elyte89:


For d pro rohrs,I don't knw aw u want to sound reasonable trying to defend rohr..u will end up sounding stupid irrespective of d epistle u intend writing

Dis is a team ranked outside 1-100th

Firstly against Sierra Leone now car,maybe next will b Djibouti or Pakistan,b4 we realize dt rohr is a rohrng coach

Can dey just sack him now please..dt shld b d next news...don't worry,d incoming interim coach will get it done cc..smartsmith097 message dis to oga pinnick

Rohr should have been sacked after the 2018 World Cup. He setup the team to lose in all three games we played and we were rightly bundled out. What irked me the most was him not knowing how to frustrate the Argentines with time-wasting subs close to end of the game. Told myself unless Rohr was sacked, I was done with Super Eagles. His downward decline is no surprise.

ChrisKels:


Mikel Agu never had a match half as decent as this throughout his SE career

Mikel Agu never had enough chances to prove himself. I have good eyes for pure ballers , believe me when I say this. You remember Aremu from CHAN eagles....correct baller but the Nigerian league is a huge set back.

ChrisKels:


You are a real joke. They have lost to a worse team in Madagascar, and also gave up a 4nil lead in Siera Loene

Madagascar worse than a team that have not won a game since 3yrs?
Inconseqential AFCON group game march?
This loss is d worst of the worse

IDENNAA:



Mikel Agu never had enough chances to prove himself. I have good eyes for pure ballers , believe me when I say this. You remember Aremu from CHAN eagles....correct baller but the Nigerian league is a huge set back.

Idenna nwanne m, calm down. Ndubuisi Agu is a real carpenter. I would rather Zubby Okechukwu than Endy Agu

ChrisKels:
Ejuke SEEMS to be the most mature of all our winger forwards. Chuks is my boy, but Ejuke edges him in trickery. Knowing that the team is deficient, a more tactical coach would try Ejike on the AM position, placing Iwobi on the left wing. But our coach na real muuuuu!

Good thinking but that midfield pack comes with a lot of responsibilities. Ejuke might hold the ball a little too long and starve the attack. We need a natural midfield controller.

elyte89:


For d pro rohrs,I don't knw aw u want to sound reasonable trying to defend rohr..u will end up sounding stupid irrespective of d epistle u intend writing

Dis is a team ranked outside 1-100th

Firstly against Sierra Leone now car,maybe next will b Djibouti or Pakistan,b4 we realize dt rohr is a rohrng coach

Can dey just sack him now please..dt shld b d next news...don't worry,d incoming interim coach will get it done cc..smartsmith097 message dis to oga pinnick

anybody trying to defend Rohr be like person trying to defend Buhari, you’ll sound really stupid and incoherent

Danielnino00:


Which players did Raniera sign before he lead Leicester to that title run? .. And that clueless coach in Manchester that has signed many players to suit his philosophy,what has he won??

National team coaches don't have the luxury of selecting the player they want, but they sure have a large pool to select from too.. Abi it isn't the same Italian team that failed to qualify for the world cup that Mancini took over and rejuvenated?


Meanwhile,what philosophy does Rohr have that require certain players to suit it? the man is choking his squad with defenders...Which kind Philosophy be that?

You sef can't deny Mancini has enough players to play what is in his head.

Any way, there's no redemption for Rohr

ChrisKels:


Idenna nwanne m, calm down. Ndubuisi Agu is a real carpenter. I would rather Zubby Okechukwu than Endy Agu

I beg to disagree, nnaa. I have assessed him and see the quality in his. Anyways , what does it matter now.

I am going to go and analyze all of Moses Simon's assists for Nantes for this and the previous.

We may be overrating him by looking at stats alone.

daveP:


I trust those Yoruba coaches especially. They'll shout your name(if stadium noise no reach sha). Now na just raise hand in apology or clapping for one rubbish nonsensical pass despite seeing a clearer teammate that can score. Simon dey this table. What is stronging them sha?

Simon was piss poor and wretched. Raw(Rohr) garbage play.

