7 Questions: As The Super Eagles Lose To South Africa
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Super Eagles Loss To South Africa: A Timely Awakening
b]Super Eagles Loss To South Africa: A Timely Awakening[/b]
Nigeria’s Super Eagles went into the game against South Africa brimming with confidence and self-assuredness, one that Nigerian soccer fans cued into and took to heart whole heartedly
And why not?
For one we had never lost a competitive fixture to the South Africans . . . http://www.soccerassembly.com/super-eag ... awakening/
Nigeria’s Super Eagles went into the game against South Africa brimming with confidence and self-assuredness, one that Nigerian soccer fans cued into and took to heart whole heartedly
And why not?
For one we had never lost a competitive fixture to the South Africans . . . http://www.soccerassembly.com/super-eag ... awakening/
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EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA
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- Posts: 29665
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7 Questions: As The Super Eagles Lose To South Africa
Nigerias’ Super Eagles suffered their 1st loss under Gernot Rohr losing in embarrassing fashion to South Africa at home in Uyo.
Despite all the hype and positivity going into the match the Super Eagles came up short when it mattered most.
What really went wrong with this once very promising Super Eagles team?
We ask ourselves some very direct questions
1)Did we err by dropping Omeruo for Chidozie
Many a pundit raised an eyebrow when the young Porto CB was selected ahead of Omeruo in the absence of Leon Balogun. Against the south Africans Chidozie Awaziems inexperience seemed to come to the fore. Was his starting an obvious goof from Rohr?
2)Did we miss Mikel
One evidently un-composed and ineffective area of the Super Eagles was the midfield. There were no long passes, everthing was hurried and lacked precision, no calming effect like we have become accustomed to, no strings were being pulled in the middle. No one was controlling the game for Nigeria. All these are synonymous with the ex Chelsea star Mikel Obi. Did we miss him, his unique abilities and his leadership quality ?
Was the Captain Mikel Missed?
Was the Captain Mikel Missed?
3)Should we begin to worry about Rohr
Rohr has for long been the toast of Nigerian fans and deservedly too as he hadn’t lost since taking charge of the team. Moreso he semed to understand the terrain, the politics and have all the answers. We also appreciated his drive to bring in fresh young talent to the Eagles. But against South Africa he appeared to have been out maneuvered by Staurt Baxter and had no ready response. It’s still early days yet but should we begin to worry about just how good our coach really is?
4)Have we got it wrong playing Iheanacho as a 9
The debate on Iheanachos best position has been endless, both for club and country and while he has delivered the goods leading the line by himself on many occasions for the Eagles, against South Africa he stuck out like a sore thumb. While it could be down to the support he received we need to be sure and decide once and for all where and how to get the best out of this immensely talented footballer
5)Is it time to swallow our pride and recall Vincent Enyeama
Let’s not mince words. Akpeyi had a very poor game against South Africa. Rohr had been skeptical and long toyed with the idea of bringing the self exiled Enyeama back. Ikeme is a very capable hand but when he is injured with most times is very often we do not have a capable replacement. Time to pull out the stops and get Enyeama back?
Time to bring Enyeama back?
Time to bring Enyeama back?
6)Were we too hasty dropping the China based strikers
Gernot Rohr initially considered inviting one of the China based strikers in Odion Ighalo or Brown Ideye to the team but opted out last minute and settled for youth. That decision might have back fired as it seemed like we lacked a real physical presence up front. The young strikers might be fast and exciting but do they have the presence the older ones have?
7)Where best to place Etebo & Iwobi?
Oghenekaro Etebo is an immensely talented footballer but an enigma of sorts. His versatility while a blessing can also be hindrance if not used appropriately
Siasia seems to be the only man to have gotten the best out of Etebo playing him as he did at the Olympics as a wide forward. His 4 goals in one game are a testimony to that
Now he seems to be deployed in the centre while Iwobi who might have thrived in the middle is played wide.
Are we getting the mix right in the middle? Is Etebo the right man to pull the strings from the Centre? Are we really clear on how best to use him?
http://www.soccerassembly.com/7-questio ... th-africa/
Five takeaways from Super Eagles' loss to Bafana Bafana
Five takeaways from Super Eagles' loss to Bafana Bafana
Nigeria opened their 2019 African Nations Cup qualifying in disastrous fashion on Saturday night when they lost at home.
What's worse is that they suffered the defeat to South Africa, a team they had never lost to in half-a-century of competitive football between the two countries.
The defeat is a body blow to Nigeria's qualification hopes, but not a fatal one. When they lost to Congo in 2015, the Super Eagles still had a chance of qualifying right up until the last day, and would have done so with a win over Bafana Bafana at home. It is the same now.
Here are our five takeaways from the match.
EXPERIENCE NEEDED
Much has been made of Gernot Rohr's young squad, and that is by no means a bad thing. A squad with an average age of around 23 is great to have, especially for the long-term health and stability of the national team.
