TheGoodJoe:


It is not as easy as packing bags and leaving. It takes study of teams, teams meeting contractual agreements and teams that suit the player. However, the pendulum swings and things can change. It is too early to abandon ship at Leicester City for Iheanacho. His first task is to work and try to see if he can get himself into the squad before running.

True dat but I did meet his former agent at uyo in September and some discovery about d basis of d young man's choices were not pleasing.....all the best to him anyways!

TheGoodJoe:


Working hard and improving is key. Not choice of club. Eto'o's Ego is something I hope our young players do not have. It went down hill for him after his fracas with Pep Guardiola.

Dey go together bro....d foundational development kanu had at Ajax cannot be compared to dat of Wilson oruma at Rc lens....Guardiola Shud av moved Gabriel jesus or aguero to central midfield and Silva to central forward and let's see if dey will av d same impacts...eto was to be shipped to Uzbekistan in a big money move in 2008 wen giardiola came but he rejected d move, proved himself and left for inter d next season.....nacho does not av much say as to were he is played like Eto'o at d moment as he is yet to prove himself but he does have a choice as to d club he wud play for especially for a loan move.....all dis my epistle is addressing d issues from d root whilst seeking d best way forward!

TheGoodJoe:


You guys are still going with best role behind the striker. Nacho is a forward and can play multiple roles. Depends on where the coach decides to use him.

At City, Nacho excelled, pulling stats that was among the greats of the game. I wonder how you want to argue against such performance handled by one of the Masters of the game. Manchester City played a huge role in Nacho's integration into the Super Eagles. No argument can change that fact.

Finito.

I am not even interested in his integration into d super eagles....dat is being myopic..i am more interested in his success as a human being and as a footballer....with his experience at city,d young man alongside his agents Shud av negotiated a team dat best suits his role....Samuel Eto'o took his time to master his art as a central forward as he knew his strength from an early stage and once told giardiola at Barca to not bother about teaching him how a central forward Shud move....Nacho may be versatile but he needs to concentrate on his strength now and can diversify later...Eto'o played mostly from d left wing under mourihno at inter and av played multiple roles but if he started out dat way, he may not av been d beast he came out to be.....the choice of club is key!

TheGoodJoe:


Manchester City's under development of Kelechi Iheanacho. Ye! We are talking of a boy who became a key player of the Super Eagles in a short time working under Manchester City. Haaaaa. Manchester City is competitive. Finish. Even a talented and experienced Nolito could not keep up with Sane.

Manchester City is the best thing that has happened to Iheanacho so far.

I beg to differ, despite d huge success of mikel obi's career, I share d thought he wud av ended up a beta footballer if he made d move to utd where he stood a beta chance to play and improve as a central midfielder under Ferguson dan d defensive midfielder he was converted to at chelsea....Nacho was converted to a striker at City....though he is a great finisher but his best role is playing behind a striker or even in central midfield....his impact at d u-17 was from dis role but city decided to only harness his finishing potentials, a role he is not very used to hence this long time it is taking him to adapt to.....a club dat would av first build on his strengths b4 improving d boy's weakness wud av been a beta choice!

Sango tedo....very gud....about 15hrs

Medicine after death.....diz are actions dat Shud av been taken far ahead of d yuletide season!

Greenbuoy:
Hi guys! Learnt ndidi is having a great game against the red devils but shouldn't he be serving a one-match ban due to the redcard he got in his last match ?

He already served d one match ban in d midweek carabao cup game against man city.

