BascoVanVeli:
Arsene Wenger hails Arsenal star Alex Iwobi for demonstrating ‘unbelievable improvement’

17 Nov 2017 3:41 pm

Arsene Wenger believes Alex Iwobi has demonstrated ‘unbelievable improvement’ in the one aspect of his game he has been critical of in the past. Iwobi delivered a coming of age performance for Nigeria in midweek, scoring twice in a 4-2 win including a stunning solo effort which saw him nutmeg Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano in the process. Wenger has been hoping to see Iwobi improve his efficiency in front of goal and believes he is ready to take a great leap forward in that department ahead of Saturday’s north London derby.

He said: Before he used to rush his finishing. But his finishing against Argentina showed the composure of a guy who knows what he is doing and with his left foot as well. ‘He’s worked on his finishing and he’s improved a lot. Compared to one year ago the difference is unbelievable.’

He added: ‘We now want him to make a better quality of receptions in the final third. But it will all come because he is a boy who loves to play football who is passionate about the game and has a very good attitude. ‘He also analyses his game very well. He is enthusiastic to play and to be involved. Overall I believe it’s fantastic for Nigeria to have a player like that and I am sure they will never be disappointed by his commitment because he has a fantastic attitude, he is a pleasure to work with.’


http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/17/arsene-wenger-hails-arsenal-star-alex-iwobi-for-demonstrating-unbelievable-improvement-7087926/

Iwobi might yet do wonders in the Gwg.

But we have seen nwakame in less than 45 mins na and on a bad pitch, not a fair yardstick for judgement.

Yes iheanacho and Ighalo sure bet.

Kog45:
Pls remove Musa cos is already part of the team,we have seen Nwakaeme,not convincing.

Let see more of Kayode,Oyekwuru and Onuachi Paul may be they w add something to the team.

But for now Iheanacho and Ighalo are sure bet.

Joebie:
Yes I noticed when he got his first Liga NOS cap.
Is he still getting game time?
Let me check

Modified
Currently out. He just had a knee operation.
Height: 1.93m

He had a couple of games before the injury. He's pretty solid.

his height is another great asset too.

Let him continue progressing he'd be noticed.

Chrismario:


Moving from fryingpan to fryingpan
That's not progress.

Please explain more.

But let me say that if he really wanted the EPL he would be in Brighton or Newcastle.

He chose to play in a upward team in the Championship chasing promotion for good money and play good technical football on the deck and be a main player in the team.

Kog45:
Definitely he w get his chance but any below performance he is out,guys are waiting for the opportunity to impress.I want to see more of him and Oyekwuru.

Nwakaeme would be cursing his luck now. Everything in this life ehn. We were shouting 'Rohr, Rohr, play Ebuehi, play Ebuehi'. Who knows if he had played the young man in that bad pitch in Constantine the guy would have fumbled. Many people would have said 'abajo no wonder Rohr has been keeping him on the bench. The guy na Otu'. The excellent pitch in Krasnodar made him ball.

This is why I feel Nwakaeme should be given another chance. So that it would not be that we gon miss a gem because of bad playing surface.

Joebie:
Imoh Ezekiel was so good that Belgium wanted him at a point in time. I think his move to Qatar slowed down his development.

Yeah, I remember, they were about getting him a Belgian passport.


He went for the oil money. Wrong decision at that point of his career.


he's about 24, let's hope for his sake that his career starts looking up again.

Joebie:
I want Oliseh to do well, but not extremely well. An arrogant man should see failure, that's the only way they get to learn, and grow.

This is the funniest thing I've read today.
But then you are right. He needs a good dose of failure to whip some humility into him if not his arrogance will be unbearable.

Joebie:
yes, first things first. they agree, then they play, then we'll see.

Rorh is working under the radar to get one of them. He's discrete about it and i'm sure he'll come good just like Bazee

Mujtahida:

Nwakaeme would be cursing his luck now. Everything in this life ehn. We were shouting 'Rohr, Rohr, play Ebuehi, play Ebuehi'. Who knows if he had played the young man in that bad pitch in Constantine the guy would have fumbled. Many people would have said 'abajo no wonder Rohr has been keeping him on the bench. The guy na Otu'. The excellent pitch in Krasnodar made him ball.

