I would love to see KC (considering final balls) at the wings as opposed to Moses Simon, but the problem is he cannot cover defensively. The full backs will need that sometimes. I prefer Iwobi as an AM. Iwobi was once described as similar to Edgar Davids, meaning he also has some defensive attributes. But as an AM Iwobi would have a wider angle than either of the wings, spreading passes forward, left or right.

TheGoodJoe:


Iheanacho was not caged by the South African defence. Algeria yes. But in the South African game it was not caging but our inability to deliver basic final balls. Some even went to the goalkeeper. They were that poor.

Iheanacho has thrived in the role. Unfortunately, we are a team that is not utilizing his ability. If we attack with pace and dynamism, Nacho will flourish in the role.

In the modern way, with a lot of emphasis in team work, a player can thrive and do well in different roles. Restricting a player to one role now is diminishing the quality of the player.

forgiveness:


Wow! By the time we get all those players we will be having 2-3 standard teams.

Heyyyy, not so fast. Get all baa wo? Ni bo?

Talking about pressing Ighalo does that a lot. Coaches instruct players to try to win the ball back. it's pretty basic to me.

TheGoodJoe:


It is clear. As I said, thank God it is foreigners who have no interest in Iheanacho that backed me.

Also, you clearly saw the pressing that led to winning the ball but I can bet, hard to get a praise for that. So, did Nacho have a poor game, no.

Also, Rohr needs to step up his game play.

if they were well timed like you claim he should have aleast connected with one

TheGoodJoe:


Iheanacho was not caged in any way in the SA game. He broke free on repeated occasions with well timed runs and good positions to score. Unfortunately, the final balls were awful. Not even close. That is not caging.

Magink:

Agu's case to me is the more you look the less you see can't understand it as well.
We need Onomah guy can ball, he scores screamers as well.

He remind me of Wilson Oruma who was highly under rated over a much more skilful and flamboyant Okocha who was quite often not that effective in occasion.

junnyjake:


Torunarugha's dad coaches the U-15 team of the same team his son plays for. So what he said about not wanting his son not to play for us was probably to earn a place in their good books.

He's practically their employee.

Since he's no longer he 1st choice LB in his team, I doubt he's still in their plans.

NB: The guy benching him is also German.

Do you mean he is no longer first choice at his club side or the German national team? Cos last I heard if- it's the club-he's still the first choice oo

tbaba1234:
If it is Felix Uduokhai, then Omeruo's world cup place is shaky.

To me Omeruo is already fast becoming yesterdays player in the face of better prospects.

goldfish80:

No doubt Moses had a good season with Chelsea but when you consider his achievements compared to Mohamed Salah, it becomes very difficult to see how Moses will take the gong.

For starters Aubameyang was at the Nations cup with Gabon to start with. Moses wasn't with Nigeria in the year under review.

Yes he won the Premiership with Chelsea but for the super Eagles he basically played 3 good games in the year under review. Hang on, Moses as good a season he had was not nominated in the Premiership team of the season.

Now, when we compare notes with Salah. It becomes very clear he is 2 paces above Moses.

First of all, Salah has been nominated in the Seria A team of the seaon back to back. He single handledly bundled us out of the nations cup party and was one of the stand out players of the tournament.
At the world cup qualification series, he has stood out for Egypt enroute their qualification for the World Cup after almost 30years absence.
Egypt also played up to the finals of the AFCON.


According to FHIS Salah was the bargain buy of the season. As a matter of fact Liverpool got him almost 3 times less than his actual value. So far in the Premiership, he has won several man of the match awards and on multiple occasions, he have been in the Premiership team of the week.

I understand out pan Nigerianism on this thread. But I cannot leave the truth and buy the lie.

