BascoVanVeli:


That one na lie. Nacho is good in the air. All this una talk will be put on mute when the season starts. Only in Nigeria that a poor run of games or even one bad game means your life is over.

Seriously, you have seen Kelechi out jump defenders and win headers?
Can you backup your opinion with stats and data?

Yes he was on fire towards the end of last season. It’s more reasonable to think he will continue from where he stopped. Put the WC disappointment behind you.

semid4lyfe:


Quoted for posterity

TheGoodJoe:


I wonder where I wrote FREE.

He has to earn that run in an offensive set up.

Fadiga24:


French league would have better suited Balogun because it is slower and more technical

English league is for strong and fast players (and Balogun is lacking in these two aspects)

You saw how he struggled for pace against Di Maria and in the Iceland game?
In the Epl he is going to meet Aubameyang, Sterling, Vardy, Sane and the likes

So Balogun to move to a slow French league to be more slower right?

edi287:
Please let no one ever compare Iheanacho to Mbappe again. Let it end today.

of all arguments on this thread that's the most ridiculous

MetalJigsaw:
would rather be the worst winner than the best loser”

A Loser is an ugly orphan, there is nothing good about losing let alone “best”
Don’t be fooled.

I have not come to terms that coach Rohr reduced himself to a bagger. That admission, for all intents and purposes, will earn you an automatic sack, in any western world.

Again did you guys notice that, some of the old players are using Rohr’s exact phrase, this our “young team” will improve.

The real young ones like Ebuehi and Iwobi are mad and angry about their exit.

I will rather fight in an army of sheep commanded by a lion, than in an army of lions commanded by a sheep.

Courage, self belief and ambition is as contagious as infriority complex,low self estim and lack of ambition.

ROHR simply poured cold water on the ambition and self confidence if this team.

And the crap about team unity is absolute nonsense. The unity that sacrifices self expression? The unity that allows Moses waste our set pieces, choose the position to play without anybody objecting?

The unity that allows IGHALO play all games at the expense of better players?

The unity that allows Mikel dictate where and how long he plays?

That was actually MAFIASO, a Mafia and not unity.

-Complete sports fan

I don't agree with your post - mortem and scathing attack on certain players.

Firstly, who is better than Ighalo Please tell us and why He is in my opinion for what he brings the best striker we have amongst those selected into to the SE.

Mikel Obi has no competitor in his position, Iwobi has shown promise but is far off the mark.

The SE was and is a collection of mostly below average players hyped by ourselves to be world or top class players.


Objectively speaking we had the least rating in our group. But we dreamed big. All our friendlies were indicative of our lack of quality.

In my opinion the SE did very well considering the players selected. What is worrying is that a country with 180 million people is struggling to create a quality football team.

That's failure, what's the population of Uruguay.

Did he perform well towards the end of last season? Yes or no? Look at the bright side and wish the player well.

goldfish80:

From what you have seen from him over the past 2years, can you honestly tell me you can see an upside to his game? The guy has no clear defined role at his age.
I mean, he's neither a striker, not a midfielder nor winger. I wish I can sound more positive but I honestly cannot find anything to hold on to.

Oasis007:




Bro.... can you do me a Favor, bring out the last Season Stats of the Trio!

Also don't forget Januzaj is a Winger, while Iheanacho and Rashford are Strikers.

Sorry bro I aint cut out for this.

Just told u my perceptions, I'm not in for lengthy arguments and comparisons. I have seen Januzaj enough since he broke out at ManU to make my assessment.

Joebie:
Did he perform well towards the end of last season? Yes or no? Look at the bright side and wish the player well.

Even at Man city when he was tapping in the goals, I wasn't convinced. Something about his game just doesn't feel right. I've said it before, I think Pelegrini killed that boy's game by converting him to a standing striker.

BascoVanVeli:


If Etebo had been where he was supposed to be we would have been talking about Idowu having a monster game. Lets be honest Messi ran away from that wing. Idowu proved alot that day.

