343 WAS A TOTAL BUST TODAY LIKE I SAID

[Coach]

And a good dose of Lady Luck, whose bed chamber is a gauntlet run and frivolity won.

[airwolex]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

[Tobi17]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

That 343 wasn't going to be our bread and butter formation for long especially against a tactically astute coach like Hugo Boss, credit to the boys for at least fighting hard even with all the glaring limitations...

[metalalloy]

The annals of antiquity are decorated with honours for the most ardent pragmatists. Greece conquered Europe averaging half a shot from open play and a Trojan horse from setpieces. Mourinho’s Inter gave Barcelona the house, as far possession is concerned, but kept the door keys.

As ugly as it may be, it’s been beautiful enough to get an average Nigeria side to the final. The tactic works well with the players at hand, a solid rearguard, a big galoot up top to occupy the centrebacks and all the argie-bargie needed in the middle.

At first there were many, now there are two. By hook, crook or a voodoo beyond Haiti’s wildest imagination in the case of CIV, the two most worthy warriors, the contests greatest gladiators arrive in the colosseum. To change the shape now for Cyberian brownie points would be utter madness. 3-4-3, 5-4-1, low block, high block, own goals, no shots, if they stumble over the line or salter, ‘tis only the name that graces the trophy no tale of how t’was won.

QED

[Sleaky72]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

[waka-man]

VE is a CIV fan and has never wished Nigeria well.

So I don’t take this nonsense seriously.

The system works well and gives us so much flexibility. Yes, in the first half Moses and Lookman didn’t understand their defensive duties by The Real Portuguese Jose fixed that at half time and we started humming.

I’ll accept that we don’t have good back ups in some critical positions so lack back ups for all the middle 4, but they’re taking us to the promised land.

The rest na internet analysts whey never even go watch match live and spout ridiculous expected goal stats like they know how to use that information.

Mshew!

[cchinukw]

We can all celebrate, but we are lucky to get through.

The lottery that was PK's should have been completely avoided.

Peseiro was very poor today IMO. The man is a COWARD.

How on earth do you play 120 minutes of football in desperate search of a goal and you have 3 centrebacks on the pitch the entire time. Not once did this coward think to play a more expansive game and switch to a 433. Not once.

This clueless man tires out or ONLY creative midfielder by playing him as a DM in a 2 man setup. He then subs him off at 70 minutes because YOU MADE HIM DO DONKEY WORK.

Instead of playing Iwobi in an advanced position you tire him out doing the work of an Innocent Bonke. Absolute trash and rubish !!!!

HOW MANY CHANCES DID WE CREATE IN 120 MINUTES ?

Just 2. One was Lookman who was played through, the other being the Moffi break. Thats it. 2 chances in 120 minutes.

VERY VERY POOR.

I dont care that we won, this is absolute trash and cowardly football.

Is there anything you won’t complain about?

Don't mind the wimp.

[cchinukw]

This is a young team and to be fair to the coach, he has used the best system to match the players we have.

This is one of the most cohesive and resilient minded SEs I have seen in a while.

The true measure of a team is being able to learn, adapt and eke out results. It isn't pretty but it works.

Chikena!!!!!

[Scipio Africanus]

We can all celebrate, but we are lucky to get through.

The lottery that was PK's should have been completely avoided.

Peseiro was very poor today IMO. The man is a COWARD.

How on earth do you play 120 minutes of football in desperate search of a goal and you have 3 centrebacks on the pitch the entire time. Not once did this coward think to play a more expansive game and switch to a 433. Not once.

This clueless man tires out or ONLY creative midfielder by playing him as a DM in a 2 man setup. He then subs him off at 70 minutes because YOU MADE HIM DO DONKEY WORK.

Instead of playing Iwobi in an advanced position you tire him out doing the work of an Innocent Bonke. Absolute trash and rubish !!!!

HOW MANY CHANCES DID WE CREATE IN 120 MINUTES ?

Just 2. One was Lookman who was played through, the other being the Moffi break. Thats it. 2 chances in 120 minutes.

VERY VERY POOR.

I dont care that we won, this is absolute trash and cowardly football.

