Earthquake1:


Rohr respects him as the team's captain

Dassall

Yep and even before that, didn't drop him when he was on a terrible run of form at Leicester.

tbaba1234:
Does the super eagles still need Ahmed Musa?

of course.. to outpace tired defenders in final stages of matches.

Lol...

Haba naa e no go reach... U23 AFCON is around the corner already. What's the need celebrating this win for that long if we don't do well in November. Lol... abeg make una leave Basco alone joor... na only me and am and then Elyte89 who show supreme confidence as regards our boys spanking Sudan. After that 1-0 reversal we were like no shaking.. we go kill them for Asaba. And we were proven right. The rest una dey shake... lol
Bia Charles... take ya time ooo... and say me hi to thy son Joe.

charlesemeka85:
U go celebrate this win against sudan for 6 months

Without bias, I believe I would rather have a Musa coming in than a Moses Simon. I like Simon but Musa will offer more on the flanks than Simon. And Simon would not bench Kalu or Chuks (especially in an attacking set-up). He only benches Chuks for now in a defensive setup. Kalu is unbenchable in both set-ups.

And then there is Onyekuru. A rising Bonaventure and soon-to-be-gotten Lookman. Simon needs to step up his game so bad.

tbaba1234:
Does the super eagles still need Ahmed Musa?

he will hear

TheSuperNerd:
Lol...

Haba naa e no go reach... U23 AFCON is around the corner already. What's the need celebrating this win for that long if we don't do well in November. Lol... abeg make una leave Basco alone joor... na only me and am and then Elyte89 who show supreme confidence as regards our boys spanking Sudan. After that 1-0 reversal we were like no shaking.. we go kill them for Asaba. And we were proven right. The rest una dey shake... lol
Bia Charles... take ya time ooo... and say me hi to thy son Joe.

tbaba1234:


When is the tournament?

8-22 November

Icon4s:


8-22 November

Meaning we can not get most of our best players. It will be tough.

UKRAINE 2-2 NIGERIA: SPEED AND TRANSITION
By Solace Chukwu

During the Africa Cup of Nations, I wrote about how Gernot Rohr might want to take a cue from what Leicester are doing in terms of shape.

The context of that, however, was two-fold. First, it was necessary to devise a means by which the space between the defence and midfield lines would be eradicated. The downside of playing a double pivot when neither player is a natural “holder” is that you’re relying on an instinct that neither necessarily has.

The solution to that would then be to hard-code that behaviour by designation. Rather than trusting them to pick and choose their moments – one sitting while the other advances – it would be safer to have one in that role permanently.

The other important context in which the suggestion was made was Wilfred Ndidi, and how to synchronize with his evolution at club level. Playing as a lone pivot in a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 at Leicester, he is required to be less and less the roving, ball-winning twister he wants to be, and hold a more defined position in front of the back four, using his agility and defensive instincts to be in the right position.

As it turns out, Ndidi was not involved on Tuesday night, as Nigeria played out a thoroughly entertaining 2-2 draw against Ukraine in Dnipro.

However, we saw a 4-1-4-1 shape out of possession that Rohr really has not used before, with Oghenekaro Etebo(!) designated as the holding midfielder, and it was…quite interesting to observe.

It may well be that, with Ndidi available, the shape would have been different. After all, the only other option available to the German coach was the returning Anderson Esiti. So this may simply have been a matter of necessity. However, what this shape brought to the fore was just how much of a miss it has been playing with two limited pivots in front of the defence for so long.

When playing a 4-2-3-1 – as Rohr has done for the vast majority of his time in charge – you have one less player ahead of the ball in midfield as an option to play forward. That problem is magnified when neither of the two holders can carry the ball forward against pressure, or can pass reliably through the lines; this was the reality the team was forced to grapple with at the AFCON in the summer.

On Tuesday, a deeper starting position for Alex Iwobi meant he was optimally placed to play the first pass out in transitions, as opposed to being ahead of the ball. He was immense in that respect, and revelled in his free role – partly an ‘8’, partly a ’10’ – to get counter-attacks going.

On the other side, Joe Aribo had a truly superb performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal from an Iwobi cut-back. It’s a little unusual to have two central midfielders combining for a goal, but it spoke also to another big difference from the AFCON: there was a commitment to getting numbers into the box to finish moves: all of Aribo, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze were attacking the six-yard box when the ball came in.

Beyond the goal however, Aribo also suited the team’s transitional game: his ability to retain the ball under pressure, and also to burst past it with a dribble, while at the same time moving the ball quickly when the occasion demanded it, meant there was a more natural flow to the team’s play.

And in the early possession phase, sparse as that was in this game, he dropped alongside Etebo to receive the ball and attract opponents up the pitch, allowing Iwobi to slide into more central positions on the blindside of the Ukraine midfield and combine with the forwards.

