The real weakness of the SE

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The real weakness of the SE

Post by Scipio Africanus »

And this has been a weakness for a long time. We don't have any quality midfielders with lungs and an eye for the good pass that can dictate play on our terms and starve the opposition of the ball. If we can fix this we will be a contender for the WC.

Mikel tried, but he wasn't up to it. He didn't have the eye for the defense splitting pass nor did he have the lungs. Iwobi in his Arsenal days was a hopeful prospect, but so far, not much return.

Damn, I miss JJ!

Quality midfielders that can keep the ball act as your first line of defense. If you don't have them, your defense will be put under pressure all game. When we face quality opposition, it always becomes a question of when, not if, watching wave after wave of attacks being repelled by the gallant Ndidi and the rest of our defense. That was the case when we faced Argentina at the WC and Algeria at the last ANC. We need midfielders comfortable with the ball. Once you can keep the ball, the possibilities increase exponentially.

The Ghana WC team of 2006 and 2010, even 2014 had very strong midfields and they quickly put their stamp on most of their games and controlled them. Look how they bossed Germany and the USA around in 2014. If they had had more clinical strikers and better luck they would have made a WC final. I can bet my last dollar that Ghana would not let Argentina walk all over them the way we do. Why? Their midfield.

Who are the candidates that can be groomed for this role? Should we look into naturalizing some Ghanaians? This is critical!

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

Post by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA »

There is not a world class 2 way CM on the horizon for SE. What we do have is Etebo, Aribo, Ejaria and Olise along with Ndidi in MF. We can still develope a very effective MF with the players we have that will support the defense and attack effectively. You can't have it all. Like you mentioned, Ghana was blessed with MF but no strikers, we're the other way around. Make it work,make it better and make it prosper!
It's the only way Africa will succeed in anything, wishing for DeBruyne won't work.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote:And this has been a weakness for a long time. We don't have any quality midfielders with lungs and an eye for the good pass that can dictate play on our terms and starve the opposition of the ball. If we can fix this we will be a contender for the WC.

Mikel tried, but he wasn't up to it. He didn't have the eye for the defense splitting pass nor did he have the lungs. Iwobi in his Arsenal days was a hopeful prospect, but so far, not much return.

Damn, I miss JJ!

Quality midfielders that can keep the ball act as your first line of defense. If you don't have them, your defense will be put under pressure all game. When we face quality opposition, it always becomes a question of when, not if, watching wave after wave of attacks being repelled by the gallant Ndidi and the rest of our defense. That was the case when we faced Argentina at the WC and Algeria at the last ANC. We need midfielders comfortable with the ball. Once you can keep the ball, the possibilities increase exponentially.

The Ghana WC team of 2006 and 2010, even 2014 had very strong midfields and they quickly put their stamp on most of their games and controlled it. Look how they bossed Germany and the USA around in 2014. If they had had more clinical strikers and better luck they would have made a WC final. I can bet my last dollar that Ghana would not let Argentina walk all over them the way we do. Why? Their midfield.

Who are the candidates that can be groomed for this role? Should we look into naturalizing some Ghanaians? This is critical!
Of my list of SE concerns, our central defence is tops while a lack of creative mildfielders follows close behind.

Like I said elsewhere, the JJs don't come around every day. Attaining that role is a combo of skill, supreme confidence and even a touch of arrogance.

Who can fit the bill or who is on the horizon?
Not easy to answer but I know of only two potentials that can be groomed as you suggest.
Both are very early in their careers so are they even ready if they get to play for us?
Both are within the orbits of other competing nations.

I only see Olise and Eze for now and the former hasn't been tested at the top level yet.
I haven't seen enough of Samson Tijani in the adult game to know whether he can eventually fill that role in a senior capacity.
Anayo Iwuala I wouldn't call a creative midfielder but could maybe be groomed into the role but his instincts are of the attacking type.
There's a free scoring midfielder (Oladapo?) for Enyimba who looks pretty decent but hasn't even been called up by the SE yet. Is he a creative?
Kingsley Michael?
Ejaria?

