₦airaland Forum

Derumklala12:
We could've killed this game . But ferran starting alongside lewandowski

Well the 2. Most inform team clashed

Unstoppable force meets an immovable object

And the tectonic impact bounces Madrid 4 points behind. Win-Win if you ask me

On a serious note, the boys played with good intensity, controlled the game but lacked effective ideas in the final third.

I wouldn't moan over this too much especially as they also had one eye on the Dortmund game.

jpmoriarti:
They've done it!!!

We could go 6 pionts of the league with a win against Betis tonight.

Meanwhile, Valencia who hasn't won a single match away from home, have gone on win at the Bernabeu of all places

Valencia that we dunked 7 - 1 in our home

Actually, we could win the league on the day of el clasico or have RM give us a guard of honor by that day if they further drop points. Now that would be something to look forward to!

AirBere:
Excellent points all round but I think this is also a problem or should I say a draw back for Barca. It's why your team has fallen behind Madrid, Man city, as a top, top club especially in Europe. City this season is bad talking about them before this season. The last time you were truly feared in Europe was the year after you won the UCL. That's 2016 exactly 10 years. In 2025, You're again feared because the coach is not from the "Barca DNA"school of thought.

Etoo, in my opinion is the best African player ever ahead of Weah who won the Bdor but you can't be waiting for his type or something close to that in 2025. You move on and look at what's available and use it to win and be relevant at the highest level.

After years of failure in Europe, you've failed to qualify for the club world cup, arguably the biggest football competition in the world in terms of the financial reward. In the summer, your best defender will leave because they said he can't pass. Your goal keeper is yet to be replaced because the club can't find a GK that can pass like him.

When Flick was first linked here, I can mention those against him because he doesn't have "Barca DNA".

Before joining Chelsea in 2016, Barca fans will consider Kante not good enough because they'll think he's not technically efficient. But aside Iniesta Xavi and Busquet, no Barca midfielder in that period till date can lase the boot of Kante.

The point is that, although still relevant when the case maybe, football is now beyond the technique, aesthetics, first touch, second touch etc. It's about being athletic and putting the ball in the back of the net even if it means using your nose. Isak is better than Haaland but most teams will still go for Halland and you know why. There'll never be another Etoo.

What you have now is them Grygores, Larsen(wolves), Vlahhovic, Osi, Siekzo, Openda, Gonzalo Ramos, Plavildis, Moise Kean to mention a few. None of these are even better than Jardel who never played in top 3 league then. They're all similar to Cavani, Higuain style. Who were "simply put the ball in the back of the net guys".

Going by that trend, you can't wait for a player with the technical ability of Etoo, Henry or a player with the technical ability of Xavi, Seedof in 2025. You can still win with Ververda, Szobo, Beligham, Haaland, Lauturo etc.

Moving forward, I still think a player of Osi's ability can play for Barca and score bucket load of goals. If Ferran can do it, Osi can as well and I can bet my car engine on this.

Your luck is that now, you have a coach who understands the modern game more than others.

Not disputing that Osi will score. I mean Lewy already has up to 40 goals this season amidst constant barrage of criticism about his poor first touch, link up play and missing easy chances - all attributes which Osi also shares with.

I think we are doing the best we can with the striker we have - gunning for a treble. But that doesn't mean we can't go a step better - getting a technically gifted striker like Isak who is also not bad at all in putting the ball in the back of the net.

Given an option between Isak and Osi, I'll go for the better fit which is Isak. Osi will be good for the EPL.

Colson:
omor, I over-estimated your football knowledge, You lost me when you said Osimhen is like Eto'o. Like how?? Apart from ball striking and clinical finishing, they are nothing alike. Eto was an extremely technically brilliant striker, excellent at link up plays and could even do a job at LW. Eto wey dey pull off la croqueta on a constant that year, you dey whine me?
Make Osimhen try do la croqueta he go tear ACL at first attempt. Isak is far more like Eto than Osimhen.
Sesko doesn't have the goals yet but he has everything to be a top striker, he's still very young. The fact that he's been courted by a lot of big clubs even though he doesn't have the numbers should tell you that these clubs see the potential that he possesses.

I thought same as well regarding Osi and Eto.

Eto was extremely technically gifted. Victor is just technically average and this is not about putting down our own.

Great first touch, intelligent intertwined passing and movement, spins on the turn, great dribbling skills, these were Eto's strong points in his prime.

