₦airaland Forum

MetalJigsaw:
Pleas how do you share pics on Whatsapp?

forgiveness:
My 35 man list

Gk

Vincent Enyeama
Dele Aiyenugba
Francis Uzoho
Dele Alampasu
Daniel Akpeyi


DF
Leon Balogun
Troost Ekong
Chidozie Awaziem
Shehu Abdullahi
Tyronne Ebuehi
Ola Aina
Elderson Echiejile
Brian Idowu
Kenneth Omeruo
Deji Beyreuther



MF
Mikel Obi
Joel Obi
Ogenyi Onazi
Wilfred Ndidi
John Ogu
Sone Aluko
Michael Agu
Raheem Lawal
Abdul Ajagun
Tega Etebor


AT
Odion Ighalo
Kelechi Iheanacho
Simon Moses
Victor Mose
Alex Iwobi
Ahmed Musa
Sarenren Bazee
Kayode Olanrewaju
Onyekuru
Obafemi Martins

From here I will draw my list though I will still consider the three players NFF are pursuing in England.


I no go reveal dem name before those English vulture come spoil show again.

Goke7:
Honestly a iheancho/iwobi combination is a delight to watch any day, just shows how deep our squad is even though at times we feel or look short of talents going forward. if vicmo will not reduce his selfish play, he can be our super sub but you know Nigerians go shout. Iheanacho may be the one to be sacrificed for vicmo and be the super sub instead. There is also an Ighalo and simon lurking around too, mhen it's interesting

Goke7:
the one touch-two touch is the tactical way we can compete with the best of teams at the world cup, if you watch and listen to the english commentators of the argentina game, you will hear the commentators commending the eagles for their one touch play that led to the second and third goals scored by the eagles.

Icon4s:
Yeah another excellent piece

On the Enyeama return issue, prio to the Algeria and Argentina game I was of the opinion that one of Ezenwa and Akpeyi would do.

However, I am having a rethink.

The thought of recalling Enyeama became so loud in my mind when Akpeyi picked up that ball outside the 18 yards box.

What I personally feel Rohr can do is invite Enyeama for the march friendly(ies). We also assess him. If he is still good to go, fine he is back for the world cup. Else we take a risk with one of Ezenwa and Uzoho.

zuchyblink:
Iceland are not Scandinavia. They are Nordic

Icon4s:
Yeah another excellent piece

On the Enyeama return issue, prio to the Algeria and Argentina game I was of the opinion that one of Ezenwa and Akpeyi would do.

However, I am having a rethink.

The thought of recalling Enyeama became so loud in my mind when Akpeyi picked up that ball outside the 18 yards box.

What I personally feel Rohr can do is invite Enyeama for the march friendly(ies). We also assess him. If he is still good to go, fine he is back for the world cup. Else we take a risk with one of Ezenwa and Uzoho.

SerVik:
Just saw this brilliant post on OGN and I thought to share

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Analysis Of Super Eagles Performance Against Argentina

---

It was a very resounding victory against a formidable Argentine team and there were some very good highpoints and as expected some critical low points noticed in the game. At this point if you’re expecting to whole-heartedly read a prediction such as “Nigeria for finals in Russia 2018”, kindly stop at this point.

https://i2.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_3945.jpg?resize=696%2C391

Aha! I see you have made it to this stage. So let’s critically dissect Nigeria’s performance yesterday. Firstly, I must praise the boys for coming back in the second half so resoundingly but let’s not repeat that first half performance ever again. Nigeria can be forgiven because that was the first time (half) competitively trying out a 3-5-2 formation.

We could have easily been blown away at the 40th minute mark by being four goals down. I have read in some quarters as to what may have contributed to Balogun’s unexpectedly shaky performance against Argentina. Truth be told Balogun is not the fastest and in a 3-man defense, he should have been deployed in the middle. This was a position Rohr handed to William Troost-Ekong.

