Dedebanky85:
Which Tammy Anraham is in the bag? Cos thw only one I know of that was on loan at bristol from chelsea is in the English under21 camp training with them for the Euros. So you can appreciate his talent but don't mix fantasy with reality. That guy's not in any Nigerian bag and would not.

forgiveness:


Sitting on Chelsea bench is not a bean. It can't be compared with Manchester City.

Less I forget, Solanke is the youngest player to feature for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.


Solanke got injured for months in the Eredivisie yet he scored solo goals without the help of good midfielders who will just give a pass to tap in.

If his performance was nothing to write home about, why did Chelsea call him to back to be the third choice striker?

He did play this season is not about deficiency in ability. It has to do with contract disagreement and punishment.

The world knows what I am saying is true.

forgiveness:



Fashion Sakalu is the best player of the Tournament according to the gospel of BascoVanVeli and not FIFA. Bhuuuhahaha!

Many good things to say about the national team but I don't spare sentiment. Simple.

BascoVanVeli:


I don't blame FIFA because the golden ball winner is mostly taken from the last 4 but it would take not having eyes to even talk out loud that Dominic had a better tournament than Fashion. The quality of their goals scored is like comparing Tiwa Savage to Beyoncé.

U always say good things about past legends even wanting to bring some back but u never say good things about the current crop. U are very sentimental, u are the same guy who made the Dominic is better than Iheanacho argument, even the boy's uncle would know better.

TheGoodJoe:


Disagree with Baxter's opinion. We did not create chances, not that we were poor finishing.

When you say a team lacked quality upfront, it means that a side crested chances but the forwards did not take their chances. In this case, Iheanacho was in good position to score but the passes did not come clean. So I think Baxter meant we did not have a quality attack midfield because as I said before we had enough opportunities to put three goals in the first half.

TheGoodJoe:


I agree about I am wearing tinted shades, Your own is blindfold.

goldfish80:

All these because you can't bring yourself to acknowledge that Kelechi had a poor game.
Even when the South African coach said we lacked quality upfront.

If you genuinely believe Kelechi had a good game. It's either you never watched the match or you're just being willfully dense.

goldfish80:

All these because you can't bring yourself to acknowledge that Kelechi had a poor game.
Even when the South African coach said we lacked quality upfront.

If you genuinely believe Kelechi had a good game. It's either you never watched the match or you're just being willfully dense.

junnyjake:


I agree with your submissions so far to a large extent, iheanacho was starved of the ball, anyone who watched the match would agree to that. If we had witnessed any occasion whereby iheanacho was provided with goal scoring chances and was wasteful, then I believe he should be blamed for the loss. So, I totally get where you are coming from.


I've also followed arguments of those who had contrary opinions to yours and they are to an extent also right, Iheanacho has never been a natural number 9, he's at his best when played as a SS. There are evidences to support this claim.

Only where I'd disagree with you is the concession of the first goal, akpeyi had nothing to do with that, and most of the best GKs in the world concede similar goals, I'd rather blame the defense for not disrupting the process before the cross came in.


We need to do better come September, else we'd be disgraced both home and away by the Cameroonians.

junnyjake:


I agree with your submissions so far to a large extent, iheanacho was starved of the ball, anyone who watched the match would agree to that. If we had witnessed any occasion whereby iheanacho was provided with goal scoring chances and was wasteful, then I believe he should be blamed for the loss. So, I totally get where you are coming from.


I've also followed arguments of those who had contrary opinions to yours and they are to an extent also right, Iheanacho has never been a natural number 9, he's at his best when played as a SS. There are evidences to support this claim.

Only where I'd disagree with you is the concession of the first goal, akpeyi had nothing to do with that, and most of the best GKs in the world concede similar goals, I'd rather blame the defense for not disrupting the process before the cross came in.


We need to do better come September, else we'd be disgraced both home and away by the Cameroonians.

TheGoodJoe:


I have explained what Baxter meant. He clearly said we could have scored early. The question is why did we not score early? Because the midfield failed to connect good passes to Iheanacho. When Iheanacho gave Etebo a nice pass, it was suppose to be a goal but Etebo missed it. So Iheanacho does not deserve criticism. Please do your self a favor and watch the game again because I wonder how you can miss the runs of Iheanacho.

TheGoodJoe:


I wonder what to tell you again. Kelechi Iheanacho made good runs, opened for passes and the midfield failed to connect him. He can not get criticised for the midfield failing to connect with him.

forgiveness:


Who is the best player of the Tournament?

