TheGoodJoe:


The 1994 team were the best players home and abroad. That is what we aim to achieve. There is no too soon. As soon as they are better than the ones on the team, it I time to change.

TheGoodJoe:


No. A team of the best players of the country. Not a team of regulars.

That is the point. Are the players who represent us now the current best players that can represent us in each position?

If the are not, then we are fielding a weaker Super Eagles than we can have.

tbaba1234:



Oliseh joined that team in 93/94
Okocha in 92
Amuneke played his first game in 93

Several players were part of the building process.

Reubens Agboola
Elaho
Emeka Ezeugo
Emenalo was at usa 94
Friday Ekpo
Chris Ohenhen
Ajibade babalade



Etc

Before we got to the 94 team.. There were plenty changes along the way.

Icon4s:


And who says this current team should not evolve?

TheGoodJoe:


You are talking of after Westerhof searched the country for the best in each position. Not before.

tbaba1234:


The point is that, the team changed a lot. Some key players in 90 were not key players in 94. Westerhof was not afraid to experiment and try new players.

chrisooblog:
you talking about between 1990-1993 abi? even at that we knew the spine, keshi, yekini, amokachi, finidi, eguaveon, uche uchechukwu, ben iroha, adepoju before later additions like oliseh, okocha

chrisooblog:
bro you forget that the 1990 team assembled by westerhof were mostly homebased guys who were mostly not our best legs but chosen to send a message to some of our foreign based players who were misbehaving then. even as of then stalwarts like keshi, yekini, eguavoen, ben iroha, uche uchechukwu, adepoju, alloy agu were sure starters

tbaba1234:


Finidi joined in 91 .

chrisooblog:
you talking about between 1990-1993 abi? even at that we knew the spine, keshi, yekini, amokachi, finidi, eguaveon, uche uchechukwu, ben iroha, adepoju before later additions like oliseh, okocha

chrisooblog:
note i said between 1990 and 1993

Icon4s:


Answer the bolded by yourself. Recommend players u think are better in those positions.



I am waiting....

chrisooblog:
there is a too soon. the nigeria team of 2002 we were too much in a haste to get rid of the likes of oliseh, finidi, babangida etc after our poor outing in AFCON 2002. the ones we now took to korea/japan 2002 world cup though talented couldn't meet up.

you remember i drew up a list of players we should use for this russia 2018 qualifying campaign a few pages back. now looking at that pool of players i listed are their many players i may have left out who should be in the team now based on merit? i agree with icon that we already have a decent pool of players bar one or two.

tbaba1234:


The point is that, the team changed a lot. Some key players in 90 were not key players in 94. Westerhof was not afraid to experiment and try new players.

tbaba1234:


Amokachi, Adepoju, Iroha and Okechukwu joined the team in 1990.

Many of that home based team were the crust of the Super Eagles for ages.

tbaba1234:


Amokachi, Adepoju, Iroha and Okechukwu joined the team in 1990.

Many of that home based team were the crust of the Super Eagles for ages.

TheGoodJoe:


In the same period these additions took place. That means, we kept on building. We know Ighalo, Mikel, Onazi, yet we should keep looking. We need the best players.

In 1994, those were the best available players.

TheGoodJoe:


I should mention, like seriously. Did you not read me say we should keep searching.

chrisooblog:
exactly my point westerhof did a lot of chopping and changing within that period but as much as possible he tried to maintain a steady eleven throughout.

plus that era was a rebuilding period when the super eagles were still discovering talented players. not many nigerian players were in europe so it's not like we had a dossier of nigerian players doing exceptional things in europe.

unlike today bar a few players we know the players we will use to execute the qualifying campaign. all i'm saying is based on merit their are not many players that have been left out if i'm wrong please list them.

Icon4s:


No body says we should stop searching.

We have a pool already. Our primary objective for now should not just be to keep adding to that pool but to screen out the best in that pool and maximize the quality there in. If any untested player is found worthy to be added, let him be invited.

What I am preaching is stability. That is all.

Icon4s:


We should focus more on building on what we have. We need stability. As we progress some new players will emerge and we add them to the squad.

No body say we should stop searching.