I can't wait for Chukwueze to be back

IDENNAA:



They know Aribo has not proven himself worthy to start nor wear the number 10 jersey but they are too ashamed to admit it here. They hyped him so much that they ended up devaluing him because much was expected. I can see through these foreign born like a sieve....they are not better than we can produce, just a better system.

Is just a matter of time before before rohr stops starting aribo,
He started todays game because of injury.
That no. 10 jersey need to b kept 4 while,until somone who is worthy emerges

Kog45:
Oh Westerhoff must have turned this team to a great team.

I remember Westerhoff preferred calling home based Finidi George over foreign based Tijani Babangida....Westerhoff preferred Zamalek Emma Amuneke over prince of Monaco Ikpeba....Westerhoff preferred Yekini,Siasia,Amokachie over Owubokiri,Mike Obiku,Ohenhen.

Walahi Rohr would have messed up 94 team cos he would have dropped Siasia for Owubokiri or Obiku...Rohr would have love starting Ikpeba over Zamalek Amuneke...

How on earth would Ebuehi not making Nigeria 23 team.He jumped on Sanusi just cos he signed for Porto when it was damn glaring that the guy is average.

A young Uzoho who made his WC debut in 2018 lost his place to a very average Okoye but a good ciach would have continue building a world class keeper in Uzoho.

Walahi with Rohr we are in a crossroads.

Rohr should come out in the open to tell us his game plan going into games. and the players he has trusted with roles.
Let's know if the players aren't playing to instructions or that they do not have what it takes to prosecute the roles assigned to them.

All i see in our games are just individual improvisations and brilliance.
Against Sierra Leone i made it bold that our EPL boys won us that game. (Andrew444 came for my head for saying this).
Against Cape Verde, Osimhen's brillance.

Five years is enough for us to read Rohr's winning approach and at least know what he is doing during games.
It is enough to know the right set of players to work with, it is enough to improvise good patterns for winning and good rhythm and communication among players. Patterns and transition in patterns that can be read.
Life, to a great extent is predictable, and nature is maintained by patterns.
I make it bold that if things continue this way we will not qualify for Qatar2022. Yes i said it.

Gernot Rohr is not building any team, until his young assembly of players gets old, then he will begin another building phase.

Odunayaw:
If he didn't make the sub, you'd say he's behaving like he's protecting a lead. When you settle down from your intoxication with Rohr you'd see that our lads make such schoolboy errors that you wonder how they've been in pro leagues all this while

We'd have been crying about our draw now if those two blockheads did their freakin jobs

Those subs were terrible and made no sense with the players and balance of the team.

Ppogbae:
I am going to go and analyze all of Moses Simon's assists for Nantes for this and the previous.

We may be overrating him by looking at stats alone.

To think Rohr sacrificed Onyekuru's international career for Moses, hurts my feelings for the lad who is sooo passionate about the SE.

Danielnino00:



I will not argue that... But what will his recall really solve? He was part of the team under Rohr a few years back...What did we achieve?


See, it isn't always the type of players in a team that makes the team good...most times,it is the quality of the coach..

I'm a Liverpool fan you see, and I'm sure I don't have to explain to you how much our team suffered after Benitez left....Then we got Klopp...and with an average squad he inherited from Rodgers,he took us to two cup finals in his first season (which he sadly lost). From there, he built the team slowly to become one of the best in Europe... It wasn't the quality of the players but the coach that made the team so good...

Rohr from all indication has proven that he isn't tactically sound..the evidence are glaring...it doesn't matter which player he call or recalls now....if he doesn't know how well to utilise them, it's a waste of time...
He has done well for us, but he has reached his limit... Like somebody here said some days back, Rohr is like Moses..he has taken us close to the promise Land,but can't lead us inside...

