I'm happy for the super eagles. I pray they could win their remaining 2 matches.

For those of you who are saying, Siasia team was able to hold their own against Argentina in Olympics are missing something. Olympics was 2 years back and all the Argentina players that was involve in that match has improved tremendously over the years.

No real good individual player in the SE eagles, yet we were able to concede that normal 1 goal against the Argentine.

Abeg the coach try.

Still Super Eagles!

i don't care about reading some recent post, but all i know is that, nigeria did well. not just well, but very very well!

some people come here and talk about argentina like its gabon,what sort of players do we have to even dare to compare to argentina
some said they gave argentina room to play but you all seem to forget that argentina has at least 5 game winners in the team who can change the game with any sort of space hence the SE allowed them room infront of the boxz cos if they had rushed out to mark,there woulkd have been room in bavck for argentina to exploit and we all saw that towards the end when haruna rushed out and a pass was made to messi and keita came and took the ball away.
lets be sensible when making comments,trying to rush mark them would have left big gaps in the back which we did not have today,compare this same SE to the one that lost 3-1 to egypt,1-0 to ghana U-20
if you all noticed all their chances came via solo moves started btw messi and another player.
we played to instructions but we were scared

You are not well versed in this game. Please watch Inter  v Barca  at the Nou Camp to understand what we are talking about

Nigerians do not like telling themselves the truth; they keep telling lies until it gets to a point of no return then they start crying.

We CANNOT win SOUTH KOREA and though GREECE looks like regular customer there is no guarantee.

Sagamite:

What is the point of paying N10m a year to not improve our set piece play. That one should be part of tactics in training, so that is coaches responsibility WHEN IT IS APPALLING EVERYTIME, not just once. A few times, players fault. Everytime wasted, then they did not have some plan.

They only did better than expected BASED ON KEEPERS performance not some team stopping attack. That is a whole lot of difference.

If it is that Arg played but we defended and frustrated them, I will clap. Arg is superior.

But they almost scored a basketful if not for Enyeama. How am I suppose to applaud the team then?

No one is expecting you to applaud the team.
The keeper is part of the team right?

A coach can work on set piece in training - CORRECT!!! but when the delivery is poor, you would rarely have any outcome.
It's just like practicing penalties in training, its not the same as playing it when it matters.

Did they pay him 10M to improve our set piece?
You cannot judge him now  . . . . not in less than 4 months in charge.
Mourinho would not have made any major improvement with that squad in the same time frame.

Will we play like this against Korea and Greece? Definitely not.
It's two different game . . . . the man has barely managed 5 games and we expect massive improvement.

'If' or 'almost' doesn't count in football . . . . . at the end, result will show 1-0.
Like I said before, performance was nothing to write home about but you have to put certain things into consideration.
Quality of players, quality of opposition and so on.

Did you expect us to dominate the Argies?
We were the underdog by a mile and them having so many chances was understandable.
NOw if this same thing happened against the GREEKS for example, then that might be a concern.

Tru Mantra:

Here is my analysis.

1. Lagarback's formation was flawed as it left the mid-field totally in control of the Argies.
2. Haruna played acceptably but we were under so much pressure he never got a chance to display his attacking ability.
3. The players were disciplined and without a doubt, they lacked that under Ahmodu. Still, their passes were inacurate and the absence of the mid-field meant that there was a yawning gap between the defence and the attack.
4. For the last few years, Nigeria has lacked a clinical finisher. Why would anyone expect that to change today.
5. Lagerback's changes were timely and changed the game. Still at the back of my mind, i wonder how the game would have gone if we had started with Osaze, Martins and Uche. We'll never know now.
6. The boys were overtly cautious, avoiding marking in a bid not to get caught. The coach needs to prod them exert more pressure even when they dont have posession.
7. The long balls dont work for Nigeria. Why in the world we keep trying them beats me.