All those ones we you dey talk na story.

I say good things about what I know is not complete. At least, yesterday you got the message.

If I say Dominic Solanke is better than Iheanacho, what is the problem?

At least, Dominic is living the hype. Take heart.

goldfish80:

The organisation and positioning of the South African defence made it difficult for any through ball to find him.
Even when the balls came to him, he couldn't bring the midfielders into the game like a proper lone target man will do.

I've read reviews and ratings by various sources on this game, not even one gave Kelechi a pass mark. Why you're making excuses him beggars belief. Even if you're his agent, this blatant deceit is unacceptable.

BascoVanVeli:


If u say Dominic Solanke is better than Iheanacho then u must be smoking crack. Iheanacho has more talent in his left toe for crying out loud.

BascoVanVeli:


I am not going to dwell on Iheanacho because I don't like how he left the field. But if Etebo scores the sitter Nacho gave him would people be saying the boy was ineffective? Every single pass made to him was over cooked.

forgiveness:


Bhuuuhahaha! Who is the current best player of the upgraded youth competition U20 WC?

zicky:
you spoke well, and I did not noticed any poor first touch from Iheanacho for the Saturday match or maybe I no watch the match well

BascoVanVeli:


Why do u keep asking such a childish question? Our whole argument started with me saying I don't think he deserved the award so of course I have acknowledged who the golden ball winner is.

goldfish80:

The organisation and positioning of the South African defence made it difficult for any through ball to find him.
Even when the balls came to him, he couldn't bring the midfielders into the game like a proper lone target man will do.

I've read reviews and ratings by various sources on this game, not even one gave Kelechi a pass mark. Why you're making excuses him beggars belief. Even if you're his agent, this blatant deceit is unacceptable.

forgiveness:
Na still wetin we don wey many people no fit see because of settlement.

June 11, 2017


5 Reasons Why Super Eagles Got Humiliated By Bafana Bafana

The Super Eagles lost for the first time in a competitive game to South Africa on Saturday in front of the Nigerian team's home fans in Uyo.

Completesportsnigeria.com's JOHNNY EDWARD, who was in Uyo to witness the hugely embarrassing Africa Cup of Nations qualifier defeat, outlines the major reasons for the poor result…

1. Iheanacho can't play as a false nine for Super Eagles
Kelechi Iheanacho has been the most prolific forward for the Super Eagles since he made his debut in 2016, scoring six goals in nine matches. But he has failed to click playing as a false nine. The Manchester City forward has thrived playing alongside a natural striker who could run into spaces for him to operate. Iheanacho sparkled in training for the Super Eagles because the Eagles had no recognised striker with pedigree playing with the senior national team. Since Rohr was taking a big risk of his young side he could have well taken the gamble on Kayode Olanrewaju or Victor Osimhen whom he listed on the substitutes bench for the Eagles.

2. The defence of the Super Eagles not organised enough
Chidozie Awaziem made his competitive debut for the Super Eagles and was average against South Africa. The Porto B defender did not form a good understanding with William Troost-Ekong who he partnered in the heart of the Eagles defence. Awaziem was caught off guard several times when the South African launched counter-attacks. He also did not also fill in for the left-back Elderson Echiejile when Echiejile joined the attack. Echiejile also was far from his best during the game. As the most senior player in the team, Echiejile failed to marshal his defence. The young Eagles defence were culpable for the first goal while they lacked the pace to catch up with South African full-back who got behind the Eagles defence at will.

3. Eagles lacked creativity in midfield
Despite the array of attacking talent Gernot Rohr had at his disposal, the Super Eagles lacked creativity from the midfield. The likes of Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho were off colour during the encounter and John Ogu who was left out of the squad for the game could have offered the Eagles some sort of attacking threat going forward when the Oghenekaro Etebo and Wilfred Ndidi fizzled out in the second half. There was no creative move orchestrated from the midfield and coach Gernot Rohr paid dearly for his overreliance on Iwobi, Iheanacho and Moses Simon in attack.

4. Gernot Rohr got his tactics wrong
Keeping a versatile player like John Ogu out of the the squad cost the Super Eagles quality substitution options during the game. The midfield trio of Ogenyi Onazi, Oghenekaro Etebo and Wilfred Ndidi fielded by coach

5. Lack of experience in the team
It was obvious that the Super Eagles lacked experience to maintain the pressure to break the resolute South African side who were determined to get something from the game. The big players like Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo and Victor Moses that missed out could have offered valuable options in midfield and in attack. There was no game calmer in the starting line-up neither was there any game changer.