Not a strong field of candidates in my opinion.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:There is not a world class 2 way CM on the horizon for SE. What we do have is Etebo, Aribo, Ejaria and Olise along with Ndidi in MF. We can still develope a very effective MF with the players we have that will support the defense and attack effectively. You can't have it all. Like you mentioned, Ghana was blessed with MF but no strikers, we're the other way around. Make it work,make it better and make it prosper!
It's the only way Africa will succeed in anything, wishing for DeBruyne won't work.
I like this way of thinking. Most games are won and lost from midfield. We need to deploy our midfielders in a way that will cover for the defense and give us more attacking options. We should emphasize work rate, quick passing and moving, and quick release of runners from deep positions. Slow buildup play and lack of off the ball running won't cut it IMO. We need more intelligent workrate from the midfielders and the wings.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Damunk wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:And this has been a weakness for a long time. We don't have any quality midfielders with lungs and an eye for the good pass that can dictate play on our terms and starve the opposition of the ball. If we can fix this we will be a contender for the WC.

Mikel tried, but he wasn't up to it. He didn't have the eye for the defense splitting pass nor did he have the lungs. Iwobi in his Arsenal days was a hopeful prospect, but so far, not much return.

Damn, I miss JJ!

Quality midfielders that can keep the ball act as your first line of defense. If you don't have them, your defense will be put under pressure all game. When we face quality opposition, it always becomes a question of when, not if, watching wave after wave of attacks being repelled by the gallant Ndidi and the rest of our defense. That was the case when we faced Argentina at the WC and Algeria at the last ANC. We need midfielders comfortable with the ball. Once you can keep the ball, the possibilities increase exponentially.

The Ghana WC team of 2006 and 2010, even 2014 had very strong midfields and they quickly put their stamp on most of their games and controlled it. Look how they bossed Germany and the USA around in 2014. If they had had more clinical strikers and better luck they would have made a WC final. I can bet my last dollar that Ghana would not let Argentina walk all over them the way we do. Why? Their midfield.

Who are the candidates that can be groomed for this role? Should we look into naturalizing some Ghanaians? This is critical!
Of my list of SE concerns, our central defence is tops while a lack of creative mildfielders follows close behind.

Like I said elsewhere, the JJs don't come around every day. Attaining that role is a combo of skill, supreme confidence and even a touch of arrogance.

Who can fit the bill or who is on the horizon?
Not easy to answer but I know of only two potentials that can be groomed as you suggest.
Both are very early in their careers so are they even ready if they get to play for us?
Both are within the orbits of other competing nations.

I only see Olise and Eze for now and the former hasn't been tested at the top level yet.
I haven't seen enough of Samson Tijani in the adult game to know whether he can eventually fill that role in a senior capacity.
Anayo Iwuala I wouldn't call a creative midfielder but could maybe be groomed into the role but his instincts are of the attacking type.
There's a free scoring midfielder (Oladapo?) for Enyimba who looks pretty decent but hasn't even been called up by the SE yet. Is he a creative?
Kingsley Michael?
Ejaria?

Not a strong field of candidates in my opinion.
Oga, you have underlined our lack of options in this aspect, but I think we can paper over the cracks with a change in mindset. IMHO we should emphasize work rate more. We should play with a hard working, hard running 5 man midfield that does not linger on the ball and is always looking to triangle pass until they can spring a runner on the wings or from deep. The key is work rate. We already have a high work rate example being set by Ndidi. We need the remaining 4 midfielders to be iron lunged as well. If we can implement such a system we won't even have to worry too much about central defense.

The last time I saw a Naija midfield work like that was against Argentina at the Olympics final. We flooded the midfield with bodies and triangle passed the Argentines to death and created many chances because of it. No more sitting back and letting mediocrities like Ever Banega take their time on the ball to find Lionel Messi with a defense splitting pass to score (ARG 1 NGA 0, WC 2018)

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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why can't we groom anayo for that role? bobo looks the part
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Bigpokey24 wrote:why can't we groom anayo for that role? bobo looks the part
Make I go Yam Tuber go search for di bobo.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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In short. The SE philosophy going forward should be: WE OWN THE MIDFIELD, by hook or by crook, no matter who we are playing against. If we can't own it, we will prevent the opponent from owning it. It ain't gonna be easy, but being a winner ain't easy. It's something that is achieved first in the mind, then by hard work on the pitch.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote:In short. The SE philosophy going forward should be: WE OWN THE MIDFIELD, by hook or by crook, no matter who we are playing against. If we can't own it, we will prevent the opponent from owning it. It ain't gonna be easy, but being a winner ain't easy. It's something that is achieved first in the mind, then by hard work on the pitch.
Is this your preferred mode of play or what Nigeria needs?

