Ajax seem to be on a good path at last since their glory years. I'd rather want to see him in a more competitive league than the Eredivisie.

EmmGee:

Ajax seem to trust youngsters. The team is made of them.
That will be a good fit don't you think?

Good question. But don't forget they all followed different progression. 3 graduates from different schools will not necessarily gain employment at the same company at the same time even if they all applied.

Osimhen has the advantage from the world conquering 2015 U-17 class. So for him, timing is the essence. Since he was favored by every national coach that have seen him closely

Odey is probably in that list because of all the noise and distraction.

Onyekuru just caught our eyes in his first season.

Who is the best? It's too early to tell. But don't forget it's not who gets the first call up that is guaranteed longevity.

Coincidentally, the trio's last names all start with O.

zicky:
Odey is 19, Osimhen is 18 many possible promising yrs with SE are they better than Onyekuru

goldfish80:
It is not a welcome development if really the technical committee of the Nff have not sat since June 2016.
I see a lot of comments maybe out of relative ignorance about the job description of the technical committee, wave aside Lawal's revelations.

For starters, the technical committee is the backbone of any football federation. This department should be the made up of the very best football brains in the country.

They have an oversight over all the level of football development in the country including the female teams. Their job description ranges from inspection, data analysis, checks, technical report, reviews, recommendations, coordination of the football activities of the FA.

The implementation of this Committee not sitting since 2016 is that nobody wrote reports, analysed or captured any data about the U15 NPFL competition we were all hailing. Same goes for the U17 team that went to South Africa. It just shows how uncoordinated we do things here.
By extention, the Super Eagles is just exciting on thin air, because originally Rohr should be writing a detailed report on the direction and progress of the super eagles team monthly to the technical committee.

My people,this can't be good news.
I don talk my own.

Garba Lawal statement centered around the selection of National team players. That should be totally the decision of the coach. The technical committee provides technical support for the coach, scouting, videos, reports on opposition etc but they do not select his team. Keshi had a running battle with the technical committee trying to tell him what to do. It is only the coach that loses his job when a team fails.

Theoretically, you are spot on but how much of what you listed was actually done by the technical committee?

Now we know why Rohr keeps inviting him.

terzurum5:
Wolfsburg Coach – Osimhen Has Special Qualities, He Has Great Potential To Be A Star



Coach of German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg Andries Jonker says Nigerian kid wonder Victor Osimhen will could make his debut for the team in this weekend game against Borussia Monchengladbach.


Osimhen was named in the 18 man squad for the game against Frankfurt for the first time since his move to the Bundesliga team became official after his 18th year birthday.


He didn’t get to play in the game but coach Jonker has seen enough in the forward since his return from injury to predict he will have a big future if he maintains his focus.


” He (Osimhen) has made a very good impression, ‎ he can great potential in him. He is ambitious, quick and highly unpredictable, he will be a star in the future if he maintains his focus”, Jonker said in his pre match conference monitored by Owngoalnigeria.com.


While the coach is sure that Osimhen will be in his squad for theb game against Borussia Monchengladbach, he however ruled out ex Real Madrid teen prospect Borja Mayoral from the squad for the game.


” Both are different, Victor is a different type of player, strong, quick and hardworking. He will be in the squad for our next game. His debut is close”.

Osas Mahawi

owngoalnigeria.com/2017/05/11/wolfsburg-coach-osimhen-has-special-qualities-he-has-great-potential-to-be-a-star/

safarigirl:
are we still sticking to this?
I've pegged him at 21 at least

I was quoting his official age

gbam!!!

tbaba1234:


Garba Lawal statement centered around the selection of National team players. That should be totally the decision of the coach. The technical committee provides technical support for the coach, scouting, videos, reports on opposition etc but they do not select his team. Keshi had a running battle with the technical committee trying to tell him what to do. It is only the coach that loses his job when a team fails.

Theoretically, you are spot on but how much of what you listed was actually done by the technical committee?

I have a big feeling that Alhassan Ibrahim will be a hit.

Npfl u15 promise tournament has started yielding results as ABS promotes their u15 captain Olasegun olakunle to the main team


ABS promote NPFL U15 stars, Olakunle, Okoromi to senior team

Published on Friday, 12 May 2017 14:31 Hits: 198

Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC have announced the elevation to the main squad of two players from the youth team that recently won the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Under-15 Promises tournament. One other player from their youth squad and four other new players were also brought in to complete their mid-season transfer window activities.

The club's media disclosed that team's director of football, Alloy Chukwuemeka announced the development in Ilorin where he explained that the players have been signed based on merit to complement the effort of others at the club.

