NDIDIiiiIiiiiiiiiiii 2- STOKE 0 (Ndidi bulala,vardy)

[Otitokoro]

Mystic,
I agree with you. We seem to be developing some depth in a key area where its been lacking for many years.

The way I see it, there are four (4) main buckets:
A: Mikel Obi (being the grandfather), Wilfred Ndidi, Oghene Etebo and Eddy Onazi. These 4 are your mainstay players.
B: Mikel Agu, John Ogu, Anderson Esiti and Uche Agbo. These are your European based players who have shown spurts of being capable, but are of a lower cadre compared to the 'A' listers.
C: Hope Akpan, Fegor Ogude, Raheem Lawal and Ramon Azeez. These are the forgotten bunch (or should I say, no hopers).
D: Nwakali, Ejaria (if he decides to play for Nigeria). These are the young bucks who seem to have enough potential to leap into the A category. However, time will tell.

There seems to be some considerable depth in the defensive midfield position, which is very good for Nigeria. Hope Nigeria takes advantage of this.

hierachy of our midfielders right now in this particularl order:
1) Mikel Obi (no arguing this one, our indisputable #1until retirement)
2) Ndidi ( future captain right there, IMHO next in line to Mikel)
3) Etebo ( quality player all around, one of our key guys right now no doubt)
4) Onazi ( always a reliable player you can expect to give his 100% if called upon)
5) Ogu ( good player no doubt and a good part of the midfield...he is surprisingly a very forgettable type of player as he doesn't bring much influence like the others above him...but still a good player nontheless, and yet the most disposable of the midfield crew)
6) then potentials like Nwakali, Ejaria, etc..

Nigeria's midfield is still in flux with the only sure thing being that Mikel will start. After Mikel, Ndidi is on track to develop into a true world class player. But he has to remain on that track and if he does, he then becomes the 2nd man in that midfield. Beyond this, a lot depends on how Rohr ends up using Mikel. Etebo and Onazi are both elite options but keep in mind that we are yet to truly ascertain where Etebo best fits into the picture. Will he be Rohr's utility man, or will he have a settled position? Keep in mind also that Rohr did not hand Onazi the captain's armband for nothing in our last friendly against Senegal. Rohr appears to really value what Onazi brings to the table on and off the pitch which I whole-heartedly agree with him. In other words, he seems to see him as a starter. So the competition is fierce.

Finally on Ogu, I wouldn't rank him that high up on our depth chart. Mind you, he is a good player and he proved himself once again with a solid outing against Senegal, but he will have to work very hard to ensure that some of our other options don't usurp him.

[ohenhen1]

I like his progress. He has improved a lot. A former central defender for youth teams. Still has to work on his game. But he has shown a lot of progress. Arguably one of the best players currently in the SE setup.

With due respect to Vic Mo. He is the best Nigerian player today,period! There is no other Nigerian player playing at his level regularly and performing at his level of effectiveness. Ndidi is simply a monster in that Leicester mf,without him it falls apart .

I disagree, I rate Leon Balogun and Ndidi ahead of Victor Moses.

[mystic]

Mystic,
I agree with you. We seem to be developing some depth in a key area where its been lacking for many years.

The way I see it, there are four (4) main buckets:
A: Mikel Obi (being the grandfather), Wilfred Ndidi, Oghene Etebo and Eddy Onazi. These 4 are your mainstay players.
B: Mikel Agu, John Ogu, Anderson Esiti and Uche Agbo. These are your European based players who have shown spurts of being capable, but are of a lower cadre compared to the 'A' listers.
C: Hope Akpan, Fegor Ogude, Raheem Lawal and Ramon Azeez. These are the forgotten bunch (or should I say, no hopers).
D: Nwakali, Ejaria (if he decides to play for Nigeria). These are the young bucks who seem to have enough potential to leap into the A category. However, time will tell.

There seems to be some considerable depth in the defensive midfield position, which is very good for Nigeria. Hope Nigeria takes advantage of this.

hierachy of our midfielders right now in this particularl order:
1) Mikel Obi (no arguing this one, our indisputable #1until retirement)
2) Ndidi ( future captain right there, IMHO next in line to Mikel)
3) Etebo ( quality player all around, one of our key guys right now no doubt)
4) Onazi ( always a reliable player you can expect to give his 100% if called upon)
5) Ogu ( good player no doubt and a good part of the midfield...he is surprisingly a very forgettable type of player as he doesn't bring much influence like the others above him...but still a good player nontheless, and yet the most disposable of the midfield crew)
6) then potentials like Nwakali, Ejaria, etc..

Nigeria's midfield is still in flux with the only sure thing being that Mikel will start. After Mikel, Ndidi is on track to develop into a true world class player. But he has to remain on that track and if he does, he then becomes the 2nd man in that midfield. Beyond this, a lot depends on how Rohr ends up using Mikel. Etebo and Onazi are both elite options but keep in mind that we are yet to truly ascertain where Etebo best fits into the picture. Will he be Rohr's utility man, or will he have a settled position? Keep in mind also that Rohr did not hand Onazi the captain's armband for nothing in our last friendly against Senegal. Rohr appears to really value what Onazi brings to the table on and off the pitch which I whole-heartedly agree with him. In other words, he seems to see him as a starter. So the competition is fierce.

Finally on Ogu, I wouldn't rank him that high up on our depth chart. Mind you, he is a good player and he proved himself once again with a solid outing against Senegal, but he will have to work very hard to ensure that some of our other options don't usurp him.