With Victor Moses we won an ANC on his first try and totally annihilated Algeria and cameroun on the way to 2018 World Cup. Please, respect that man

elyte89:


I am only waiting for charlesemeka,jihday and thesupernerd;d chief supporter of our coach to give deir verdict

Dey re real pro rohr

What??!!!! How?? Is this a joke or something? Ahhhh

He is the only one that will stay even if we owe him, so we die together.

elyte89:


Abi o

Ghana did same..so wetin dey stop us

Nothing much to analyse. It's all cross and inshallah. Seen it all. Simon Bags assists in Ligue 1 because he is more often crossing or putting passes into the box.

No through pass. No lines breaking magic. Just get to the left, spot your man and cross, or just cross hoping one of your own gets on the end of it.

One of such also came via a cornerkick.

But in the GWG, his crosses haven't clicked in the last two games now. First in Cape Verde and now against CAR. It's what it is.

Ppogbae:
I am going to go and analyze all of Moses Simon's assists for Nantes for this and the previous.

We may be overrating him by looking at stats alone.

elyte89:



Lol I swear I dey wait for thesupernerd with him long epistle... I go too flog am cane,if I catch am anywhere for street,I mean d guy dis time around seriously.. I am sure he will still support rohr ..I am waiting for him with my cane ;jihday too

Look at this one. Are you sure you are talking about TheSuperNerd or that Smartsmith guy who actually is the OGN owner disguised here.

You haven't seen how much I have been criticising Rohr's refusal to address our midfield issues? Or how I have been hitting him for his tactical deficiencies which intensified since that 4-4 madness vs S/Leone??

On twitter, I am a well known Critic of Gernot Rohr... so I wonder how I am his biggest fan in here. Like how??

I am blown... Warrisgoinonhia

Rohr said it was difficult for Awoniyi and Onyeka to come in -- whatever he means by that.

ChrisKels:
Am I the only one who thinks Onyeka's display today made him look like the better DM for eagles ahead of Ndidi? Being a DM isn't just about interceptions and tackles, and Onyeka showed it today with more flair. Ndidi has never been this impressive to me, playing for eagles

They had a chance to redeem themselves but drew again to Sierra Leone. Forgotten? I hope that's not what will befall us Sunday.

ChrisKels:


You are a real joke. They have lost to a worse team in Madagascar, and also gave up a 4nil lead in Siera Loene

Odunayaw:
Meh, just flair. That was the difference between them both. If Rohr keeps looking for how to play Nacho with this damned 442, Frank will be exposed against a better team

Whether played as a DM or CM, Frank will never easily get exposed. We have a player in Frank Onyeka.

Our Midfield imbalance is the real problem. And Rohr is the architect of the problem

Was it not on this thread, that I took the time to analyse how imbalanced a Midfield combo of Aribo and Onyeka will look like?

Didn't I also clearly explain why Ndidi-Aribo combo is limiting?

Same thing goes to an Ndidi-Etebo Midfield combo.

All have their Pros and Cons but one of their CONS is where the Super Eagles' middle game suffers greatly.

None of these Midfield combos boast a true ball playing, forward thinking and lines-breaking Midfield dictator.

In a Midfield you need the right kind of balance to be able to truly exert control and dictate the tempo of a game.
Defensive phases are important and all the above listed combos will hold their own defensively but what about the offensive phases? That is the problem.

Our attacking transitions from Midfield to attack is poor in any of these combos.

- Aribo is no Playmaker. He is a good player with fine box to box instinct. Has a knack for arriving late in the box. Got some quick feet and shows it where necessary but he lacks Long Vision... he lacks the ability to dictate the tempo of a game.

Watch him today again. Always looking to pass to the nearest man when he could just raise his head a bit more and switch plays to the other side in forward transitions.


- Onyeka is just a box to box demon for Club and for country, he is a decent DM cover for Ndidi as he showed today. Strong in duels, good in the tackles, composed in picking his short passing and distribution but that was it... nothing more. Nothing creative from him and to be fair, why should he get creative? It is not in his DNA. He cannot give what he doesn't have.

Same goes for Aribo. That #10 Jersey is deceiving most fans and probably even the coaches. They want the lad to control the midfield when he isn't actually that kind of Midfield player. He doesn't just have the DNA to dictate plays. I Don talk am for here naa.... but agenda must agend for some.