Now to Ekong, for all of his wonderful defending there’s little joy to derive from his ball passing abilities. He gave out a couple of erroneous passes that would have been resoundingly punished by a German or Spanish team.

Ekong should have manned the right side of the defense, a position manned by Awaziem. If Ekong can’t pass comfortably with his stronger right foot, imagine what would happen if he’s told to man the left side where he’d receive the ball more on his weaker leg foot.

We all saw how many times Balogun was pressured and rather than face the throw line, he constantly faced our goal while adjusting to clear/pass with his preferred right foot.

Now to Awaziem, that boy is very confident and fearless player and passed comfortably with both feet. As a result I would opine that he be deployed on the left wing back role moving forward.

I don’t think Shehu has a loyal fan as much as yours sincerely; however, he had a below par performance in that new formation. He defended well, but in order to justify why it is called a left wing-back role, you also have to attack as well as defend.

That was where he had the problem. Whenever, he pushed he wasn’t protect and there were a lot of true passes coming through his wings (it was a disaster on Aina’s wing – I’d get to that soon). I’d attribute this to our poor passing game in the first half which exposed our fullbacks as we lost the ball carelessly.

This put Shehu under a lot of defensive recovery procedures all of the first half. Oh Aina! Aina!! Aina!!! He was thoroughly exposed in that game. But, I have seen him play that for Hull City and Chelsea to great effect. The Argentine through passes (ground and up) all made it to Pazon.

All in all I’d attribute the flaws of the defense and also the team as a whole to the fact that it was their first time playing that formation.

Now comes the good part. What a second half blitz Nigeria had, it was glorious to watch. Iwobi’s one-two game was top notch, Iheanacho drifting wide worked to great effect.

In the second half I dare say Nigeria didn’t play with any forwards as they all drifted wide – I specifically call this the “triple-false nine”. Any of Iwobi, Iheanacho or Mikel randomly popped up in the Argentine box.

It was a sight to behold. Now to the substitutes, Ebuehi had a wonderful game, he was what Shehu had hoped to be in that rather forgettable first half. He timed his attacking/defending to perfection yesterday.

He was always an available outlet when we attacked. Although, Idowu scored a goal he was not more of a consistent attacking threat as Ebuehi. He was very cautious and defended more. Due to these reasons I think Rohr may give Aina another chance in the LWB position.

Overall, the passing in the midfield improved in the second half and that rubbed off positively on the fullbacks as they didn’t have to worry much about unexpected defensive recoveries due to bad give-aways. It’s best I don’t talk about the goalkeeping department – I assume we can make comprehensive judgements. No need flogging a dead horse!

I fear for the regulars that missed this game like Ighalo and Echejile. The former may still force his way but I fear for the latter as he now has serious competition in either a 4-3-3, 4-5-1, or 3-5-2 formation (he can forget about being considered in a 3-5-2 formation). While I fear for the other two, I have no fears for Onazi and Moses.

Onazi would walk back into Ogu’s role. For Moses it depends on what Rohr wants to achieve. Moses would always play for Nigeria. Rohr may sacrifice Iheanacho from the line-up and put Moses in that right sided false-9 position. Or he could deploy as he’s currently deployed for his club.

He and Ebuehi are both double footed and could play either left wing back or right wing back positions. But I doubt Rohr may confine his most lethal player in a wing back position, hence, Iheanacho may be sacrificed for Moses.

It would not be good for Rohr to permanently jettison our existing 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formations. There may be times we could be stifled in a 3-5-2 formation, reverting back to our old system may be the solutions.

With all of the praises going out to the players, I have not seen anyone mention the perfect playing surface of the pitch against Argentina in Krasnodar. That surface really helped our game. For all of the hullabaloos made about the Uyo pitch, it’s never been the smoothest of playing surfaces.

