Cybereagles

YUJAM wrote:

Ayo Akinfe wrote:

YUJAM wrote:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... ootballers

Looked into their team a bit more. Their midfield and offense are frightening but D is very weak with the likes of Lovren

Yujam, football is not played on paper. All those names mean nothing on the green grass and do not scare me one bit. During the qualifiers what did Manzukic and Rakatic do for Croatia?

Glad you believe that games aren't played on paper.

I cracked a rib

With Onazi and Ndidi injury free and on form we will handle their midfield.

YUJAM wrote:

danfo driver wrote:A weakness I believe they have us that they okay Brosovic as a DM. I have watched him a few times but never scouted him, so I don’t know if he is strong smdefensicely, but he is a traditional number 8 and his instincts are attacking— think about Lampard.

Interesting. I think the SE can trouble them greatly with speed. The RB they have at Atleti is no big shakes either. The key to me is to deal with Rakitic and Modric in midfield and play a swift counter attacking game

I have to admit, Ndidi has made me a bit arrogant. I appreciate the ability of Modric and Rakitic. They are both much more than their physical ability. They are also both very intelligent and are both schooled at being able to play out of a press. But I am positive that with both Ndidi and Onazi running in the midfield, we should have a chance.

I also feel that Rohr's ability to build a disciplined team will become very important in a tournament setting.

Additionally, although I have always said Moses is brainless and because of that i am not a fan, I have to admit that he is absolutely unpredictable. I do not fancy any defender that comes up against him. Look at how much Chelsea misses him anytime he doesnt play. Good luck to Croatia sha.. I rather come up against Perisic and Mandzukic than come up against Moses and Iwobi.

danfo driver wrote:

YUJAM wrote:

danfo driver wrote:A weakness I believe they have us that they okay Brosovic as a DM. I have watched him a few times but never scouted him, so I don’t know if he is strong smdefensicely, but he is a traditional number 8 and his instincts are attacking— think about Lampard.

Interesting. I think the SE can trouble them greatly with speed. The RB they have at Atleti is no big shakes either. The key to me is to deal with Rakitic and Modric in midfield and play a swift counter attacking game

I have to admit, Ndidi has made me a bit arrogant. I appreciate the ability of Modric and Rakitic. They are both much more than their physical ability. They are also both very intelligent and are both schooled at being able to play out of a press. But I am positive that with both Ndidi and Onazi running in the midfield, we should have a chance.

I also feel that Rohr's ability to build a disciplined team will become very important in a tournament setting.

Additionally, although I have always said Moses is brainless and because of that i am not a fan, I have to admit that he is absolutely unpredictable. I do not fancy any defender that comes up against him. Look at how much Chelsea misses him anytime he doesnt play. Good luck to Croatia sha.. I rather come up against Perisic and Mandzukic than come up against Moses and Iwobi.

Imagine Onazi by himself had a big impact on our midfield now team him with Ndidi and allow Mikel to have the freedom to do his thing, I really want to see who go fit overwhelm that midfield.

Ndidi has immense lungs and great intelligence. Onazi is a career DM who is above average at the role.

But it will be a very difficult match and will take a total team effort to get it done. I think beating Croatia will be key to the SE going to the next round

maceo4 wrote:

danfo driver wrote:

YUJAM wrote:

danfo driver wrote:A weakness I believe they have us that they okay Brosovic as a DM. I have watched him a few times but never scouted him, so I don’t know if he is strong smdefensicely, but he is a traditional number 8 and his instincts are attacking— think about Lampard.

Interesting. I think the SE can trouble them greatly with speed. The RB they have at Atleti is no big shakes either. The key to me is to deal with Rakitic and Modric in midfield and play a swift counter attacking game

I have to admit, Ndidi has made me a bit arrogant. I appreciate the ability of Modric and Rakitic. They are both much more than their physical ability. They are also both very intelligent and are both schooled at being able to play out of a press. But I am positive that with both Ndidi and Onazi running in the midfield, we should have a chance.

I also feel that Rohr's ability to build a disciplined team will become very important in a tournament setting.

Additionally, although I have always said Moses is brainless and because of that i am not a fan, I have to admit that he is absolutely unpredictable. I do not fancy any defender that comes up against him. Look at how much Chelsea misses him anytime he doesnt play. Good luck to Croatia sha.. I rather come up against Perisic and Mandzukic than come up against Moses and Iwobi.

Imagine Onazi by himself had a big impact on our midfield now team him with Ndidi and allow Mikel to have the freedom to do his thing, I really want to see who go fit overwhelm that midfield.

We'll probably be playing 3-5-2 too in an attempt to crowd the midfield. Hopefully we can avoid midfield splitting passes and long balls over the top. Suck them suckers in and hit them with Moses and Iwobi/Iheanacho/Simon/Onyekuru/Musa on the counter.

Honestly I think many teams that play us will be shocked at the world cup proper if our boys stay injury free. A bit of luck and a bit of good officiating should take us a long way.

Croatia’s nemesis is pace. Rakatic and Modric come unstuck when the game is played at a high tempo.

They simply do not have the legs. What I suspect Croatia will do is play friendlies against fast teams to equip them for the task ahead.

Ayo Akinfe wrote:Croatia’s nemesis is pace. Rakatic and Modric come unstuck when the game is played at a high tempo.

They simply do not have the legs. What I suspect Croatia will do is play friendlies against fast teams to equip them for the task ahead.