I mean, we saw a Midfield that left long ball plays to their own Center backs.
A Midfield that hardly picked the ball off their CBs.
A Midfield that left some ball carriage to Balogun to push the ball up into opposition territory all the way from defence. It was a soulless Midfield display. I hope some folks can see their so-called Onyeka-Aribo combo yielding Zero fruit especially when we had possession.




Look, until we invite and give chances to true Central Midfield dictators... Bonafide Ball playing Midfield orchestrators like Alhassan Yusuf of Royal Antwerp and Kelechi Nwakali of Huesca. You can even throw in Ovie Ejaria of Reading but I am more particular about the first two (Alhassan and Kelechi)... then our midfield imbalance issues will persist and we will continue to struggle in offensive phases or in our attempts to try dominate plays. Those attempts will remain forced and not something that flows.


So much to say. So much to analyse but THE MIDFIELD IS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM BEHIND WHY OUR ATTACK JUST WON'T FLY YET.

ChrisKels:


Shame no dey catch you

I am a real fan bro, come rain or shine....i am optimistic like that. Nothing to be ashamed of whenn supporting my National team. Sunday is another day.

Danielnino00:


How far??

You were like "we shouldn't stress ourself due to lack of midfielders" a few days back... shey u still hold on to that belief?

No shaking bro. Sunday is another day.

charlesemeka85:
the team will win on Sunday mark my words

We are the real fans bro. Come rain or shine we dey. No matter who dey in charge..we dey.

typicalgamer:



What do you supposed rohr do, since he’s the one playing, passing, dribbling and scoring.

My man my post is clear enough for you to understand.

1980-2021 watching eagles should tell you am not a kid.

Pls give this team or abi na average team as you said to a very good coach and see things turning around.

My point is simple he is the coach and he should carry the cross whether win or loss.

CAR beating eagles and here you are telling us does Gernot Rohr suppose to be doing the dribbling,passing,playing and scoring on the field.

PurpleHouse:


He already answered you.

Thank you my man.

Danielnino00:
Interestingly, CAR win today was their first competitive win in 3 years!!!

THREE YEARS!

Omo!

It should also be their first win in a world cup group stage qualifying round.

I heard this is the first time they are qualifying for the group stage qualification round for the world cup

kingphilip:


It should also be their first win in a world cup group stage qualifying round.

I heard this is the first time they are qualifying for the group stage qualification round for the world cup

OMG and some are here telling me nonsense...walahi I dey vex.

What a shame...eagles dey loss but not to a crap like CAR....Haba WC qualifying match for God sake.

Why our attack struggled: Osimhen, Iheanacho (sub: Awoniyi), Simon and Ejuke.

Before I state why we struggled... let's have a small recap.

The game ended 0-1 and WE DIDN'T HAVE A SINGLE SHOT ON TARGET. WE didn't really trouble the CAR GK at all. What does that say?

It says many things. One is that our attack was rendered impotent.

But we did have a few chances. Most were half-Chances and none of these chances were created by our midfield. Bcoz our midfield created absolutely NOTHING.

The whole creative burden fell on the Wingers and the hustles of the strikers feeding off the scraps in the final third. And CAR knew we would use the wings. So they doubled up on our wingers making it hard to get through as often as we would have liked.

But we did on a few occasions through Osimhen's pace setting up Awoniyi twice but we couldn't get the goal. Awo tried because those chances weren't exactly clear cut. They were chances worked out via the industry of Osimhen.

Awo had another chance aerially which fell kindly for him from the right wing. An Aina cross but he didn't connect strongly.

But Our best chance of the game came via the creative genius of Ejuke who kept daring and probing to make something happen all game.

Ejuke cutting in, twisting on the ball, scanning any openings eventually found one and fed Osimhen in the second half and Osimhen took it in his stride to hit a strike that somehow rebounded off the post and fell for Awoniyi who couldn't finish. That was also a half chance and yep we couldn't convert.


Osimhen had his turns twice. One from a header which he didn't direct properly even though under pressure.