1. Min 13:06: Cross from Aina into the box that Williams just got fingertips to
2. MIn 23:51: Freekick from lookman into the box that Ajayi headed and saved by Williams.
3. Min 36: Shot from Iwobi from outside the box on the left saved by Williams.
4. Min 43: Osimhen header from a corner just wide
5. Min 56: Cross from Bright Osayi to Osimhen in the box that he headed over.
6. Min 63: Osimhen Pk
7. Min 90: Osimhen lay off outside the SA box shot by Chukwueze
8: Min 92: Through pass from Chukwueze to Lookman on the left, shot by lookman parried away by Williams
9: Min 100: Break in the middle, pass from Lookman to Osimhen, beat one and took a laser shot saved by Williams
10: Min 105: Cross on left from Aina into the box, Osimhen heads over
11. Min 111: sick Through ball from (Chukwueze? Kelechi?) to Moffi. Moffi hacked down

All these don't count as chances?

2.

Don’t forget the beautifully laid off ball to Onyeka at the top of the Bafana box. He had time to pick his spot but produced a comical shot that completely missed the target

Very embarrassing.
We are not supposed to witness shots like that at the top level of football.
Wild shots and wild clearances really remind us that some of our players need to be even better to enable us compete at the very top.

Remember also the low carpeter from Osimhen from a similar position that the SA ‘keeper did well to save.
Now that was a shot.

I don already shout "Goooooooalll!". Such was the quality of the lay off to Onyeka. Maann! As good as Bafana were, we could have easily won that game 3-1 or 4-1.

Yeah that was a class shot from Osimhen. It had so much power that there was no dip. If the South African keeper had not smothered that ball dead, it would have been a free for all in his goal mouth.

[Scipio Africanus]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

Tell me about it. Messi's goal against us at the 2018 World Cup happened exactly because of this.

[Goldleaf]

The strategy that Peseiro has used throughout this tournament is what gave Italy victory at so many World Cups. It is the dreaded "catenachio" which focuses totally on defence, closing down spaces and stopping the opposition from any goal-scoring opportunities. It is ugly but as the italians proved, it is highly effective. It requires high levels of player concentration and discipline, which we have been unable to attain over the years. Peseiro's strategy will impress europeans, in particular, who probably never believed that Nigeria can maintain this system or even player concentration throughout a tournament.

My only problem with our system is while we keep a high backline with space between the backline and the keeper, we do not put any pressure on the ball that is with the opposition. The opposition man on the ball now looks like a quarterback in the NFL looking for open opportunities to pass. South Africa gave us a lot of problems in the first half by going long with their passes and their attackers running behind Ekong, Ajayi and Bassey but, rather strangely, they stopped this approach in the second half. If they had kept at it, they would have given us trouble and probably won.

Kudos to Osimhen for holding the ball up and creating openings all by himself, one of which gave us that penalty. Serious credit must also go to Ademola Lookman who keeps dropping back to the midfield to win the ball while our midfield and defence keep their shape. This tournament has been a revelation for the Super Eagles and us fans.

[Goldleaf]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

Tell me about it. Messi's goal against us at the 2018 World Cup happened exactly because of this.

You are perfectly correct. If you keep a high line ie medium to low level block without pressure on the ball, against good teams, you will be destroyed like Messi did against us in Russia.

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

This guy thinks this is Playstation football

I know, right? People and their outlandish notions of football


Cheers.

[vancity eagle]

But nobody has refuted the XG evidence I provided.

Talk is cheap.

[packerland]

The strategy that Peseiro has used throughout this tournament is what gave Italy victory at so many World Cups. It is the dreaded "catenachio" which focuses totally on defence, closing down spaces and stopping the opposition from any goal-scoring opportunities. It is ugly but as the italians proved, it is highly effective. It requires high levels of player concentration and discipline, which we have been unable to attain over the years. Peseiro's strategy will impress europeans, in particular, who probably never believed that Nigeria can maintain this system or even player concentration throughout a tournament.

My only problem with our system is while we keep a high backline with space between the backline and the keeper, we do not put any pressure on the ball that is with the opposition. The opposition man on the ball now looks like a quarterback in the NFL looking for open opportunities to pass. South Africa gave us a lot of problems in the first half by going long with their passes and their attackers running behind Ekong, Ajayi and Bassey but, rather strangely, they stopped this approach in the second half. If they had kept at it, they would have given us trouble and probably won.

Kudos to Osimhen for holding the ball up and creating openings all by himself, one of which gave us that penalty. Serious credit must also go to Ademola Lookman who keeps dropping back to the midfield to win the ball while our midfield and defence keep their shape. This tournament has been a revelation for the Super Eagles and us fans.

KPOM! Nothing more to add

[metalalloy]

The strategy that Peseiro has used throughout this tournament is what gave Italy victory at so many World Cups. It is the dreaded "catenachio" which focuses totally on defence, closing down spaces and stopping the opposition from any goal-scoring opportunities. It is ugly but as the italians proved, it is highly effective. It requires high levels of player concentration and discipline, which we have been unable to attain over the years. Peseiro's strategy will impress europeans, in particular, who probably never believed that Nigeria can maintain this system or even player concentration throughout a tournament.

