So Egu is talking about calling up HB players

[Dammy]

There is nothing special about the 800 players but he should extend his scouting to all players and select the best. There is nothing to gain from him giving the local players preferential treatment. All we want is for our best players to be paraded on the pitch, no matter where they are playing their football.

Where did you read that home based player were giving preferential treatment?

Maybe you shouldn’t be removing sections of the chain that you responded to. Read the post I was responding to before you jumped in.

This is how it starts.

Eguavoen will never come out and say he'll invite unproven local players but he has certainly opened the door to calling local players based on perceived talent. Next step is to invite them to practice with SE for experience, then somehow , if we qualify there'll be 2-3 local players on the final squad.

It's the old bait n switch. Seen it all before.

Would he ignore the over 800 foreign based players spread across 95 countries? What is special about the local players?

You responded with a statement of fact, to a speculation by someone still grieving over Rohr sacking.

I asked the poster 2 questions. Read my post again.

You don enter am with this bobo. I feel for you! Pele

[fabio]

I asked the poster 2 questions. Read my post again.

Keep on confusing yourself.

[Lolly]

I asked the poster 2 questions. Read my post again.

Keep on confusing yourself.

I won’t let you confuse me. My post was clear.

[deanotito]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

[Enugu II]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

Dean

TBH, he better not invite a guy simply because the person is HB. My hope is that he has opportunity to watch locally and certainly he would have seen 1-2 players capable of belonging. I have little doubt about that especially because the league has been active.

[The Eagle]

This is how it starts.

Eguavoen will never come out and say he'll invite unproven local players but he has certainly opened the door to calling local players based on perceived talent. Next step is to invite them to practice with SE for experience, then somehow , if we qualify there'll be 2-3 local players on the final squad.

It's the old bait n switch. Seen it all before.

YUP

why I am not a fan of local coaches.

I hope to be proven wrong.

The two of you read an article that says nothing about whom Eguavoen will call up for the qualifiers and/or World Cup (if we qualify) .... and based on no information whatsoever, the two of you have already condemned his nonexistent World Cup invitation list, and declared the list (which doesn't exist) is an indictment of all Nigerian managers.

[Damunk]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

It would be great if you could mention names of some standout NPFL performers who could legitimately challenge current SE players (and who), but I know that aint gonna happen.

I quite like the look of Ndah, but he aint HB any more. Then again, some of us have always said our defence is now our weakest link.

I can never get over the fact though that these fabulous HB players are never mentioned by name, yet dozens of FB players' names are routinely trotted out like, every single day.

As my old PE teacher used to ask, "What doz dat teaches us?"

[NationsCup]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

[vancity eagle]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

But "work ethic" or "energy" cannot be substitutes for technical quality.

We complain of the lack of creativity and end product only to then clamor for hard working brick layers

We need engineers not brick layers.

[NationsCup]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

But "work ethic" or "energy" cannot be substitutes for technical quality.

We complain of the lack of creativity and end product only to then clamor for hard working brick layers

We need engineers not brick layers.

If we had better foreign based player we would have taken them to the competition

[Enugu II]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

But "work ethic" or "energy" cannot be substitutes for technical quality.

We complain of the lack of creativity and end product only to then clamor for hard working brick layers

We need engineers not brick layers.

VE

Technical quality is not lacking and will not be lacking locally in the near future. We see that will the stream of locals annually going to Europe and starting for teams there. However, technical ability of an individual is not the only criterion for a national team player. Afterall it is TEAM sports. Ability to work with others may sometimes trump individual talent and also meeting specific needs of the manager.

[txj]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

But "work ethic" or "energy" cannot be substitutes for technical quality.

We complain of the lack of creativity and end product only to then clamor for hard working brick layers

We need engineers not brick layers.

VE

Technical quality is not lacking and will not be lacking locally in the near future. We see that will the stream of locals annually going to Europe and starting for teams there. However, technical ability of an individual is not the only criterion for a national team player. Afterall it is TEAM sports. Ability to work with others may sometimes trump individual talent and also meeting specific needs of the manager.

what exactly do you mean here by technical quality?

[The YeyeMan]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

What Eguavoen said in the direct quotes attributed to him are (a) players in the domestic league are eligible for callups to Nigeria's national teams in a general sense, and (b) when the players see him and his assistants attending league matches it gives them hope that they are in consideration.

Nowhere does Eguavoen imply or indicate that he is going to call home-based players for the qualifiers. In fact nothing in this article gives any information about whom Eguavoen intends to invite for the qualifiers, whether home- or foreign-based.

Thanks for the translation.

You know for some of us, English is not our mother or father tongue. Please, pardon us.

Says the guy who missed Klopp's ironic comment about the "small tournament".

