Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of Super Eagles, player-by-player, in
their 2-0 win against the Lone Star of Liberia -a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying game at the Grand Stade de Tangier on Saturday
MADUKA OKOYE 6/10
The goalkeeper was not really tested in the game. Had a good command of the box and organised his defence well.
MOSES SIMON 6/10
Did his job well and nearly scored from a free-kick in the first half. Simon showed his versatility by excelling in the right-wing back position once again.
JAMILU COLLINS 6/10
The left-wing back had a goal controversially ruled out for offside in the first half . A lively performance from SC Paderborn man.
CHIDOZIE AWAZIEM 6/10
Another strong performance from the defender. He combined well with Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong at the heart of the team’s defence.
LEON BALOGUN 6/10
Made two vital blocks to help the Super Eagles keep a clean sheet in the game.
WILLIAM TROOST-EKONG 6/10
His howler nearly resulted in a goal in the second half, otherwise it was good performance from the Watford defender.
Read Also: Liberia Vs Nigeria: Osimhen, Iheanacho Lead Super Eagles Attack; Ndidi, Iwobi In
WILFRED NDIDI 6/10
Ndidi made his presence felt in the midfield and provided cover for the defence.
JOE ARIBO 6/10
Started the game brightly but fizzled out afterwards. He was behind some of the team’s attacking play in the first half.
ALEX IWOBI 6/10
Iwobi was every where on the pitch in the opening minutes of the game but like Joe Aribo fizzled out afterwards. He was replaced by Chidera Ejuke.
KELECHI IHEANACHO 6/10
The striker won the penalty that was converted by Victor Osimhen for Nigeria’s opening goal.
VICTOR OSIMHEN 6/10
The Napoli of Italy forward scored the opening goal from the spot and won the penalty for the second that was converted by Ahmed Musa.
SUBSTITUTES
CHIDERA EJUKE 5/10
Put up a lively display after replacing Alex Iwobi in the second half.
AHMED MUSA 5/10
Made history as Nigeria’s most capped player with his102nd appearance at the international level. He marked the ocassion with the Super Eagles second goal.
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COMMENTS
Obviously, the boys really enjoyed the pitch. Even viewers enjoyed the scene. All thanks to Morocco for providing the pitch.
I’m really of the opinion that Rohr made a big mistake by removing Iwobi. Iwobi was really doing a good job which Ejuke was not able to replicate. Except for few misplaced passes, I was really impressed with Iwobi’s play making efforts.
Simon did a lot better defensively than offensively. He found it hard to outwit the man on the flank. The few times he was able to manoeuvre, he could do anything with the ball in terms of crossing, assist, or even scoring.
Ahmed Musa has to do better than he did today. He was dispossed each time he was in possession
Rohr: 3/10
*He couldn’t do anything
I don’t think I will watch Tuesday match,this defence that I saw today will easily give anyone high BP.as for for the game proper,no surprises,poor as usual,bad coaching and lack of confidence as destroyed the team
Aswear……the defence was shaky. Our three central defenders didn’t really cover their heads in glory. There were obvious lapses in the defence. It is really worrying, because this is just Liberia. Let’s hope they will get their acts right before Tuesday
FOR THE WHOLE 90 minutes, TWO SUBSTITUTIONS. GERNOT ROHR WHY. YOUR INVITED PLAYERS GET INJURED?
