₦airaland Forum

jihday:
he’s only good as an underdog

Who is your idea of a good coach for the Super Eagles?

Hardrive:
We need a south African coach for our super eagles and maybe later the super falcons. They know what they are doing up there.

As far back as 3 - 5 years ago, I touted Pitso Motsimane as a good coach for the Super Eagles in this thread. I was particularly impressed by the work he did with Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly. I only disembarked from his horse when I learnt his salary is six figures/month in USD. NFF no fit afford that one.

I like Desiree Ellis too. She's done extremely well with Bayana Bayana but she no dey market. Make we continue to dey manage Madugu.

Bossoflife25:
Why should my team aspire to play like a team that has not outplayed nor defeat its in four outings in 6 years? Why should my team with a silver and bronze in the last 3 AFCONS play like a team with just a bronze. Why should my team play like I team I dominated over two legs in our last two meetings? How na?The only team it defeated that I did not defeat is Zimbabwe. Remember, SA played 80% of it matches at home with almost same players throughout the qualifiers while we started with dem Awoniyi, Boniface, Iheanacho, Aribo dem!! I assume you should know this asper your position here! Sometimes your write up disappoints me. lol!

Baba, your write-up dey disappoint me same way my own too dey disappoint you. Na normal thing for this online football viewing centre.

And pls my position here has nothing to do with football knowledge or analysis. E no be criteria and I no dey form say na me sabi analyze football pass.

I am judging SA strictly based on their quality of play but perhaps your own assessment of their team is tainted with remnants of Nigeria-South Africa rivalry, Naija patriotic fervour, and dislike for SA........which I perfectly understand.

By the way, I was gladdened by the outcome of the match but I'll be lying to say Bafana Bafana is not a damn good team.

Anyways, make we agree to disagree agreeably. Take care.

BankyGee:
Yeah, in the first half Egypt were better, but they weren't out playing SA, SA weren't poor too.

Quality will always show, who big pass you big pass you, but SA will play you clean football even if they'd go on to lose. I'm not even trying to say I wanted South Africa to win or anything. My argument is simple – that South Africa are a good team.

Baba, some people cannot see beyond their hate dislike for SA. lt's the reason I was given flak for listing them in my top 5 favourites to win the AFCON.

SA na very good team. In the last two years, we've met them thrice and have not been able to dominate, outplay or defeat them in regulation time. In the same vein, they defeated teams we could not in the WCQs.

Aside the results, SA plays very good footie. The way they set up, take up positions, knock the ball around, play with almost telepathic understanding is a joy to watch and is indicative of a well-coached and well-drilled side. Their loss to Egypt today doesn't change how I rate them.

SA's total output is far greater than the sum of their individual parts. The Super Eagles on the other hand, despite having higher individual quality produces less output in terms of quality of play.

Me, I'll be glad to see our team play the way SA does because if we can raise our game play to that level then forget we go win this AFCON.

Pls can someone explain the Israel connection in the American strike in Sokoto?

Thank you raumdeuter. I don see the BIG hand of fellowship wey you extend.

As FG never show me love this month, e go dey useful to block one or two.

Daalu! Imieka! Ese gan!

POTUS, ese pupo 👍

PDPGuy:
Oblee too cost 😮‍💨😂

Economics 101.

Opportunity cost - The alternative forgone when a choice is made.

Merry Christmas to all Naija football lovers.

Hope today comes with peace, good food, loud laughter and small break from Naija wahala.

As AFCON no dey today, make una go outside to enjoy. Tomorrow go sort itself.

Wishing you blissful celebrations.

Merry Christmas to everyone on this thread.

Hope today comes with peace, good food, loud laughter and small break from Naija wahala.

Enjoy today. Tomorrow go sort itself.

JohnBullMySon:
Nah I doubt this was the case. When the game was about to start. He was praising Nigeria and almost berating Tanzania. He mentioned that Tanzania will not stand the pressure from the Eagles due to the lack of quality club sides in the squad ( I was surprised when he said that cause I found it borderline insulting to Tanzania).