You sabi something.

Oasis007:




Bro.... can you do me a Favor, bring out the last Season Stats of the Trio!

Also don't forget Januzaj is a Winger, while Iheanacho and Rashford are Strikers.

If we ate too look at things without feat or favour and in the cold light of day.

KC has failed he has had such an abysmal season that he no longer has a defined role. He no longer talked about as a striker but diplomatically as a supporting striker and or AM.

He is 21 and has no clear cut defined unique selling point. That's not good.

Joebie:
You guys need to wake up from the WC disappointment. These players we are castigating will return to their clubs, perform, and be invited again to SE.

U dey mind dem?

Sir its not about population. But one would expect that Nigeria as a football nation should offer more.
Our problem is not about quality but utilizing what we have the best possible way. There are small teams shocking big teams in this WC, do they have the players playing in the best leagues?

.

komekn:


I don't agree with your post - mortem and scathing attack on certain players.

Firstly, who is better than Ighalo Please tell us and why He is in my opinion for what he brings the best striker we have amongst those selected into to the SE.

Mikel Obi has no competitor in his position, Iwobi has shown promise but is far off the mark.

The SE was and is a collection of mostly below average players hyped by ourselves to be world or top class players.


Objectively speaking we had the least rating in our group. But we dreamed big. All our friendlies were indicative of our lack of quality.

In my opinion the SE did very well considering the players selected. What is worrying is that a country with 180 million people is struggling to create a quality football team.

That's failure, what's the population of Uruguay.

ChrisKels:


Sorry bro I aint cut out for this.

Just told u my perceptions, I'm not in for lengthy arguments and comparisons. I have seen Januzaj enough since he broke out at ManU to make my assessment.

Januzaj was voted Man of the Match 4 Times last Season in the League, and once in the Europa League..... mind reminding me how many times Iheanacho was voted MoTM last Season, even in the Carabao Cup?!

TheGoodJoe:


What are you talking earn in an offensive set-up. It takes joining a club with an offensive manager/history or an offensive manager joining the team. The manager during his screening process or his squad looking for players to suit his system Picks players who fit in.

When they try the players and give them a run, if they fit in, they excel.

Nothing like earn a run. Ke.

A player must be doing something to convince a club that he is better than what they have and deserves to start.

That’s how many people still believed Mou killed Mikel’s game. Today Mikel is arguably a legend. Time will tell.

goldfish80:

Even at Man city when he was tapping in the goals, I wasn't convinced. Something about his game just doesn't feel right. I've said it before, I think Pelegrini killed that boy's game by converting him to a standing striker.

goldfish80:


You're throwing your toys out of the pram by making these baseless allegations. If I challenge you to show me where I said that Iceland will beat Nigeria you will start dilly dalying.
The fact of the matter is that you trying to pass Nigeria as the second best African side based on the evidence that they defeated Island is a bad sales pitch man. When they played real footballers, they were pants.
My apologies for not mincing words.

The fact is that you are trying to say that Morocco was better than Nigeria without any tangible evidence, according to you 1 pt is greater than 3pts.

TheGoodJoe:


If you have not seen, I will easily tell you. Manchester City vs Manchester United derby under Guardiola that Iheanacho started. Kevin De Bruyne's goal came after Nacho made a good leap, nodding the ball towards the opposition goal, then de Bruyne stole the ball and buried it.

In the entire season his average aerial battles won stands at 0.3....
If 0.3 to you means good in aerials, then we give it a rest.

And the beat goes on

Posted By: Ade Ojeikere On: June 30, 2018

Serious football countries know that the biggest soccer festival holds after every four years. This is enough time to plot the graph of success with minimal errors. Such countries learn to build on the lessons of previous campaigns to improve on their achievement.

Their programmes are anchored on the grassroots initiatives designed by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) for all its over 2010 member- countries. It is from these FIFA programmes that the game thrives in such countries without recourse to government funding since their operations do not allow government interference.

