₦airaland Forum

QueenJazz:
This is a very foolish assumption. No offense, but if you wish to take, na you sabi.

Everyone and their mother knows how instrumental Nwabali has been to the structure of the current Super Eagles. That much is undeniable. What many people are finding hard to tolerate (and for good reason), is his risky, overconfident moves on the pitch that have the potential to cause serious problems for us if not checked.

I don't mind players being stubborn and arrogant and erratic actually. It can be fun to watch sometimes, but timing is key. Don't let it affect your game negatively. Don't try to pull stupid stunts like catching the ball and dropping it on purpose in front of your opponent, or knock down an opponent in your 18 yard box and risk a penalty or even worse, a red card.

You guys have no idea how much the absence of VAR has helped us in the past few games. It's one of the things I'm praying won't come to bite us in the playoffs in Morocco.

On paper, I have Nwabali in the starting 11 any day of the week, but his excesses MUST be checked one way or the other.

If coaches or players can't talk to him because he's too big, then I don't see what's wrong with dropping him for a while, at least till he gets himself together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbV6_deIcxc&pp=ygUUY3JlbW9uZXNlIHZzIHVkaW5lc2U%3D

Ma'am,

I just watched the highlight of the Udinese and Cremonese match that was played yesterday, and I wasn't impressed by Okoye.

He's still jittery and seemed indecisive in key moments of the game.

◾He came out and flapped at a cross he shouldn't have come out for ❌

◾One on one with Vardy, he was caught in two minds. He rushed out a little, stopped for a second, took another step forward, then spread himself and blocked the shot but I was appalled by his decision making. ❌

◾His positioning in goal and goal post awareness when facing potential shots or goal threats is so unsure. One can visibly see the jitters. ❌

◾The goal he conceded was a point blank close range header but a better keeper would have made the save because the ball passed in between his hands. ❌

◾His goal kicks don't go far, and he doesn't seem confident with back passes and playing out from the back ❌

In all, he might have better reflexes (debatable) and play at a higher level than Nwabali but Nwabali's trumps him in aura, confidence, receiving back passes and goal kicks / playing out from the back which are also important attributes for goalkeepers.

I feel Nwakali's erratic nature, time-wasting tactics, confrontational nature, and refusal to take accountability can be curtailed and managed more easily than instilling confidence, teaching positional sense and the other attributes I mentioned to Okoye.

My pick to be in goal for the playoffs is Stanley Nwabali.

Cocony:
Semid4lyfe, Correct my assumption: A THREAD TAGGED SUPER EAGLES SHOULD DISCUSS SUPER EAGLES AND POSSIBLE PLAYERS FOR SUPER EAGLES.
LIKEWISE, A THREAD FOR EUROPEAN CLUBSIDES HAVE BEEN EXISTING ON NAIRALAND FOR MANY YEARS NOW.

ONE OF YOUR RULE TALKS ABOUT POSTING RIGHT INFORMATION ON THE WRONG SECTION WHILST ANOTHER TALKS ABOUT FALSE INFORMATION AND DERAILING OF THREADS.
IN FAIRNESS TO LAID DOWN NAIRALAND RULES LOOK INTO THE MATTER OF ADDRESSING ME AND CAPITALCEE AS SAME, AS WELL AS COMMENTING ON EUROPEAN CLUBS OR COACHES THAT DO NOT HAVE A DIRECT BEARING ON SUPER EAGLES PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE.

Baba, dey calm down. See this thread as the online version of those viewing centres where people argue, shout, banter, question and deride each other’s football knowledge.

Yes, it’s a Super Eagles thread, but from time to time, discussions wander into NPFL, European clubs, other national teams, or even random football gist. I usually let those things flow because they don’t last long. People always circle back to the Super Eagles eventually. No need to choke conversation or break the rhythm.

On the blocking issue - it's the prerogative of every Nairalander to block whoever they want. That’s why the feature is there. Though I feel it’s unnecessary because what makes this thread tick is the plurality of opinions and variety of arguments. That’s why it’s crossed 1800 pages and still counting. I mean, if we all reasoned the same way, this thread go dey boring.

As for you and capitalcee being the same person, I do not know and frankly do not care to know because even if it's true, e no change anything.

You’re still new here, so take things easy. No carry anything for head. This place na football banter zone. People like TheGoodJoe and Komekn have been here for the longest time and have been dragged severally for their unpopular takes, yet they handle it well. Borrow a leaf from them.

Finally, let me end by saying this. We may not always agree, but one thing we all share is our love for Nigerian football and our desire to see our teams do well. So even when we disagree, let’s do it with respect. No need for insults or tribal digs.

