Cybereagles

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.

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

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.

This was VERY BAD and Embarrassing.
We were seriously outplayed.
When a Player wears our National Team Colours, they have to give over 100% ... PERIOD.
They have to go out to WIN Every Game.
We lost a very high percent of 50/50 balls and still selfish in front of goal.
No Excuse to have missed the penalty.
Had Dennis Scored, it would have been different game.
.... The fact is we are a low tier team and do not belong with any of the top 30 National teams......

Horrible showing. The first half was such a pathetic performance. Never seen us more disorganised and clueless.
It was a very bad performance. No sugar-coating it.

olu wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:42 pm 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?

gochino wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:33 pm 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.

Damunk wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:57 pm

olu wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:42 pm 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.

Terrible performance

hestonap wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:33 pm

Damunk wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:57 pm

olu wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:42 pm 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.

2010 did it for me. I've since detached myself from the emotional investment

Naija has really sunk to her lowest

0-4 loss and you think it's not bad
..... Yekini and Keshi must be turning in their graves

Rawlings wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:37 am Naija has really sunk to her lowest

0-4 loss and you think it's not bad
..... Yekini and Keshi must be turning in their graves

Take the names of our late heroes out of your foolish mouth!

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

Rawlings wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:37 am Naija has really sunk to her lowest

0-4 loss and you think it's not bad
..... Yekini and Keshi must be turning in their graves

I agree with you! How on earth can anyone say this was not a bad performance? It was embarrassing!

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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.

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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

The CDs and Osayi played their hearts out. No faults there.
Bassey looked uninterested.

But I agree, the defence was the least of our problems. The set up was just unimaginably poor. No press yet holes everywhere.

Until Onuachu came on we couldn’t hold the ball up. Iwobi was trying to do both Ndidi and Aribo’s work. Those two had by far their worst games as Eagles.

As for Lookman and Moses I’m not even sure I remember them in the game.

It was a shocker.

I actually miss Rohr. He bored us stiff but never let us get embarrassed.

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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

Agree with you. For me the main issue is the lack of pressing and hustle. I thought the boys would use this match to show us what we missed. Even if we lost to poor tactics I would have put it down to the coach trying to get the correct formula. This is on the players.

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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.

gochino wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:34 am

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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.

felarey wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:58 pm

gochino wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:34 am

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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?

Damunk wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:46 pm

felarey wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:58 pm

gochino wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:34 am

vancity eagle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:03 am 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.

oyek wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:02 pm 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.

Not sure if I'd blame the defence. From the stands, it was clear that we were losing the central midfield battle in the first half, which ended up exposing our defence to a barrage of attacks. Aribo and lookman were MIA as they struggled to get into the game.

In the second half, we took the game to the Portuguese and frankly speaking were on the front foot up until the penalty miss, which shouldn't have happened had Ekong insisted on taking it.

Post penalty miss, the SE were demoralized and basically allowed the Portuguese have their way

Portugal are a very seasoned side and had something to play for. The SE on the other hand are Work - In - Progress and accredited themselves quite well irrespective of the scoreline which was a bit flattering.

Top performers in my opinion were : The four Defenders with the RB being MOM. Moses Simon, Iwobi, and Etebo..

olu wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:42 pm 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.

Agreed. The striking unit appeared disjointed due to lack of familiarization. In my opinion a trio of Simon, Chukwueze and Osimehin would cause problems for many defeences. The likes of Denis, Lukman and the tall lanky fellow didn't impress at all and shouldn't be starting for the SE...