Ayo Akinfe wrote:
******************************************Onyekuru***************************************
******************Iheanacho*********************************Moses**********************
********************************************Nwakali****************************************
**************************Mikel***************************Ndidi****************************
***Idowu*******************Balogun*******************Ekong*********************Aina***
*********************************************Ezenwa*****************************************
At this point in time I would pick Ikechukwu Ezenwa over my good pal Vincent Enyeama as Vince is injured and clubless for now. he will be mach rusty. Unless he moves in the January transfer window and starts seeing regular action, I do not see how he will be fit for the Russian party.
Up top, I would want to see Onyekuru, Osimhen, Kayode, Ighalo, Ideye all tried out at length and the best two picked. For me, that position remains wide open for now.
Uncle Ayo, Mikel does not play DM for Naija. First error.
Second error, Onyekuru you have never seen play neither have you seen him play with the Eagles to think he can fit in properly. You forget the excellent hold up play from Ighalo... unless you are assuming we will stop pumping the ball forward (not possible with Ekong on your starting 11). What happened to your love of a target man?
Third, Shehu deserves to retain his spot.
Based on the last couple of games, so does Onazi (I am not a huge fan but I can acknowledge he does bring bite to our midfield... just wish he cuts down on the turnovers).
On Ekong, I am not convinced yet with his ball distribution from the back especially against teams who can tire you out if you keep giving them back the ball. I will like to see some serious competition from someone else.
Aside from these few comments, what I like is the depth... for a change, when we make subs there's actually some quality coming in.
Although we are still to find someone who has the calming influence and leadership Mikel has on the pitch... I will keep a keen eye on Iwobi to see if he has worked on his turnover rate and ball retention.
We should look taking another look at Azubuike Okechukwu (has the same work rate as Onazi but with better ball distribution and retention skills) and Kelechi Nwakali in the midfield.
Been saying this for months now. Abdul Ajagun is / should be Mikel's replacement. Imgaine the Zammbia game scenario with Onazi injured, we push Mikel to DM and have Ajagun play the AM instead of Mikel Agu (not convinced). Ajagun has been playing and scoring as AM the past 3 seasons. I wrote about him and his statistics especially the amount of playing time. This season, new club and more of the same consistent performance already scored and had at least one assist.