Read more at http://www.completesportsnigeria.com/64668-2/#GdhzLGl3mldkFsQK.99

Mickael2:


half baked journalism. Iheanacho did not play as a false nine on saturday sef. If he had been instructed to play as a false nine he would have been dropping deep and he would have helped out the midfield a lot. Oga where do you even get all these rubbish assesments from?

BascoVanVeli:


I don't blame FIFA because the golden ball winner is mostly taken from the last 4 but it would take not having eyes to even talk out loud that Dominic had a better tournament than Fashion. The quality of their goals scored is like comparing Tiwa Savage to Beyoncé.

U always say good things about past legends even wanting to bring some back but u never say good things about the current crop. U are very sentimental, u are the same guy who made the Dominic is better than Iheanacho argument, even the boy's uncle would know better.

goldfish80:

The organisation and positioning of the South African defence made it difficult for any through ball to find him.
Even when the balls came to him, he couldn't bring the midfielders into the game like a proper lone target man will do.

I've read reviews and ratings by various sources on this game, not even one gave Kelechi a pass mark. Why you're making excuses him beggars belief. Even if you're his agent, this blatant deceit is unacceptable.

Icon4s:


Your first paragraph is just the summary of why our attack could not break down the SA defense.

For eg in that first half Iheanacho was practically kept off on several occasions. There were through balls from the midfield in that first half but they were either intercepted by their organized CB pairing or they kept Iheanacho off.

To rescue the situation, Iwobi had to play wide to pull usually two of the defenders to him. Expecting a disorganization of the CB pairing which could have given room for Iheanacho to operate. But his lack of athletism limited him to wide positions plus the SA defenders made sure he never made progress into the their 18yards box.

Etebo in an attempt to break the defence started making solo runs - what he is known for but his finishing touches let him down as he was always putting himself in a difficult position to aim at goal. Etebo's problem now I think is the 'Jack of all trade but master of none'. I think we need to define the role he will play for the national team and confine him to it. I recommend the CM. The role he played against Algeria.

Simon Moses has not improved a bit. He is not a starter IMO. He tried to use his skill and pace to outwit the SA defenders but his crosses were either not timely or too wide. At a point he was just playing crosses not directly targeting any player and expecting a miracle to happen.

Iheanacho was not much involved in the game. The major highlight I have of him was the pass he gave to Etebo that he missed. Secondly were the countless times he was caught in off side positions. The SA coach probably after seeing Iheanacho at City has understood that the only way to stop him from playing is not to allow the balls to get to him. We saw that happen several times at City this season. Iheanacho rides on the back of good Atracking midfield and wings play. He is still our most lethal finisher.

Kayode substituting Iheanacho was when the game ended for Nigeria.

Let me analyse Rohr's thinking before the substitution: We were on a 4-3-3 formation and under sparadic attacks from SA. Depleting the midfield further by removing either Iwobi or Simon would spell more doom. In the balance of play SA was having the upper hand in the midfield at that point in time. He left the two wingers and pulled out Iheanacho with the expectations that Kayode who is more of a natural striker than Iheanacho would have been able to use his pace and skills to outwit the SA defenders on a one on one basis. Alas it turned out that Rohr over estimated Kayode's abilities. At a time in the game I asked if Kayode was still on that field.

Musa's introduction was to introduce more direct play as Iwobi was practically kept wide and we made more incursion into the SA defense as he was even able to combine well on one or two occasions with Kayode. But the player to finish those moves was not there. Had Iheanacho been kept in the game.... who knows?

Osimhen, was the final trow of the die. We were 2-0 down already and so he just had to gamble by pulling out Simon. Osimhen made some good touches and edge of the box moves but not good enough to make anything happen.

Mikel and V. Moses would have obviously made the difference. What the SA defenders did was to keep Iwobi and Simon in wide positions something Moses would have been able to break with his dribbling skills, pace and direct play.
Mikel would have been able to break down the organised SA defense with his dribbling skills, ball holding and shielding abilities plus timely release of the ball for Iheanacho.

If it is doable I would have pleased with God to take Mikel's age back to at least 25!. We are not ready to move on without him.

All these wahala was bc we met a very organized defense.

Then also I think Rohr spent more time focusing on our strength and not much on SA's weaknesses while reverse was the case for SA.

I have the belief that we still qualify. We can also beat SA away.

I wish Ikeme, Balogun, Mikel And Moses quick recovery. They are the back bone of the team. August in not far away again.