Mo Salah will take home the gong. You can take it to the bank and cash it out through the atm come January 2018 at the glo gala night in Abuja.

this is the kinda truth that makes someone forfeit his meal

Abeg someone should counter this with reputable facts

Let me throw this in.. Just want to give you an idea about how coaches make their decision. To start with, coaches have different winning philosophies and systems. They have preferred formations. And for a formation to do what it suppose to do players will have to have certain strengths.
You want to look at where the player played in the past, what was that coach's formation and philosophy, how the player contributed to it. And if that team succeeded. These are different variables. When the player moves to another club, most times he meets a new coach with a different philosophy or preferred formation, and different set of teammates with different qualities from the those he once had. Which is why often times players are deployed to a different position, also considering the other player's strengths in the team. However, this change are rarely made as regards some playing positions.
For example consider the former Ajax youth system. This is an excerpt from Edgar Davids interview I just stumbled across (take note of the bolded):

You started at Ajax as a left-winger and struggled. How did you make the transition to midfield?
Andrew Edmonds, via e-mail
Davids: I started as a left-winger and second striker: a No.10. What is different in the Ajax system for a midfielder is that they can attack and also defend, so it is maybe that you have the holding player on the outside who is always protecting or defending. That's the system. It was Louis van Gaal's idea to move my position. Marc Overmars started playing on the left and was really good, so he had to adapt the situation to where I played in the midfield. On the left wing I felt isolated, but in the middle I was more part of the game.
Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/edgar-davids-one-one#TgjPfXrrymOdtOyq.99

forgiveness:


If you ask about Joel Obi ability in the AMF role 4-5 years ago, I will have to agree but now, I don't know until I see him play there.

I am conversant with Joel Obi.

tbaba1234:

Uche is one of my favorite Nigerian players.

You're not alone o.

Joebie:
Still waiting for Kayode to light up the La Liga the way he did.

Me too. Wouldn't be bad if he makes a permanent deal with them.

Humility017:

no one gets angry sir...it's just your opinion...
It only draw my attention whenever epl or championship league is being used as a yardstick to judge SE players...because England that have been using same league players since ages have not won any world cup for years....the only one they've won was in 1966 during the time men still wear pants to play football..a tournament of just 8 teams...

so let England thrive wit those players first in the world cup, Euro nations cup...
beat Brazil,Spain,France and Germany...
then I we all can join in canvassing how good the championship is....

moreover....take a look at all the winning teams in the world cup and Euro nations cup....their players are scattered all around Europe they have those playing abroad...and lots more...e.g France...I think a player from the MLS was invited last time during their Euro quest...and they beat hell out of the lowly Iceland that whipped England.

lastly if shehu playing in backwater league...could develop so much guts some he displayed in the last olympics and presently in the colours of the SE...then the epl and it's kind Should never be used to judge our players....
moreover this boys potentials are never in doubt...but just that not everyone got the opportunities those borough players enjoyed...
well trained, groomed and cultured and happen to play in an organised league unlike here in Nigeria...I can tell you talents abound in Nigeria...should Nigeria have a league as organised as the south Africa or Algerian league.....we will likely win the world cup..

despite the organised league England has...at their disposal all they could get from it....in senior men's football is world cup qualification and nothing more.

I had this discussion with you sometime ago but you still do not get it.

The EPL is unlike any other league across Europe. It is a completely international league in which English players have become the minority.

When you look at the top 6 on a lot of occasions they may field a first 11, with no more than 1-3 English players in the team. On some occasions not a single English player. That will never happen in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France etc.

So although the EPL us the most competitive league in the World you it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO LARGELY with national team prominence and or dominance.

On the other hand there is no top 5 ranked nation by FIFA that will not have at least a number of thier highest performing and or top playing in the EPL.

I ask you directly. Can you say that of the Turkish, Belgium, Austrian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Swiss, Ukrainian, leagues, etc to name a few.

The comparison that you make is not substantively underpinned just mere sentiment.

Shehu is an exception and far very far from the general trend. Better players play in top leagues full stop and the best in the best teams and best leagues.

Icon79:
For sure, the 4 countries I would really want to avoid, at all cost, at group stages in Russia are - in this particular order:
Brazil
Germany
Argentina
France

And there are a couple of other tough teams but I think we can navigate our ways through most of the other teams if we are well prepared.


O pari

I don't think we are going to escape one of these teams. We better just get ourselves prepared and though it might be daunting and seemingly impossible, we can beat them if we put our hearts to it.

Kog45:
Ok

Mail sent. Ain't gotten your reply yet. Got to talk to you on telephone, if you wouldn't mind.

Very good points..

komekn:


I had this discussion with you sometime ago but you still do not get it.

The EPL is unlike any other league across Europe. It is a completely international league in which English players have become the minority.

