Cybereagles

Ayo Akinfe wrote:[1] First and foremost, what hurts most about the loss is that Croatia did not do anything to deserve a win. On the balance of play and the tame performance of both teams, a 0-0 draw would have been a fair result

[2] If we had lost 0-2 to Spain, I would not have minded but Uzoho was virtually on holiday throughout the game and yet had to pick the ball out of his net twice. Very unfair result if the ask me. We were extremely unlucky. We have played worse than this and won games

[3] From what I saw, the main problem was a lack on spirit, enthusiasm and dynamism from the team going forward. Our problems were all in the last third. We failed to have one shot on target. Where this team is totally lacking is in the area of creativity

[4] Rohr's biggest failing is that he has not taken the issue of a creative playmaker seriously. I have repeatedly said that Mikel lacks the legs for the role but was called all sorts of names on this site. I hope those of you talking nonsense can now see how silly you appear. At 30, Mikel is in the twilight of his career and canot play the one-twp give and goes on the edge of the area. Even at his best, Mikel was never a fast player and lacked the urgency you are looking for in a top class playmaker

[5] I hope all of you who were disparaging my calls for Kelechi Nwakali to be our playmaker can now see how dumb you are. Can you just imagine how he would have taken the inititiative, gone past a few Croatians and had several shots at goal were he playing?

[6] Where Rohr messed up big time was taking Iwobi off instead of Mikel. He should have brought on Iheanacho to play Iwobi's tole out wide and then played Iwobi as his playmaker. A frobnt trio of Moses, Iheanacho and Ighalo with Iwobi playmaking behind them would surely have had a greater impact

[7] Rohr is also obsessed with Shehu Abdullahi and Bryan Idowu for some weird reason. In all fairness, the due performed their defensive functions well but offered us nothing going forward. I put it to you all that Tyronne Ebuehi and Joel Obi as our fullbacks would have made a huge difference. Did Abdullahi or Idowu provide one cross throughout the 90 minutes? Contrast that to the way Šime Vrsaljko was bombing forward all game

[8] William Ekong was responsible for both goals. On the first one he let Mandžukić lost him and get a header then he gave away a penalty for the second goal. Obviously Rohr had told him to mark him tighter of corners and the man got over-enthusiastic. Clearly Ekong has a problem with man-marking. We had more corners than the Croatians and never threatened them but alas, whenever we defended a corner, Ekong was in trouble. Is it too late to bring in a defensive coach to drill the boys on this?

[9] Mikel is clearly not fit as the Chinese league has been on a break and only just resumed. What Rohr should have done is get him and Igalo, to train with a European team when their league was off. This would have ensured they are fully fit for the World Cup

[10] Despite our loss, I am not going to panic and make rash and wholesale changes to our team. that would be irrational, irresponsible and tantamount to flying off the handle. For our next game, I would like to see this line-up:

****************************************ISimy*******************************************

**********************Moses****************************Iheanacho*********************

*******************************************Iwobi*****************************************

*************************Ndidi******************************Etebo***********************

***Joel*****************Balogun*********************Ekong******************Ebuehi***

******************************************Uzoho*******************************************

zee wrote:

Ayo Akinfe wrote:

TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:It is counter productive not to admit that there were various flaws in the selection:

1. Ighalo - 73 minutes and no credible shot on goal. Need I say more? Nacho, anyone?

2. Uzoho - I can’t possibly be the only one who’s observed that he reacts poorly to grounders and is often positionally unaware. He might have had a chance to save Etebo’s blunder had he been where he should have been and not rooted in the center of goal.

3. Etebo - Given that we opted to sit back, Ogu might have been a better option.

4. Idowu - A downright liability. Iwobi saved us quite a few blushes by tracking back to defend against incursions from the right flank.

5. If Moses persists with his wasteful antics of diving then replace him with Musa.

We need more experience and our best talent on the field against Iceland. That means Echiejile, Ezenwa, Ogu and ihenacho


Cheers.

God will punish you 20 times a day for suggesting we play liabilities like Ezenwa and Echiejile. If they had played yesterday, we would have lost by 5-0.