Mickael2:


I can't believe you are still arguing this with theGoodJoe of all people, I am tempted to ask if you are a newbie.

#Fact: Iheanacho's first touch has been poor since the match against Algeria, I think the boy seriously needs to start learning how to control the ball with a second touch in tight positions, I wonder what he is learning from Pep's drill if his first touch is getting worse by the day. Saturday wasn't an exception, he was making runs on the wrong side of the midfielders, you have 2 right footed midfielders apporaching from the DMF position, your runs should be in such a way that it would favour their right foot but he will be standing behind the last defender on the left side waiting for a miracle, and even when the miracle came he couldn't outpace a 35 year old GK like you said but the other day I said Kayode is faster than Nacho and some of them wanted to kill me.

TheGoodJoe always says that he wants Nacho to play more like Suarez, so do you think that Suarez would have stayed up top all match long looking for a lucky pass? When such conditions happen in Barcelona you see Suarez dropping deep, and he and whoever is there will start playing 1-2s from outside the box to unlock the defence and if Nacho did something similar, trust me Iwobi feeds on those kinds of play and he would have brought Iwobi into the game which makes me believe that even if Iwobi moved into the middle nothing would have changed because Nacho wasn't just great. There is a reason why Pedro and Willian score a lot for Chelsea because their lone forward brings others into play

Petrobros:


This is the only balanced and sincere analyses of the game I have read all weekend.

Bigotry and Sentiments have so beclouded our minds here that our senses of fair judgements have been eroded.

Well done Sir!

Back to ghost mode.

goldfish80:


This is exactly what I have tried to communicate to TheGoodJoe. Funny enough, Rantie was the closest I saw to Suarez not Kelechi.

I expected to see Kelechi try to get closer to Etebo and sometimes even switch positions, allowing Etebo or even Ndidi the space to run behind him from deep which would inevitably destabilise the South African organisation at the back.

If Kelechi had dropped a bit deeper, Etebo/Ndidi would have had the space to make untracked runs from deep inside the Nigerian half. I can tell you CBs don't like dealing with those kind of runs. Box to box midfielders like Vidal, Lampard,Pogba trive on this sort of situations.

Kelechi playing off the shoulder of the last defender, waiting for an inch perfect through ball was not a wise move because those through balls will always appear over hit, under hit and definitely make the passer look stupid with the organized defence of the South Africans. And Khune well stationed in goal to play the sweeper role.

Someone who didn't play the game won't understand that the defensive setup made those passes look bad.

Icon4s:


Your first paragraph is just the summary of why our attack could not break down the SA defense.

For eg in that first half Iheanacho was practically kept off on several occasions. There were through balls from the midfield in that first half but they were either intercepted by their organized CB pairing or they kept Iheanacho off.

To rescue the situation, Iwobi had to play wide to pull usually two of the defenders to him. Expecting a disorganization of the CB pairing which could have given room for Iheanacho to operate. But his lack of athletism limited him to wide positions plus the SA defenders made sure he never made progress into the their 18yards box.

Etebo in an attempt to break the defence started making solo runs - what he is known for but his finishing touches let him down as he was always putting himself in a difficult position to aim at goal. Etebo's problem now I think is the 'Jack of all trade but master of none'. I think we need to define the role he will play for the national team and confine him to it. I recommend the CM. The role he played against Algeria.

Simon Moses has not improved a bit. He is not a starter IMO. He tried to use his skill and pace to outwit the SA defenders but his crosses were either not timely or too wide. At a point he was just playing crosses not directly targeting any player and expecting a miracle to happen.

Iheanacho was not much involved in the game. The major highlight I have of him was the pass he gave to Etebo that he missed. Secondly were the countless times he was caught in off side positions. The SA coach probably after seeing Iheanacho at City has understood that the only way to stop him from playing is not to allow the balls to get to him. We saw that happen several times at City this season. Iheanacho rides on the back of good Atracking midfield and wings play. He is still our most lethal finisher.

Kayode substituting Iheanacho was when the game ended for Nigeria.

Let me analyse Rohr's thinking before the substitution: We were on a 4-3-3 formation and under sparadic attacks from SA. Depleting the midfield further by removing either Iwobi or Simon would spell more doom. In the balance of play SA was having the upper hand in the midfield at that point in time. He left the two wingers and pulled out Iheanacho with the expectations that Kayode who is more of a natural striker than Iheanacho would have been able to use his pace and skills to outwit the SA defenders on a one on one basis. Alas it turned out that Rohr over estimated Kayode's abilities. At a time in the game I asked if Kayode was still on that field.