Mickael2:


so because Enyeama did it at 20 then any random individual can? We are making a serious mistake here, this is Enyeama, VINCENT ENYEAMA you know that guy that told Oboabona that he would save the congolese spotkick and despite how well-placed the spotkick was he just plucked it out of the corner? Or have you forgotten the guy that saved 3 spotkicks in one match against Tunisia? Abi you have forgotten the guy that kept 17 clean sheets out of 38games for lowly Lille and conceded 1 goal 10 times, so in essence he only conceeded more than one goal in 11 games for a whole season! Even De Gea isn't close! Or thesame guy who kept out opposition attackers for close to 9,000 minutes of football? That last minute save from Dzeko's shot at the 2014 world cup would have been the save of the century if any European GK made that save. This guy, Enyeama is a legend, Enyimba? Legend. Israel? Legend. France? Legend! Africa? Pure unbiased legend!!! The simple truth is that if Enyeama's name was Joe Hart he would be the first choice for Barca, Madrid or Bayern. The only reason why people don't want him back is because of the captain armband, not everyone likes his smile and he isn't the most charming unlike the current captain

He has had his time...let the young man retire in peace....this country is blessed with wonderful talents my brother.....The Christian Obodo you know used to be a solid central defender for invincible leopards (U-17) in warri before he was converted to a central midfielder......I have watched football long enough to see potentials from miles away.....Francis Uzoho is a good goalkeeper....let the young man start making his own footballing story... We will not win the world cup with enyeama in goal anyways!

Icon4s:


Was Enyeama first choice at that 2002 WC?

He was not because Ike Shorunmu was the obvious better and first choice goalie for that tournament but same cant be said of the goalies seemingly ahead of Francis who have been brought into the picture due to Akpeyi and Ezenwa's unconvincing performances!

There is nothing wrong with Francis Uzoho being the first choice if he performs better than the other goalkeepers in camp. He was brought into the fray due to the unconvincing performance of the other guys. Enyeama was only 20 and was still in enyimba when he made his debut against England at Korea/Japan 2002. So much fuss about the club they play for......match fitness, player quality and good team preparedness are better criteria for a solid performance than the clubside u play for....ask the Korean team of 2002 and the Costa Rican team of 2014!

...and to think d Jacob guy is my name sake is just annoying....madam bob is obviously rubbing my sweet name in the mud!

Even the nysc journey itself is unneccessary!

Icon79:
Word!

I just don't understand why he's been riding the bench for this long sha. Rohr doesn't want the rugged African players to damage him?



O pari

My brother....he made d game a beauty to behold.....wateva made rohr kip him till today,am pleased we finally got to see him play!

Joebie:
I think Ebuehi is better. You don't need too many games to make a statement. He did it in just 45 mins today.

My brother, u are damn correct....av been watching football for so long that i can spot a class act from miles....d boy is good!

Dis Ebuehi is a pure footballer....shehu is good but ebuehi is d real deal!

Dis ebuehi is a beta footballer!

Story....mediocres always have excuses!

donbabajay:


Lol every tom, dick and harry knows better than the coach

Smiles....obviously playing 3 defensively minded players in the middle stifles the team's creativity as it showed in the team's performance....the bad pitch didnt help matters too bt all the same, the team has gotten the job done before now......and hey a quote shudnt begin with evry tom,dick n harry..sounds derogatory

Iwobi should play behind d main striker as he is d most creative player in the team while etebo should play from d left to provide defensive cover for aina and also to harness his offensive prowess.....good luck guys!

Iwobi should play behind d main striker as he is d most creative player in the team while etebo should play from d left to provide defensive cover for aina and also to harness his offensive prowess.....good luck guys!

myners007:
Tuface is guilty as charged: How can you ignore all the allegations Blackface have levied against you so far. Blackface single handedly made you Tuface but today fame and money has made you to bite the finger that fed you. This is a wake up call to Nigerians not to be deceived by Innocent Idibia innocent looks which depicts him as a humble person. Tubaba , pls swallow your pride and apologize to Blackface for making use of his works without his consent.
I know some of you who are oblivious of what has transpired between the two of them will want to quote me for the wrong reason.

The guy should go to a court of law if he has evidence to back up his claim rather than make himself an object of hate (for tuface) in the public's eye. If he has no evidence,he should let the case rest as he has already made his point and let providence prove him right.....people easily relate his seemingly lack of progress in d industry to dis issue....to move on is a smarter move for him!

Very sure she ll get sth gud soon.....just pathetic how we got here as a nation.....d more need to develop a job creation mindset wit d hope dat the govt ll kip making the environment conducive for small n medium scale biz to thrive!

