₦airaland Forum

These Equatorial Guineans are not looking fit at all.

Terrible performance from Falcons, I blame NFF

BascoVanVeli:
I won't be surprised to see the same team out there and I don't think we have up to 4 good midfielders on this team. I would start Ajibade and Okobi because they will take care of the ball better than what we saw. The players were either forcing take ons or kicking hopeless long balls. This was one of the worst matches I have ever watched.

Our only hope is for the players to come together and play to their best.The coach is a typical non chalant Swede who is happy with a draw. Imagine Dennerby saying after the match that a draw was a fair result because possesion was 50-50. I think things will get worse with this coach, and already, I'm losing hope of world cup 2019 qualification. We dont look likely.

Just saw Zambia score against Eq Guinea. I dont see where our win is going to come from now. Honestly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9Rm-hgGPo

2goals from free kicks by Zambia.

The only good thing for Nigeria is that we played so poorly that there is nothing for Zambia and Eq Guinea to learn from our game today.

Zambia scores again 3-0

khunz:
2goals from free kicks by Zambia.

The only good thing for Nigeria is that we played so poorly that there is nothing for Zambia and Eq Guinea to learn from our game today.

Zambia scores again 3-0

The Guinean keeper na basket.

Zambia 4-0 Equatorial Guinea

Daejoyoung:
Zambia 4-0 Equatorial Guinea

They play quick decisive football. The type we thought Mr Dennerby promised. I'm really afraid we might be out by an embarassing scoreline on Wedsday.

5-0 Zambia running riot.

5-0

I plan not to say much (and I don't think that will happen)... But I have never seen the Super Falcons look so limp and unsynchronized in their plays on the field in all my years of following Women's Football.
Chikwelu's injury could be a blessing in disguise because she was total crap all game. Absolute nonsense from her all game. Even Ajibade looked more enterprising than her. Ayinde tried doing her job and did win lots of balls and duels but those route 1 balls we were doing all second half made me really fume at Dennerby. For goodness sake, why hoof those balls Everytime over the top when you can see it was yielding nothing??!!


Oshoala tried but even she too looked unnecessarily stylish sometimes when attacking the ball. She would have been more assertive by using her speed and power to awesome effects. Sometimes she should have just kept driving at them instead of always making the easy pass to the midfielders.


Ajibade is very promising but Okobi should have started for Experience sake. Her entrance at least saw us keep the ball on the ground more instead of just hoofing it route 1 style especially with Chikwelu and Ikidi. And Plsss, drop Ikidi. Haba!!! Is there not an Ugo Njoku??!! Or wait... Did she even make the squad? Will have to check.

That SA no.11 was always danger from the moment she was subbed in. The SA Midfield kept sending those balls towards her and her pace was quite a worry for Onome and Ebere on the left of our defense. I told someone who was watching with me that we should watch that no 11 because of her pace. If we are not watchful, one of those balls from the SA midfield could luckily land in a good manner for her to use her pace and shoot at goal.... Behold that is exactly what happened.

We were not even at 3% of our best today. We were simply poor all through and had no single shot on target. All our shots were heading either over the bar or wayyyy to the sides. It was an annoying game to watch and to think that it had to take a foreign coach to lose to SA in a competitive game for the first time is even more annoying!!!! We have never ever lost to SA with our local coaches so why would a World Cup Bronze medal winning coach in Thomas Dennerby bring this shame upon us? What nonsense!!

Look, we better be ready to wake up and do that fast and show the rest of Africa why we remain the dreaded Super Falcons and the undisputed best on the continent. This is just the first game but from the next game there will be no more chances!!!!!


Bring your A game and beat those Zambians silly or forfeit your claim as Queens of African Women football.

As for the NFF, I think they can see what prolonged inactivity can cause. The Banyana girls had been busy playing friendlies and taking part in tournaments all year and even last year. They were at the Cyprus women's cup earlier in the year and you think all those hardwork they put in would not count for anything against a team that haven't played up to four games together this year alone??

I think the days of depending on our talents even when we don't prepare are over!!! If you don't prepare, then you will lose out to another who does prepare and perservere in preparations!!!

