UGBADE: Foreign-based Players Destabilized team.....

[Enugu II]

Ugbade continues. However, he has not yet admitted the fact that they could have decided on keeping those players on the bench. Though it is clear that had they done that, the Nigerian Press and Fans would have abused them to no end and blamed defeat on not using those players just as was the case in the end.

Jun 26, 2015 16:05:00
http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4093/nig ... ID=HP_HN_1


Nigeria U20 assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade feels that the technical crew's limited time to work on the foreign-based players was the key reason why the Flying Eagles failed at the 2015 Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Manchester City prodigy Kelechi Iheanacho, Tottenham's Musa Yahaya and Granada striker Isaac Promise were all left to play mini roles in Nigeria's campaign.
Many had expected Manu Garba’s team to rule the world after their brilliant display at the African Youth Championship where they emerged winners, but they crashed out on the world stage in the second round after losing 1-0 to Germany.

“That was not what we expected considering what the team has achieved all through the year but at this point, it is very difficult to analyse what the situation is,” Ugbade told Goal.

“The error we made was bringing the foreign-based players into the team and not having enough time to work with them. It really affected the team psychologically and it became very difficult to come out of it till we crashed out of the competition against Germany.

“For almost one year and a half, we had not worked together. The fitness level and tactical approach in U20 were totally different from what was obtainable at U17.”

The former Super Eagles player also explained why his team lost to Brazil and Germany in the championship.

“At the U17 level, it was training to compete while at the U20 level it was high performance. This affected our psyche. In our first game against Brazil, we were supposed to win because we created a lot of chances,” he continued.

“In terms of playing, there was limited technical ability on the part of individual players when compared with the South Americans, this really affected the team.

“Psychology comes into a game such as that coming from the belief that they scored a lot of goals in the group stage. The weather was too cold in Christchurch as well as the one in Plymouth and it affected us a lot.”

Ugbade admitted that it was going to be difficult keeping the team together but is sure if the boys are well managed, they would someday rule the world.

“One is not going to be able to keep them together for a long period of time because of the trend in world football. Most of the players would get teams abroad, while some will remain in the local league,” he added.

“The key thing here is for us to correct our mistakes in New Zealand and hope for a brighter future. If against all odds Serbia could win the U20 World Cup, who says these boys in many years to come can’t win the Fifa World Cup for Nigeria?,” he concluded.

[okidoki]

Incompetent clown.

[mcal]

...foreign based players destabilize teams! Hmm, haven't I said something along this line before? Fire brigade, ready made, all are the corner stone of Nigerians,

[metalalloy]

Which is it?

" lack of time for FB players to blend"?
"limited technical ability on the part of individual players when compared with the South Americans, this really affected the team."? really? Just wow!!!
"it was too cold"?
"“At the U17 level, it was training to compete while at the U20 level it was high performance."
“Psychology comes into a game such as that coming from the belief that they scored a lot of goals in the group stage. The weather was too cold in Christchurch as well as the one in Plymouth and it affected us a lot.” (what does this even mean?)

Can someone PLEASE save this dude from himself..

[vancity eagle]

What an 1diot. How can the FB players destabilize the team from the bench ?

IT is a FACT that the FB players were the best players vs Brazil in that opening match.

It is a FACT that the HB players who replaced them were piss poor, and only succeeded when playing poor opposition which hid their deficiencies.

Did the FB players stop them from making substitutions as well.

It just keeps becoming more and more clear that Nigerians are just not cut out to coach our national teams. That is the unfortunate truth. A bunch of foolish, corrupt, arrogant, imbecilic clowns. From Ke$hi to Garba, they are all the same. They just cannot admit their failures and resort to the usual scapegoating. Just pathetic.

[txj]

Which is it?

" lack of time for FB players to blend"?
"limited technical ability on the part of individual players when compared with the South Americans, this really affected the team."? really? Just wow!!!
"it was too cold"?
"“At the U17 level, it was training to compete while at the U20 level it was high performance."
“Psychology comes into a game such as that coming from the belief that they scored a lot of goals in the group stage. The weather was too cold in Christchurch as well as the one in Plymouth and it affected us a lot.” (what does this even mean?)

Can someone PLEASE save this dude from himself..

Calling all super excuse makers- Cellular, Gotti, Damunk! To the excuse club!!!

[vancity eagle]

Foreign based AGENTS destabilized the team.

[airwolex]

Are Iheanacho, Yahaya, Isaac Promise the best young talents in the World? Why do we make the supposition that whatever the case they could have won the competition. My gut tells me Nigerians are over rating as usual, these guys have achieved absolutely nada in World Football and they are not rated top 50 under 21 players in the World.

[Goldleaf]

Some of us warned on CE before the tournament started. It was a disaster waiting to happen and it did.

Metalloy, you now know the meaning of blending.

[metalalloy]

Some of us warned on CE before the tournament started. It was a disaster waiting to happen and it did.

Metalloy, you now know the meaning of blending.

They looked pretty "well blended" when they had Brazil on their heels .. Make dem dey use "blendind" dey fool una

From the horses mouth:

“That was not what we expected considering what the team has achieved all through the year but at this point, it is very difficult to analyse what the situation is,” Ugbade told Goal.

No its not, according to the experts on CE, its "blending"

[metalalloy]

Are Iheanacho, Yahaya, Isaac Promise the best young talents in the World? Why do we make the supposition that whatever the case they could have won the competition. My gut tells me Nigerians are over rating as usual, these guys have achieved absolutely nada in World Football and they are not rated top 50 under 21 players in the World.

