BascoVanVeli:


Name a player on the SE that u can compare to Thiago Silva? Why are you using impossible yardsticks? Osimhen is the closest we have to that top level. If anything the price tag says it and this notion that u are being a non biased person because u can criticize him wrongly is total nonsense. We should be doing everything in our power to make him believe he is a top player but instead we are bringing him down. Why? This boy represents the little good we have left in us and he should be celebrated.

Osimhen is really celebrated. He's everyone's golden boy. As much as I'll want to agree with what u said the truth is Osimhen himself also needs Guidance. He's just 21 and I agree he has the potential to be a future captain. My choice woulda been Ndidi buh he seems like he's a very cool guy.

Olulong:


Azeez us injured nah

So why put an injured player on standby list?

daveP:
Dem sprinkle Sango pepper today cos i don't understand o.


If we need youngsters among the current crop, between Victor and Iwobi, I'd prefer Iwobi, even if Iwobi doesn't want. But i can't still.
.
He forgets actions such as that, as history is there, upsets Team Chemistry.

Iwobi? I trust my guy to reject it. There is a reason he is not willing to take the no 10 jersey.

andrewbaba44:


When did Fernando Torres captain Spain ?

Someone who played For the Spanish team at the same time with iniesta Xavi ,Alonso Ramos ,there won’t be about 5 senior players in the field for Torres to be captain

Totti was a worthy captain nah but behind Buffon canavarro ,del peiro

Neymar was Brazil best player and one of the best players in the world that’s why he was captain ,same way Messi was handed the captain band from mascherano

Who told you all these players wore the captain armband at younger age than osimhen ? The last time I checked osimhen is 21 and not 26

Torres captained ATM when he was a teenager

Olulong:


Torres captained ATM when he was a teenager

Okay was thinking it was the national team

Neobulletzz:

Yes just that match, All others don captain since then

But if we are to go by who don tay for club e no suppose wear captain you dig ?

Dude is still one of the best in the game at 36 with a lot of experience

andrewbaba44:


But if we are to go by who don tay for club e no suppose wear captain you dig ?

Dude is still one of the best in the game at 36 with a lot of experience

Yes I dig Bro

If me be coach I go even give am captain self as he get leadership qualities pass everybody for Chelsea

AndSunGorilla:


So why put an injured player on standby list?

Na today we just dey know Rohr. Rohr stand-by list na Boju-Boju. If Osigwe pulls out, I won't be surprise if he calls Mathew Yakubu that's not on the standby list as replacement

BascoVanVeli:


Name a player on the SE that u can compare to Thiago Silva? Why are you using impossible yardsticks? Osimhen is the closest we have to that top level. If anything the price tag says it and this notion that u are being a non biased person because u can criticize him wrongly is total nonsense. We should be doing everything in our power to make him believe he is a top player but instead we are bringing him down. Why? This boy represents the little good we have left in us and he should be celebrated.

I can't even locate your point, that he was bought for 80 million shows his leadership qualities?

Leadership does not only require passion, does he have the patience to guide other players? Does he have the maturity and most importantly does he have the experience?

You should remove sentimentality in some of these judgements

Neobulletzz:

Yes I dig Bro

If me be coach I go even give am captain self as he get leadership qualities pass everybody for Chelsea

Well you have a point but it won’t be fair to displace azpilicueta just like that as he is also a good leader

Friday03:
There you have it

Akpeyi again?

Analyzing Victor Osimhen's slow start to life in Serie A

The Nigeria international has not flown out of the blocks at Napoli as far as goals go, but that owes much to a shift in his tactical responsibilities

Sunday’s blank against Benevento – as Napoli came from behind against the resolute newly-promoted side in Serie A – saw Victor Osimhen’s goals per game ratio shrink ever so slightly.
The 21-year-old was peripheral for the most part, but it ultimately did not matter. Not when Lorenzo Insigne can find the top corner from outside the box with his weaker foot; not when Gennaro Gattuso can summon battering ram Andrea Petagna from the bench to intervene.
In those circumstances, the club can afford to absorb what is, for all intents and purposes, a slow start. Five games (four of them starts) have yielded just the solitary goal: a scuffed effort from outside the area that somehow managed to wrong-foot Marco Sportiello in the 4-1 thumping of Atalanta 11 days ago.



