₦airaland Forum

Meanwhile this is the day the Lord has made that we should go 3rd. Who is saying amen?

Roland17:
I just hope Emery and the management are keeping close tabs with Reiss Nelson while he is on loan at Hoffenheim because he is definitely playing well.

His game has really improved. Hope they allow him time to mature fully.

kokaneprodigy:
I’ll pick Welbeck ahead of Iwobi on the flanks

Why? Because based on form Iwobi is way ahead.

Team Selection Challenge Predict our possible line up vs Leicester.

You might become our next manager if you are spot on.

sacx:
Paul wasn't generalising there. He was speaking about a specific group of people directly under your field of influence.You can't go about pleasing the general public. You end up losing your own identity.

That quote was a generalization. It is not about pleasing everybody. It is not even about pleasing yourself. It is about pleasing the Lord.

There is a reason why it is said 'people LOSE their virginity'. Virgins are winners. Simple.

Though being a virgin is no guarantee for a successful marriage, but it is an added advantage if all things being equal.

sacx:
So, want to tell me how the colour of his hair affects the faith of others? It's only those that have religiously drawn up a view of what Christianity should be, rather than by the Spirit that would be affected. To them, what he needs do is teach them on their true identity in Christ rather than changing his dressing to suit them.

Remember when Paul took Timothy and circumcised him because of the Jews? Did that change their disposition? No. They still ended up killing him.

And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died? For when you an so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 1Corin 8:11-12

Any foreign news channel on 42e, nigcomsat?

OKorowanta:
Abeg you people shud tell me the criteria to make heaven.
If color of one's hair is among then he should listen to them if not,make dem go boil rock.

Color of hair on its own is nothing. But if what I do affects the faith of those looking up to me, then I must be careful. Their faith is more important to me then my looks.

MrSuama:
Is nigcomsat off?

I wan roast for sun.

KevinDein:
Leonardo Jardim would be a good choice for Man Utd. It would be a sensible decision to get him, which means it's not gonna happen as Woodward doesn't do sensible.

The Maga may likely go for Zidane.

Fkhalifa:
Nelson seems soft. I want hard and ruthless players.

At his age, I think he is doing well.

Please brethren, any foreign news channel on nigcomsat? Thanks.

Fkhalifa:
I'm a silent crusher on depay to, that guy has what it takes to shine on the world stage, he seems to be more energetic, hardworking and purposeful this days.

Forget his utd woes,utd and English media wanted to see a cr7 in him,he wasn't utilized well and hosts of many other problems

He was v.good at PSV,poor at utd, now back to form at Lyon and the dutch team.

He's gon be a good winger.

Don't worry we are getting R Nelson back from Bliga...

Roland17:
Congratulations to our legend, T. Henry on his appointment as head coach of Monaco. Monaco is in a very difficult situation in the league (ranked 18th) and I hope Henry is able to guide them to a respectable position on the log. Jardim was a good coach, I think they sold too many of their players over the last 3 seasons and it is haunting the team now.

L Jardim for me is on par with the likes of Pochentino and a little below the likes of Emery and Klopp. This is despite their poor performance this season. I feel Monaco must have been carried away by the cuteness of having a T Henry as manager, because I see no reason to let Jardim go.

Roland17:
My brother, I can type over 5,000 words to detail why we failed to win the league, however, I will summarize it by itemizing

New Stadium

An indifferent board

Budget: prioritizing profit over value and success on the pitch

Transfer Policy

Wenger's stubbornness/ rigidity

Fanbase

Explain fanbase please

Fkhalifa:
Failure to get big name and world class players over the summers..(this could have made fan,hleb,persie,Sanchez,nasri etc stayed).
Lack of investment on physically and mentally strong players( our crop of sexy boys over the years can't play a calebder year,our seasons ended in February).
He isn't a ruthless manager, he stuck with lots of average players and his football philosophy is too honest and nice( we need to get dirty a times( be a Costa,bite, dive,shoot instead of walking the ball in the net.).

Why did the Wenger teams usually faze out around Feb, usually after topping the tables in Dec?

Lack of stamina.
Lack of depth.
Lack of leaders to drive play and win games even when paying bad.
Lack of power players- as stated above. We hold too much possession and still lose. With power players, you muscle your way through and get less easily dispossessed.
Wenger's stubbornness sticking to attack only philosophy. Sometimes, you just need to defend and get a point.