I rest my fingers.

6 kids? That's extremely rare. Was the wife on fertility drugs? 🤔

Reminds me of the scene from To Kill A Monkey when Efe's wife gave birth to triplets, and he was sobbing after being informed one of them kpaid.

The doctor tried to console him, and he said he was crying not out of grief but relief that the burden had been lessened.

If person no hold bar, and this kain situation jam am, it wouldn't be out of place to be happy if some kpai, and do not all make it out alive.

I feel for the man.

Before nko, dem must settle. Regina know say the lifestyle cost.

CapitalCee:
Where is Fisayo Dele Bashiru?

An honest omission. I'll drop one of the forwards, specifically Chidera Ejuke to the Standby list.

➡️ Out
Chidera Ejuke

⬅️ In
Fisayo Dele Bashiru

Cocony:
My probable line up against Gabon if the players are invited

Gk Maduka Okoye
Df Benjamin Fredrick
Df William Troost Ekong
Df Calvin Bassey
Df Zaidu Sanusi
Mf Fred Onyeka or Raphael Onyedika
Mf Chidera Ejuke
Mf Fisayo D.Bashiru
Fw Samuel Chukwueze
Fw Victor Osimhen
Fw Jerome Akor Adams

I believe Gabon can be beaten with this or 75% of this as starting lineup by 3 or 4 goals margin.

My probable line-up against Gabon will be

◾Goal Keeper - Stanley Nwabali
◾Right Back - Bright Osayi
◾Left Back - Zaidu Sanusi
◾Centre Back - Calvin Bassey
◾Centre Back - Benjamin Frederick
◾Defensive Midfield - Frank Onyeka
◾Box to Box Midfield - Chrisantus Uche
◾Attacking Midfield - Alex Iwobi
◾Right Wing forward - Samuel Chukwueze
◾Support Striker/Left Wing forward - Ademola Lookman
◾Centre Forward - Victor Osimhen.

Formation: 4-3-3.

23 Man Squad for the PlayOffs.

Goal Keepers
Stanley Nwabali
Maduka Okoye
Adebayo Adeleye

Defenders
Calvin Bassey
Troost Ekong
Benjamin Frederick
Zaidu Sanusi
Bright Osayi
Igo Ogbu
Bruno Onyemaechi

Midfielders
Alex Iwobi
Raphael Onyedika
Frank Onyeka
Wilfred Ndidi
Chrisantus Uche
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro

Forwards
Victor Osimhen
Ademola Lookman
Samuel Chukwueze
Akor Adam
Moses Simon
Tolu Arokodare


On Standby to replace injured players
Alhassan Yusuf
Terem Moffi
Chidera Ejuke
Anthony Dennis
Olisa Ndah
Paul Onuachu
Nathan Tella

BascoVanVeli:
Nigeria vs Canada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OFBCQ0OgWU

1. Our keeper is atrocious.
2. Too many meaningless & ballooned shots from distance.
3. Dem dey play without positional discipline. Anywhere wey ball go, na there all the players dey go.

Overall, a poorly coached team.

TheSuperNerd:
Meanwhile the past weekend events is not complete without giving a shout out to Cesc Fabregas and Como in Serie A.

Beating Juventus 2-0 and in the manner they did was absolutely a sight to watch. Real Madrid's Nico Paz who is on loan at Como keeps proving why he is the best young player in Serie A at the moment. Special lad.

TheGoodJoe, we have said this before on Fabregas. What he is doing with Como is so exciting. The story keeps unfolding.

Unbanned

Amedino99:
this one no concern ghana. When the coach was asked about the gate crashers to their team, he said " it will be taken on a case by case basis". Its the normal african way. Shebi that is how pinick asked begged tammy abraham to come play for us with a free world cup slot after the players had worked for the slot during the qualifiers.

I did not make reference to Ghana and I do not see the correlation to my post. The Tammy Abraham example you cited only reinforces my stance.

We have a solid unit and should focus on hitherto uninvited players without divided loyalties like Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Anthony Dennis etc

I doubt Caney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Noni Madueke etc will turn down Super Eagles invitation now because we are almost at the World Cup.

After the world cup, we can invite these dual national players to take part in the AFCON qualifiers and ascertain their commitment. Trust me, many of them no go show up.

forgiveness:
I am afraid we don't have a solid Central midfielder in our team currently.

Iwobi is not a central midfielder and he lacks traits of an AMF.

It's been long I followed our players abroad because of the way people want to dominate the team through the back door despite not adding anything to the team.