If Osi comes, fans would complain just the same way we do about Lewa. The quintessential Barca striker has to be technically smooth.

The only striker with Eto's similar skillset in today's football is funny enough a fellow Cameroonian, Mbappe. And this is an evidence of the quality decline in the technically skillful striker pool in modern football which I previously spoke about.

During Eto's time, we also had Henry, De Lima, Raul, Shevchenko, Torres, Adriano, D.Villa, Rooney etc. Only Mbappe is in that zone now.

The best of today's strikers a la Haaland, Lewy, Kane, Lautaro, Grokeres, Osimhen etc are more in the mold of Drogba, Zlatan, Nistelrooy, Makaay, Gomez, Milito, Higuain of those times. They may score often but will struggle technically at Barca.

KDB the EPL midfield GOAT.

You have paid your dues.

This guy terrorized many teams in his prime.

His decline started from March- April last year after coming back from a 6 month injury. But from 2017 - 2023, KDB was the EPL prime time with a UCL legacy to show for it.

Bimmarlykay:
It's puzzling that Suarez's UCL stats aren't more impressive, especially considering he played alongside Messi, who's known for creating scoring opportunities. Even Benzema's UCL record surpasses Suarez's.

Yeah it's one of the mysteries of modern football. Kind of similar with De Lima's poor UCL record but at least that one compensated with stellar World cup credentials.

I think Suarez was unlucky in that all his time with Liverpool were spent in the Europa zone. Na adult education he take start UCL.

andrewbaba44:
That one babe wey everybody want shag but none wan marry am

Lol, person wey Kyle walker dey tell "pass the ball, you no be Messi"

Serious reality check.

Bimmarlykay:
Except for the disappointing exits (those still hurt!) to Roma and Liverpool (the later still gets me angry!), Suarez's UCL exploits for Barca are somewhat mixed. His Champions League stats are somewhat underwhelming (to be honest, his UCL numbers are pretty poor), but he did play a crucial role (scoring important goals) in our victories against PSG (that epic comeback!), Manchester City, and Juventus (in the 2015 Champions League campaign)... ✍️

Suarez had only one good UCL campaign. That's low for a player of his caliber. Lewy is a UCL all timer behind only Messi and CR.

jpmoriarti:
Yes the fans are fickle, including myself but you have to know that goals wins matches. And we rely on the no 9 to score goals to win us matches.

Yes Lewandowski is 36 years and old and wrinkly , but if he still wants to keep playing at the highest level, he has to keep scoring the goals. I'm sorry but that's how it is.

We have watched him miss some easy chances and then we go on and draw or lose the game. You have to understand that the fans will be angry and disappointed.

I applaud his goal scoring achievements this season especially with his age and reduced sharpness but you would have to wonder if we have had a sharper striker out there, he would have been on over 50+ goals this season.

Hmm, JP, have you ever wondered why a 40 year old washed Cristiano is still outscoring the Durans, Mitrovics and Benzes in the Saudi league? Why a 33 yr old Salah still outscores prime Isak, Jota, Watkins, Jacksons & co? Why Harry Kane is statpadding the Bundes more than all the younger strikers?

There is a world class sixth sense in these players that isn't easily found in regular good strikers.

If the striker to replace Lewy isn't Mbappe or Haaland, there are no guarantees.

jpmoriarti:
You're right! The stat is convoluted and misleading. I only just realized this. We have never scored exactly 6 goals in any match. Yes we have scored 7 goals in 2 matches but not exactly 6.

So that meant that the 4+ goals, is inclusive of all the times we scored 4 goals, 5 goals and 7 goals in a match.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes the goals scoring is still very impressive but the stat I dropped here can be misleading. I was misled myself.

No issues bro.

jpmoriarti:
I know football continues to change to adapt to the times but what do you define as modern football? And how do you think the game has developed from 20 years ago?

Great question and great response from the guy you quoted.

Key takeaways for me are -

- attackers and midfielders now have longer lifespans performing at top level. However, this does not seem to hold for defenders cos once you lose the physical edge no amount of system coaching can sustainably protect you from the Yamals, Salahs, Mbappes and even the Jacksons.

- more cautious possession based football by lesser teams instead of only the elite teams.

On the flip side however, there's lesser number of quality players than from 15 to 30 years ago.