Who made or is making that "supposition"?

[okidoki]

Mali had as many foreign players as we did, I guess their coaches are wizards, and not mere men. Nonsense.

[oloye]

I dont know what he is going to gain by saying dumb things like this.

[oloye]

Mali had as many foreign players as we did, I guess their coaches are wizards, and not mere men. Nonsense.

Ehem did they arrive in camp on time or did they get there 48 hours before the match?

[marutimon]

Mali had as many foreign players as we did, I guess their coaches are wizards, and not mere men. Nonsense.

Ehem did they arrive in camp on time or did they get there 48 hours before the match?

Must I remind you whose fault that was?
And Iheanacho was the first player in New Zealand and trained with the team for almost a week before the first game. If he wasn't fit enough why did he start the first game?

[oscar52]

So foreign based players made the coach bring in a defensive midfielder against Germany when they needed to score. Ok o.

[green4life]

Incompetent clown.

I couldn't have said it any better sadly. He was all over the place in that interview.

As I mentioned in the other thread, let him keep talking. He will unwittingly let us know what actually happened in NZ.

[Cellular]

Which is it?

" lack of time for FB players to blend"?
"limited technical ability on the part of individual players when compared with the South Americans, this really affected the team."? really? Just wow!!!
"it was too cold"?
"“At the U17 level, it was training to compete while at the U20 level it was high performance."
“Psychology comes into a game such as that coming from the belief that they scored a lot of goals in the group stage. The weather was too cold in Christchurch as well as the one in Plymouth and it affected us a lot.” (what does this even mean?)

Can someone PLEASE save this dude from himself..

Calling all super excuse makers- Cellular, Gotti, Damunk! To the excuse club!!!

The Guy gave you a reason but you want to term it as an excuse.

Carry on.

Txt, the smartest and only Naijarian capable of being smart enough to understand the complexities of football.

[Cellular]

Incompetent clown.

I couldn't have said it any better sadly. He was all over the place in that interview.

As I mentioned in the other thread, let him keep talking. He will unwittingly let us know what actually happened in NZ.

How many Naijarians would have had the guts to bench those foreign based players?

Write your lineup, then turn around and lose a game. Won't you field your own players? Seeing that the 'superstars' didn't do any better.


The funny thing is that our history is replete of instances where we thought names make a team.

[green4life]

Incompetent clown.

I couldn't have said it any better sadly. He was all over the place in that interview.

As I mentioned in the other thread, let him keep talking. He will unwittingly let us know what actually happened in NZ.

How many Naijarians would have had the guts to bench those foreign based players?

Write your lineup, then turn around and lose a game. Won't you field your own players? Seeing that the 'superstars' didn't do any better.


The funny thing is that our history is replete of instances where we thought names make a team.

My brother u be my guy but abeg forget story. I have a theory but no proof (though another CE alluded to it on another thread). Ironically, they aired the Brazil game again today and I heard the commentator talk about the potential transfer of alamps to Genk as a possible reason why he didn't start that game. Personally, I feel that the coach wanted to help the kids who hadn't secured clubs to get noticed so they can set up their footballing careers just like kelechi, success, Moses, yahaya and alamps, etc had done. Maybe he believed he could do this (expose the local kids) and still be successful in NZ especially after going on an insane wining streak with the local boys at the Abuja super 8, the AYC, and the warm ups vs three u21 bundesliga sides. I won't get into whether he got paid or not because I'm not into false accusations.

I mentioned alamps because I watched all his matches vs the NPL teams + siaone u23 unit during the Abuja tournament and the kid was very impressive. Much improved from the last time I seen him play the u17 WC. Then he suddenly got dropped at the AYC with no explanation forthcoming. I suspect, that may have coincided with the efforts to move to Genk.

[Igugu]

This is what you expect when So-called Nigerian coaches, who never deemed it wise for them to go out and gain experience from education, obtaining certifications and learning from others. My father said when you stop learning, you know it is time to go six feet under. Nigerian coaches are like other office holders in Nigeria. Once they take hold, they rot in there no matter what.

[SUYA]

I have told our reporters not to interview him anymore. How can u destabilize from the bench? He actually called Iheanacho fat in an interview....

[Damunk]

I have told our reporters not to interview him anymore. How can u destabilize from the bench? He actually called Iheanacho fat in an interview....

First, English is not our mother tongue. So its up to us all to interpret what he meant by his use (or mis-use) of the word 'destabilise'. Would 'unsettle' be more acceptable?

Secondly, it is absolutely possible to 'destabilise' a team from the bench or wherever else. I can't believe people are challenging this as a possibility. By a player's mere presence in a squad, he could be a disruptive influence FOR EXAMPLE. We don't have details and Ugbade is not obliged to provide any. I am not saying Nacho disrupted anything, because I don't know. But 'destabilise' does not necessarily mean he actively did so. It could have occurred in other ways, for example by his mere presence, some players might have felt he was being given special treatment. Many forumers pointed this possibility out BEFORE the tournament. So Ugbade is not saying anything unusual or implausible here and therefore how does this now make him 'an iddyot', according to some?.

Finally if Ugbade described Iheanachor as being 'fat', he will not be the first to describe a 'star' in such terms.
Both Rooney and Gascoigne of England, two of their most talented players of all time have been described by their managers as 'fat' and overweight. Add to that, Gascoigne was once famously described by his manager as 'daft as a brush'.

Nacho is a youth. If he is supposed to be handled like some kind of tin God at this age, nobody should be surprised when he starts giving us all BigMan attitude in a few short years.