While I will condemn Iwobi for his efforts I will still say that Nigeria need a number ten who will assert himself in games. EJuke came to replace Iwobi and did worst..It’s time to try as many players in position because from what I saw Today Iwobi has lost form .He use to be very good in that Position while in Arsenal
. I don’t know what Everton have done to him
Will not condemn I mean to say
The whole Nigeria team needs critical assessment… some players have been given undue opportunities but continue to remain average… Iheanacho, Iwobi, Aribo, Simon, Ekong, Musa, Collins… Balogun used to be very good but he has been slowed down by age… the names mentioned above are honestly, and in all decency, average… we are struggling badly to play any sort of purposeful and meaningful football befitting of the status of Nigeria… players like Dessers, Olayinka, Sadiq, Nwakali, Amoo, Awoniyi and Nwakaeme need to be integrated and allowed to show us what they can bring to the party… the problem is that even friendlies that are meant for testing players… Gernot Rohr will still field the same all-too-familair bunch of average and rudderless players that have been dishing this sort of lifeless football performance now for the last five years… if we scale Cape Verde which will not be a tea party… the likes of Cameroon, Mali, Cote d’voire and other fairly good team at our real weight class, will be waiting for us… I dont see this team under Gernot Rohr dominating any decent African side and winning… we have a lot of players that are just enjoying favours from the coach and need not continue in the team… if Nigeria is also wise… we should neither go to the nations cup, nor the world cup with Gernot Rohr in charge… man is at his wits end, if we manage to scale Cape Verde and the next and final round in the world cup qualifying series… Get us any good trio of Amuneke/Egbo/Manu/Ikeme/Enyama combination and let us make mistakes and grow with them… this Oyibos have nothing that sets them apart from those amongst our own that have the integrity to serve the nations and football fans…
You know why i don’t take you seriously? You keep mentioning Nwakali, Nwakali is very talented no doubt, but boy has to gain confidence and make use of that talent, boy is always average in all the huesca matches i have watched him in, the eagles team is not that place to groom his confidence. Drop your bias, let him work harder
@MAJOR FLEX… you choose to pick out only Nwakali from the list I sugested. Did you see how Iwobi was a shaddow of himself today? Iwobi’s countenenace reveals a guy who is low in confidence from almost being considered a flop at Everton…
What we need at this point are natural players who do the business with flair and creativity… Iwobi is a calamity these days as an AM… believe that. He simply cant suffice in the role… that is public knowledge.
You have to know that Nigeria ball fans love players expressing themselves, in club football you are only allowed to play business football and you may not see Nwakali playing with finese at club because he is under intstruction and often, a coach will limit how you like to express yourself.
Nwakali against Athletico Madrid a few years back still show how good he can be on the ball.. he could not do much about the Olympic team because Imama Amapakabo is another junk and crooked coach who invited substandard players after possibly collecting inducements… If you dont want Nwakali… thrust Akinkunmi Amoo into the fray… WORD!!!
Lastly… you dont take me serious… do I care to know you? Infact I know you are @Dr.Drey with a new alias cloned to hide and comment today after your moongod Gernot Rohr just posted another quack coaching performance again today against an African minnow… lowly Liberia against whom we were far from convincing!
No, i like drey, but i hardly use insultive words, i am MAJOR FLEX. And its true, i agree with you on some things like our coach playing with no pattern, horrible, and the amoo guy, that guy is Nigeria’s hope, but Nwakali must up his game, see now they brought him up in the 84 minz
If zamalek or raja fc or TB mazembe handle this Nigerian team the results/ score will be too bad
But Tunisia and Algeria could not do that in friendlies even with some key players not available. Why do we always want to die before we are killed.
Agreed rohr has become biased and inefficient but the players have always done the needful apart from the CAR and sierra Leone games.
Rohr needs to become less biased and rigid. He should allow healthy competition.Aribo Is struggling with african football.
Collins though trying Is never at the level of zaidu.
Bring in sodiq and dessers to challenge oshimen
Iheanacho should not be starting…now i know why Rogers use him that way.
Dessers is a natural striker we can’t ignire him again.
That play making role is still a problem. We need to try nwobodo here.
Nwakali should show his stuff at club level consistently.
What is sheu abdullai doing in the team always? You bring him in but you don’t use him. Agreed he is a utility player but he has not played any part in many matches now.
Rohr should stop playing kite with the super eagles. I understood Musa presence in the team but we don’t need to bring him when we needed a second goal to be safe. Onuachu was on the bench.
I think rohr needs help. He has become a typical Nigerian. He was not like that before.
This super eagles team is a disaster waiting to happen..