The duo of forward, Okoromi David and midfielder, Olusegun Olakunle were moved to the ABS main squad following their performance at the recently concluded junior league organised by the League Management Company (LMC).The third youth player, Ogbodo Chidi was however not in the squad that participated in the NPFL U-15 tournament.

Olakunle won the Most Valuable Player at the tournament and has been assigned jerseys number 37 while Okoromi will wear jersey number 38. ABS thus become the first club to integrate their youth player into the main squad after the tournament which only held for the first time.

Chukwuemeka said new players brought into the club from other clubs include Deemua Best, a midfielder who joined from Rivers United, Akinbo Oluwasegun from Ikorodu United, Orji Ejike from FC Abuja and Mudasir Nurudeen, a goalkeeper from Kaduna United.

All the players have been assigned jersey numbers with Best assigned number 20; Akinbo will wear number 23; Ejike is to wear 3 while goalkeeper Nurudeen will adorn jersey number 21.

Chukwuemeka explained that Nurudeen, a former Kaduna United goalkeeper was spotted during a Nigeria National League (NNL) match in Ilorin during the mid-season transfer window.

Danycrusoe:
Npfl u15 promise tournament has started yielding results as ABS promotes their u15 captain Olasegun olakunle to the main team

Too young for senior football in my opinion..

tbaba1234:


Too young for senior football in my opinion..

like seriously but do u remember started sterling started as a 16 years old. what about this Norwegian skipper, Martin odergard who became the Norway captain before 18. Cesc fabregas nko who cane into arsenal squad at a young age. baba mio like e oo. let's catch them young na.

BascoVanVeli:
I have a big feeling that Alhassan Ibrahim will be a hit.

if u check Akwa united's twitter account u would see a video of his second goal against 3sc when he scored a hattrick it was like iheanacho goal against Zambia in Ndola

Danycrusoe:
like seriously but do u remember started sterling started as a 16 years old. what about this Norwegian skipper, Martin odergard who became the Norway captain before 18. Cesc fabregas nko who cane into arsenal squad at a young age. baba mio like e oo. let's catch them young na.

He is playing under 15, which means he is 13, 14 or 15 years. Too young for senior football. Give him another 2 years of development.

Awaziem played 90 minutes
Yahaya came in as a late sub played as a left/right winger


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywRLpyd-Y0Y&sns=tw

safarigirl:
are we still sticking to this?

I've pegged him at 21 at least

I am quite shocked that you of all people are doubting his age. Particularly after all the grief you gave me for suggesting that footballers ages in Nigeria can not be substantiated.

Sometimes when I read comment here,I laugh,any player making waves in abroad,we all will b yearning for his call up to d national team.d fact is,D man called Rohr knws what's doing.This is the 1st time I can beat my chest dt we have a first team,we all shld learn frm d past,we av invited so many untested players in d past like Bathlomew ogbeche(famous scissors kick)Ayodele makinwa,Kanu,amuneke,Utaka(brodas),dis gusy mentioned above contributed little or none to d development of d team,
Onyekuru,onauchi and odas,will av d time and proof their worth if need be,we can't just keep inviting evrybody and ulter d chemistry of the team.we need to be patient with Rohr based on his judgement inviting players to d national team,and if we check d trend,we tend to av a more stable under a foreign coach dan our so called local coaches wc really help d foreign coach to succeed dan d later.

Raheem Lawal's goal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlUWwcCfAh4&sns=tw

tbaba1234:


Garba Lawal statement centered around the selection of National team players. That should be totally the decision of the coach. The technical committee provides technical support for the coach, scouting, videos, reports on opposition etc but they do not select his team. Keshi had a running battle with the technical committee trying to tell him what to do. It is only the coach that loses his job when a team fails.

Theoretically, you are spot on but how much of what you listed was actually done by the technical committee?

Mr Lawal said that the technical committee have not sat since June 2016, which should be around the time we were in search of a coach if I am correct.
Lawal's revelation should raise more questions than just player selection.

Danycrusoe:


if u check Akwa united's twitter account u would see a video of his second goal against 3sc when he scored a hattrick it was like iheanacho goal against Zambia in Ndola

I was there live smashing effort. I don't know what 3sc were playing in that first half sef.

so who do we blame? The head of the technical committee or does Pinnick decide when they should sit or not?
Secondly, don't try to fix a problem where there is no problem. There are many issues that need to be fixed in Nigerian football and in other spheres of Nigerian life. But certainly not the department of the SE coach. We are on course to world cup qualification and we will qualify for AFCON finally. People need to stop picking the wrong fight. I'm sure if these men have sat our position right now in qualification will be complicated.

