Not a bad outing

[Damunk]

Believe me when I say our "defenders" were actually not the main problem today.

We actually defended very well for much of the game.

The bigger problem was

The midfield

The formation

The lack of off ball running and/or the inability for those with the ball to spot off ball runs

Lack of pressing and hustle

Oh please! The defenders were ball watching, look at the first goal and also the last goal. This was just embarrassing! It is what it is. Everything was wrong with out team! How on earth can they loose close to 90% of the 50- 50 balls?? That tells you these players are lacking motivation to play for the super eagles.

On this, early on watching the game, I put it down to ground rules of a friendly before a major tournament i.e. avoid injury, risky play etc. It may have served a recovering player like Ndidi well. Other than that, don't think any coach will put up with that lack of fight. Could have overlooked the toned down aggression if the other plays were good esp 1st half. The Portuguese didn't get the memo tho and had more to lose, Otavio was playing his cup final.

I was thinking about this earlier today.
Are there actually stated ground rules or is it just some kind of gentleman’s agreement?
No coach and certainly no players would want any injuries just a few days to the Big Dance.
So how do they work it out?

So it only goes one way? You can be competitive without being dangerous or trying to harm the opponent. They were competitive as they started with a lot of fringe players who wanted to show they might deserve a starting place. They were just better than us, no need to sugarcoat it. I’m more worried about how poorly coached we looked. There was no chemistry or synergy on either side of the ball.

Uhm….I was simply asking a Q, curious as to how it all works.
You’ve already added 2+2 to make 5.

Why are you seeing sugarcoating where there is none?
Why do you always do that?

[vancity eagle]

Believe me when I say our "defenders" were actually not the main problem today.

We actually defended very well for much of the game.

The bigger problem was

The midfield

The formation

The lack of off ball running and/or the inability for those with the ball to spot off ball runs

Lack of pressing and hustle

.
Really? Thought you said that was the RIGHT formation before the match started.

I thought it was a 433

But then I saw Aribo further forward than Moffi much of the time, so no it was that damned 442.

[deanotito]

Not a bad outing???

What I watched wasn’t a game. It was a soccer clinic being out on by Portugal. I said that to a friend and stopped watching when it was still 2:0, so it’s not about the scoreline. Nigeria is not at their level

[maceo4]

Believe me when I say our "defenders" were actually not the main problem today.

We actually defended very well for much of the game.

The bigger problem was

The midfield

The formation

The lack of off ball running and/or the inability for those with the ball to spot off ball runs

Lack of pressing and hustle

Oh please! The defenders were ball watching, look at the first goal and also the last goal. This was just embarrassing! It is what it is. Everything was wrong with out team! How on earth can they loose close to 90% of the 50- 50 balls?? That tells you these players are lacking motivation to play for the super eagles.

On this, early on watching the game, I put it down to ground rules of a friendly before a major tournament i.e. avoid injury, risky play etc. It may have served a recovering player like Ndidi well. Other than that, don't think any coach will put up with that lack of fight. Could have overlooked the toned down aggression if the other plays were good esp 1st half. The Portuguese didn't get the memo tho and had more to lose, Otavio was playing his cup final.

I was thinking about this earlier today.
Are there actually stated ground rules or is it just some kind of gentleman’s agreement?
No coach and certainly no players would want any injuries just a few days to the Big Dance.
So how do they work it out?

So it only goes one way? You can be competitive without being dangerous or trying to harm the opponent. They were competitive as they started with a lot of fringe players who wanted to show they might deserve a starting place. They were just better than us, no need to sugarcoat it. I’m more worried about how poorly coached we looked. There was no chemistry or synergy on either side of the ball.

Uhm….I was simply asking a Q, curious as to how it all works.
You’ve already added 2+2 to make 5.

Why are you seeing sugarcoating where there is none?
Why do you always do that?

My question really is for felarey and anybody using that excuse to make themselves feel better about that horrible performance.

[scholl]

I think the second half performance was decent with the introduction of Onyeka and Chuwkueze. I wouldn't overreact to the score line. Very few world cup teams have as much talent as Portugal. Dennis' penalty miss was a real tuning point. The score line could have been much more respectable.

A lot of merit in what you say….but it still hurts.
Consider this:
June 5th, 1998
Amsterdam Arena
Five days to the World Cup.
Netherlands 5 Nigeria 1

I was there and it hurt like hell. Dem beat us like say we steal sumtin.

But what happened next, as in one week later?

Hmmm...doc I am not quite certain about this comparison O.

In 1998, we had good players with serious attitude and disciplinary problems. Now we have below average players with snippets of indiscipline. At least, in 1998 there was a chance they could turn it up in big game situations, this current bunch turning up a great performance is more the exception than the norm.

On an unrelated note, I often laugh when folks dis players of Nigerian heritage for being sluggish or hesitant to lace up for us.

Great team performance remains the biggest advert to attract or spur hesitant players to want to lace up for us.

Look at the mediocre teams/palyers we have put out/up over the past 5 plus years if not almost a decade and tell me how they are not such a bad advertisement for any half decent player still hedging his bet. Add the incompetence of the FA and we find ourselves were we are.

I have long resigned myself to the fact that we have been a 2nd tier team on the African continent and at best a 3rd tier team on the world stage. It truly has helped mute and blunt my emotions over time, when we display our usual rubbish.

The days of Super Eagles losing or embarrassing themselves while causing one to develop a fever ended moons ago for me. I still remember the relapsing malaria I had in 1994 after the loss to Italy and the severe pains in the following WC be it 1998 or the fiasco in South Africa in 2010. I don cure myself of the overtly emotional attachment to a team of mediocres. They are not worth the pain in emotions or money.

