Jose Peseiro before the Afcon: Worshipper of 442. Stubbornly sticking to Uzoho despite error after error. I loathed this guy. Said his decision making would be why we won't go far at the Afcon except he fixes it.



Jose Peseiro at the Afcon: Started with a 433. Switched to 343 because of Alhassan's injury and in that 343 has found the perfect tournament football formation that will take Nigeria all the way. Dumped Uzoho for Nwabali. And his decision makings from the bench has been well above average this time. With this, I don't mind him staying beyond the Afcon despite our bad WCQs start.



What changed? He listened. He finally swallowed that pride and booted out 442. It wasn't hard to decipher that the right formation and then picking the right personnel for that formation would make his work easier from the bench.

typicalgamer:


Overconfidence, pride and praise got to uzoho head

Remember when he said if e easy play make Oyibo man sign you

He just signed his sack letter with that statement.

He think we couldn’t do better how e be now

How is Nwabali's injury status now? Everyone seems unconcerned.

gustav25:
As long as there is Hope , I forge on ....we go again

Fabrice Akwa regen , you have to do the Lord's work on Friday


As it was in 2006 , so shall it be now

no one take's you seriously any more,. You've become more of a clout chaser and your takes are becoming more irrational than banters.. SMH

If he ends up in goal should Nwabali not recover on time for Friday, then we do what we did for the final 10mins+10mins added time. Restrict the Angolans to ineffective shots.

Cameroun had no sniff of our goal. We can do same to Angola. Ekong and his defensive troops have been our best department at this Afcon. What a unit they are.

Sportilitica:

And if Uzoho ends up keeping, what do we do? That collision looked nasty

TheSuperNerd:
Try sitting on the bench for that long after being Number 1 for so long and you would know why.

Nwabali happened to Uzoho.

welcome back nerdy
You've starved us of your technical and tactical analysis for far too long.

Let's have them now!!

Zaidu Sanusi as much as he truly gives me heartache sometimes when he gets forward remains key to our 343 setup. His recovery time, positioning and speed are his biggest assets and in tandem with Calvin Bassey (LCB) locks up that defensive space easily. This is why he starts and Omeruo comes in later with Bassey switching to LWB once Zaidu is pulled out.

Could we start with Bassey at LWB and Omeruo at LCB? Yes, but I understand Peseiro. He is banking on Bassey's and Zaidu's left footedness synergy and speedy energy on that left.

TheSuperNerd:



Our defence has been our biggest influence on our clean sheets and turning opponents into clueless entities but Osimhen has been our biggest influence on the match outcomes.

Substitute Uzoho for Nwabali in that comment and you see it is true. Nwabali has also been immense to our buildup plays and defensive structure.


Finally, Without Osimhen, Nigeria would be playing penalties.

A true warrior 9.

My Monster Machine.

The Best Pressing Forward on Planet earth and in the entire universe.

TheSuperNerd:
I'm good namesake.

Peseiro who I never rated going into the tournament is the same one giving me reasons to be excited.

What happened? He dropped that silly 442.

It was risky wating till this afcon to try a 3 man midfield for the first time but it worked. It was worth it. But trying the 343 is the true masterclass change I was waiting for. I suggested it much earlier that we should be going 3421 under JPes with the players we have on board and with Nwakali not in the picture.


3421 is 343 but with the wingers playing much closer to Osimhen.

So far, it is lookman who seems to understand the assignment of playing closer to his pointman.

okay you're truly back😇

Like Marjoribanks predicted before the Afcon, we could win it. He always cited our talents depth. He was right but talent without structure gets you nothing. He kept stressing how our talents should see us dominating this tournament and he had a strong fair point but one problem remained: How would Jpes utilise them? Finally we have been answered with Jpes' repentance from the 442.

So Nigeria will win it not because of talents depth but because of our current structure. Cos Jpes finally switched things up to the advantage of the personnels at his disposal.

So it wont be down to what was seen before the Afcon. It is down to what Peseiro is finally getting right at this Afcon.

Change of formations to 433 and then 343 Proper utilization of players in these formations in tandem with the tactical discipline of our backline.

Nigeria is properly executing tournament football and Osimhen is the number 9 you need for a team that is set up this way.


Note: Osimhen is dynamic. He is the number 9 you need both for an attacking and defensive based side. He is excellent for a counter attack side and also thrives with aplomb in a possessive based side. What a super well rounded striker!!! A number 9 for all occasions, formations and setups

lbrichman2:
What we did by beating Cameroon this way, is give ourselves a huge momentum boost
The boys now believe they can go all the way
The SE will now be harder to beat..

Personally I don't see any team stopping them, unless ofcourse they stop themselves!

Congratulations everyone
Friday 6pm, we go again!

As long as the players keep turning up, Angola will be toast. The players for the first time knew what was at stake but for VAR the Eagles not known for scoring early goals were 1 nil up by a defender o imagine that.

Once that Angola's Mabululu of a player is neutralised, that's the end

TheSuperNerd:
Already explained through the GoodJoe who was kind enough to bring my reply here. I appreciate him for that. My schedule sef shock me.

When I saw us in the first game, I was like... Peseiro is doing something different. Finally listening. Finally playing a 3 man midfield.

Then when I saw the next game vs CIV with Alhassan out and JPes went 343, I knew that is the formation we would be using going forward.