In such climes, football administrators think through the business prism by capitalising on the mammoth followership which the game attracts to woo the business community to identify their goods and services with the beautiful game. It is easy for the business world to key into football operations in countries, such as Germany, Brazil, Spain, England, Italy, Belgium and France, for instance, because their administrators don’t run to the government for funding.

These big six countries run independent federations which respect their countries’ extant laws but draws a line where government interference is almost forbidden. Where there are breaches, the laws of the land are applied, no matter whose ox is gored. This is the beauty of such countries’ administration which attracts business-minded people to run for their soccer federations’ elections, held usually after the Mundial.

This business outlay rubs off on their domestic leagues, where they discover, nurture and expose budding players to international competitions. These leagues have youth developmental schemes which ensure that talents are taught the rudiments of the game early through competitions, workshops, cadet or holiday camps etc to further encourage the youth to shun vices and embrace sports, not just football.

Aside, providing the enabling environment to develop the game, these football countries groom coaches, retrain them and assign them to catchment areas where kids are taught the right way to play. With such a foundation, the kids are prepared mentally and physically for the game, particularly those who would want to earn a living from it.

These catchment areas and academies afford these nations the best platform to collate the kids’ data and monitor their progress through the ranks till stardom. This system eliminates all forms of fraud arising from age cheats. In fact, pundits are able to measure the growth of their domestic game by the number of homegrown players who make the national team to big competitions, such as the World Cup.

Only eight countries have won the World Cup in 20 tournaments with the prize going to two continents. Europe has won it five times. Three South American countries have lifted the diadem thrice. The winners are Brazil, England, Germany, Spain, France, Argentina, Italy and Uruguay. And they did so with their nationals as managers, largely because they developed the template that fills the mill which produces players, coaches, officials and administrators. But the Mundial is a leveler, with fairytale countries pulling the rug from under the feet of established nations.

Mexico isn’t a soccer minnow, but could be termed a perennial also-ran in the Mundial. It brought the defending champions down to earth with a lone goal victory that set the pace of surprising results at the ongoing Russia 2018 World Cup. If Germany’s World Cup winning coach in Brazil 2014, Joachim Loew, thought the defeat to Mexico was a blip, his face on the sidelines when Sweden led the Germans in the second game of the group told the story of a man on the verge of falling from grace to grass, especially after ignoring pleas from people to include Manchester City’s gem Sane in his 23-man squad. It took a free-kick in the 96th minute for Germany to beat the Swedish, courtesy of Kroos’ thunderous shot from a side kick from a dead ball.

The World Cup in Russia will surely produce a new winner with the ouster of the defending champions Germany, who were beaten 2-0 by Korea Republic, in the last group game. The Germans lost their opening game to Mexico, beat Sweden with almost the last kick but kissed the trophy goodbye with the loss to Korea Republic.

It is important to state that the Germans have won the trophy four times (in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014). Only the Brazilians have surpassed this feat with five winning efforts in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 in South Africa, the first time an African nation will host the Mundial.

Incidentally, last year’s runners-up Argentina had a nightmarish outing against Iceland, drawing 1-1 in the opening game in Russia, with Lionel Messi’s penalty kick highlighting the bizarre display by the Argentines. The football world stood in awe as Croatia ran a ring round the Argentines in the second game, winning by 3-0 to set the stage for a battle of sur vival inside the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Argentina’s qualification for the group stage was filled with plenty of drama. Messi scored with his left foot after outrunning Kenneth Omeruo late in the first half. Until Messi’s goal, the game was a ding dong, although the Argentines had more of the ball possession than the Nigerians.

