darkelf:
Predicting a Croatia and Belgium final.

However, kudos to England. It's been a long, long time. Now, let the English Media hyping begin

soetanoreoluwa:


Me too... I want France but England is looking real after winning under 17 and under 20...

Croatia should work very hard cos Russia might shock them...

See Croatia wining though...

daveP:



We have the players, but the passion and zest is still unknown. I wonder if these guys use the clips of the 94set to finger themselves.


Last WC, Onazi and Odemwingie were our zest players. We saw it all.


This year Musa and Etebo.


Waiting for when it will be 11 all zealed up.


Based on laws of stats/probability, the numbers can still work. cps it's Africa!!!

asha80:
not entirely true as korea in 2002 showed

daveP:



It's cos of that I don't want England to win it. For the next 40yrs we no go hear word again.

Icon4s:


We still nova hear word finish for the one they won in 1966, (52 years ago).

Oasis007:


The Thread would never stop being amazing. How is England a Cheat for God's sake?! They won U17 World Cup, won U20 World Cup, and in the Semi-Final of the senior World Cup now......... are they Coincidence?!

England is building a Project to Perfection. They did their Home-work before every Competition, and the Preparation is panning out positively for them.

Both Belgium and England have one thing in Common..... 3 - 5 - 2 Formation and pure attacking Football with Pace. They are tactically setup and disciplined. Each Player knows his Role on the Pitch and doing it closer to perfection.

Let's take England as an Instance; Kyle Walker is playing in a 3-Man Defence and he's excelling there. Who saw it coming?! Whoever imagine Young would be a starter for England at the Mundial?! Raheem partnering Kane in a two-Man Attack?! These are pre-planned Tactics, and are absolutely working for the Team at the Mundial.

Belgium on the other also plan well for the World Cup. Has Chadli ever played as a Wing-back?! So far he's being fantastic in the Role. Until the Quarter Final Game, KDB was playing as a deep-lying Playmaker cum B2B Midfielder, and he was doing fine in the Role.

Mertens was a Starter ahead of Fellaini but the Lineup was tweaked against Brazil and it worked absolutely fine for the Team. Guess we realized KDB played as a false 9 while both Lukaku and Hazard play as inverted Wingers in their last Match.

These are real modern Coaches that know their Onions, unlike Rohr who had to be pressured by the Media, Pundits and Fans that 3 - 5 - 2 Formation is the Deal, and best suited Players at his Disposal.

There is something very apparent in this World Cup and peculiar to the Teams in the Semi-Final, tactical superiority wins the Games. We are in 21st Century, hence football has changed to Science completely.

In fairness, Gernot Rohr is very Dumb. He's not better in any way than the Local Coaches especially Siasia and perhaps Amuneke. He's simply a German-Franco version of Salisu Yusuf.

NFF did everything to prepare the Team for the Mundial. Arranged series of Friendly Matches, even with top Teams - England, Serbia, Chile and Co.

Lobbied with CAF Board to cancel the AFCON Qualifiers slated for March to ensure no Injury is recorded amongst the Teams representing the Continent, so what was the Result? Failure!

Even a Twerp could figure out during the Friendlies that 3 - 5 - 2 Formation would have taken us far in the Competition. Also playing Moses as a Wing-back instead of Playmaker and Mikel as a DM would have been the right Calls.

Was the Muppet really in control of the Team at the Mundial? I doubt it! Coz to me he's more a Puppet to the big Guns in the Squad.

If wanna eat a Frog, we should it a Kind with Eggs. If we wanna hire a foreign Coach, I advise we go for the best, not just a white Man born in Europe with no tangible Record of Success in the Game of Round Leather.

TheGoodJoe:


Just to point out that Kyle Walker played in a 3-Man defence for Manchester City.

If we are to pick a coach, Mine will be to lure Louis Van Gaal out of retirement. A true tactical master and also innovative. Van Gaal has a history of helping in the development of genuine young stars as he did with Xavi, Iniesta who just spend six months with Van Gaal but believe the manager was the most important in his development. Other young stars including Quaresma, Sambrosa, Alaba, Muller, Kroos, Martial, Depay, Rashford, Lingaard, Seedorf, Kluivert, Edgar Davids and a host of others.

Van Gaal played a big part in the return of the 3-5-2 formation and will have a map for the development of our team. However, we would need patience for him to groom the team to play his brand of passing football. I would also like to see Finidi and Amunike working with him.