The perfect formation to utilise the personnels of this team.

welcome bck big man

I saw a comment by Charlesemeka85 from pages back after the CIV game.

He had a picture of Calvin Bassey and he captioned it...

"If 'No gree for anybody' was a person"

That statement sums up just how fantastic Calvin Bassey has been at this Afcon. A true bone crusher of a defender also super comfortable on the ball in advanced areas.

A beast of our defensive unit.

Before the Afcon.... Nigeria's best department: The Attack

At the Afcon.... Nigeria's best department: The Defence

This script was not expected. Lol

Thank you. And thanks too for holding it down. I know say Super Eagles dey give you Joy now pass Man UTD. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

charlesemeka85:
welcome bck big man

Goke7:


As long as the players keep turning up, Angola will be toast. The players for the first time knew what was at stake but for VAR the Eagles not known for scoring early goals were 1 nil up by a defender o imagine that.

Once that Angola's Mabululu of a player is neutralised, that's the end

Exactly
You get the drift

Ofcourse, it won't be complete without giving thumbs up aplenty to the African Cafu at this tournament,

Ola "Cafu" Aina

He seems like a RWB on drugs. His combination of power, speed, and technical skills is a delight for true fans of the game. You don't need to be a Nigerian football fan to appreciate the artistry of Aina and his interpretation of the RWB role. Damn it. That guy is levels above almost all right wing channel players at this Afcon.

Highly Cerebral in his plays yet Rugged in his duels and defending. Positionally intelligent and his overlaps and underlaps have been timed to perfection at this tournament. A major reason why the right wing is another deadzone for opposition attacks via the flanks.

Aina is a Team of the tournament candidate. No caps.

Mujtahida:

Uzoho is a terrorist. Imagine a whole nation paralyzed with fear because of their own Gk. No be juju be that?

Nigeria's defence yesterday in aerial battles: Absolute Dominance.

Note: Focus on 3 man backline (minus WBs).

William Troost Ekong: 7/7 aerial duels won (100%)

Semi Ajayi: 4/4 aerial duels won (100%)

Calvin Bassey: 4/5 aerial duels won (80%)


Cameroun's Frank Magri lost 12 aerial duels against our backline. He won just 1 out of 13.
Absolutely destroyed.

Zaidu is key to this team

TheSuperNerd:
Thank you. And thanks too for holding it down. I know say Super Eagles dey give you Joy now pass Man UTD. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 no worry united will bounce bck soon

Angola will be without there first choice goalkeeper due to red card.

Sportilitica:
Zaidu is key to this team

That's what most people who are calling for him to be benched are not seeing

Mujtahida:
Match is being replayed

where

Thank you Emmy and I hope you are being fed now.

Sorry again for resuming late. Missing this would be great sacrilege.

Emmy450:
welcome back nerdy
You've starved us of your technical and tactical analysis for far too long.

Let's have them now!!

BankyGee:
Some people say Osimhen market value go reduce. Make una dey reduce am abeg 🤣😂

It is funny. I was reading some of those comments and I couldn't help myself. I was just laughing and laughing. Bench Osimhen? He is the problem of this attack? BLA BLA BLA


I have always said that Osimhen is more than just about Goals. Always pointed it out but it seems some didn't understand what I meant.

Osimhen has one goal but his overall plays for this Super Eagles team is already becoming legendary and is the reason we are where we are right now in CIV and the reason we can win this title.


I once said in 2022 on Twitter, that CIV 2023 will be Osimhen's tournament. He is the best and he is proving it game after game.

He will resume scoring again from the quarter finals.

Calvin Chinedu Ughelumba “ Da brick wall” ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥

One player I never gave up on even when he was down at Ajax. From the very first day I watched him mk his debut for Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish premier league few seasons ago I knew this kid was a diamond on the rough

I think he needs to move to serie A which I believe will suit his game better. Any of Juve, Milan and Inter should be knocking on fulham’s door to get him in the nearest future

Angola will throw caution to the wind as they will come at us with everything they have from the blast of the whistle.

Their attacking style of play will be their bane.

Daninya33:
Angola will throw caution to the wind as they will come at us with everything they have from the blast of the whistle.

Their attacking style of play will be their bane.

until then

That Nigeria first goal that cameroon 2nd defender why is he going to chase osihmen ? Instead of chasing down lookman

ChrisKels:
I don't know why I keep having this feeling that Ivory and Nigeria will have a rematch in this tournament.

I don't rate that Ivorian team. Right from day one.

MetalJigsaw:
I don't rate that Ivorian team. Right from day one.

Senegal go comot them. That team need serious rebuild and influx of younger players

The worst in that midfield is kessie, dude is so washed that I couldn’t believe my eyes during their first game with Guinea 🇬🇳

He looked heavy,slow and unfit unlike the kessie I use to knw at Atalanta and Milan few seasons ago

Remember when I made the comment here that Kessie was all brawns and little brains. This Afcon is showing everyone that I was always right. Kessie couldn't do jack against us from a creative sense and was made usesless against mostly 2nd division players from Equatorial Guinea.

Kessie was never that guy. I talk am.

charlesemeka85:
Senegal go comot them. That team need serious rebuild and influx of younger players

The worst in that midfield is kessie, dude is so washed that I couldn’t believe my eyes during their first game with Guinea 🇬🇳

He looked heavy,slow and unfit unlike the kessie I use to knw at Atalanta and Milan few seasons ago