Talent is awesome but Hardwork and continuous perserverance in sharpening the cohesion of your team can pull off shockers over even the best talents.


We have to respond against Zambia who just won 5-0. At least we can see that the Equatorial Guinea girls to this AWCON is not close to being in the same class of their 2008 and 2012 winning sides.


**Drops mic ..... For now**

Dust settled, now I want to try analyse the match. The good, the bad, the ugly.

The good
1. Rashidat Ajibade. On this forum, I noted that her best position was to play as a 10. She was superb when she had the ball and her movement allowed Oparanozie and Oshoala space up front. She is a confirmed starter in that team for me. She is developing well and physically can compete.
2. Defensive improvement. I know this is not big, but I noticed some improvement in the defensive organisation. SA caught us on counter attack once, and punished us for it. The rear guards were anticipating the moves well and cutting it out.
3. Lastly, Oshoala still has it. When she was on the ball, she was near unplayable, but she was strolling round the pitch like a boss. Special mention to Ohale. Solid at the back and covering where needed.

The bad
1. Inadequate technical input: Thomas Dennerby is not a competitive coach. He hasnt shown the hunger needed to coach a country like Nigeria. He simply doesnt understand us. I have been upset with his perception of our team. He seems to be ready to drag us down in order to make an impact. I dont think Dennerby can take us anywhere, unless he steps up big time. His team had no offensive pattern yesterday. He was more adapting the team to cope with South Africa than actually playing to the team's strength.
At the end of the match, his utterances shows the typical carefree foreigner who doesnt feel the urgency that such result brings. He will lose the dressing room faster than he imagined.
2. Team discipline and aura is bad. I looked at our preparation for last AWCON and it was very identical in terms of time and team friendlies. What did Omagbemi do differently? She instilled discipline in the team. These ladies played yesterday with no pressure at all. It is as if the coach had normalised failure so much the girls didnt know what it meant. The coach himself didnt show urgency with his subs.
3. Poor Sub: The biggest sign of a bad coach is in his substitutions. Ajibade was first removed for Okobi in a like for like sub. This means the coach was happy with the game pattern, even though we werent threatening. Also, it was clear that Chikwelu was running low, but the coach would rather lazily remove Ajibade for Okobi.
Other subs are Amarachi Okonkwo for Chikwelu, another like for like.
The most worrisome sub is Anam Imo for Ordega. This is a sign of a coach who either is out of touch or is simply nuts. Ihezuo was on the bench. Ihezuo would have replaced Oparanozie as early as 50 minutes if the coach really wanted a win. Its as if he planned to draw the game.
4. Goal keeping. I still insist Nnadozie is a better goalie than the one we have playing. It seems to me that the coaches are not playing the best ones.


The UGLY
1. Oparanozie was piss poor! Gosh. She was just not ready. Playing 90 minutes was criminal and the coach should be ashamed. For us to beat Zambia, she needs to start on the bench and Ihezuo starts in her place.
2. Chikwelu is struggling and should be dropped.
3. Set pieces were just being wasted up and down.

I doubt we can qualify from this group unless we win by big scorelines, Our falcons keeps getting worse under pinnick board

olapluto:
Our starting 11. I'm really happy the coach will start Ajibade, but dropping Okobi is a big big thing. A new era.
Clear 4-2-1-3 formation. I hope Ajibade doesnt have todo defensive duties much today. All eyes on her.

How creative is Ajibade? We shall see.

The beginning of the end for the Falcons. This girl will never amount to anything in soccer.

olapluto:
Ajibade is showing form!! My girl!

The major reason Nigeria will continue to fail. Tribal sentiment is lord.

olapluto:
Half time, so far so good. We still the team to beat. Oshoala warming herself into the game. I see a 2-0 win here.
Defensively, we look a bit more solid. Midfield struggling to hold the game. Ajibade is balling sense. She sparks almost every attack.

You are a day dreamer!!!

isaiah9:
Very disappointed not because we lost but because we played like some secondary school team.

We cannot win with tired legs and extroverts.

You mean Ajibade Rasheedat? Wow... Please but why do you say this? Don't you consider her talented enough?

Duru1:
The beginning of the end for the Falcons. This girl will never amount to anything in soccer.