Average except for Osimhen the workaholic……Aribo was also good in the game……SE players and coaches must improve on their mentality and motivation……I strongly believe we will qualify for the WC because when SE meets a stronger team,they will become more competitive……May God help SE to qualify for this WC because I can’t imagine a WC without our darling SE.
Osimhen that blasted a one-on-one chance (the best chance) into Jupiter???
Guy, even lewangoalski they miss one on one, baba try for that match, ehn hold up play was crazy, link up play sharp, movement great at times but inconsistent. Make una chill, i get the idea of wetin ehn be wan do, assuming en be work out,una for dey shout brutal striker
@Jimmyball even before Liberia match people said it won’t be easy but after scaled through that hurdle even if it wasn’t spectacular as some of you said, now it’s Cape Verde that is not a tea party wait and see in your eyes SE will overcome, qualify against any opposition during the knock out and eventually did well in both Nations Cup and World cup proper. Nigeria fans are very terrible people but you will be disgrace
important 3 points in the bag…display boring somehow…
The game in sincerity lacked gusto from both side. Still happy we took the three points.
_ My Player Ratings _
The Super Eagles produced what I choose to call disposable football entertainment in their bland but effective 2:0 victory against Liberia in this weekend’s world cup qualifiers in Tangier, Morocco.
They needed to get the job done and this they achieved in the rather rudimentary manner that I have recently come to expect from Rohr’s Eagles with nothing exhilarating to remember the match for, other than the result.
Two penalty kicks that were expertly converted in the 15th and 90th minutes by Osimhen and Musa respectively helped to nail the Liberians to the wall. Iheanacho was hacked down for the first infringement whilst Osimhen was pulled down for the second, both by the goalkeeper.
I use this opportunity to give me assessment of how I felt the players performed:
Okoye (6/10) : his questionable technique came to the fore again when he punched a long freekick straight back to the line of fire in the first half. Fortunately no Liberian player was well positioned to profit. He also fluffed a simple long ball that seemed to go through him in the first half before getting a grip.
Other than those anxious moments, Okoye had mainly routine saves to make. His distribution was okay on occasions and his starting position looked promising.
He will have sterner tests on Tuesday against Cape Verde.
Awaziem (8/10) [My Man of The Match] : although his long balls were a bit hit and miss, they were nonetheless purposeful and helped Nigeria transition from defence to attack. Awaziem showed a high work rate as he covered a lot of grounds with desire and determination.
His audacious long range shot from just after the centre circle almost caught the goalkeeper out and helped create excitement in an otherwise dull Super Eagles display. He carried out his defensive duties to an acceptable level with neat markings and timely tackles.
Ekong (6/10) : his effort to head the ball away from danger almost proved pyrrhic as his colleagues had to scramble to prevent Nigeria conceding a goal. For an English Premier League player, Ekong’s all round game does not always exude the poise and polish expected.
That said, he almost doubled Nigeria’s lead with a powerful header off a corner kick in the second half. Although he didn’t look very comfortable when under pressure, Ekong still carried out his defensive duties well, by and large.
Balogun (6.5/10) : his infraction was punished with a freekick in a dangerous area in the first half (similar to where Mahrez scored in the 2019 Afcon). Balogun was dangerously dispossessed in one of his now signature-forward-runs in Liberia’s half that led to the opponents driving at Nigeria. With the Super Eagles a man short at the back, another better team – after dispossessing Balogun – might have punished Nigeria.
Defensively, Balogun was near-solid but looked rattled when placed under pressure. He helped double up on opponents and looked assured overall.
Simon (5/10) : he would win the ball robustly and convincingly only to ruin it with shambolic crosses and diabolic deliveries. By placing himself very high up the pitch, Simon helped peg the Liberians back. His ability to time his tackles, man-Mark and win back possession helped foil Liberia’s attacking initiatives from the source.
Just like Iwobi, one can never really question Simon’s commitment and passion but he will need to add end product to these for him to be more appreciated by fans. More importantly, the Super Eagles will need wingers/wingbacks with pristine deliveries in subsequent games and Moses Simon consistently fails to deliver.