As the game progressed he was still echoing that until he started to get a bit frustrated around 20-30 mins cos the Eagles were not owning the match the way he wanted.

I think that in order not to sound his frustration out he switched to praising the Tanzanian team, even though they were shitty as well.

Pls read my previous post before the one you quoted. Its more detailed and reposted below. We can agree to disagree agreeably if our opinions still defer thereafter

semid4lyfe:
There are two commentators in football matches, the Play-By-Play commentator and the Colour commentator.

Play-by-play commentators are those who run commentary and narrates the action as it happens. He speaks constantly during the match, describes who has the ball, where it is, and what is going on. eg Corner kick to Nigeria. Chukwueze takes it short to Lukman. Lukman passes back to Iwobi, wobi floats in a cross, Semi Ajayi rises above his marker, and nods it into the corner beyond the reach of the goalkeeper, and its a goal. Play-by-play commentators are usually professionally trained, experienced and are expected to be neutral.

A Colour commentator on the other hand adds interpretation, context and explanations. They are mostly not commentary professionals, and are usually coaches and retired footballers. They talk during pauses or after key moments in the game. Their commentary is mostly subjective and biased. eg. Chukwueze run dragged the right-centre back away and created space for Osimhen, and Osimhen has to be finishing better from there.

Sunday Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi, Victor Ikpeba et al have all being colour commentators.

Watching the game yesterday, especially in the first half. we were playing so well, controlling the game and to my shock, Oliseh was praising the Tanzanian team as if they were the better team. It was incredulous to me. And to worsen matters he was overtly critical of the Nigerian team and I think he didn't fully grasp his job description.

As a colour commentator he is allowed to be biased. The fact he's Nigerian is even the reason he was selected to commentate the match. I felt he thought he was supposed to be unbiased and in wanting to do that he overcompensated by being too critical of the Nigerian team.

Also, hin change mouth many times during the course of the game, which many people viewed as hypocrisy. One minute Nigeria was poor, next minute we were dominant. No clear line. No consistency. It came off confused. (You need to listen to his post match comments which was a complete contradiction of his match commentary).

Lastly, he kept doing deep tactical and technical breakdowns in the middle of live play. That is not colour commentary. That is post-match analysis. That level of detail belongs in a studio, with clips and pauses, not during a flowing game.

That is the real issue. Nigerians were not angry because he criticised the team. We criticise the Super Eagles every day. The problem was timing, tone, and role confusion.

As a colour commentator, his job was to add flavour, context, and insight without killing the moment. Support the team emotionally, even while pointing out flaws.
Oliseh spoke like someone afraid of being accused of bias, so he swung too far the other way.

Football commentary no be exam. Na conversation with fans wey dey watch the same match as you. Many Nigerian fans accessed the game differently from his commentary hence the backlash he received.

Goke7:
😂 oliseh thought it was his normal podcast show where he berates the nff, players and the entire nation. Dude no sabi the job description as you clearly stated. He carry activism go match commentary, ode!

Beyond the pitch dude got nothing more, a divisive character per excellence. His eloquence is what makes people thinking he’s got anything extra. Today he will support tiki taka tomorrow he go change am to parking the bus. Phew

The Pep Guardiola wannabe was hate watching his country but dem say na unbiased critical analysis.

Nonsense.

NasirIbnLaAhad:
He did his job well. I don't understand the outrage over his comments. Majority of them sound like nitpicking or misplaced attacks. I also get the feeling that people are reading too much into his statements during the game. For example, Oliseh has come out with his own mouth to defend Chelle and Osimhen in the past and now people here want to pretend he's against them. Its fine if they want to insist that such is the case, but without any evidence, I don't take it as anything more than the usual groaning and moaning from the usual suspects. For me, he was trying his best not to sound too biased towards Nigeria.

There are two commentators in football matches, the Play-By-Play commentator and the Colour commentator.

Play-by-play commentators are those who run commentary and narrates the action as it happens. He speaks constantly during the match, describes who has the ball, where it is, and what is going on. eg Corner kick to Nigeria. Chukwueze takes it short to Lukman. Lukman passes back to Iwobi, wobi floats in a cross, Semi Ajayi rises above his marker, and nods it into the corner beyond the reach of the goalkeeper, and its a goal. Play-by-play commentators are usually professionally trained, experienced and are expected to be neutral.

