safarigirl:
Meanwhile, our dearest beloved Tammy has finally exhausted his chances and the coach has dropped him to the bench for failing to score a goal in 10 games

TheGoodJoe:



“We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible—you can beat better teams by using tactics."... Jurgen Klopp.

What matters is the formidable force the Super Eagles form when they play as a unit. Not individual flattering records. We got this far with sound tactics, brilliant match reading skills and players doing their best o play to instructions.

safarigirl:
so, he will give himself loan move?

And if he gets a loan move and they don't play him in the next club?

Na so we say make e leave Man City go anotge club, na the other club be this, now na make e go loan.

Na siddon look I dey so. Na only World Cup I dey look forward to, all these talk about Kelechi getting loan moves, I no join again. The sale to Leicester has taught me enough

goldfish80:


It is much easier to build a winning team around performing individuals.When your first 11 and supporting cast is off form, your much more likely to loose.

The form of these players worry is a cause for concern

safarigirl:
I have a great idea!

Why don't we overhaul all our forwards because they aren't performing and call up every eligible Nigerian that plays that position with at least eight goals this season for the next friendly in March?

That should help us get a potent strike force

TheGoodJoe:


They are performing well as a unit. What is important is for them to keep performing as a unit.

safarigirl:
Meanwhile, our dearest beloved Tammy has finally exhausted his chances and the coach has dropped him to the bench for failing to score a goal in 10 games

goldfish80:


World cup preparation have already started and so far our attackers aren't measuring up.

Humility017:

to think that this was a player we wanted spread a red carpet for.....to walk through leaves me baffled.

COOL10:
Was Iheanacho in the match day squad against Watford?

OMANBALA1:


Julius berger has never been one of the best teams in Nigeria. 2 leagus trophies 1991 and 2000, first round and group stage appearance in caf champions league is not a feat to revel about.

AIG07:

look, club performance puts players in the spotlight and gives them the necessary recognition.

Have you ever wonder why some players keep getting call ups despite under performing in their clubs? Spain kept inviting Torres even while performing abysmally for Chelsea. Fabregas was always one of the first name on the list despite not having enough playing time with Chelsea. That's one country as an example. Do you know while their coach kept faith with them-it was because he knew that they'll deliver.
Marcos Alonso has been phenomenal for Chelsea since last year. Do you know what? He is still hoping for his First invitation.

If I'm too tow your line of proposition, every player that comes to the spot light(is in form) should be invited ba? You can't have a national team by inviting all players base on their club performances alone or else you'll only be having new sets of players to execute each match...

Even Rohr knows this. That's while he has been inviting Musa, Onazi before he moved to Turkey, Moses Simon etc.
Onyekuru has been having Stellar performances consistently for his clubs but still he has only been having epileptic call-ups.

To cut the story short, club performance is one thing and replicating it in the national team is another.

safarigirl:
back then when we were charged up by a burst of emotion, the same one that ensured Britain rushed to cap him

We should really be thanking the English FA o...they collected a bullet for us


Meanwhile, I got to watch his bestie and fellow 3Lions player, Solanke today, and while that one probably had a better game than Tammy, his impact wasn't all that either. He had a shot at goal and missed, same as Tammy though

goldfish80:


Do they play as a unit week in week out?

Humility017:

the matter tire everybody......
because this French coach don't have any utter regard for him and musa.....
the man is blind to nancho abilities and same wit musa....

any club coach...like westham, Bournemouth, Brighton etc will play him....but this very coach have no regard for him....

let's be optimistic...Leicester was never the best option for him....their style of play never suits him........

I understand a better world cup performance will push his stock....but he need to be playing competitively until then...

safarigirl:
and you are yet to provide a solution to that.

What is the way forward? We should drop all our attackers and find better ones? Is it one man that we will add to the team to score all our goals in Russia?

You cannot make an observation or complaint and fail to profer a solution.

OMANBALA1:


Frankly speaking I dont think Iheanacho will thrive in a fast pace setting with intense football like Premiership but is it not beginning to look like we are making excuses for him. However, Iheanacho's biggest challenge is not pace but simple and elementary ball control! Iheanacho need to stop running and face the music...How many years is it gonna take him to fix his miserable first touch. People are here blaming the coach but just the other day Iheanacho gave away a pass that resulted to a goal against his team. I swear , if I was his coach I will turn him to a ball boy...which kind thing be this ?

He need to buy a personal trainer to work on his first touch.

goldfish80:


Over optimism too dey worry some of us for this thread. I've noticed when that optimism is not fed , all hell seem to break loose.
Truth is that none of our attacking players are displaying anything close to world cup form. In the absence of the much maligned Ighalo and Nwakaeme whats we have left this season is as follows;

IWOBI= 1 goal
VIc Moses =nil
Moses Simon=3 goals
Isaac Success=nill
Kayode= 0
BAzee=nill
Aaron Samuel= nill
Osimhen= nill
Ideye = nill
Henry Onyekuru = out of the world cup

Seriously, these numbers don't inspire confidence. As much as we talk about GKs, it worries me that our attackers are in this paupers form.

If we dont have at least 5 players on double figure goals this season , we could sleep walk out of the tournament at the very first round.
Even with Bufon in goal.

goldfish80:


The solution is simple. Put me on to plane to Russia.
Na wetin you wan hear abi?

Bants aside, the team needs reinforcement through the spine.

The attack needs to be beefed up.

