.but i hate d way some always ridicule him for no reason.It was on this thread some one tagged Mikel as one of worst midfielder to represent Nigeria,a reputable Moniker even said Mikel should not be in d starting XI of eagles.

On Busquets and Mikel,I w not come in coz anything i say here w be meaningless to my friend Michael2 but it is glaring Busquets is a class,ranging from his displayed in Barca and Spanish national team but on a good day Mikel w hold it against Busquets anytime anyday, just watched highlight of Spain vs Nigeria at confederation cup.

forgiveness:



If he does not perform then kick him out of the team. Chikena!

Some raised eyebrows here when Aaron Samuel was invited.

Aaron Samuel want not supposed to have been called in the first place when players like Kayode and Martins were doing well.

If you do well you must be called to the national team and it's not enough to use the training to rate and discard a player because we have heard about players who don't do well in training but performed wonderfully well in main matches.

Besides, we the fans want to access the players with our two Koro Koro eyes before conclusion and judgement are formed based on what is seen because I don't trust our coaches. GBAM!

I am never a fan of Shehu Abdullahi and Ezenwa. You can ask anyone here.

I have never for once agreed to any school of thought that suggests or suggested that Onazi should be kicked out. Ask.

Which kind bad belle chance Keshi gave Martins?

Martins Obafemi was played in wrong positions or given small time.

If Martins Obafemi continues to score for his Chinko club, he should be given a chance under Rohr.

If Rohr sticked to his 'we have a complete team' and didn't invite Ighalo for the match against Cameroon, we for chop am.

elyte89:
Monkey post sweet pass wafu tourney

Joebie:
Are u sure they were not tested?

List the players who never tasted action in friendlies and otherwise prior to those WCs and I could be wrong.

Modified
"tested", how exactly do u mean?

Joebie:
Oga Na. Rohr was looking for physical options and someone may have suggested Aaron. But don't forget he only made the standby initially.

Kog45:
Na u dey vexed me

Kog45:
This is endless arguments that would yield no result.Jobie said no need going into argument with Mikel faithful meaning what u are pro Mikel but Jobie forget that Michael2 is anti Mikel meaning we w not gain anything from your discussions coz both of u w be biased in your analysis.

Ditto to me i w be tagged pro Mikel coz i always hold sway for him.It was on this thread people are rating Etebo,Ndidi,Iwobi higher than Mikel but of recent they are keeping mums waiting for bad performance from him before they come out in full force.

I remember my real fisticuffs on this thread was with Michael2 and it was centred on Mikel,some even believed am from South East whereas am a Yoruba man from northern part of d country.

My defence of Mikel is not always personal.but i hate d way some always ridicule him for no reason.It was on this thread some one tagged Mikel as one of worst midfielder to represent Nigeria,a reputable Moniker even said Mikel should not be in d starting XI of eagles.

On Busquets and Mikel,I w not come in coz anything i say here w be meaningless to my friend Michael2 but it is glaring Busquets is a class,ranging from his displayed in Barca and Spanish national team but on a good day Mikel w hold it against Busquets anytime anyday, just watched highlight of Spain vs Nigeria at confederation cup.

forgiveness:


Bhuuuhahaha! What is the d duty of a DMF in such situation?

Is it not to block all leakages?

Barcelona during those days made teams Park bus by force, abi you know know?

And we know Busqshirt the sisi was charged with the responsibility of detecting and eliminating counter attacks. Abi you no know?

The sisi will always fall easily to draw sympathy from the referees and it worked for him but during the match against Chelsea he was bypassed with beautiful one touch counters because we know his dirty antics.

What happened? Barcelona era was destroyed by Chelsea. The apari (bald headed) was disgraced and sent to self exil for recovery from the shock.

forgiveness:


Oga! Busicat abi na Busqshirt is only good for Barcelona style of play.

During Guardiola's era his dirty antics was always to get sympathy from players by falling at the slightest touch.


Ok! Where was Busicat or Busqshirt when Barcelona dey chop sand for Chelsea hand? Was he not in the midfield when Chelsea players ghost passed him with him sisi style of play?

Who was in the midfield for Chelsea?

No tell me say na King Mikel Obi ooooooo.