As Ukraine coach Andriy Shevchenko admitted, they were particularly susceptible to the Nigerian strategy. “We played with a lot of players in the other half,” he said. “After the break, we acted more carefully.”

So, no problems then? Not so fast.

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

Ukraine did improve in the second period, and found joy mostly going in behind Jamilu Collins, who has been known to get his body shape wrong in defensive situations, and mostly makes up for it with his athleticism. However, it is instructive just how unable Nigeria was to create danger once Iwobi went off: his role was key to the transitions, and it became increasingly difficult to get the ball, as well as bodies, forward.

However, it is difficult not to be enthused by the first-half display, even with the caveat that Ukraine left themselves much too open. It featured an infrequent occurrence in the Rohr era: the entire team (bar Etebo) playing in positions and interpreting roles for which they were all perfectly suited, and it showed.

The other nations too won't have the luxury of their foreign legion except for those whose best players are homebased. Tough for them too as much as it will be for us.

tbaba1234:


Meaning we can not get most of our best players. It will be tough.

The bolded is what i have been saying about Aribo.

Solace Chukwu on Aribo:

On the other side, Joe Aribo had a truly superb performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal from an Iwobi cut-back. It’s a little unusual to have two central midfielders combining for a goal, but it spoke also to another big difference from the AFCON: there was a commitment to getting numbers into the box to finish moves: all of Aribo, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze were attacking the six-yard box when the ball came in.

Beyond the goal however, Aribo also suited the team’s transitional game: his ability to retain the ball under pressure, and also to burst past it with a dribble, while at the same time moving the ball quickly when the occasion demanded it, meant there was a more natural flow to the team’s play.

Solace Chukwu critique of Etebo:

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

charlesemeka85:
U go celebrate this win against sudan for 6 months

E dey pain am

Solace is right. Etebo is athletic, a great ball hugger/retainer, fine ball winner and has workrate only rivalled by Ndidi but he doesn't have the positional discipline Ndidi has to play DM well enough even though he tried yesterday with a decent shift.

Also he loves to hug the ball so much and is inept when it comes to plays transition/linking plays quickly from defence to attack. This is why he as CM didn't work so well against a well coached team like Algeria. We were playing with two ball winners who didn't really know what else to do with the ball going forward and our transitional plays suffered a great deal.

This is why the Iwobi-Etebo-Ndidi midfield trio must break up sooner or later and allow this evolution take deep root.

tbaba1234:
Solace Chukwu critique of Etebo:

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

tbaba1234:
Solace Chukwu critique of Etebo:

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

This is just embarrassing and I feel it is the biggest problem in our football even bigger than age cheating. Reporters using their podium to spread propaganda. Complete biased nonsense

Nice one

tbaba1234:
UKRAINE 2-2 NIGERIA: SPEED AND TRANSITION
By Solace Chukwu

During the Africa Cup of Nations, I wrote about how Gernot Rohr might want to take a cue from what Leicester are doing in terms of shape.

The context of that, however, was two-fold. First, it was necessary to devise a means by which the space between the defence and midfield lines would be eradicated. The downside of playing a double pivot when neither player is a natural “holder” is that you’re relying on an instinct that neither necessarily has.

The solution to that would then be to hard-code that behaviour by designation. Rather than trusting them to pick and choose their moments – one sitting while the other advances – it would be safer to have one in that role permanently.

The other important context in which the suggestion was made was Wilfred Ndidi, and how to synchronize with his evolution at club level. Playing as a lone pivot in a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 at Leicester, he is required to be less and less the roving, ball-winning twister he wants to be, and hold a more defined position in front of the back four, using his agility and defensive instincts to be in the right position.

As it turns out, Ndidi was not involved on Tuesday night, as Nigeria played out a thoroughly entertaining 2-2 draw against Ukraine in Dnipro.

However, we saw a 4-1-4-1 shape out of possession that Rohr really has not used before, with Oghenekaro Etebo(!) designated as the holding midfielder, and it was…quite interesting to observe.

It may well be that, with Ndidi available, the shape would have been different. After all, the only other option available to the German coach was the returning Anderson Esiti. So this may simply have been a matter of necessity. However, what this shape brought to the fore was just how much of a miss it has been playing with two limited pivots in front of the defence for so long.

When playing a 4-2-3-1 – as Rohr has done for the vast majority of his time in charge – you have one less player ahead of the ball in midfield as an option to play forward. That problem is magnified when neither of the two holders can carry the ball forward against pressure, or can pass reliably through the lines; this was the reality the team was forced to grapple with at the AFCON in the summer.

On Tuesday, a deeper starting position for Alex Iwobi meant he was optimally placed to play the first pass out in transitions, as opposed to being ahead of the ball. He was immense in that respect, and revelled in his free role – partly an ‘8’, partly a ’10’ – to get counter-attacks going.

