MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

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MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Scipio Africanus »

vancity eagle wrote:As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
Simple. Too many touches on the ball in the final third by the wingers, which tend to discourage runs being made. Chances are created by well timed runs into space accompanied by timely delivery of ball into said space.

Wha choo looking at?!
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

well If I said we controlled the first half, the second half against Poland was dour.

They pretty much dominated us in the second half. I don't know if we tired from the high press we employed in the first half, but something was much different. Poland seemed more awake and more hungry for the ball, and they passed around us on many occasions.

The 2 best chances again fell to them. First Lewandowski was put through on goal, and Balogun seemed to have lost him for a key moment which put Lewa through on goal with Uzoho coming out on top. The second chance was a free header from a set piece, and it seemed that Victor Moses was the culprit in leaving his man completely unmarked.

Moses despite scoring the PK from a clear dive was a big disappointment IMO. I notice that he often plays "bigman" soccer for Nigeria, he does things he would not get away with at Chelsea, like failing to defend on corners, and also one of my big complaints about Moses is his selfishness and he often tries to take pot shots on goal when a simple pass to a team mate would be a much better option.

Despite the poor 2nd half, and because Poland had most of the possession, we had 4 key counter attacks as a result of breaking up their plays, in which we could really have punished the Poles if more clinical. We did not get any counter attacks in the first half because we controlled the play. We really need to work on clinically finishing off counter attacks because we will likely get many of them at the WC.

The 4 key and frankly dangerous counterattacks we had all ended in failure and here is my summary of them.

1. We had 3 or 4 players on the counter against perhaps 2 defenders. Victor Moses leads the charge is surging forwards in this great opportunity, up to about the box instead of slipping any of at least 2 other players through, he proceeds to take a stupid shot on goal and ends up killing birds in the stadium. This was perhaps the biggest waste of the 4 counter attacks.

2. Similar to number one, but the situation was not as promising. Joel Obi this time leads the charge, and instead of passing to a team mate he takes a uselss shot at goal, and the ball goes well wide.

3. Musa leads the counter, he makes the right decision trying to slip through a player, but his execution of the pass is piss poor and the chance is wasted.

4. Onazi leads the counter he seemingly slips a pass through to put Musa in on goal, but Musa completely misses the pass, Or was the pass to heavy from Onazi ?

4 very good opportunities to kill Poland off completely wasted. Not good enough IMO. We need to be lethal on these counters, because this is how we can destroy teams.

Onazi clearly did not have the hustle of Joel Obi and when he replaced him the midfield went from poor in the second half to even worse.

Overall game was slightly poor. A very decent first half, but a poor second one.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
Simple. Too many touches on the ball in the final third by the wingers, which tend to discourage runs being made. Chances are created by well timed runs into space accompanied by timely delivery of ball into said space.

Yes I agree.

Do you know I just watched the Tunisia friendly against Costa Rica, and I was astonished at how good the quick passing of the Tunisians was, they cut the Costa Rican defence to ribbons with their quick passing and running into space. I kept saying to myself if Tunisia can play like this, what on earth is our SE doing. This really needs to be addressed by coach Rohr.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA »

Either way you look at it, the result was a very good one for SE. Even if you give them the goal that wasnt given,the SE still held up very well against a Poland side that i think is better than England and probably Belgium. They are no joke! Getting a result there after just a day of practice is not easy especially without Mikel.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Scipio Africanus »

EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:Either way you look at it, the result was a very good one for SE. Even if you give them the goal that wasnt given,the SE still held up very well against a Poland side that i think is better than England and probably Belgium. They are no joke! Getting a result there after just a day of practice is not easy especially without Mikel.
Bros, I am as patriotic as the next guy, but there is no way that Poland is better than England. England usually murder them whenever they meet.

Wha choo looking at?!
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:Either way you look at it, the result was a very good one for SE. Even if you give them the goal that wasnt given,the SE still held up very well against a Poland side that i think is better than England and probably Belgium. They are no joke! Getting a result there after just a day of practice is not easy especially without Mikel.
England and Belgium ? :rotf: :rotf:

Make no mistake about it, other than Russia, Poland is certainly amongst the worst 2 or 3 European sides at the WC.

An away result against them is still very credible, but we played like crap in that second half.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Scipio Africanus »

vancity eagle wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
Simple. Too many touches on the ball in the final third by the wingers, which tend to discourage runs being made. Chances are created by well timed runs into space accompanied by timely delivery of ball into said space.