However, youth must have some age and experience to guide them and, on Saturday, Nigeria lacked both.
Elderson Echiejile and Ogenyi Onazi were the two oldest players in the team. Echiejile has been in and out of the national team, and Onazi is only 24, with not enough caps under his belt. Neither provided the leadership a game of that nature was crying out for. Awaziem is a young centre-back with great potential, but his inexperience showed in key situations.
In midfield, the team needed a calm head to offer direction and find solutions to South Africa's play. They did not have it.
That lack of organisational discipline in midfield led to the second goal. Two players should have taken responsibility for picking up Percy Tau when Nigeria attacked during that free-kick. Unfortunately one was too far in front, and the other was too far wide rather than stick by the man. Once the ball broke, neither was close enough.
Hopefully, the return of John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Carl Ikeme will change things.
RESOLVE GOALKEEPING ISSUES, ENYEAMA MUST COME BACK
First of all, Daniel Akpeyi should not take all of the responsibility for the two goals. His defence let him down, with organisational breakdowns leading to both the first and second goals. But the reason he picks up the bulk of the blame is that it is in moments like those that a truly quality goalkeeper steps up to prove himself.
For the first goal, Rantie was all alone after Ogenyi Onazi failed to stop a cross and Chidozie Awaziem misjudged his defensive header.
A better goalkeeper would have been quick to read the danger and attack the ball. Instead, Akpeyi stayed rooted to his line. Once Rantie made a connection with the ball, it was too late.
For the second, he again failed to read the danger, then made the wrong decision when he came face to face with Percy Tau. If he stood his ground, he would have been first to the ball when the striker played it around him. Instead, he went down trying too early.
Gernot Rohr needs to resolve the goalkeeping situation and fast. Reports from within the camp suggest that Akpeyi is done. Carl Ikeme is expected to return ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Cameroon. But with his unfortunate injury record, that is not a given.
Dele Alampasu is a talented young goalkeeper, but as Saturday's game showed, experience is required in key areas. Ikechukwu Ezenwa could be a good option, but he is not the perfect option.
Getting Vincent Enyeama back to the national team must now be a priority. Rohr has spoken to him, and even visited him in France. It is time to stress on him the importance of returning to the national side. His quality and experience will be desperately needed if Nigeria are to qualify for the World Cup.
HEADS MUST ROLL FOR BALL FIASCO
Many were surprised to see 'RSA' inked on the match balls. The reason being that Nigeria did not have the new CAF balls because their consignment has been stuck at the ports since January without being cleared.
As a result, the game was played with the match balls borrowed from the South African team. The Super Eagles only got to touch those balls during the warm-ups!
If the NFF are serious, they must take action on this ball snafu. Whoever is responsible for not getting those balls out must be take responsibility and either resign or be fired. There is no other solution.
IHEANACHO IS NOT A TARGET MAN
Prior to this game, Kelechi Iheanacho had scored eight goals in 10 internationals, but South Africa's tactics meant he was not only closed down quickly, but mostly isolated for the majority of the game. Which is where the strength and hold up play of experienced strikers like Odion Ighalo and Brown Ideye would have been handy.
Iheanacho did not win a single aerial challenge in or around the area. Neither did anyone else around him.
The team needed a change in tactics to add a second striker in. Rohr was slow to react, but eventually did with the introduction of Victor Osimhen and Kayode Olanrewaju. But by then it was almost too late, and although the attack perked up a bit after, they could not find the breakthrough and the all-out attack opened up space at the back for Bafana to exploit.
Rohr talked about trying out both 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 formations during the team's training in France. He should have switched much earlier.
SETBACK NOT DEATH SENTENCE
There is no sugar coating this - losing at home is a disaster. It should not happen, and all of the administrators in the NFF, the team officials and the players must take responsibility. They let themselves down and they let the country down.
But the game is in the past. Short of inventing a time machine and going back to replay the game, there is nothing to be done about it. What they can do something about though, is the next game against Cameroon in August/September, and the remaining five qualifiers next year.
There are six World Cup qualifying points on offer in September, and 15 African Nations Cup points still to play for next year.
As the 2015 qualifiers showed, an opening day loss is a body wound, not a fatal blow. Winning a minimum of four and maximum of all five remaining games still gets Nigeria to the Nations Cup, either as one of three best losers, or as group winners.
Make no mistake, this team - with the addition of some or all of the missing players - are capable of winning all of those games, including the return fixture in South Africa. But only if the team pick themselves up, learn the lessons from this setback and use it as a springboard to do better.
http://kwese.espn.com/football/club/nig ... ana-bafana
Nigeria opened their 2019 African Nations Cup qualifying in disastrous fashion on Saturday night when they lost at home.
What's worse is that they suffered the defeat to South Africa, a team they had never lost to in half-a-century of competitive football between the two countries.
The defeat is a body blow to Nigeria's qualification hopes, but not a fatal one. When they lost to Congo in 2015, the Super Eagles still had a chance of qualifying right up until the last day, and would have done so with a win over Bafana Bafana at home. It is the same now.