Whilst the transfer of the Nigeria international involved a club record fee and was the culmination of a protracted saga, Napoli were under no illusions; this was very much a long-term play.
Osimhen is far from the finished article, as Gattuso himself acknowledged following his cameo in the opening day victory over Parma . Nevertheless, there is certainly a great deal of belief in Osimhen, both within the squad and in the dugout. Whether the former AC Milan player and coach is the right person to coax more out of him though, is one of this season’s more intriguing questions.


The evidence of his first five matches does not exactly offer clarity in this respect.
In the aforementioned substitute appearance on the opening day, his performance was very well received, as he introduced Calcio fans to his bounding stride and boundless work ethic.
Despite a lack of direct contribution, his presence on the pitch served to stretch the game, helping Napoli to a comfortable win.
“He has a great attitude,” Gattuso gushed afterward. “We knew that Osimhen could give us another gear in the final 20-25 minutes today”
For the next game against Genoa at San Paolo, he was handed his first start as the Azzurri ran riot, hitting their visitors for six. Remarkably, amidst the flurry of goal activity, Osimhen was unable to find the net himself, or even get a shot on target. He however laid on the second for midfielder Piotr Zielinski with a silky back-heel inside the box, signposting his baptism into the collective with a solid all-round performance.
In the following game against Atalanta, Osimhen finally put it all together, finding the goal to break his duck and crown a brilliant first-half. He seemed noticeably eager to shoot, often electing to have pops from acute angles, but on the whole he excelled at bringing others into play, and ran La Dea’s back three ragged all game long.
If the expectation was that, with the monkey off his back, he would kick on, it has proved misguided. Two games on, he has not found the back of the net again; a concern, considering not only the club’s outlay and the fact he has integrated surprisingly well already, but also his scoring record over the last 18 months.


So what gives?
Of course, Serie A is a tougher division to come to terms with than Ligue 1 , where Osimhen was off the mark from the off and never looked back. That must be taken into account in any analysis. However, watching Napoli play is instructive; the problem is not quite that simple, and the root of it is more internal than external.
First, consider how Napoli have played over the last couple of seasons.
A staple of their attacking framework from the days of Maurizio Sarri – the classic Napoli goal, if you will – was Insigne receiving the ball on the left, cutting inside on his right foot, and curling the ball over the top and to the back post. There, Jose Callejon would arrive on the blind side of the defence, volleying the ball back across goal for the striker to tap in.
It was simple, but devastatingly effective.


However, Callejon departed this summer, and so essentially Napoli have lost that little automatism. His place in the side is shared between Hirving Lozano and Matteo Politano, neither of whom were a part of the Sarri side.
Even more pertinently, both have a preference for moving into the centre of the pitch as opposed to holding the width and servicing the centre-forward; Politano in particular has a fondness for cutting inside and blasting the ball goalward.
With Insigne coming inside from the left and Dries Mertens fielded in the no.10 spot, that’s three attackers all focused on getting their own shots away, and also contributing to a lot of crowding between the lines.


The upshot of this is that Osimhen’s movement and general play is geared toward creating space for the attacking midfielders: he is tasked with making a lot of runs into the channels to create depth, as well as with holding the ball up with his back to goal in order to compensate physically for the diminutive trio. Napoli signed a poacher, but they’re re-tooling him to fit as a target man.
It is no surprise then that, despite his slow start in front of goal, Gattuso has continued to affirm his satisfaction with Osimhen. After the Genoa game, Gattuso praised him for “creating the situations that allowed others to score”, and referred to him, tellingly, as the “missing link ”.
It is all very selfless, but the message is clear: he may be the club’s record signing, but the man signed from Lille is by no means the top dog at Napoli just yet.

Olulong:


Osimhen is really celebrated. He's everyone's golden boy. As much as I'll want to agree with what u said the truth is Osimhen himself also needs Guidance. He's just 21 and I agree he has the potential to be a future captain. My choice woulda been Ndidi buh he seems like he's a very cool guy.

Being a captain doesn't mean u can't be guided.

I could go with Ndidi also. He is a big personality even though he is so laid back.

Subzero047:


I can't even locate your point, that he was bought for 80 million shows his leadership qualities?