A Colour commentator on the other hand adds interpretation, context and explanations. They are mostly not commentary professionals, and are usually coaches and retired footballers. They talk during pauses or after key moments in the game. Their commentary is mostly subjective and biased. eg. Chukwueze run dragged the right-centre back away and created space for Osimhen, and Osimhen has to be finishing better from there.

Sunday Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi, Victor Ikpeba et al have all being colour commentators.

Watching the game yesterday, especially in the first half. we were playing so well, controlling the game and to my shock, Oliseh was praising the Tanzanian team as if they were the better team. It was incredulous to me. And to worsen matters he was overtly critical of the Nigerian team and I think he didn't fully grasp his job description.

As a colour commentator he is allowed to be biased. The fact he's Nigerian is even the reason he was selected to commentate the match. I felt he thought he was supposed to be unbiased and in wanting to do that he overcompensated by being too critical of the Nigerian team.

Also, hin change mouth many times during the course of the game, which many people viewed as hypocrisy. One minute Nigeria was poor, next minute we were dominant. No clear line. No consistency. It came off confused. (You need to listen to his post match comments which was a complete contradiction of his match commentary).

Lastly, he kept doing deep tactical and technical breakdowns in the middle of live play. That is not colour commentary. That is post-match analysis. That level of detail belongs in a studio, with clips and pauses, not during a flowing game.

That is the real issue. Nigerians were not angry because he criticised the team. We criticise the Super Eagles every day. The problem was timing, tone, and role confusion.

As a colour commentator, his job was to add flavour, context, and insight without killing the moment. Support the team emotionally, even while pointing out flaws.
Oliseh spoke like someone afraid of being accused of bias, so he swung too far the other way.

Football commentary no be exam. Na conversation with fans wey dey watch the same match as you. Many Nigerian fans accessed the game differently from his commentary hence the backlash he received.

Spainever:
I agreed with you , I am not saying he played badly , I intend to say the chemistry of the team Adams and Chukueze was very strong and I doubt if there was need to introduce Moses

There was no need to introduce Moses Simon.

Chukwueze was very enterprising. He dribbled, took on defenders, and tucked into the half-spaces. He helped defensively by collapsing into midfield and gave us an extra body there. He also filled that gap between midfield and attack. Every time he got on the ball, I expected something to happen.

Moses Simon, on the other hand, hugged the touchline. He slowed the tempo. He delayed transitions. He killed promising attacks by taking too many touches. No synergy with Zaidu at all. Once Simon came on, Zaidu’s game dipped. Misplaced passes. Poor decisions. Jittery play.

The team lost balance. We became predictable. Everything went wide, nothing through the middle. The press weakened. The rhythm died.

Not every substitution improves a team. Eric Chelle needs to let the game breathe and leave what works on the pitch. No be everytime you gats do substitutions. And even if you wan do, make one at a time, observe the flow of the game for some more minutes before making further substitutions.

I happy we got the 3 points yesterday but the manner it was achieved left a bitter taste in my mouth, and we must massively improve if we want to defeat Tunisia.

Our defensive frailties worry me. Conceding again vs Tanzania means we have not kept a clean sheet in our last four games.

vs Gabon (1) ❌
vs DR Congo (1) ❌
vs Egypt (2) ❌
vs Tanzania (1) ❌

At this point and with the absence of the reliable Benjamin Fredericks and Ola Aina, I think Chelle should just switch to a three man central defence with two wing backs; Bassey, Ajayi, Ogbu, Osayi and Zaidu.

Also, we only dominate play when the opponents pack the bus and sit back. When they become daring, come out to play and start running at us, we become jittery, nervy and lose our dominance

This team has to massively improve if we're gonna go far

minfelix:
Tunisia is the next game

Noted boss. Grazie.

FiveFootNinja:
Tunisia first boss.

Noted my chairman. Thanks 👍

First match, 3 points in the bag. Hallelujah!

