lakesidepapa:
I learn Guardiola doesn't like Africa player, Yaya as a case study. I pray and hope he will double sight and see the quality in Nacho cos the other side will be a disaster to his career

Icon4s:


A well thought out selection. I would nt include the bolded names in that list.

William Troost-Ekong: I have closely followed that guy. He is not much of a talented defender. Forgiveness, I know u like Half casts a lot. But this one will not make my team. Kenneth Omeruo and Leon Balogun will make my CB pair. If Balogun does nt make it I would take Chidozie Awaziem.

Abdul Ajagun: I know you can break my head for this. He wouldn't make my 18 man list. I would replace him with Wilfred Ndidi would also be a standby CB. I am an ambassador of experience but I know when to draw the line between Experience and talent. Ajagun may be experienced bt he is nt much talented. Lets look at the Egy vs Nig game in Alexandria. Aminu Umar is a more experienced player than Alex Iwobi. However Iwobi made far more impact after being introduced because of one thing: "Talent". I liken Ajagun to Umar and they were even U20 Team mates.

Dominc Solanke: This guy would have made my team if he a Nigerian. He has not yet switched nationality. So he cannot make my list yet. Except if something is done from now to then. I would replace him with Victor Moses.

I like your attacking line. Full of quality and inform players.

My 18 man list:

Goalies:
Emmanuel Daniel
Dele Alampasu

Defenders:
Kingsley Madu (LB)
Stanley Amuzie (LB)
Kenneth Omeruo (CB)
Leon Balogun/Chidozie Awaziem (CB)
Abdullahi Shehu (RB)
Moses Odubanjo(RB)

Midfielders:
Wilfred Ndidi (DMF)
Ogenyi Onazi (DMF)
Oghenekaro Etebo (CMF/AM)
Azubuike Okechukwu (CMF/DMF)
Alexander Iwobi (AM/LWF)

Forwards:
Victor Moses (WF)
Moses Simon (WF)
Kelechi Iheanacho (SS/RWF/CF)
Imoh Ezekiel (CF/SS/RWF)
Isaac Success( CF)/Chisom Chikatara (CF)

TheGoodJoe:


I do not think he hated them (Seydou Keita and Yaya). He just preferred Busquets laid back style. Alaba flourished Under Guardiola. He grew as a player with Guardiola.

I do not see or expect any problems between Nacho and Pep.

chrisooblog:
guy i was ignoring all this ajagun arguments but this recent claim you have decided to dish out is too much for me to stomach

ramon azeez went to world cup played in la liga.

omeruo afcon winner, top world cup performer chelsea player

guy nawa for this your double speak onazi sits on the bench yet you want him to go to olympics? ok continuu

nwofor went to world cup plays for boavista a top rated club in portugal

kingsley madu plays for senior national team yet your hero who plays in a ''better league'' hasn't been called up eyaa! oma se ooo

shehu abdullahi (see above)

wilfred ndidi (again see above)

S. moses mainstay in super eagles

etebo about to sign for a club in portugal already showing his worth in super eagles

as for your superhero plays in greece of all countries for a supposed top team whose coach couldn't wait to get rid of him. if na say coach dey beef am why wasn't he deemed valuable enough to be sold?

lakesidepapa:
Pep is one of the best coaches but I still think he's got racism. His track record can witness that. No harm intended guys. Ask eto. U knw yaya is making his leave nw

terzurum5:

Good list Sir Forgiveness. Congratulations too. This will be the first time friends here have to some extent come to agree with you on such an important issue. I was almost asking what has this Forg..... done to deserve this king of opposition?
cc: Safarigirl

TheGoodJoe:


I will like to talk about why I feel there is something big in Kelechi Nwakali.

First, I trust and believe in the choice of Coach Amunike. He is a man who was trained in the famous La Masia Academy as a coach and he saw a lot of brilliant talents in his days there.

Coach Amunike chose Kelechi Nwakali as the leader of his U17 winning team. Kelechi Nwakali also trained with Iheanacho's U17 team at a very young age. It showed the coaches already knew they had a special talent in their hands.

The boy did not only have a good tournament. He came out as the best player of the competition. That showed that the U17 Coaches led by Coach Manu Garba were right when they believed they had a star in their hands.

He is now with Arsenal, a ground where a lot of technical training and sound development takes place. I have no shred of doubt that another fine gem will emerge from Arsenal after the training and development of Kelechi Nwakali.

So far, Kelechi Nwakali proved those who believed in his talent right and I do not see him disappointing the coaching crew at Arsenal.