In your group of the forgotten no hopers, there are two players there that are still playing at the level required in the Super Eagles. In the first case Fegor Ogude will find it very difficult to get a recall given the quality of younger (and I would say better) options. In the second case Raheem Lawal, in my view, should still be in the mix. Hopefully he'll catch Rohr's attention at some point. But as I said elsewhere the competition is fierce.

[Dammy]

Mystic,
I agree with you. We seem to be developing some depth in a key area where its been lacking for many years.

The way I see it, there are four (4) main buckets:
A: Mikel Obi (being the grandfather), Wilfred Ndidi, Oghene Etebo and Eddy Onazi. These 4 are your mainstay players.
B: Mikel Agu, John Ogu, Anderson Esiti and Uche Agbo. These are your European based players who have shown spurts of being capable, but are of a lower cadre compared to the 'A' listers.
C: Hope Akpan, Fegor Ogude, Raheem Lawal and Ramon Azeez. These are the forgotten bunch (or should I say, no hopers).
D: Nwakali, Ejaria (if he decides to play for Nigeria). These are the young bucks who seem to have enough potential to leap into the A category. However, time will tell.

There seems to be some considerable depth in the defensive midfield position, which is very good for Nigeria. Hope Nigeria takes advantage of this.

hierachy of our midfielders right now in this particularl order:
1) Mikel Obi (no arguing this one, our indisputable #1until retirement)
2) Ndidi ( future captain right there, IMHO next in line to Mikel)
3) Etebo ( quality player all around, one of our key guys right now no doubt)
4) Onazi ( always a reliable player you can expect to give his 100% if called upon)
5) Ogu ( good player no doubt and a good part of the midfield...he is surprisingly a very forgettable type of player as he doesn't bring much influence like the others above him...but still a good player nontheless, and yet the most disposable of the midfield crew)
6) then potentials like Nwakali, Ejaria, etc..

Nigeria's midfield is still in flux with the only sure thing being that Mikel will start. After Mikel, Ndidi is on track to develop into a true world class player. But he has to remain on that track and if he does, he then becomes the 2nd man in that midfield. Beyond this, a lot depends on how Rohr ends up using Mikel. Etebo and Onazi are both elite options but keep in mind that we are yet to truly ascertain where Etebo best fits into the picture. Will he be Rohr's utility man, or will he have a settled position? Keep in mind also that Rohr did not hand Onazi the captain's armband for nothing in our last friendly against Senegal. Rohr appears to really value what Onazi brings to the table on and off the pitch which I whole-heartedly agree with him. In other words, he seems to see him as a starter. So the competition is fierce.

Finally on Ogu, I wouldn't rank him that high up on our depth chart. Mind you, he is a good player and he proved himself once again with a solid outing against Senegal, but he will have to work very hard to ensure that some of our other options don't usurp him.

So Arsenal's Alex Iwobi is no longer among Nigeria's elite midfielders?

[Otitokoro]

Focus was on primarily on Central/Defensive midfield options.
Iwobi, in a 4-3-3 formation which Nigeria tends to play, usually operates off the flanks and not the middle.
If you want to add him in the mix, no worries.

Mystic,
I agree with you. We seem to be developing some depth in a key area where its been lacking for many years.
play
The way I see it, there are four (4) main buckets:
A: Mikel Obi (being the grandfather), Wilfred Ndidi, Oghene Etebo and Eddy Onazi. These 4 are your mainstay players.
B: Mikel Agu, John Ogu, Anderson Esiti and Uche Agbo. These are your European based players who have shown spurts of being capable, but are of a lower cadre compared to the 'A' listers.
C: Hope Akpan, Fegor Ogude, Raheem Lawal and Ramon Azeez. These are the forgotten bunch (or should I say, no hopers).
D: Nwakali, Ejaria (if he decides to play for Nigeria). These are the young bucks who seem to have enough potential to leap into the A category. However, time will tell.

There seems to be some considerable depth in the defensive midfield position, which is very good for Nigeria. Hope Nigeria takes advantage of this.

hierachy of our midfielders right now in this particularl order:
1) Mikel Obi (no arguing this one, our indisputable #1until retirement)
2) Ndidi ( future captain right there, IMHO next in line to Mikel)
3) Etebo ( quality player all around, one of our key guys right now no doubt)
4) Onazi ( always a reliable player you can expect to give his 100% if called upon)
5) Ogu ( good player no doubt and a good part of the midfield...he is surprisingly a very forgettable type of player as he doesn't bring much influence like the others above him...but still a good player nontheless, and yet the most disposable of the midfield crew)
6) then potentials like Nwakali, Ejaria, etc..

Nigeria's midfield is still in flux with the only sure thing being that Mikel will start. After Mikel, Ndidi is on track to develop into a true world class player. But he has to remain on that track and if he does, he then becomes the 2nd man in that midfield. Beyond this, a lot depends on how Rohr ends up using Mikel. Etebo and Onazi are both elite options but keep in mind that we are yet to truly ascertain where Etebo best fits into the picture. Will he be Rohr's utility man, or will he have a settled position? Keep in mind also that Rohr did not hand Onazi the captain's armband for nothing in our last friendly against Senegal. Rohr appears to really value what Onazi brings to the table on and off the pitch which I whole-heartedly agree with him. In other words, he seems to see him as a starter. So the competition is fierce.

Finally on Ogu, I wouldn't rank him that high up on our depth chart. Mind you, he is a good player and he proved himself once again with a solid outing against Senegal, but he will have to work very hard to ensure that some of our other options don't usurp him.

So Arsenal's Alex Iwobi is no longer among Nigeria's elite midfielders?