However, since I watched Chelsea matches, rI will recommend Chukwumeka who is better Central midfielder and AMF than what we have currently.

I will begin to scout from henceforth. We must go world cup but we can't play playoff with Ndidi and Iwobi. Ndidi not good like before again.

I will never be in support of dual nationality players crashing the party only when its convenient for them to do so. It's opportunistic, parasitic and could spoil team chemistry and cause disunity in the squad.

I recall this same dude was asked about playing for Nigeria 2 years ago, and he said, (I paraphrase) "at the moment I'm focused on playing for England but lets see what the future holds which is a subtle way to turn us down.

The guy no even better pass Iwobi for AM. Iwobi is a better orchestrator and passer. The issue with Iwobi is wrong deployment, midfield partnerships and formation by our National team coaches which negatively impacts on his output.

We can do without him. Between Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika, Wilfred Ndidi, Fisayo Dele Bashiru, Chrisantus Uche, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Alhassan Yusuf, Anthony Dennis and even Samuel Chukwueze we have enough players to cover in midfield.

Any dual national who wants to play for Nigeria should do like Ashleigh Plumptre, Alex Iwobi, Cyriel Dessers, Ademola Lookman, William Troost-Ekong etc and come out to declare their interest with their full chest, not use Nigeria as Plan B.

If they didn't declare interest and commitment when the work was being done, they shouldn't benefit from it by going to the world cup.

Make hin wait until after the world cup when the next AFCON qualifiers will begin, no be now.

Remo could not even string 5 passes together in the 1st half. Terrible performance

izzou:
[color=royalblue]While you were praying for her, she was already laughing at you, and herself.

Nobody bantered her. She bantered herself, and that's okay[/color]

This is funny af

TemporaryHansel:
You didn't believe the girl, but you want me to believe Ned's own account when he didn't drop any evidence? Unless he provides video evidence of Regina doing drugs as he claim, I have no reason to believe him.

I think a lot of people were already hoping for things to go wrong for the girl so they can laugh at her. Especially broke guys, they'll never forgive that girl for marrying for money. Instead of channeling that anger into working hard, and leveling up their lives, they're bantering a young girl.

Well, whatever, I won't comment on this matter again. I just responded to you out of respect.

Baba, I don't think its far fetched for someone who was captured vaping in a club to be into the use of paracetamol.

People mix substances in those vapes and it’s not just mint and fruit flavours. , and vaping don become normal part of club scene / night life.

She’s only 25, and still seems impressionable to me. I mean, look at her journey. Married at 18, motherhood straightaway, three kids already. No real youth, no space to explore. So maybe all these is delayed teenage rebellion and her way of trying to taste the freedom she never had.

The sad thing is she has the money to indulge but money, fame, youth and curiousity na dangerous mix, and the lifestyle fit swallow her if she no calm down.

Me, I believe wetin Ned talk say she dey take panadol and paracetamol

lbrichman2:
Olisa Ndah and Igor Ogbu are back

Excellent. How about Bright Osayi and Fisayo Dele Bashiru?

Chelle should do well to release a balanced squad list for the play-offs.

He shouldn't do that rubbish of releasing a squad list with only 4 midfielders.

Good news:

Olisa Ndah has recovered from injury and is back in training with Orlando Pirates.

izzou:
[color=royalblue]Lol

She left her boyfriend to follow the bag. She was applauded.

Now wey the bag dey come with small gas gbos....Na to endure. Prayer changes a lot.[/color]

Remember when she shaded her critics with this video and that Teni song?

Just in: Nigerians dig out old video Evidence Of Actress Regina Daniel’s shading people who have not had rare privileged to cry inside her type of Ferrari and Bentley before. pic.twitter.com/qLcmkuUN8F

— Gossip Mill Nigeria (@GossipMillNaija) October 18, 2025

I'd rather be crying in a Bentley
Sipping on Hennessy
Drying all my tears with some hunnid dollar bills
Feeling down in Fendi (Fendi)
Sad but I got plenty (plenty) money for the pain in the world (pain in the world)
Chilling in Ibiza
Just like Justin Bieber
'Cause I got the money, I don't care
And you can put that on my visa
Roll me like we caesar
You know that we global
Bitch, I'm here

Make she dry her tears with the dollar bills. Me no get sympathy to give....

Regina's brother say hin go break Ned' jaw

Bimmarlykay:
Why are you always in support of Tiwa?

Always?

Well, she's been in the news twice in recent times, and on both occasions I've understood where she's coming from.

Daz all.

AkinDS:
It's more that a 'belief' but a 'fact', implicitly corroborated by some of the players.