[deanotito]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

Dean

TBH, he better not invite a guy simply because the person is HB. My hope is that he has opportunity to watch locally and certainly he would have seen 1-2 players capable of belonging. I have little doubt about that especially because the league has been active.

Oh of course. As they say “all other things being equal”. The coach has to do his job, watch games, scout, etc. But it’s 27 men….damn near 10 of them aren’t going to have any bearing on the games. The idea that you can’t invite 3 HB out of 27 is pretty Rohrian.

[deanotito]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

It would be great if you could mention names of some standout NPFL performers who could legitimately challenge current SE players (and who), but I know that aint gonna happen.

I quite like the look of Ndah, but he aint HB any more. Then again, some of us have always said our defence is now our weakest link.

I can never get over the fact though that these fabulous HB players are never mentioned by name, yet dozens of FB players' names are routinely trotted out like, every single day.

As my old PE teacher used to ask, "What doz dat teaches us?"

I don’t watch the local league but Eguavoen should and does. If we trust him enough to be our coach, then one has to trust that he’ll do his homework and select those who he thinks meet the standard.

I really haven’t seen any successful Nigerian coach, save for Rohr, blanket out local talent. Its hard for me to imagine that the best Nigerian local talent is way below some of the Div 2 players in the SE set up.

Whoever he calls up, we will watch and assess.

[Damunk]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

It would be great if you could mention names of some standout NPFL performers who could legitimately challenge current SE players (and who), but I know that aint gonna happen.

I quite like the look of Ndah, but he aint HB any more. Then again, some of us have always said our defence is now our weakest link.

I can never get over the fact though that these fabulous HB players are never mentioned by name, yet dozens of FB players' names are routinely trotted out like, every single day.

As my old PE teacher used to ask, "What doz dat teaches us?"

I don’t watch the local league but Eguavoen should and does. If we trust him enough to be our coach, then one has to trust that he’ll do his homework and select those who he thinks meet the standard.

I really haven’t seen any successful Nigerian coach, save for Rohr, blanket out local talent. Its hard for me to imagine that the best Nigerian local talent is way below some of the Div 2 players in the SE set up.

Whoever he calls up, we will watch and assess.

Like has been said countless times, it’s not about just talent.
It’s about exposure and I’ll add, mindset.

If you’ve played on a fairly regular basis against Aguero and Pogba and Sterling and Ronaldo and Messi and Mbappe and Mane and Sallah and Lewandowski and Neymar and….and…
And lived to tell the tale, surely that counts for more than just the swapping of TShirts.

It’s not the main thing or the only thing, but in a game where marginal advantages can result in major differences in outcome, you don’t go experimenting at the wrong time.

The “Div 2 players” you refer to are specifically Omeruo, Ajayi, Nwakali and Sadiq. It would be amazing to find better equivalents locally. But how likely is that? For real.

And don’t conveniently forget that “the best Nigerian local talent” as you put it is being harvested and shipped out almost on a monthly basis. And they are getting younger.

[Sunset]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

It would be great if you could mention names of some standout NPFL performers who could legitimately challenge current SE players (and who), but I know that aint gonna happen.

I quite like the look of Ndah, but he aint HB any more. Then again, some of us have always said our defence is now our weakest link.

I can never get over the fact though that these fabulous HB players are never mentioned by name, yet dozens of FB players' names are routinely trotted out like, every single day.

As my old PE teacher used to ask, "What doz dat teaches us?"

Hmmm
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=307371

Adekunle Adeleke - 19 y/o CB - Enyimba


This is one dude whose initial call up to the main SE by Rohr raised eyebrows and for a while it seemed quite questionable with his lack of experience at the continental club level & CHAN/WAFU level. But from watching his games for Abia Warriors last season it was made clear that he's amongst the best defenders in the league. He's short for a CB but he rarely loses duels be it on the ground or in the air. And since Enyimba signed him, he's performed pretty well with them with 6 clean sheets in 12 matches so far in the league + continent.




Junior Nduka - 20 y/o CB - Remo Stars
[tweet][/tweet]

Nduka is arguably the best young defender in the NPFL right now as the captain of Remo Stars as they have the best defensive record (3 conceded & 8 clean sheets in 11) so far and are now the only undefeated side in the league.
He scored this wonderful free-kick today (2:05:10) to keep them top of the table. If he keeps improving at his current rate he'll very likely be one of the biggest exports from the league in a long time.

[deanotito]

[https://www.completesports.com/eguavoen ... s-call-up/]

If this is true then God help us.

You had a camp of 27 players at the afcon. These players should make up at least 80% of the players to prosecute the qualifying matches.

On top of that you have the likes of Osimehn, Balogun, Etebo coming back plus the likes of Dennis, Lookman, Ejaria, Yusuf, Nwobodo who should be in the mix.