If they win - well fantastic, if they lose gallantly - one is not that pained. When thy churn up their regular nonsense - for me it's just another day....just not worth the pain man.

Sounds like you’ve grown up and out of the emotional investment in location 419 football. Just like every sector, the decline is obvious and not much to look forward to, given the drop in IQ and physical attributes. Many location 419’ers, home and abroad, prefer denying the obvious.

[1naija]

It wasn't a bad outing? I guess it wasn't a bad outing for Sao Tome when we bet them 10 - 0 either. They just need to improve on their defense. SMDH

It wasn't a bad outing today from the guys, we just have to work on our defense. It's one of those things that happen when you barely play together as a team. But on some real though, Emmanuel Dennis is a knucklehead! Now I see why there are several reports about coaches at clubs and national team having problems with him.

[felarey]

Believe me when I say our "defenders" were actually not the main problem today.

We actually defended very well for much of the game.

The bigger problem was

The midfield

The formation

The lack of off ball running and/or the inability for those with the ball to spot off ball runs

Lack of pressing and hustle

Oh please! The defenders were ball watching, look at the first goal and also the last goal. This was just embarrassing! It is what it is. Everything was wrong with out team! How on earth can they loose close to 90% of the 50- 50 balls?? That tells you these players are lacking motivation to play for the super eagles.

On this, early on watching the game, I put it down to ground rules of a friendly before a major tournament i.e. avoid injury, risky play etc. It may have served a recovering player like Ndidi well. Other than that, don't think any coach will put up with that lack of fight. Could have overlooked the toned down aggression if the other plays were good esp 1st half. The Portuguese didn't get the memo tho and had more to lose, Otavio was playing his cup final.

I was thinking about this earlier today.
Are there actually stated ground rules or is it just some kind of gentleman’s agreement?
No coach and certainly no players would want any injuries just a few days to the Big Dance.
So how do they work it out?

I really don't know if there are set rules, but I'd imagine pro players factor in the bigger picture and spirit the game is played in i.e. friendly vs competitive. A friendly before a WC is not where you want to get injured or injure someone. The portuguese had players still trying to play themselves into the team. Just wish we had another grade A friendly to see the rest of our players and perhaps cure the memory of that pathetic display in first half.

[Lolly]

I think the second half performance was decent with the introduction of Onyeka and Chuwkueze. I wouldn't overreact to the score line. Very few world cup teams have as much talent as Portugal. Dennis' penalty miss was a real tuning point. The score line could have been much more respectable.

A lot of merit in what you say….but it still hurts.
Consider this:
June 5th, 1998
Amsterdam Arena
Five days to the World Cup.
Netherlands 5 Nigeria 1

I was there and it hurt like hell. Dem beat us like say we steal sumtin.

But what happened next, as in one week later?

I was there too though I got to the game late.

Were you also at the players hotel after the match? I lodged there till the next day until they departed. My eye see plenty things.

[Damunk]

I think the second half performance was decent with the introduction of Onyeka and Chuwkueze. I wouldn't overreact to the score line. Very few world cup teams have as much talent as Portugal. Dennis' penalty miss was a real tuning point. The score line could have been much more respectable.

A lot of merit in what you say….but it still hurts.
Consider this:
June 5th, 1998
Amsterdam Arena
Five days to the World Cup.
Netherlands 5 Nigeria 1

I was there and it hurt like hell. Dem beat us like say we steal sumtin.

But what happened next, as in one week later?

I was there too though I got to the game late.

Were you also at the players hotel after the match? I lodged there till the next day until they departed. My eye see plenty things.

That was the plan.
We drove in a convoy of about 4 Vehicles from London that day, one of them a MERCEDES Sprinter minibus. That was the day I realized some vans dey sprint pass salon. My cousin TJ drove the minibus while I drove a VW Golf. Those were mad days and we broke speed limits several times I’m sure.

The plan was to stay over and join the team in the hotel after the game but I was so upset with the result that I decided to drive straight back to London within an hour of the game ending.
If you remember there was one kine mad go-slow on the way to the Arena that day and we too were late by like 30mins.
It was just a bad day all round and we got back to London maybe about 6am.

A week later, in France, we put Spain to rest and the Netherlands debacle was quickly forgotten.
Dazz fu’boll.

[Dammy]

I think the second half performance was decent with the introduction of Onyeka and Chuwkueze. I wouldn't overreact to the score line. Very few world cup teams have as much talent as Portugal. Dennis' penalty miss was a real tuning point. The score line could have been much more respectable.

A lot of merit in what you say….but it still hurts.
Consider this:
June 5th, 1998
Amsterdam Arena
Five days to the World Cup.
Netherlands 5 Nigeria 1

I was there and it hurt like hell. Dem beat us like say we steal sumtin.

But what happened next, as in one week later?

I was there too though I got to the game late.

Were you also at the players hotel after the match? I lodged there till the next day until they departed. My eye see plenty things.

I was in Amsterdam for the match as well. The support for Holland was out of this world.

[amafolas]

Are you for real?? Not a bad performance? This the worst super eagles performance I have ever seen! There was zero coaching!

I agree. Nigeria played like we were playing choosing. like a street pickup game.

zero defensive organization, esp in the 2nd half. like none.

[amafolas]

Are you for real?? Not a bad performance? This the worst super eagles performance I have ever seen! There was zero coaching!

If we are focusing on the result only then we'll miss the point. The team string passes better in the 2nd half, better wing play but for poor finishing and lapses in the defense. They can be corrected with time; it just happens to be against one of the best teams in the world.

The second half was worse in my own opinion. Yeah finally, we start showing some offensive cohesion, but defense was complete shambles. looked like we could concede 10. The team has promise. But its going to start from defensive solidity and 3 attacking players that are free to do whatever on offense.