The second half expectedly was a reflection of the first, except that the Nigerians realised that they had to chase the game, if they stood any chance of qualifying. First, Rohr substituted Kelechi Iheanacho, who had been struck in the face by an Argentine inside the penalty box in the first half, but the referee Cuneyt Cakir from Turkey looked the other way to the consternation of the spectators. And so when Victor Moses stepped forward to take the penalty kick, not many lovers of the Eagles sat to witness the goal. Many didn’t think Moses will score. But when he did, the stakes rose. The thought of an early exit for the Argentines filled the stands.

However, referee Cakir spoilt the game when he ruled off a glaring hand ball offence committed by Rojo, who eventually scored the winner for the Argentines. Had Cakir given the penalty to Nigeria, two scenarios would have emerged – the shocking exit of a football world power and the likely fairytale story of the Eagles. Indeed, Eagles were gallant in the way they handled the star-studded Argentines so much so that Messi said in the post match interview: ‘‘The Nigerians suffered us before we got this victory.’’

‘‘A huge relief for us. We knew it was going to be a difficult afternoon. We didn’t think we were going to suffer as much as we did.’’

Nigeria should sustain what we have now that it appears we have a template for the Eagles. I had goose pimples listening to Mikel struggle not to say that he was finished with international matches for Nigeria. Mikel literarily held back tears when he was asked to say if Russia 2018 World Cup would be his last for Nigeria.

Mikel bit his lip; his voice was heavy. Slowly, he muttered out the question he was asked without saying categorically if he would quit. The pain in Mikel’s heart was palpable. You could touch it from a distance. He will definitely quit the game. The time is nigh. And he knows so.

A few people have blamed Rohr for not having the strategy to defend the 1-1 result, with five minutes to go. The question is, is attacking not the best way to defend? Had Cakir awarded the penalty, would we be talking about Rohr, since he would have been sent off for the penalty kick offence?

Besides, the argument in some quarters that Rojo headed the ball before it touched his hand, hence the penalty kick wasn’t given is laughable. Since when did it become a norm to head the ball with widespread hands? Was the ball not headed onto the defender’s hand in the game between Portugal and Iran? A penalty kick was awarded.

So much has been said about retaining the services of Gernot Rohr. I want to stay out of this debate. I intend watching from the sidelines, not losing sight of all that has been said, especially from soccer greats, on the manager and how the Eagles have fared since he was recruited. If Odion Ighalo could accept that his slips were responsible for our ouster, what else is there to be said?

Rohr has given us Francis Uzoho, the goalkeeper. He has assembled a formidable central defence network of Leon Balogun and Troost Ekong. We have young players, such as Tyroone Ebuehi and Ola Aina, among other Nigeria-born kids willing to play for their fatherland. We have seen that with a good manager, Mikel and Moses could play in the central defensive midfield and right wing back positions like they do for their clubs.

Lastly, our players’ comments about Rohr should serve as the basis for retaining him unlike in the past when they openly rooted for the ouster of their manager. Up Nigeria!

http://thenationonlineng.net/and-the-beat-goes-on-3/

Icon4s:


Yes, he has become a part time professional because he lost to Nigeria.

according to him Iran is a top team. orisirisi

Well said. And that’s always true. But Don’t forget Musa did not stand a chance in Leicester, but Kelechi did. Today they are refusing to sell Musa on the back of his WC star performance.

Modified
And by chance I meant he did not impress.

goldfish80:

A player must be doing something to convince a club that he is better than what they have and deserves to start.

mumemma:

This cracked me

just imagine

goldfish80:

I could have saved that shot bro.

bros this is the height you are no more a critic but a hater. like icon4s said, if they had won Argentina and even France you go talk say those ones no good

jihday:
The fact is that you are trying to say that Morocco was better than Nigeria without any tangible evidence, according to you 1 pt is greater than 3pts.

We have 3 points but they played the better football against top oppositions.
Playing a decent 45mins against the Icelands of this world doesn't represent progress in my candid opinion.

semid4lyfe:

Nacho has got none of these attributes.
Mark my words, he'll soon go into football doldrums

I can bet it.