Semi Ajayi

[ohenhen1]

Uzoho is younger and he is better than Akpeyi any day. That is why Uzoho started for Nigeria at the world cup and Akpeyi was on the bench. Uzoho is slowly coming back from injury and when he is ready he will reclaim his spot as the number one for the Eagles.

[1naija]

Akpeyi is not a good GK. He is shaky, doesn't inspire confidence. He is also 32 or 33. What is the point of inviting Akpeyi. Hope he recovers from his serious injury, wish him the best at his club, but his time with national team is over.

His "Shakiness" which is just a figment of most of your imaginatiions has not cost any ay competitive games. That's why the coaches rely on him. He is the best goalkeeper in Nigeria at the moment, whether you like it or not. Only a better goalkeeper (performance wise) can displace him. None of the current goalkeepers we have is better than him at the moment. That's the FACT!

Nice one ! love him ! hate him ! Akpeyi is still the best goalkeeper in the country at the moment ! Fact !

That's the funny thing with Nigerians. They complain about the country not appointing the best person for political appointments, but show their bias when someone works hard to attain his position. I am fine with any goalkeeper that displaces Akpeyi on merit, but they are not ready to accept Akpeyi as our best. They would rather use their biases to select an inferior goalkeeper ahead of Akpeyi just because they dont like the boy. Thankfully, the coaches know best.

And why do you think some people don’t like your boy? Could it have something to do with what they have seen of him on the pitch?

The coaches like him, that's all that matters. If we listened to the same "some people", Moses Simon would have been discarded a long time ago also. Those "some people" dont know what they are talking about. I think they are all on pot.

[Bigpokey24]

the commentators are waxing lyrically about Semi...having a great game so far vs Spurs

[airwolex]

Very impressive. He kept Son quiet.

[ohenhen1]

First name on the team sheet for me. Used to play for Arsenal reserves.

[mystic]

I like his attitude. The guy gave his best even though the central midfield role is foreign to him. I liked how he hustled. Can see why Rohr likes him. But he should be moved back to his natural position, central defense. He is a better defender than Balogun. I like his size, his combative style of play. He is also okay in ball distribution. He is 26. He is the future and the present for Nigeria football.

Central midfield role is not foreign to him. He played there quite a bit when he was at Rotherham and has been used there a few times for West Brom as well. It's also not the first time that he's played there for the Super Eagles.

Having said all that, he's best in Central defense. No doubt about it. But he's versatile enough to be an emergency option as a DM or RB.

[mystic]

First name on the team sheet for me. Used to play for Arsenal reserves.

What has playing for Arsenal reserves got to do with anything? I could also say that he used to play in the English 4th tier. And that doesn't mean anything either. The fact is, at present he's a very good player and he's still improving. The past two weeks he's been excellent and hopefully transfers that form to the Super Eagles.

[paj]

Akpeyi is not a good GK. He is shaky, doesn't inspire confidence. He is also 32 or 33. What is the point of inviting Akpeyi. Hope he recovers from his serious injury, wish him the best at his club, but his time with national team is over.

His "Shakiness" which is just a figment of most of your imaginatiions has not cost us any competitive game. That's why the coaches rely on him. He is the best goalkeeper in Nigeria at the moment, whether you like it or not. Only a better goalkeeper (performance wise) can displace him. None of the current goalkeepers we have is better than him at the moment. That's the FACT!

U tripping while typing from inside Fela SHrine again?

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Beautiful header!

[maceo4]

Always saving this useless team

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Always saving this useless team

The guy will k leg the relegation battle with frustrating football. Arsenal don enta okro soup in the relegation battle.

[icee]

Good header by him. Seems to be very useful when it comes to set pieces but I don't rate him as Defender. He isn't that great of a defender yet. He gave Mane the space for the Liverpool goal. Tosin of Fulham , Balogun and even Omerou (who is also barely average) will start ahead of him.

[Damunk]

Good header by him. Seems to be very useful when it comes to set pieces but I don't rate him as Defender. He isn't that great of a defender yet. He gave Mane the space for the Liverpool goal. Tosin of Fulham, Balogun and even Omerou (who is also barely average) will start ahead of him.

There's just something not quite right about him and I can't place it.
Is it concentration?
Is it confidence?
Is it a lack of that commanding presence a CD has to have and exude?
I dunno tbh.