Yes I agree.

Do you know I just watched the Tunisia friendly against Costa Rica, and I was astonished at how good the quick passing of the Tunisians was, they cut the Costa Rican defence to ribbons with their quick passing and running into space. I kept saying to myself if Tunisia can play like this, what on earth is our SE doing. This really needs to be addressed by coach Rohr.
The Germany Brazil semi-final game in 2014 was a watershed moment in football. I mean Spain has been using pass and move to bully everybody for years, but the GER-BRA game dramatically put the value of a good quick passing game on stage. Observant people should have noticed that you don't need particularly skillful players to have a fearsome attack. You just need players who by training or by instinct, are always looking to pass the ball to someone in a better position, and try to make intelligent runs.

Wha choo looking at?!
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA »

Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
Simple. Too many touches on the ball in the final third by the wingers, which tend to discourage runs being made. Chances are created by well timed runs into space accompanied by timely delivery of ball into said space.

Yes I agree.

Do you know I just watched the Tunisia friendly against Costa Rica, and I was astonished at how good the quick passing of the Tunisians was, they cut the Costa Rican defence to ribbons with their quick passing and running into space. I kept saying to myself if Tunisia can play like this, what on earth is our SE doing. This really needs to be addressed by coach Rohr.
The Germany Brazil semi-final game in 2014 was a watershed moment in football. I mean Spain has been using pass and move to bully everybody for years, but the GER-BRA game dramatically put the value of a good quick passing game on stage. Observant people should have noticed that you don't need particularly skillful players to have a fearsome attack. You just need players who by training or by instinct, are always looking to pass the ball to someone in a better position, and try to make intelligent runs.

That was theKey when we played Argentina recently. Moses needs to embrace the passing game when playing for SE and stop the selfish play. Passing and playing for the main reason Simon has done well with SE.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Scipio Africanus »

EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:As the WC is a little more than a month away and friendlies begin in roughly 2 weeks to add to the excitement of the buildup I am re watching and re analyzing our 2 march friendly matches.

I have only seen both matches once, both live and direct so I will digest these friendlies without the intensity and nervousness of watching the games live.

Just finished the first half against Poland and my findings are such.


The game/first half was actually much better than I remember.

SE was in total control of the first half. Poland really offered nothing except for 2 key moments or scares.

The passing and ball retention overall was quite good, and our high press really made it so that Poland could not get a grip on the game. They resorted to a lot of fouls which would not be acceptable in a competitive match.

Ndidi and Joel covered a lot of ground and ran their socks off. Ighalo also worked tirelessly up front and his skill and ability to hold up play were apparent. Moses was quiet for his usual self.

Despite our good passing and ball retention and overall control of the match we really didn't create any good scoring chance, and this is worrying. I can't really put my finger on what exactly the problem was. Was it that Poland defended well, or could we use space better with off ball movements etc.

Poland despite not having much control of the game, had the 2 best opportunities to score in the first half.

To me the weakest link, as I believe I had outlined after initially watching the match, were TWO PLAYERS.

1. Shehu Abdullahi and
2. Francis Uzoho

Abdullahi while not being terrible was easily the worst outfield player, as he made a few key mistakes, which basically lead to the 2 chances Poland had on us, despite having no control of the overall game in the first half.

First Abdullahi was caught out and the Poland winger sent in a dangerous cross for Lewandowski whose shot hit the outside of our post. Lewandowski was dragged out too wide to get a good shot on net. Second in a similar situation to Abdullahi giving away a PK against Algeria, he brought down the Polish winger just outside the box leading to a free kick, which lead to the possible GOAL that Balogun kicked out in midair. And this leads us to Francis Uzoho.

Uzoho was barely tested until a series of corners and free kicks, in which he failed MISERABLY. The first was a corner kick in which he just stood on his line and made no attempt to catch or punch away. He just stood there. The corner went through untouched by either a Polish or Nigerian player with Uzoho standing around foolishly. Any slight touch by Poland would likely have resulted in a goal. Now to the aforementioned free kick given away by Abdullahi. This time Uzoho came for the ball and completely missed it, it was going in until Balogun cleared off the line. Possibly it was a goal.