Collins (5.5/10) : a standout moment was when Collins admirably tried to wriggle around 3 defenders before being hacked down. He showed great attacking intent in this match which was almost rewarded by a disallowed goal after he expertly latched on to a through pass before his neat finish was ruled out for marginal offside.
His department was peppered by the Liberians with their number 11 beating him for pace on one occasion. His colleagues had to help him double up on Liberian attackers on occasions. Overall an acceptable performance from Collins even though aspects of his game were subpar today.
Ndidi (5.5/10) : to be honest, I didn’t see much of Ndidi today. I did see him make some interceptions up front and tried to release Iheanacho with some half-baked passes.
Overall, he helped to cage the Liberians by shoring up the midfield and in making his presence felt by shielding the back with his movements and helping to double up against the Liberians in the middle.
Aribo (5/10) : you get the sense that Aribo’s role on the pitch naturally comes with vision, ingenuity and invention all which would translate to deadly, telling and magical long passes and deft deliveries. But Aribo displayed none of these today. In a position that offers so much, Aribo delivered so little.
That said, he supported his defenders in doubling up to strangle the Liberians’ attacking initiatives. He did complete a hat-full of passes successfully but these were more run-of-the-mill passes. His positional discipline was commendable but he didn’t take up promising positions that could cause the opposition some harm.
Iwobi (6/10): back in the team, the Everton man was his ubiquitous self for Nigeria, popping up everywhere on the pitch to perform his attacking and defensive responsibilities with heart. He exchanged a one-two pass with Iheanacho that rattled the Liberians. Before that he was helping the defenders double up on Liberian attackers at the other end.
Iwobi’s passes were often short and sweet but not always defence splitting (which was required). In fact, he passed the ball back at times instead of launching it up the pitch. By his own standards, Iwobi seemed slightly subdued today before being replaced by Ejuke in the second half.
Iheanacho (7/10) : his hold-up play and delicious through ball to Collins (whose goal was disallowed) was brilliant. He showed a somewhat decent level of communication with his strike partner Osimhen with nice passes that released the Napoli man on occasions.
Iheanacho’s one-two pass with Iwobi was noteworthy as it was near-expertly executed. Also noteworthy is that Iheanacho came deeper in the second half to try to orchestrate things from deep: this increased his workrate and showed intent. Oh! Lest I forgot, his purposeful run was illegally halted by the goalkeeper leading to the penalty for Nigeria’s first goal.
Osimhen (7/10): clearly, the Liberians set out to frustrate Osimhen as Nigeria’s most high profile player and the Super Eagles’ main danger man. Hence he was tripled up on and given rough treatment throughout today.
But, Osimhen still found ways to get into dangerous areas where he eventually won the penalty that Musa converted for Nigeria’s second goal. He made decent runs and tried to make things out of the deliveries from Iheanacho and others.
Through on goal, he blasted sky high in the first half with the goalkeeper at his mercy – though a tough chance from a tight angle, Osimhen should be more clinical for Nigeria.
Osimhen sent the goalkeeper on a wild goose chase for Nigeria’s first penalty goal.
_Substitute_
Ejuke (5/10) : having been introduced in 62 minutes for Iwobi, Ejuke was dispossessed twice and overcooked a cross that sailed harmlessly wide within a short space. His impact was not felt at all and he added no urgency to the Super Eagles attacking initiatives.
He did try to dribble his way into the game but his moves were expertly anticipated and finely curtailed by the Liberians. That said, Ejuke did have a hand in Nigeria’s second goal as it was his through ball that Osimhen attempted to connect with before being felled in the penalty box. Also, as he grew into the game, Ejuke became wise and elected to execute simple passes rather than attempt aimless dribbles.
Musa (6/10): although he was brought in presumably to see out time as Nigeria were coasting to victory, Musa beat the goalkeeper hook, line and sinker by sending him the opposite direction for his penalty kick.
Though he spent less than 10 minutes on the pitch, Musa still slotted in well to the team’s shape and gave the Liberian defenders something new to worry about.
