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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Coach »

@Ayo, on the contrary, Croatia, all be they disjointed in their to heavy approach, did much, much more with the ball than Nigeria. The game was arguably the worst of the competition thus far, but certainly not deserving of a draw. Croatia were below average, Nigeria were abysmal. As for your suggested lineup, ludicrous and on that note...

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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:It is counter productive not to admit that there were various flaws in the selection:

1. Ighalo - 73 minutes and no credible shot on goal. Need I say more? Nacho, anyone?

2. Uzoho - I can’t possibly be the only one who’s observed that he reacts poorly to grounders and is often positionally unaware. He might have had a chance to save Etebo’s blunder had he been where he should have been and not rooted in the center of goal.

3. Etebo - Given that we opted to sit back, Ogu might have been a better option.

4. Idowu - A downright liability. Iwobi saved us quite a few blushes by tracking back to defend against incursions from the right flank.

5. If Moses persists with his wasteful antics of diving then replace him with Musa.

We need more experience and our best talent on the field against Iceland. That means Echiejile, Ezenwa, Ogu and ihenacho :!:


Cheers.
God will punish you 20 times a day for suggesting we play liabilities like Ezenwa and Echiejile. If they had played yesterday, we would have lost by 5-0.

Can I please beg you to stop commenting on my threads because you are simply too damn annoying. Slow Ogu who gives fouls away needlessly. Please just go away!
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by zee »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:It is counter productive not to admit that there were various flaws in the selection:

1. Ighalo - 73 minutes and no credible shot on goal. Need I say more? Nacho, anyone?

2. Uzoho - I can’t possibly be the only one who’s observed that he reacts poorly to grounders and is often positionally unaware. He might have had a chance to save Etebo’s blunder had he been where he should have been and not rooted in the center of goal.

3. Etebo - Given that we opted to sit back, Ogu might have been a better option.

4. Idowu - A downright liability. Iwobi saved us quite a few blushes by tracking back to defend against incursions from the right flank.

5. If Moses persists with his wasteful antics of diving then replace him with Musa.

We need more experience and our best talent on the field against Iceland. That means Echiejile, Ezenwa, Ogu and ihenacho :!:


Cheers.
God will punish you 20 times a day for suggesting we play liabilities like Ezenwa and Echiejile. If they had played yesterday, we would have lost by 5-0.

Can I please beg you to stop commenting on my threads because you are simply too damn annoying. Slow Ogu who gives fouls away needlessly. Please just go away!
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by bully12 »

Ayo you failed to mention exclusion of Onyekuru was the most egregious aberration by this criminal that masquerade as a coach . Invariably his scintillating and exquisite skill was immensely needed that was completely lacking in the team. The buffoon wittingly went to a gunfight with a knife.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Coach Rohr attributes Nigeria's 0-2 loss to Croatia to too many mistakes by his boys - See more at: https://goo.gl/v5L9DC
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by TonyTheTigerKiller »

chuks69 wrote:Iwobi never played the #10 in the qualifiers.. Remember against SA, in Uyo, no Mikel, Etebo was handed the #10 role, we were toothless in the attack.. Personally, I would ask the coach to go 4-4-2 and ask Mikel n Ndidi to play as Central MFs.. Striking paring of Ihenacho and Ighalo and have Iwobi and Moses on the wings..
4-3-3 can work well with the right personnel:

Ezenwa
Shehu Balogun Omeruo Echiejile
Ndidi Mikel Ogu
Moses Ihenacho Iwobi

Alternatively, 4-4-2 as follows:

Ezenwa
Shehu Balogun Omeruo Echiejile
Moses Mikel Ndidi iwobi
Musa Ihenacho


Cheers.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Odas »

I am very frustrated right now!. All of you are making sense and yet are not making sense to me. I agree with Ayo we were very unlucky yesterday because in reality, I didn't see what the Croatians did either, except getting the two goals due to luck. Still, what did we do to get the goals back and have a draw - at least?

Let me ask you experts again, what happened to our 3-5-2 rampaging formation which has showed a lot of success in our friendly games when used? At no time did I think we will lose the game until after we conceded the penalty and yet made "NO" attempt to switch to the 3-5-2 formation.

Mennh! I am pissed and my BLOOD is still BOILING over the loss.
And the BIBLE says: The race is NOT for the swift, neither is the battle for the strong nor ... but time and chance makes them all.
Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

bully12 wrote:Ayo you failed to mention exclusion of Onyekuru was the most egregious aberration by this criminal that masquerade as a coach . Invariably his scintillating and exquisite skill was immensely needed that was completely lacking in the team. The buffoon wittingly went to a gunfight with a knife.