This is why I feel Nwakaeme should be given another chance. So that it would not be that we gon miss a gem because of bad playing surface.

Nwakaeme is a good player, he was just unlucky and dt could bolt his chances representing eagles at d mundial,I prefer him to kayode

Joebie:
Kenneth Omeruo, after his Argentina performance, has made a strong case.

Omeruo might just yet make it to Russia. He's still very much in the frame of things.

junnyjake:


Balogun has been brilliant with his ball playing except for recently. We've seen him a couple of times drive forward to join the attack, I'm sure he'd overcome this his present situation and come out tops.


For Ekong, he's not been as great as his counterpart, he's misplaced a couple of passes that as a result put the defence in trouble.

Yes Balogun likes to drive upfield sometimes. I believe he will get his groove back. He cannot afford to slip up.

Kog45:
Balogun lack pace we comot him Ekong lack ball playing we comot him wetin one remain for the team.

Definitely Rohr cannot do without the pairing unless we are deceiving ourselves.I just hope they work on their shortcomings before WC.

I watched Felix Uduokhai and Kelvin Akpoguma with interest, though they are very good players but not better than Balogun, Ekong, Awaziem and with Omeruo in good form they can't pushed him aside.

That's our best defensive pairing for now, their partnership is great. No replacements!


However it's good that we highlight their weaknesses so they try as much as they can smother things, making sure their weaknesses are not exploited by wicked oppositions who are watching.

And also play to their strengths.

But Bazee is still yet to play. If he performs well for us then he most likely will make the train.

junnyjake:



Rorh is working under the radar to get one of them. He's discrete about it and i'm sure he'll come good just like Bazee

somehow:
But we have seen nwakame in less than 45 mins na and on a bad pitch, not a fair yardstick for judgement.

Yes iheanacho and Ighalo sure bet.

No am not ruling Nwakaeme out,he can still get another chance but he had more than 45 mins against Algeria, almost clocking 70 mins if am right.

Iwobi not in the starting lineup today.
I noticed Wenger loves play him against top oppositions, but not today.

Kog45:
No am not ruling Nwakaeme out,he can still get another chance but he had more than 45 mins against Algeria, almost clocking 70 mins if am right.

I've personally ruled out Nwakeme, no need to sound nice about that.


Maybe Rorh hasn't. He's the boss BTW.

komekn:


In football OPPORTUNITY is key.

Omeruo has made a strong case in comparison to whom there is almost zero competition so he just walks in.

We need a lot more players to be tested at CB because the comparison pool is simply non - existent.

Is he better than Obaboana, they play in the same Turkish league, I do not know. Is he better than Iorfa When Iorfa was a teenager at Wolves he was winning MOTM awards and best young player in the same season Omeruo was playing at Middlesbrough. Omeruo did not win anything.

In all honesty if you are doing well in the championship other clubs both EPL and Championship willl come for you. Efe Ambrose was courted by Brighton and Hove but work permit issues stopped the move. Is Omeruo better than Efe I simply do not know there is no competition for him as well as the other defenders.

A Nigerian input international left the EPL to go to Turkey obviously he considered the €€££$$$.

He came back to the EPL and he told me simply that the pace and intensity is so much different. That it will take him time to adjust if ever at all

So because we want to know who is better than who we should just now start testing players who are springing up everywhere. So when will the testing end?

Thank God some of us here are not the Coach. Have you heard about the paradox of choice? You want this player, that player, this player, that player to be tested. Habaaa. This is like opening the flood gates na. A good coach knows when and where to refresh his team.

Leow of Germany was spoilt for choice both in terms of personnel and tactical formations. He went changing anyhow and suffered defeat against Italy at Euro 2012 semi finals.

We cannot test every player even if some of them are Ronaldo

Mujtahida:

Nwakaeme would be cursing his luck now. Everything in this life ehn. We were shouting 'Rohr, Rohr, play Ebuehi, play Ebuehi'. Who knows if he had played the young man in that bad pitch in Constantine the guy would have fumbled. Many people would have said 'abajo no wonder Rohr has been keeping him on the bench. The guy na Otu'. The excellent pitch in Krasnodar made him ball.