The last time Nigeria played a home game on a smooth surface was versus Tunisia in 2009 in Abuja and that’s attributed to the fact that Nigeria was preparing to host the 2009 under-17 world cup. Little details like smooth playing surfaces are taken for granted in Sub-Saharan Africa. It would be nice if the government prioritize stadium maintenance in Nigeria.

Finally, we are not yet there but we are getting there. I can dream and hope for Nigeria bettering their previous achievement of a second round finish. If and when we cross that huddle, anything could happen from there. I would keep the Eagles in my prayers come December 1, 2017 so as to get a favorable group draw as these are the little details that could determine how far we’d go.

Guest post written by Daffy ( @Sport_People_Ta)

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/11/15/analysis-of-super-eagles-performance-against-argentina/

tbaba1234:
Musa needs a loan move in January.

Balogun needs to start playing regularly

Napoleon55:
i think in order to accommodate both V.Moses and Ebuehi and utilized them effectively,i suggest Iwobi should be played in the midfield,and Ogu would b dropped, the 3 main midfielders will b made up of NDIDI,MIKEL and IWOBI,while IHEANACHO or whoever will play up front with V.MOSES,IDOWU and EBUEHI will fill the LWB and RWB respectively.
this is just my opinion .
it's imperative that we master as many as 4 major formations,because u never know the kind of opposition we will b facing at d WC.

Humility017:
compare aina claimed abysmal outing in the colours of SE and elderson play against Cameroon and Zambia and spot the difference....

I hitherto missed the match against Argentina but had to watch it use my mb yesterday watch the full match on YouTube...from all I see....aina did well not bad at all...I doubt if elderson would have done any better....
he did well Mark his man...but had problem wit covering his space....tracking back fo help the defense....

elyte89:
Forget aiyenugba, Abdul jeleel ajagun,obafemi martins,sone aluko...Even if FIFA allows 100 man pre-list b4 pruning down to 23man list,dere names won't b dere

Goke7:
Some lessons so far on our failed world cup attempts from responses so far include

1. Stick to the coach that qualifies you for the world cup cos you you need that strong bond between the coach and the players who have been working tirelessly together.
2. Do not discard half or majority of the players that qualified you for the world cup as it affects team spirit and you end up with players in the world cup who are strange bed fellows. Case in point keshi despite qualifying for the world cup and going to the world cup ended up with players who were not really used to each other. This may be the reason Mikel rejected the inclusion of ramon azeez [though unprofessional of mikel] in the game against France.
3. Go with at least 90% of your players who qualified you for the world cup. case in point USA 94 team. If you must bring in new players, very very few however there seems to be strong cases for the inclusion of Kayode Olanrewaju, Henry Onyekwuru and Sone aluko to the team. They are not strangers to the Eagles as they have been invited before.
4. Nff need to sort out issues of bonus and players welfare on time. I heard before the end of this year, Nff will meet with the players to tell them how much they will earn during the world cup next year. Good one I must say.
5. Quality warm up games for the team, perhaps warm up games against Germany and Yugoslavia brought out the best of Nigeria against Spain in France 98.
6. We must check over confidence from the players, case in point is one of the reasons we lost the Denmark game in 1998 as the players were already thinking about brazil when they haven't finished with Denmark
7. We must check players who tend to be selfish in the game, result against argentina in the 2010 world cup would have been different if the likes of martins were not selfish in their play. Okocha was another culprit in past world cups. Victor Moses need to be checked on this. Players in better position must be given the ball for clinical finishes in front of goal like we saw against zambia with Iwobi's goal. This could decide games.
8. Team selection must be based on those who are hungry for the team success and not those who just want to appear as some big players have failed to turn up on the big occasions, e.g. Yekini of blessed memory and Okocha.
9. Good mix of youthful and experienced players. One of the reasons we failed in the 2002 world cup was the way we discarded experienced players who were still in form and hungry. Thank God Rohr had admitted that it was the mix of young and experienced players that achieved qualification. So those who feel the likes of Mikel, musa, onazi, echiejile even omeruo are not relevant may need to have a rethink. One advantage of the crop of young players we have now like iwobi, iheanacho, ekong and co is that by the next world cup, they will be very experienced players.
10. Updated FIFA rules must be understood by players and coaches to avoid naive situations. Reason we even failed to qualify in 2006 as we knew nothing about head to head rule. Players also need to be warned about inscriptions on their inner wears as they risk unnecessary yellow cards like we saw in the match against Cameroon involving Ighalo.
11. The technical bench assisting the coach need to have a good balance of competent and experienced hands that will complement the coach technically. e.g. in 2014 world cup the technical team that won the afcon in 2013 was overhauled without coach kehsi's consent which in turn affected the balance of the team from what we saw in afcon earlier.
12. Discipline on and off the pitch must be maintained by coach and players. This cost us in the 2010 world cup where kaita was sent off and the indiscipline acts and rows among players that happened in both 1994 and 1998 world cups including the lack of concentration that cost us the match against Italy 1994 in the dying minutes.

