SE CAMP: How the 23 was announced.......

[Enugu II]

Dropping Iheanacho, Ajayi tough call — Rohr
Published June 10, 2019

https://punchng.com/dropping-iheanacho- ... call-rohr/
Johnny Edward


Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has admitted that it was a tough call excluding Kelechi Iheanacho and Semi Ajayi from his final 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Both players were conspicuously missing during the Eagles recovery training Sunday morning at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.

The German also noted that the pair were still part of his team despite being overlooked for the AFCON tournament.

“It was not the match against Zimbabwe that helped in our decision to drop the two players,” he told the media shortly before the team’s departure to Ismailia.

“We already had our opinion before the match because we observed them throughout the season and we saw what they did.

“We had seven training sessions to see the fitness, confidence of the players. Normally in a match, you cannot bring so many strikers. We played with a lot of offensive players.

“We played with seven strikers, all the strikers who deserved to play. We started with three strikers, the others came in. We have (Samuel) Chukwueze, (Samuel) Kalu, Henry (Onyekuru), (Victor) Osimhen, Paul (Onuachu), (Moses) Simon also. The choice of dropping two players is really difficult for me.

“I can’t take every one of you (players) to the AFCON. All the players showed good character, good mentality throughout this week, but we just must drop two players. It’s so unfortunate and a difficult moment for Iheanacho and Ajayi missing out but they are still part of the team.”

[Damunk]

Painful but predictable and CE actually called it quite accurately even from the poll in which Kelechi and Semi were the two front runners.

[Bigpokey24]

Rohr still is yet to solve the goal scoring problems

[Flex Swift]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

[Cito]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi doesn’t deserve a call among the 25 to begin with. He has been poor for too long that all the brownie points he accumulated has been used up. His body of work hasn’t been anywhere near adequate for far too long for the coach to gamble with him.

No matter how terrible these guys performs at the AFCON, they still deserve to be there ahead of Kelechi, sentiments aside.

That said, Kelechi can still bounce back as he has it in him. His accuracy and legality of his ‘non back lift shots’ is not something that’s easy to come by. He just needs to go back to basics and learn how to be a striker again. Learn how to make runs in final third. Learn how to control balls to create a chance. I trust he will bounce back but not at the expense of our emotions. Do that at his club and come back when sorted out.

[Enyi]

For team that lacks serious fire power as of now....I won’t have dropped Kelechi. The keepers, defence, midfield were set but striker position is serious lacking.

Ighalo is not reliable
Onuachu has proven nothing yet....was poor against Zimbabwe (pitch or no pitch)
Oshimen is our only prayer at the moment, so I won’t have dropped Iheanacho

What exactly is Simon doing in the team? Sorry but he was poor in Spain, he won’t play as a wing back and can’t bench Onyekuru, Samuel, Kalu, Musa then Iwobi is an option there as well.

So dropping Iheanacho is a glaring mistake everyone is missing. It is same Mistake Rohr made in the WC took Simy and he only played 5 mins in a game that we needed goals in.

Hope, I am wrong but if this team fails to spark upfront; ROHR IS DONE

[Flex Swift]

This competition will determine Rohr’s future with Nigeria.
The story so far is he took Nigeria to the World Cup and failed to go past the first round. On Nigeria’s debut they got to the second round and were defeated in extra time by the eventual finalist. Nigeria has won the nations cup on 3 occasions and Nigeria has reached the second round of the World Cup on 3 occasions.

It may be German or French culture to play down the expectations of their teams but Nigerians don’t want their coach to talk down the expectations of the team. And if Rohr wants to talk down the expectations of the team he needs to consider looking for another job.

[Damunk]

This competition will determine Rohr’s future with Nigeria.
The story so far is he took Nigeria to the World Cup and failed to go past the first round. On Nigeria’s debut they got to the second round and were defeated in extra time by the eventual finalist. Nigeria has won the nations cup on 3 occasions and Nigeria has reached the second round of the World Cup on 3 occasions.