Finally, we played against Argentina. I honestly thought that we'd lose by at least a 3 goal margin. The folks that are saying Enyeama saved us need to understand that it's exactly what he is meant to do. I salute him.

medjai:

bad display. There was no urgency in our play. They gave the Argentines too much room. For 4-5 minutes, we couldnt touch the ball. The Argies are great team agreed but we cant beat Niger republic if we play like this. 0 technical input from Lagerback

Thank you, thank you!

nateevs:

I did not say they played the same way today.
I asked what they did under Amodu since you think there's no difference.
This is only the first game of the tournament against arguably one of the best sides in the world. .
We made mistakes yes but you seem like you have been waiting for this. . .

Why don't you watch how Lars fares against the next 2 teams before you pass judgement. .
At least we fired Amodu after a run of disastrous results. .
Why don't you just wait until the tournament ends. . .

When we played France, was it not faaaaaaaaaaaaaar better? And it was not even our first team and it was away.

I am not judging Lagerback, what do you expect him to do in 2 months. I am judging the mumus that are quick to say he is fantastic and praise him for what they condemned Amodu for.

Sagamite:

Thank you for being objective.

If Argentina play like that against South Korea, if they are not BEATEN, they will be pegged into their half as they were not great defensively. Our players were just not interested in going forward, they were happy to lose slightly.

Argentina was only strong upfront today especially messi and the others movement and closing down.

If we played more coordinated and with confidence like the last 20 mins if Odems and Uche had started. A DRAW WAS FEASIBLE and WE LOST THE CHANCE!

So in short you are telling us Amodu would have drawn the game. . .
Your answer will tell if you are worth arguing with. .

dayokanu:

Poor play probably due to stage fright and which National team in the world wont be awed by the Argentines
We played quite well and well beyond expectations

Happens to the best teams in the world. Mention any team in the world and I would tell you the number of moronic goals that was given away.

Training material from Argentina is better than from Zambia and Ghana U21 team

Yet they were making last ditch tackles and running all over the field, even Yakubu that I hated so much impressed me today

This happens everytime

Did you watch the 1999 CL finals where 2 subs by Fergie changed the game? Wasnt he called a genius for that rather than ppl ask why Sheringham and Solskjaer didnt start.

If Messi had been a Nigerian and missed 5 one on one with the keeper, I bet Sagamu woulda killed him

If Amodu was the coach  and we played like this, and you said everything you say here. You would have been slaughtered for not knowing Amodu na mumu that messed us up.  

If i was Lagerback, i will make sure i don't bench Martins and Osaze.
I wish them the best in their other games,
We could qualify and if we do,Lagerback should see his errors then correct it.

I am not a soccer analyst, but what I saw in today's game is that the Super Eagles stared and watch Argentina pass the ball around. For goodness sake, in soccer 101, you should run and try to collect the ball from your opponent when he has the ball, not watch him.

Osaze, Kalu, and Martins should start the game.

Player ratings:

- Enyeama: 9.5/10 ; Simply WORLD CLASS.

- Odiah: 5.5 ; His poor passing intercepted by Messi lead to the corner kick which led to Argentina's goal. He showed some promising attacking moves and good anticipation.

- Yobo: 7 ; He had a very, very good game. Solid at the back. Probably one of his best displays in recent times.

- Shittu: 5.5 ; Started slow and shaky. Peaked at the beginning of the 2nd half. Had a decent run up into the Argentine half. But still not very reliable.

- Taiwo: 6 ; Held his own against Messi in a few occasions. Had a decent game despite a few slow defensive recoveries before his injury.

- Kaita: 6 ; Another proof that this man is a vital piece of Lagerback's gameplan. Very versatile and dynamic, although his ball control and composure are underwhelming.

- Etuhu: 5.5 ; He was imperial and lacklustre at the same time. He had his moments but gave away the ball too many times. Huge lack of self-confidence when in possession of the ball.