Leadership does not only require passion, does he have the patience to guide other players? Does he have the maturity and most importantly does he have the experience?

You should remove sentimentality in some of these judgements

Must I spell out everything for you? Do leaders come from under rocks? Don't they have to be known as exemplary at something before people start asking u to lead them?

Nwakaeme don tear net twice

BascoVanVeli:



Must I spell out everything for you? Do leaders come from under rocks? Don't they have to be known as exemplary at something before people start asking u to lead them?

If that's the case there are many others who have exemplary qualities plus the experience to lead the SE

Trabzonspor vs kasimpasa currently 3-2 (half time)

Nwakaeme with two goals so far. Might be heading for a hat trick in this game.

Olulong:


When pls cos last time I checked since he came to La Liga he has been on every least up until March.

Please help me ask,dude is injured and they're still pushing a funny agenda

I can't comprehend why we're not even giving Anthony nwakaeme a call to the super Eagles again.

As in once you see a trabnizpor goal, you definitely know it's him

Nwakaeme with a brace for Trabzonspor

BascoVanVeli:


If it is open and close common sense why did Fernando Torres, Fransisco Totti, Raphael Verane and Neymar all wear their countries captain bands at younger ages than Osimhen is at the moment?

How many of those players were captain long term?? Neymar only became a settled captain like 2 years ago. No way Osimhen gets the captain armband at this moment when we have Ekong and Balogun around. Being a good player does not equate being a leader. Yes he has an "edge" to his game but that doesn't mean he's someone that can rally his teammates.

Clint02:
I no blame Rohr,listing Ebuehi as a midfielder. I believe very soon he will list Sanusi as an attacker.

Where the hell does Rohr think Ebuehi can play in midfield?

What the fvk is he thinking??

do4luv14:



Dennis, and Osigwe

Only Osigwe actually. Dennis isn't a new face.

BascoVanVeli:


Rubbish nonsense talk. How long has Ekong been in the team? U people only make decisions based on characters u like.


I want soldiers on my side when I enter battle. Why can't he be a captain? Show me an example of true leadership shown by any other member of the team.

Nigerians should stop being p*ssys. Is he picking on people or standing up for himself? Leon clattered him in training and he stood up for himself, simple as that.

He is the realest leader on the super eagles. He makes sure they play the game the right way and he won't allow anyone get messed with. The rest don't have the characteristics to lead a country like Nigeria.

using your analogy I suppose Sani Kaita should have been made our captain after that 2010 incident against Greece.

smartsmith0907:


we have no choice but to keep managing him we can't find anyone better than him..Nepotism and biasness is now an impetus behind coaching appointment...Rohr is bleeping up even goodjoe as a coach will perform better than this ...but we gat no choice but to move and see the positives in the squad.

Hmm mm...

In other words, we're presently stuck with Rohr. Chai!

Karlovich:
using your analogy I suppose Sani Kaita should have been made our captain after that 2010 incident against Greece.

How does that have anything to do with anything? Did Victor attack anyone during a game. Are you the only one who doesn't know training ground bust ups happen?

do4luv14:




Tell me something, when was Dennis invited to the SE, that I did not know? Do tell pls

Dennis played against Brazil

1 assist and 2 goals from nwakaeme

edi287:

How many of those players were captain long term?? Neymar only became a settled captain like 2 years ago. No way Osimhen gets the captain armband at this moment when we have Ekong and Balogun around. Being a good player does not equate being a leader. Yes he has an "edge" to his game but that doesn't mean he's someone that can rally his teammates.

Did you watch the match against Algeria? Can u compare the performance to that of Brazil or Ukraine? Who was missing in our attack?

Can u compare our AFCON performance to those matches? Who was missing?


It was clear that they lacked a sense of urgency against Algeria and I can't see him allowing them to do that. See how he shouts on whoever does something silly. The boy is a born leader jor u can't teach his characteristics.

I think Nwakaeme should take a step up in Europe

Moving to France won't be a harder but much more beneficial for his exposure to the SE

joxxy01:
Let's allow this Man do is job abeg ,Sierra Leone is not Algeria...

That is not the issue bro. Doing the right thing is.

Captainship is not about age. Neymar was handed the armband at 22