More lower quality defenders which is why average or declining defenders like Rudiger, Alaba, VVD, Marquinhos, Dias, Upamecano, Maguire are still manning the world's top clubs. This also speaks to the general quality of the attackers they face nowadays.

The impact of better system coaching in modern football has more significance for average teams and has benefited them more. The result is that we now have a top 8 in England, top 5 or 6 in Italy, Bayern now having a worthy competitor.

However for the elite teams, there's a ceiling that system coaching cannot break - Pervasive quality - which is what teams of 15 to 30 years ago had in abundance. And when you match elite system coaching with elite pervasive quality, the result is the demonic Barca team of 2008 to 2015.

This is why the Bayern of 2012/13 will beat almost all current teams. 06-08 united will beat current Liverpool, 06 - 10 Inter and 02 - 07 Milan will still beat several top European teams of today. And of course, Pep's and Enrique's Barca will dispatch our current team in my opinion.

andrewbaba44:
Lewandowski dey try abeg ,even Ronaldo no score like this for this age

Dragging pichichi with prime mbappe no easy

First player to reach 40 goals this season

This would not stop Cules from dragging him next match. Default fans attitude towards Lewy is to always criticize him until he scores which only pauses the criticism.

Frankly, what he's done this season - scoring 40 goals and counting - at 36+ years old is insane. Whether it's the system enabling him or not, we need to respect this guy more. After all, which key Barca player has Flick's system not enabled from Raphina, Pedri, Cubarsi, FDJ, Ferran, Inigo and even Yamal.

At the end of the day, he'll almost certainly end up as one of the striking goats of football.

andrewbaba44:
FDJ you dey ball

Na me drag you pass ,so I go praise you

I don’t know if it’s flick that changed you

FDJ driving the ball forward in full flight is one of the beautiful sights in today's football. To be honest, his turn and run yesterday was a tad similar to Cryuff's driving style, or even Beckenbauer-esque.

Only if he can develop his tactical defensive discipline and awareness to a consistent level and coupled with his impressive attacking sense, he could yet become a true Blaugrana legend.

jpmoriarti:
Barcelona under Hansi Flick this season:

✅ 7 goals in a match – 2 times
✅ 6 goals in a match – 2 times
✅ 5 goals in a match – 11 times
✅ 4 goals in a match – 20 times

WOW 🤯

That’s 35 games scoring 4 or more goals!!!!

Maravilloso 😍

Ermm sorry to dampen the excitement, while impressive in its own right, I think the data up there is intersected, meaning, for example, the '4 goals in a match' count is also included in the '5 goals in a match' record and so on.

Cos there's no way we'd have scored almost 200 goals at this stage of the season already when the treble goal scoring record seasons were less than 150 goals as at season end. I stand to be corrected.

Pele o, Lenglay..Good riddance.

Ferran beautiful goal..

Lamine is simply the X-factor!

Mixed feelings. RIP to the mechanic who cherished his integrity more than his life.

Very unfortunate. Lots of what ifs....

If the client's wife and daughter had not delayed by 10 mins, they would have reached the mechanic probably 10 mins earlier.

If they got there earlier, two things could have happened:

- They could all still be with the mechanic at the time of the explosion risking more loss of lives and both cars rather than one.

- They could have left with the repaired car quickly just before the explosion. The burnt car would have been saved. However, the mechanic would still have been at his yard packing up but would have had a higher chance of escaping.

The first scenario would have been the most likely outcome due to the short timeline, but we will never know...

Ibime:
Raphinha and Dembele ain't winning no Ballon dor, unless they do something exceptional in the final. You don't just arrive at Ballon Dor in one season, you must have built familiarity and some loyalty with the voters in previous years.

Mbappe in the lead and Harry Kane second favourite depending on the UCL outcome

Niggas never voted for Raphinha and Dembele in past years but they have thumbprint Mbappe and Kane before and those niggas are overdue after many years of competing at that level.

You have a point about having some sort of podium worthy credibility built before you can win.

If Madrid wins UCL and Vini does more in the KO stages than Mbappe, then he stands a better chance due to his narrow miss last year.

Its hard to see Mbappe with a season so far that's been mostly full of criticism realistically make a claim for Bdor over those consistently good all season. I mean January- early Feb 2025 with a hatrick vs City has been his only world class period this season. Will that be enough for Bdor?