This is why I feel Nwakaeme should be given another chance. So that it would not be that we gon miss a gem because of bad playing surface.

OK bad pitch. It's left to Rohr to give him another chance.

Joebie:
But Bazee is still yet to play. If he performs well for us then he most likely will make the train.

Of course, no shortcuts to the team. I'm saying Rorh played the game under the table and we ended up with Bazee.


If not for injuries, we'd have seen him play, and measure him up.

ChrisKels:


Done. Thanks for d advice

Juicy info. You welcome.

Mujtahida:

Nwakaeme would be cursing his luck now. Everything in this life ehn. We were shouting 'Rohr, Rohr, play Ebuehi, play Ebuehi'. Who knows if he had played the young man in that bad pitch in Constantine the guy would have fumbled. Many people would have said 'abajo no wonder Rohr has been keeping him on the bench. The guy na Otu'. The excellent pitch in Krasnodar made him ball.

This is why I feel Nwakaeme should be given another chance. So that it would not be that we gon miss a gem because of bad playing surface.

Thank you very much for this, l wonder why people are sentimental when it comes to Nwakweme, we all know the pitch was a problem, so why write him off completely based on only the Algerian game.

Daejoyoung:

Thank you very much for this, l wonder why people are sentimental when it comes to Nwakweme, we all know the pitch was a problem, so why write him off completely based on only the Algerian game.

Personally I prefer Kayode but then it's not my preference that would make us perform well. Let the man who performs better carry the day.

komekn:


With regards to Ugbade how was that possible I mean no disrespect Emenalo was a carpenter playing at Northampton Town.

Oruma was in direct contention with JJay and the politics of Nigerian football took over.

The disgraceful removal of Finidi and Oliseh for exposing blatant corruption. Shows we still have some issues to deal with even now.

To deviate corruption is alive and kicking despite all the exposes of sharp practices. I don't recall one person ever being indicted in the last 10 years. Or do you

Oh Mike Emenalo carpenter,hope you remember Emeka Ezeugu a player based in India

With our performance in Russia, we can tell how realistic our chances of adding another Afcon trophy to our cabinet will be.

I'm amazed at the fitness level of Ekong and Ndidi.

Ekong played every second in the qualifying campaign, without showing signs of fatigue even though he has to play full games for his club.

Ndidi has Been ever present for Leicester City in the premier league since his move there last January. Only Ekong played more mins in the qualifying campaign.

Even Musa is ahead of Kayode in Rohr's SE. Experienced for his age. And has played at the highest level and showed, in the Argentina friendly, why Rohr keeps inviting him. Musa is also versatile. In fact can also play as a CF. Kayode will need a full half (45 mins), to have a chance of making a case. He will need to show (in the Eagles shirt) that he has a lot to offer as a CF and a false 9.

Mujtahida:

Personally I prefer Kayode but then it's not my preference that would make us perform well. Let the man who performs better carry the day.

When opportunity comes, take it whatever the circumstance. John Ogu did just that.

Daejoyoung:

Thank you very much for this, l wonder why people are sentimental when it comes to Nwakweme, we all know the pitch was a problem, so why write him off completely based on only the Algerian game.

.

Joebie:
Even Musa is ahead of Kayode in Rohr's SE. Experienced for his age. And has played at the highest level and showed, in the Argentina friendly, why Rohr keeps inviting him. Musa is also versatile. In fact can also play as a CF. Kayode will need a full half (45 mins), to have a chance of making a case. He will need to show (in the Eagles shirt) that he has a lot to offer as a CF and a false 9.

That Musa's pass ehn. Precision pass to the nth degree. I wish all of them the best. It's obvious even now that we would have a solid bench at the WC.