Onyekuru and Nwakali would have made an immense difference to this team. Their energy, running, enthusiasm and creativity would have troubled the Croatian defence all day. Rohr as we all know is very conservative and chose to stick with players he used during the qualifiers.

Everything I have said about his tactics has come to pass. Too many dumb people here were getting carried away with victories against Swaziland, Cameroon, Zambia and Algeria. Well, as they can now see, the qualifiers and the World Cup are totally different kettles of fish!
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by theYemster »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:[1] First and foremost, what hurts most about the loss is that Croatia did not do anything to deserve a win. On the balance of play and the tame performance of both teams, a 0-0 draw would have been a fair result

[2] If we had lost 0-2 to Spain, I would not have minded but Uzoho was virtually on holiday throughout the game and yet had to pick the ball out of his net twice. Very unfair result if the ask me. We were extremely unlucky. We have played worse than this and won games

[3] From what I saw, the main problem was a lack on spirit, enthusiasm and dynamism from the team going forward. Our problems were all in the last third. We failed to have one shot on target. Where this team is totally lacking is in the area of creativity

[4] Rohr's biggest failing is that he has not taken the issue of a creative playmaker seriously. I have repeatedly said that Mikel lacks the legs for the role but was called all sorts of names on this site. I hope those of you talking nonsense can now see how silly you appear. At 30, Mikel is in the twilight of his career and canot play the one-twp give and goes on the edge of the area. Even at his best, Mikel was never a fast player and lacked the urgency you are looking for in a top class playmaker

[5] I hope all of you who were disparaging my calls for Kelechi Nwakali to be our playmaker can now see how dumb you are. Can you just imagine how he would have taken the inititiative, gone past a few Croatians and had several shots at goal were he playing?

[6] Where Rohr messed up big time was taking Iwobi off instead of Mikel. He should have brought on Iheanacho to play Iwobi's tole out wide and then played Iwobi as his playmaker. A frobnt trio of Moses, Iheanacho and Ighalo with Iwobi playmaking behind them would surely have had a greater impact

[7] Rohr is also obsessed with Shehu Abdullahi and Bryan Idowu for some weird reason. In all fairness, the due performed their defensive functions well but offered us nothing going forward. I put it to you all that Tyronne Ebuehi and Joel Obi as our fullbacks would have made a huge difference. Did Abdullahi or Idowu provide one cross throughout the 90 minutes? Contrast that to the way Šime Vrsaljko was bombing forward all game

[8] William Ekong was responsible for both goals. On the first one he let Mandžukić lost him and get a header then he gave away a penalty for the second goal. Obviously Rohr had told him to mark him tighter of corners and the man got over-enthusiastic. Clearly Ekong has a problem with man-marking. We had more corners than the Croatians and never threatened them but alas, whenever we defended a corner, Ekong was in trouble. Is it too late to bring in a defensive coach to drill the boys on this?

[9] Mikel is clearly not fit as the Chinese league has been on a break and only just resumed. What Rohr should have done is get him and Igalo, to train with a European team when their league was off. This would have ensured they are fully fit for the World Cup

[10] Despite our loss, I am not going to panic and make rash and wholesale changes to our team. that would be irrational, irresponsible and tantamount to flying off the handle. For our next game, I would like to see this line-up:

****************************************Ighalo*******************************************

**********************Moses****************************Iheanacho*********************

*******************************************Iwobi*****************************************

*************************Ndidi******************************Etebo***********************

***Joel*****************Balogun*********************Ekong******************Ebuehi***

******************************************Uzoho*******************************************
All they had to do was double team Manducic. Ekong shouldn't have had to man mark him alone. Ighalo could've belief on defense. There are ways to block players out such that even if they manage to run and get a head on the ball, they won't be able to direct it goal wards without snapping their necks. It's not about stopping the attacker from moving but steering his movement in a harmless direction based on the incoming ball's trajectory. That's why I said they don't practice set pieces well enough.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by TonyTheTigerKiller »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:It is counter productive not to admit that there were various flaws in the selection:

1. Ighalo - 73 minutes and no credible shot on goal. Need I say more? Nacho, anyone?

2. Uzoho - I can’t possibly be the only one who’s observed that he reacts poorly to grounders and is often positionally unaware. He might have had a chance to save Etebo’s blunder had he been where he should have been and not rooted in the center of goal.

3. Etebo - Given that we opted to sit back, Ogu might have been a better option.

4. Idowu - A downright liability. Iwobi saved us quite a few blushes by tracking back to defend against incursions from the right flank.

