₦airaland Forum

Omo Benin no send anybody papa, they are not giving Argentina any breathing space.

Blueelf:
Didn't know this

Then the boys did well

But I still don't fancy Chelle's formation sha

Can he just try a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-5-2 since he likes a 2 man attack

Abeg, if anybody sabi am, make him try another food for once na, no be everytime, eba, eba, eba

Russia dey nitpick small teams just to statpad , only Nigeria and Iran are the decent teams they've faced in a while. I really feel bad for them sha, they are a good team and it sucks FIFA banned them from participating in international competitions because of war and politics.

charlesemeka85:
hmmm we need top tier midfield ballers not Tijani abeg

You should be talking about giving a midfielder like Akinsanmiro a better chance to see if he can add something to the team not Tijani

Akinsanmiro maybe...but he seem to me like another Onyedika type of player (good on the ball but lightweight), I don't know why Chelle hasn't really given him a chance, this Russia friendly would have been perfect for him to get a full runout.

EEGA:
Asides the poor pitch.

Another issue we had in the GB game was poor squad rotation.

Chelle should learn to rotate his squad as majority of his starting XI are in their late 20s and early 30s.

An Aina can't put up an Abdullahi performance twice in eight days, because he is no longer in his prime.

Youth wins you football, I've always maintained that Chelle's major problem is his unwillingness or perhaps fear of giving more younger players a chance in major games...the older guys he keeps trusting aren't in their prime anymore, these are guys who have failed under previous managers and there's a reason for that...the prime years of Ndidi, Iwobi, Simon, Aina, Ajayi and even Lookman was about 4-10 years ago.

charlesemeka85:
his not. I see Alhassan more like a B2B midfielder

Instead I will mention Nnadi of Marseille. I just hope he returns very soon

That Unity cup midfield of Nnadi, Yusuf and Samson Tijani looked fluid, I wonder why Chelle isn't looking to build on that sef...if we get Iroegbunam and Ozoh whose switch process are almost complete, then Chelle will have to start slowly phasing out Ndidi...Onyeka can still offer some grit in the midfield and Iwobi has at least a 4 year shelf left in his tank before he retires.

EElopa:
People, I just finished watching the Mali vs Morocco friendly, and it confirms what I have been saying here for a long time. If Mali can get a proper winger and an elite striker, Mali will be as good as any national team in Africa. Mali has technical midfield players that can control the game against any opposition in Africa. I was watching that midfield today, and jealousy was killing me slowly. Complete ballers. They are all technical and comfortable with the ball, and they dominated Morocco in their own backyard. We cannot control games with Ndidi and Onyeka starting in our midfield. We need ball-playing midfielders. Tochuckwu Nnadi, Akinsamiro/Iwobi, and Onyedika midfield trio, should be given a chance. We need Francis Onyeka and Ethan Nwaneri badly. I am glad that it looks like Tim iroegbunam is in the bag. Tim can play the DM and Box-to-Box role better than anything we currently have.

E dey pain me say Chelle who is Malian and coached a Malian team of midfield ballers should know better but is still calling up aging midfielders like Ndidi and Onyeka in 2026, I'm yet to see a manager who truly built a Nigerian team around technical midfield identity since Westerhoff and maybe Siasia.

But when you really think about it, we might be the only African team still using the same core of midfielders for over a decade now...Ndidi and Iwobi sef don try, it's really crazy that we've used those guys in virtually every tournament we've been to including qualifiers. I could be wrong but almost all the traditional top African teams have moved on to younger generation of player especially in their midfield (maybe except Ghana who are still stuck with Thomas Partey). We thought Aribo would be that guy when he impressed on his debut but he fizzled out...Frank Onyeka is also getting up their in mileage with 7 years in that midfield with no major competition to his position...Onyedika is on and off and hasn't particularly stood out.

Abeg Chelle start looking at other options, it's unacceptable the only new midfield option we've seen so far in almost a decade is Nnadi, no wonder we keep struggling.

Meliforme:
The midfield of Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi is not the totality of the best that we can arrange, When we look at their performances we see that what they do individually, reveals them as good players. What we need is an additional creative force, who can also provide a defensive cover and provide good passes of the ball. Kelechi Nwakali is the most suitable fit out of all that is available. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is another viable option.