- Haruna: 6 ; I would have loved to see him get a clearer chance to shoot on goal. He had a presence in the midfield in the 1st 30 minutes of the game then slowly faded off. Picked up a bit during the last 20 but his efforts were too forceful. He has a future with the team, that's for sure!

- Obasi: 6 ; The most dangerous Super Eagle during the 1st half. His end product was dire. Expect more from him.

- Nsofor: 5.5 ; Pressed the Argentine defence constantly. He didn't find space despite all his efforts.

- Yakubu: 6.5 ; You will only show that you are a hater if you still consider that the Yak has nothing to do in this squad. He was very resourceful today. He pressed the defence, he bullied, he ran out into space, he challenged and succeeded 1-on-1 situations against defenders (Gutierrez and Demichelis, The Yak says hi). Definitely deserved a goal with his left footed effort late in the game.

-----------------------

- Martins: N/A ; He showed his agility and tremendous pace. Had a shot or two on goal. Created more chances for the Super Eagles.

- Odemwingie: N/A ; I believe this is the 1st match I've seen such an uninspiring performance from Osaze with the Naija jersey. A disappointment. Wasted a counter-attacking opportunity. But I'm not writing him off. He just had a bad day (I hope).

- K. Uche: N/A ; Wonderful skills on the right flank but unfortunately unforgivably he squandered the best chance of the day for Nigeria.

- Lars Lagerback: 7 ; He made good changes which gave hope for improvement in the 2nd half. I expect a more upbeat approach from his side against Greece.



My prefered lineup against Greece:

                        1
                    Enyeama
                  2           22
  17          Yobo     Adeleye          3
Odiah                                      Taiwo*
                  14              15
      11       Kaita        Haruna     19
  Osaze                                  Obasi
                   9          8
               Martins   Yakubu


* If Taiwo is still injured then Echiejile should replace him.

@ Prince

Pls go and sit down,

Marlbron:

You are not well versed in this game. Please watch Inter  v Barca  at the Nou Camp to understand what we are talking about

Comparing Nigeria Vs Argentina to Inter  v Barca lol comedy in NL .

you gays just like seeing white skin.


abeg the coaching was a disaster, our [b]starting line up was completely intimidated [/b]but argentina they were too scared to be D or O
it wasn't until it was too late to make a difference that the vets started coming in and playing real soccer. real aggressive soccer.


nigeria's team are fans. most of them came to see messi and feel shock and awe just cause its 'argentina'. the mentality to be champions isnt there as can be seen by the fact that we made world cup and are intimidated by another flesh and bone team that made world cup


i personally think argentina didn't play well at all either, after the first goal that was it for them, that's when lars should have thrown the big boys in and started pushing and shoving to the top

Many of you are here saying bla bla bla. How many of you people can even play football? All you do is to sit and critize those who play. These guys did their best. Do you think that any of the SE players want to lose the match? The SE did all they can to win. In everything we do in life there is always some shortcomings and possible room for improvement. So learn to give kudos where and when necessary.

cultey:

Sagamite, wat is wiv u n kissin' a whyte man's @$$? (as u put it)

U come across as racist!

Understand the context of my arguments:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-370005.0.html

princekevo:

Someone asked a question to those Amodu A$$ lickers. We lost 3-1 to Egypt under Amodu, how many should we have lost to Argentina if he were to be the coach? Am saying it again, for that last 2years Amodu distroyed Super this has been their best performance. I dont know why some people are being clouded with sentiments. Like i said before, anyone who think the boys didnt try their best should wear his Jesseys for next or forever remain silent.

And we won France in France?

Was this performance better than that?

otokx:

Nigerians do not like telling themselves the truth; they keep telling lies until it gets to a point of no return then they start crying.

We CANNOT win SOUTH KOREA and though GREECE looks like regular customer there is no guarantee.

Don't mind them.