³Deo – You really watched the game with your eyes opened and senses intact. Iheanacho was just dishing out dangerous defense-splitting passes although. He gave Osimhen one which he blasted into Mars. Won the penalty. Gave Collins a perfect-pass, how that quack-linesman flagged that offside is beyond me. Nacho also gave some nice passes and tailored passes in the second half. He had a good game although. Its laughable how CSN only credit him for winning the penalty lol. Amaziem is good, an absolute ball-playing defender.
I just don’t know what to make of Simon’s style of play – brainless! Ejuke’s decision-makinh is still a suspect.
Overall, very average display but they got three points. Next game!
Thanks for your compliments John.
For me the team is on a good wicket Osimhen is a star. We need more competition for places in the team no time to waste. I think we have seen today the the *So Called* Yound stars by some are actually the big stars, chai life it has a funny way of doing things for me it is this.
If Ighalo must stay the Onuachu must drop for Awoniyi. Then Musa thank you for your services nice Jesture by Osimhen to let you take the penalty it is clear they hold you In high regard but i think competition for places in the team is more useful that wasting space on So called experience I think Musa must drop and Simon, Dennis, Amoo, lookman, Must battle it our. Then Iheanacho and dessesers battles it out and Awoniyi, Ighalo and Onuachu battle it out. But Musa must Go and Ekong and Ndidi should fight it out. We need to put some passion for Victor Moses, that’s the only other experienced player we need if not the most important experienced player we need. If Rohr can think like this he really wouldn’t need a magic wand to get results.
I think the squad is good. The only problem is lack of tactics.
@iwunze I agree with you except for Musa. With the way the team coavhes and nff love and respect him we need him for balance innthebteam in all aspects..the game on the pitch I not the only factor that makes a good team.
Facts…I cant but agree with your point. Please forget all the ratings we are seeing everywhere, that does not address the issue we have at hand. I will only assume and believe that the coaching crews are bin mindful of introducing new players till the end of the qualifying series just to keep the cohesion and the rhythm going . After qualifying proper to the world cup and nations cup, we should see a different team…maybe only 6guys will be picked from these current team. I just want to believe this is the plans of the coaches.
Very detailed analysis by Deo. Let me add to that.
Okoye: To be honest, I don’t have full confidence in him.
Simon: He did a lot better defensively than offensively. In fact, he couldn’t successfully cross or even deliver the ball into the 18-yard box throughout 90minutes.
Iwobi: He could have done better. But the truth is that he didn’t do that badly. He was doing relatively well before my birthday mate removed him.
I really believe that, if he had played to the end of today’s, something good could have come out from his efforts. Ejuke’s coming in set us back a bit.
Just like somebody suggested some months ago, Iwobi should look for a club (even if it is in Saudi Arabia since SA is now acceptable in SE) where he will play consistently and also, as number 10. He would have been a lot better by now if he had been playing number 10 consistently in both club and country. Practice actually makes perfect.
Osimhen: The goal Osimhen missed was actually down to lack of much experience. Instead of being in a hurry to shoot, he would have calmly moved in a bit to a better angle before shooting. But he quickly rushed the whole process. In fact, even if he didn’t move to a better angle, if he was calmer, he could have scored. Musa’s second goal against Iceland gives credence to my argument. Musa was very calm like somebody in heaven as he went about the process of scoring that goal. He was aware that any infringement on him at that point would be a penalty and he also knew that the opposition defenders were also aware that if they infringe on him, it would be a penalty. Consequently, the defenders were extremely careful and less aggressive as they tried to stop, and he exploited the situation and scored. On the other hand Osimhen was in so much hurry like somebody who EFCC was on his trail.
Ejuke: Ejuke is not really a smooth dribbler. Apart from today’s match, I have already noticed that. For sure, he didn’t acquit himself in the number 10 position. This could be seen from the way our midfield which almost comatose before he was introduced, finally collapsed after he took over the reins. Perhaps, with more opportunities in that position, he may do better.
