Aribo

[shaq]

When will it ever dawn on you guys that country is different from club? Who cares who buys Ndidi, in GWG Etebo has been better than him in two tournaments now. Even to the point where you have to lie to make your point, someone playing in La Liga is now a div 3 player...the things you read...

Ikpeba was playing at Monaco, in Champions League, even won APOY based on his Monaco exploits, as far as SE did that suddenly make him better than Amo, Amunike, Goals Father that were playing for lesser teams? Leave the club bias out of it and judge on what they do when they put on GWG...even take Pepe that went to Arseanal for umpteenth million, he was getting benched at the ANC b/c dude was not performing for CIV, regardless of what club paid what for him...

Your boy Etebo does not compliment Ndidi well.

Either Etebo plays further up in place of Iwobi or he doesn't start.

Ndidi-Aribo...and we are looking for the third complimentary midfielder. I will like to see what the new guys will be able to bring.

Now, if you were arguing about replacing Iwobi with Etebo, or having Etebo deputize Ndidi then you might have a point.

Gladly you are not the coach, he knew who was irreplaceable in that midfield and played him (almost wore him out) all ANC.

Hahaha... I am a better armchair coach than Rohr. At least I can tell when a player is tiring and when momentum is shifting. I don't wait until the horse has bolted from the barn to make a sub that even a ludo or draft player saw...

My invitation to you to learn how to watch a game and what to watch for still stands...

I can explain to you what is expected of every position so you can understand why the person running around and forming busy might be detrimental to team play and what the team is trying to achieve.

TBH i don't rate Etebo that much. He appears more like an Oruma (wept) clone to me

[ANC]

When will it ever dawn on you guys that country is different from club? Who cares who buys Ndidi, in GWG Etebo has been better than him in two tournaments now. Even to the point where you have to lie to make your point, someone playing in La Liga is now a div 3 player...the things you read...

Ikpeba was playing at Monaco, in Champions League, even won APOY based on his Monaco exploits, as far as SE did that suddenly make him better than Amo, Amunike, Goals Father that were playing for lesser teams? Leave the club bias out of it and judge on what they do when they put on GWG...even take Pepe that went to Arseanal for umpteenth million, he was getting benched at the ANC b/c dude was not performing for CIV, regardless of what club paid what for him...

Your boy Etebo does not compliment Ndidi well.

Either Etebo plays further up in place of Iwobi or he doesn't start.

Ndidi-Aribo...and we are looking for the third complimentary midfielder. I will like to see what the new guys will be able to bring.

Now, if you were arguing about replacing Iwobi with Etebo, or having Etebo deputize Ndidi then you might have a point.

Gladly you are not the coach, he knew who was irreplaceable in that midfield and played him (almost wore him out) all ANC.

Hahaha... I am a better armchair coach than Rohr. At least I can tell when a player is tiring and when momentum is shifting. I don't wait until the horse has bolted from the barn to make a sub that even a ludo or draft player saw...

My invitation to you to learn how to watch a game and what to watch for still stands...

I can explain to you what is expected of every position so you can understand why the person running around and forming busy might be detrimental to team play and what the team is trying to achieve.

TBH i don't rate Etebo that much. He appears more like an Oruma (wept) clone to me

Oruma was a different player, actually better upfront than Etebo.
Etebo is more like an Ikedia
I like Etebo's energy. If he keeps it simple, he is golden.

[Otitokoro]

Its funny - out of boredom, I decided to watch the Nigeria v. Madagascar AFCON match again. Ndidi was culpable for the second goal. Not only did he commit the unnecessary foul leading to the freekick, he also deflected it in by turning away from the ball when the kick was taken.

If these guys play well for Nigeria it could spell end of international football for players such as Etebo, Onazi, Shehu and other Mikel. We still need quality in the centre back positions and the goalkeeping area.

Not sure about Etebo completely losing out, but I agree with your predictions on Onazi (virtually out anyway) and Shehu.
I think Etebo brings something different to the team, with a phenomenal work rate.

I don’t dispute Etebo’s work rate however in Nigeria’s midfield he has the tendency to give the ball away in dangerous areas and holds onto the ball for too long allowing the opposition to get back into position. This may be because he is being asked to player deeper and naturally he prefers to play further forward. With the players we have further forward he would not make the team in his natural position and with the quality additions in midfield I think if he doesn’t improve his game he could find himself an ex international

Etebo for me is a bit of an enigma.
Seems he might be one of those 'silent performers' that hardly get noticed except when they make errors.
I say this because when I researched our team's and players' performances during the last AFCON, Etebo had one of the highest pass completion rates, not just for the SE (in which he had the highest) but for the whole tournament! I was shocked tbh.

I will dig up the thread, with comparisons and links.