I get that you might like that form of football, but there are many other ways to go. Especially if, as you claim, we don’t have the players for it. It’s like you’re saying play to our weakness.

Liverpool have a good midfield, buts it’s by no means dominant. The best you with the press, pace and width in a system designed for their full backs and wide forwards.

For all their titles, Chelsea have never had a ball holder. Lampard was a scorer. Hazard was a runner. Kante is a ball winner. So they’ve generally won with a big forward who can hold the ball up- Dtogba, Costa etc

For the current crop, the strengths are a dominant ball winner, a pair of high-end attackers and some very fast (although inefficient) wide forwards. Design the team around that: high press, direct / vertical passes, operate at pace.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote:And this has been a weakness for a long time. We don't have any quality midfielders with lungs and an eye for the good pass that can dictate play on our terms and starve the opposition of the ball. If we can fix this we will be a contender for the WC.

Mikel tried, but he wasn't up to it. He didn't have the eye for the defense splitting pass nor did he have the lungs. Iwobi in his Arsenal days was a hopeful prospect, but so far, not much return.

Damn, I miss JJ!

Quality midfielders that can keep the ball act as your first line of defense. If you don't have them, your defense will be put under pressure all game. When we face quality opposition, it always becomes a question of when, not if, watching wave after wave of attacks being repelled by the gallant Ndidi and the rest of our defense. That was the case when we faced Argentina at the WC and Algeria at the last ANC. We need midfielders comfortable with the ball. Once you can keep the ball, the possibilities increase exponentially.

The Ghana WC team of 2006 and 2010, even 2014 had very strong midfields and they quickly put their stamp on most of their games and controlled them. Look how they bossed Germany and the USA around in 2014. If they had had more clinical strikers and better luck they would have made a WC final. I can bet my last dollar that Ghana would not let Argentina walk all over them the way we do. Why? Their midfield.

Who are the candidates that can be groomed for this role? Should we look into naturalizing some Ghanaians? This is critical!
And JJ's team was very effective that's why we dominated every team we played. Abeg gerrarahia
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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1naija wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:And this has been a weakness for a long time. We don't have any quality midfielders with lungs and an eye for the good pass that can dictate play on our terms and starve the opposition of the ball. If we can fix this we will be a contender for the WC.

Mikel tried, but he wasn't up to it. He didn't have the eye for the defense splitting pass nor did he have the lungs. Iwobi in his Arsenal days was a hopeful prospect, but so far, not much return.

Damn, I miss JJ!

Quality midfielders that can keep the ball act as your first line of defense. If you don't have them, your defense will be put under pressure all game. When we face quality opposition, it always becomes a question of when, not if, watching wave after wave of attacks being repelled by the gallant Ndidi and the rest of our defense. That was the case when we faced Argentina at the WC and Algeria at the last ANC. We need midfielders comfortable with the ball. Once you can keep the ball, the possibilities increase exponentially.

The Ghana WC team of 2006 and 2010, even 2014 had very strong midfields and they quickly put their stamp on most of their games and controlled them. Look how they bossed Germany and the USA around in 2014. If they had had more clinical strikers and better luck they would have made a WC final. I can bet my last dollar that Ghana would not let Argentina walk all over them the way we do. Why? Their midfield.

Who are the candidates that can be groomed for this role? Should we look into naturalizing some Ghanaians? This is critical!
And JJ's team was very effective that's why we dominated every team we played. Abeg gerrarahia
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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waka-man wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:In short. The SE philosophy going forward should be: WE OWN THE MIDFIELD, by hook or by crook, no matter who we are playing against. If we can't own it, we will prevent the opponent from owning it. It ain't gonna be easy, but being a winner ain't easy. It's something that is achieved first in the mind, then by hard work on the pitch.
Is this your preferred mode of play or what Nigeria needs?

