Why don’t Nigeria players Progress

[john12]

This is a clear message to folks expecting our team to be ready in “2022” please, disregard those thoughts because there are no guarantees that we would even qualify in 4 years and this is based on SE football past antecedents and trajectory. we might not even see more than 5 players 4 years from now. It seems like our boys will perform majestically today then go into Oblivion in few years.
I.e ONAZI - based on his performance 4 years ago, we would had expected him to become a world class player by now instead he is a pale shadow of himself.
1, why aren’t our players progressing
2, are they lazy for the lack of progression?

[truetalk]

Young John 12, the wicked producer.

You don fight your imaginary agents finish

You wan come turn attention to players.

Ebuehi is going to Benfica.
Simon is going to Liverpool

& WC neva start!!

[The real deal]

Diet
Attitude
They're never focussed; easily distracted....They think thyre stars

[theYemster]

It's a fair question. Personally I think it's a combination of factors.

Possibly age related. Also lack of proper discipline and willingness to self improve. Many of our players become content once they get to Europe. They lose their motivation to progress once they're earning what they believe is good money. Take Mikel for example he spent the better part of his prime years warming the bench at Chelsea. For someone with his promise I can't exactly say he achieved his promise. Yes he had a bunch of team accolades, he doesn't have any personal accolades.

I've always said I rarely see any Nigerian player improve their set piece taking ability side from Okocha. I remember Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi all at one time spending hours of personal time working on their technique. I also don't see any of them improve their shot taking accuracy. How you strike the ball requires a certain technique. Your are players develop it over time. Lothar Mattheus, Paul Scholes, Lampard, Beckham again all improved their shot taking techniques over the years. It was evident they were practicing it. Moses has been taking set pieces for us for a while now yet no significant improvement. If you give Messi five attempts he'll score at least one. That takes perfecting...as they say, nurture over nature.

Since Musa has been playing for us, head not improved in any way. He's still bad at crosses and decision making. Maybe he's a slightly more prolific scorer but he was atrocious before di years not saying much.

These Nigerian players just seem like once team training is over they leave as well and don't stay back to work on anything.

[Goldleaf]

From the title of the thread, I thought the thread starter meant the pace of our transition into the deeper segments of the opponents' half. I think that is a far more relevant question. We don't seem to be able to flood the opposition's 18. We really need to work on it. Seems there may be an element of fear linked to the opposition's counterattacking possibility.

[Enyi]

The answer is money......

Why do they play football? For money to be self sufficient, when u get to That goal......what's the use in trying harder.....

Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi and co want to be the best in the world.....Salam came back to prove that he is not a failure....

Mikel went to Chelsea instead of Man U.......Money

[john12]

I remember watching Ronaldo in 2003,04,05 and seeing such a talented playe without end product. To see what he has achieved for Real Madrid just shows how much ACCOLADES he deserves

[Komani]

First and foremost - Age issues. Don't need to get into that
Lack of motivation. As soon as they start earning 30 - 40k a week, they feel they have arrived and have no desire or whatsoever to improve and challenge for even African player of the year talk of Ballon d or.

[mouko]

This is a clear message to folks expecting our team to be ready in “2022” please, disregard those thoughts because there are no guarantees that we would even qualify in 4 years and this is based on SE football past antecedents and trajectory. we might not even see more than 5 players 4 years from now. It seems like our boys will perform majestically today then go into Oblivion in few years.
I.e ONAZI - based on his performance 4 years ago, we would had expected him to become a world class player by now instead he is a pale shadow of himself.
1, why aren’t our players progressing
2, are they lazy for the lack of progression?

--
Fact - except for those born in Europe any other coming out of Naija is an age cheat.
- it catches up with them...

[olumide]

This is a clear message to folks expecting our team to be ready in “2022” please, disregard those thoughts because there are no guarantees that we would even qualify in 4 years and this is based on SE football past antecedents and trajectory. we might not even see more than 5 players 4 years from now. It seems like our boys will perform majestically today then go into Oblivion in few years.
I.e ONAZI - based on his performance 4 years ago, we would had expected him to become a world class player by now instead he is a pale shadow of himself.
1, why aren’t our players progressing
2, are they lazy for the lack of progression?

--
Fact - except for those born in Europe any other coming out of Naija is an age cheat.
- it catches up with them...

Any player that has played in a major u-17 and under competition since 2009 has been subject to compulsory MRI testing by local authorities and also FIFA, including the aforementioned Onazi. We need a better excuse.

[Eaglezbeak]

Nigerians don't know how to embrace professionism,they get payed then fall out of love with what made them money,when they are with the national team it becomes a holiday away from work (their clubs)!

[cchinukw]

First and foremost - Age issues. Don't need to get into that
Lack of motivation. As soon as they start earning 30 - 40k a week, they feel they have arrived and have no desire or whatsoever to improve and challenge for even African player of the year talk of Ballon d or.