TheGoodJoe:


I think Yaya leaving has more to do with the club than Pep. With or without Guardiola coming in, we would not have given him what he wanted. Yaya wants a three year contract. For his age, it is too much. Especially for a club that wants to have a strong position among the elites in Europe.

As for Eto'o, he was on the field when Pep Guardiola experimented with the false nine formation with Messi. It was a game against Real Madrid and it was revolutionary.

Eto'o was not suited for the role and Pep had to let him go. I think it was more a thing to do with preference of the false nine formation that defined Messi's career over the attacking ability of Eto'o.

TheGoodJoe:


I think Yaya leaving has more to do with the club than Pep. With or without Guardiola coming in, we would not have given him what he wanted. Yaya wants a three year contract. For his age, it is too much. Especially for a club that wants to have a strong position among the elites in Europe.

As for Eto'o, he was on the field when Pep Guardiola experimented with the false nine formation with Messi. It was a game against Real Madrid and it was revolutionary.

Eto'o was not suited for the role and Pep had to let him go. I think it was more a thing to do with preference of the false nine formation that defined Messi's career over the attacking ability of Eto'o.

Icon4s:


He has learnt to shift grounds. "We are not there yet". We are getting there. He has removed Uche Agbo. Next would be Dominic Solanke and finally Abdul Forgiveness Ajagun.

lakesidepapa:
You really won bro and I think I can agree with you base on what u wrote here and hope Pep will prove me wrong when he get to Mcity. But am having the feelings that Pep doesn't have much joy with African players much.

terzurum5:

Sir Forgiveness, Will you now alter any thing on your list Hence your strong love for Ken.
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adrainuche:
Na wetin dey worry una who dey mention I nor wan hear names like

Mikel
Onazi ( ok we fit manage am)
Junior Ajayi (he will never make d list)
AJAGUN (wetin happen)
UMAR
AMUZIE
Shehu
Azubuike
Uguchu something
Kayode (for what now)

Una dey craze


we nor see any body else from these fellas abeg u people should drop those guyz abeg ... we have better players abeg see my small list ... at least make we see wetin theae guyz fit do we dun see mikel tire and to be sincere am tired ....

Sadiq papoolo
Ifeanyi Mathew
Musa Yahaya (very important)
Micheal Babatunde (very important)
Chisom Chikatara
Imoh ezekiel (nor nor wetin carry am go qatar)
M.Muhammed
Moses Simon
Etebo (may be )
Iwobi
Ihenacho
Sucess Issac
Umeruo
Balogun
Ndidi


Make una select players na which one be Umar dat one dey use power dey play ball .... and i hope siasia dont mention any okonkwo before i swear for am .... even taiwo awoniyi isnt even good enough to be in d team now ... make una leave oshimhen and kelechinwakali abeg make dem develope ...

See other players we can choose from

EFOONG
SOLANKE
SOKARI (i detest him tho)
MIcheal OlATAIN
Victor Moses ....

Na so una go take talk aay make we carry musa God Forbid ...

TheGoodJoe:
It is good to have someone like forgiveness on this thread (even though he annoys me sometimes), someone who looks out for those without popular demand.

I doubt we would discuss Solanke as a prospect of the country without someone like forgiveness.

To the attack discussion. I doubt Coach Siasia will be impressed enough to call a striker with 7 goals in 21 games.

forgiveness, does Solanke play upfront or does he play on the wings for Vitesse. Unless he plays on the wings, I do not see Coach Siasia giving him a call up.

I feel Coach Siasia has a lot of faith in Osimhen and I see him making it over the likes of Chikatara and Solanke.

(Note, Ronaldo De Lima was Seventeen years old when Carlos Alberto Parreira selected him for the World Cup. Although he did not play)

forgiveness:



Will coach Siasia be impressed enough to call up a striker(kelechi Iheanacho) with 9 goals out of 26 matches?

Of course, only those who don't know European youth football will not discuss Dominic Solanke as a prospect but thank God the name now rings bell in the ears of millions of Naija. Thanks to Nairaland.

How come you could comfortably discuss about the prospect of Alex Iwobi who Dominic Solanke outshined in the youth stages?

Let it be known that Dominic Solanke can play anywhere in the front line.

forgiveness:



Will coach Siasia be impressed enough to call up a striker(kelechi Iheanacho) with 9 goals out of 26 matches?

Of course, only those who don't know European youth football will not discuss Dominic Solanke as a prospect but thank God the name now rings bell in the ears of millions of Naija. Thanks to Nairaland.

How come you could comfortably discuss about the prospect of Alex Iwobi who Dominic Solanke outshined in the youth stages?

