Kelechi Nwakali…

[txj]

Anchormen
[1] Wilfred Ndidi
[2] Frank Onyeka
[3] Raphael Onyeadika

Box-to-box midfielders
[1] Alhassan Yusuf
[2] Kelechi Nwakali
[3] Joe Aribo

Playmakers
[1] Alex Iwobi
[2] Michael Olise
[3] Tom Dele-Bashiru

We need two of each for a major competition like the World Cup.

[gochino]

Excellent. Ok, you win: he is not an AM. What use does the SE have for yet another holding midfielder that does not score or assist? The SE already has a surplus of options in that area (Ndidi, Onyeka, Onyedika, Yusuf)

Thinking he is an AM is where you made the first mistake, anybody that has actually watched him will know he is a CM and trying to judge a midfielder by their goal contributions is silly. Those are for attackers

Are you still asking this after watching the Afcon final?? We lost that final because our players were burnt out and our coach didn't have enough quality to replace them. Secondly, Nwakali is a completely different type of Midfielder from those guys you mentioned, we have one creative midfielder, Iwobi, the rest are destroyers, who are good at doing the dirty work. Don't know which category Aribo falls into.

[Enugu II]

Thinking he is an AM is where you made the first mistake, anybody that has actually watched him will know he is a CM and trying to judge a midfielder by their goal contributions is silly. Those are for attackers

Every single time an SE squad is announced, there is massive clamour for him to be called up as if he is the second coming of Okocha or KDB. His career track record is not overwhelming. He:

-has scored a grand total of 13 goals in his entire career as a professional footballer (8 years) despite being an AM

-failed to make it to a top division team in England, Holland , Portugal , and now Spain

-has scored 0 goals in 26 games this season

-has only 13 assists in his entire 8 year career in which he has played nearly 200 matches

-has 3 times as many career yellow cards than goals

What is the clamour for a non-scoring and non-assisting attacking midfielder who has spent his entire career playing 2nd division football, who gets booked 3x more than he scores or assists, and who scores or assists only once every 14 matches?

Sunset

He has to win balls though. He seems adept at redistribution and not much else. More worrying, is it is clear that he is able to put himself about with effort but in several matches he appears as if he has gone asleep. Man, he really has to do far more for me.

[packerland]

Thinking he is an AM is where you made the first mistake, anybody that has actually watched him will know he is a CM and trying to judge a midfielder by their goal contributions is silly. Those are for attackers

Every single time an SE squad is announced, there is massive clamour for him to be called up as if he is the second coming of Okocha or KDB. His career track record is not overwhelming. He:

-has scored a grand total of 13 goals in his entire career as a professional footballer (8 years) despite being an AM

-failed to make it to a top division team in England, Holland , Portugal , and now Spain

-has scored 0 goals in 26 games this season

-has only 13 assists in his entire 8 year career in which he has played nearly 200 matches

-has 3 times as many career yellow cards than goals

What is the clamour for a non-scoring and non-assisting attacking midfielder who has spent his entire career playing 2nd division football, who gets booked 3x more than he scores or assists, and who scores or assists only once every 14 matches?

Sunset

He has to win balls though. He seems adept at redistribution and not much else. More worrying, is it is clear that he is able to put himself about with effort but in several matches he appears as if he has gone asleep. Man, he really has to do far more for me.

It looks like his level is championship or a newly promoted team. Some players can't cut it in the big leagues.

[sabb]

The legend of Bagger Vance continues...

Kelechi Nwakali, a legend before his time

I actually like his game and I watch him a lot at C D Chaves but even now he doesn't get as much first team action as he got when he first started. They have a game on Friday against Benfica, let's hope he gets game time

[wiseone]

Nigeria lost the AFCON final because Ivory Coast had 3 central midfielders while Nigeria had only 2, Ivory Coast was at home and had a racuous home crowd behind them, and because after noticing that they were outnumbered in midfield, Nigeria did not adjust its tactics or change its 3-4-3 formation.

Having an average 2nd division midfielder who collects yellow cards like an addict would not have changed the result.

Are you still asking this after watching the Afcon final?? We lost that final because our players were burnt out and our coach didn't have enough quality to replace them. Secondly, Nwakali is a completely different type of Midfielder from those guys you mentioned, we have one creative midfielder, Iwobi, the rest are destroyers, who are good at doing the dirty work. Don't know which category Aribo falls into.

[gochino]

Nigeria lost the AFCON final because Ivory Coast had 3 central midfielders while Nigeria had only 2, Ivory Coast was at home and had a racuous home crowd behind them, and because after noticing that they were outnumbered in midfield, Nigeria did not adjust its tactics or change its 3-4-3 formation.

Having an average 2nd division midfielder who collects yellow cards like an addict would not have changed the result.

Are you still asking this after watching the Afcon final?? We lost that final because our players were burnt out and our coach didn't have enough quality to replace them. Secondly, Nwakali is a completely different type of Midfielder from those guys you mentioned, we have one creative midfielder, Iwobi, the rest are destroyers, who are good at doing the dirty work. Don't know which category Aribo falls into.

Oh so you don't even know he plays in the portuguese 1st division?? Ok, then our discussion doesn't make sense.

[wiseone]

On this forum I keep hearing how Nwakali has incisive passing and can play a killer ball. Yet strangely, such alleged passing skills have led to only 13 goals for teammates in the nearly 200 games he has played in his career.

5 different SE coaches have had the chance to pick him, yet none of them has ever selected him consistently. Why may that be?

[Enugu II]

On this forum I keep hearing how Nwakali has incisive passing and can play a killer ball. Yet strangely, such alleged passing skills have led to only 13 goals for teammates in the nearly 200 games he has played in his career.