5. If Moses persists with his wasteful antics of diving then replace him with Musa.

We need more experience and our best talent on the field against Iceland. That means Echiejile, Ezenwa, Ogu and ihenacho :!:


Cheers.
God will punish you 20 times a day for suggesting we play liabilities like Ezenwa and Echiejile. If they had played yesterday, we would have lost by 5-0.

Can I please beg you to stop commenting on my threads because you are simply too damn annoying. Slow Ogu who gives fouls away needlessly. Please just go away!
God hasn’t punished you yet for the nuisance that you are. If only the Croatians had shot straight, we would have lost by half a dozen, at least. All you have to do is look at the highlights. There were no Nigerian highlights. It was all Croatia, you stupid fool :!: :!: :!:


Cheers.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Odas wrote:I am very frustrated right now!. All of you are making sense and yet are not making sense to me. I agree with Ayo we were very unlucky yesterday because in reality, I didn't see what the Croatians did either, except getting the two goals due to luck. Still, what did we do to get the goals back and have a draw - at least?

Let me ask you experts again, what happened to our 3-5-2 rampaging formation which has showed a lot of success in our friendly games when used? At no time did I think we will lose the game until after we conceded the penalty and yet made "NO" attempt to switch to the 3-5-2 formation.

Mennh! I am pissed and my BLOOD is still BOILING over the loss.

What makes 3-5-2 work is that you have wingbacks who bomb forward and whip in dangerous crosses. With Shehu Abdullahi and Bryan Idowu, we would have been ineffective with 3-5-2 yesterday as neither of them has the capacity to do that. Maybe with Tyronne Ebuehi and Joel Obi we would have had some joy.

For me, there was nothing wrong with the formation. It was the personnel selected that cost us dear.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
TonyTheTigerKiller wrote:It is counter productive not to admit that there were various flaws in the selection:

1. Ighalo - 73 minutes and no credible shot on goal. Need I say more? Nacho, anyone?

2. Uzoho - I can’t possibly be the only one who’s observed that he reacts poorly to grounders and is often positionally unaware. He might have had a chance to save Etebo’s blunder had he been where he should have been and not rooted in the center of goal.

3. Etebo - Given that we opted to sit back, Ogu might have been a better option.

4. Idowu - A downright liability. Iwobi saved us quite a few blushes by tracking back to defend against incursions from the right flank.

5. If Moses persists with his wasteful antics of diving then replace him with Musa.

We need more experience and our best talent on the field against Iceland. That means Echiejile, Ezenwa, Ogu and ihenacho :!:


Cheers.
God will punish you 20 times a day for suggesting we play liabilities like Ezenwa and Echiejile. If they had played yesterday, we would have lost by 5-0.

Can I please beg you to stop commenting on my threads because you are simply too damn annoying. Slow Ogu who gives fouls away needlessly. Please just go away!
God hasn’t punished you yet for the nuisance that you are. If only the Croatians had shot straight, we would have lost by half a dozen, at least. All you have to do is look at the highlights. There were no Nigerian highlights. It was all Croatia, you stupid fool :!: :!: :!:


Cheers.

Moderators, can you please stop this gentleman from responding to my threads. I do not appreciate his contributions.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by marutimon »

Joel Obi is a terrible crosser. Hence the only option is Etebo at LWB.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by The YeyeMan »

Coach wrote:The game was arguably the worst of the competition thus far, but certainly not deserving of a draw. Croatia were below average, Nigeria were abysmal. As for your suggested lineup, ludicrous and on that note...
Just like our game with Iran was the worst at the last World Cup...

Rohr is in need of an intervention.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Odas »

bully12 wrote:Ayo you failed to mention exclusion of Onyekuru was the most egregious aberration by this criminal that masquerade as a coach . Invariably his scintillating and exquisite skill was immensely needed that was completely lacking in the team. The buffoon wittingly went to a gunfight with a knife.
First, you DO NOT have to curse and curse to state your point. Second, Onyekuru still would NOT have done much using the same match formation. We should have used what worked for us during the friendly matches in the second half which is the 3-5-2 formation.

Had we done that, I believe things would have been different. Like Ayo already said, the Croatians were not better, they were just LUCKY
Last edited by Odas on Sun Jun 17, 2018 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
And the BIBLE says: The race is NOT for the swift, neither is the battle for the strong nor ... but time and chance makes them all.
Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

marutimon wrote:Joel Obi is a terrible crosser. Hence the only option is Etebo at LWB.