Where is the room for homebased ?

We never learn. We are not interested in succeeding.

Bros, calm down. There is room for 1-3 homebased players in a list of 27

It would be great if you could mention names of some standout NPFL performers who could legitimately challenge current SE players (and who), but I know that aint gonna happen.

I quite like the look of Ndah, but he aint HB any more. Then again, some of us have always said our defence is now our weakest link.

I can never get over the fact though that these fabulous HB players are never mentioned by name, yet dozens of FB players' names are routinely trotted out like, every single day.

As my old PE teacher used to ask, "What doz dat teaches us?"

I don’t watch the local league but Eguavoen should and does. If we trust him enough to be our coach, then one has to trust that he’ll do his homework and select those who he thinks meet the standard.

I really haven’t seen any successful Nigerian coach, save for Rohr, blanket out local talent. Its hard for me to imagine that the best Nigerian local talent is way below some of the Div 2 players in the SE set up.

Whoever he calls up, we will watch and assess.

Like has been said countless times, it’s not about just talent.
It’s about exposure and I’ll add, mindset.

If you’ve played on a fairly regular basis against Aguero and Pogba and Sterling and Ronaldo and Messi and Mbappe and Mane and Sallah and Lewandowski and Neymar and….and…
And lived to tell the tale, surely that counts for more than just the swapping of TShirts.

It’s not the main thing or the only thing, but in a game where marginal advantages can result in major differences in outcome, you don’t go experimenting at the wrong time.

The “Div 2 players” you refer to are specifically Omeruo, Ajayi, Nwakali and Sadiq. It would be amazing to find better equivalents locally. But how likely is that? For real.

And don’t conveniently forget that “the best Nigerian local talent” as you put it is being harvested and shipped out almost on a monthly basis. And they are getting younger.

Talent is the most important factor in Football. Fitness, next. Exposure is somewhere on the list but not as important as the first 2. Jay Jay Okocha is more exposed than any player in the SE now but if you put him on that field now, it’ll be a disaster

I don’t buy the Rohrian philosophy that because they haven’t played abroad, they don’t fit. You will always find diamonds in the rough…players that stand out. It’s up to you as the coach to pick them and put them in the position to succeed.

As always, everything will be dependent on where we have need and what the talent of the player is in question.

Do you really think there is no striker in the Nigerian league that is as good as Peter Olayinka? Didn’t Musa just go back and play in the local league? Was his standard so far above his mates there? Are the players Ighalo faces week in and week out in Saudi that much better than the Nigerian local league players??

On average, better league = better players, but this is on average. There are players playing in the Serie A today that are not at Serie A level and there are players playing in the Nigerian league that would thrive if thrown in the Serie A today.

That’s why we have a coach…and hopefully, a good one.

[Damunk]

DeanTito, my point repeatedly is that you do not test out players at times like this.
You do not come to the SE “to learn”.
You do not just invite a player that is not potentially better than what you already have.
Finally, you must have some yardstick by which you measure a player’s ability - if they are not playing against some of the world’s best, then at least let’s see what they are doing at CHAN, or the WAFU Cup, or the continental club tournaments.

You can watch all you want, but you are really scraping the barrel when the cream of your talent is spirited abroad literally like blood diamonds. So you end up operating a quota system and looking for a needle in a haystack because you are being forced to.

You will not “always find diamonds in the rough” because they are routinely being ‘stolen’ and sold abroad. Anyone that cannot see how inefficient such a recruiting system is must be blind.

That is football politics right there and it is killing our football.

[Lolly]

For how long will we continue to ignore our local players? I support the coach. Seeing any of the local boys play is good for the league.

I think that the work rate esp in the mid field could be better. Me i think that we have some lazy players in the team that Need serious competition.

He has seen the currsnt NT playsrs in competitive matchss. He made 8 changes to starting line up in our third game. We should expect to see change if we want to move forward.

But "work ethic" or "energy" cannot be substitutes for technical quality.

We complain of the lack of creativity and end product only to then clamor for hard working brick layers

We need engineers not brick layers.

If we had better foreign based player we would have taken them to the competition

We have 803 foreign based players in 95 countries. So how do we know that the home based players that are being looked at are better then those foreign based players that didn't make the squad?

[deanotito]

DeanTito, my point repeatedly is that you do not test out players at times like this.
You do not come to the SE “to learn”.
You do not just invite a player that is not potentially better than what you already have.
Finally, you must have some yardstick by which you measure a player’s ability - if they are not playing against some of the world’s best, then at least let’s see what they are doing at CHAN, or the WAFU Cup, or the continental club tournaments.