Overall after the first half, Nigeria completely dominated without creating any chances. Abdullahi is not really trustworthy as a DEFENDER IMO. I think he will definitely be exposed against Argentina and Croatia. Uzoho IMO is just not ready and will likely make a huge mistake at the WC. TBH neither of Uzoho, Ezenwa, or Akpeyi leaves me any confidence what so ever.

I will be back to review the second half, and later the Serbia match.
Simple. Too many touches on the ball in the final third by the wingers, which tend to discourage runs being made. Chances are created by well timed runs into space accompanied by timely delivery of ball into said space.

Yes I agree.

Do you know I just watched the Tunisia friendly against Costa Rica, and I was astonished at how good the quick passing of the Tunisians was, they cut the Costa Rican defence to ribbons with their quick passing and running into space. I kept saying to myself if Tunisia can play like this, what on earth is our SE doing. This really needs to be addressed by coach Rohr.
The Germany Brazil semi-final game in 2014 was a watershed moment in football. I mean Spain has been using pass and move to bully everybody for years, but the GER-BRA game dramatically put the value of a good quick passing game on stage. Observant people should have noticed that you don't need particularly skillful players to have a fearsome attack. You just need players who by training or by instinct, are always looking to pass the ball to someone in a better position, and try to make intelligent runs.

That was theKey when we played Argentina recently. Moses needs to embrace the passing game when playing for SE and stop the selfish play. Passing and playing for the main reason Simon has done well with SE.
:clap: :clap: :clap: Kpom! With quick one touch passing we ripped Argentina to shreds and collected 3 goals.

:agree: about Moses and Iwobi needs to be more business-like as well.

Wha choo looking at?!
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by nzeogwu »

England are not as good as Poland. Poland is not one of the weakest teams in Europe.

0-0 draws with Uruguay and Germany.
Thrashing Iceland, Denmark 4-2 and 3-2, respectively.

Beating Serbia and Montenegro. The last time I checked, we have not beating any of these countries in a competitive match neither has England.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

What are u talking. Denmark thrashed that overhyped team 4-0. The drew against a weakened Uruguay without most of their top players AT HOME. Mexico also beat them AT HOME, and after playing us they neat a piss poor Korean side 3-2 AT HOME. Not the greatest team to be honest.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by nzeogwu »

VE, they beat Denmark 3-2 in the first leg. They also beat a full strength Germany two years earlier in the Euro Qualifiers 2-0.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

IST HALF AGAINST SERBIA

Serbia were easily the better side, controlled possession and created more chances, although Nigeria began to stabilize but attacks were uncoordinated. The entire first 10 minutes we were chasing shadows and could not get a hold of the ball.

Musa completely ineffective in the lone striker role, although he did win a freekick after beating Ivanovic for pace and being brought down on edge of area. Musa is in no way a starter and should be confined to super sub role if pace is needed late in match. I prefer Simon because he offers more trickery and free kick threat, while being almost as fast as Musa.

Iwobi struggled to get into match.

Moses best SE attacker, but it isn't saying much really.

Ndidi best midfielder, all over pitch and broke up plays and joined attacks.

I counted key giveaways Joel Obi had 3, Onazi had 2, Ndidi had 1, Idowu had 1

Joel Obi was still very involved and covered a lot of ground, he displayed some good long range passing despite the 3 key giveaways.

Onazi seemed slow to me, was caught napping on the ball directly in front of goal and was dispossessed.

Idowu covered a lot of ground and was pretty solid in defence, and saved our blushes with a last ditched tackle on Mitrovic.

Awaziem was shaky and absolutely bullied by Mitrovic. I don't know why Troost was not assigned to mark him. 2 major blunders by Awaziem. First a through ball for Mitrovic, Awaziem came for the ball and completely missed it and Mitrovic was through on goal. Like earlier mentioned Idowu's last ditched tackle stopped a sure goal. Second on a set piece, Mitrovic completely bullied Awaziem and got off a WEAK header, which Uzoho couldn't deal with resulting in a goal, which he quickly pulled back over the line.

Very poor from Uzoho to not be able to stop such a weak header. Besides this he made one or two saves.

Ebuehi displayed calmness in defence but needed to get involved more in attack.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

2ND HALF VS SERBIA

Ironically even though we played much better in the second half we chopped 2 goals.