When you look at the top 6 on a lot of occasions they may field a first 11, with no more than 1-3 English players in the team. On some occasions not a single English player. That will never happen in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France etc.

So although the EPL us the most competitive league in the World you it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO LARGELY with national team prominence and or dominance.

On the other hand there is no top 5 ranked nation by FIFA that will not have at least a number of thier highest performing and or top playing in the EPL.

I ask you directly. Can you say that of the Turkish, Belgium, Austrian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Swiss, Ukrainian, leagues, etc to name a few.

The comparison that you make is not substantively underpinned just mere sentiment.

Shehu is an exception and far very far from the general trend. Better players play in top leagues full stop and the best in the best teams and best leagues.

komekn:


I had this discussion with you sometime ago but you still do not get it.

The EPL is unlike any other league across Europe. It is a completely international league in which English players have become the minority.

When you look at the top 6 on a lot of occasions they may field a first 11, with no more than 1-3 English players in the team. On some occasions not a single English player. That will never happen in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France etc.

So although the EPL us the most competitive league in the World you it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO LARGELY with national team prominence and or dominance.

On the other hand there is no top 5 ranked nation by FIFA that will not have at least a number of thier highest performing and or top playing in the EPL.

I ask you directly. Can you say that of the Turkish, Belgium, Austrian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Swiss, Ukrainian, leagues, etc to name a few.

The comparison that you make is not substantively underpinned just mere sentiment.

Shehu is an exception and far very far from the general trend. Better players play in top leagues full stop and the best in the best teams and best leagues.

You didn't reply my last mails. Had huge expectation after such good convo, you know.

tbaba1234:


Any highlights can make a keeper awesome because you show all the saves only.

He will have to work to prove that he is better now than Ezenwa.

OK. I get your point.
the technical crew should just extend invitations to him, let him prove what his has got to offer in camp.

komekn:


I am not convinced about Mikel Agu, he played only two games for his parent club Porto that's not a sign of outstanding quality.

He is currently in Turkey that's not a step up but down.

But then he makes it into the SE on what basis? Is he better than Aluko certainly not in my opinion, is he better than Tega Onomah ( currently the anchor of England U21 midfield) and or Seyi Ojo and Fred Onyedinma.

Meaning Tiago Ilori showed signs of outstanding quality to have played for Sporting Lisbon. Nice!

daveP:
I Dont mind having the French again. The fear of Mbappe, Griezmann, Martial, Ribery, Giroud, Pogba, Lacazette? lol

Na Griezmann come finish work on top our head.

Joebie:
Parents advise their children based on their personal experiences most times not other parents'. You have said it, they had few caps with Nigeria...
So it's understandable they don't have that great spirit as you put it.

It depends jare@few caps cos that might not be the reason. Iwobi's Dad wished he(as in the Dad himself) played for the Eagles. He never got the opportunity and so therefore when the opportunity came for his son, ooohh Joebie the man gave it all his support. Read this article on this link from 2015 and you'd feel the man's overweening support for his son to play for us. http://opera.pulse.ng/sports/football/alex-iwobi-arsenal-youngster-keen-to-play-for-nigeria-father-insists-id3516087.html

On Dominic Iorfa I think he said that he wants his son to play for England at the youth level and that when the guy is 21 or so then they'd know which direction he'd pledge his international career. That to me is better than Ojokokojo who discouraged his son point blank. But we are all human beings and we do change our minds, don't we?

Joebie:
Smart keeping versatile players..
But would you confine Aina to the LB?

I would also deploy him to the RB position cos we know that he is actually a natural RB. My full-backs to the WC would be Aina and Echiejile (at LB), and Shehu and Iorfa (at RB) Awaziem, as the specialist CB, would be back up to the Oyibo Wall.
Of course, if both Balogun and Ekong are unavailable, then Awaziem could partner with Iorfa at CB.

In fact, I like how the team is brimming with current and future talent.
With appropriate tactics and luck on the side of the team, a World Cup quarter final isn’t out of the question.

You've made a very good case for Salah.

Moses has World Cup qualifying performances and his immense contribution towards Chelsea becoming EPL champions, to his favor.

Salah's nominations will come to mind but Roma's achievement will also be checked
Salah also has Nations Cup appearances to his favor, and he coincidentally, single-handedly denied Moses from participating.
Salah single handedly made Egypt qualify for the world cup since 1990.