You can watch all you want, but you are really scraping the barrel when the cream of your talent is spirited abroad literally like blood diamonds. So you end up operating a quota system and looking for a needle in a haystack because you are being forced to.

You will not “always find diamonds in the rough” because they are routinely being ‘stolen’ and sold abroad. Anyone that cannot see how inefficient such a recruiting system is must be blind.

That is football politics right there and it is killing our football.

27 players are invited, Bro. I doubt Nigeria has 27 foreign players that are indisputably better than the best of the local league. We probably have 20 players in that category, and 7 that are arguable. Also, Egu was speaking generally and not with respect to the Ghana game alone. There is no harm in trying out the best 3 local players in a group of 27 in any/all of the games that will be played over the coming months.

Nigeria benefits from marketing its local talent - even if it gets them snapped up abroad. Going abroad improves their exposure and funds the local league. Why should we not help that process along if we can do so? And then when you consider that you may actually stumble on an Amokachi or an Mbah...why not?

[Lolly]

DeanTito, my point repeatedly is that you do not test out players at times like this.
You do not come to the SE “to learn”.
You do not just invite a player that is not potentially better than what you already have.
Finally, you must have some yardstick by which you measure a player’s ability - if they are not playing against some of the world’s best, then at least let’s see what they are doing at CHAN, or the WAFU Cup, or the continental club tournaments.

You can watch all you want, but you are really scraping the barrel when the cream of your talent is spirited abroad literally like blood diamonds. So you end up operating a quota system and looking for a needle in a haystack because you are being forced to.

You will not “always find diamonds in the rough” because they are routinely being ‘stolen’ and sold abroad. Anyone that cannot see how inefficient such a recruiting system is must be blind.

That is football politics right there and it is killing our football.

27 players are invited, Bro. I doubt Nigeria has 27 foreign players that are indisputably better than the best of the local league. We probably have 20 players in that category, and 7 that are arguable. Also, Egu was speaking generally and not with respect to the Ghana game alone. There is no harm in trying out the best 3 local players in a group of 27 in any/all of the games that will be played over the coming months.

Nigeria benefits from marketing its local talent - even if it gets them snapped up abroad. Going abroad improves their exposure and funds the local league. Why should we not help that process along if we can do so? And then when you consider that you may actually stumble on an Amokachi or an Mbah...why not?

Some of you guys are just funny.

We already have 803 such players who were "snapped up abroad" and playing across 95 countries. Have you searched for another Amokachi and Mbah from the 803, about 8 of whom were recently snapped up after being in the squad of players who featured against Mexico in the recent friendly.

[deanotito]

DeanTito, my point repeatedly is that you do not test out players at times like this.
You do not come to the SE “to learn”.
You do not just invite a player that is not potentially better than what you already have.
Finally, you must have some yardstick by which you measure a player’s ability - if they are not playing against some of the world’s best, then at least let’s see what they are doing at CHAN, or the WAFU Cup, or the continental club tournaments.

You can watch all you want, but you are really scraping the barrel when the cream of your talent is spirited abroad literally like blood diamonds. So you end up operating a quota system and looking for a needle in a haystack because you are being forced to.

You will not “always find diamonds in the rough” because they are routinely being ‘stolen’ and sold abroad. Anyone that cannot see how inefficient such a recruiting system is must be blind.

That is football politics right there and it is killing our football.

27 players are invited, Bro. I doubt Nigeria has 27 foreign players that are indisputably better than the best of the local league. We probably have 20 players in that category, and 7 that are arguable. Also, Egu was speaking generally and not with respect to the Ghana game alone. There is no harm in trying out the best 3 local players in a group of 27 in any/all of the games that will be played over the coming months.

Nigeria benefits from marketing its local talent - even if it gets them snapped up abroad. Going abroad improves their exposure and funds the local league. Why should we not help that process along if we can do so? And then when you consider that you may actually stumble on an Amokachi or an Mbah...why not?

Some of you guys are just funny.

We already have 803 such players who were "snapped up abroad" and playing across 95 countries. Have you searched for another Amokachi and Mbah from the 803, about 8 of whom were recently snapped up after being in the squad of players who featured against Mexico in the recent friendly.

Up to the coach to look far and wide for good players. If he deems the local league as deserving of a look, then he should invite said players. I don't know why that's difficult for you to understand.

You should not blanket out the league...or any league for that matter. Of course his scouting resources are limited, and it is much easier for him to scout the league than to go to India to watch 2 Nigerian players.

Local players have been a net plus for Nigeria. They play when they measure up. They don't play when they don't. Chikena

Over the last few years, as you have watched Nigeria struggle against Madagascar, Cape Verde, CAR and co., who field players with comparable pedigree (or even worse pedigree) to our local league players, you really think the gulf in talent is that much???

Eguavoen's comments are not controversial at all.