The difference having Ighalo up top instead of Musa was clear as day. Ighalo always puts in a shift and always has defenders working hard to stop him. It seems to me that Ighalo is always fouled by defenders, and I think he may earn us a PK in Russia, if defenders are not careful. There was a time when Ighalo was brought down by a defender in the box in what looked like it could have been a penalty. Ighalo still managed to get a shot away while on the ground. He holds the ball well in the box and for those CE who do not see the value of this, they are just clueless. For all the complaints that Ighalo "doesn't score" he did not have once chance in both friendly matches that should have been a goal. I would argue his lack of goal scoring is more due to our inability to create clear scoring chances, than Ighalo failing to put them away. Ighalo, our wingers, and AM all share the blame in lack of chances created, this is not due to Ighalo himself. We will be fine with Ighalo so long as our supporting cast put in a proper shift.

Musa pretty much just as ineffective on the wing as he was up top.

Joel Obi for all the hate he got was not nearly as bad as people claimed. In the second half both Ndidi and Iwobi gave the ball away more than Joel, and nobody can say that either Iwobi or Ndidi had bad halves. In fact they were 2 of our best players. If a player gets more involved in the match, the chances they give the ball away increases. Joel Obi put in a shift, he covered a lot of ground, much more so than Onazi, and was consistently putting pressure on Serbian attackers. I like his game, and his passing is certainly no worse than Onazi. For some reason Joel Obi has been singled out by some, but he is easily ahead of Ogu, Onazi, Agu, based on these 2 friendlies.

Ebuehi was also savaged after this game, again it was very exaggerated by some haters. Yes on a few occasions he seemed confused in the second half, however none of these lead to any goals, and he did nothing wrong in the first half. Also it seemed he was injured, as I some him whincing on a few occasions. It must be said that Ebuehi can CROSS THE BALL, He found Ighalo in the middle with a beautiful cross, where Ighalo missed a bicycle kick. If we want to utilize Simy Nwankwo we need wingbacks who can CROSS THE BALL. Shehu is not a good crosser. As far as I am concerned if Ebuehi is fit he should go to Russia, and if he can but the shakiness of this game behind him in upcoming friendlies he should start ahead of Abdullahi.

For me the worst player for us was Awaziem. He failed woefully in his job marking Mitrovic and allowed him to score 2 goals, and perhaps another goal which was not counted in the first half. Is it really any coincidence that the only 2 matches Rohr has lost during his tenure have been the only 2 times Awaziem started and played the entire match in defence ? Omeruo of late hasn't really inspired much confidence either. Based on experience level and lack of options both Awaziem and Omeruo should make the cut, unless Eze can somehow show that despite playing in Bulgaria he is better than either of these 2. I think Rohr needs to look seriously at this.

Iwobi came into his game when he moved into the centre of the park and was allowed to roam and dictate the play. This is the role he has played effectively of late for ARsenal. I think Rohr needs to seriously consider the option of Iwobi at AM. He seems to release the ball much more quickly and accurately when he is in the middle, and he drives forward when there is space, (something Mikel doesn't do as well)

we may need to look at this option. A midfield of Iwobi at AM, Mikel at CM, and Ndidi at DM. This can also give us the option of playing both Ighalo and Iheanacho.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Synopsis »

vancity eagle wrote:




we may need to look at this option. A midfield of Iwobi at AM, Mikel at CM, and Ndidi at DM. This can also give us the option of playing both Ighalo and Iheanacho.
Interesting. How would you line up the team?
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by Scipio Africanus »

vancity eagle wrote:2ND HALF VS SERBIA

Ironically even though we played much better in the second half we chopped 2 goals.

The difference having Ighalo up top instead of Musa was clear as day. Ighalo always puts in a shift and always has defenders working hard to stop him. It seems to me that Ighalo is always fouled by defenders, and I think he may earn us a PK in Russia, if defenders are not careful. There was a time when Ighalo was brought down by a defender in the box in what looked like it could have been a penalty. Ighalo still managed to get a shot away while on the ground. He holds the ball well in the box and for those CE who do not see the value of this, they are just clueless. For all the complaints that Ighalo "doesn't score" he did not have once chance in both friendly matches that should have been a goal. I would argue his lack of goal scoring is more due to our inability to create clear scoring chances, than Ighalo failing to put them away. Ighalo, our wingers, and AM all share the blame in lack of chances created, this is not due to Ighalo himself. We will be fine with Ighalo so long as our supporting cast put in a proper shift.

Musa pretty much just as ineffective on the wing as he was up top.