Can I please beg you to stop commenting on my threads because you are simply too damn annoying. Slow Ogu who gives fouls away needlessly. Please just go away!

chuks69 wrote:Iwobi never played the #10 in the qualifiers.. Remember against SA, in Uyo, no Mikel, Etebo was handed the #10 role, we were toothless in the attack.. Personally, I would ask the coach to go 4-4-2 and ask Mikel n Ndidi to play as Central MFs.. Striking paring of Ihenacho and Ighalo and have Iwobi and Moses on the wings..

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

Cellular wrote:In the minority here.

I won't have started Iwobi. I would have started him from the bench if the intent was to play cautiously. Would have started Ahmed Musa at the other flank to provide width on both sides of the pitch. This would have created enough stress on the Croatian fullbacks and would free up Ighalo. Ighalo did his job. I have no qualms about his performance.

We actually dominated (I will say held our own) in the midfield. Didn't notice the so-called big names from Croatia. Their midfielders did a lot of defending and didn't play a lot in our own half.

Now, if we must accommodate Iwobi we should change formation to accommodate him. Like his uncle JJ early on in his intentional career, he is not good enough to start in a 442 with the present personnel. If I were to use two strikers I will play both Ighalo and Ihenacho at the same time.

Back to coaching. We casual fans have identified each of our opponents good headers of the ball... both in friendlies and in the first game of the World Cup. What are our scouts and coaches doing? We should not be arrogant to mark them one-on-one. Double them. No shame in that.

Next game is against Iceland. We better have more options to deal with corners and freekicks.

Lastly, if VicMo doesn't want to stay on his feet he should not be starting. Referees do get a dossier on players... they know ones who throw themselves to the ground. They don't typically get the benefit of the call.

What was most annoying watching the game was that Croatia didn't play us anything that deserved the scoreline.

Cellular wrote:

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

That statement by the coach still irks me.

Enough grounds to have him fired.

Cellular wrote:In the minority here.

I won't have started Iwobi. I would have started him from the bench if the intent was to play cautiously. Would have started Ahmed Musa at the other flank to provide width on both sides of the pitch. This would have created enough stress on the Croatian fullbacks and would free up Ighalo. Ighalo did his job. I have no qualms about his performance.

We actually dominated (I will say held our own) in the midfield. Didn't notice the so-called big names from Croatia. Their midfielders did a lot of defending and didn't play a lot in our own half.

Now, if we must accommodate Iwobi we should change formation to accommodate him. Like his uncle JJ early on in his intentional career, he is not good enough to start in a 442 with the present personnel. If I were to use two strikers I will play both Ighalo and Ihenacho at the same time.

Back to coaching. We casual fans have identified each of our opponents good headers of the ball... both in friendlies and in the first game of the World Cup. What are our scouts and coaches doing? We should not be arrogant to mark them one-on-one. Double them. No shame in that.

Next game is against Iceland. We better have more options to deal with corners and freekicks.

Lastly, if VicMo doesn't want to stay on his feet he should not be starting. Referees do get a dossier on players... they know ones who throw themselves to the ground. They don't typically get the benefit of the call.

What was most annoying watching the game was that Croatia didn't play us anything that deserved the scoreline.

Cellular wrote:

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

That statement by the coach still irks me.

Enough grounds to have him fired.

wanaj0 wrote:

Cellular wrote:

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

That statement by the coach still irks me.

Enough grounds to have him fired.

But the Truth is bitter!

If Nigeria got two players playing fro RM and Barca, I am sure we will expect to win the WC.

FIFA ranking, player for player shows that the Croats should IDEALLY beat us . However, on a good day we can spring a surprise. We are not good enough. We cannot blame NFF nor blame corrupt local coaches for this one. Maybe this is just our LEVEL!

Admitting the reality may be the first step to greatness for us.

The YeyeMan wrote:

Cellular wrote:In the minority here.

I won't have started Iwobi. I would have started him from the bench if the intent was to play cautiously. Would have started Ahmed Musa at the other flank to provide width on both sides of the pitch. This would have created enough stress on the Croatian fullbacks and would free up Ighalo. Ighalo did his job. I have no qualms about his performance.