Aribo: Aribo didn’t do anything meaningful offensively. Apart from defensive duties, Aribo as a creative midfielder is also expected to play make by spreading the ball (long range), defence splitting passes, through balls, lobs etc, but he never risked trying any of that. He only made very simple and shot passes. However, he tried very well defensively. He marked the opponents very well, even though he was dribbled severally for his troubles.
@Jimmy from my observation, you are easily carried away. You are easily impressed by players. Once a player scores a goal for his club or play well in one match, you start hyping the player. But consistency matters. Apart from consistency, if it is striker, what he does on and off the ball matters too. Just like you and I saw today, a tap-in type of striker would have wasted our time and his time today, because not even one tap-in chance was created today. In fact, the penalty chances we got, we wouldn’t have gotten it, because the tap-in would be in the opposition boxing waiting till ‘thy kingdom’ for a winger or anybody at all to whip in the ball into the danger zone. That is why I always canvass for strikers who can hold up play, have pace, can dribble etc. because Findi and Tijani are not like Ighalo.
To be honest with you, I really believe that a majority of those players you mentioned are not better than the ones we have currently. Some of the players we have in the team now are players we all hyped to high heavens yesterday and now that they have joined us, nothing special has happened………..hyping continues
@Ocherome… football no the hide. If you get am you get am. Our players are average… most of them are lucky to come into limelight through our youth setup that are not always selected based on merit… I played this game and know a real player when I see one. I have been talking about Iwobi for ages… that guy go lose if better midfield dynamo face am anyday for battle. We will crash out of this world if we move to the final phase and continue to play the way we do… Rohr should stop starting Balogun and Ekong, those two should give way for Awaziem/Umeruo/Akpoguma… Ekong is not a good defender, quote me anyday!
For the first time, I’ll agree with you on one thing – Troost-Ekong. Not a good defender at all. He’s always like a disaster waiting to happen. Look at that poor and miscalculated-header. It should’ve led to the equaliser if the Liberian had a better control. People like Salah or Mane will take our defence to cleaners. I just hope we don’t meet Algeria, Senegal, Ghana or Egypt.
*because the tap-in man would be in the opposition boxing waiting
The best central defender still available to Nigeria is Tosin Adarabioyo… if NFF can do a good job to get him, it will be huge for us!
You have never believed in Ekong. But the reality is that Ekong is a lot better than you rate him. Apart from a few minor errors here and there, Ekong is a very good defender. You can never compare him to Omeruo. Even though Omeruo plays sparingly for the SE, he has cost us so many goals. I will readily give you three examples even without thinking.
1. First goal Nigeria vs Argentina 2018 WC
2. First goal Nigeria vs Cameroon AFCON 2019
3. Second goal Nigeria vs Cameroon AFCON 2019.
Three-man centre is a lot easier and compact. I can’t guarantee how Awaziem will fare in a two-man centre back pairing. The last competitive match he was involved in such a pairing (against South Africa) he performed woefully.
Even though Akpoguma can play centre back, he plays as a right back in his club. Unless there is emergency, there is no way we will have players who play consistently as centre backs in their clubs and use somebody who play right back.
I have never watched Tosin play before apart from watching a YouTube tribute of him. But the fact that he plays in second division, and has never been called up by South Gate despite being fully available for selection for England, is an indication that he is not that spectacular
Three-man central defence
Omeruo is light-years better than Ekong. Ekong makes more mistakes than Omeruo. Against Argentina? Lol. Is there anything Ekong or even Balogun could’ve done to stop Messi? In fact, the introduction of Omeruo during 2018 World Cup brought a bit of stability and purpose in defence. He played a great game against Iceland and gave an assist. Ekong was his usual self against Croatia, Nigeria lost 2-0.
Abeg, Omeruo play ball pass Ekong. He’s an Afcon winner and a World Cup round of 16 achiever.
@Jimmyball. Adara what? And he said he us not playing for us again. We don’t need to take ourselves backward again.
To God be the glory. In any situation, we have to give thanks to God first.
