Just back from the match

[waka-man]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

[marko]

Fair assessment, some players should have been dropped after the game, it was only England afterall, Against the likes of Argentina, Germany, France, brazil, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, those school naive errors will be punished, especially Germany, they will murder you

[YemiBrazil]

Fair assessment, some players should have been dropped after the game, it was only England afterall, Against the likes of Argentina, Germany, France, brazil, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, those school naive errors will be punished, especially Germany, they will murder you

14 November 2017

Argentina 2 Nigeria 4

[marko]

Fair assessment, some players should have been dropped after the game, it was only England afterall, Against the likes of Argentina, Germany, France, brazil, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, those school naive errors will be punished, especially Germany, they will murder you

14 November 2017

Argentina 2 Nigeria 4

Friendly, we dont have to wait too long for the real deal, can we play lime we did today against Messi?

[Cellular]

Waka-Man, great observations... glad what we saw on TV translated to what you guys saw live and direct.

[cchinukw]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

[metalalloy]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

i agree with the highlighted. nice summary una try for the stadium. we heard yall!

[realtrouble]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

In fairness to Rohr, he is working with a very small pool of players, Nigerian must start developing the domestic league.

[muzines]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

When he changed things around in the second half, what did Southgate do? You guys are so offbase sometimes...

[muzines]

In fairness to Rohr, he has working with a very small pool of players, Nigerian must start developing the domestic league.

Another genius comment... . Pathetic...

[danfo driver]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

When he changed things around in the second half, what did Southgate do? You guys are so offbase sometimes...

no mind them southgate outcoach who? southgate laid his team out and that was it. had rohr started ith 352 it would have been different

[Cmoke]

Nephew,

U be diplomat?

You mean say nothing him tuk wey we no see from TV?

London CEs sabi waste persin time sef.

Cmoke

Waka-Man, great observations... glad what we saw on TV translated to what you guys saw live and direct.

[waka-man]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

I’m not sure how you can say Southgate outcoached him. Only one manager made changes to personnel and tactics that changed this game. Hint: it wasn’t Southgate

[cchinukw]

Not intending to do a match report here, but rather share some observations and maybe, especially for those who didn’t see it, provide some context.

The broad summary is correct: we were really poor in the first half, ok in the second half with occasional flashes of actual great football.

And yes Onazi in particular, but also Joel Obi and Victor Moses were really poor in that first half. Onazi’s performance was almost comical in its ineptitude. Shehu also didn’t cover himself with any glory. In fact no one was any good although you could say Mikel, Ighalo, Iwobi and Ekong were not attrocious.

But I tell you who else was poor in that first half: Rohr. I was sitting next to an 11-year old who worked out that Nigeria’s full backs were caught in no man’s land unable to both deal with England’s wingbacks and wide forwards. Rohr really should have made the adjustment after 5 mins. As it was, it took until half time to do so.

Yet, his adjustment after half-time was damn-near genius.

I don’t know where the Ogu-as-centre-half idea came from but damn did it work! And we looked very comfortable with a back three, Etebo buzzing in front of them, Iwobi coming more central to partner Mikel in the middle and the width now provided by wing-backs in Idowu and a quite exceptional Ebuehi.

Even Moses started playing well as did his replacement Musa.

We were wonderful by any means - Mikel and Iwobi were unable to get into the box to support Ighalo/Iheanacho so all our wide play led to very little. But it rattled England and made a game of it.

All this gives Rohr food for thought.

My suspicion is he knows this. To play such radically different systems with such radically different personnel says to me he still wants to try out a bunch of options and really give them time. Did hr not make the changes in the first half because he wants more data to learn how the team reacts? Maybe. In which case, he’d have learnt a lot.

Regardless, a bunch of things are clear going forward:

Iwobi is our most important attacking player but he’s wasted out wide. He’ll have to play behind a striker as part of a front 2 or alongside Mikel as he was 2ndd half today.

It’s going to be very hard now to:
- Play Onazi and Obi. Etebo, Ndidi and Ogu are clearly more useful in this team
- Not start Ebuehi over Shehu. They really are not on a par with each other
- Play 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. Without Simon Moses, we just don’t have the personnel

Balogun’s place is now at risk. Nigeria were so much more solid looking with Omeruo and Ogu alongside Ekong and even if we go for a pair of centre halves, Omeruo has clearly made a case based on his comfort with the ball. I’d also like to see Ogu a bit more in that role against the Czech’s. He looked good for 45 mins, but that’s not enough to bet on.

Without Ndidi, we don’t look great. But I can absolutely get excited about a midfield that has Etebo, Mikel and Ndidi.

I love Ighalo, but we don’t play to his strengths and we may have to settle for Iheanacho. We just don’t have the players to buzz around Ighalo as he muscles centre halves around. I really hope I’m wrong and our goal today shows that, but I just don’t see us creating enough chances with him.

Final thought: this was an ok warm-up game. We didn’t look great but we showed variety and occasionally looked a very good side. And even in that diabolical first half, we didn’t concede too many shots and Uzoho - despite what my 11-year old neighbor described as a sketchy performance - did the basics well enough. I’ll settle for that.

Onwards

I was left scratching my head thinking what revolutionary thing has Rohr brought to SE.

I really do hope he has a better bag of tactical tricks because Gareth Southgate outcoached him today.

