Balogun played terribly yesterday

[anikulapo]

Those 6 or 7 minutes of jitteriness would have been punished by better opposition
I've always maintained he is the junior partner in the ekong balogun partnership
Ekong is a better defender and a more appropriate choice for captain

What????

[okidoki]

Truth is that he was playing like someone, playing in a mask for the first time. Aside controling the ball badly, he seemed not to realize what was coming behind him at least twice in the early minutes. I would say its a combination of the mask first, the bumpy field, and the pressure of being captain, in that order.

[maceo4]

Mask + Captains band weighed on him, I think this is even his first time playing a real match with that mask. I think he'll be fine as long as he's getting consistent time at his club.

[wale1974]

Those 6 or 7 minutes of jitteriness would have been punished by better opposition
I've always maintained he is the junior partner in the ekong balogun partnership
Ekong is a better defender and a more appropriate choice for captain

What????

[Cito]

Those 6 or 7 minutes of jitteriness would have been punished by better opposition
I've always maintained he is the junior partner in the ekong balogun partnership
Ekong is a better defender and a more appropriate choice for captain

What????

[dhoney]

This is just so stoopid

(1) Did you not notice he was wearing a mask?
(2) The mask weighed him down
(3) I'm not even sure it was the real Balogun behind the mask
(4) He is always isolated because he's German
(5) If he wasn't German, he would have played better
(6) His fair skin amplified his mistakes
(7) If he were darker, he would have blended into the environment and his mistakes would not have been easily picked
(8) I know you noticed that he took his mask off in anger, which means you're a good coach
(9) He would probably be better as a wrestler judging by the way he was tackling
(10) You'll be very dishonest if you let this fly over your head.

..Ultra-stupid

[jungle-jawara]

Na was oh, u guys didn't notice he was very uncomfortable with the mask on? Even not playing well the first couple minutes didn't give it up? Okay, for size let's try this. When there was the fracas you most have notice him taking off his mask. Dude will be fine, u should let me get back his fitness,

[1naija]

How come people criticized so many players yesterday but exonerated the worse outfield player apart from Ezenwa. Balogun was absolutely horrible yesterday. I didn’t know that his very uncomfortable with the ball at his feet. I hope it’s because of that facial mask because we cannot afford such a poor performance from our center back. Chidozie needs to keep working hard who knows the future. Anyway, Balogun can be forgiven for being our best defender at previous matches

Didnt know there was this many ondo state people on this board . Posting after harvesting the state cash crop is not recommended.

[danfo driver]

"arm band weighed him down!"

"mask weighed him down"

"his ikebe weighed him down"

oh! please! It was a terrible pitch! In a very hostile stadium where his team was whistled! Absolutely nothing out of place that he will be jittery in the first few minutes before he calms down. To put it in perspective:

Balogun
Aina
Ndidi
Etebo
Iheanacho
Iwobi

were all very jittery at the beginning. sheeeeshhhh!!! Dit they all get weighed down by arm bands and masks??

This was a fantastic experience because we need our players to experience more difficulties like this between now and the world cup.

[Ayo Akinfe]

I think it is fair to conclude that Rohr has settled for Balogun and Ekong as his central defensive partnership. He will now have to work in then.

Have you noticed that they seldom have brilliant matches together? One always tends to bail the other out.

[mapet]

He played terribly in the opening 6 or 7 minutes but recovered well and was pretty good after that. Very assured defender.

This is my opinion too

[wiseone]

Balogun was absolutely shocking in the first 15 minutes. He was as steady as a deer caught in headlights. His first touch and distribution were abysmal. He reached Furo Iyenemi and Gbenga Okunowo levels of bad.

[maceo4]

Balogun was absolutely shocking in the first 15 minutes. He was as steady as a deer caught in headlights. His first touch and distribution were abysmal. He reached Furo Iyenemi and Gbenga Okunowo levels of bad.

Now you are overdoing it, I mean come on, at least he cleared the ball out whenever he got into trouble.

[wiseone]

He was awful in that first 15. Kept mis-controlling the ball, and getting himself into trouble.

Now you are overdoing it, I mean come on, at least he cleared the ball out whenever he got into trouble.

[nzeogwu]

Jittery, weighed down Blah blah. Let's go by pure facts. We have had Okoronkwo/West, Keshi/Okechukwu, West/Okechukwu, Chukwu/Bamidele, Keshi/ Eboigbe and even pretenders like Iyenimi/West.

No central defense pair in Nigerian history has limited the opposition to a maximum of a goal a game. Last time I checked, we have changed full backs and keepers. Baling and Ejong on statistics are the most effective tandem in Nigerian history, so far.

Let's see if Arentina score two or more.

[truetalk]

Jittery, weighed down Blah blah. Let's go by pure facts. We have had Okoronkwo/West, Keshi/Okechukwu, West/Okechukwu, Chukwu/Bamidele, Keshi/ Eboigbe and even pretenders like Iyenimi/West.

No central defense pair in Nigerian history has limited the opposition to a maximum of a goal a game. Last time I checked, we have changed full backs and keepers. Baling and Ejong on statistics are the most effective tandem in Nigerian history, so far.

Let's see if Arentina score two or more.

Not good to post right after hanging out with 1naija

[smartbrother]

Balogun + Ekong are a good central defensive partnership and but what if one of them gets injured?
Agbo Awaziem have not inspired confidence imho
We need to identify new back up central defenders fast
My top preferences would be Fikayo Tomori and Omeruo