Joel Obi for all the hate he got was not nearly as bad as people claimed. In the second half both Ndidi and Iwobi gave the ball away more than Joel, and nobody can say that either Iwobi or Ndidi had bad halves. In fact they were 2 of our best players. If a player gets more involved in the match, the chances they give the ball away increases. Joel Obi put in a shift, he covered a lot of ground, much more so than Onazi, and was consistently putting pressure on Serbian attackers. I like his game, and his passing is certainly no worse than Onazi. For some reason Joel Obi has been singled out by some, but he is easily ahead of Ogu, Onazi, Agu, based on these 2 friendlies.

Ebuehi was also savaged after this game, again it was very exaggerated by some haters. Yes on a few occasions he seemed confused in the second half, however none of these lead to any goals, and he did nothing wrong in the first half. Also it seemed he was injured, as I some him whincing on a few occasions. It must be said that Ebuehi can CROSS THE BALL, He found Ighalo in the middle with a beautiful cross, where Ighalo missed a bicycle kick. If we want to utilize Simy Nwankwo we need wingbacks who can CROSS THE BALL. Shehu is not a good crosser. As far as I am concerned if Ebuehi is fit he should go to Russia, and if he can but the shakiness of this game behind him in upcoming friendlies he should start ahead of Abdullahi.

For me the worst player for us was Awaziem. He failed woefully in his job marking Mitrovic and allowed him to score 2 goals, and perhaps another goal which was not counted in the first half. Is it really any coincidence that the only 2 matches Rohr has lost during his tenure have been the only 2 times Awaziem started and played the entire match in defence ? Omeruo of late hasn't really inspired much confidence either. Based on experience level and lack of options both Awaziem and Omeruo should make the cut, unless Eze can somehow show that despite playing in Bulgaria he is better than either of these 2. I think Rohr needs to look seriously at this.

Iwobi came into his game when he moved into the centre of the park and was allowed to roam and dictate the play. This is the role he has played effectively of late for ARsenal. I think Rohr needs to seriously consider the option of Iwobi at AM. He seems to release the ball much more quickly and accurately when he is in the middle, and he drives forward when there is space, (something Mikel doesn't do as well)

we may need to look at this option. A midfield of Iwobi at AM, Mikel at CM, and Ndidi at DM. This can also give us the option of playing both Ighalo and Iheanacho.
I like this. In fact I like it very much! :clap: :clap:

Wha choo looking at?!
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

Synopsis wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:




we may need to look at this option. A midfield of Iwobi at AM, Mikel at CM, and Ndidi at DM. This can also give us the option of playing both Ighalo and Iheanacho.
Interesting. How would you line up the team?

I'm not sure this is my preferred lineup but we may need to try it out, perhaps against Czech Rep.



****************************************************UZOHO*******************************************************


EBUEHI****************************BALOGUN*********************TROOST********************************IDOWU**



*************************************MIKEL**********************NDIDI******************************************


***************************************************IWOBI*******************************************************



MOSES***********************************************************************************************IHEANACHO



*************************************************IGHALO********************************************************


Now some may say that Nacho is not a winger, and I agree, however I would have him and Ighalo interchange quite a bit, and frankly Moses Simon and Musa are not really the greatest wing options anyways. I would rather the goal scoring threat of Iheanacho, and also Iheanacho offers much more in terms of team play, passing, and intelligence than either of Musa or Simon. Iwobi will also have to track back and at least make a nuisance of himself when we lose possession. Mikel will sit back and help create from further back and of course Ndidi will sit in front of the back 4 and do what he does best. This honestly might be our best lineup and like I said I would like to see it against Czechs maybe for a half against England.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by metalalloy »

vancity eagle wrote:2ND HALF VS SERBIA

Ironically even though we played much better in the second half we chopped 2 goals.

The difference having Ighalo up top instead of Musa was clear as day. Ighalo always puts in a shift and always has defenders working hard to stop him. It seems to me that Ighalo is always fouled by defenders, and I think he may earn us a PK in Russia, if defenders are not careful. There was a time when Ighalo was brought down by a defender in the box in what looked like it could have been a penalty. Ighalo still managed to get a shot away while on the ground. He holds the ball well in the box and for those CE who do not see the value of this, they are just clueless. For all the complaints that Ighalo "doesn't score" he did not have once chance in both friendly matches that should have been a goal. I would argue his lack of goal scoring is more due to our inability to create clear scoring chances, than Ighalo failing to put them away. Ighalo, our wingers, and AM all share the blame in lack of chances created, this is not due to Ighalo himself. We will be fine with Ighalo so long as our supporting cast put in a proper shift.

