Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The bad

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My thoughts on this great Victory

Post by vancity eagle »

there is still a lot of work to be done let us be honest.

1. Akpeyi should have played his last match for Nigeria and hopefully last time he will ever be in camp.

2. Ebuehi had a wonderful game, biggest surprise for me. Played better than Shehu today and will give him a run for his money. Great defensively and joined the attack nicely.

3. Iwobi is a gauranteed starter regardless of tactics we employ. I knew that the poor pitches were holding his game back, it is no surprise he has come to the party the first proper pitch we play on. He has also bulked up quite a bit and has a lot of speed where previously I thought he wasn't the quickest. I think Rohr needs to try him as our AM. He has great vision, technique, passing, dribbling, goal threat and pace, he is the perfect AM.

4. Ogu despite a good game against Algeria is not it. I said before he is too slow to be playing at the same time as Mikel, and this game showed it. I am surprised Rohr did not see this and make the necessary changes, as Argentina had far too much space in the midfield. We could have used Etebo's hustle in this match. Mikel and Ogu together is a disaster.

5. Uzoho looked class and seems far better than Ezenwa or Crackpeyi. He needs to be tested more and he should be our number one until Enyeama comes back. We need to look at Daniel because Akpeyi is fiinished.

6. Nacho is great at set pieces, and did well to provide an assist, but a lot of his play is sloppy with misplaced passes and poor touch, yet he is an asset on the pitch because of his shot. I still prefer Ighalo as a lone striker, and am still wondering how best to utilize his talent.

7. Idowu despite the goal I didn't notice much, I will watch him closely again. But he seems better than Echijele, who I think should now be finished as a SE player unless we get injuries. His ability to play anywhere in defence is also a plus.

8. Rohr is a great coach, but still a little conservative for my liking, and I dont know what his problem with Onyekuru seems to be, unless he has concluded that Onyekuru is in the mix there is no justification to not give him more opportunity than he was given.

9. Not yet sold on the 532. It seemed to be messing up our defence in the first half but it worked well in the 2nd. We were a totally different team in the 2nd half.

10. It was a pleasure to see us composed in the final third instead of the usual pot shots from anywhere on the pitch. The guys played intelligent in the Argies box. Even Musa looked up and laid a pass to Iwobi, where Musa of old would have shot or dribbled aimlessly. Rohr seems to have brought German efficiency to this team.
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Re: My thoughts on this great Victory

Post by danfo driver »

vancity eagle wrote:
4. Ogu despite a good game against Algeria is not it. I said before he is too slow to be playing at the same time as Mikel, and this game showed it. I am surprised Rohr did not see this and make the necessary changes, as Argentina had far too much space in the midfield. We could have used Etebo's hustle in this match. Mikel and Ogu together is a disaster.

From a tactical perspective, Rohr got it right and your recommendation would have been quite disastrous. The way we played, what we needed was a player that is positionally good. Not necessarily an aggressive player like Etebo. With Etebo, Rohr's plan would have failed spectacularly! Argentina controlled possession, and with Etebo running around, they'd have just passed the ball around him. Ogu's positional discipline helped our shape. And thats what the coach wants.

Incidentally, the coach's decision led us to a 4-2 victory. I suspect that is the point of everything. Winning?
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metalalloy wrote: Does the SE have Gray, Mahrez or Albrighton on our team or players of their caliber?
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Re: My thoughts on this great Victory

Post by danfo driver »

vancity eagle wrote:
5. Uzoho looked class and seems far better than Ezenwa or Crackpeyi. He needs to be tested more and he should be our number one until Enyeama comes back. We need to look at Daniel because Akpeyi is fiinished.
.

When last did you watch Daniel?
"it is better to be excited now and disappointed later, than it is to be disappointed now and later." - Marcus Aurelius, 178AD
metalalloy wrote: Does the SE have Gray, Mahrez or Albrighton on our team or players of their caliber?
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Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The bad

Post by deanotito »

The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

Conclusion: We have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Last edited by deanotito on Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Tobi17 »

Boss even Conte struggled playing a new system and formation until he won the premier league title with Chelsea, we struggled with the new system because our players simply weren't used to it, but in the second half I saw a lot to suggest we can actually do well in the new formation
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by kali »

deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
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Reviewing the Victory Over Argentina: System + Ratings

Post by Enugu II »