Actually age is no more an issue as verification and monitoring have improved dramatically.

In terms of age, it is no more falsification that scares me but the real youth. They are fresh as virgins.

[marko]

You cant teach old dogs new tricks

[Coach]

Mike Tyson summed it up with oratorial brilliance.

[fledy]

Marko you wicked o!! Kai!! See as you just end the thread. Nigerian players are either bit part players at their club teams in the lower leagues or just benchwarmers at decent teams. Reason? They are satisfied with their status quo. No desire or passion to be great at the next level. Most of the players in the so called great 94 team were like that except for Oliseh. He wanted to be the best in his position.

[Orion]

This is a clear message to folks expecting our team to be ready in “2022” please, disregard those thoughts because there are no guarantees that we would even qualify in 4 years and this is based on SE football past antecedents and trajectory. we might not even see more than 5 players 4 years from now. It seems like our boys will perform majestically today then go into Oblivion in few years.
I.e ONAZI - based on his performance 4 years ago, we would had expected him to become a world class player by now instead he is a pale shadow of himself.
1, why aren’t our players progressing
2, are they lazy for the lack of progression?

--
Fact - except for those born in Europe any other coming out of Naija is an age cheat.
- it catches up with them...

Not necessarily. I bet if Iwobi had grown up in Nigeria, people would be saying he is 29. The lad is 22 and holding his own in the SE.

Why our players are disappearing so fast is that Europe chews them up. Talented young players emerge regularly, and they find their way to Europe. Upon reaching there, they get carted all over the place (on loans) to distant locations. Often, they can't speak the language and have to deal with things like racial prejudice that they'd never encountered in their lives before. Many of them go downhill fast. Their potential is lost in a cutthroat environment looking for instant results. Many get abandoned on the bench and have nowhere to go from there. The few that survive this ordeal and realise their potential, go on to have a long career with the SE. With a better home league, we would've had more of these players honing their craft in a more conducive environment with family and friends around. The ones that got left on the bench abroad could come back home and reboot their careers.

[maceo4]

Onazi always says he came up with Mikel playing youth soccer together in Jos, just wondering if their relative ages makes sense...

[mcal]

...until Nigeria league progress, her players, home and abroad, will progress too.

Look at Mexico's Rafa Marquez for example. This guy is 39 going to 40, played at the highest level in Europe, went to MLS, and now back home at Liga MX, and still very strong as a defender.
A strong and viable league in Nigeria will ensure players progress, instead of having our very young lads going to a land they don't know jack about, get swindled and dumped. Or get paid pennies, enough to some home and floss.
They shine as youth players because they were all within the confines of the NFA, winning youth tournaments here and there.

[Gotti]

Onazi always says he came up with Mikel playing youth soccer together in Jos, just wondering if their relative ages makes sense...

Can you please post where Onazi said that? Thanks...

[Gotti]

The stereotyping and overbroad generalizations here will make some supremacists blush...

[maceo4]

Onazi always says he came up with Mikel playing youth soccer together in Jos, just wondering if their relative ages makes sense...

Can you please post where Onazi said that? Thanks...

I don’t wanna expose the bobo but Mikel was like U-17 when he was playing in Jos and Onazi is officially 6 years younger than him....hmmm

See this kickoff interview:

https://www.google.com/amp/www.kickoff. ... -onazi/amp

AND PLAYING ALONGSIDE MIKEL, HOW EASY IS THAT?

Mikel is a great player and he's more experienced in football than me and I learn a lot from him when we play together.

We understand each other because in Jos, we played together for a while doing it now is like doing something that is like back memory. We really communicate very well and he makes things very easy and it’s a good combination for me.

[oloye]

Can we for once leave this age nonsense aside and try to face issues here. We become lazy with this over simplification of things. I love Enyi's take, something which i have come to see as the major factor that hinders not only our players but the general Naija person. What is the motivation of these players? Why does someone with all of their talent decide to go play in Sudan, Malaysia, Indonesia? Heck why would someone jump to go play in China?

Most of our players play for money and once they hit it, they plateau out... People do not understand the sacrifice it takes to get to the top and remain there..if your motivation is not about setting a legacy, you wont stay there. If your motivation is about making money, then at some point towards the top you will take the money and run!

[oloye]

Onazi's case should be seen in isolation, had a serious injury at the last world cup, took him time to recover and could not regain his position in the team. Then moved to a inferior league, while probably earning more or same amount of money. His position in the SE never challenged ...because he rode on the performance of 2014 for a while. It was the coming of Ndidi, that made us begin to scrutinise Onazi more, otherwise we gave him the passage on the account of his 2014 exploit...


Omeruo's career path has not helped his development, if you end up playing in Turkey from the heights of your exploits in the WC, then something is wrong?