₦airaland Forum

A big ucl match is between Madrid and Man City Is happening within the hour and this group is this dry… what’s going on? It seems recent performances has dampened the morale of the fans here.

BykeLaByke:
Not a new thing with him so no really reason am.

Everything he's saying here about FDJ...

He used to say it and more about Busquets, even comparing Busi to büms like Krychowiak and Nzonzi.

For whatever reason he makes it his mission to always call out Barcelona's defensive midfielder.

O really, was he the same guy from years back?? I vividly remember those conversations comparing busquets with some bums. Infact, I was busy checking out those stats back in the day.

Seems like u are obsessed about the whole FDJ topic and coming from someone that’s not a Barca fan makes it even more alarming.

You have gone about talking about not winning the UCL with FDJ as our DM, if I may ask did any Barca fan or board tell you that the goal for this season is to win the UCL? Yes, we had a great season last year which we least expected but happenings outside the pitch (losing a key player and not replacing him coupled with having a 38 year old striker leading the attack) and not being able to compete in the transfer market already points that we are not ready for the next level (winning UCL).

I hope you are putting this much energy on your Chelsea team esp seeing that goal would be for Chelsea to either win the league or UCL after all they are world champions.

Pls save us your FDJ rants Barca fans have not set any high hopes for this season, we are taking it one game at a time. If you need to push a team to win the UCL u can do that with Madrid who signed 5 quality players and a “top class” coach or Chelsea who are the current world champions and have a squad depth of 40 players. We don’t have these luxuries, so our expectations are set as such.

You keep saying FDJ is a liability, so what do you want Barca fans to do about your opinion? We should sell him?? We should bench him permanently We should buy a replacement (bring the money)?


Why are u so keen on Barca winning the UCL, what happened to your club aren’t they in the same competition?


You are beginning to sound like a broken record on this page. You have made your points known, the least u can do is too move on from it. Your persistence dwelling on the matter leaves nothing to be desired of your posts on this page.

AirBere:
The third goal we scored was just too easy.

Let's forget the still image, watch the video clip of the third goal. Dejong was literally walking back like there was nothing at stake. What's at stake as a top team is avoiding embarrassing scorelines. As a top team, you must avoid it like plague and protect your pride. That's how they were all walking around during 8:2. With Stegen giving up after goal number 3.

Third goal is a very similar situation to image B. Pedri was crowded by 5 players but made a risky forward pass to Ralph for the equaliser. If that daring pass was intercepted, it would've created a 5vs5 because Eric stayed back. Now imagine if Eric didn't stay back and strayed away from his position like Dijon, It'll be 5vs4 in favour of Athletico Madrid. Very similar to how we managed to create 5vs4 with no DM in sight to support your defence with the DJing(DM) jogging back with no efforts at all.

Like I said, I know The game was already lost plus the red card but you have to avoid embarrassing scoreliness as a top team. It forces teams/opposition fans to take you seriously.

After winning the UCL in 2002 and reaching the semis the very next season, Madrid were embarrassing themselves in Europe, losing to teams they should be beating, thrashed by Liverpool along the way. R16 exit choke during that period. They were not taken seriously anymore. Even small Lyon flogged them in UCL until Mourinho came and made them serious again. After setting the foundation, immediately he left, Don Carlo brought in La Decima in 2013.

I think even Pique talked about avoiding embarrassing scorelines because it can cause a physiological damage/weakness.

In UCL all hands must be on deck that's why Dejong as a DM is a liability.

@airbere, I have observed keenly your posts on this group and while I must admit that u have a good knowledge of football you come off as someone with a bias against FDJ.

Let’s take FDJ case one at a time:
1. It’s unfair the amount of criticism you spew out on him, whether he has a good game, excellent game, average game or below par game. You are constantly attacking him. This bias is so deeply entrenched in you that in games he doesn’t play you still find a way to make him the highlight of your posts. Infact when the whole team plays badly, u still find a way to pin to down to FDJ.

2. I see your clamour for FDJ to be benched and I keep asking have you seen the injury situation at Barca this season? Flick has not had a full squad to pick from right now we have Olmo, Gavi, Fermin injured, Bernal is just coming back from an ACL injury coupled with the fact that we are having a defence crisis (losing inigo and not replacing him, Araujo and his inconsistency, Christensen not being able to step up to take a place in the defence.. So I ask who do u want to replace FDJ with at this time?