The scoreline was better than I anticipated, but with what Arg played, we could have drawn EASILY if the players played coordinatedly.

nateevs:


So in short you are telling us Amodu would have drawn the game. . .
Your answer will tell if you are worth arguing with. .  

I am saying, based on the 4 games under Lagerback so far, what was the point of replacing Amodu?

Why can he not have reaped the fruit of his labour?

3 of the games have been like the mediocre ones under him and the last one (Colombia) is not as good as the top 3 games under him.

Lawro 4rm ph walks into d room(d man destined to replace SAF @ OLD TRAFFORD). Am here 4 d best analysis

Considering where we re coming from this was not bad. we did not come to WC to play only Argentina. I think the coach adopted the best approach given the players in hand and the duration with the team. The first priority was to prevent them from scoring-not prevent them from playing.

I think all the analysts who think d man is not doing well should have applied for the job when it was vacant. Not act as keyboard coaches!

This match was just like our match against Argentina at the WC in 2002, where Ike Shorunmu saved us from conceding a basket of goals. Today it was Enyeama who saved us from a total embarrassment. Let us not lie to ourselves, we were poor against Argentina. Because we only conceded one goal thanks to Enyeama's heroics and the profligacy of Higuain in front of goal doesn't mean we played well. Besides the fact we only took in one goal, what did we play that should give us confidence that if we were to repeat this sort of performance we would go far in this tournament. I see this result as more of product of Argentina's under-performance than any supposed improvement or good pattern play by our team. We might be able to beat Greece based what I saw in glimpses during the 2nd half, but I don't know about our chances against Korea. But first Greece where we will need to make a significant improvement.

@ malbron
inter vs barca
maurinho vs guardiola
are you serious
how many of SE will get into both those teams
the caliber of players at both clubs will translate to instructions being carried out perfectly
our players lack intelligence or should i say Nigerian players period
which player would be making foul-throw at this age and time,rem thompson oliha did the same at usa 94
I cntt understand who we always think we are when talking about football,this same team lost to ghana U-20 for Gods sake and we think loosing 1-0 to argentina is a bad thingbad passes and awkward shooting is no fault of no coach what i would count as a fault is what i would say is the lack of mobility of our players but above all,emmmm,we did not do to bad
as for those screaming South Korea,greece is a totally dead footballing team now and they have serious psychological problems(greek economy),greece has not been playing well for about a yr and did they not just loose to a very useless african team in fa friendly

Though i fèel 4 Amodu but in truth d scorline would have bin more embarrassin 2 day if he was in charge

But who is the person designated to take our corner kicks? HARUNA made a mess of it.

If Amodu was the coach  and we played like this, and you said everything you say here. You would have been slaughtered for not knowing Amodu na mumu that messed us up

Amodu would have lost heavily, because Amodu's team had no shape, no pattern, you would have to pay to be in the starting line up

Rastamann:

Many of you are here saying bla bla bla. How many of you people can even play football? All you do is to sit and critize those who play. These guys did their best. Do you think that any of the SE players want to lose the match? The SE did all they can to win. In everything we do in life there is always some shortcomings and possible room for improvement. So learn to give kudos where and when necessary.

shut the Bleep up

quote author=otokx link=topic=452348.msg6202814#msg6202814 date=1276362466]
Nigerians do not like telling themselves the truth; they keep telling lies until it gets to a point of no return then they start crying.

We CANNOT win SOUTH KOREA and though GREECE looks like regular customer there is no guarantee.
[quote][/quote]
My mind!! u read my mind

Considering where we re coming from this was not bad. we did not come to WC to play only Argentina. I think the coach adopted the best approach given the players in hand and the duration with the team. The first priority was to prevent them from scoring-not prevent them from playing.