BascoVanVeli:
I will press charges on anyone who tells me that Chikwelu is a good player, in fact her and Ayinde were bums today. The coach did not start being poor today, he was exposed by France and even Okon.would have won WAFU with Rivers angels. I can't blame Oshoala because at least she created chances but I would have liked her to shoot on a couple occasions. Oparanozie should have been changed instead of Franny, she had a very bad day at office

Before the game and selection of the players, I tagged most of the invited players as tired legs and stand by the comment. If I had coached this team, Ajibade, Imo, Operanozie, Chikwelu, Ayinde, Onome, Ohale and Ikidi probably would not have made the cut. I would have introduced players such Uchechi Sunday, Emenayo, Duru, Efih, Igboamalu, Okeke, Ucheibe, Opeyemi, Ijamilusi and Biahwo. I think Peter Dededvo should have been appointed the coach.

olapluto:
This match totally changed my opinion of the coaching crew. They seem to be really clueless. Best defensive midfielder left at home. Everything just looks off.

Next match, I'll start a 4 player midfield. If we dont know where we're going, we should know where we're coming from.

There is nothing coaching expertise could do when the tired legs were fielded. The team failed from the get go.

TheSuperNerd:
You mean Ajibade Rasheedat? Wow... Please but why do you say this? Don't you consider her talented enough?

Have you not seen talented players without a trophy? Sometimes talent alone would not cut it but luck. Any team this girl is a member hardly makes it out of a group stage.

Looollll... Okay now I get you. So you are saying she is a kind of bad luck or bad omen for the team? Loooll

Duru1:
Have you not seen talented players without a trophy? Sometimes talent alone would not cut it but luck. Any team this girl is a member hardly makes it out of a group stage.

TheSuperNerd:
Looollll... Okay now I get you. So you are saying she is a kind of bad luck or bad omen for the team? Loooll

I was shocked when I read similar statement some days before the tournament started.

She is a real gem for the future.It is better they introduce her in the 2nd half to display her perfect ball control and eagle eye defence splitting passes ,when the opposition defense is worn out.

Wow. You read similar comments about Ajibade before the game sef... Was it made on this thread? I believe Sir Duru1 is just really angry about the SA game and he has a right to be. I have known his moniker in women's football threads since 2015 so that is why I was curious to know why he made such comment about Ajibade.

And I agree with you. Ajibade should not start. Okobi should start... Ajibade can play the role of impact sub for now with her top techincal attributes especially her vision and her passing. She is also very good from the wings and through the center via running or bombing or even sneaking into the box as a pseudo forward. Like you said, she is for the future but I really am not comfortable with her starting just yet. Okobi should start.

khunz:
I was shocked when I ready similar statement some days before the tournament stated.

She is a real gem for the future.It is better they introduce her in the 2nd half to display her perfect ball and eagle eye defence splitting passes ,when the opposition defense is worn out.

TheSuperNerd:
Wow. You read similar comments about Ajibade before the game sef... Was it made on this thread? I believe Sir Duru1 is just really angry about the SA game and he has a right to be. I have known his moniker in women's football threads since 2015 so that is why I was curious to know why he made such comment about Ajibade.

And I agree with you. Ajibade should not start. Okobi should start... Ajibade can play the role of impact sub for now with her top techincal attributes especially her vision and her passing. She is also very good from the wings and through the center via running or bombing or even sneaking into the box as a pseudo forward. Like you said, she is for the future but I really am not comfortable with her starting just yet. Okobi should start.

Super,

Ajibade will not play for me if I am the coach. There are reasons behind certain decisions coaches make. I shall play Efih, Igboamalu, Biahwo and Ijamilusi instead.

Chaaaiiii... Ajibade has suffered oooo... Anyway shaa, let me just leave it at that.

But let me ask shaa... Will she make your bench at least?

Duru1:
Super,

Ajibade will not play for me if I am the coach. There are reasons behind certain decisions coaches make. I shall play Efih, Igboamalu, Biahwo and Ijamilusi instead.