5 different SE coaches have had the chance to pick him, yet none of them has ever selected him consistently. Why may that be?

wiseone,

Nwakali's legend is only IMAGINED. You remember, Rabiu Ibrahim? If you do, Nwakali has long become the new Rabiu Ibrahim.

[Lolly]

On this forum I keep hearing how Nwakali has incisive passing and can play a killer ball. Yet strangely, such alleged passing skills have led to only 13 goals for teammates in the nearly 200 games he has played in his career.

5 different SE coaches have had the chance to pick him, yet none of them has ever selected him consistently. Why may that be?

To be fair, he did “okay” in the match he started in AFCON 2021. I have always said his issue is lack of energy. And when he tries to track back or tackle, he ends of fouling the opponent. He is not quick on the feet for a midfielder.

But I just want to see him once more play a full 90 minutes for the SE. You never know. He might be a perfect fit for a SE 3-man midfield.

[Enugu II]

On this forum I keep hearing how Nwakali has incisive passing and can play a killer ball. Yet strangely, such alleged passing skills have led to only 13 goals for teammates in the nearly 200 games he has played in his career.

5 different SE coaches have had the chance to pick him, yet none of them has ever selected him consistently. Why may that be?

To be fair, he did “okay” in the match he started in AFCON 2021. I have always said his issue is lack of energy. And when he tries to track back or tackle, he ends of fouling the opponent. He is not quick on the feet for a midfielder.

But I just want to see him once more play a full 90 minutes for the SE. You never know. He might be a perfect fit for a SE 3-man midfield.

Lolly,

You stated all that about the guy and yet you still want to see him in a 3-man midfield. You realize teams use 4-5 men in the midfield. With what you just described, who are the players who will do the donkey work for him in ball winning? I dey shake my head oooo!

[wiseone]

We can also add Bartholomew "1 bicycle kick that went wide" Ogbeche to the list of players that CE thinks are Ballon D'or worthy, yet have journeymen careers.

wiseone,

Nwakali's legend is only IMAGINED. You remember, Rabiu Ibrahim? If you do, Nwakali has long become the new Rabiu Ibrahim.

[jette1]

We can also add Bartholomew "1 bicycle kick that went wide" Ogbeche to the list of players that CE thinks are Ballon D'or worthy, yet have journeymen careers.

wiseone,

Nwakali's legend is only IMAGINED. You remember, Rabiu Ibrahim? If you do, Nwakali has long become the new Rabiu Ibrahim.

If that’s what you think; has it ever crossed your mind that Super Eagles coach starting with Eguavon are responsible for Nwakili’s football travails. Let’s hope finidi doesn’t join this guilty list.

[wiseone]

You are right there fella. Eguavoen and other SE coaches told Nwakali to create only 13 assists in 8 years, and to get booked 3-4 times as much as he assists. They also forced him to spend 95+% of his career playing for reserve and 2nd division teams.

If that’s what you think; has it ever crossed your mind that Super Eagles coach starting with Eguavon are responsible for Nwakili’s football travails. Let’s hope finidi doesn’t join this guilty list.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

You are right there fella. Eguavoen and other SE coaches told Nwakali to create only 13 assists in 8 years, and to get booked 3-4 times as much as he assists. They also forced him to spend 95+% of his career playing for reserve and 2nd division teams.

If that’s what you think; has it ever crossed your mind that Super Eagles coach starting with Eguavon are responsible for Nwakili’s football travails. Let’s hope finidi doesn’t join this guilty list.

Have you even watched him play? He’s primarily a CDM over the last few yrs, that’s not a position for scoring an assisting unless the team’s offense is designed for him to be a distributor. Your use of stats is delusional. How many assists does Onyeka and Yusuf have in the same period. Sorry but you seem to be confused.

[kawawa]

You are right there fella. Eguavoen and other SE coaches told Nwakali to create only 13 assists in 8 years, and to get booked 3-4 times as much as he assists. They also forced him to spend 95+% of his career playing for reserve and 2nd division teams.

If that’s what you think; has it ever crossed your mind that Super Eagles coach starting with Eguavon are responsible for Nwakili’s football travails. Let’s hope finidi doesn’t join this guilty list.

Have you even watched him play? He’s primarily a CDM over the last few yrs, that’s not a position for scoring an assisting unless the team’s offense is designed for him to be a distributor. Your use of stats is delusional. How many assists does Onyeka and Yusuf have in the same period. Sorry but you seem to be confused.

He just has not done much to deserve the hype. Let’s give him his year as CDM, does that explain the output the 7 years before than and the constant travails in lower division football prior to this year. U-17 WC was 9 years ago folks!

[Sunset]

[Enugu II]

Was he given credit for the goal? Just asking based on what I see via this video.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Was he given credit for the goal? Just asking based on what I see via this video.

It was going in anyway. Das ma boi.

[Damunk]

Was he given credit for the goal? Just asking based on what I see via this video.

It was going in anyway. Das ma boi.

That ball was going well wide.
Look again.

[Damunk]

Was he given credit for the goal? Just asking based on what I see via this video.

It was going in anyway. Das ma boi.

That ball was going well wide.
Look again. The 4th take is the best angle.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Was he given credit for the goal? Just asking based on what I see via this video.

It was going in anyway. Das ma boi.

That ball was going well wide.
Look again. The 4th take is the best angle.

Ok Mr Stevie Damunk Wonder, I don look again and na goal I see.

[Cmoke]

There is an old man in this forum that gets off Kelechi!

Cmoke