Yep....the problem is people have favorites and so don't notice when their favorites (Ndidi) make mistakes, like continuously giving the ball away in dangerous areas, fouling unnecessarily in the dangerous areas, give wayward pass after wayward pass, basically winning the ball just to dash it right back to the opponent. But they are busy collecting evidence on the non-favorites to justify why they shouldn't be playing. You can't take anyone seriously if they saw the ANC and say Ndidi is a keeper but Etebo should be out. Every Cameroonian I know after we played them was like who is that number 8 on your team, the guy dey control midfield...And I believe it was the mechanic Esiti that lost the ball for the 2nd goal vs Ukraine and not Etebo...

I don't think its a conscious or deliberate thing.
Unconscious bias more likely.
I'll see if the full Cameroun game is online so I can rewatch it.

Its an interesting point your Camerounian friends make on the game. Of course, they watched the game probably with no preconceptions/biases on the Nigerians, but full of biases regarding their own players.

So maybe they saw what we couldn't see....and vice versa.

[maceo4]

Its funny - out of boredom, I decided to watch the Nigeria v. Madagascar AFCON match again. Ndidi was culpable for the second goal. Not only did he commit the unnecessary foul leading to the freekick, he also deflected it in by turning away from the ball when the kick was taken.

If these guys play well for Nigeria it could spell end of international football for players such as Etebo, Onazi, Shehu and other Mikel. We still need quality in the centre back positions and the goalkeeping area.

Not sure about Etebo completely losing out, but I agree with your predictions on Onazi (virtually out anyway) and Shehu.
I think Etebo brings something different to the team, with a phenomenal work rate.

I don’t dispute Etebo’s work rate however in Nigeria’s midfield he has the tendency to give the ball away in dangerous areas and holds onto the ball for too long allowing the opposition to get back into position. This may be because he is being asked to player deeper and naturally he prefers to play further forward. With the players we have further forward he would not make the team in his natural position and with the quality additions in midfield I think if he doesn’t improve his game he could find himself an ex international

Etebo for me is a bit of an enigma.
Seems he might be one of those 'silent performers' that hardly get noticed except when they make errors.
I say this because when I researched our team's and players' performances during the last AFCON, Etebo had one of the highest pass completion rates, not just for the SE (in which he had the highest) but for the whole tournament! I was shocked tbh.

I will dig up the thread, with comparisons and links.

Yep....the problem is people have favorites and so don't notice when their favorites (Ndidi) make mistakes, like continuously giving the ball away in dangerous areas, fouling unnecessarily in the dangerous areas, give wayward pass after wayward pass, basically winning the ball just to dash it right back to the opponent. But they are busy collecting evidence on the non-favorites to justify why they shouldn't be playing. You can't take anyone seriously if they saw the ANC and say Ndidi is a keeper but Etebo should be out. Every Cameroonian I know after we played them was like who is that number 8 on your team, the guy dey control midfield...And I believe it was the mechanic Esiti that lost the ball for the 2nd goal vs Ukraine and not Etebo...

I don't think its a conscious or deliberate thing.
Unconscious bias more likely.
I'll see if the full Cameroun game is online so I can rewatch it.

Its an interesting point your Camerounian friends make on the game. Of course, they watched the game probably with no preconceptions/biases on the Nigerians, but full of biases regarding their own players.

So maybe they saw what we couldn't see....and vice versa.

They just close their eyes to these things...

[Eaglezbeak]

When will it ever dawn on you guys that country is different from club? Who cares who buys Ndidi, in GWG Etebo has been better than him in two tournaments now. Even to the point where you have to lie to make your point, someone playing in La Liga is now a div 3 player...the things you read...

Ikpeba was playing at Monaco, in Champions League, even won APOY based on his Monaco exploits, as far as SE did that suddenly make him better than Amo, Amunike, Goals Father that were playing for lesser teams? Leave the club bias out of it and judge on what they do when they put on GWG...even take Pepe that went to Arseanal for umpteenth million, he was getting benched at the ANC b/c dude was not performing for CIV, regardless of what club paid what for him...

Your boy Etebo does not compliment Ndidi well.

Either Etebo plays further up in place of Iwobi or he doesn't start.

Ndidi-Aribo...and we are looking for the third complimentary midfielder. I will like to see what the new guys will be able to bring.

Now, if you were arguing about replacing Iwobi with Etebo, or having Etebo deputize Ndidi then you might have a point.

Gladly you are not the coach, he knew who was irreplaceable in that midfield and played him (almost wore him out) all ANC.

Hahaha... I am a better armchair coach than Rohr. At least I can tell when a player is tiring and when momentum is shifting. I don't wait until the horse has bolted from the barn to make a sub that even a ludo or draft player saw...

My invitation to you to learn how to watch a game and what to watch for still stands...

I can explain to you what is expected of every position so you can understand why the person running around and forming busy might be detrimental to team play and what the team is trying to achieve.

TBH i don't rate Etebo that much. He appears more like an Oruma (wept) clone to me

Oruma was a different player, actually better upfront than Etebo.
Etebo is more like an Ikedia
I like Etebo's energy. If he keeps it simple, he is golden.

Exactly they are not alike and both deserved to be Super Eagles!