Ibime:
Have never seen anyone get the better of Nuno Mendes so Salah is in great company

João Neves was the star of the show. Vitinha finally has a partner.

They should free these Portuguese boys of the influence of Bruno, Felix and Ronaldo. A 3 man Portugal midfield of Palhinha, Neves and Vitinha will dominate anyone.

Not downplaying Nuno Mendes quality, but ironically, Dembele got past him a few times at the Euros QF.

Saka also did his number back in October.

Salah should look for another excuse.

Derumklala12:
Pedri motm?? Did this ppl watch szsneszy yesterday??

Aswr 10years comot for my life yesterday.. match stressful like

Ter stegennuna go chop bench oh

Pedri said he was going to give Sczeszny the award. Both of them deserved it.

raumdeuter:
Ticket to carribean and south America na less than $500.

From what I reliably heard from afrodoc2 with $200 you go clear all night for D.R, if na Colombia it's even cheaper cos they are many there and supply plenty especially in places like Meddelin

If you fit come enter Rwanda, Tanzania and East Africa to see safari

If you spend $500 on top nack in one week you fit land for hospital

Opportunity cost o yapa.

But e get level of money wey dem go get, dem no go reason all these alternatives. Except if the person get financial discipline naturally.

All those corporate and government people wey go Davos last year go carry OS for nacks during teams meeting sessions fit no dey reason 2k usd as too much.

BlueRayDick:
Yeah , I share the same sentiments with u. I’m agreeing that the unstated allowances will be more than the ones stated.

Also there is a chance of regular trips abroad where the staff will regularly get dollar as estacode/out of station allowance

Exactly. So in reality its not difficult for a GT in NNPC to get a tokunbo 03 - 07 Corolla after a year plus of working.

BlueRayDick:
The NNPC graduate trainee salary package is actually not bad at 7.5m gross per annum .

It’s just that in this T-pain economy where everything is now expensive ; for you to be able to buy a decent Tokunbo car from ur net earnings within 2 years of working , u must be a heavy saver .

Don't be surprised that that Line 5 - benefits as stipulated in NNPC condition of service - is almost as much, if not more, than the 7.5m consolidated annual package itself.

That's where all these field trip allowances, offshore trainings per diems (in USD), monetized local trainings all go into. These guys no fit touch their main salaries.

Nnpc where the unseen is more than what's visible.

Jokerman:
😭😹😭

Pessi fans wey dey always support am,go attack am now...😭😹😭

Almiron
Theiryjay
Obembet
Englishisamust

Lol, he is wrong but he actually has a good point.

Is AFCON a major tournament? Yes it is undoubtedly.

But is AFCON at the same level of COPA and Euros in terms of quality? Truthfully No.

The best teams in Afcon like Senegal and CIV are not even in the top 20 rated national teams globally. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and at least 7 top Euro teams are always in the top 10.

Objectively, the best of Afcon teams are below their level. So are their worst.

I've always known that this food price hyper-inflation was very artificial which explains these farmers current lamentations.

Why should raw food prices with little or no imported inputs have the same inflation rate as other products that are the true big victims of exchange rate decline? This is an indicator of pricing manipulations which is why farmers have been making supernormal profits in the past one year and half.

The impact of insecurity and transport costs are there but overestimated as excuses. Insecurity has been around for a while even when a bag of rice was 30k.

Logistics is high but the average impact is reduced when the cost is spread over several units of farm products being transported. But farmers will still sell a unit at 4 or 5 times the previous price as if the entire 400% petrol increase was used to move a single unit.

They've had their time. May the majority be better off for it.

oloriooko:
My respect for Gasp is huge but he allowed his emotions get the better of him in this situation, he poorly and unprofessionally handled the matter.

Also Mola should have respected the team's agreed penalty taker set by the coach to take it. No coach will be happy watching his laid out plan ignored on the pitch which eventually caused them a spot in round of 16

So both should recognise their faults and forge ahead, this is not do or due matter

"Caused" them wetin?

Why did this so called grand laid out plan not make them escape defeat in first leg?

Why did the plan further caused them to ship in a whopping 3 goals in the first half at home, setting them back 5 - 1 before lookman's entry.

Lookman obviously didn't like the plan, and scored as soon as he came in. And even on the Penalty, if Lookman had scored, Atalanta was still going to need 3 goals to qualify. Same team that cannot remember the last time they won a match without Lookman.