Now, I have to be honest with you Nigerians.
Point no1, Excuses. I do really thank God today that Super Eagles played on a world best pitch and under a nice weather. So, no excuse.
Nobody, I repeat nobody can give me excuses the stadium wasn’t good enough for our players to play good football. Am I lying?
Nonetheless, we have quality players but why we don’t have a team? The answer is straight forward. We don’t have a coach and the gaffer is very rigid.
We can never have a team under Mr. Rohr, Salisu Yusuf and Agu because they are outdated and what these coaches can achieve with our squad is individual play. To blend the team together to form a strong team, the coaches doesn’t have it.
We can clearly see what have been talking about Oga Rohr over the years and Balogun stadium is not the problem because the pitch is manageable and the coaches are the problem of the Super Eagles.
Not even because NFF failed to pay the coaches and players were the reason Eagles played like that against Liberia today but the deficiencies tactics of Oga Rohr and is crew was the major problem behind the poor display of the Super Eagles.
Point no2, Nigeria football Federation NFF.
Nigeria football Federation is crippled under Amaju Pinnick era.
Amaju is now a dictator who likes to use his power to control his employees on who should be invited into camp when we have players better to those in camp?
Point no3, the coaching department needed to ovehual. I have never seen an average coach to over stayed in the Super Eagles like Oga Rohr.
Mr. Rohr is long over due in that position kę, he should have gone after the world cup but we have manipulative people around our national team.
Again, last Afcon in Egypt should have bn Oga Rohr last tournament if we to be honest with ourselves but he scape that. Hmmm, life goes on ba?
In Lagos against CAR, I was expecting NFF to announce the departure of Mr. Rohr or he has been moving to scouting department but the gaffer continues his journey with our Super Eagles.
Am so shocked to see Nacho and Iwobi in the second half of the match today.
The coaches should have substituted both players before entering the pitch in the second half but he, the coach made how many subs and when did he made them and did we see any changes in the team?
Super Eagles can not do anything without having a creative midfielder period.
I am expecting oga Rohr fans to come out in numbers to defend the gaffer.
Why are they not happy that we won the match? Are they? They can see now that football is more than winning a game.
We have the 3 points in our pocket but we still have no answer to the way Super Eagles played the match today. A five years old team playing like that? It is a shame and Amaju Pinnick and NFF should be ashamed of themselves for bringing Super Eagles to the level.
However, do they have excuses to tell now bla bla bla? I don’t take Oga Rohr followers serious after the CAR match in Lagos and today that Super Eagles played on beautiful pitch/stadium, what happened?
You people see with your koro koro eyes that Oga Rohr and his crew not good enough? How market?
Chai, shebi you people have been deceiving Nigerians for so long and now, can you deceive Nigerians today?
We have to can a spade a spade, Super Eagles is bigger than the coaches and the coaches can not give what they don’t have kę.
On the other hand my people, we should stop calling our players average players.
Who invited them to camp and if you can’t bring the best out of the players rather than putting the players down in front of their opponents, killing their confidence
with his tactics then, this is the best result we could get from the coaches.
I saw Amaju Pinnick video yesterday addressing our team and saying that he preferred Super Eagles not to play against Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and top teams in Africa so, he knew that Eagles needed a sound coach to take the Super Eagles to the promised land but because he is a manipulative person, he preferred Oga Rohr to stay.
If we have these players we have now in the Super Eagles and the coaches are struggling to build a team and his fans are calling them average, I hope Oga Rohr won’t turn Ejaria, Lookman, Dessers and Sodiq to average players when they have their chance to represent Nigeria too?
All I saw kick and follow against Liberia today.
This is why I called the gaffer rigid. A rigid coach deserves this kind of result.
Point no4. Corruption, favorism and tribalism. If NFF failed to address this three problems in the Super Eagles, Nigerians may not enjoy watching good football for a while.
Point no5. Solution. We can not do anything to send Oga Rohr packing if we don’t ask NFF to first ask Amaju Pinnick to vacate his position first.