We actually dominated (I will say held our own) in the midfield. Didn't notice the so-called big names from Croatia. Their midfielders did a lot of defending and didn't play a lot in our own half.

Now, if we must accommodate Iwobi we should change formation to accommodate him. Like his uncle JJ early on in his intentional career, he is not good enough to start in a 442 with the present personnel. If I were to use two strikers I will play both Ighalo and Ihenacho at the same time.

Back to coaching. We casual fans have identified each of our opponents good headers of the ball... both in friendlies and in the first game of the World Cup. What are our scouts and coaches doing? We should not be arrogant to mark them one-on-one. Double them. No shame in that.

Next game is against Iceland. We better have more options to deal with corners and freekicks.

Lastly, if VicMo doesn't want to stay on his feet he should not be starting. Referees do get a dossier on players... they know ones who throw themselves to the ground. They don't typically get the benefit of the call.

What was most annoying watching the game was that Croatia didn't play us anything that deserved the scoreline.

4-4-2 ???

Anyway, I have no problem with Iwobi starting or with your preference to start Musa. The problem isn't about the personnel in my view; it's the coach. He's timid and average. Thankfully he'll be gone soon; Pinnick better chose his replacement wisely.

Odas wrote:I am very frustrated right now!. All of you are making sense and yet are not making sense to me. I agree with Ayo we were very unlucky yesterday because in reality, I didn't see what the Croatians did either, except getting the two goals due to luck. Still, what did we do to get the goals back and have a draw - at least?

Let me ask you experts again, what happened to our 3-5-2 rampaging formation which has showed a lot of success in our friendly games when used? At no time did I think we will lose the game until after we conceded the penalty and yet made "NO" attempt to switch to the 3-5-2 formation.

Mennh! I am pissed and my BLOOD is still BOILING over the loss.

Cellular wrote:

wanaj0 wrote:

Cellular wrote:

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

That statement by the coach still irks me.

Enough grounds to have him fired.

But the Truth is bitter!

If Nigeria got two players playing fro RM and Barca, I am sure we will expect to win the WC.

FIFA ranking, player for player shows that the Croats should IDEALLY beat us . However, on a good day we can spring a surprise. We are not good enough. We cannot blame NFF nor blame corrupt local coaches for this one. Maybe this is just our LEVEL!

Admitting the reality may be the first step to greatness for us.

Senior Uncle, we don't follow convention.

There's a reason when you see a black person doing something black people are not supposed to be doing, he is a Naijarian.

We play without fear. When you play us, you leave the game knowing you played a game. Hoping not to jam us again.

Cellular wrote:

wanaj0 wrote:

Cellular wrote:

Agbako wrote:what are you guys happing about? Na wah oooo. This team is down and out. After the 2010 oldmen performance in South Africa this is the worst assembled Nigerian team ever. Horrible soccer . No style, no bite. No idea,. No aggressiveness. So what hope you guys talking about here. You have a clueless coach who is admitting the team he played is better because the players play in a better club. Haha!! You have ya only suppose star player falling down on every contact. You still depending on a completely finished Mikel Obi to carry you for 90 minutes? I thought you all know football.

That statement by the coach still irks me.

Enough grounds to have him fired.

But the Truth is bitter!

If Nigeria got two players playing fro RM and Barca, I am sure we will expect to win the WC.

FIFA ranking, player for player shows that the Croats should IDEALLY beat us . However, on a good day we can spring a surprise. We are not good enough. We cannot blame NFF nor blame corrupt local coaches for this one. Maybe this is just our LEVEL!

Admitting the reality may be the first step to greatness for us.

Senior Uncle, we don't follow convention.

There's a reason when you see a black person doing something black people are not supposed to be doing, he is a Naijarian.

We play without fear. When you play us, you leave the game knowing you played a game. Hoping not to jam us again.

akamoke wrote:Let's ask a very direct question, do any of our players individually make effort to improve themselves.
I ask because I was reading about how Ronaldo after training spends up to another hour practicing free kicks

Why after all the years playing in Europe our players can't whip a decent cross or attack a free kick

This is an age old problem and it can always be a difference against hard teams like Croatia, Serbia and England

Every worker strives to improve performance

I don't know if it's laziness or genuine lack of ability