forgiveness:
Aina offered nothing offensively in that LWB role. He was lost.

I still want to see him on the RB us because I saw him did well in that role for his club but the LB , I have my reservations.

komekn:
You are being quite presumptuous in thinking that Ebuehi is now Numero 1

One game doesn't make a player, there is a lot of games to go. I do think Ebuehi had a good game but I do not think he eclipsed Shehu or Aina he proved capability not superiority That's my view.

MetalJigsaw:
Thank you for this post. Ebuahi is good but is he consistent like Shehu?

tbaba1234:
Awoniyi was atrocious in the run-up to the Olympics. The South Korean tourney exposed how poor siasia's team was at the time. Changes were forced.

Goke7:
Some lessons so far on our failed world cup attempts from responses so far include

1. Stick to the coach that qualifies you for the world cup cos you you need that strong bond between the coach and the players who have been working tirelessly together.
2. Do not discard half or majority of the players that qualified you for the world cup as it affects team spirit and you end up with players in the world cup who are strange bed fellows. Case in point keshi despite qualifying for the world cup and going to the world cup ended up with players who were not really used to each other. This may be the reason Mikel rejected the inclusion of ramon azeez [though unprofessional of mikel] in the game against France.
3. Go with at least 90% of your players who qualified you for the world cup. case in point USA 94 team. If you must bring in new players, very very few however there seems to be strong cases for the inclusion of Kayode Olanrewaju, Henry Onyekwuru and Sone aluko to the team. They are not strangers to the Eagles as they have been invited before.
4. Nff need to sort out issues of bonus and players welfare on time. I heard before the end of this year, Nff will meet with the players to tell them how much they will earn during the world cup next year. Good one I must say.
5. Quality warm up games for the team, perhaps warm up games against Germany and Yugoslavia brought out the best of Nigeria against Spain in France 98.
6. We must check over confidence from the players, case in point is one of the reasons we lost the Denmark game in 1998 as the players were already thinking about brazil when they haven't finished with Denmark
7. We must check players who tend to be selfish in the game, result against argentina in the 2010 world cup would have been different if the likes of martins were not selfish in their play. Okocha was another culprit in past world cups. Victor Moses need to be checked on this. Players in better position must be given the ball for clinical finishes in front of goal like we saw against zambia with Iwobi's goal. This could decide games.
8. Team selection must be based on those who are hungry for the team success and not those who just want to appear as some big players have failed to turn up on the big occasions, e.g. Yekini of blessed memory and Okocha.
9. Good mix of youthful and experienced players. One of the reasons we failed in the 2002 world cup was the way we discarded experienced players who were still in form and hungry. Thank God Rohr had admitted that it was the mix of young and experienced players that achieved qualification. So those who feel the likes of Mikel, musa, onazi, echiejile even omeruo are not relevant may need to have a rethink. One advantage of the crop of young players we have now like iwobi, iheanacho, ekong and co is that by the next world cup, they will be very experienced players.
10. Updated FIFA rules must be understood by players and coaches to avoid naive situations. Reason we even failed to qualify in 2006 as we knew nothing about head to head rule. Players also need to be warned about inscriptions on their inner wears as they risk unnecessary yellow cards like we saw in the match against Cameroon involving Ighalo.
11. The technical bench assisting the coach need to have a good balance of competent and experienced hands that will complement the coach technically. e.g. in 2014 world cup the technical team that won the afcon in 2013 was overhauled without coach kehsi's consent which in turn affected the balance of the team from what we saw in afcon earlier.
12. Discipline on and off the pitch must be maintained by coach and players. This cost us in the 2010 world cup where kaita was sent off and the indiscipline acts and rows among players that happened in both 1994 and 1998 world cups including the lack of concentration that cost us the match against Italy 1994 in the dying minutes.