Remember also that FDJ was integral to the success the team enjoyed last season.

3. Also remember the sentimental factor that FDJ is one of the highest paid player in the squad and as such there is an expectation that he should be playing regularly. Most clubs are facing this dilemma with their top buys (Arsenal - Havertz, Liverpool- Wirtz and so on.

4. It is an open secret that Barca needs enforcement to be able to compete at the highest levels, what flick pulled last season was a masterclass despite the limited resources at his disposal. Barca needs to strengthen a lot of areas, based on my assessment of flick’s style of play he is out to outscore the opponent and doesn’t mind conceding goals (in my opinion our priority should
be new CF who can press and clinical to bury chances someone in the mould of Oshimen *I am not saying we should buy him ooo but someone in that mould, we need a back up LB for Balde and another CB to replace inigo as it is now obvious that your so called Christensen that u hold in high esteem can’t seem to displace Martin or Araujo in the CB position. For the DM position, if we have a fully fit MF squad (Gavi, Casado, Bernal, FDJ, Pedri Olmo and Garcia) we should be just fine.

Is it possible for us to fix all these positions within one year, I don’t think so.


5. You also say stuffs like, he is uncoachable, he is not open to learning bla bla bla, all these sounds like hate speech. He is not good yet he commands a starting shirt at his club and country?

In summary @airbere, we have heard enough of your FDJ analysis, pls focus on football analysis which u are good at and stop picking up on one player from the team.

We were not clinical enough in this game. We squandered lots of big chances and we would be punished by more ruthless teams. Similar to the big chance Torres missed against Chelsea.

Our attackers have to bury their chances.

Hi All,

Pls asking this question for a friend who is about to carry out a solar inverter project and got a “family and friend” quote of 1.4million naira for a 4kva system on 2 batteries. Pls is this amount realistic?

AirBere:
Watching Laliga refs especially in a game involving Madrid usually make me laugh lol. Na why I dey laugh when EPL fans especially my Arsenal fan friends/colleagues complain about refs. I usually just tell them to watch Laliga. This season, is there a close game Madrid won without a red or penalty??. I'll research on this when I have small time.

Like the saying goes; It's not football, it's Laliga 😂😂😂😂

How that call stood as a red card still baffles me, what was the work of VAR if not to check controversial decisions/moments?

At this point, Man U needs to get on an interim basis an experienced coach who can steady the ship, win the dressing room, work with the available players and has a track record of getting results. Someone in the mould of Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelloti, Jupp Heynckes

Nitrogen is somewhere reading this thread and laffing his ass out 😂

Usefulsense:
This topic has generated a lot of controversy on social media platforms such as facebook, instagram, youtube etc.

While many people argue that investing your money back home in Nigeria via building houses, establishing other businesses are better than buying a house abroad and spending the rest of you life paying mortgage; others believe that the wisest thing to do when you come abroad is to invest in buying a house and paying mortgage.

While none of the two is better in absolute terms, circumstances of each individual must be brought into any consideration.

In your opinion, which do you consider better than the other and why?

There’s no one size fit all solution to this topic, several factors (Age, family size, family background, ties to home, funding, retirement plans etc) would affect the decision on where to have your assets/properties.

Older folks in their 50s with plans to retire back to Nigeria would most likely want to build and invest back home as they might not find it smart to get into a 25 year mortgage, while younger folks (30s) would likely prefer to invest abroad.

OkanlawonB:
Talking from my personal experience, acquiring a property abroad is an itch free process compared to acquiring one in Nigeria depending on location, in a place like Lagos, it is a very rigorous process. Deciding to have a property at home while living abroad may not be for economic reasons but more for emotional satisfaction and for a sense of self fulfilment.

I said acquiring property abroad is an itch free process because once you`ve sealed a deal on a property no matter how you decided to finance it, through mortgage payment or otherwise, once your name is entered in what is called "Grundbuch" , it is remains your property, every kobo you drop in financing the property will be accounted for. in contrast to this, i remenber making a deposit in the early 90`s for the National Housing Scheme in Nigeria , the scheme never came to fruition and deposit was not refunded.