We go again against Tunisia

Did Congo field the dual-nationality players who are the subject of Nigeria's petition against Benin Republic?

BlueRayDick:
I don't blame the vendors at all. It's all about demand and supply na ; and then the social media angle u mentioned.

The GRWM videos flying everywhere has a very strong connection to how vendors now price their services so high this period but the fact that we have people willing to pay those prices will leave the vendors smiling to the bank and some home based Nigerians fuming.

My spouse wanted us to do family Christmas pyjamas shoot. She made inquiry from the guy who did our wedding shoot and I was seeing the price ranging from ₦120k, ₦180k, ₦250k and ₦300k depending on the package u choose 😂

I just told her to fall back to the guy who did our maternity shoot because that one's price was still reasonable compared to all these ones wey Wan collect my 4 years tuition fees through university in one sitting just to snap and edit our pishures

I'm sure when the season ends vendors will fall back to default settings, some of them will even use promotional offers and discounts to nearly wound-jure their home based customers when patronage drops.

O ti jasi. You fit use Gemini AI run photos that are clean and crisp, and look like they was taken with a high-end camera by a professional.

All you gats do is upload your real pics followed with a detailed prompt and AI will do the rest for you. If prompting na the issue, use the AI to prompt AI.

You'd get amazing results and when you really hack it, you wouldn't need to step into a studio ever again.

IJGBs too overdo. In Lagos, dem don make products and services unaffordable for the locals.

Every time, dem go set camera. GRWM as I go to the salon to get my braids done for $50. Come with me to get my nails done for $30 GRWM as I visit my fashion stylist for my asoebi outfit. The result:

Lip Gloss - 70k
Braiding of hair - 200k.
Fixing of nails - 277k
Doing make up - 500k
Medium-grade ankara boubou - 200k
Shortlet apartment for 11 nights - £9000 (N17.5m)

etc etc

Truly, many Nigerians vendors/service providers dey greedy and exploitative but IJGB too contributed to this price hike madness by turning their visit into flex olympics and trying to impress online strangers.

Many salons. hotels, malls and shops dey for area wey IJGB fit waka into and pay reasonable prices but dem no go go those places. Dem dey find the ones with marble floors, gigantic mirrors, screeded walls that are aesthetically pleasing to shoot content in.

Me, I cannot relate sha. I left Lagos years ago. My barber dey barb my hair for 1k. My daughter and wife made their hairs on Sunday. Wifey fixed her nails too. It was home-service and they spent about 10k.

At this rate. make everybody just forget about Detty December and go their villages go dey chase fowl.

joelsteron:
Work load on Iwobi reduced and his close to the box with Akinsanmiro bossing the midfield. Since he's box to box player.

Ndidi covering the defense.

Sanusi and Osayi helping the defence, closing up midfield, busting forward for crosses and pressing.

Osimhen amd Lookman wrecking havocs.

What is missing here my people?

My starting line-up too.

We've been leaking goals playing a back four and change of playing personnel hasn't worked. Perhaps playing three centre-backs and two wing-backs will solve the problem like in the last AFCON.

At this point, I think it's best for the two camps on this AFCON hosting debate to agree to disagree agreeably.

QueenJazz:
Semid4lyfe, Dominique et al why cant I receive a link to deactivate my account? Abeg oo. Let me leave football for the pundits and scholars and professionals abeg.

Calm down. E no reach to deactivate.

If na so everybody dey take commot on top differing opinions, this thread for no grow reach where e dey today that it'd interest you to post regularly in it.

If the heat too much, just take a break and come back later when the conversation has moved on.

Can Nigeria host AFCON?

The basic infrastructure already exists. Stadiums, training pitches. hotels, major roads, airports etc can be renovated/refurbished and brought up to the required standard.

Experience boku. Pedigree dey overflow. We've hosted global competitions before and can always rely on the experience garnered. All Africa Games, U-17 World Cup, U-20 World Cup, AFCON etc.

(In)Security-wise, it can be localized to the South and Abuja.

Tournament logistics na easy peasy and we go run am smoothly.