Humility017:
and the foolish thing about that musa...he seems to be so comfortable wit his condition...
I am quite sure...it does not have any inspiration....maybe he has been guaranteed that he will make the world cup squad...because players like yinka,Dennis,bazee,Henry and seriously knocking on the door

Danielnino00:
After finally watching the game,I gotta say,this 3-5-2 formation shouldn't he our main formation at the WC.. We can try it when we play attacking minded teams like Germany, Spain and France,so we can park the bus and hit with our newfound "sexy counter attack'


I don't support those saying VicMo should be used as a wingback!! he is one of our best player and we can't let him waste in that role...

for a three man defence u would suggest thus lineup (3-4-3)


GK(anybody wey make am )

LCB- Awazeim
CB- Balogun
RCB- Ekong


LWB- Idowu
MF- Ndidi
MF- Mikel
RWF- Ebuehi

AMF- Moses
CF- Iheanacho
AMf- Iwobi

I'm adding Idowu and Ebuehi,cus at the moment,Shehu and Aina aren't used to the Wingback role..

Napoleon55:
no,i did not think he is the first choice,i was only suggesting a situation we can play both V.Moses and Ebuehi in a 3-5-2 formation,or any formation involving RWB,V.MOSES is still far better RWB than Ebuehi ,so V.MOSES is my first choice RWB,i'm not carried away by Ebuehi's performance to no disrespect,he did very good.
i'm not like most fans here,just one good performance from a new player,they r ready abandon the player that has been performing well before.
do u want to know what i really think,just like i said about IDOWO,that he would steal the show at the LB,
that's exactly what AINA is going to do to SHEHU and Ebuehi the moment he is given the opportunity,he is going to steal the show as well,with the emergency of BRIAN IDOWO,he's definitely is going to be the b our first choice RB at the WC,if given the opportunity,but he must cut his hair to a more decent size.
so when everybody would have been tested before the WC,our first choice full backs,LFB and RFB is most likely to be IDOWU and AINA respectively.
V.MOSES as d first choice RWB,if we decide to play 3 CB.
one more shocker,especially for u is that ISAAC SUCCESS is going to gate crash the WC list if he starts playing.

MetalJigsaw:
You don't get my point. I'm not talking of Aina's attacking abilities in his club. I'm talking of the Argentina game.

PDPGuy:
Best case scenario for the SE would be a group comprising Russia, Peru, Costa Rica, Nigeria. I’ll give our team an 85% chance of advancing from such a group.

On the other hand, the “group of death” would comprise Germany, Spain, Iran, Nigeria. I would put the SE’s chances of advancing at 3%.

Joebie:
INJURY UPDATE

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Nigeria's First-Choice RB Target Announces He'll Return To Action Before World Cup
Published: November 15, 2017

https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/football_pics/28408Odubajo.jpg
Photo Credit : hullcitytigers.com

Nigeria's First-Choice RB Target Announces He'll Return To Action Before World Cup EFL Championship side Hull City have provided an injury update on former Nigeria U23 invitee Moses Odubajo.

