Cybereagles

Will Melkam suffer the same fate as Oruma? Oruma's biggest
challenge in the SE has been that he appeared during the
same era as JJ and has always been seen as 2nd fiddle.
Given that JJ will likely play another 2 or 3 years for the SE
(till WC2006), Oruma's time in the SE may well be over ....
as the coaches will be looking to groom the "replacement"
once JJ retires. JJ is about 30 now while Oruma is 27 or so.
...we keep hearing about Osaze and Uche Kalu.

Well, I wonder if something similar will happen to Melkam.
He now appears to be playing Left Defence. He is the
same age as Udeze and 2 years younger than Babayaro.
As such will he really have a chance in the SE until those
2 retire?

Just some idle thought.

well udeze was once in the same position..now he starts...Melkam can also do the same if he outshines the other 2

melkam has a long career in the eagles ahead of him.

This is different b/c babayaro only shows up for big tournaments: which is what allowed Udeze to steal his starting shirt in the first place. Secondly, he needs to make himself useful in another position such as a DM or some sort of utility midfielder to make the decision difficult for the coaches to leave him out... we don't have enough quality DM's .... we don't have enough left footed midfielders that can play on the wings... those are ways to make oneself useful...

All things being equal, Melkam should enjoy at least a decent run in the senior squad because of his versatility as a legit defensive midfielder and wing/full-back.

Btw, Wilson Oruma "enjoyed" an uninterrupted almost seven-year run in the senior national team (1994-2002) -- albeit mostly stuck behind Okocha (and thereby getting little actual face-time).

okocha and oruma could have easily played in the same team but We've had very inept coaches in charge for a long time including now. Imagine Okocha on the right and Oruma in the centre or vice versa - we would have been untouchable

so__so_scandalous wrote:okocha and oruma could have easily played in the same team but We've had very inept coaches in charge for a long time including now. Imagine Okocha on the right and Oruma in the centre or vice versa - we would have been untouchable

Thank You and Oruma at this stage is till more versatile than Jj.Its just a shame people judged him on that game against Ireland in which was a fluke win for Nigeria.

OLISEH???

It is true that Babayaro's habit of disappearing for stretches at
a time will help Melkam.

But Melkam's best strategy may be to lay claim to the
DM position as we currently seem to have only
Olofinjana there.

It is hard to say what kind of Super Eagles career Melkam will have, at this point. What he has going for him is that he is very versatile and can more than adequately play 3 positions (left back/wing back, DM and Left Midfield/Wing). Unfortunately for him however there is stiff competition at each of positions, and he also has people at those positions who are heads and shoulders above him.

Let's examine the 3 positions.

LEFT BACK:

Here he has Celestine Babayaro and Ifeanyi Udeze clearly ahead of him in the pecking order. For now he is the 3rd choice behind them, but there are other supertalented youngsters coming up at the left back position that could threaten him in the future, namely: Ibrahim Ndala and Joseph Eyimofe. And I have not even mentioned the likes of Temple Moneke, Benedict Idahor and Ogbonna Okemiri who are also good, but Ndala and Eyimofe are the gems.


DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD:

I must say that I strongly disagree with much of this talk that we lack enough quality DMs. Over the next couple of years candidates for the Super Eagles DM position will include the likes of Justice Christopher, Chris Obodo, Seyi Olofinjana, Adebowale Ogungbure and Azubuike Oliseh. And I have not even mentioned holdovers Ikpe Ekong and Karibe Ojigwe. Nor did I even bring up rising youngsters like Enyimba's Onyeakachi Okonkwo. So competition at this position will be very keen for the forseeble future.


LEFT MIDFIELD/WING:

Here we have Ifeanyi Ekwueme who is ahead of Melkam in the pecking order, at the moment. Then there is Garba Lawal who might continue to be in the mix over the next couple of years. There are also two brilliant youngsters in Femi Opabunmi and Musa Suleiman, not to mention Yaro Yaro who can figure into the mix on the left wing as well as in central midfield.

So in summary, the competition that is ahead of Melkam no be small. In my opinion he has a role to play in the national team, given his versatility, but whether or not he can break into the main team remains to be seen - especially if Garba Lawal continues to stick around, because Lawal brings much of the same things that Melkam offers to the table (with the added dose of experience)

ITs up to Melkam to make the grade and step up to the plate

COMPETITION IS ALLOWED... Let him show up after turning his game at club level and upstage the old guys like Lawal Super Eagles is not one man's house or property.