My only problem with our system is while we keep a high backline with space between the backline and the keeper, we do not put any pressure on the ball that is with the opposition. The opposition man on the ball now looks like a quarterback in the NFL looking for open opportunities to pass. South Africa gave us a lot of problems in the first half by going long with their passes and their attackers running behind Ekong, Ajayi and Bassey but, rather strangely, they stopped this approach in the second half. If they had kept at it, they would have given us trouble and probably won.

Kudos to Osimhen for holding the ball up and creating openings all by himself, one of which gave us that penalty. Serious credit must also go to Ademola Lookman who keeps dropping back to the midfield to win the ball while our midfield and defence keep their shape. This tournament has been a revelation for the Super Eagles and us fans.

Because Peseiro adjusted to that tactic in the second half. Mentioned it in the game thread.

[txj]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

In that heat/humidity its suicide to press high. What we were doing is use a compact shape and the defence line to deal with the possession and ball over the top.

However, in 1HF, first we were not very disciplined in collapsing into the block in the 2nd phase of SA possession. Some of the players were being sucked into a press when the SA CDs had the ball, exposing space behind the lines. This got corrected at the 1st water break.

2nd the D-line was not dropping back effectively to address the ball over the top. This was fixed at half time.

I'm hoping Zaidu's fit for the final and that if not, the coach brings on Bruno at LWB.

[Sleaky72]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

In that heat/humidity its suicide to press high. What we were doing is use a compact shape and the defence line to deal with the possession and ball over the top.

However, in 1HF, first we were not very disciplined in collapsing into the block in the 2nd phase of SA possession. Some of the players were being sucked into a press when the SA CDs had the ball, exposing space behind the lines. This got corrected at the 1st water break.

2nd the D-line was not dropping back effectively to address the ball over the top. This was fixed at half time.

I'm hoping Zaidu's fit for the final and that if not, the coach brings on Bruno at LWB.

Just curious.
Are you agreeing, rebutting or illuminating the point I made?

[metalalloy]

The first half was indeed dire. The fact that they could turn it around in the 2nd speaks to the resilience of the team. We were lucky on this one for sure. They had a great chance in extra time to finish us off.

Two things surprised me. How easily they bossed the midfield and how we were unable to cope with the long balls which are usually bread and butter for Ekong and Ajayi. I think this may just boil down to the chemistry between Mokoena and Evidence.

Thank goodness Osimhen came to ball cos Lookman and Simon were off like National grid

Chief they didn’t boss the midfield, they simply played a medium to low block
and waited for out players to force passes into traffic and the counter with the change of possession.
It’s also football 101 that you don’t play a high line without pressure on the ball.
So we gave them easy outlets because neither forwards nor midfielders were pressuring the deep passers.

If you can’t pressure the passer then the defensive line has to anticipate the pass and drop deep and the goalie plays high. It’s not complicated at all

In that heat/humidity its suicide to press high. What we were doing is use a compact shape and the defence line to deal with the possession and ball over the top.

However, in 1HF, first we were not very disciplined in collapsing into the block in the 2nd phase of SA possession. Some of the players were being sucked into a press when the SA CDs had the ball, exposing space behind the lines. This got corrected at the 1st water break.

2nd the D-line was not dropping back effectively to address the ball over the top. This was fixed at half time.

I'm hoping Zaidu's fit for the final and that if not, the coach brings on Bruno at LWB.

KPOM! That being said,I highly doubt Zaidu's precense would have made that much of a difference with the specific issues that they faced vs South Africa. CIV is highly unlikely to try the same tactic with Nigeria, and i doubt they have the players to carry it out as effectively as SA did. Tau and that No 9 were a handful. Also, shout out to Aubrey Modiba. He was a baller in that game.

[valachi]

Nigeria, a land of one million coaches.......

[Sleaky72]

Nigeria, a land of one million coaches.......

If Nigeria has a million coach’s then England, Brazil, Germany, Spain and Italy must have ten million

[airwolex]

Nigeria, a land of one million coaches.......

That's why we are here na

[Goldleaf]

In my opinion, the 3-4-2-1 will work against Ivory Coast. They are not mobile and will want to force their way through the middle or the wings. Their key player is Seko Fofana who is like a rampaging bull with his athleticism and power. Frank Onyeka will have a big job containing him. Their fans will play a big role in the game too. But we will win!!