The 4-2 come back win in Russia against Argentina is an important marker. To come back from being 0-2 and being overrun by a top team like Argentina is remarkable. That should never be underestimated. Besides that marker, Rohr's decision to test the 3-5-2 formation is work in progress but there are indeed promises. As we saw after Nigeria went up 3-2, the defensive benefits from that formation proved important as it frustrated the Argentines repeatedly. It is likely that Rohr will call up that formation at critical moments at the World Cup.
Daniel Akpeyi (1) -- 6.0 -- Made two blunders but overall was steady and made two important saves to keep the Argentines at bay. The first blunder appeared as if he perceived that Di Maria had been whistled off sides and he prepared to take the kick but as Aguero intervened, he picked up the ball leading to a ferric call. The second was a poor left foot clearance that could have cost Nigeria as it hit an attacker before going into throw in.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Goldleaf »

deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
John Ogu will easily pick up a red card with his reckless tackles. He reminds me of Austin Eguavoen. However, it appears Rohr likes what he sees in him so will take him to Russia come what may.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Goldleaf »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
John Ogu will easily pick up a red card with his reckless tackles. He reminds me of Austin Eguavoen. However, it appears Rohr likes what he sees in him so will take him to Russia come what may.
I agree. I actually think Rohr may only favour Ogu at the moment because of his size and physicality, but Ogu does not bring that physicality to play in a useful way. Egu too was big and clumsy never utilising his physicality but just attracting trouble.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by heavyd »

kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by maceo4 »

Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
Hmmm, brought this up numerously, his lack of mobility is a huge problem, he doesn't put himself about just sits waiting for the outlet pass to start moving forward, but as a DM on the national team that's not good enough, you have to help retrieve the ball. When the AM Mikel runs around and chases down more than you, then something is up.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by DAgrin »

heavyd wrote:
kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
I totally agree with you.
I noticed that,too.
Too often does Mikel slow down the pace and inhibit our counter attacking potential.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by rdokoye »

Dictating the tempo of the game is always a good thing, it allows the team-mates to settle down, and take up better positions on the pitch.

Aina and Shehu were terrible in the first half. They may have been able to keep Algeria out, but against Argentina they were found wanting. Argentina thoroughly exploited the flanks, all their attacks came from both sides. Aina was constantly out of position and Shehu isn't much of a tackler.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by maceo4 »

DAgrin wrote:
heavyd wrote:
kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
I totally agree with you.
I noticed that,too.
Too often does Mikel slow down the pace and inhibit our counter attacking potential.
Yep, he overdid the shielding thing, I've gotten used to just ignoring it, but it can be super frustrating esp when there are passing options. Its like he has to prove to the other players that you can't take this ball from me, but problem is he's going backwards and not really hurting them, only creating the potential for them to possibly nick it off him.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Mr Shows »

maceo4 wrote:
DAgrin wrote:
heavyd wrote:
kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
I totally agree with you.
I noticed that,too.
Too often does Mikel slow down the pace and inhibit our counter attacking potential.
Yep, he overdid the shielding thing, I've gotten used to just ignoring it, but it can be super frustrating esp when there are passing options. Its like he has to prove to the other players that you can't take this ball from me, but problem is he's going backwards and not really hurting them, only creating the potential for them to possibly nick it off him.

This is a trademark Mikel move and it can be a bit frustrating watching him doing that all the time, trying to draw a foul. When he plays in the advanced AM position it kills off any quick build up. That said Mikel is Mikel and his role in orchestrating things in the middle is priceless. The logic in the madness is that it often draws players, making them to double up on him which frees up space for attackers to run into.

Interestingly only Ogu shows that measure of calmness and ability to keep thing simple, unfortunately he doesn't have the same class as Mikel.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA »

Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
Ol boy, u watch the game but u don’t know the game. Just stick to Arsenal v Chelsea opaking :laugh:
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Bigpokey24 »

heavyd wrote:
kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
get lost you clueless football watcher, are you that shallow in football..Argentina had the lion share of possession, Nigeria was struggling to hold possession, Mikel is one of the most intelligent footballer ever, When he shields the ball he takes the pressure of our team.. go and watch the game,. he got fouled so many time which was good for us ..some of you watch football with zero tactical sense
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Dammy »

John Ogu is a player that the SE squad and staff have a lot of affection for. He gets on very well with everyone and you could see from how the whole squad celebrated his goal against Algeria. When he was recalled to the SE by Rohr for the friendlies in London against Senegal and Burkina Faso, Leon Balogun went on twitter to say how happy he was that Ogu was back in the squad. However, is that enough to take him to the WC? To have played 180 minutes in both matches against Algeria and Argentina while Agbo, another DM, did not get a minute shows that he must be doing something that Rohr likes. Unlike Nwakaeme, he seems to have taken his chance just like Idowu, Uzoho and Ebuehi have done.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by Gotti »

EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:
Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
Ol boy, u watch the game but u don’t know the game. Just stick to Arsenal v Chelsea opaking :laugh:
:agree: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

No idea what Bros Goldleaf and Maceo were watching (let’s excuse Ayo because he probably could not pick out our players in a lineup), but John Ogu put in another good shift last night.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by deanotito »

Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
This may be true, and I still won't start him before Onazi....HOWEVER, I was rating play based on this game...and he hardly put a foot wrong...In fact, he surprised me
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by deanotito »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
Goldleaf wrote:
deanotito wrote:The Excellent
Ekong
Ebuehi
Ndidi
Idowu

The Good
Awaziem
Shehu
Uzoho
Aina (tough call here)
Omeruo
Mikel
Iwobi (tough one here)
Iheanacho
Musa
Ogu

The Average
Balogun (if i didn’t know better, I’d think he was injured)


The Bad
Keeper wey no sabi wetin 18 yard box be


3-5-2
I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.