Musa pretty much just as ineffective on the wing as he was up top.

Joel Obi for all the hate he got was not nearly as bad as people claimed. In the second half both Ndidi and Iwobi gave the ball away more than Joel, and nobody can say that either Iwobi or Ndidi had bad halves. In fact they were 2 of our best players. If a player gets more involved in the match, the chances they give the ball away increases. Joel Obi put in a shift, he covered a lot of ground, much more so than Onazi, and was consistently putting pressure on Serbian attackers. I like his game, and his passing is certainly no worse than Onazi. For some reason Joel Obi has been singled out by some, but he is easily ahead of Ogu, Onazi, Agu, based on these 2 friendlies.

Ebuehi was also savaged after this game, again it was very exaggerated by some haters. Yes on a few occasions he seemed confused in the second half, however none of these lead to any goals, and he did nothing wrong in the first half. Also it seemed he was injured, as I some him whincing on a few occasions. It must be said that Ebuehi can CROSS THE BALL, He found Ighalo in the middle with a beautiful cross, where Ighalo missed a bicycle kick. If we want to utilize Simy Nwankwo we need wingbacks who can CROSS THE BALL. Shehu is not a good crosser. As far as I am concerned if Ebuehi is fit he should go to Russia, and if he can but the shakiness of this game behind him in upcoming friendlies he should start ahead of Abdullahi.

For me the worst player for us was Awaziem. He failed woefully in his job marking Mitrovic and allowed him to score 2 goals, and perhaps another goal which was not counted in the first half. Is it really any coincidence that the only 2 matches Rohr has lost during his tenure have been the only 2 times Awaziem started and played the entire match in defence ? Omeruo of late hasn't really inspired much confidence either. Based on experience level and lack of options both Awaziem and Omeruo should make the cut, unless Eze can somehow show that despite playing in Bulgaria he is better than either of these 2. I think Rohr needs to look seriously at this.

Iwobi came into his game when he moved into the centre of the park and was allowed to roam and dictate the play. This is the role he has played effectively of late for ARsenal. I think Rohr needs to seriously consider the option of Iwobi at AM. He seems to release the ball much more quickly and accurately when he is in the middle, and he drives forward when there is space, (something Mikel doesn't do as well)

we may need to look at this option. A midfield of Iwobi at AM, Mikel at CM, and Ndidi at DM. This can also give us the option of playing both Ighalo and Iheanacho.
Excellent contribution as usual. :thumb: Only comment i would have is that at this stage in his career, you would be asking for too much for mikel to play as a pure CM who will drive forward and come back on defense. I fear that with Ndidi will be left doing the job of three people if Iwobi doesn't come back to help and Mikel doesn't sit in the middle. If mikel is instructed to sit, then you would be restricting our most effective "creator", if you give him a true CM role, i doubt we will even get the 70 mins we have been getting from him. Also, Iheanacho (unless he is a new man and plays like he did this past weekend) will not offer much help when we don't possess the ball.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

^

Exactly why I am skeptical.

I feel we need 2 midfielders who can run and defend especially against Croatia and midfield. So any two of

Ndidi, Onazi, Etebo, Joel

Must play behind Mikel IMO.

Iwobi perhaps can be out wide but then drift into the middle as he did in the 2nd half against Serbia.

We do not really want to rely on Mikel as a defender, I feel our midfield press can be key to beating both Croatia and Argentina.

Etebo, Ndidi, Joel are our most high energy players.

Onazi used to be but he is out of shape. Hopefully he can get fully fit by WC, because an Onazi fully fit will be a major asset.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by nzeogwu »

Vancity my dear bro, England as of today May 16 is weaker than Poland
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by vancity eagle »

nzeogwu wrote:Vancity my dear bro, England as of today May 16 is weaker than Poland

Well we will find out on June 2.
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Re: MARCH FRIENDLY RE-WATCH

Post by achuzia-the-air-raid »

vancity eagle wrote:
nzeogwu wrote:Vancity my dear bro, England as of today May 16 is weaker than Poland

Well we will find out on June 2.
Poland is stronger than England, it is not even close and that you can take to the bank.
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