At the end of the day it will all come down to voting. I personally thought Auba should have won the last APOTY ahead of Mahrez. But Leicester made a whole lot of noise because it was a fairy tale run to the crown for them. Mahrez played a huge part. And he was crowned the player of the season? Auba only had goals and AFCON participation to show for it.

In a nutshell, it's who makes the most noise throughout the calendar year that would likely take it. For me, it's looking like Salah. But I hope it would be VicMo. if not this time, I believe a good World Cup showing for Moses will earn him the prize.

goldfish80:

No doubt Moses had a good season with Chelsea but when you consider his achievements compared to Mohamed Salah, it becomes very difficult to see how Moses will take the gong.

For starters Aubameyang was at the Nations cup with Gabon to start with. Moses wasn't with Nigeria in the year under review.

Yes he won the Premiership with Chelsea but for the super Eagles he basically played 3 good games in the year under review. Hang on, Moses as good a season he had was not nominated in the Premiership team of the season.

Now, when we compare notes with Salah. It becomes very clear he is 2 paces above Moses.

First of all, Salah has been nominated in the Seria A team of the seaon back to back. He single handledly bundled us out of the nations cup party and was one of the stand out players of the tournament.
At the world cup qualification series, he has stood out for Egypt enroute their qualification for the World Cup after almost 30years absence.
Egypt also played up to the finals of the AFCON.


According to FHIS Salah was the bargain buy of the season. As a matter of fact Liverpool got him almost 3 times less than his actual value. So far in the Premiership, he has won several man of the match awards and on multiple occasions, he have been in the Premiership team of the week.

I understand out pan Nigerianism on this thread. But I cannot leave the truth and buy the lie.

Mo Salah will take home the gong. You can take it to the bank and cash it out through the atm come January 2018 at the glo gala night in Abuja.

Mujtahida:

Do you mean he is no longer first choice at his club side or the German national team? Cos last I heard if- it's the club-he's still the first choice oo

His club-side.

Planderatt (I don't know if the spelling is correct) has been putting him on the bench. The boy is quite good.

blueto:
you didn't get my point. I wasn't saying that they can't do well in other roles, but my question was, will they perform better? We saw how Ndidi performed against Zambia in the RB role and how he is currently performing in DM and CM. Every player have their best positions, but that doesn't mean they can't thrive in other roles too. I am for the best performance for Iheanacho, that is why I want him play his best role. Even Nigerian coaches that watched and trained him have attested to the fact that he is better behind a CF, at least the games against Senegal, Algeria and South Africa have proven this to us. Against Zambia in the first leg, even in absence of Moses, he had a good game playing from behind the CF.

Even with all these “factors like mobility, pressing, skills, holding up play, passing, finishing etc” that you are attributing to him, he was still simply “caged” by the Algerian and South African defenses. What will then happen if we play in the world cup against the likes Germany and Argentina? He will be completely lost as a CF. The Super Eagles should not be brought down to such level.

To put the point in your first paragraph illustratively: many players use both feet and score with both but a close examination would reveal that they score more with one foot than the other. Same thing with positions. He'd perform well in some but more excellently in the one he's naturally suited for.

A few caps may not be the reason.. there are many reasons not to be proud of Nigeria. you know that. We have no idea of their personal experiences besides just having a few caps. If I had a son that was good in football. Would I want him to play for Nigeria. Hell yea! Because I'm not only passionate about Nigeria football, but I hardly support other countries when it comes to football. So different strokes for different folks.

Well Iorfa snr and Ojokojo are different. They have walked different paths and have different experiences. We can't be mad over people's personal decisions or how they choose to advice their children. That's why it's theirs, and we have ours.