The difference between Pep and Wenger is that, Pep goes for quality no matter the cost, Wenger wants to do Pep thing with cheap articles.

Roland17:
@ Spy360 and Fkhalifa

Brothers, you have lost the focus of this argument and my position regarding this topic. The initial argument was that most black (African) defenders rely on strength and power and I said I would not prefer any black defender on my team because of this tendency. This implies that I will prefer a defender with a combination of intelligence, technique and power over a defender who only relies on his power and strength. That was where the example of Bailly surfaced as one who relies on power but lacks the intelligence and technique on the ball.

You guys have digressed into different leagues, different positions, different coaches and gradually the argument is losing taste to me. On a scale of preference I prioritize intelligence and ball technique over brute strength, that does not mean I don't like strength, it means I want us too focus on a defender who may have the combination but if one skill is excellent and the others good, then it should be intelligence and ball technique and sadly, most of our black (African mostly) struggle with that requirement.

Suddenly @Spy is mentioning Ferdinand, Vidic, Keane and that buttresses my opinion that you guys have lost my train of argument. I don't mean to pick on Kolasinac, but there is a reason why he can't displace Monreal in the first team and that is because of positional intelligence. He has the strength and power but his positioning is awful and that is why we are still in search of a successor for that LB position. If we get defenders with a good balance I will definitely appreciate even if he is black. But from my experience, African defenders are mostly brute strength and power.

Your point is well understood and accepted. I too will choose intelligence over power any day, and most coaches will do same.
I wasn't for the initial argument about African players. My argument was that in a league like EPL, strength and power are major requirements above intelligence to finish top.

I don't like the way it sounds because it doesn't really make technical sense. But the evidences are there.

I pointed to the Wenger teams after 2005 as example. The reason for their failure to win the league was Wenger's insistence on overlooking strength and focusing only on intelligence.
Like you mentioned, the best teams have a correct blend of the two. But, while Pep's team last season tilted more towards intelligence, Jose's title winning Chelsea side was more about power.

It is an interesting discuss because, both set ups can be successful.

Question: In your opinion why was Wenger unable to win the league after 2005?

Roland17:
This would depend on your interpretation of success. It would be fair to say Pep has succeeded in the EPL with his style. Over the past 2 seasons, Klopp has made Liverpool strong contenders for the EPL and don't forget they made it to the UCL finals and lost to an experienced Real Madrid side last season.

This season they are touted as City's strongest threat. Chelsea under Sarri look very impressive, even though they need to score more goals and it is buttressed in their position and are definitely going to contend for the EPL or top 4 I should say.

Espirito (Wolverhampton), J. Garcia (Watford) have succeeded beyond imagination because of their focus on intelligence and technique. So yes, these teams are successful in their own right.

Please get my point.
Intelligence plays good football. The Wenger teams stands out. But intelligence alone won't see you through the season; especially in England.

Remember what Watford's captain Feeney said about Arsenal last season? He said they lacked grits, toughness. Kindly take a second look at the Watford and Wolves squad, tell me you don't see physical and brute boys. Watford's front line alone are a bunch of bullies.

If VVD is all intelligence, I promise you Klopp won't pay what he did for him for he will be no better than Koscielny.

With a little dose of physicality, Wenger would have won like two titles within his last ten seasons, the usual slump by February, after a near excellent start would have been avoided.

The secret of Fergie is his ability to blend intelligent play with physicality. Just assess his typical players- Ferdinand, Vidic, Keane, these guys can play intelligently, but what keeps them at the top is their physicality.

@Roland17
You have correctly told us the patterns these coaches employ. But you haven't said if they succeeded with them.

Apart from Pep who actually used physical players, none of the other coaches you mentioned have.

Intelligence make the game exciting, and gives you 80% ball possession but if winning is more important, then physicality

Roland17:
The fact that you are mentioning Campbell and Toure proves you are still stuck in previous decades. My brother football has evolved, you can not sit down there and cast aspersions at Wenger for being rigid and resisting change while you still hold on to Campbell and Toure era. Football has changed significantly and that includes the requirements for that position.