Well. This is just a wish and bringing Van Gaal will cost a fortune. If two multinationals come together, we can achieve it.

Finito.

Oasis007:


But Kyle Walker played more as a RB almost through last Season coz Pep rarely played 3 CBs.

I wouldn't mind LVG too. He's definitely a Force to reckon with in the Game, far better than the myopic Tool working as a Coach of the Super Eagles.

AIG07:
World Cup is not meant for a team full of professional bench warmers.

Our players lack of playing time at their various clubs affected them at the World Cup. We are not known for ball possession. A team that doesn't play possessive style must be agile. Cos they will expend more energy chasing every ball. Cover more distance and have the ball less which can be frustrating at the same time.

The bitter truth is this-we wouldn't have stand any chance of progressing beyond the round of 16 even if we had qualified ahead of Argentina.

Our players struggled to play 90Mins football. 90% of them gases out at the 70th minute. They become so tired that they Struggle to keep./hold on to the final minute. It was really glaring through out our friendlies and the world cup matches.

The few that performed were those playing regular 90mins for their clubs e.g Musa thanks to his CSKA move, Ebuehi, Etebo, Moses and Mikel to some extent.

I tthink we need to tell ourselves the plain truth. Players warming the bench are not good for competitive matches. Moses was the culprit in 2014. But this year, it wasn't one or two players but almost the whole team.

To win, you must be ready to play 120min football see Croatia see Russia see Belgium, see France see England 90% of their players are 90mins regular players at their clubs. The agility required for this stage is there and so, they can all go on to play 120mins football and that's one of the reason they are in the Semis.

The World Cup is not for the faint hearted. Team spirit is good but not enough. There is nothing they can do even when the spirit is willing but the body is weak. They will have no option than to give in.

We need to get rid/minimize the numbers of bench warmers in our national team. Players, irrespective of who they are, where they play, not clocking atleast 70mins football week in week out don't deserve to be in the national team.

Oasis007:


But Kyle Walker played more as a RB almost through last Season coz Pep rarely played 3 CBs.

I wouldn't mind LVG too. He's definitely a Force to reckon with in the Game, far better than the myopic Tool working as a Coach of the Super Eagles.

TheGoodJoe:


Chill with the attack on Rohr. The man worked hard for the team.

As for Walker in central defence, I was just pointing out that it was already done by Pep but it takes nothing away from Southgate who believed in the innovation and stuck to it.

TheGoodJoe:


Actually, the nutshell of the idea is debatable if we consider Musa who spent a very long time on the bench at Leicester City but showed more work on the pitch than regulars who played for Argentina and Iceland.

Going forward, I believe we should make intensive stamina drills a big part of our selection/training process. Those who can not keep up, irrespective of status, club or playing time should lose their place in the team.

AIG07:

I don't know how to use whoscored but make I try.

Musa played over 1000mins of football for CSK after leaving Leicester early this year o. Jan-May.
It was is individual brilliance that won us that match nothing more.

Let us leave the drills to their club managers. If they are not playing at their club they should stay out.

See his stat and Kelechi's on playing time.

AIG07:

I don't know how to use whoscored but make I try.

Musa played over 1000mins of football for CSK after leaving Leicester early this year o. Jan-May.
It was his individual brilliance that won us that match nothing more. Those goals speak for themselves.

Let us leave the drills to their club managers. If they are not playing at their club they should stay out.

See his stat and Kelechi's on playing time.

AIG07:

I don't know how to use whoscored but make I try.

Musa played over 1000mins of football for CSK after leaving Leicester early this year o. Jan-May.
It was his individual brilliance that won us that match nothing more. Those goals speak for themselves.

Let us leave the drills to their club managers. If they are not playing at their club they should stay out.

See his stat and Kelechi's on playing time.

Humility017:


our working conditions here in Nigeria can't handle a coach like LVG....
but to be true...rohr cost us this world cup....
had it been the coward coach...took time perfect the 3-5-2 formation during those friendlies... we won't have ease out from the world cup so fast...

the coach messed up big time...Croatia was there for the taking that day....but rohr being a coward sticked to the 4-2-3-1 formation.

Oasis007:




You nailed Bruh. He played the damn Formation against the Argies in a Friendly and it was fantastic.