On the other side, Joe Aribo had a truly superb performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal from an Iwobi cut-back. It’s a little unusual to have two central midfielders combining for a goal, but it spoke also to another big difference from the AFCON: there was a commitment to getting numbers into the box to finish moves: all of Aribo, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze were attacking the six-yard box when the ball came in.

Beyond the goal however, Aribo also suited the team’s transitional game: his ability to retain the ball under pressure, and also to burst past it with a dribble, while at the same time moving the ball quickly when the occasion demanded it, meant there was a more natural flow to the team’s play.

And in the early possession phase, sparse as that was in this game, he dropped alongside Etebo to receive the ball and attract opponents up the pitch, allowing Iwobi to slide into more central positions on the blindside of the Ukraine midfield and combine with the forwards.

As Ukraine coach Andriy Shevchenko admitted, they were particularly susceptible to the Nigerian strategy. “We played with a lot of players in the other half,” he said. “After the break, we acted more carefully.”

So, no problems then? Not so fast.

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

Ukraine did improve in the second period, and found joy mostly going in behind Jamilu Collins, who has been known to get his body shape wrong in defensive situations, and mostly makes up for it with his athleticism. However, it is instructive just how unable Nigeria was to create danger once Iwobi went off: his role was key to the transitions, and it became increasingly difficult to get the ball, as well as bodies, forward.

However, it is difficult not to be enthused by the first-half display, even with the caveat that Ukraine left themselves much too open. It featured an infrequent occurrence in the Rohr era: the entire team (bar Etebo) playing in positions and interpreting roles for which they were all perfectly suited, and it showed.

The bolded is also why I boldly stated that one of Etebo or Ndidi must eventually drop off the Starting XI. This is an Upgrade and suits nicely our team"s attacking plays and strengths so most likely Etebo will have to give way sooner or later.

More games for Iwobi-Aribo-Ndidi/Etebo will see us birth a new super midfield trio and then what follows
would be squad depth in those specific roles.

tbaba1234:
The bolded is what i have been saying about Aribo.

Solace Chukwu on Aribo:

On the other side, Joe Aribo had a truly superb performance on his debut, scoring the opening goal from an Iwobi cut-back. It’s a little unusual to have two central midfielders combining for a goal, but it spoke also to another big difference from the AFCON: there was a commitment to getting numbers into the box to finish moves: all of Aribo, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze were attacking the six-yard box when the ball came in.

Beyond the goal however, Aribo also suited the team’s transitional game: his ability to retain the ball under pressure, and also to burst past it with a dribble, while at the same time moving the ball quickly when the occasion demanded it, meant there was a more natural flow to the team’s play.

Relax Basco. Etebo is a fine footballer. Great dribbler. Excellent Ball winner. Hard to take off the ball and unbeatable fighter. But Solace is not saying rocket science. I stated same thing but in more balanced terms even before that article dropped. Etebo does not know how to transit play effortlessly and of course is trumped by Ndidi when it comes to positional discipline for the DM role.

BascoVanVeli:



This is just embarrassing and I feel it is the biggest problem in our football even bigger than age cheating. Reporters using their podium to spread propaganda. Complete biased nonsense

BascoVanVeli:


But you didn't say this about Aribo who is in Scotland.

there's a difference Joseph just move to Scotland and has been improving while zubby has been in and out of Turkey for years

BascoVanVeli:



This is just embarrassing and I feel it is the biggest problem in our football even bigger than age cheating. Reporters using their podium to spread propaganda. Complete biased nonsense

I read the piece and I just cannot believe the nonsensical analysis coming from Solace. For goodness sake Etebo has been an upgrade on Ndidi since the world cup and yesterday was no different. Even if anyone has to sit, definitely has to be Ndidi

TheSuperNerd:
The bolded is also why I boldly stated that one of Etebo or Ndidi must eventually drop off the Starting XI. This is an Upgrade and suits nicely our team"s attacking plays and strengths so most likely Etebo will have to give way sooner or later.

More games for Iwobi-Aribo-Ndidi/Etebo will see us birth a new super midfield trio and then what follows
would be squad depth in those specific roles.

If I will pick..base on eagles performance so far, I will sacrifice ndidi for d trio, however due to some obvious sentiment, ndidi will never be dropped to d bench

tbaba1234:
Solace Chukwu critique of Etebo:

For one thing, the selection of Etebo as a holder, while it may have been a matter of necessity, was an obvious point of concern. It wasn’t all bad though: a trio of athletic, nimble midfielders closing down in midfield meant Nigeria got a lot of interceptions, and it is clearly a thing Rohr wants.

However, the Stoke midfielder completely lacks positional discipline, and it is not so much a question of will as it is one of habit: this is, after all, a forward trapped in a defensive midfielder’s body, as it were, yearning to break free on an elemental level.