I get that you might like that form of football, but there are many other ways to go. Especially if, as you claim, we don’t have the players for it. It’s like you’re saying play to our weakness.

Liverpool have a good midfield, buts it’s by no means dominant. The best you with the press, pace and width in a system designed for their full backs and wide forwards.

For all their titles, Chelsea have never had a ball holder. Lampard was a scorer. Hazard was a runner. Kante is a ball winner. So they’ve generally won with a big forward who can hold the ball up- Dtogba, Costa etc

For the current crop, the strengths are a dominant ball winner, a pair of high-end attackers and some very fast (although inefficient) wide forwards. Design the team around that: high press, direct / vertical passes, operate at pace.
You haven't been reading the thread. I proposed a viable workaround based on flooding the midfield and high work rate. Read again.

I'm glad you brought up Liverpool. Do you see how they were torn apart yesterday by good midfielders with an eye for the good pass? For all their quality, they lost that game in midfield. Textbook example.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote: Oga, you have underlined our lack of options in this aspect, but I think we can paper over the cracks with a change in mindset. IMHO we should emphasize work rate more. We should play with a hard working, hard running 5 man midfield that does not linger on the ball and is always looking to triangle pass until they can spring a runner on the wings or from deep. The key is work rate. We already have a high work rate example being set by Ndidi. We need the remaining 4 midfielders to be iron lunged as well. If we can implement such a system we won't even have to worry too much about central defense.

The last time I saw a Naija midfield work like that was against Argentina at the Olympics final. We flooded the midfield with bodies and triangle passed the Argentines to death and created many chances because of it. No more sitting back and letting mediocrities like Ever Banega take their time on the ball to find Lionel Messi with a defense splitting pass to score (ARG 1 NGA 0, WC 2018)
I honestly thought you were specifically asking for creative midfielders.
Maybe becos I saw JJ's name. :D

Etebo has a high work rate and was one of, if not the most accurate passers of the ball at the last AFCON....but that eye for the defence-splitting pass? I doubt it.

The Olympics final team had the benefit of Oga JJ.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Damunk wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote: Oga, you have underlined our lack of options in this aspect, but I think we can paper over the cracks with a change in mindset. IMHO we should emphasize work rate more. We should play with a hard working, hard running 5 man midfield that does not linger on the ball and is always looking to triangle pass until they can spring a runner on the wings or from deep. The key is work rate. We already have a high work rate example being set by Ndidi. We need the remaining 4 midfielders to be iron lunged as well. If we can implement such a system we won't even have to worry too much about central defense.

The last time I saw a Naija midfield work like that was against Argentina at the Olympics final. We flooded the midfield with bodies and triangle passed the Argentines to death and created many chances because of it. No more sitting back and letting mediocrities like Ever Banega take their time on the ball to find Lionel Messi with a defense splitting pass to score (ARG 1 NGA 0, WC 2018)
I honestly thought you were specifically asking for creative midfielders.
Maybe becos I saw JJ's name. :D

Etebo has a high work rate and was one of, if not the most accurate passers of the ball at the last AFCON....but that eye for the defence-splitting pass? I doubt it.

The Olympics final team had the benefit of Oga JJ.
Like many, including you have pointed out, our options are few and far between in that regard. Having creative midfielders is one way to dominate the midfield. Another way is to pack it with hard working, quick passing players. In the absence of the former, I'll happily take the latter. France in the last WC showed us an example. Kante, Matuidi, Pogba and co did the business for France with hard work and intelligent passing.