Its probably the fact that our performance benchmarks are ever rising.

[maceo4]

Good header by him. Seems to be very useful when it comes to set pieces but I don't rate him as Defender. He isn't that great of a defender yet. He gave Mane the space for the Liverpool goal. Tosin of Fulham, Balogun and even Omerou (who is also barely average) will start ahead of him.

There's just something not quite right about him and I can't place it.
Is it concentration?
Is it confidence?
Is it a lack of that commanding presence a CD has to have and exude?
I dunno tbh.

Its probably the fact that our performance benchmarks are ever rising.

I know right, it’s almost like he’s not a natural CD, how many times do you see him putting in crunching sliding tackles? It’s really weird how he plays that position, once he’s beaten you don’t see him putting in a lunging slide tackle to clear the danger like a normal CD would, he just tries to chase down like a midfielder would. He doesn’t fling himself at shots in the box like I normally see top defenders doing in critical moments. He’s an ok footballer but is he really a CD?

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Good header by him. Seems to be very useful when it comes to set pieces but I don't rate him as Defender. He isn't that great of a defender yet. He gave Mane the space for the Liverpool goal. Tosin of Fulham, Balogun and even Omerou (who is also barely average) will start ahead of him.

There's just something not quite right about him and I can't place it.
Is it concentration?
Is it confidence?
Is it a lack of that commanding presence a CD has to have and exude?
I dunno tbh.

Its probably the fact that our performance benchmarks are ever rising.

I know right, it’s almost like he’s not a natural CD, how many times do you see him putting in crunching sliding tackles? It’s really weird how he plays that position, once he’s beaten you don’t see him putting in a lunging slide tackle to clear the danger like a normal CD would, he just tries to chase down like a midfielder would. He doesn’t fling himself at shots in the box like I normally see top defenders doing in critical moments. He’s an ok footballer but is he really a CD?

Kai...... see haters.

[Tobi17]

I don't even think Ajayi is a natural CD at this point... maybe he should play more as a CDM.

[waka-man]

He’s a good CD. Maybe our best at the moment.
Positionally strong, good in the air, not bad with the ball.
Don’t let his languid style deceive you; the dude works his #$% off.
Watch his without the ball; he’s constantly pointing and organising the defence, sniffing out trouble.
I thought he could have done better with Mane’s goal yesterday. But to be fair Mane was moving all over the place and even the very best would have struggled with that. But later in the half, it’s Semi’s pressure that prevented Mane from getting another.
He’s not the second coming or anything, but in our current glut of ok CDs, Semi is probably the best for now.

[ANC]

He’s a good CD. Maybe our best at the moment.
Positionally strong, good in the air, not bad with the ball.
Don’t let his languid style deceive you; the dude works his #$% off.
Watch his without the ball; he’s constantly pointing and organising the defence, sniffing out trouble.
I thought he could have done better with Mane’s goal yesterday. But to be fair Mane was moving all over the place and even the very best would have struggled with that. But later in the half, it’s Semi’s pressure that prevented Mane from getting another.
He’s not the second coming or anything, but in our current glut of ok CDs, Semi is probably the best for now.

He is better as a defensive midfielder, honestly.
I would take any of Balogun, Kenneth etc over Ajayi any day.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

He’s a good CD. Maybe our best at the moment.
Positionally strong, good in the air, not bad with the ball.
Don’t let his languid style deceive you; the dude works his #$% off.
Watch his without the ball; he’s constantly pointing and organising the defence, sniffing out trouble.
I thought he could have done better with Mane’s goal yesterday. But to be fair Mane was moving all over the place and even the very best would have struggled with that. But later in the half, it’s Semi’s pressure that prevented Mane from getting another.
He’s not the second coming or anything, but in our current glut of ok CDs, Semi is probably the best for now.

He is better as a defensive midfielder, honestly.
I would take any of Balogun, Kenneth etc over Ajayi any day.

Where were u when Ruhr played him at DM vs Algeria?

[vancity eagle]

Ajayi became a starter right after the ANC 2019 and frankly he did very well, was good in the air, I dont remember him putting a foot wrong. Had a great game vs Brazil.

But when he came on as a sub for Balogun against Sierra Leone, he was sleeping right off the bat and it lead to us conceeding a goal.