Here, he often got drawn to the ball needlessly and got passed around. Ukraine turned the Nigeria midfield quite a few times even in the opening half, but often failed in executing the final pass. They did, however, foreshadow their eventual equalizer when Junior Morales ran off the back of William Troost-Ekong, only to be thwarted and clattered into by Francis Uzoho racing off his line.

I maybe a genius because I called this correctly

TheSuperNerd:
Solace is right. Etebo is athletic, a great ball hugger/retainer, fine ball winner and has workrate only rivalled by Ndidi but he doesn't have the positional discipline Ndidi has to play DM well enough even though he tried yesterday with a decent shift.

Also he loves to hug the ball so much and is inept when it comes to plays transition/linking plays quickly from defence to attack. This is why he as CM didn't work so well against a well coached team like Algeria. We were playing with two ball winners who didn't really know what else to do with the ball going forward and our transitional plays suffered a great deal.

This is why the Iwobi-Etebo-Ndidi midfield trio must break up sooner or later and allow this evolution take deep root.

Another game where we enjoyed quick transitions was the Argentinian friendly. A key reason for that was John Ogu, because he lets the ball go quickly. Ogu lacks the mobility of Aribo though.

---

elyte89:



If I will pick..base on eagles performance so far, I will sacrifice ndidi for d trio, however due to some obvious sentiment, ndidi will never be dropped to d bench

I think Ndidi will protect the defense better than any other player, we have. Even in the first half, our defense had issues. Play Ndidi in the same Leicester role.

tbaba1234:

---

I think Ndidi will protect the defense better than any other player, we have. Even in the first half, our defense had issues. Play Ndidi in the same Leicester role.

Dt is what u guys av not realize..Ndidi is a very fine player for Leicester city but when it comes Nigeria, he dont get to c half of his performance in his club, he's kind of a two diff player,it could b dt d coaching crew here don't knw aw to maximize his function or d players he plays with here re not bringing out d best in him or both.. All I knw is ndidi in all fairness to him has not been top notch for eagles,I av enjoyed etebo play to ndidi(both av played in two tournaments now) and etebo has played better ...so if I were rohr going forward..I might just stick to d trio we used yday


Wyle ZUBBY/NDIDI COMES IN...I KNW SAY DIS ONE GO VEX charlesemeka85 as I mention Zubby

charlesemeka85:
Aribo is no dm and even if he is versatile to play there he is not as as good as ndidi as a DM.

Aribo is a ball carrier and a good one at that so the best position for him is the CM

That's what some people use to say about Ngolo Kante until he redefined the term DM.

I can now say the rest is HISTORY.

You need to stop being so rigid and parochial playing the DM role is not a straight jacket.

elyte89:



Dt is what u guys av not realize..Ndidi is a very fine player for Leicester city but when it comes Nigeria, he dont get to c half of his performance in his club, he's kind of a two diff player,it could b dt d coaching crew here don't knw aw to maximize his function or d players he plays with here re not bringing out d best in him or both.. All I knw is ndidi in all fairness to him has not been top notch for eagles,I av enjoyed etebo play to ndidi(both av played in two tournaments now) and etebo has played better ...so if I were rohr going forward..I might just stick to d trio we used yday


Wyle ZUBBY/NDIDI COMES IN...I KNW SAY DIS ONE GO VEX charlesemeka85 as I mention Zubby

I think Ndidi should play as a single pivot . That double pivot with two DMs makes us defensively strong but we sacrifice attacks. If we want to balance the team, we need to sacrifice one.

Besides tackles and interceptions, Ndidi is also strong in the air so he will be my first choice to protect the defense. Infact, i think it will make our transitions quicker and make us more defensively sound.

Ramon Azeez is a name that has not been mentioned.

Nigerian fans love a midfielder that cuddles the ball and dribbles but the more effective midfielders are those who know when to let the ball flow and when to hold it.

tbaba1234:
Ramon Azeez is a name that has not been mentioned.

We might just b adding him to d folds simply because he now plays in LA liga...he's not adding anything new to what we av...but for bench sake..its ok

tbaba1234:
Nigerian fans love a midfielder that cuddles the ball and dribbles but the more effective midfielders are those who know when to let the ball flow and when to hold it.

Holding the ball is kind of useless, it does not help the attack rather puts a lot a lot of pressure on the team

Etebo always get rave reviews after every match but nobody can say what he has done

That is intelligent cm midfielders.

tbaba1234:
Nigerian fans love a midfielder that cuddles the ball and dribbles but the more effective midfielders are those who know when to let the ball flow and when to hold it.

Earthquake1:


Holding the ball is kind of useless, it does not help the attack rather puts a lot a lot of pressure on the team

Etebo always get rave reviews after every match but nobody can say what he has done

What he has done?...he only goes to d pitch to sing d national anthem and goes back to d dressing room immediately