Huge football-crazy population and social media pull so massive TV viewership numbers and online engagements is guaranteed.

etc etc.

Nigeria’s ability to host AFCON rests on capacity, and I believe we have this in abundance.

forgiveness:
They want to bench Lookman for Adam because they think he is not good enough.

I just dey laugh.

He is arguably the best player in that team along with Osimhen.

Only if una wan deceive unaself you will put some players ahead of him.

See Atalanta, the same player that was poor under one coach suddenly regained form under another coach. Why? The latter trust his ability and gave him almost full time.

Lookma na second half player. Leave him till the end and see him perform.

Chelle lost it when he pulled him out against Dr Congo along with Osimhen. I couldn't understand his rational behind bringing him out.

Trust him and he will deliver. But I know why they are against him. They feel he is not assisting Osimhen. Shuuuuu!!!

They even lied on this platform SE never scored more than 2 goals when he played. What an irony!!!

Make un dey lie small small

Baba. no be say you talk but I talk the same thing after that DR Congo gane. Lookman is probably the only Super Eagles forward that drops into the half-spaces between the midfield and attack, and carries the ball forward. He brings dynamism to our play and should be starting ahead of other forwards as the second striker.

This was my post after the DR Congo game.

semid4lyfe:
I agree. I'll add that Lookman too shouldn't have been removed when he was. Twice in the first half, he got behind the Congolese right back.

The first substitutions that ought to have been made was removing Iwobi for Onyedika or Alhassan to shore up the midfield.

Then maybe later when the pressure was mounting switch to a 5 man defence and 5-3-1-1 by introducing an Awaziem or Ekong in the 2nd half. Ejuke and Simon were very ineffectual both offensively and defensively, and only brought pressure on on our wing backs, especially Benjamin Fredericks.

Then other substitutions would have followed based on the flow of the game. Well hindsight is 20-20. I hope we meet DR Congo and SA in the AFCON. I wan see wetin go sup.

Problem is Eric Chelle may be punished by FIFA/CAF disciplinary committee for his conduct during the penalty shootout, and may be given a touchline ban . So he may not sit on the bench in our first few games at the AFCON.

OasisX:


......wait till 31st of March Bruh! Everything is under control.

Sometimes e better make you just keep quiet.

GasAndOilTheory:
If you are a supporter of Gateway, Travelling from ogun state capital to Osun state capital is 11k. Hotel accommodation, is around 40k.. Feeding for a 2 days and taxing to the stadium cost around 13k...after the match, I'll go back to ogun state with another 12k

And the salary Is 70k per month .

Thank you, I'll stay at home and watch correct score

Succinct!

I saw a stat yesterday on the AFCON 2023 spectators and where they reside and came to Ivory Coast from.

Only two African countries, I think Morocco and Algeria were in the top 10. The other eight were spectators who came in from Europe and North America.

Imagine having a continental tournament, and the larger number of spectators are those who live outside the continent

Now, I understand why CAF did media rounds and tours to market the last AFCON in Europe, North America and Asia.

Bottom line: AFCON is big locally in Africa, on TV and on the African social media space but many football lovers in Africa cannot afford the expenses to travel and support their teams.

I saw a stat yesterday on the AFCON 2023 spectators and where they reside and came to Ivory Coast from.

Only two African countries, I think Morocco and Algeria were in the top 10. The other eight were spectators who came in from Europe and North America.

Imagine having a continental tournament, and the larger number of spectators are those who live outside the continent

Now, I understand why CAF did media rounds and tours to market the last AFCON in Europe, North America and Asia.

Bottom line: AFCON is big locally in Africa, on TV and on the African social media space but many football lovers in Africa cannot afford the expenses to travel and support their teams.

I read about Dave Chappelle on this thread and next thing he's appearing on my TikTok FYP. The algorithm is...,..

typicalgamer:
Damn European peer pressure has cup up to afcon

Admittedly, the two years gap was kinda close but playing it every three years would have been better than this four years thing

This seems like a deliberate ploy to slow down the growth and visibility of AFCON because it was overshadowing the Euro.