Flooding the midfield with hard workers also makes it harder for your opponent to play. Make them react to you, not vice versa.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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We miss Onazi in the SE, his energy was second to none and i remember how Onazi and Etebo hounded Algeria in Uyo and successfully disrupted their play.
If we cannot dominate midfield, we need to find a way to not allow the opposition midfield dominate play, while we play to our strengths. i am also intrigued by what Yusuf Alhassan and Frank Onyeka could bring to the table. I hope they make transfers to better leagues in the summer. It's unfortunate that it appears Kingsley Michael's career is stagnated in Bologna and recurring injuries are not helping his cause.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Dammy wrote:We miss Onazi in the SE, his energy was second to none and i remember how Onazi and Etebo hounded Algeria in Uyo and successfully disrupted their play.
If we cannot dominate midfield, we need to find a way to not allow the opposition midfield dominate play, while we play to our strengths. i am also intrigued by what Yusuf Alhassan and Frank Onyeka could bring to the table. I hope they make transfers to better leagues in the summer. It's unfortunate that it appears Kingsley Michael's career is stagnated in Bologna and recurring injuries are not helping his cause.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Imagine even just 3 midfielders with Onazi's energy running wild in the middle. We would be unplayable. Right now we only have Ndidi with that level of work rate.

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Re: The real weakness of the SE

Post by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA »

Let's not forget Nwakali. I know he's in div 2 in Spain but he has all the tools necessary to own this position except perhaps work rate. As a CM next to Ndidi he can certainly be the first line of defense,distribute and help advance the ball quickly. The next yr will be important for him.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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I dont think its a case of not having.. but more of a case of tactics and the coach's choice. Every game, out of 25 players, the coach invites only 4 midfielders :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: and then tactics is defend defend defend and then route one, surpassing the midfield! What do you expect?

This is not even new, of you look back to the midfield under Keshi, Eguavoen, Siasia, it was the same. Siasia was the biggest culprit with his 4-2-4! That dude hated midfield! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

All our coaches for years, have tactics that encouraged bypassing the midfield. That is the biggest problem.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote:
Dammy wrote:We miss Onazi in the SE, his energy was second to none and i remember how Onazi and Etebo hounded Algeria in Uyo and successfully disrupted their play.
If we cannot dominate midfield, we need to find a way to not allow the opposition midfield dominate play, while we play to our strengths. i am also intrigued by what Yusuf Alhassan and Frank Onyeka could bring to the table. I hope they make transfers to better leagues in the summer. It's unfortunate that it appears Kingsley Michael's career is stagnated in Bologna and recurring injuries are not helping his cause.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Imagine even just 3 midfielders with Onazi's energy running wild in the middle. We would be unplayable. Right now we only have Ndidi with that level of work rate.
We have had Onazi and Ndidi play in midfield together. The result was chaos. South Africa beat Nigeria 2-0 in Uyo.

We need more than hackers in midfield.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Scipio Africanus wrote:
waka-man wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:In short. The SE philosophy going forward should be: WE OWN THE MIDFIELD, by hook or by crook, no matter who we are playing against. If we can't own it, we will prevent the opponent from owning it. It ain't gonna be easy, but being a winner ain't easy. It's something that is achieved first in the mind, then by hard work on the pitch.
Is this your preferred mode of play or what Nigeria needs?

I get that you might like that form of football, but there are many other ways to go. Especially if, as you claim, we don’t have the players for it. It’s like you’re saying play to our weakness.

Liverpool have a good midfield, buts it’s by no means dominant. The best you with the press, pace and width in a system designed for their full backs and wide forwards.

For all their titles, Chelsea have never had a ball holder. Lampard was a scorer. Hazard was a runner. Kante is a ball winner. So they’ve generally won with a big forward who can hold the ball up- Dtogba, Costa etc

For the current crop, the strengths are a dominant ball winner, a pair of high-end attackers and some very fast (although inefficient) wide forwards. Design the team around that: high press, direct / vertical passes, operate at pace.
You haven't been reading the thread. I proposed a viable workaround based on flooding the midfield and high work rate. Read again.

I'm glad you brought up Liverpool. Do you see how they were torn apart yesterday by good midfielders with an eye for the good pass? For all their quality, they lost that game in midfield. Textbook example.
Ok now I’m properly confused. I’ve reread the thread and my confusion just deepened.
You aren’t actually asking for possession, just hard tackling.
And Onazi like energy.
And because Liverpool are in a relative slump you don’t think the machine Klop built is a useful model for teams with a similar profile.
Am I interpreting that right?

I’ll just repeat what I said: you design any system to accentuate your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. Flooding the midfield with energy or guile or ball holders or JJ or Onazi is not playing to our strengths.

