The Peseiro formula got us to the final of the AFCON.

But there was always this nagging doubt in my mind about how far his Park The Bus tactic will get them.

I always felt they were vulnerable playing so deep, and inviting the opposition to come at them.

Such a system can get you far and win you SOME games.

But can it win you the African title? I doubt it.

This cannot be the system that DEFINES your game.

You must be able to ditch it when necessary and be brave enough to go for all-out attack, especially after an equaliser by the other side.

This is AFCON. You MUST know how to take the game to the opponent.

The problem is it is not so easy to transition to that way of playing when you've spent so many hours of the tournament playing defensively.

I think Peseiro needs to go.

He did up to his Mourinho-esque limit.

I think we should give the job to Emmanuel Amunike.

Waoohh!! Very good news that Ivory Coast won the cup. Any Igbo found supporting nigeria must have his brain examined. Ivory Coast is the country that gave refuge to our eternal leader Ikemba Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, so they deserve our support and we are happy that they beat the hell out of the terrorist country called nigeria to win the cup.

We thought too

Normally Pesiro na useless coach naw, we have just been lucky. How can you have players like Osimhen, Lookman, Simon, Chukwueze, Ihenacho, Mofi, Onuachu, Musa and be playing defensive game? Which African defence can withstand such an attack?

AbaganaMiracle:
Waoohh!! Very good news that Ivory Coast won the cup. Any Igbo found supporting nigeria must have his brain examined. Ivory Coast is the country that gave refuge to our eternal leader Ikemba Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, so they deserve our support and we are happy that they beat the hell out of the terrorist country called nigeria to win the cup.

very silly comment

you were all making noise throughout the tournament, una don finally humble..

Chrisrare:
you were all making noise throughout the tournament, una don finally humble..

That's football.

You have to big up your team.

Nothing wrong with that.

We love our Super Eagles.

And they did us proud at the AFCON, with some memorable victories over South AfrIca, Ivory Coast, Angola, and Cameroon.

God1000:
very silly comment

Dumbo, may nations cup winning kee you there. You cesspit inhabitants lost and we Biafrans are happy. That's what matters most. Deal with it.

kokoA:
Normally Pesiro na useless coach naw, we have just been lucky. How can you have players like Osimhen, Lookman, Simon, Chukwueze, Ihenacho, Mofi, Onuachu, Musa and be playing defensive game? Which African defence can withstand such an attack?

It wasn't really a defensive game, especially with a 3- man attack but the point was there was nothing happening in Nigeria midfield to feed the attack. It was mostly the wingbacks which often support the attackers aside the attackers helping themselves out since the beginning of the tournament but this time around, the wingbacks had a lot on their hands, considering Ivory midfielderrs dominated lots of possession and controlled the play while constantly freeing their attackers who kept worrying Nigeria's defence whereas Nigeria midfield couldn't do anything to offer both the attack and the defence.

It was a good outing overall. I didn't even expect anything from the eagles after they lost to Guinea just before the beginning of the tournament.

AbaganaMiracle:

Dumbo, may nations cup winning kee you there. You cesspit inhabitants lost and we Biafrans are happy. That's what matters most. Deal with it.

Shut up.

99.99999999% of Igbos supported and cheered the SUPER EAGLES.

You're an insignificant minority, even among Igbos.

It's just that a misplaced sense of kinship prevents them from telling you - as they wish to - to SHUT THE FCK UP.

Dsimmer:


It wasn't really a defensive game, especially with a 3- man attack but the point was there was nothing happening in Nigeria midfield to feed the attack. It was mostly the wingbacks which often support the attackers since the beginning of the tournament but this time around, the wingbacks had a lot on their hands, considering Ivory midfielderrs dominated lots of possession and controlled the play while constantly freeing their attackers who kept worrying Nigeria's defence whereas Nigeria midfield couldn't do anything to offer both the attack and the defence.

It was a good outing overall. I didn't even expect anything from the eagles after they lost to Guinea just before the beginning of the tournament.

Why can't we find another JAY JAY OKOCHA for goodness sake in this country?

Even a HALF Jay Jay talent?

SURELY they must exist.

We have to ACTIVELY SOURCE, SUPPORT, and NURTURE ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS from the Nigerian league, and help get them to the next level where they can man the Eagles midfield.

We are too big to be depending on Alex Iwobi and Joe Aribo!

Catapault:


Why can't we find another JAY JAY OKOCHA for goodness sake in this country?

Even a HALF Jay Jay talent?

We have to ACTIVELY SOURCE AND SUPPORT ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS from the Nigerian league, and help get them to the next level where they can man the midfield.

Dunno. Although I believe the combination of Onyedika and Aribo midfield could have controlled that game. Aribo had a good outing in the last afcon for example. Both Onyedika and Aribo are good at providing passing options for the defence, aside from Aribo being energetic and ball carrier when needed.

For example, Aribo in just 4 minutes made 10 passes which is half of Iwobi's 23 passes in 78 minutes while Onyeka made 12 passes in 86 minutes. Imagine if he was on the pitch for longer, he would have at least taken control of the possession away from ivory coast. As I said, He had a good outing as a CM in the last afcon. With him and Onyedika who's also adept at providing option for the defence, Nigeria could have controlled the match.

Dsimmer:


Dunno. Although I believe the combination of Onyedika and Aribo midfield could have controlled that game. Aribo had a good outing in the last afcon for example. Both Onyedika and Aribo are good at providing passing options for the defence, aside from Aribo being energetic and ball carrier when needed.

For example, Aribo in just 5 minutes made 10 passes which is half of Iwobi's 23 passes in 78 minutes while Onyeka made 12 passes in 86 minutes. Imagine if he was on the pitch for longer, he would have at least taken control of the possession away from ivory coast. As I said, He had a good outing as a CM in the last afcon. With him and Onyedika who's also adept at providing option for the defence, Nigeria could have controlled the match.

I wish Eberechi Eze had chosen Nigeria instead of England.

That midfield was crying out for Eberechi Eze.

He was supposed to be our new Jay Jay.

He even trained with the team a couple of times in the past.

Oh well...

Catapault:


I wish Eberechi Eze had chosen Nigeria instead of England.

That midfield was crying out for Eberechi Eze.

He was supposed to be our new Jay Jay.

He even trained with the team a couple of times in the past.

Oh well...

Who knows. I think He's more of a 8 or 10 cum winger than a playmaker who controls the midfield because I remembered Gallagher dominating him in the central midfield.

One thing I would say apart from the poor midfield was Iheanacho should have probably started in the place of Chukwueze in the attack. Or Simon could have continued to play on the right attack.

True

Apart from Iwobi, every super eagle gave account of themselves. We lost our match due to the coach's overly defensive tactics and the continuous use of Iwobi. I bet even if Musa played Iwobi's role, he would have done a far better job. Our defense has been the most stretched department of the tournament. It's only a matter of time that they would crack as there was practically no midfield. The pressure on the defense was too much. Onyeka held the ball, pushed it forward, won back possession. Onyeka was very solid but was very stressed by the absence of Iwobi because Iwobi was not even on that field at any point throughout the tournament. He was shaky, he lost possession so easily and his passes always causes an error that puts the defense in a panic mode. Nigeria played with just 10 men throughout the tournament. Last night, they played with 9 men, Chukwueze was also missing. Osihmen struggled all through the tournament because he has to fall back several times to hustle for the ball with at least 3 opponents on him. He finds it difficult to break free. We should applaud them. I don't think one can win six games based on luck. The defense tactical approach was just not suitable for the finals.