A solution must be found for Kelechi and Musa's predicament. They must be made to understand they dont have automatic shirt in the team.
If they understand this, they will certainly tast their agents to search for solutions for them this winter transfer Window.

chidi1:
I posted this elsewhere. But since I am looking for a response, I copied and pasted it here....

I may sound a little biased. However, I am an avid supporter of Imoh Ezekiel. In my earlier post, I voiced my concern when I taught he was going to be excluded from the Olympic team by Siasia, after a convincing display during a friendly with Brazil. Ofcourse, he undoubtedly became our most creative playmaker at the Olympics. I watched with dismay as he was overlooked during the world cup qualifiers. Hence, this promoted the creation of this topic.

Guys, I would love your honest opinion on this. What do you think of Victor Moses and Imoh Ezekiel combination on the wings during the world cup. You may rewatch his highlight during the Olympics on YouTube to refresh your memory. I know our attack is one of the best parts of our national team, but my plan is to make it more potent (as to be honest, our defence is very worrisome currently). I sincerely believe that if enough interest is voiced, it may draw the NFF to look more closely at that option. We may start out by trying him out in a friendly match (ideally paired with Moses).

goldfish80:


That's what it looks like when you take it on the face value of the qualifiers but seriously, does it not worry you one bit that our attackers haven't managed to score this season?
You must understand that teams have more than 9 months to figure us out , on the back of a solid 1 month camping , expect more sturdy and organized opponents . The dynamics are not the same.
Also,most of our attacking players (bar Musa and V.Moses) dont have big tournament experience with the Super Eagles, I wonder the reason for the optimism that these goal shy strikers (most don't even make their team bench anymore) will suddenly cake walk the world cup on the back of African WQ and a good half in a friendly game.
We need a reality check .
Sincerely

Humility017:


Lol...you raised a good point though...
dude needs a personal trainer....even Christano Ronaldo make do wit personal trainer sometimes....

but few Nigeria footballers think that way....

enomakos:
julius berger were one of the top teams in their day
if i can remember correct they once play in the final of the cup winners cup now called caf confederation cup

TheGoodJoe:


They will play as a unit in the World Cup.

goldfish80:


Over optimism too dey worry some of us for this thread. I've noticed when that optimism is not fed , all hell seem to break loose.
Truth is that none of our attacking players are displaying anything close to world cup form. In the absence of the much maligned Ighalo and Nwakaeme whats we have left this season is as follows;

IWOBI= 1 goal
VIc Moses =nil
Moses Simon=3 goals
Isaac Success=nill
Kayode= 0
BAzee=nill
Aaron Samuel= nill
Osimhen= nill
Ideye = nill
Henry Onyekuru = out of the world cup

Seriously, these numbers don't inspire confidence. As much as we talk about GKs, it worries me that our attackers are in this paupers form.

If we dont have at least 5 players on double figure goals this season , we could sleep walk out of the tournament at the very first round.
Even with Bufon in goal.

safarigirl:
no be money dem dey pay personal trainer? Especially better one.

I for say make una go him page go tell am for IG or Twitter, but Kelechi no dey get contact with outside world, so he no wvwn know wetin dey happen for internet.

Humility017:


Lol...you raised a good point though...
dude needs a personal trainer....even Christano Ronaldo make do wit personal trainer sometimes....

but few Nigeria footballers think that way....

COOL10:
Was Iheanacho in the match day squad against Watford?

realpoacher:


He was one of our creative playmaker as you rightly said, or so I thought, until we met a formidable team and unfortunately he couldn't measure up. Obviously as a player he is below average.

On his chapter, I am forced to want to agree with @komern that levels exist in football. And that is why a player playing and performing in top leagues (which translates as top level) is far better than a player in lower/poor leagues (low level).

I watched Imoh Ezekiel run rings at the earlier stages of the Olympics and was in complete awe of his performance. His runs, dribbles, cutt ins, and decisive crosses into the box was an art to watch. I daresay that most of our wins were inspired by him, he tormented the oppositions 2 and 3 no matter where he played between 7 or 11. He was a joy to watch, several times he left the defenders panting after turning them inside out coupled with his pace.

But there was a big BUT!.. When e jam him level in Germany, he himself know how far. Dude couldn't complete one successful dribble. Heck! I could count the number of times he was allowed to control the passes that came his way. All he could do was to pass sideways or backwards all through the semifinals against Germany.

I was slighted, what the hell. We were 1/2 goals down and each time Imoh Ezekiel got the ball, he lost it, he couldn't even beat anyone of his German marker.

That match confirmed my research postulations about football that "once you no reach, you no reach" there is absolutely nothing you can do once you are not good enough against your opponent.

Eg: Chances are that arsenal will lose 8 times out of 10 to Barcelona, why?.. Because against Barcelona, Arsenal no reach! Simples.

The truth is that the teams we played against enroute the semifinal were wacky, and when we came up against a better side in Germany, Imoh Ezekiel entered "ghost mode", not just him but many of the them that day including Nura Abdullahi who was faced one on one with the German keeper but fumbled.

Now going into the world cup, we are going to be facing top sides right from match day one, do you honestly think that Imoh Ezekiel can deliver better than what we have on ground presently?... The current players delivering for us are at best average. Imoh Ezekiel to me is not even average but below average, especially considering his current form. Canvassing for such a player right now is a disservice to football as a whole.

At this stage of our preparations towards the world cup, if you must suggest a player be sure that such a player is above average atleast before we can start even analyzing who he is going to displace from the current team.

safarigirl:
Rohr has five months and about three games to get a standing team.

You're not helping him right now