Icon4s:


From 1990 to 1994 was a long period and so you should expect the team to change with time. But note that some players were there all through from 1988, 1990 to 1994: Rufai, Keshi, Okechukwu, Okafor, Eguavoen, Amokachi, Yekini, Siasia, Oliha, Ekpo, Iroha, Adepoju. These pleyers formed the spine of the team.

Finidi joined in 1991/1992, Amuneke, Okocha and Oliseh joined in 1993.

TheGoodJoe:


By 98, the likes of Okocha, Oliseh and Kanu conceded 5 against Holland in a friendly, four against Denmark in the World Cup. 2002 showed we were too patient, not in a haste.

chrisooblog:
those loses you are mentioning have no corrolation to our present discussion they lost due to poor coaching/tactics not because they were not the best legs that year. oliseh, finidi, okocha, kanu etc were still our best players that year. we can argue that the supporting cast wasn't up to scratch but there weren't any obvious better players at least that i know of.

Icon4s:


No body says we should stop searching.

We have a pool already. Our primary objective for now should not just be to keep adding to that pool but to screen out the best in that pool and maximize the quality there in. If any untested player is found worthy to be added, let him be invited.

What I am preaching is stability. That is all.

chrisooblog:
stability, stability, stability!!!

that's the mantra. for an example of how adding too many players can rock the boat look at the players we took to brazil 2014. ameobi, uchebo, odunlami, michael babatunde. apart from babatunde who did ok the others were complete flops. keshi probably brought them in to freshen up the group but the opposite was achieved. he thought because he got away with it in AFCON 2013 he could do it again and succeed.

chrisooblog:
stability, stability, stability!!!

that's the mantra. for an example of how adding too many players can rock the boat look at the players we took to brazil 2014. ameobi, uchebo, odunlami, michael babatunde. apart from babatunde who did ok the others were complete flops. keshi probably brought them in to freshen up the group but the opposite was achieved. he thought because he got away with it in AFCON 2013 he could do it again and succeed.

TheGoodJoe:


It has a relation to every thing. As soon as Westerhof went, we stopped competition in places.

There was this term, we had a team. The Atlanta Team was our team. No competition.

Then people wondered how we fell off. It is like Spain holding on to the past. It is like AC Milan holding on to the past. If you hold the team for too long, it causes weaknesses later.

We should not make the same mistake of holding on to how good our players are. They need to have it in their mind, you mess up, you go.

Yekini had no place in France '98. During the Friendlies and Carlsberg Cup, Samson Siasia was the best player. But, we had a Team. Yekini went and did not score once. Missed a glorious chance against Spain.

chrisooblog:
you forget that the 96 team also improved on the 94 set. kanu, babayaro, oruma, taribo west , garba lawal, dosu joseph, mobi oparaku, karibe ojigwe, teslim fatusi etc these were young guys added to the likes of oliseh, amokachi, okocha, akpoborie, amunike, finidi, t. babangida
so where is the lack of competition?

siasia could be dropped because he was nowhere near the team during qualifiers for france 98. i can understand yekini because he's our all time leading scorer and we could give him the benefit of the doubt. besides i remember in the build up to france 98 we played a friendly against jamaica in which yekini scored.

i'm happy you used the spanish example. the core of the team between 2007-2012 cassilas, puyol, xavi, alonso, ineista, fabregas, busquets, ramos etc no suprises they won 1 world cup and 2 euros in that period

the key word you should note is POOL OF TALENTED PLAYERS. any other unknown player who merits being called should be added to the pool but we don't have time to do open camp and be saying ''oya come show yourself'' we have passed that stage

BascoVanVeli:


How did me asking that Adi should given 60 minutes in a friendly bring us to this?

TheGoodJoe:


Nope. It was Siasia who scored Jamaica. A header. Not Yekini.

That is what I am talking about. You do not care if Siasia was better. As long as our all time leading scorer plays.

No. The best player at that time plays. Not the best past player.

TheGoodJoe:


If a left back comes out as Iheanacho did, or one is making waves in another League, we will do ourselves a disservice sticking to what we have.

Whether home or foreign born, if the player can make us stronger, then he is what we have.