See person wey I dey even follow argue football, Kelechi Nwakali in 2026 LMFAOOO , now it's obvious you're trolling.

EElopa:
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Owibi midfield failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2022 World Cup. Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi, midfield, barely qualified Nigeria for the 2023 Afcon. We only qualified because 3 points were awarded to us due to the fiasco in Libya Airport prior to the actual game, where we refused to play. If we actually played that game in Libya and lost, we will not have qualified since Rwanda defeated us at home in our last qualifier. Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi's midfield did not qualify us for the 2026 World Cup. Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi midfield is currently in the process of failing to qualify for the 2027 Afcon. If we continue on this path as you are suggesting, Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi's midfield will not qualify us for the 2030 World Cup.

They swear for Una in that country. Why are you people over there so afraid of change? This is why you keep recycling the same old failed politicians to continue to sink the country deeper and deeper in mess. Try something new or fresh and let us see how it goes. They swear for una over there. Abegi.

He's your typical Nigerian, people like that are mentally conditioned to fail and repeat history all over again...Hopefully Chelle isn't backward minded enough to tow that line of mentality otherwise that same midfield and team will sack him like his other predecessors.

mank1234:
Indeed stats can be deceptive. If I didn't watch the game, i would have marveled at this. Forget stats; the team player rubbish and GB could have scored up to 6 of they were clinical.

The person you are telling just won't get it, in his head Ndidi played like prime Iniesta when he was one of the worst players in that game.

Meliforme:
This is my last response to you.

A player who is so washed, still has it in him to deliver more contributions to defense more than defenders who are younger and in their prime. Why not bring out football commentaries and documentations to prove me wrong. Why not say Ndidi made 2 contributions instead of the 8 that i aforelisted. Instead you call me emotional and without logic, whille ndirectly refering to your self.

My stat sources are Fotmob, Sofascore.

Don't let your emotions get the best of you, don't let your emotions make you seem like you are unappreciative and intentionally wicked, because you are not.

Ndidi is washed, quit sucking hus d**k and get with the reality. All this your Fotmob and Sofascore nonsense wont change the fact that he's a perennial benchwarmer in Turkey. Iwobi has been struggling with the creative burden of that midfield because the options around him are poor both in ball progression and possession. Nigeria needs a Rodri type of midfielder if we want to do better as a football nation.

Bye

Seeing Moses Simon with his agbaya face among the U23 players arriving in Russia for the friendly just dey make me laugh, including Iheanacho...this egbon adugbos just don't know when to read the room, Ndidi was smart enough to opt out of the friendly game to allow the younger ones have their moments.

Meliforme:
Even after stating the obvious and posting Wilfred Ndidi stats. You still have the effrontery to call him washed.

I pray for you, may people see your good works and give you due recognition. May they never allow their feelings and bias to get the best of them. May they never see your obvious good works and still call you washed.

What are you guys doing. This is wickedness in broad daylight. Ignorance can be very loud. This is why I do not gel with the crowd.
I wash my eyes with pure water and do my fact finding

It's clear you're leaning on your emotions than logic, cause I don't see how your gaslighting and baseless prayers has anything to do with the simple facts of football. Nobody here least of all myself wished Ndidi bad, calling out a player for being washed isn't a death sentence on his person or career, Ndidi is already a fulfilled player who is probably doing well for himself already so I struggle to understand your rants. Every player will eventually get to a point when they are past their prime, right now Ndidi isn't that player anymore.

Meliforme:
The fans are not just undiscerning but also very ignorant. Sorry I don't gel with the crowd because I have seen all kinds of foolishness with them, including this.

The call for Ndidi's drop is a very foolish one, especially when you don't have a better replacement. Who is his replacement? Ndidi is a destroyer and is world class at it. This he kept showing in the matches that he has featured. The stats are there to back it. You have only your emotions for an accomplice, error prone emotions at that.

The invitation of John Otomewo is a step in the right direction. We will see him for who he is.

You're obviously living in lalaland, Ndidi is not only finished as a player, he is also arguably the most uncharismatic captain we've ever had. Go watch that game against Guinea Bissau again and observe how Ndidi showed absolutely no guts or leadership in gingering the players, Bassey was the one who was doing all the shouting, gesturing and pep talks to his team mates while your captain was busy cowering...ideally, the captains armband should have gone to either Bassey or Osimhen.