England expanded their width in the first half and caught Nigerian midfield and backline offguard numerous times. It was embarrassing to watch.

I’m not sure how you can say Southgate outcoached him. Only one manager made changes to personnel and tactics that changed this game. Hint: it wasn’t Southgate

Ol boy, why did he wait until 2nd half for that?

We were lucky to have been beaten by only 2 goals. First half was mostly an England affair. England almost scored a few minutes to full time as well.

Ol boy I can't see why he is highly regarded apart from the fact that he qualified us for the WC. He is not the first coach to do so. I can't see what sets him apart in terms of tactics. His impact is very suspect and if you think today's display will get us out of a group of death, you have another think coming.

[Al B Sure]

It was nice to see you waka-man

[marko]

The right to do is lower your expectations, that will save you from a lot of stress, this team is not it, still cannot defend against a set piece, since 1994,thats how every Nigerian team goes out, set piece, we still cannot learn the basics of defending, that goalie needs plenty protection as he is not that great

We will not play like this at the world cup, thats for sure, anything like the 1st half, FIFA will kick us out before the last group game for bringing the game of football into disrepute!

[cchinukw]

The right to do is lower your expectations, that will save you from a lot of stress, this team is not it, still cannot defend against a set piece, since 1994,thats how every Nigerian team goes out, set piece, we still cannot learn the basics of defending, that goalie needs plenty protection as he is not that great

We will not play like this at the world cup, thats for sure, anything like the 1st half, FIFA will kick us out before the last group game for bringing the game of football into disrepute!

Amen and Amen. God forbid bad thing.

[realtrouble]

In fairness to Rohr, he is working with a very small pool of players, Nigerian must start developing the domestic league.

Another genius comment... . Pathetic...

You have been on this forum for the best part of 20 years and still behaving like a stupid moron.

[joao]

Thanks waka-man, your observations and summary was quite on cue.

Just to add - in the second half, our bench is better than England's.
The coaching was a tie, Southgate won the 1st half, and Rohr the 2nd.

[Its a Goal]

waka-man great observations. I am willing to give Onazi a benefit of a doubt based on what Rohr said about him in his press conference, that Onazi might have not been match fit due to the heavy travel schedule they endured prior to getting to England.

As for why he didn't switch his tactics in the first half, I believe he wanted to see out the first half that way, speak to the players during half time how he wanted them to play in the 2nd thereby catch England flat footed. If that was it then it worked to a T.

[The YeyeMan]

As for why he didn't switch his tactics in the first half, I believe he wanted to see out the first half that way, speak to the players during half time how he wanted them to play in the 2nd thereby catch England flat

Nna, believe what you like, Rohr doesn't respond quickly when things aren't going his team's way. Been like that since Nigeria's first game under him.

[The YeyeMan]

I know the England game was only a friendly but it's not really just a friendly; there are many worrying signs which have become a trend...

I know that friendlies are there for experimentation but when you're so close to the start of the tournament you'd expect much more cohesiveness and understanding of the roles - especially in team defence; you'd expect players to know their roles at set-pieces (which wasn't always the case - too much uncertainty at times over who should be picking whom).

There were two occasions where players clashed heads (the first should have been called by the poor ref btw) but this leads to believe there's a lack of communication in this team. Heaven knows why Joel went to challenge for the ball which led to the first clash of heads....

Thoughts on some players' performances....

Uzoho: Remains a nervy goalkeeper and he's not a vocal presence. Therefore it's up to the centre-backs to take a lead and guide him. There were occasions when he should come out of his area but remained in goal or responded tardily. He's a bit indecisive. But he's a good shot stopper although he should have done better with the second goal - then again why leave Kane with so much space on the edge of the box? And don't get me started on Onazi's role in that goal....

Onazi: An inept performance. The less said about it better. He's better off playing the piano in the hotel lobby if that's the type of performance he's going to put in. Hopefully, it was just a one off but his influence on the team have been on the wane for a while....

Joel Obi: Poor today, unremarkable.

Mikel: Anonymous in the first half. The creativity in this team comes largely from Iwobi who played well today - the brightest spark on the team by far.

The spaces this team were leaving all over the pitch were shocking. You could have driven two trucks through some of the open spaces. It was acutely embarrassing.

I think Ndidi and Etebo will make a difference to this team personnel wise, but I don't think that solves the problem of allowing the opposition so much space. And if England can find those space then you can bet your bottom dollar that Croatia's more technical midfielders will find the time and space to operate in those areas to more devastating effect.

One hopes Rohr can stumble upon a winning formula because he seems to be fumbling in the dark. Hope I'm wrong...

I'm not convinced this team makes it out of the group. They're coming off the boil at precisely the wrong time.....

PS: I'm not interested in how harmonious things are in the team camp or how wonderful it is that they sing songs on the team bus or social media clips of them listening to Onazi play piano. I'm not interested in any of that. I'm here for the football.

[Its a Goal]

Yeyeman, you don't want to peak going into a tournament but rather peak inside the tournament. It is this sort of game that helps us find what is working and what needs fine tuning. Rohr said he has an idea of who his first team players are but he wants to keep looking at other options before he settles for it. Also factor the issue of travel they all embark upon before getting to the match. They have 2 weeks left and I am confident the performance will get better.