He ought to have built on it. Work out tactical Plans and Lineup that gonna perfectly fit into the Formation, but the Franco-German Salisu Yusuf thought we are still playing Qualifiers.

Why did he fail to learn from the Friendlies?! Did he fail to see the Squad was good for 3 -. 5 - 2 Formation?! Tactically many things were wrong with the Team at the Mundial.

Rohr ain't the Answer for the Eagles. I ain't saying he shouldn't retained, but he's not right man to prepare the Team for the Qatar 2022.

TheGoodJoe:


Just to point out that Kyle Walker played in a 3-Man defence for Manchester City.

If we are to pick a coach, Mine will be to lure Louis Van Gaal out of retirement. A true tactical master and also innovative. Van Gaal has a history of helping in the development of genuine young stars as he did with Xavi, Iniesta who just spend six months with Van Gaal but believe the manager was the most important in his development. Other young stars including Quaresma, Sambrosa, Alaba, Muller, Kroos, Martial, Depay, Rashford, Lingaard, Seedorf, Kluivert, Edgar Davids and a host of others.

Van Gaal played a big part in the return of the 3-5-2 formation and will have a map for the development of our team. However, we would need patience for him to groom the team to play his brand of passing football. I would also like to see Finidi and Amunike working with him.

Well. This is just a wish and bringing Van Gaal will cost a fortune. If two multinationals come together, we can achieve it.

Finito.

Oasis007:




You nailed Bruh. He played the damn Formation against the Argies in a Friendly and it was fantastic.

He ought to have built on it. Work out tactical Plans and Lineup that gonna perfectly fit into the Formation, but the Franco-German Salisu Yusuf thought we are still playing Qualifiers.

Why did he fail to learn from the Friendlies?! Did he fail to see the Squad was good for 3 -. 5 - 2 Formation?! Tactically many things were wrong with the Team at the Mundial.

Rohr ain't the Answer for the Eagles. I ain't saying he shouldn't retained, but he's not right man to prepare the Team for the Qatar 2022.

Humility017:


Franco-German yusuf...got me laughing hard.

rohr had the opportunity to make name for himself...
but messed it up.
but we just have to keep up with him.. because he will help us unearth some of the foreign born indigenous coaches can't reach .....how I wish a brillant coach like yusuf was...he would have been helpful

indigenous coaches like siasia and amuneke will still messed it up with their biased selection.....so better we stick to rohr...he is the foreign coach we can afford at the moment...

TheGoodJoe:


Just to point out that Kyle Walker played in a 3-Man defence for Manchester City.

If we are to pick a coach, Mine will be to lure Louis Van Gaal out of retirement. A true tactical master and also innovative. Van Gaal has a history of helping in the development of genuine young stars as he did with Xavi, Iniesta who just spend six months with Van Gaal but believe the manager was the most important in his development. Other young stars including Quaresma, Sambrosa, Alaba, Muller, Kroos, Martial, Depay, Rashford, Lingaard, Seedorf, Kluivert, Edgar Davids and a host of others.

Van Gaal played a big part in the return of the 3-5-2 formation and will have a map for the development of our team. However, we would need patience for him to groom the team to play his brand of passing football. I would also like to see Finidi and Amunike working with him.

Well. This is just a wish and bringing Van Gaal will cost a fortune. If two multinationals come together, we can achieve it.

Finito.

pelezico:
Thats the biggest mystery yet. I think the real reason is that he had no vision of success here but equally he was out of his depth here. We qualified well against tough opposition and then thrashed the Argies and from theere we regressed from there on.

The friendlies were all a waste of time because he learnt nothing from it at all. When i saw nigeria against argentina in the friendly i said with that formation we will do well and looking at the WC the standard has been poor. England making it to the semi finals is a joke based on how they have played. Imagine this team against the team of 1990. I do beleive that Mikel must go - hes to much of a personality, commands to much respect but does nothing

AIG07:
World Cup is not meant for a team full of professional bench warmers.

Our players lack of playing time at their various clubs affected them at the World Cup. We are not known for ball possession. A team that doesn't play possessive style must be agile. Cos they will expend more energy chasing every ball. Cover more distance and have the ball less which can be frustrating at the same time.

The bitter truth is this-we wouldn't have stand any chance of progressing beyond the round of 16 even if we had qualified ahead of Argentina.