Argentina 2-4 Nigeria: Mikel’s Killer Form, Akpeyi’s Howler and 8 Other Things We learnt From Super Eagles Victory
3 November 15, 2017 6:59 pm
By Kayode Ogundare:
Not many people, pundits included, gave the Super Eagles a fighting chance in this game against the almighty ‘Argentina’ even without their talismanic captain Lionel Messi.
It was supposed to be a fight between the biblical David and Goliath, with the star-studded South Americans cast in the mould of the giant.
However, after 90 minutes, the boys from Nigeria won emphatically to announce that the trip to Russia 2018 World Cup will not be for sight-seeing.
Here are 10 takeaways from a reporter’s viewpoint….
1. Gernot Rohr’s 3-5-2 system is a radical departure from our 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations of the past. It will take a while to get the hang of it. Probably explains why the team struggled early on, especially at the back. Even Mikel admitted they found the system strange .
2. Daniel Akpeyi conceded two goals. I don’t have a problem with that. Even the best goalkeepers do. But his performance generally, composure and elementary errors are unforgivable at this level. Will take a miracle to see him on that flight to the World Cup.
3. Kelechi Iheanacho’s free-kick goal, almost at the end of the first half, was the catalyst that drew the Super Eagles back from the brink. Apart from the beauty of the goal, it brought hope and confidence that another goal was possible. It was sublime. Also the first time in a long while that the Super Eagles would be scoring directly from a set-piece. Very vital.
4. Mikel Obi has shown, once again, why we are blessed to have him playing in this form for Nigeria at this moment. He has learnt, with age, to conserve his energy and gets better at game management with each match. Nigerians can only pray he takes this form back to Russia for the World Cup. My MVP on the night.
5. The strength of this Super Eagles team is in the quality of players on the bench. We saw that again yesterday when Gernot Rohr’s six changes came on and showed that they were as good as the starting 11. Gernot Rohr will have selection headaches naming his final 23 for the World Cup due to competition but that’s a headache any coach would want to have.
6. I’ve always maintained that the current Super Eagles team is Africa’s most attack-minded side. You can only outscore them, you cannot stop them from scoring. Under Rohr, they have failed to score only once in 11 games so the best way to beat the Eagles is to make sure that if they score 8, you score 9. Simple.
7. We should give credit to the NFF for the success of the team now. If we held them responsible for the team’s failure in the past, it stands to reason that we should also compliment them. I’m aware of the arrangements they make for each game and preparations for the World Cup. They have also reportedly sorted
World Cup bonus issues with the team in order to forestall the embarrasing incidents of the past. Kudos.
8. Iheanacho scored one and assisted two goals but I’m still not convinced he’s a number 9. I know the team is still evolving and Rohr is frantically working to find the best position for everybody but it is crystal clear that Iheanacho will thrive in a supporting role. Regardless of the formation, I think playing him in the hole behind the main striker will bring out the best in him. My opinion.
9. Two goals and a very energetic performance from Alexander Iwobi confirmed my belief, which I’ve stated openly, that this boy is the future of Nigerian football. A year ago, I said he will be Nigeria’s best player in the next three years but he’s already approaching that threshold now. Javier Mascherano will have nightmares thinking about that sumptous nutmeg through his legs for the fourth goal. Pure class.
10. Finally, we should not get carried away in the euphoria of that result. The Eagles are a team in transition and would get better with each passing game but we are NOT the finished article yet. We need to do this on a much more consistent bases in other to truly count as a credible threat in world football. Fortunately, Rorh and the players all know this and they are keeping their feet on the ground and not getting carried away by the result.

All these boys that are fighting hard to make the train, may they continue to fight hard at the world cup proper.

Daejoyoung:

Thank you very much for this, l wonder why people are sentimental when it comes to Nwakweme, we all know the pitch was a problem, so why write him off completely based on only the Algerian game.

My man we have seen players that got one cap and they are forgotten despite their performance.

Richard Owubokiri got a cap with a goal but no call again,Aluko scored a brace that saved us from South Africa at home,no call again.

If Nwakaeme don't get call again no big deal and if he get another one he should thank his star and utilize it.

We are all shouting Idowu and Ebuhei cos of 45 mins performance meaning any player must grabbed the little time available for him to showcase.

I can tell you if Alhassan Muzzam get a call and perform meaning Etebo is out,the same thing Agu if Nwakili perform beyond reasonable doubt.