Let it be known that Dominic Solanke can play anywhere in the front line.

TheGoodJoe:


You did not answer the question. I said what role does he play for Vitesse. Is he a regular upfront. If you do not know, just say you do not know.

Do not throw stats to make it look like if Solanke and Nacho are operating on the same level.

Everyone can testify the Eredivisie is easier to perform than the Premier League.

John Guidetti who could not get games at Man City, went to Feyenoord and scored 20 goals in 23 appearances. He could not break through into City and Pellegrini rates Iheanacho ahead of Guidetti.

Solanke started 17 games this season in the Eredivisie and scored 7 goals and 1 assist. That is very poor.

Iheanacho started 3 games and scored 3 goals with 1 assist in the Premier League.

TheGoodJoe:
It is good to have someone like forgiveness on this thread (even though he annoys me sometimes), someone who looks out for those without popular demand.

I doubt we would discuss Solanke as a prospect of the country without someone like forgiveness.

To the attack discussion. I doubt Coach Siasia will be impressed enough to call a striker with 7 goals in 21 games.

forgiveness, does Solanke play upfront or does he play on the wings for Vitesse. Unless he plays on the wings, I do not see Coach Siasia giving him a call up.

I feel Coach Siasia has a lot of faith in Osimhen and I see him making it over the likes of Chikatara and Solanke.

(Note, Ronaldo De Lima was Seventeen years old when Carlos Alberto Parreira selected him for the World Cup. Although he did not play)

forgiveness:



Will coach Siasia be impressed enough to call up a striker(kelechi Iheanacho) with 9 goals out of 26 matches?

Of course, only those who don't know European youth football will not discuss Dominic Solanke as a prospect but thank God the name now rings bell in the ears of millions of Naija. Thanks to Nairaland.

How come you could comfortably discuss about the prospect of Alex Iwobi who Dominic Solanke outshined in the youth stages?

Let it be known that Dominic Solanke can play anywhere in the front line.

forgiveness:



Will coach Siasia be impressed enough to call up a striker(kelechi Iheanacho) with 9 goals out of 26 matches?

Of course, only those who don't know European youth football will not discuss Dominic Solanke as a prospect but thank God the name now rings bell in the ears of millions of Naija. Thanks to Nairaland.

How come you could comfortably discuss about the prospect of Alex Iwobi who Dominic Solanke outshined in the youth stages?

Let it be known that Dominic Solanke can play anywhere in the front line.

TheGoodJoe:


I did not know jack about Iwobi. It Icon4s, Arsetalks and some gunner fans that were talking Iwobi is good, Iwobi is this and that. I did not give a da.. until I watched him play against Hull City.

That pass to Theo Walcott was like.. WHOA. Every doubt in me vanished. He took me from a doubter to a fan with that pass.

TheGoodJoe:
From my study, Dominic Solanke plays as a point man for Vitesse. It says a lot that he is a bright talent for the future. I hope he grows and makes a big impact in the game.

With respect to the Olympics team, he does not fit in with his stats. 7 goals in 17 starts is poor for the team. Coach Siasia will not take him. If Solanke played on the wings, he would have stood a chance. As a point man, regularly, he does not meet up.

My advice to Solanke is to team up with the U20 boys and slug it out with Osimhen for the U20 No.9 shirt. (I don't think he will beat Osimhen but it will be a healthy battle for the team).

He is young and still has time to make a solid imp

TheGoodJoe:


Solanke has started a total of 18 games this season with 7 goals and 1 assist. Despite playing on an easier ground.

Iheanacho has started 9 games this season with 10 goals and five assist (In the words of TheSuperNerd, Alien Kid).

Levels pass levels.

[Sneaks into the library of TheSuperNerd's Molecular Kinetic Research center with Yara Yara and returns his ALIEN KID REASEARCH FILES]

forgiveness:



You sure don't know where he plays. I have told you before that he has played everywhere on the front line this season.

How many goals did Tijani Babangida scored prior to the Olympics?

Who is the highest goal scorer on that list Icon4s released?

From the technical facts made available, Solanke pass Iheanacho for class room. I am sorry but that is the fact.

Sentiments will not let you see a talented player even if it is right at your noise.

CFCman:
Judging by his form in the second half of the season, should Mikel be part of the Olympic squad?
Or should there even be any over-aged player included in the squad (and 4 alternates)?

TheGoodJoe:


I checked all the games because of you. Solanke played as a point man in every game he played for Vitesse this season. He never played as a winger. Even the games he came in as a substitute, he replaced the point man.