Rohr has proved so far he has a mission and he is serious about it. Let's enjoy the game as long as we are winning.

goldfish80:


Mr Lawal said that the technical committee have not sat since June 2016, which should be around the time we were in search of a coach if I am correct.
Lawal's revelation should raise more questions than just player selection.

3-4-3 is the formation for now and the future. I have been clamoring for SE to adopt it. It's not suppose to be a quick transition. But we must prepare for the future now. The experiment must be done again and again in training. Some say it will not work in Africa. Why not?

As usual. I knew they won't know what to do with that success. #Clueless

tbaba1234:


Too young for senior football in my opinion..

Okay oh. We have midfielders. From your earlier stats, they are not all world class. Which is why we should welcome those making a case for a call. Lawal is one. For now, he should maintain the tempo and I trust Rohr to look his way someday.

tbaba1234:
Raheem Lawal's goal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlUWwcCfAh4&sns=tw

Joebie:
so who do we blame? The head of the technical committee or does Pinnick decide when they should sit or not?
Secondly, don't try to fix a problem where there is no problem. There are many issues that need to be fixed in Nigerian football and in other spheres of Nigerian life. But certainly not the department of the SE coach. We are on course to world cup qualification and we will qualify for AFCON finally. People need to stop picking the wrong fight. I'm sure if these men have sat our position right now in qualification will be complicated.

Rohr has proved so far he has a mission and he is serious about it. Let's enjoy the game as long as we are winning.

In other words, because we are winning Rohr should continue his job without supervision?
Which serious organisation runs their business like that?
I believe in structure.
I hope you know the technical committee interviewed and recommended Rohr to the executive committee of the Nff?

It's not good news if the technical group haven't been functional for a year.

goldfish80:


In other words, because we are winning Rohr should continue his job without supervision?
Which serious organisation runs their business like that?
I believe in structure.
I hope you know the technical committee interviewed and recommended Rohr to the executive committee of the Nff?

It's not good news if the technical group haven't been functional for a year.

Does the Technical Committee have to have regular meetings? Do they not have defined roles/jobs?

The super eagles have not had an official game since last year.. That might inform why they have not met.

The role of the technical committee is support, not to dictate to the coach. We do not want the Keshi era clashes.

What you really want is for Rohr to be micromanaged. Business as usual. Will Nigeria ever learn from history. In actual business, when you appoint a manager and he brings back reports showing huge profits time and time again you have no cause to worry. The man has shown he knows his job pretty well.

Who decides when they should sit? Pinnick?

goldfish80:


In other words, because we are winning Rohr should continue his job without supervision?
Which serious organisation runs their business like that?
I believe in structure.
I hope you know the technical committee interviewed and recommended Rohr to the executive committee of the Nff?

It's not good news if the technical group haven't been functional for a year.

Please someone kindly direct me to a general Tennis thread on Nairaland. Roland Garros '17 is nigh.

safarigirl:
thank you for this.


Like I said, such a topic would require another thread for extensive discussion. Anyone who was on Nairaland between 2007-2012 would have witnessed some deep arguments on this.

Those were the times this site had proper intellectuals from all parts of the world, not these days that there seem to have been an exodus of such people

the curse of free data

Gbolahan Salami assist and goal helps Kups to a 2-1 victory over visiting HIFK in the Finnish top tier.

Azubuike Egwuekwe and Reuben Gabriel were both on parade for Kups for 90 minutes.

Aliyu Abubakar, one of the stand out defenders of Nigeria's world conquering U-17 class of 2013 featured prominently for Kups at Right Back before his free transfer to Georgia. Abubakar now plays for FC Dila.

The Finish league is a good destination for Home based Eagles players.

Joebie:
Gbolahan Salami assist and goal helps Kups to a 2-1 victory over visiting HIFK in the Finnish top tier.

Azubuike Egwuekwe and Reuben Gabriel were both on parade for Kups for 90 minutes.

Aliyu Abubakar, one of the stand out defenders of Nigeria's world conquering U-17 class of 2013 featured prominently for Kups at Right Back before his free transfer to Georgia. Abubakar now plays for FC Dila.

The Finish league is a good destination for Home based Eagles players.

The Finish league is not very good. It is far below the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian leagues.

The best league players should be aiming for better leagues.

I agree. But I'm afraid they will lose relevance in those leagues you mentioned. I'm judging by their quality and past records. At least the Veikkausliiga gives them an avenue to shine, helps them gain some confidence. Those other Scandinavian countries should be a next step.

tbaba1234:


The Finish league is not very good. It is far below the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian leagues.