Let me burst your bubble about Luis at Chelsea. Luis is not starting for Sarri because of his physicality, if anything that idea is wrong. He is starting because of his technique on the ball. Sarri built his team around Jorginho, consequently, he needs a defender with good ball technique to move the ball quickly to the middle and to Jorginho. This allows Hazard to be more effective because he is not dropping deep to create, unlike under Conte, rather he is around the final third as Jorginho orchestrates the offense from the middle. These situations are possible because Luis has the ball technique to start the offense from the back. Luiz is not physically imposing, he lacks the power you are speaking about. You seriously crack me up when you use Luiz as an example of a strong defender. It is called "Sarri ball" for a reason bro. Ask your self, where is Zouma and Cahil?

Why is Pep and Manchester City going to continue their domination of the league? Prior to his arrival, they had Mangala, Demichellis, Kompany and Otamendi while Stones was in the fringes, all brute, power and strength but after Pep took over he did away with Mangala, Demichellis, Kompany had to revamp his game if he was to get in and Otamendi is longer a starter. Now you have Laporte and Stones, please tell me they are Pep's starters because they are physically strong! Pep has built his team around passing from the back and that requires technique, abeg tell me how the big strong and tall defenders at City have fared with that requirement? How about Liverpool?

How about VVD of Liverpool? Why is he heralded as the one of the best defenders in the EPL? Do you think it is because of his strength or physicality? Faaaaaar from it, infact when he tried to use his strength last week, it cost Liverpool points because it resulted in a penalty. Prior to him, they had Skrtel, Sahko, Toure, Caulker, Lovren, Matip (tall and strong) and Klopp only got disaster after disaster from your prototypical brute, strong and tall defenders. VVD's intelligence, positional awareness and technique on the ball has brought some balance and calmness to Liverpool's back-line.

Again, while strength and power is important in that role, it is not prioritized over intelligence and technique in the modern game.

Sarri ball and Wenger ball is the point we are making. Both haven't won the league. Wenger won when he had physicality and strength.

Pep has an excellent blend of physicality (Kompany, Fernandinho) and technique (Stones, Laporte), that's why he is boss.

Emery wants what Pep is doing that was the reason behind Socratis.

In England, physicality yet matters more than technique.

OK. I see...
























9boys hmmm?

Roland17:
There may be a justified argument that Bailey is being mismanaged by Mou, heck the entire Man Utd squad is being mismanaged by Mou. However, that excuse will not hold for me in Bailly's instance and this is because Bailly was a one season wonder with Villarreal (2016/2016 season). Consequently, it does not surprise me that he has flopped and that is why he can not be compared to others. He is all about brawn and no brains and in this instance, I mean intelligence and technique.

The art of defending is no longer about strength and power, the game has transitioned past that and most black defenders are still stuck in that phase. I am ardent follower of the Serie A and I am eager to see Koulibaly outside the Serie A. Most of the high profile defenders from the Serie A have struggled after they leave the league.

In England, physicality rules. The Leicester duo of few seasons ago - Morgan and Huth comes to mind

Afolabi6046:
I was expecting you to name the trophies that keeps dust away from your cabinet, not ask me another question

name the major trophies you've won in the last 5 years, i even give you 10years grace

Assist me by giving an example of what 'major' trophy United or Chelsea have won in past 5 years.

kodded:
yea because of torreira, we all saw how shitty he was when he partner with geduonzi

I think you are right.

Guendouzi is not positionally disciplined like Torriera. So Xhaka has to do more chasing than passing.

With Tori he has averaged more passes than most CMs.

Afolabi6046:
mention the trophies and please make sure they are ones big European Clubs would be proud of not Arsenal

Why are you confusing yourself oga?

I thought you said dusty.

neezar:
Jose Mourinho still retains support from Ed Woodward.
#mufc [Independent]

That's what they say in October. I am waiting for that press conference in Jan.

Afolabi6046:
moreover, the Arsenal thread is as dusty as their trophy cabinet, there's urgent need for sod09 to cool off somewhere else

Dusty? Arsenal have won more trophies than United within the past 5 years.

For all the sticks he gets from our fake pundits, Xhaka is the most in form Arsenal player according to Power Rankings.

kokaneprodigy:
is Ramsey not better than Dablord they forked out 90M for?

We may do another swap, Pogba for Ramsey.

Sat against Watford is going to be dicey as we could see our gradual rise take us to 4th place.

Troy Deeney and his boys have their tails up after a decent start to the season. I hope Emery comes up with a proper tactics that will see us through.

Remember last season, Deeney said our boys lack cojones aka balls.

sod09:
that guy is the definition of useless, how is he a german.

He is not really a german by the definition of it.