Although the Super Falcons performed horribly on Sunday, the team would have to realize that a WC place is at stake and buckle up in the 2 remaining group games.
In fact, the SF could end up winning the whole event. Yes, I've seen this movie before. At the 2001 U-17 WC, Nigeria beat France 2-1 in their opening group match. The Golden Eaglets thoroughly outplayed the French team, and I believe the French team only had one attempt on target. But when both teams met in the final, the French handed our boys a 3-0 thrashing, and completely dominated that game as well. Likewise, the USA women's team lost 0-2 to Norway in their opening game at the 2008 Olympics. But guess what, the same Team USA, recovered from their poor start and went on to win the gold medal.

So, I'v not lost all hope in this team. However, the atrocious long-ball tactic has to give way to patient build-ups from the back and/or the midfield. As someone said earlier, hoofing the ball is not in the DNA of Nigerian national teams. Oshoala and Ordega would perform better if fed through balls from the midfield.

Nice piece of historical inspiration there Man. Well we hope for the best and a roaring response on Wednesday against the Shepolopolo. The Real Super Falcons just have to show up... No more second chances.

PDPGuy:
Although the Super Falcons performed horribly on Sunday, the team would have to realize that a WC place is at stake and buckle up in the 2 remaining group games.
In fact, the SF could end up winning the whole event. Yes, I've seen this movie before. At the 2001 U-17 WC, Nigeria beat France 2-1 in their opening group match. The Golden Eaglets thoroughly outplayed the French team, and I believe the French team only had one attempt on target. But when both teams met in the final, the French handed our boys a 3-0 thrashing, and completely dominated that game as well. Likewise, the USA women's team lost 0-2 to Norway in their opening game at the 2008 Olympics. But guess what, the same Team USA, recovered from their poor start and went on to win the gold medal.

So, I'v not lost all hope in this team. However, the atrocious long-ball tactic has to give way to patient build-ups from the back and/or the midfield. As someone said earlier, hoofing the ball is not in the DNA of Nigerian national teams. Oshoala and Ordega would perform better if fed through balls from the midfield.

I don't think it is necessary to bench Ajibade for Okobi. Both can play. The front line should read something like Ihezuo (9), Oshoala (, Ordega (7/11) and the midfield Okobi (10) and Ajibade (7/11). No need for Rita in the team. No need also for Ikidi, Sarah Nnodim can play in the right though and Ngozi Ebere left.

Faith Ikidi really forgot that the Strikers in the team are not her old teammates eg... Perpetual Nkwocha, Cynthia Uwak, ifeanyi Chiejiene, Stella Mbachu who were used to her rapport style of playing the ball...
she have to get the ball down and play with her experience...

The goalkeeping was okay but I haven't seen a goalkeeper as confident as Alaba Jonathan... Alaba is a fearless goalkeeper, she nor da shake at all.... Even with her average height she still make up for it with her experience and vision.... #Bring Alaba back to the team after the AWCON.

The coach can retain the defenders against the Zambian.. But the midfield should be a 3 Women midfield..
revert Rita Chikwelu to the Defensive midfield position she played at the 2016 edition.... Halimatu Ayinde is strong and energetic should be our center midfielder.....
Then Okobi should play her usual role.... At least with this the defence won't be much troubled with a DM in front of them cleaning up the mess from the midfield..
Ajibade can come in for Okobi later when she is tired and after overworking her self...

Ordega,,, Oshoala,,, oparanozie can attack well now since okobi will be there to feed them with her excellent and defence splitting passes...

Okobi is Light weight yes!!!
But her excellent way of getting past her marker is equal to None... Okobi have to start she is our Best midfielder
Okobi primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, but can also be deployed in central midfield as a deep-lying midfielder, or as a winger.Two of Okobi's most common exemplary traits are her vision and passing, which have been described as "one-of-a-kind" and "sublime", respectively. She is also known for her distinct understanding of the game, which has led to her developing "a great football IQ". In addition to her creativity, eye for goal, and tactical awareness, she is known for outstanding control and dribbling ability, as well as her elegance on the ball.Her technical skill and ability to read the game allow her to determine "when to take a defender on one-on-one, how to find a teammate with a slide-rule pass, and how to exploit tight spaces to create scoring chances for herself and her cohorts".For these reasons, her playing style has drawn comparisons with Iniesta of Spain.