I have nothing against Ndidi, he used to be good as a DM when he was in his prime years at Leicester, now his legs are gone, and if your standards for a national team captain is warming the bench in Turkey, then I have nothing left to say to you.

As for Ndidi's replacement, we haven't seen the best of younger options like David Ozoh, Tim Iroegbunam, Nnadi, and the u23 prospect we will see against Russia...let the young ones grow into his role, nobody will die if we give youth a chance, na why Nigeria dey stagnant be that.

Meliforme:
He should be phased out while still delivering stellar performances in his position. God forbid!

Mikel was not loved, always getting criticisms, the same with Ndidi.

Ndidi not starting games is for tactical reasons. Ndidi's game of passes has improved tremendously and it might be because of this.

I pray for you that no one demands for your drop, even when you keep improving.

If you have a better replacement for Ndidi, please bring it up. I want to hear the name.

Interesting...so Ndidi getting benched in Turkey is for tactical reasons? abeg since you're privy to this tactical secret, do you mind telling what those reasons are?

Bros you can defend Ndidi all you like, that's your choice, but right now, every discerning fan knows Ndidi is done.

Blueelf:
Gbam!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be like you go send aza abeg

You just spoke my mind,it's a utter joke how the media keeps making lame excuses for this bunch of overpampered players. Only Bassey gave his all on the pitch that day while the rest were just utterly useless, even the so called captain of the team was invisible and cowering like a deadbeat coward while Bassey was all over the place trying to passionately motivate the team, shouting at Bruno who kept making silly mistakes and putting the defence under constant pressure. It's a sad drop-off how we went from passionate captains like Sunday Oliseh, Stephen Keshi etc to Ndidi.

Honestly any Nigerian fan or journalist who still defends these players after all the heartbreaks they've put us through time and time again must either love torture, or is getting paid to whitewash them. After 2 world cup disappointments, I just gave up...if we don't qualify for this AFCON next year, God will punish the generation of any journalist or fan who opposes a complete overhaul of the team. I don't mind if we decide to use the U23 boys and other young decent prospects home and abroad to rebuild all over again.

Meliforme:
Yes, the same call that was made for Mikel. Was Mikel ever appreciated. All kinds of complaints were made of Mikel, complaints like "He is sluggish, He slows down our game" and all kinds of uninformed takes.

We are yet to get a like for like replacement for Mikel The closest is Kelechi Nwakali, whom many of you detest for reasons that has nothing to do with his abilities.

When has Wilfred Ndidi ever been loved or appreciated, even during his early years in the EPL, you guys will find one thing or the other to criticise about him. Your criticisms of Wilfred Ndidi is that his legs are gone. When has Wilfred Ndidi ever had legs in the eyes of the likes of you. Has Wilfred Ndidi ever had legs?

The truth is never with the majority. All it takes to start a mob action is just one ill informed take and every other person blindly joins the procession without asking real questions or seeking facts.

You bring your feelings which are subjective, I table stats which are objective. The stats prove many of you wrong, but no, you must say out your feelings whether they are true or not.

Wilfred Ndidi is a much improved player. More improved than what I use to know about him. Take it or leave it, it doesn't change anything.

Ndidi is almost 30 and is a bench warmer in Turkey bro, Mikel Obi at 30 was still an active and far better player than Ndidi... so your comparison is baseless, save yourself the paragraph of epistle,Ndidi is done and should be phased out.

Meliforme:
Every player will one day face a decline in performance, including Wilfred Ndidi, but as it stands, I am yet to see a noticeable decline in Wilfred Ndidi's performances. Instead I see improvements, especially in his game of passes.
He wins his duels, and completes most of his passes.

imagine a player that in games contributes to defense more than any midfielder and sometimes even more than defenders including CB's. In the game against Madagascar he contributed to defense more than any player on the pitch (this includes defenders). In the game against Guinea-Bissau, only Calvin Bassey and Jefferson Encada who are both defenders had more contributions to defense.

Only Calvin Bassey completed more passes of the ball in the game against Madagascar, that tells you how much of the ball flows through Wilfred Ndidi, Against Guinea-Bissau only Alex Iwobi completed passes of the ball more than Wilfred Ndidi.

You guys can talk all you can, Wilfred Ndidi remains one of the most important players in the Super Eagles fold

All this Ndidi image washing no be am my guy,the guys legs are gone...better get used to it cause the call for his retirement from even his fans are louder than ever.