On Aina....I called him out as being crappy vs Algeria, but even in the game, i recognized his superior marking ability. He showed it in this game again...He knows how to follow a player with the ball,and time a tackle...but other parts of his game weren’t that outstanding. But in general, played better than he did vs Algeria

But in general, we have a Team!!!! Apart from the goalkeeper issue, Rohr has fixed personnel gaps with good/technical players. Looking forward to the WC
Remove John Ogu from the good list. John Ogu does not have the engine to function as a DM in the SE. Unlike Ndidi and Mikel, who go and win the ball and are very good at it, JOhn Ogu backs off until the ball is passed away from his sphere. At best, John is a squad player and a natural AM. He is NOT a ball winner!
John Ogu will easily pick up a red card with his reckless tackles. He reminds me of Austin Eguavoen. However, it appears Rohr likes what he sees in him so will take him to Russia come what may.
I pretty much agree with you. Eguavoen always comes to mind when I see Ogu....but in this game, he was good.
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Re: Nigeria v Arg: The Excellent, The Good, The Average, The

Post by deanotito »

heavyd wrote:
kali wrote:
deanotito wrote: I’m not a fan yet. I think Iwobi and Iheanacho would have a hard time against a back 4/5 in a competitive match. Maybe Vic Mo and Ighalo would have fared better but Kele and Iwobi were often isolated ...especially in the first half, and they lack the prowess and technical ability to handle that many defenders. Maybe the full backs weren’t overlapping as they should, and maybe Rohr would like to use Vic Mo in the same way he is used for Chelsea...so I’ll keep an open mind. But the first half of that game was instructive. The argies closed down Mikel quick and isolated Iheanacho and Iwobi...with nothing being produced from the wing backs, it wasn’t looking good. They could have killed us off in the first half.

I don’t mean to take away from our 2nd half display and I’ll give the eagles credit for playing in a system they weren’t used to....But i saw too much isolation of Kele and Iwobi in the 1st half...and a pretty clinical choking off of Mikel.
Of course they were going to close off Mikel. All the tapes they watched they saw him as the playmaker for the team. What Argentina did is what other teams are going to do. Nigeria will have to have a plan B attacking strategy. The good thing is that Iwobi, Iheanacho, Moses, Moses Simon, Ighalo are all players that can slot into different attacking roles. You can see that Iwobi's major strength is his ability to work in small spaces. He could very easily be transplated into a box number 9 striker. Iheanacho can also very easily slot into the Mikel creative role. I wouldn't be worried about Nigeria's attack. We can go wide or we can go through the middle. Goals at the qualifiers came from at least 5 or 6 players. That is what you want - distributed scorers.

Where Rohr quite rightly is putting his focus is on the defence. Every top team is now playing the half field counter. You have to be very positionally disciplined and quick to recover against the Brazil's, Frances and Germanys of the world. You have to be able to stop the attack right from defensive midfield. You have to be able to close down penetrating passes down the wings. He is finding out the strengths and weaknesses of players to adapt to these quicker attacking blitzes. Balogun and Aina struggled but Idowu and Ebuehi did better. I am sure he will be looking at more options before finalizing his team.

At the World Cup luckily for Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands did not qualify. That leaves 5 teams with World Cup prowess (Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain). I would suggest that Nigeria organizes a friendly with the Netherlands and Italy to shore up its weaknesses. We should also look for a friendly with any of the dark horses of the tournament:

- Uruguay
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Portugal
- England
I am worried about Mikel. He is no doubt a quality player but He still has the annoying habit of holding on to the ball too long. He seems to want to try to prove a point that he can shield the ball from anyone for no particular reason. Even though he is quite good at it there were times when had drawn players to him creating space for teammates but he held on too long and either the chance was lost or he was dispossessed.

There was also a moment (many moments actually) in particularly when Aina was bursting into space on the right and all he needed to do was play a ball into the space and Aina would have been past the Argentine defence. He really needs to play these balls quicker. Rohr should have a word with him.
Mikel has this go-to calling card when he is with the ball. He holds it, tries to shield it, and waits for the opposition to foul him. The problem with it is that referees don't always cooperate...by my count, its 50-50. When he gets dispossessed in the areas he gets dispossessed (which is usually after what he would consider a foul), if the referee doesn't blow, the team is under instant pressure.
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