TheGoodJoe:


I think Bora lost time due to the preparation for the Carlsberg Cup where we won it with some home-based players in the squad. If Bora had gone with the old brigade or fused the Carlsberg team with the Old brigade, there would have been progress with the time

Even Siasia who played part in the Carlsberg Cup got dropped.

U av a good memory bro but dat tourney was held btw Jan 28-31,1998....the european season was obviously still on hence bora had to use mostly home-based players and some fringe european based (more like starting to rebuild the team less dan six months to france 98).....in all,it still boils down to the emphasis we all clamouring for,that the core of the team be kept to promote beta team cohesion and a good team spirit. The building of a successful world cup team actually includes the qualification phase and does not neccessarily start after the qualification process as we av erroneously believed in the past hence the frequent change of coaches and core playing personnel after qualification!

TheGoodJoe:


You have an idea what happened after that. It seems that was Troussier's last game for the Super Eagles. Why go from winning the Kenyans 3-0 to abandoning his job?

It was exactly close to wat dis young man described in dis earlier post....we had an erratic NFA then and the pressure to play very good football was high....philip trousier was brought in becos the eagles were extremely poor in the first leg against kenya in nairobi as we barely escaped defeat....internal wranglings didnt help too,philip trousier gradualy lost ethusiasm for the job before he was eventually sacked....here is the post i refer to.....

[quote author=tglobal post=61743503]

Just to put the records straight...

We were grouped with Burkina Faso, Guinea and Kenya and Amodu was in charge at the start of the qualifiers (the first two matches).

Due to the hangover from the olympics victory, Nigerians expected the team to play in a certain way and resoundingly defeat any opponents we faced (especially in Africa). Such was this confidence in the players abilities that deep down, many felt we didnt need a coach to perform well. With this type of expectation, anything less than an imperious performance will be put down to the coach. This was what Amodu faced:

We beat BF 2 - 0 in the first match in Lagos from two second half goals. The second match was a different story altogether as we needed a header from Akpoborire to draw level against Kenya in Nairobi. The result was greeted with anger by the fans and the blame fell at the feet of Amodu. That was when he famously declared that Nigeria needed a foreign sports minister when Jim Nwobodo decided that the local coaches would not do it.

In came Phillipe Troussier with his own brand of football. He introduced the 3-5-2 system to the Eagles and led them to two uninspiring 2-1 victories (Guinea at home and BF away). The fans and the press blamed his system for the performance and he had to revert to 4-3-3/4-4-2 in the return 3-0 victory against Kenya where we picked our ticket with one match to spare. IT is worthy to note that, in the midst of Nigerian's dissatisfaction at his playing pattern, Clemens Westerhof was at the stands and received a resounding welcome(Troussier accused Kodjo Williams who was a friend of Westerhof of orchestrating this)

We went to Guinea for the final dead rubber match and lost 1- 0. The Guineans dominance over the eagles in that match led to a clamor for his sack and he was relieved of his role shortly afterwards (forget the fact that we have always found it difficult to get the upper hand against Guinea in senior matches, be it CHAN, WAFU or tournament qualifiers)

I have read that Bora had little time to prepare for the word cup, but he had at least 6 months to do that

TheGoodJoe:


I am working with the best of my knowledge, probably mixing some things up. Wish we had articles like we have today to break down the sequence of events.

Unfortunately, we will work with what we have.

https://www.11v11.com/matches/nigeria-v-kenya-07-june-1997-247560/

Fortunately, i watched this very game on d said date...went to lagos from warri with d delta state supporters club to see d game....i can confirm 200% philip trousier was d coach for this game as we were sitted directly behind d eagles bench....it happened to be the only game i saw the eagles play at the national stadium surulere hence the memory is still very fresh! The link above gives the line up for the said game including the coaches for both team....cheers!

Gud info but the FG shud also make our health system reliable to reduce the number of nigerians seeking medical attention abroad!