Abeg am I the only person who can't see TheSuperNerds comment on here?

minsfelix2:
Kenya who I will say have the same perceived level with Guinea Bissau, played a 1-1 with Eritrea...that's to tell you they are finding pride bit by bit in their football...if they Eritrea can hold Kenya to a 1-1 draw, one day, dey will upgrade to holding Mali to a draw another day will upgrade to beating Cape Verde another day they will upgrade to holding Ghana, then before you know them don pip us Giant of Africa 1-0🤣🤣...na so Guinea Bissau take start...who knew Guinea Bissau in football before as at Afcon 2008,2010,2012,2013,2015,2017...na Nigeria many of them dey use first shine....from CAR to Guinea Bissau, another baby team will come yeye us again one day if we don't sit up..dey watch

Lmao true sha, honestly we need to phase out so many players in this team, apart from Iwobi, Bassey and of course Osimhen the other so called established older players are stumbling blocks and are just not good enough anymore. I can bet that our U23 team would have done better against Guinea Bissau, very soon Seychelles go begin beat us if we don't get our acts together fast.

EElopa:
If you guys went through my post, you can clearly observe that I never at any time questioned Ndidi's love and commitment to Nigeria. I might have sounded harsh in my criticism of Ndidi, but make no mistake about it, Wilfred Ndidi in his prime was a beast, and I rated him very highly. He was just as good as Kante in that DM role in his prime. Seeing some scrubs who cannot even clean his clits in his prime win the midfield battle against him really got me bleeped up. The passion and fire I can tell you is still burning in him, but the mileage in that body has pilled up, and the body simply cannot respond to what the heart desired.

Ndidi will be 30 years old in December. Some players still play and perform for their national team in their late 30s. If I were to advise Ndidi, I will tell him to take an extended period break from the national team and simply concentrate on his club. He should fight to get his starting spot back at Besiktas. Take the stress of international football off that body for at least 2 years, get his deserved rest during international breaks, and then see how he feels as time goes by. If down the road he feels that he is back at his best and his club form is showing to the world that Willf is back, then he can make himself available for selection.

You're too nice, as for me I don't care if Ndidi chooses to take a break, left for me... let him along with Simon Moses, Onyeka, Ajayi, and Osayi all retire and focus on their respective clubs. We're long overdue for fresh ideas in that team, for about 7-10 years now we've had the same core of mainstay players who have not won anything for Nigeria. The only player from this generation who has gotten slightly better in his career trajectory is Chukwueze under Amorim. Even players like Lookman, Iwobi and Chukwueze need to be benched so we can explore new options like Zadok, Femi Azeez, Tyrique George etc.

Osimhen deserves better and younger players around him to win something before he slips away from his prime years with nothing to show for it...we have failed to qualify for two world cups and it's not mere coincidence that all those players I've mentioned (Iwobi, Ndidi, Simon, Lookman, Ajayi, Chukwueze and Osayi) were all common factors in those failures under different coaches. That midfield needs a whole new chop and change look, same as the attack (thank God for Ilenikhena)...

I want Chelle to man up for once and stop inviting or playing "names" because he doesnt want to hurt his so called experienced players, I need him to be ruthless and start building HIS OWN TEAM, experiment with younger players, take chances! at least if you fail with those new options then let it be that you tried.

minsfelix2:
Ok ooo, until the day dem catch super eagles shock us with a 1-0 or 2-0 win🤣🤣

Bros we're bad but not "Eritrea beat us" kind of bad, haba...Eritrea is on the same quality level as Sao Tome. I won't even consider Guinea Bissau a minnow team cause they have decent players that play abroad.

minsfelix2:
SA making a statement by hammering Eritrea 5-0 away.. second team to record highest score line in this qualify series after Egypt went away to dismantle south Sudan 5-0

Eritrea no be the same as Guinea Bissau sha, GB is a very decent side that can beat any of the top African teams outside of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

Truidstarr:
Our football is not dying, Chelle should balls up and overhaul the team no dead woods and sentiments. Gambia is having a moment based on time and chance. Brazil for the millions invested yearly in elite academies and grassroots development...the systemis producing shit players year in year out...same Brazil that had the 3 R's at a certain time. Inspite of the blatant corruption, neglect and visonless administrators plaguing us, we still manage to unearth gems against all odds. E go better.