The ex-England U20 international has not played for the Tigers since he got injured in a pre-season friendly against Grimsby Town in July 2016.

''Long-term injury victim Moses Odubajo is hoping for a return to action in the Spring following a positive meeting with his consultant this week,'' Hull City wrote on their official website.

''That represents light at the end of the tunnel for the 24-year-old right back, although any predicted return date remains tentative at this stage after such a lengthy lay-off.''

Odubajo had been approached by the Nigeria Football Federation supremo Amaju Pinnick to represent the Super Eagles as the national team coaches looked to solve the problematic right back spot.

As a result of his lengthy spell on the sidelines, the Nigerian Federation made moves for Ola Aina, Tyronne Ebuehi and Brian Idowu.

Igho Kingsley

--ANS

pelezico:
Thats a good team but im hoping that Henry will make it as i "think" he will add alot to Nigeria. Hopefully if he gets a move to England in January he might prove this

elyte89:
Forget aiyenugba, Abdul jeleel ajagun,obafemi martins,sone aluko...Even if FIFA allows 100 man pre-list b4 pruning down to 23man list,dere names won't b dere

Icon4s

We are ardent followers and supporters of the Super Eagles. Most of us may not make the trip to Russia, we cannot be with the coaching crew, we are not part of the NFF, neither can we kick the balls with the players. However, we can only make our little contribution by way of advice to the NFF and the Coaching crew.

We are an assembly of fans who have seen the game for several decades and have followed it with burning passion all through

We have extensively X-rayed the reasons for the disappointing ends to our past World Cup outings and hence provided some tips for both the NFF and the coaching crew to look critically look into:

1. The need for the NFF to sort out issues of bonuses and players’ welfare on time: This is to avoid players boycotting of training session as witnessed in the last World Cup[quote

2. Majority of the players who qualified the team should be kept. Only players who are better than the current crop should be added. Introducing too many new players had its negative effects in our 2002 and 2014 campaigns.
The team should also be a good mix of youth and experience as we hope to achieve a balanced transition in the team even beyond Russia 2018. The best players should be selected devoid of favoritism.
3. Quality pre-World Cup warm up games: We have started with an excellent one with Argentina and should continue in that line. Perhaps a top European and or Asian Opposition would not be bad for us in March, 2018.

4. Instilment of high level of discipline in the team: This is to cub “over-confidence”, lack of team play by some players, segregation in the team and excessive celebrations both on and off the pitch: These kind of attitude had negative effects in our past world cup outings

5. Updated FIFA rules must be understood by players and coaches to avoid naïve situations. A simple case in time is with our goalie – Daniel Akpeyi in our most recent friendly against Argentina. Also the same Argentina used it against us at the 1994 World Cup. Ie Cladio Caniggia and Diego Maradona. Also players taking off jerseys to display inscriptions should be kicked against.
6. Our players should learn to react to tackles in such a way as to influence the ref’s decisions in our favor. We have been victims of influenced or lack of influenced referee’s decisions in past world cups. Eg Onazi’s tackle against France in 2014 World Cup would have been a Red Card for Matuidi if the Nigerian players close to the action had reacted appropriately. Brahimi would have been sent off if Shehu had gone down after being head butted amongst others.

We believe so much in this Team. The NFF and the entire coaching crew are doing a Super Job with the Super Eagles. We can only hope for the Super Eagles to Fly above all expectations come Russia 2018.



*** The floor is still open to add points.

Meanwhile: The above write up is open for editing.

I call on our English grammar specialists in the house. Safarigirl tops the list and every one here. We are all stake holders.

We need to publish this on the twitter hanldes of The NFF and Toyin Ibitoye ASAP.

Truidstar:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/nov/16/world-cup-russia-power-rankings-32-qualifiers

Nigeria is ranked 7 out of 32. Na wa o. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here ooo. Let's be humble.