If you mortgage a home abroad, you don`t necessarily need your whole life to pay off your mortgage. Dont buy a too expensive property. It is better and very feasible to heve a property both abroad and at home.

Spot on. My dad also made deposits into the National Housing Scheme in the early 90s, didn’t get anything out of it.

Jamiuokolaa:
Aside that "Vivenuncountry" miss vs como, he has looked sharp and seems to be enjoying himself.

Correct but you are focusing on the messenger…

Ronaldo said something similar in his interview and now Rashford is re-echoing it.

True or false…..
Focus on the message not the messenger.

Kilishihunter:
I won't mind fabregas as a possible future coach after Flick sha if he's available, como is playing some good footy despite the scoreline

Como had a very good ball-playing first half, I also liked the intensity and passion Fabregas displayed on the touchline. At one point, I was confusing Barca as the team in the white shirt. We did not hold/keep possession enough as we would normally do. On the bright side, it shows that we should be able to hold our own against possession-based teams.

We have to give credit to Fermin, the two goals he scored today were typical Fermin outside-the-box shot, an option which no other player gives us. If those chances had fallen to other players (Olmo, Dejong, Pedri) none would have taken the chance at first glance.

Derumklala12:
If you're saying off today's game
I object

I agree with you, from the game I saw today Araujo has improved in his understanding of the highline… He stepped up severally in the first half thereby pushing the opposition player into the offside position.

The above being said, he made about two mistakes where he misplaced a pass in front of the 18 yard and one other instance.

AirBere:
Make god of banter just deliver
Martin 🤝 Araujo pairing for me with Dejong screening the back 4 Vs Real Madrid or PSG.

Eye go too clear ; D

lol 😂
You are a wicked somebody…. That line up na Disaster on arrival

chrisley024:
Lol! why only these 2 came to your mind?

Recency bias and they achieve the feat playing in the two biggest leagues.

Jamiuokolaa:
Good points..

The only bad point is that you are a Barca fan

Yes I’m a Barca fan but first a football fan…

And I’m sure you know that being a Barca fan doesn’t negate the truth in my write up. It’s more factual/logical than emotional

nitrogen:
I agree with you. Although our fans are making it sound like we are doing shrewd business. Not any different from Mou, LVG, and ETH eras. Infact, one could argue that we are paying more for less these days.

There’s nothing shrewd about Man U’s business model in the last 10 years (post SAF) this idea of signing a new coach and spending 300m on the coach to get his own players every 3 years is not sustainable esp when the coaches are not winning major trophies.

Also, Man U has not made any decent player sales in the last 5 years. The highest revenue from a player sale is 23m from Elanga and 29m from James meanwhile the club has spent close to 1b on Anthony, Sancho, Mount, Onana, Rashmus, Casemiro, Lisandro, Yoro, Ugarte, Verane, Zeerke, de legt, Dorgu and more recently Mbenuo, Cunha, Sesko and maybe Baleba.

For me, Amorim is not any better than his predecessor,
A good coach does not need to buy 5 players before he can perform Slot and Flick comes to mind. You can argue that slot met an established team but what of Flick, he inherited a team that the former coach (Xavi) criticised as not good enough to compete.

nitrogen:
I am okay with the signings, but they are too expensive.

TBH I hear what you are saying but I think you are failing to realize that Man U does not have the appeal/pedigree (recency bias) to attract top talent at good prices..

There’s no European competition, had a horrible season. The only way top guys will come play for Man U is if they are offered good money (clubs - Signing fee and players - salary). Established players will not come near Man U from a mile only players that are looking for a major breakthrough will join Man U.

Compared to teams such as Man City, Madrid and their recent transfers. Even Aston Villa had a very good January transfer.

Man U needs to build back it’s reputation (win major trophies, compete in Europe) then quality top players will come at even better price point.

calculusx:
What they need is enlightenment. I always advise they go for salvage if its cheaper. I don't mince word with the truth which some customers feel insultive. I want to sell but I don't have to beg or persuade you before you buy . You have confirmed its Clean Title so don't expect me to sell at the price of Salvage. Nothing good comes cheap

I have followed and known you for over 10 years and I have been to your shop at Ilupeju bypass atleast thrice.