Mujtahida:

It depends jare@few caps cos that might not be the reason. Iwobi's Dad wished he(as in the Dad himself) played for the Eagles. He never got the opportunity and so therefore when the opportunity came for his son, ooohh Joebie the man gave it all his support. Read this article on this link from 2015 and you'd feel the man's overweening support for his son to play for us. http://opera.pulse.ng/sports/football/alex-iwobi-arsenal-youngster-keen-to-play-for-nigeria-father-insists-id3516087.html

On Dominic Iorfa I think he said that he wants his son to play for England at the youth level and that when the guy is 21 or so then they'd know which direction he'd pledge his international career. That to me is better than Ojokokojo who discouraged his son point blank. But we are all human beings and we do change our minds, don't we?

chrisooblog:
bros you are the only one seeing this ''movement'' the first goal moses made a darting run at the algerian defence tried to find nacho with a pass
got a lucky rebound and buried his chance. for the second the incompetent algerian defenders were ball watching. if you are going to praise KC for the 2nd goal then ighalo deserves praise for drawing the zambian defenders so iwobi had enough space to rifle home the winner

These things as in the Algerian match and others bar the Ndola match are so clear it beats me that it is even an issue to be debated

I'm not still very comfortable with Awaziem. I want to see him more in SE colors. That will have to apply to Iorfa as well. For now it's just Balogun and Ekong. But yes I think we have some good set of players. Hopefully we get the kind of bench that also deserve to start.

PDPGuy:

I would also deploy him to the RB position cos we know that he is actually a natural RB. My full-backs to the WC would be Aina and Echiejile (at LB), and Shehu and Iorfa (at RB) Awaziem, as the specialist CB, would be back up to the Oyibo Wall.
Of course, if both Balogun and Ekong are unavailable, then Awaziem could partner with Iorfa at CB.

In fact, I like how the team is brimming with current and future talent.
With appropriate tactics and luck on the side of the team, a World Cup quarter final isn’t out of the question.

Icon4s:


See me here clapping.

We need more of you here bro.

When I saw the moniker, I knew the thread is in trouble

Joebie:
Talking about pressing Ighalo does that a lot. Coaches instruct players to try to win the ball back. it's pretty basic to me.

Didn't you see him do that to Mweene?

Of course. I'm sure I mentioned that earlier. You have to be full of running when the opponent's CBs have the ball as well. I see lots of forwards to that. It's not necessarily a strength.

Mujtahida:

Didn't you see him do that to Mweene?

Yes Oruma was very direct and a result driven #10. But Okocha was a phenomenon, sometimes to our own detriment.

I will have to watch Josh. I'm sure their U21 coach had a vision -- good for us.

komekn:


He remind me of Wilson Oruma who was highly under rated over a much more skilful and flamboyant Okocha who was quite often not that effective in occasion.

Mujtahida:

This your ultra critical style no be am oo. Life is not like that. On a lighter note how do you enjoy life Bro with this overly critical approach?
All our goals have come from one touch, two go(which for me is not satisfying if not mixed with some runs, dribbles and feints) and apart from the game against Zambia which other game did VicMo run like a headless chicken?(and still he made CAF best 11). Sometimes you make it seem as if it's robots that play this football not human beings.
And you don't see the players fighting for every ball like Peterside Idah observed on Channels TV on the fact that in this team there ain't no big boys who don't fight to recover balls and he specifically mentioned Mikel intercepting the run of a Zambian to underscore the point.

They say that the man is conservative. Now he said he doesn't believe in the winning team cliché. But still...
It's like even if you were the one to give Rohr a template for any given match, you'd still criticize him. Criticism is okay but it should be balanced. Truth is, I rarely see you praise anybody.

On the contrary Sir I admire perfection, that cup should be filled with water and not a single drop should touch the floor, that for me is proper planning, everything has to be perfect atleast to a certain capacity.

On the contrary, none of our goals that I can recall went the way of one touch two go(or one touch football). This goal against Zambia, VicMo was not going to pass that ball, God knows he was trying to beat his man and ran straight into him(perfect definition of a headless chicken to me), thank God for Shehu and there was no one touch football about it.
The goal against Cameroon, first goal? Not one touch, second goal? Corner kick, third goal? No, it was only the fourth goal that looked like a quasi-one touch football in the build up so our one touch football is not that great. Like someone pointed out though, maybe it's the African terrain and I will put that into consideration which is why someone like forgiveness said he won't take the team serious until we play a grade A friendly on a good pitch, let's leave it there for now.


Meanwhile I clearly said he is a good man manager. He has imbibed that competitive spirit in the team, in fact it was more evident in the game against cameroon when we were 4 goals up but we kept on chasing them down even till the last minute, I have always praised him for that(you said I hardly praise people right? Count that as number one). Everyone in the team is now hungry for success which is what Rohr brings to the team