Etebo is right footed and not an option on the left. Trust me, Joel can perform that role. I have posted clips of him playing there before.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

This was the first game in which we actually defended well and still lost:

[1] Croatia did not have any clear shots on goal
[2] Uzoho was well protected
[3] They did not get behind our defence
[4] We did not give away needles free kicks
[5] Modric was limited to delivering 50 yard passes
[6] Moses and Iwobi got back well to cover the fullbacks
[7] Mandzukick was anonymous throughout the game
[8] I do not even recall any last ditch clearances by our defenders
[9] Croatian defenders needed to make several last ditch blocks from our shots. Our defenders had no such headaches
[10] They did not even whip any crosses into our penalty area

How we still conceded two goals despite that is beyond me. This is the worst case of bad luck in a football match.

Yes, we offered very little going forward but we still did not deserve to lose the match. I think 0-0 would have been a fair result given the balance of play. Some of the commentary I heard was just unfair.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by marko »

I think its rather too late for Nigeria, confidence is low, Iceland will sense they can get something out of the game and they are so organised
So angry Nigeria got kicked out of the world cup once again, i nearly told my wife that i caught my girlfriend with another man today!

Marko
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Odas »

marko wrote:I think its rather too late for Nigeria, confidence is low, Iceland will sense they can get something out of the game and they are so organised
Well, maybe you are right, but we will see. The Iceland game is a "must WIN" for us, else it will be all over.
And the BIBLE says: The race is NOT for the swift, neither is the battle for the strong nor ... but time and chance makes them all.
Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Synopsis »

Again we fail to create chances with Ighlao as a lone striker. He’s had one good game in gwg. Completely rubbish player.

People like ayo blame everyone but Ighalo.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by Lolly »

Odas wrote:I am very frustrated right now!. All of you are making sense and yet are not making sense to me. I agree with Ayo we were very unlucky yesterday because in reality, I didn't see what the Croatians did either, except getting the two goals due to luck. Still, what did we do to get the goals back and have a draw - at least?

Let me ask you experts again, what happened to our 3-5-2 rampaging formation which has showed a lot of success in our friendly games when used? At no time did I think we will lose the game until after we conceded the penalty and yet made "NO" attempt to switch to the 3-5-2 formation.

Mennh! I am pissed and my BLOOD is still BOILING over the loss.
Playing 3-5-2 against a team playing 4-2-4 when you are chasing the game is suicidal.

Our problem is we don’t have quality attacking options in this team. Only one winger, no goal scorer and a very slow non-scoring attacking midfielder. We willl struggle to get scoring opportunities and it showed in the friendly matches.
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by DIMKA76 »

Rohr drop his captain? It ain't happening! The sooner Mikel leaves the SE scene after the world cup, the better for the SE long term. Thanks for the memories, Mikel!
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Re: 10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game

Post by marko »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:This was the first game in which we actually defended well and still lost:

[1] Croatia did not have any clear shots on goal
[2] Uzoho was well protected
[3] They did not get behind our defence
[4] We did not give away needles free kicks
[5] Modric was limited to delivering 50 yard passes
[6] Moses and Iwobi got back well to cover the fullbacks
[7] Mandzukick was anonymous throughout the game
[8] I do not even recall any last ditch clearances by our defenders
[9] Croatian defenders needed to make several last ditch blocks from our shots. Our defenders had no such headaches
[10] They did not even whip any crosses into our penalty area

How we still conceded two goals despite that is beyond me. This is the worst case of bad luck in a football match.

Yes, we offered very little going forward but we still did not deserve to lose the match. I think 0-0 would have been a fair result given the balance of play. Some of the commentary I heard was just unfair.

Nigeria lost due to lack of concentration, Nigerians sides do not have tbe know how to concentrate at this level for 90 minutes, that was the difference between both sides, The england game, the writings were on the wall for all to see, This is only Croatia, hardly world beaters, why do we want to get out of this group? Face the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France, if you cannot beat Croatia , you do not belong in this company, lets not deceive ourselves!

When has Mikel sucessfully played AM for Nigeria at this level and done anything worthy of mention? We keep on making mistakes after mistakes and expect a different outcome

Now we want salvation against Iceland, did you see how they defend yesterday? Nigeria will need more than luck and prayers to break them down, this means they will need the likes of Nacho, Iwobi on the same pitch to give then a fighting chance, any repeat of yesterday stupid line up, sorry they will get beaten by Iceland
So angry Nigeria got kicked out of the world cup once again, i nearly told my wife that i caught my girlfriend with another man today!

Marko

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