I assume you mean speed? Rakitic and Modric can cover some serious ground

maceo4 wrote: Imagine Onazi by himself had a big impact on our midfield now team him with Ndidi and allow Mikel to have the freedom to do his thing, I really want to see who go fit overwhelm that midfield.

Onazi and Ndidi did not work well together when they played imho.
They were superb at breaking up play but they could not string two passes between them

Personally i believe it was because Rohr asked Onazi to sit and Ndidi to roam
It should be other way round as Onazi is an awful Holding midfielder

I would like to see them tried again
but as things stand , that pairing needs a lot of work to get them to gel

Apart from Messi, names do not win matches.
They have Rakitic, modric and this guy
We have Iwobi, Moses and Mikel
AFAIC we are evenly matched in terms of big names
The question is which team gels better

smartbrother wrote:Apart from Messi, names do not win matches.
They have Rakitic, modric and this guy
We have Iwobi, Moses and Mikel
AFAIC we are evenly matched in terms of big names
The question is which team gels better

Kpom, Messi is the only exceptional player in our group as far as i'm concerned. The Croatia game is 50/50.

Nigeria-Croatia will be a very difficult match. My concern is our usual slow start which has been part of our DNA. If they edge ahead, it will take a monumental effort to recover. Physically, the croats will dominate the aerial battles and look for set-pieces in free-kicks and corner kicks. Troost Ekong especially will have a sore head after the match because he and Mario Madzukic will have so many aerial battles. Modric is clever but he has aged, likewise Rakitic. The key will be their reaction to when we attack them. Our attacking speed may be too much for them but we have to go for it.

I saw Argentina beat them 4-2 at Upton Park (12 Nov 2014) and they dominated the midfield but could not contain Aguero and Messi. In fact, there was a point that Messi was rugby tackled after he ghosted easily past 3 markers.

YUJAM wrote:This guy appears to be a big time star for Inter - Series A leaders at the moment. I don't think I've seen him play though. I've only been reading about him.

How good is he really?

You don make me dey shake already. And 2018 neva knack yet?

This game will be very difficult , to me it's 50-50

Bigpokey24 wrote:This game will be very difficult , to me it's 50-50

I had a dream that we benched Mikel for that game and won 2-0, I logged on to CE and didn't see you celebrating the win...wud up with that?

YUJAM wrote:

Ayo Akinfe wrote:Croatia’s nemesis is pace. Rakatic and Modric come unstuck when the game is played at a high tempo.

They simply do not have the legs. What I suspect Croatia will do is play friendlies against fast teams to equip them for the task ahead.

I assume you mean speed? Rakitic and Modric can cover some serious ground

Pace is overrated. You dont need pace to cover ground or to close space. Positioning is important with that. Madrid's midfield is Modric, Casemiro and Kroos.. they didnt need pace to handle games.

Everyone seems to be talking about Argentina, but it is Croatia that worries me. Brilliant midfield and attack. Trying to get the ball off them will be like trying to get superglue off your shoe. Outside of the European giants like France, Germany, and Spain, they are in the next tier down. One of the top 10 teams in Europe for sure.

wiseone wrote:Everyone seems to be talking about Argentina, but it is Croatia that worries me. Brilliant midfield and attack. Trying to get the ball off them will be like trying to get superglue off your shoe. Outside of the European giants like France, Germany, and Spain, they are in the next tier down. One of the top 10 teams in Europe for sure.

Yet Iceland qualified ahead of them and they needed a play-off to qualify. Croatia are only good when they have the ball. Get the ball off them and see how they crumble.

See what I said above about shoes and superglue.

Ayo Akinfe wrote: Yet Iceland qualified ahead of them and they needed a play-off to qualify. Croatia are only good when they have the ball. Get the ball off them and see how they crumble.

wiseone wrote:Everyone seems to be talking about Argentina, but it is Croatia that worries me. Brilliant midfield and attack. Trying to get the ball off them will be like trying to get superglue off your shoe. Outside of the European giants like France, Germany, and Spain, they are in the next tier down. One of the top 10 teams in Europe for sure.

Kpom kpim gbam! Let them sit in front of keyboard yanning cement. I’m just happy Rohr knows better because CE maga mugus are at it again.Those of us that remember the Denmark game very well. Croatia is the game to win before we even earn the right to talk about Argentina.

wiseone wrote:See what I said above about shoes and superglue.

Ayo Akinfe wrote: Yet Iceland qualified ahead of them and they needed a play-off to qualify. Croatia are only good when they have the ball. Get the ball off them and see how they crumble.

It is not true. In their play-off Greece had just as much of the ball as Croatia.

Una done come again.. na so dem dey shout in 1994 say Bulgaria go finish us with Balakov, Kostadinov, Stoichkov etc until my eagles come talk say enough (enov) and hand them serious beat down.

wiseone wrote:Everyone seems to be talking about Argentina, but it is Croatia that worries me. Brilliant midfield and attack. Trying to get the ball off them will be like trying to get superglue off your shoe. Outside of the European giants like France, Germany, and Spain, they are in the next tier down. One of the top 10 teams in Europe for sure.

I believe SE and this Croatia will make the knock out stage.Beat Croatia and their next game is with Argentina they will not open yash back to back,Argentina will have to win their first game if they want to make it far,if they drop points on day 1 then they should kiss the world cup bye,SE a nd Croatia will not be an ieasy match for Messi and co.