And another from a strike he mustered on his own from a quick turn using his weaker foot. It was close but not on target.

Simon Moses tried all he could to get some crosses in but they just weren't working.

Kelechi Iheanacho had one half and while he got a few good touches in and had a few attempts to make something happen, there was a sense of disconnect between himself and his attacking partners. He was neither here or there with respect to his role behind the striker. He is not one to interpret the #10 role properly because he is actually a hybrid. A Support Striker and a forward who can play off another forward.



But why did our attack really struggle?

It's simple. The Midfield failed going forward. And these are the connections...

▶️Our wings were the supposed source of creative potentials but it was cut off due to resolute strategic defending and a deep defensive block set-up by the CAR tactician.
They doubled up on our wingers reducing any chances of major creative actions from both sides in our favour. Ejuke did get through once or twice but that was it.

▶️With the wings cut off, the midfield didn't step up to the creative plate. We laboriously moved the ball about without any true penetrative passing or Lines-breaking passing moment. No quick transitions... No intense or swift switch of plays which normally should have cracked the organizational wall of the CAR defensive blocks.

▶️With the Wings cut off and the Midfield practically creating nothing in terms of Forward passing or Lines-breaking passing or tempo plays, the attack got cut off from supply, and it left the likes of Osimhen feeding off the scraps by dropping off to the channels a few times to use his pace and ball carrying ability to get forward and try make something happen. Could have worked as he created two chances but it didn't in the end.

This also caused Awoniyi to drop deeper to link up the play and still having to run back into the final third to try connect with or finish off any Attacking move in offensive transitions.

Our attackers were starved and overworked all because we had a Zero-Creativity and Poor Ball playing Midfield.


▶️Our attack will continue to suffer until we get the right midfield balance.

In a three man midfield, the right balance will always have:

1. The CAM (Creative hub) that operates between the lines in the space between the DMF and the CBs of the opposition. We have that in Iwobi.
Akinkunmi Amoo is one for the future in this role as well.

2. The CDM (Defensive shield) that holds the midfield and acts as the base of stability, composure, calm and solidity in front of the defence. He is the World Class Shield of the Middle game. We have that in Ndidi. Backup could be Onyeka.

3. The Ball Playing Central Midfield dictator (CM) who orchestrates the team's plays, dictates the tempo and effortlessly links midfield and attack in smooth transitions. He lines-break with his passing, deliver forward passes from deep, switches play at will with long balls and Vision and also contributes defensive shifts that complement the CDM while also offering creativity that complements the CAM.
Lads such as Alhassan Yusuf, Kelechi Nwakali, Ovie Ejaria and one or two others fit the bill soundly, technically and tactically.


Our midfield needs this balance.... BADLY.

Even In a 4-4-2, a CDM and Ball playing CM works just as well. You just have to get the personnel right.


This is why our attack struggled. And it is all Rohr's fault. He has never addressed this anomaly in our Middle game.


We boast only Midfield Runners, Workrate Merchants, box to box midfield operators with not much ball playing nous, and defensive MF walls.... but we lack the one piece that completes our Midfieled. That piece is a Ball playing, high technical Midfield dictator with top passing ability that line-breaks, oils the wheels of our passing game and directs the tempo


If I can see this, analyse this and be proven right time and time again in our games most especially this one we lost quite badly, then what in the hell and the heavens is Rohr doing? We have a huge midfield problem and it needs to be fixed. And Only the right personnel can solve this.

TheSuperNerd:
Why our attack struggled: Osimhen, Awoniyi, Simon and Ejuke.

Before I state why we struggled... let's have a small recap.

The game ended 0-1 and we didn't have a single shot on target. What does that say?

It says many things. One is that our attack was rendered impotent.

But we did have a few chances. Most were half-Chances and none of these chances were created by our midfield. Bcoz our midfield created absolutely NOTHING.

The whole creative burden fell on the Wingers and the hustles of the strikers feeding off the scraps in the final third. And CAR knew we would use the wings. So they doubled up on our wingers making it hard to get through as often as we would have liked.