Here are our five takeaways from the match.
EXPERIENCE NEEDED
Much has been made of Gernot Rohr's young squad, and that is by no means a bad thing. A squad with an average age of around 23 is great to have, especially for the long-term health and stability of the national team.
However, youth must have some age and experience to guide them and, on Saturday, Nigeria lacked both.
Elderson Echiejile and Ogenyi Onazi were the two oldest players in the team. Echiejile has been in and out of the national team, and Onazi is only 24, with not enough caps under his belt. Neither provided the leadership a game of that nature was crying out for. Awaziem is a young centre-back with great potential, but his inexperience showed in key situations.
In midfield, the team needed a calm head to offer direction and find solutions to South Africa's play. They did not have it.
That lack of organisational discipline in midfield led to the second goal. Two players should have taken responsibility for picking up Percy Tau when Nigeria attacked during that free-kick. Unfortunately one was too far in front, and the other was too far wide rather than stick by the man. Once the ball broke, neither was close enough.
Hopefully, the return of John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Carl Ikeme will change things.
RESOLVE GOALKEEPING ISSUES, ENYEAMA MUST COME BACK
First of all, Daniel Akpeyi should not take all of the responsibility for the two goals. His defence let him down, with organisational breakdowns leading to both the first and second goals. But the reason he picks up the bulk of the blame is that it is in moments like those that a truly quality goalkeeper steps up to prove himself.
For the first goal, Rantie was all alone after Ogenyi Onazi failed to stop a cross and Chidozie Awaziem misjudged his defensive header.
A better goalkeeper would have been quick to read the danger and attack the ball. Instead, Akpeyi stayed rooted to his line. Once Rantie made a connection with the ball, it was too late.
For the second, he again failed to read the danger, then made the wrong decision when he came face to face with Percy Tau. If he stood his ground, he would have been first to the ball when the striker played it around him. Instead, he went down trying too early.
Gernot Rohr needs to resolve the goalkeeping situation and fast. Reports from within the camp suggest that Akpeyi is done. Carl Ikeme is expected to return ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Cameroon. But with his unfortunate injury record, that is not a given.
Dele Alampasu is a talented young goalkeeper, but as Saturday's game showed, experience is required in key areas. Ikechukwu Ezenwa could be a good option, but he is not the perfect option.
Getting Vincent Enyeama back to the national team must now be a priority. Rohr has spoken to him, and even visited him in France. It is time to stress on him the importance of returning to the national side. His quality and experience will be desperately needed if Nigeria are to qualify for the World Cup.
HEADS MUST ROLL FOR BALL FIASCO
Many were surprised to see 'RSA' inked on the match balls. The reason being that Nigeria did not have the new CAF balls because their consignment has been stuck at the ports since January without being cleared.
As a result, the game was played with the match balls borrowed from the South African team. The Super Eagles only got to touch those balls during the warm-ups!
If the NFF are serious, they must take action on this ball snafu. Whoever is responsible for not getting those balls out must be take responsibility and either resign or be fired. There is no other solution.
IHEANACHO IS NOT A TARGET MAN
Prior to this game, Kelechi Iheanacho had scored eight goals in 10 internationals, but South Africa's tactics meant he was not only closed down quickly, but mostly isolated for the majority of the game. Which is where the strength and hold up play of experienced strikers like Odion Ighalo and Brown Ideye would have been handy.
Iheanacho did not win a single aerial challenge in or around the area. Neither did anyone else around him.
The team needed a change in tactics to add a second striker in. Rohr was slow to react, but eventually did with the introduction of Victor Osimhen and Kayode Olanrewaju. But by then it was almost too late, and although the attack perked up a bit after, they could not find the breakthrough and the all-out attack opened up space at the back for Bafana to exploit.
Rohr talked about trying out both 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 formations during the team's training in France. He should have switched much earlier.
SETBACK NOT DEATH SENTENCE
There is no sugar coating this - losing at home is a disaster. It should not happen, and all of the administrators in the NFF, the team officials and the players must take responsibility. They let themselves down and they let the country down.
But the game is in the past. Short of inventing a time machine and going back to replay the game, there is nothing to be done about it. What they can do something about though, is the next game against Cameroon in August/September, and the remaining five qualifiers next year.
There are six World Cup qualifying points on offer in September, and 15 African Nations Cup points still to play for next year.
As the 2015 qualifiers showed, an opening day loss is a body wound, not a fatal blow. Winning a minimum of four and maximum of all five remaining games still gets Nigeria to the Nations Cup, either as one of three best losers, or as group winners.
Make no mistake, this team - with the addition of some or all of the missing players - are capable of winning all of those games, including the return fixture in South Africa. But only if the team pick themselves up, learn the lessons from this setback and use it as a springboard to do better.
http://kwese.espn.com/football/club/nig ... ana-bafana