He really caused them the spot lol.

Sensible reply from Africa's best.

The public casting from the Coach is unjustified. You were losing 5 - 1 he came on and scored and then missed a penalty that he was asked to take by the designated penalty taker.

No guarantee that if he scored to make it 5 - 3, Atlanta would have won the tie.

Lookman's penalty record with Atalanta prior to yesterday was perfect - 4 penalties scored out of 4 taken. So it made sense to have him take it seeing that he also just pulled one back.

Worse still, one of your defenders had to commit a red card offence. Yet it's your best player that you singled out for public ridicule for your teams loss.

Which sensible coach does that? Gasperini is obviously smoking something.

And to all those slamming Lookman earlier, better get help for your inferiority complex or just hate, cos there is simply no justification for this.

Sensible reply from Africa's best.

The public casting from the Coach is unjustified. You were losing 5 - 1 he came on and scored and then missed a penalty that he was asked to take by the designated penalty taker.

No guarantee that if he scored to make it 5 - 3, Atlanta would have won the tie.

Lookman's penalty record with Atalanta prior to yesterday was perfect - 4 penalties scored out of 4 taken. So it made sense to have him take it seeing that he also just pulled one back.

Worse still, one of your defenders had to commit a red card offence. Yet it's your best player that you singled out for public ridicule for your teams loss.

Which sensible coach does that? Gasperini is obviously smoking something.

And to all those slamming Lookman earlier, better get help for your inferiority complex or just hate, cos there is simply no justification for this.

Angelfrost:
Wow! I didn't even know this!

That Gasperini is an idiot racist then.

What a shame... These Italians sef.


SMH!!!

Well, I wouldnt be quick to call him a racist because he has worked well with so many black players. Maybe it's the occasional loosing of some screws in the head at his failure and he just poured it out all on the humble Lookman.

Angelfrost:
Yeah... Lookman did wrong but he didn't do anything terrible or strange that couldn't have been corrected internally.

To single out your best player for a poor error of judgement or youthful exuberance in a game he contributed the best from the bench paints a negative image of your character as a coach.

Atalanta lost that game in the first half...!

Whatever hope the penalty might have rekindled, that Red card would have cancelled it, but did you hear him call out the idiot defender?!!


This is not about supporting a fellow African... This is about professionalism and maturity on the part of a supposedly seasoned coach.


You and that guy don't need to argue for the sake of neutrality.

I'm also neutral here, and Gasperini was stupid for making that utterance to the press. He should have deigned not to comment, and disciplined his player in private.

Chief, you are on point. But permit me to say Lookman DID NO WRONG especially based on the facts that have come out after the game.

Retegui or whatever asked him to take it and he obliged. He had scored all his penalties for Atalanta before and he just had the momentum of scoring a goal, It made sense at the time. Retegui himself missed vs Arsenal and if he hadn't, Atalanta would have qualified automatically into the last eight.

I remember Pendu allowing Bruno to take a penalty but he missed. Did Rangnick publicly call out Bruno? of course not.

The Coach seems to have gone bonkers and simply has no point.

AirBere:
You're correct chief, no need to mention yabbing and all. We can have a civil conversation. I had to look that up again. He only missed 1 at Fulham and before yesterday was 4/4 for Atlanta.

I've maintained that the coach should've done whatever he wanted to do in the dressing room.

Point taken bro. Most of the blame is actually for Gasperini. Apologies for the stray bullet.

AirBere:
Nah, the emboldened is why the coach is actually pissed. Lookman is poor on penalties right from his Fulham days. He's not good at penalties and you can look it up.

Like I said earlier, the coach needed to do this in private

You keep yapping on about his Fulham penalty records. The fact is that he has scored penalties for Atalanta before and the Coach did not cry about why he was taking them then.

Did you even watch how the event actually played out during the match? None of the designated penalty takers challenged Lookman for the ball to take the penalty. If they could not enforce the Coach's instructions, then the blame falls on them as well and they should be called out publicly in similar vein by the same coach.

The collateral damage of publicly sacrificing your star player over an event that does not guarantee them a win in a game they lost 5 -2 is downright ridiculous and I'm surprised you are not looking at it from this angle.

Messi scored a great goal vs PSG but missed a penalty shortly after in 2021 UCL. The praise superseded the criticism as on the balance of play, PSG won 5-2 on aggregate. A sensible coach knows this.