But it is ok for us to disagree on that.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

Post by Adisboy »

danfo driver wrote:I dont think its a case of not having.. but more of a case of tactics and the coach's choice. Every game, out of 25 players, the coach invites only 4 midfielders :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: and then tactics is defend defend defend and then route one, surpassing the midfield! What do you expect?

This is not even new, of you look back to the midfield under Keshi, Eguavoen, Siasia, it was the same. Siasia was the biggest culprit with his 4-2-4! That dude hated midfield! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

All our coaches for years, have tactics that encouraged bypassing the midfield. That is the biggest problem.
The highlighted is the biggest BS i have ever heard. When have we ever played like that? Certainly, not in the last 7 years.
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

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Robotnik wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
Dammy wrote:We miss Onazi in the SE, his energy was second to none and i remember how Onazi and Etebo hounded Algeria in Uyo and successfully disrupted their play.
If we cannot dominate midfield, we need to find a way to not allow the opposition midfield dominate play, while we play to our strengths. i am also intrigued by what Yusuf Alhassan and Frank Onyeka could bring to the table. I hope they make transfers to better leagues in the summer. It's unfortunate that it appears Kingsley Michael's career is stagnated in Bologna and recurring injuries are not helping his cause.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Imagine even just 3 midfielders with Onazi's energy running wild in the middle. We would be unplayable. Right now we only have Ndidi with that level of work rate.
We have had Onazi and Ndidi play in midfield together. The result was chaos. South Africa beat Nigeria 2-0 in Uyo.

We need more than hackers in midfield.
2 hard workers is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Besides no tactic wins 100% of the time.

Wha choo looking at?!
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Scipio Africanus
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Re: The real weakness of the SE

Post by Scipio Africanus »

waka-man wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
waka-man wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:In short. The SE philosophy going forward should be: WE OWN THE MIDFIELD, by hook or by crook, no matter who we are playing against. If we can't own it, we will prevent the opponent from owning it. It ain't gonna be easy, but being a winner ain't easy. It's something that is achieved first in the mind, then by hard work on the pitch.
Is this your preferred mode of play or what Nigeria needs?

I get that you might like that form of football, but there are many other ways to go. Especially if, as you claim, we don’t have the players for it. It’s like you’re saying play to our weakness.

Liverpool have a good midfield, buts it’s by no means dominant. The best you with the press, pace and width in a system designed for their full backs and wide forwards.

For all their titles, Chelsea have never had a ball holder. Lampard was a scorer. Hazard was a runner. Kante is a ball winner. So they’ve generally won with a big forward who can hold the ball up- Dtogba, Costa etc

For the current crop, the strengths are a dominant ball winner, a pair of high-end attackers and some very fast (although inefficient) wide forwards. Design the team around that: high press, direct / vertical passes, operate at pace.
You haven't been reading the thread. I proposed a viable workaround based on flooding the midfield and high work rate. Read again.

I'm glad you brought up Liverpool. Do you see how they were torn apart yesterday by good midfielders with an eye for the good pass? For all their quality, they lost that game in midfield. Textbook example.
Ok now I’m properly confused. I’ve reread the thread and my confusion just deepened.
You aren’t actually asking for possession, just hard tackling.
And Onazi like energy.
And because Liverpool are in a relative slump you don’t think the machine Klop built is a useful model for teams with a similar profile.
Am I interpreting that right?

I’ll just repeat what I said: you design any system to accentuate your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. Flooding the midfield with energy or guile or ball holders or JJ or Onazi is not playing to our strengths.

But it is ok for us to disagree on that.
Not necessarily hard tackling. Flood the midfield with bodies and congest it for the opposition. Energy of movement in that midfield to hustle, block passing lanes, intercept passes. When you get the ball, don't linger. Do quick triangle passes combined with off the ball runs to gain space and time with the ultimate aim of playing the ball into space for a runner who can come from anywhere. When you do all these, you not only have possession, you have effective possession.

But I'm curious? Why do you think this?
waka-man wrote: Flooding the midfield with energy or guile or ball holders or JJ or Onazi is not playing to our strengths.
What do you believe our strengths are?

Wha choo looking at?!

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