The best league players should be aiming for better leagues.

I agree with you in some areas. But disagree in other areas. We've had poor foreign coaches in the past. And a few good local coaches.

Secondly pitching Kanu, Amuneke and Utaka among players that have underachieved for SE in the past is a big big sin. Records don't support your assertion.

Calls for inclusion of players will always be a thing any SE coach will have to deal with. It's left for the coach to filter the noise, and invite the right players that fits his playing philosophy.

And yes the chemistry of the team is paramount -- especially a winning team like ours.

elyte89:
Sometimes when I read comment here,I laugh,any player making waves in abroad,we all will b yearning for his call up to d national team.d fact is,D man called Rohr knws what's doing.This is the 1st time I can beat my chest dt we have a first team,we all shld learn frm d past,we av invited so many untested players in d past like Bathlomew ogbeche(famous scissors kick)Ayodele makinwa,Kanu,amuneke,Utaka(brodas),dis gusy mentioned above contributed little or none to d development of d team,
Onyekuru,onauchi and odas,will av d time and proof their worth if need be,we can't just keep inviting evrybody and ulter d chemistry of the team.we need to be patient with Rohr based on his judgement inviting players to d national team,and if we check d trend,we tend to av a more stable under a foreign coach dan our so called local coaches wc really help d foreign coach to succeed dan d later.

Strengths and Weaknesses 3-4-3 Formation
by Stewart Flaherty

The 3-4-3 formation is a very offensive minded formation that many credit the legendary Ajax team of the 1970’s with pioneering. The 3-4-3 has the intention of providing options all over the field and creating a dynamic, attacking style of play.



Defending

The 3-4-3 offers a 3 man backline that is very strong against central attacks but can award space to the opposition down the flanks. It is important that one central midfielder has the ability to cover in the defensive spots if a central defender is sucked out side to pressure the ball. For this reason, some teams who use the 3-4-3 designate a holding midfielder to shield the back line, and cover when necessary. This style allows the other midfielder to join the attacks with less risk of being exposed on the counter attack. Diagram A illustrates the diamond formation some coaches adopt, with X4 being the holding midfield player;

Diagram A

3-4-3 Diamond

The midfielder X8 must contribute to defending but X4 has a head start picking up forward runs in this position. Wide midfield players X6 and X7 will be required to pressure out wide in this formation and X8 will be required to fill in the central midfield area. If X2 or X3 are sucked out wide pressuring the ball in this formation, X4 must drop into a defensive cover position.

The 3-4-3 formation allows a team to place pressure on the ball high up the field. Forward X10 can pressure the 2 central defenders while X11 and X9 sit on their pass to the fullbacks and look to intercept the ball and create dangerous turnovers in the attacking zone.

Attacking in a 3-4-3

The 3-4-3 formation provides a team with 3 forward players and many options to pass the ball forward or play through ball in behind the back line. X9 and X11 should look to get onto through balls in the channels between the centre backs and full backs. X9 and X11 should also look to receive the ball into feet and take the full backs on 1 v 1. If either X9 or X11 manage to beat a fullback off the dribble then the defense will be penetrated, or a central defender will be dragged out to cover freeing up space for X10.

When the ball is out wide the opposite wide forward should attack the back post. For example, in diagram A if X9 crosses the ball X10 will be in front of the goal and X11 should run in aggressively to gain goal scoring opportunities from over hit crosses. X8 should also run forward to provide enough target bodies in the penalty area.

From a deep midfield position, X4 should support all attacks by offering an easy get out pass to keep possession. X4 should then switch play if defense is concentrated to one side, or pick put the best pass in front of him.

Strengths

Forwards always high and wide to challenge full backs.
Four midfielders can provide width.
Forwards and midfielders have the ability to freely switch positions, particularly in the wide areas. This can make it very difficult for defenders to know who to pick up.
Defense very strong against central attacks.

Weaknesses

The diamond midfield formation can lead to either a lack of width, or large gaps to exploit for opposition runners. For example in diagram A if X7 and X6 play out wide on the sidelines, large spaces are there between them and the central players.
If a flat midfield 4 is used, midfielders must have the discipline to join the attack one at a time, or ability to recover quickly. Two high midfielders would leave the team very vulnerable to counter attacks.
Narrow back 3 can be vulnerable to wide attacks or quick switch of play.

Requirements

Fast and athletic defenders to cover length and width of field.
Disciplined midfielder to shield against counter attacks and drop into defensive cover spots.
High and wide forwards with ability to beat defenders off the dribble and provide crosses.
Good communication between defense and midfield units to defend well.