Our players struggled to play 90Mins football. 90% of them gases out at the 70th minute. They become so tired that they Struggle to keep./hold on to the final minute. It was really glaring through out our friendlies and the world cup matches.

The few that performed were those playing regular 90mins for their clubs e.g Musa thanks to his CSKA move, Ebuehi, Etebo, Moses and Mikel to some extent.

I tthink we need to tell ourselves the plain truth. Players warming the bench are not good for competitive matches. Moses was the culprit in 2014. But this year, it wasn't one or two players but almost the whole team.

To win, you must be ready to play 120min football see Croatia see Russia see Belgium, see France see England 90% of their players are 90mins regular players at their clubs. The agility required for this stage is there and so, they can all go on to play 120mins football and that's one of the reason they are in the Semis.

The World Cup is not for the faint hearted. Team spirit is good but not enough. There is nothing they can do even when the spirit is willing but the body is weak. They will have no option than to give in.

We need to get rid/minimize the numbers of bench warmers in our national team. Players, irrespective of who they are, where they play, not clocking atleast 70mins football week in week out don't deserve to be in the national team.

*MODIFIED*
This in return will make the players sit up and bend down. We need to stop encouraging mediocrity.

We took a permanent bench cleaner in a second division in Echiejile to World Cup thinking Miracle will happen over night. We were counting on Kelechi, a player who barely clocked a 1000min for his club as a back up striker for one that has been on goal drought since God knows when.
We were hoping for Miracle from Uzoho a relatively newbie who is still an apprentice to save us.
We had bench of pregnant players, half fit/injury prone ones.

We are a joke for thinking we can pull a surprise.

The national Team is not meant to groom players. No. If you are not performing at your club or playing as a starter kindly stay out.

Playing time is very important in modern day soccer. Loew made a great mistake starting Neuer as first choice goalkeeper. The guy wasn't at his best and so couldn't keep his poor team in the competition. Enough of all this training performances. Match day actions are miles different from training performances.

Our technical committee needs to step up their game. Sit Rohr down and talk some sense into him. get a sound coach as assistant for him and if he is not willing to change he should go four years is not far let the planning begins.

Bunique:
reading through this thread i just feel most Nigerians are ingrates. we forget so easily and are very quick to over hype our abilities. i will not forget the general atmosphere of our football before Rohr took over. look at the teams still at the tournament check where their players play compare that with our players.
many persons here before the world cup had no problem with Ighalo making the squad so why the insult on Rohr for taking Ighalo? tactics did not take us out rather our players failed and many persons here were happy with the players selected for the world cup. please let's move on and learn to appreciate because with this attitude no coach would want to work with us.

goldfish80:

My dream finals will be France vs Croatia, then France to win it all.

andrew444:


Name the nigeria starting 11 player that is a bench warmer for his club apart from Iheanacho? Leon balogun? Mostly injured and not a bench warmer so what are you saying? Sorry to say concerning the bench warmer issue,you made no point.

John stones is a bench warmer at man city and he is a starter for England,Oliver giroud is not a good choice for france striking role,he is also a bench warmer as far as i am concerned but he is playing for france.

Lucas Hernandez of france is not s starter for Athletico madrid,he his behind filepe luis in the pecking order but he his his a starter for france at LB.

Those super eagles bench warmers at the world cup who are your replacement?

Even Lindleof of sweden is a bench warmer but he played well at the world cup
I didnt read all what you said but i pick few things there and concerning the bench warming issue you made no good point.

pelezico:
The problem is not the manager but the country. You cannot ignore the obvious problems that have plagued Nigeria socially and economically for years and think that Nigeria can magically do well at the WC. Our league needs a massive overhauling to turn it into a PRODUCT that earns CAPITAL. It must be run efficiently so that the standard of Nigerian football within Nigeria gets better and becomes more competitive. Nigeria locals ought to be scrambling to play in the Nigerian league not looking for the out of Nigeria route.

I
Only then can Nigerian football unleash the kind of football players we once had. Van Gal will not help Nigeria because we have nothing in place that he can work with. We have no youth system thats productive yet we somehow win the youth WC cup which ought to say that Nigeria has the raw talent more so than any country in the world but we do not have the structure to get them to WC standard beyond 17.

So unless the manager comes in and does the impossible and radically changes the league, youth program then lets just forget it

Certitude:

I don't take that bench warming talk seriously. The World Cup highest scorer of all time was at one time of his career a benchwarmer.