[Dammy]

Ajayi became a starter right after the ANC 2019 and frankly he did very well, was good in the air, I dont remember him putting a foot wrong. Had a great game vs Brazil.

But when he came on as a sub for Balogun against Sierra Leone, he was sleeping right off the bat and it lead to us conceeding a goal.

It happened against Lesotho as well.

[Otitokoro]

So, you will gladly cast away a player who made one (1) error against a mediocre team like Lesotho (or Sierra Leone - I would disagree though), however, more than held his own against Brazil (one of the best footballing teams on the planet)? Convenient cherry picking, if you ask me.
FYI - every single one of our center-backs have made errors at one point in time or another:
1. Ekong - Algeria AFCON SF, and a TON of others
2. Balogun - AFCON Madagascar
3. Omeruo - WC Argentina
4. Awaziem - AFCON-Q (Lesotho), amongst countless others.
These are just incidents that come to mind. I am sure there are many more that anyone can dig up.

Look, as far as I am concerned, Ajayi ranks as one of our top 3 center-backs (and it really is a toss up between Balogun, Akpoguma and Ajayi as to who is #1). Tosin Adarabioyo is not a Nigerian international yet and frankly, is not experienced enough on the international stage to even be ranked. One for the future? Perhaps. Regarding Ekong - for me, he is a 'nice to have' on the bench. I strongly believe he does NOT outrank Ajayi, Balogun or Akpoguma at this point in time and should certainly NOT be starting ahead of any of the three.

Ajayi has consistently been one of the best players at West Brom and has very much held his own against the best players in the world that the Premiership has to offer. None of our other center-backs, save for Akpoguma, have done that. He has stepped into the squad's leadership position (having captained the team twice now, I believe) and has done a good job.

I am not at all concerned about the so called mistakes he made during the Lesotho and Sierra Leone games. The whole SE backline took a snooze on the job and paid for it.

Ajayi became a starter right after the ANC 2019 and frankly he did very well, was good in the air, I dont remember him putting a foot wrong. Had a great game vs Brazil.

But when he came on as a sub for Balogun against Sierra Leone, he was sleeping right off the bat and it lead to us conceeding a goal.

It happened against Lesotho as well.

[vancity eagle]

So, you will gladly cast away a player who made one (1) error against a mediocre team like Lesotho (or Sierra Leone - I would disagree though), however, more than held his own against Brazil (one of the best footballing teams on the planet)? Convenient cherry picking, if you ask me.
FYI - every single one of our center-backs have made errors at one point in time or another:
1. Ekong - Algeria AFCON SF, and a TON of others
2. Balogun - AFCON Madagascar
3. Omeruo - WC Argentina
4. Awaziem - AFCON-Q (Lesotho), amongst countless others.
These are just incidents that come to mind. I am sure there are many more that anyone can dig up.

Look, as far as I am concerned, Ajayi ranks as one of our top 3 center-backs (and it really is a toss up between Balogun, Akpoguma and Ajayi as to who is #1). Tosin Adarabioyo is not a Nigerian international yet and frankly, is not experienced enough on the international stage to even be ranked. One for the future? Perhaps. Regarding Ekong - for me, he is a 'nice to have' on the bench. I strongly believe he does NOT outrank Ajayi, Balogun or Akpoguma at this point in time and should certainly NOT be starting ahead of any of the three.

Ajayi has consistently been one of the best players at West Brom and has very much held his own against the best players in the world that the Premiership has to offer. None of our other center-backs, save for Akpoguma, have done that. He has stepped into the squad's leadership position (having captained the team twice now, I believe) and has done a good job.

I am not at all concerned about the so called mistakes he made during the Lesotho and Sierra Leone games. The whole SE backline took a snooze on the job and paid for it.

Ajayi became a starter right after the ANC 2019 and frankly he did very well, was good in the air, I dont remember him putting a foot wrong. Had a great game vs Brazil.

But when he came on as a sub for Balogun against Sierra Leone, he was sleeping right off the bat and it lead to us conceeding a goal.

It happened against Lesotho as well.

I agree bro. People are trying to write him off too easily despite the fact he is playing at a high level, and doing well.

Troost Ekong needs to sit on the bench.

Ajayi, Balogun, Akpoguma, and Adarabioyo are all ahead of our captain Ekong. He has served us well but I dont think he should even make a 23 man squad let alone be a starter.