I stand to be corrected but england's senior national team do not play a competitive game until the 2018 world cup hence tammy cant be capped by england unless he makes the team to russia. Nigeria have a competitive fixture in march hence we av a little advantage over england as regards timing! I am not too convinced about the huge clamour for tammy to turn up for nigeria as we currently av a fine pool of young talents to draw from coupled with the fact that the boy feels more british than nigerian at this moment but a lot cud happen between now and the world cup that cud work in our favor especially the progress players like iwobi and aina are making with the nigerian national team!

orobs93:


where are you based?

Lagos joor....u?

orobs93:


planning to come into akwa ibom for d match but no motivation though I have d money for my welfare

Me too......avnt seen dem play live for wile now.....looking for an extra motivation to go to uyo!

Abeg which station is gonna show d wafu cup final?

gemale:

More like 60% loading. Not to sound like a wet blanket but the 2nd leg against Cameroon exposed the mediocrity that is very prevalent & celebrated among Nigerians. We went to Yaoundé to achieve a draw not bothering to aim higher for a win. We could have beaten the Cameroonians in Yaoundé the way they played. If we were half as sharp as we were in front of goal as in the first leg, we could have scored a 2nd goal. The midfield (especially mikel) went on break for most of the 2nd half leaving the wingers to bear the brunt of initiating attacks. Our profligacy was punished when the referee gifted them a penalty (which IMO was unwarranted) which they converted to level the score. We were fortunate that the referee became vigilant afterwards because the Cameroonians started diving in an attempt to win another spot kick. What would have been our fate if he was deceived? Yes, a draw wasn't a bad result but we could have done better because the Cameroonians didn't exactly step up to give us a really tough time. We should have punished them. That is what separates the top teams from others. They are ruthless and offer their opponents no quarters. They don't rest on their oars. They rest when the job is done. Yes, we currently lead our group but that is no excuse to think we have already qualified for the world cup. If we lose our next 2 matches & zambia wins theirs, we wouldn't qualify. Yes, it's highly unlikely but it's possible in the realm of football. If we won at Yaoundé, we would have been 5 points up, thereby making it more difficult for Zambia to try & mount a comeback. Now, Zambia are 3 points adrift & we play them next. Imagine if they beat us at uyo. They would be equal on points with us. It's possible after all, we did beat them at ndola. Didn't south africa beat us in uyo? Playing at home is no guarantee of a victory for us. It is not over until it's over. Can you remember how we qualified for the 2010 world cup? Tunisia led the group until the very last match day when they slipped up. We need to guard against complacency & thinking we have already arrived. That's the reason why since 1999,no Nigerian player has won the african player of the year. Even top teams & players challenge themselves to do more.

I share ur thoughts on this that we gifted two precious points away on dat night in yaounde but a reality check is that the current eagles squad does not av the capability and fitness level to produce the same intensity (with which they dismantled cameroun in uyo) in another 3 days! Someone rightly mentioned mikel obi's fitness owing to injuries and relative inactivity before he moved to china.He is the most important part of the team and once he was substituted in dat game, we lost our bearing. Victor Moses is the fittest player in the team at the moment because he plays regularly in a very high intense league and this shows in d gulf in class btween him and the rest of the group. It takes match fitness to maintain tactical discipline and concentration for 90mins especially wen u up against a gud team. A lot of our first team players are fringe players in their respective clubsides and this affects match fitness and consistency of performance. This is one of the reason the coach tries to balance experience with team chemistry and match fitness wenever he calls up players for the qualifiers. Hopefully,we get past zambia and qualify but this same issue with match fitness will come up in d world cup proper due to the high intensity of the games and the short recovery times between games!

Goke7:

A draw is what Nigeria really need to qualify

Not so correct,a draw gives us 11points and we maintain our current goal difference of +5 while the zambians ll move to 8 points while they maintain their current goal difference of +2.if zambia beats cameroun 2nil and we lose to algeria by same scoreline,we will av a goal difference of +3 while the zambians move to a goal difference of +4. It is important to note that the first criteria for a group winner is goal differnce and NOT head to head results.this is quite an unlikely scenario bt it is just to emphasis that a draw against zambia does not yet guarantee a ticket to russia. An outright win against zambia is wat dis team really needs!