But we did on a few occasions through Osimhen's pace setting up Awoniyi twice but we couldn't get the goal. Awo tried because those chances weren't exactly clear cut. They were chances worked out via the industry of Osimhen.

Awo had another chance aerially which fell kindly for him from the right wing. An Aina cross but he didn't connect strongly.

But Our best chance of the game came via the creative genius of Ejuke who kept daring and probing to make something happen all game.

Ejuke cutting in, twisting on the ball, scanning any openings eventually found one and fed Osimhen in the second half and Osimhen took it in his stride to hit a strike that somehow rebounded off the post and fell for Awoniyi who couldn't finish. That was also a half chance and yep we couldn't convert.


Osimhen had his turns twice. One from a header which he didn't direct properly even though under pressure.

And another from a strike he mustered on his own from a quick turn using his weaker foot. It was close but not on target.


Simon Moses tried all he could to get some crosses in but they just weren't working.



But why did our attack really struggle?

It's simple. The Midfield failed going forward. And these are the connections.

- Our wings were the supposed source of creative potentials but it was cut off due to resolute strategic defending and a deep defensive block set-up by the CAR tactician.
They doubled up on our wingers reducing any chances of major creative actions from both sides in our favour. Ejuke did get through once or twice but that was it.

- With the wings cut off, the midfield didn't step up to the creative plate. We laboriously moved the ball about without any true penetrative passing or Lines-breaking passing moment. No quick transitions... No intense or swift switch of plays which normally should have cracked the organizational wall of the CAR defensive blocks.

- With the Wings cut off and the Midfield practically creating nothing in terms of Forward passing or Lines-breaking passing or tempo plays, the attack got cut off from supply, and it left the likes of Osimhen feeding off the scraps by dropping off to the channels a few times to use his pace and ball carrying ability to get forward and try make something happen. Could have worked as he created two chances but it didn't in the end.

This also caused Awoniyi to drop deeper to link up the play and still having to run back into the final third to try connect with or finish off any Attacking move in offensive transitions.

Our attackers were starved and overworked all because we had a Zero-Creativity and Poor Ball playing Midfield.


- Our attack will continue to suffer until we get the right midfield balance.

In a three man midfield, the right balance will always have:

1. The CAM (Creative hub) that operates between the lines in the space between the DMF and the CBs of the opposition. We have that in Iwobi.
Akinkunmi Amoo is one for the future in this role as well.

2. The CDM (Defensive shield) that holds the midfield and acts as the base of stability, composure, calm and solidity in front of the defence.

3. The Ball Playing Central Midfield dictator (CM) who orchestrates the team's plays, dictates the tempo and effortlessly links midfield and attack in smooth transitions. He lines-break with his passing, deliver forward passes from deep, switches play at will with long balls and Vision and also contributes defensive shifts that complement the CDM while also offering creativity that complements the CAM.


Our midfield needs this balance. In a 4-4-2, a CDM and Ball playing CM works as well. You just have to get the personnel right.


This is why out attack struggled. And it is all Rohr's fault. He has never addressed this anomaly in our Middle game.


We boast only Midfield Runners, Workrate Merchants, box to box midfield operators with not much ball playing nous, and defensive MF walls.... but we lack the one piece that completes our Midfieled. That piece is a Ball playing, high technical Midfield dictator with top passing ability that line-breaks, oils the wheels of our passing game and directs the tempo


If I can see this, analyse this and be proven right time and time again in our games most especially this one we lost quite badly, then what in the hell and the heavens is Rohr doing? We have a huge midfield problem and it needs to be fixed. And Only the right personnel can solve this.

....make dem just give me Nwakili abi na Nwobodo or make we kuku bring Mikel back abi wetin be issue.

No calmness in eagles midfield again abi no be the same eagles that produced Henry Nwosu,Etim Esin,Jay jay Okocha,Wilson Oruma,James Obiorah,Duke Udi,Emma Ebiede,Christian Obodo,Thompson Oliha,Mutiu Adepoju and Mikel Obi.

Doctor I don tire.