Musa's introduction was to introduce more direct play as Iwobi was practically kept wide and we made more incursion into the SA defense as he was even able to combine well on one or two occasions with Kayode. But the player to finish those moves was not there. Had Iheanacho been kept in the game.... who knows?

Osimhen, was the final trow of the die. We were 2-0 down already and so he just had to gamble by pulling out Simon. Osimhen made some good touches and edge of the box moves but not good enough to make anything happen.

Mikel and V. Moses would have obviously made the difference. What the SA defenders did was to keep Iwobi and Simon in wide positions something Moses would have been able to break with his dribbling skills, pace and direct play.
Mikel would have been able to break down the organised SA defense with his dribbling skills, ball holding and shielding abilities plus timely release of the ball for Iheanacho.

If it is doable I would have pleased with God to take Mikel's age back to at least 25!. We are not ready to move on without him.

All these wahala was bc we met a very organized defense.

Then also I think Rohr spent more time focusing on our strength and not much on SA's weaknesses while reverse was the case for SA.

I have the belief that we still qualify. We can also beat SA away.

I wish Ikeme, Balogun, Mikel And Moses quick recovery. They are the back bone of the team. August in not far away again.

Icon4s:


Your first paragraph is just the summary of why our attack could not break down the SA defense.

For eg in that first half Iheanacho was practically kept off on several occasions. There were through balls from the midfield in that first half but they were either intercepted by their organized CB pairing or they kept Iheanacho off.

To rescue the situation, Iwobi had to play wide to pull usually two of the defenders to him. Expecting a disorganization of the CB pairing which could have given room for Iheanacho to operate. But his lack of athletism limited him to wide positions plus the SA defenders made sure he never made progress into the their 18yards box.

Etebo in an attempt to break the defence started making solo runs - what he is known for but his finishing touches let him down as he was always putting himself in a difficult position to aim at goal. Etebo's problem now I think is the 'Jack of all trade but master of none'. I think we need to define the role he will play for the national team and confine him to it. I recommend the CM. The role he played against Algeria.

Simon Moses has not improved a bit. He is not a starter IMO. He tried to use his skill and pace to outwit the SA defenders but his crosses were either not timely or too wide. At a point he was just playing crosses not directly targeting any player and expecting a miracle to happen.

Iheanacho was not much involved in the game. The major highlight I have of him was the pass he gave to Etebo that he missed. Secondly were the countless times he was caught in off side positions. The SA coach probably after seeing Iheanacho at City has understood that the only way to stop him from playing is not to allow the balls to get to him. We saw that happen several times at City this season. Iheanacho rides on the back of good Atracking midfield and wings play. He is still our most lethal finisher.

Kayode substituting Iheanacho was when the game ended for Nigeria.

Let me analyse Rohr's thinking before the substitution: We were on a 4-3-3 formation and under sparadic attacks from SA. Depleting the midfield further by removing either Iwobi or Simon would spell more doom. In the balance of play SA was having the upper hand in the midfield at that point in time. He left the two wingers and pulled out Iheanacho with the expectations that Kayode who is more of a natural striker than Iheanacho would have been able to use his pace and skills to outwit the SA defenders on a one on one basis. Alas it turned out that Rohr over estimated Kayode's abilities. At a time in the game I asked if Kayode was still on that field.

Musa's introduction was to introduce more direct play as Iwobi was practically kept wide and we made more incursion into the SA defense as he was even able to combine well on one or two occasions with Kayode. But the player to finish those moves was not there. Had Iheanacho been kept in the game.... who knows?

Osimhen, was the final trow of the die. We were 2-0 down already and so he just had to gamble by pulling out Simon. Osimhen made some good touches and edge of the box moves but not good enough to make anything happen.

Mikel and V. Moses would have obviously made the difference. What the SA defenders did was to keep Iwobi and Simon in wide positions something Moses would have been able to break with his dribbling skills, pace and direct play.
Mikel would have been able to break down the organised SA defense with his dribbling skills, ball holding and shielding abilities plus timely release of the ball for Iheanacho.

If it is doable I would have pleased with God to take Mikel's age back to at least 25!. We are not ready to move on without him.

All these wahala was bc we met a very organized defense.

Then also I think Rohr spent more time focusing on our strength and not much on SA's weaknesses while reverse was the case for SA.

I have the belief that we still qualify. We can also beat SA away.

I wish Ikeme, Balogun, Mikel And Moses quick recovery. They are the back bone of the team. August in not far away again.