Our football is dead my guy, get used to it.

Truidstarr:
Our football is not dying, Chelle should balls up and overhaul the team no dead woods and sentiments. Gambia is having a moment based on time and chance. Brazil for the millions invested yearly in elite academies and grassroots development...the systemis producing shit players year in year out...same Brazil that had the 3 R's at a certain time. Inspite of the blatant corruption, neglect and visonless administrators plaguing us, we still manage to unearth gems against all odds. E go better.

Players that need to phased out:

Ndidi
Onyeka
Akor
Osayi-Samuel
Ajayi
Simon Moses
Awoniyi

Players that should be on probation:

Lookman
Chukwueze
Iwobi

Players that should be introduced:
Any of the U23 players that impress against Russia
Gift Orban
Tim Iroegbunam
Akinsanmiro
(Feel free to add more)

Naija lose match finish, Maduka still get mind dey post fine boy instashot few minutes later, is he mocking Nwabali?

The uncomfortable truth is that this generation of players are easily the worst set we've ever seen in the history of Nigerian football, I don't think any other generation comes any closer.

The 2013 generation under the late Steven Keshi were arguably less talented but somehow delivered more, even the Osaze and Mikel Obi set never failed to deliver. We go back to the early 2000 generation and the story is the same, they were never liked by the fans and media but they ALWAYS delivered, this current generation are the most media-pampered set, fans suck up to them cause they look flashy and have friends and fanboys on social media, but in crucial moments when they needed to stand tall, they always fell apart.

Emenike and Ideye Brown as unpopular as they were had a far better record than Osimhen but with less hype...Seriki of Turkey only knows how to statpad against small teams...never shows up in big games for us. Imagine missing 2 world cups and potentially an AFCON...all hype. Only Iwobi and Bassey from this set can look back on their stint and say they gave their all...the rest are more or less forgettable at best.

Pls bring on the Zadok and Femi Azeez generation as we prepare for 2030, I'll rather we succeed or fail with new ideas and youth, at least the youth will have more learning curves to get better.

I just hope the U23 lads perform well against Russia, I believe our rebuilding process must surely begin from that friendly, that U23 squad + the unity cup squad led by Osimhen and Bassey should be used to see out the remaining games in that group, I'll rather we succeed or fail with new ideas. I'm done with the Ndidis and Iwobis of this world.

yinkeys:
Aina & Onyemaechi would be retained though
Who better than them ?

Let's try Bewene, Alebiosu, the Enugu rangers guy we saw at the unity cup...it won't hurt to try, nobody will die if we try new ideas,at the very worst they end up not being good enough but lets fucking try.

minsfelix2:
The team that played against Portugal and Poland and in the Unity cup, why Chelle dey troway face for them...
Bewene
Alhassan Yusuf
Otele
Emmanuel Fernandez
Igoh Ogbu
Tochukwu Nnadi
Rafiu Durosimi
Samson Tijani
Igboke
Nwaiwu
Even Benjamin Frederick.....or was there call ups for those matches just in vain with no hope of gradual integration into the super eagles?
For this senior super eagles player to collect 3-0 and winning a lean 2-1, Chelle should not be scared of taking out some players then

He discarded all these players for reasons best known to him and stuck with the old guards, these players gave you a style of football we all loved during the unity cup and friendly games...yet somehow Chelle is too cowardly to stick to what worked for him because he's afraid of probably offending the "experienced players". I can bet that the unity cup team would have fared way better against Guinea bissau than the rubbish we saw today.

joelsteron:
I get your point about bringing in younger midfielders, and I’m not against that at all. But phasing out the older players doesn’t automatically mean dropping them all at once.

My point is about balance. If Ndidi is still being used, Iwobi is still around, then give them defined roles and bring Onyedika into the midfield properly instead of forcing Iwobi to play too deep.

At the same time, younger midfielders should absolutely be called up and given a real chance. Let them compete for those spots instead of keeping the same names there forever.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks my brother, there's no amount of role switching and tactical Maradona any coach will do that will make the likes of Ndidi, Onyeka and even Iwobi any more dynamic...these guys are aging and are past their prime. I can still see a world where Iwobi will still be useful for us, but I doubt he will get any better than what he offers us now.