What the poster meant to say is “majority of Nigerians cannot afford clean title cars” which you and I know is the truth.

You are one of the few dealers who still carry clean title cars in their inventory. I vividly remember the days of “Mexican Cartel”, who repackaged a salvage car and sold it at auction as clean title.

You have earned your reputation in the industry and can boldly tell customers to buy salvage cars if that’s what they can afford.

Skj13777:
1) you need to have good contacts in USA to help with shipping and logistics. Using those Companies like auction export make the car super expensive and erodes all your gains.

2) register with copart or iaai yourself preferably or get your contact to do so for you

3) always target states with ports like Texas , Florida or New York for your purchases from auction. It reduces risk and logistics costs

4) if you want meaningful gain always target accident cars ( front collision) or cars that don't start

5) have a good clearing agent in Nigeria . He will help you with short payment. This aspect is very important in your overall profitability. Example a Benz 2017 with a very good frontal impact that disfigured the car and deployed all airbags can easily be cleared with N7million instead of N15million for clearing alone. That gain from clearing alone can be used to repair the car completely . Remember because of the accident you probably bought it $4,000 or less. After repair you can sell it slightly less than the average selling price of such vehicle and make over 100% gain

6) you need a good mechanic, panel beater etc

7) always target flooded cars ( freshwater not salt water ooo), accident front impact , very high milage cars etc run away from clean cars if not you will end up driving it yourself

Everything u have listed above is what majority of the dealers do, however, we will also be the first to complain and cry foul after buying a car from a dealer and later discovering from vin checks that the car was badly accidents (damaged frontal/ bad chassis and with all Airbags deployed).

The question is can majority of Nigerians afford clean title vehicles

BykeLaByke:
He's a bum who doesn't have what it takes to make it where the lights are brightest.

Couldn’t agree less cos I still find it strange that he stayed back at Bilbao, like even if the Barca deal was off due to registration issues he had Bayern offering him a mouth watering deal, yet he said no to them.

oliverjiad:
good morning and thanks for the write up on ur side

Sir I'm not here to argue neither the fellow whom want to hear the both side to explain our self would also want that too,but for him to just know what conspire between us want that too

In all ill just say thank u sir and sorry for the experience learnt in our business,I did my best to serve you like I'll always do to serve all other nairalanders in here and off here

God knows the best and he would do best and once sorry for that

Jaid

Having read both sides of the story, It seems that both parties already have an agreement. @oliverjaid, I think you should do better with the payments. It’s not fair to have only paid 100k out of 800k, pls try and pay up so as to put this matter to rest. You don’t want a disgruntled customer making negative comments on your page.

I must also commend @ojeysky for being calm despite the situation. Some folks would have spammed this thread till they get back their funds.

oliverjiad:
Good morning boss

Yea I cleared a space boss for the fellow nairalander,which happens that along the line customs disagreed the documentation from space bus to be luxury space bus which the duty was paid on %10 instead of %20 according to customs,because on this our profession customs are the superior most times too we make them understand their errors,but that moment the customs superintendent role out some emergency on some special duty paid vehicle which is indicated on the said vehicle which is Mercedes Benz metric,like we also have the hike in duty we've been paying for the pass 2-3years now from the FG and customs without prior notice to either agent or the public

Before then I had settled with customs to carry along with the %10 duty paid already,but while running the documentation the customs superintendent would have to cross check such luxury vehicles and he declined the documentation and requested for additional duty to be paid

Meanwhile I had his balance of about #800k then or more if I'm not mistaken,which he knew,trying to see if we won't pay additional duty it involve additional huge settlement,that's even better of paying the additional duty than to settle customs,which after Alot of back and forth we eventually come to conclusions to make the additional duty and the duty was paid,with still of settlement to the customs with almost the balance with me just to make sure I get a soft landing for us not to even get penalty with the additional duty and not to let the job even pay more than what customs valuation promised to initiate for the additional duty

Thank goodness everything was done and dusted with his help by dropping the funds to move on

But greatest challenge there is the demourage which amount to about #800kplus too which he insisted I'll had to pay him,so for peace to reign I said I'll try my best to sort it out,which I already sent him #100k and promised to balance up

But business is not like it is in those days that I can easily sort that out,it's a promise and I said I'll do my best

@ ojeysky is this a clear depiction of what transpired?