It may be German or French culture to play down the expectations of their teams but Nigerians don’t want their coach to talk down the expectations of the team. And if Rohr wants to talk down the expectations of the team he needs to consider looking for another job.

Was it Rohr that forced Mikel to "talk down" our chances at AFCON too?

[Flex Swift]

This competition will determine Rohr’s future with Nigeria.
The story so far is he took Nigeria to the World Cup and failed to go past the first round. On Nigeria’s debut they got to the second round and were defeated in extra time by the eventual finalist. Nigeria has won the nations cup on 3 occasions and Nigeria has reached the second round of the World Cup on 3 occasions.

It may be German or French culture to play down the expectations of their teams but Nigerians don’t want their coach to talk down the expectations of the team. And if Rohr wants to talk down the expectations of the team he needs to consider looking for another job.

Was it Rohr that forced Mikel to "talk down" our chances at AFCON too?

During that very painful to watch press conference Obi talked about winning the tournament. As Prince Charles said ‘9ja no de carry last’

[chief nfachairman]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

HOw quickly you've forgotten that Ighalo he was highest goalscorer in Africa for the Afcon qualifiers.

Nacho has been in the National team since 2016 and scored 7 goals.

In the Afcon qualifiers alone, Ighalo has 7 goals.

[Bigpokey24]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

HOw quickly you've forgotten that Ighalo he was highest goalscorer in Africa for the Afcon qualifiers.

Nacho has been in the National team since 2016 and scored 7 goals.

In the Afcon qualifiers alone, Ighalo has 7 goals.

how many were PKs and how many did he score vs Seychelles and Libya?

[mcal]

...make una no beat una meat all around.
The squad must be 23, and someone got to be dropped.
Kelechi Iheanacho is ok in my book but if there are other player/s better, well pick them.
And the coaching staff have made their decision.
e no easy to be a coach to make calls.

[Flex Swift]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

HOw quickly you've forgotten that Ighalo he was highest goalscorer in Africa for the Afcon qualifiers.

Nacho has been in the National team since 2016 and scored 7 goals.

In the Afcon qualifiers alone, Ighalo has 7 goals.

During the build up to the last World Cup Ighalo managed to the score the grand total of 0 goals during the friendliest. Against The mighty Zimbabwe on Saturday he once again failed to score so he is on course to produce the same form he displayed during the World Cup !!!

[Bigpokey24]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

HOw quickly you've forgotten that Ighalo he was highest goalscorer in Africa for the Afcon qualifiers.

Nacho has been in the National team since 2016 and scored 7 goals.

In the Afcon qualifiers alone, Ighalo has 7 goals.

During the build up to the last World Cup Ighalo managed to the score the grand total of 0 goals during the friendliest. Against The mighty Zimbabwe on Saturday he once again failed to score so he is on course to produce the same form he displayed during the World Cup !!!

he didn't play vs Zimbabwe

[green4life]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi has done absolutely nothing of note over the past few years except for a steady downward regression in his career. He should be ashamed of the fact that he can't unseat a geriatric striker. He needs to return to his club, put his head down and work on convincing Brendan Rodgers to give him chances to start games. Right now, his career seems to be going nowhere fast and it's got nothing to do with Ighalo/Rohr and everything to do with Iheanacho.

[maceo4]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi has done absolutely nothing of note over the past few years except for a steady downward regression in his career. He should be ashamed of the fact that he can't unseat a geriatric striker. He needs to return to his club, put his head down and work on convincing Brendan Rodgers to give him chances to start games. Right now, his career seems to be going nowhere fast and it's got nothing to do with Ighalo/Rohr and everything to do with Iheanacho.

My thing is Rohr said he took his decision from watching Kele at his club, so why invite in the first place if your mind is made up. Maybe he was forced to invite him, who knows. Anyways, the boy needs to really put his head down and work hard, not be afraid to change clubs and try to get playing time.

[ANC]

Like some one said, whats Moses doing on the team?

[Bigpokey24]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi has done absolutely nothing of note over the past few years except for a steady downward regression in his career. He should be ashamed of the fact that he can't unseat a geriatric striker. He needs to return to his club, put his head down and work on convincing Brendan Rodgers to give him chances to start games. Right now, his career seems to be going nowhere fast and it's got nothing to do with Ighalo/Rohr and everything to do with Iheanacho.