Then, we have to come to the root. Meaning we have to go local. We have no time to waste with Super Eagles because Afcon is just around the corner. For that reason, NFF have to bring in a new NFF president who understands aspects of the game and well being of his employees then, NFF can bring in Amunike, Egbo, Marnu Gerba and Enyeama into the Super Eagles.
If our own fail to bring the best out of this our current team before the world cup if we qualify then, NFF should hire another foreign coach.
On Tuesday hmm, we have to be prayerful my people ooo. Truth is bitter but a word should be a enough for the wise. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
SE performance is horrible. I don’t see them winning Tuesday match. Tbh Cape Verde might cause an upset. Cuz they’re very determined and with our shaky defence and overall poor play, i won’t be surprised if Cape Verde come to Lagos and beat the Eagles. If u watch the match yesterday, you will notice common Liberia has team work than the Eagles. They’re just lacking the final touch to hurt the SE
Its just insane to be intimidated by every team we meet with the calibre of players we have at our disposal, the Cape Verde really believed the’ll beat us, going by their comments when we won away, they would be coming with that belief, am seriously tired with Rohr tactics, let this man leave, we are tired of boring and heart attack football, make Amaju take am easy o ,Lagos fans no dey smile with this boring and patternless game wey we dey play o
As for me i won’t watch the match to avoid hypertension. The Cape Verdians will attack the SE from the blast of the whistle. They’ve nothing to lose. Bearing in mind this SE team can’t handle pressure so it possible they concede goal within 20 minutes of constant pressure. Our players feel so lazy on the pitch and the coach tactics is not helping at all. The Eagles don’t have any pattern. All they do is kick and follow and hope someone can pick up the ball. Their passing accuracy is at 25% but no Rhor supporter will not see this. All they shout is SE ranking has improved, we have been qualifying for major tournaments with a game in hand, the team are like families so atmosphere in camp is good Blabla. With all these they have nothing to show for. It’s very embarrassing for a team of over 5 years to be playing like some boys they pick on the street to form a team 30 minutes before a match. No connection nothing. The NFF put us in this situation bcos even if they sack Rhor now, who are they going to appoint ? I’m not sure their is any quality tactical coach available anywhere right now. They’re all engaged. After Afcon 2019 would have been the best time to sack him but no they refused. Nigeria didn’t lose that match bcos Algeria are very good and SE is bad but bcos of the coach incompetence. All i can say is good luck to Eagles come Tuesday but to be frank, the match can go either way cuz Nigeria is under pressure which i don’t think the team has the ability to handle
@Sean T
The same Cape Verde we beat on their own turf with over half our first team missing?
Please calm down. Wait till Tuesday. Style win matches. And every match isn’t the same. You play accordingly. I believe it would be different in Lagos.We would win.
Why I would give credit to the team for getting the 3 points, such should be routine due to the opposition and the venue being neutral.
The fact is the formation deployed was played against us. I totally understand why Rohr use such tactics; he was simply trying to be cautious and safe guard our defence but by doing that, our midfield collapsed and we sacrificed our attack. The attack was mainly sporadic; mostly long balls to get to Osimhen.
Iheanacho, Osimhen and Iwobi had to get deep into the midfield to get balls thereby leaving the attacking end barren. Such was further enhanced by the fact that our wing backs; Collins and Simon, offered nothing going forward. Simon did well defensively but terrible attacking. Collins was simply empty.
On the defensive side, we did keep a clean sheet but there were some close calls; Balogun is losing the battle to age. He is risk taker who enjoys moving the ball forward and assisting the attack but he simply doesn’t have the legs to that anymore. He needs to evolve his style, be less adventurous.
Ekong is manageable but lack communication skills. He doesn’t have that instinct to read his environment and that could be problematic. He needs to be calmer and speak more.
Awazeim is ok. He is the best in the back. He does have some mistakes in him but he does well.
If Rohr insist on playing against Cape Verde with the same formation, I hope there is a personnel change,especially in the wing backs. Ola Aina thrives in such formation and should get a role.