Hearing news that Deco had a meeting with Nico William’s agent some minutes ago. Fingerscrossed on this.

Derumklala12:
I just realized we almost got rid of araujo (we should) for Jonathan tah

We for cryyy next season, big financial mistake.. the guy get speed of the Eiffel tower 😭

Araujo and Tah don’t impress me anymore, saw some glimpse of Tah and also watched him against Portugal. He struggled so much that Kimmich was so mad at him at one point.

Thanks for your insightful response. You are right about them renewing through IW.

Efetobore1980:
Hello Pinky.
That tracking page is always 95% accurate most of the time which makes me believe that your parents visas are still in process.

** Besides, it seems your dad & your mom submitted renewal via IW but while working on your dad's visa (and your mom's passport is Cooling in the file) it was discovered that his passport photo needed to be re-snap hence taking the embassy backward in allotted time for your parents.

My thinking, based on personal experiences and research is that your dad's visa is ready but they are working on your mom's visa in which the embassy plans to release both at the same time.


NOTE: IW renewal processing time usually takes (2) months so you have to keep tracking and have patience. If you have calculated after 8 weeks and still in status quo then you may get back to us on Nairaland or call the embassy directly. 👍

Hi,

Pls I have also tried tracking my parents passport to no avail. They submitted on 22nd April, my dad got an email to pick up his passport but it was discovered that he had a wrong passport photograph which he rectified and resubmitted his passport on the 7th May.

Quite worried cos they are scheduled to travel to Canada next month.

Kindly see screenshots from OIS tracking

Efetobore1980:
Hello Cherie.

Track your visa/passport status or location here ;

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=NIV


https://appointment.oisservices.com/pickup-service/pick



If the delay is longer than usual then use the ''Create a ticket'' option in your scheduling account a k.a AVITS in order to send an inquiry describing the issue. They will respond with the location of your P. 👍

Rodrygo to do what in barca? Who can he displace among the front 3?

I think all the talk about signing a goalie this summer will not happen. My major issue is losing Tah to Bayern, I was hoping we could cash out on Araujo and replace him with Tah. From the last press conference, it seems like Flick has decided to keep faith with Araujo.

I hope we are able to sell Fati, having spent 1 year with Flick without any improvement we need to free up that space/salary for some one better.

Derumklala12:
Rodrygo comes to Barcelona..
Pulls a reverse Figo

We finally have a lwf, we sign Joan Garcia

We win the treble next season
The final is in the Santiago bernebeu


They throw a pig's head towards rodrygo..
Is this too much?

I have a different theory about our goalie, yes I understand the clamour for him to make decisive saves in big games which he failed to do at the UCL semi final games and recently El Classico. However, I have also come to realize that the way we have played/set up this season is largely responsible for the lack of decisive/big saves in those games asides the goals conceded from corner kicks.

Barca plays an ultra highline defensive formation and that means that any team/player that beats the offside trap has a direct chance at goal/facing the goalie. If we think about it, our goalie was not protected by his back line for majority of the goals he conceded. Majority of the goals conceded are goals that no keeper can do anything about.

This is not an excuse to make Scezny look good or for Barca not to get a world class goalie but I am just saying that any goalie we get will most likely suffer same fate as long as we keep playing this ultra high line defense. Our team play has now evolved from not conceding goals to out scoring opponents.

Having said the above, I don’t think Barca would sign a goalie this summer. I think we will go into the next season with Stegen and Scezeny as our 1st and 2nd choice.
1. Flick doesn’t look like someone that would buy a goalie when he has two decent ball playing goalies at his disposal
2. Not sure we can afford to buy a LW,CF and Goalie in one transfer market due to lack of funds.

Derumklala12:
😒😒 I cover my innocence in the blood of Jesus.. make I no go make mistake like this in real life sha

Tbh, I also thought Araujo was our best defender but having seen the way Flick has set up his defence, Araujo will have to leave to get playing time. If we can get a 50m offer for him and get Tah on a free transfer that would be good biz.

I hear Napoli has made an offer for Jonathan David… We should get that boy on a free transfer, we need attacking depth esp as Lewan is getting old.