My thing is Rohr said he took his decision from watching Kele at his club, so why invite in the first place if your mind is made up. Maybe he was forced to invite him, who knows. Anyways, the boy needs to really put his head down and work hard, not be afraid to change clubs and try to get playing time.

he was forced to be invited

[ukwala]

Deleted

[green4life]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi has done absolutely nothing of note over the past few years except for a steady downward regression in his career. He should be ashamed of the fact that he can't unseat a geriatric striker. He needs to return to his club, put his head down and work on convincing Brendan Rodgers to give him chances to start games. Right now, his career seems to be going nowhere fast and it's got nothing to do with Ighalo/Rohr and everything to do with Iheanacho.

My thing is Rohr said he took his decision from watching Kele at his club, so why invite in the first place if your mind is made up. Maybe he was forced to invite him, who knows. Anyways, the boy needs to really put his head down and work hard, not be afraid to change clubs and try to get playing time.

He's too high profile a SE player not to be invited unless he's injured. Had to be invited to reduce the media inquiries by at least 50%.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

This competition will determine Rohr’s future with Nigeria.
The story so far is he took Nigeria to the World Cup and failed to go past the first round. On Nigeria’s debut they got to the second round and were defeated in extra time by the eventual finalist. Nigeria has won the nations cup on 3 occasions and Nigeria has reached the second round of the World Cup on 3 occasions.

It may be German or French culture to play down the expectations of their teams but Nigerians don’t want their coach to talk down the expectations of the team. And if Rohr wants to talk down the expectations of the team he needs to consider looking for another job.

Rohr took Nigeria as far as it could go at the wc so theirs no need to talk anything up. Talking is not a strategy. Nigeria talk up everything but cannot show any results for their talking. Rohr has put in the best development plan we’ve ever seen at the senior level and the results are just starting to show.

[Flex Swift]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

HOw quickly you've forgotten that Ighalo he was highest goalscorer in Africa for the Afcon qualifiers.

Nacho has been in the National team since 2016 and scored 7 goals.

In the Afcon qualifiers alone, Ighalo has 7 goals.

During the build up to the last World Cup Ighalo managed to the score the grand total of 0 goals during the friendliest. Against The mighty Zimbabwe on Saturday he once again failed to score so he is on course to produce the same form he displayed during the World Cup !!!

he didn't play vs Zimbabwe

Thanks I am yet to watch the second half.

[danfo driver]

At lest now no one can now blame Kelechi...... I am waiting to see how many goals Misses Ighalo will score in this tournament (how quickly my people have forgotten the Argentina game and the glaring misses). I predict Rohr will be departing after the ANC

Kelechi has done absolutely nothing of note over the past few years except for a steady downward regression in his career. He should be ashamed of the fact that he can't unseat a geriatric striker. He needs to return to his club, put his head down and work on convincing Brendan Rodgers to give him chances to start games. Right now, his career seems to be going nowhere fast and it's got nothing to do with Ighalo/Rohr and everything to do with Iheanacho.

My thing is Rohr said he took his decision from watching Kele at his club, so why invite in the first place if your mind is made up. Maybe he was forced to invite him, who knows. Anyways, the boy needs to really put his head down and work hard, not be afraid to change clubs and try to get playing time.

This is what I told Ohenhen in the Nig vs Zimbabwe thread:

Let me tell you a secret! Rohr already knows his 23 players and his first 11. he has known this for a few months. When a serious coach invites more than 23 to camp, he is in effect bringing in his "standby players" to train with the others, in case there is an injury, they can easily slot in. The 2 who will be cut are standby players and Rohr already knows they are not going, baring injury.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=295041&p=5440513&hi ... s#p5440513

Any serious coach knows his 23 and starting 11 months before any tournament. I can guarantee you that Rohr knew his 23, as far back as December. The only reason Kele was invited was as a "standby" player, just in case we had any injury during training.