I think all the analysts who think d man is not doing well should have applied for the job when it was vacant. Not act as keyboard coaches!

montelik:

This match was just like our match against Argentina at the WC in 2002, where Ike Shorunmu saved us from conceding a basket of goals. Today it was Enyeama who saved us from a total embarrassment. Let us not lie to ourselves, we were poor against Argentina. Because we only conceded one goal thanks to Enyeama's heroics and the profligacy of Higuain in front of goal doesn't mean we played well. Besides the fact we only took in one goal, what did we play that should give us confidence that if we were to repeat this sort of performance we would go far in this tournament. I see this result as more of product of Argentina's under-performance than any supposed improvement or good pattern play by our team. We might be able to beat Greece based what I saw in glimpses during the 2nd half, but I don't know about our chances against Korea. But first Greece where we will need to make a significant improvement.

Why is Enyeama in SA? and what is the duty of Enyeama ?

chamotex:

No one is expecting you to applaud the team.
The keeper is part of the team right?

In a good team play, the keeper should not be exposed that amount of times. THAT AMOUNT OF ONE-ON-ONES!

chamotex:

A coach can work on set piece in training - CORRECT!!! but when the delivery is poor, you would rarely have any outcome.
It's just like practicing penalties in training, its not the same as playing it when it matters.

Crossing corners and freekicks is not like penalty. There is no pressure on you, just focus.

If you are lousy at it for 90mins, then the coach has been poor in appointing set piece takers. 90 mins of APPALLING set pieces!

chamotex:

Did they pay him 10M to improve our set piece?
You cannot judge him now  . . . . not in less than 4 months in charge.
Mourinho would not have made any major improvement with that squad in the same time frame.

Agreed. So I was right that it made NO SENSE changing the coach that qualified you for WC?

chamotex:

Will we play like this against Korea and Greece? Definitely not.
It's two different game . . . . the man has barely managed 5 games and we expect massive improvement.

I pray so, I can't blame the man.

chamotex:

'If' or 'almost' doesn't count in football . . . . . at the end, result will show 1-0.
Like I said before, performance was nothing to write home about but you have to put certain things into consideration.
Quality of players, quality of opposition and so on.

Agreed. But my point is that our players did not play to their potential. Some on the pitch were hopeless but yet some few that will condemn Amodu for this, are quick to praise a white coach.

chamotex:

Did you expect us to dominate the Argies?
We were the underdog by a mile and them having so many chances was understandable.
NOw if this same thing happened against the GREEKS for example, then that might be a concern.

Hell no, I expected them to dominate. I just did not expect us to be that poor and petrified.

Nigeria is a disgrace to herself.

iyeneda you are a fool, amadiaoha should strike you if you think keita played good. the guy should just leave nigeria alone he should continue raming cow useless aboki.

Can we borrow the South Korean's coach? His team played like we used to play. Good football.

A good game we were supposed to be miles apart from the class of the individual names the Argies possessed but here we are showing what a team effort could do. Pls do not say if not for Enyeama we would have conceded many goals don't get me wrong I believe Enyeama was fantastic!! but he is also part of the team and everyone should be given the kudos for the way they played! Though had Lars been in charge longer than before this we would definately have performed better than we did and I think we should keep for the next world cup in Brazil! As for the next game I am sure he would have seen the time is not ripe yet for Obinna though he can still make cameo appearance his pace should have troubled the Argies if only he was more matured but come to think of it even Di maria was not spectacular not to talk of Higuain that was woeful and Tevez was better at marking Obasi off the ball! One thing I noticed which I pray should not be so is the fact that after Osaze refused to pass to Oba when they charged down for their first counter afterwards Oba and Osaze refused to pass to themselves they shoud try and work out such differences for the sake of the country just like Bebeto and Romario in 1994, UP EAGLES!!!

With this type of performance Maradona will loose his god man stance in Argentina, the team though might have won lacked any form of technical input and also depended on individual performers throughout the second half it was just a one man messi show, reminds me of the copa America between Brazil an Argentina, if they play with one individual performer then any better team than Nigeria can easily mark them out and we all Demichelis and Getierez are not that solid defensively,