Which players corroborated this fact? When and what exactly did they say?

Melvyn11:
What prize in the men is she looking for?

She's is rich, famous,get pikin, already tasted marriage, have different men that will service her when she needs it so why is she craving marriage. It's weird ...Na people like cuppy suppose dey drop quote like that.

She's experienced marriage before, so if she still desires it and doesn't mind being a second wife, it means she's unfulfilled and values love, companionship and marital stability.

Not a weird thought process cos bank account no dey erase emotional needs.

By the way, how far with Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.

When last did England invite them? Are they even in the camping roster for their world cup preparations?

And to think that both would have been mainstays in the Super Eagles if they'd decided to represent us. It's a pity.

TheSuperNerd:
Omo he talk am ooo. To Celebrate Black History month with Liverpool's first black player, Howard Gayle, Curtis actually spilled it. "I'm Nigerian as well..."

Anyway, make we dey watch.

Thanks Top Mod.

Nerdy, I go lie for you?

I think Nigeria has this pull and it's become attractive to identify with Nigeria these days so I'm not really surprised.

Of course, playing for Nigeria na another thing entirely.

TheSuperNerd:
Link please. Something we have known here for years but he himself never admitted it. Abeg linkkkkk to his confession.

Its on Liverpool page on all their socials and its trending. Here's a link

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP3h2Dvjae9/?igsh=aXRwdDZid3Zyenl6

Edit: He said he has a Nigerian background as well

Curtis Jones has suddenly come out to say he's Nigerian. Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?

TheSuperNerd:
His lack of gametime at Palace really irks me. If he was still at Getafe, we wont be having this conversation.

Anyway, he is still 22. He will get the gametime. Seriously using Yaya's trajectory to encourage myself on Uche's.

I am more vexed than you.

When I read he was bought as a direct replacement for Eberechi Eze, I thought to myself that he may not play regularly because he's of.a different profile to Eze. And that's exactly what is playing out though it still early days.

To worsen matters, Getafe's coach didn't want to sell him, and the player too didn't want to go. But I guess, the higher-ups in the club thought it was good business and pushed the deal through.

I hope his lack of game time at Crystal Palace doesn't cost him invitation for the playoffs and making the AFCON squad.

Just learnt that Hospitality and Night Life Consultant job title na packaging for P.i.m.p

Hmm.....

TheSuperNerd:
This is obvious. I have said as much. Chelle cant seem to figure him out.

Chrisantus has lungs for days, has crazy work rate and covers lots of the ground, He's also difficult to shake off the ball and dispossess legally. Also, chips in with a few goals. These attributes lend credence to his best position being a Box-to-Box midfielder.

However some coaches, especially the older generation prefer positional midfielders and do not fancy Box to Box players. To them, box to box means jack of all trades, and master of none. Their thinking is you must either be a DM, AM, DLPM etc

I suspect Chelle is that kinda coach, and that's the reason he doesn't fancy Chrisantus and hasn't given him ample minutes.

chrisooblog:
Haven't seen anything outstanding from Chrisantus if I'm being brutally honest plus that 'shot' against SA is giving me PTSD.

Hehehe.....me sef still dey observe am with corner eyes.

Watched him in Getafe, and he doesn't strike me as a technical player. I see him as a battler, and workaholic kinda player who covers a lot of ground, is difficult to dislodge off the ball and gets into the box to contribute a fair share of goals.

But his meteoric rise from playing amateur football in Owerri in 2022 to the Spanish La Liga/Premiership in just 2/3 years suggests he's got something. I mean, all the talent scouts and managers cannot be blind.

And at the apex level, clubs typically have dedicated scouting departments with staff watching dozens of tapes and analysing player data before making a buying decision.

Granted he's had limited appearances in the Super Eagles but his cameos have been average at best if not subpar.

Cocony:
From the last 2 qualifiers Osimhen's best striking partner is Akor Adams. Any other resolution reeks of some primitive sentiment.

From the qualifiers, Yes.

But I think the person who complements him best overall in that second striker role is Ademola Lookman.

Cocony:
Fredrick is a graduate of the Simoiben Football Academy set up by pro-footballer Moses Simon.[4] Prior to the start of the 2021–22 season he joined ABS FC.[5] He made his debut for them in February 2022 and was given the man of the match award.[6] In October 2022 he was reported to have joined Nigeria Professional Football League side Nasarawa United.[7][8][9] He made his debut for Nasarawa in the NPFL during the 2022–23 season, playing both centre-back and right-back.[10][11]

Bro, are you O. O. of Nigerian Football Weekly Podcast?