Benedict Akwuegbu has urged Gernot Rohr to maintain the Super Eagles’ starting lineup that edged out the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon when they face the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in today’s AFCON 2019 quarterfinal match at the Cairo International Stadium, Completesports.com reports.
The former Nigeria international spoke from his base in England on Tuesday, saying for continuity sake, the coach should stick to that ‘winning’ combination.
“It was trial and error against Burundi and Guinea and it was too bad against Madagascar,” the former Super Eagles forward said.
“But against Cameroon, the chemistry stuck and we saw the result as well as good performance.
“The boys seemed to understand themselves and we expect them to get even better by playing together again.
“Altering that lineup may not augur well for the Team,” Akwuegbu warned.
The one time Heartland of Owerri assistant team manager who was recently technical director of Mighty Jets, a Nigerian second tier league side, however cautions the three-time African Champions against complacency and undue underestimation of their opponents.
“It is not over until it is really over. No team is cheap these days, and of course, you don’t think you will ride others just because you have dethroned the reigning Champions (Cameroon).
14 Comments
Akpeyi I know you will start today please I beg you these your boys know you very well and how mad you can be I beg you to try and calm yourself today because as we speak the whole of kickoff is relying on Akpeyi to howler for them to win against Nigeria some say high shot another say low shot between the legs.
Trust me I am married to a South African so I know how what I am saying. Lol coach Rohr should psyche Akpe!
He should start Chukwueze on the right wing and should Chukwueze tire out let him bring Henry onyekuru to continue the fire power and trickery because the last match against Cameroon if we were clinical Chukwueze was a handful and created 3 clear scoring chance for musa and odion which they both messed up.
I prefer Chukwueze to Simon because of end products not the defending thing because in my own theory attack is the best form of defence even if defence is vital sometimes
Well said and I really hope the coach will do that. I will be delighted if when the list is display, Chukwueze is starting!
My fellow brothers
My sheer contribution as a patriotic and noble kinsman !
Honestly I will suggest and simply advise Coach Gohr to stick with the winning team that defeated Cameroon with maybe the change of staring Chukwueze instead of Simon. However, I might advise the Coach and most especially our lads on the Tactics of the South Africans They play exactly the most recent tactical approach of soccer. This is based on Wing play, one-touch passes and swift counter attack! They have being playing this pattern on all their matches and it proved a point against Ivory Coast, Morocco and Egypt ! And other teams that plays such include Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria and Mail Sadly Mail is out of the tournament but against Ivory Coast, they did dominated open play! Nigeria has the talents to excute a “counter-substitution” approach to neutralize and possibly defeat such game tactical approach. The setup formation should be the 4-3-3 but in ball possession it switches to 4-1-3-1 and in lose of the ball or in defending mode, it maintains a 3-4-2-1 diamond formation with the very first striker (Ighalo) defending !!! Playing South Africa, The Super Eagles must have a pivotal man-marker (Ndidi) and 2 pivot swift wingers (Musa & Chukwueze) and a pivotal playmaker (Iwobi) On no account should Ndidi move away from the middle of the central defenders (Ekong and Omeruo)
Omeruo should have the task of marking the striker (Mothiba or Lorch)..and Ekong stay for the cleanup !
I opt for Ken Omeruo ahead of Ekong because he is way strong and have a better recovery technique and that’s how he plays for his current club in Spain!
South African plays a sole striker and two wings but their most influential, most productive and most dangerous man is Tau!
And that’s where Ndidi must play his best.
Ndidi is currently the Brazilian Casemiro of the SE !…and Etebor have a special task of complementing Ndidi (Defending) and Iwobi (Attacking)!
Ndidi must watch Tau like an Eagle and be with him at all time …. the Egyptians make that mistake and paid the price !
For Iwobi, he is a gifted lad and he plays his very best game when he plays the one-touch swift exchange !
He must play with Musa, Chukwueze and most importantly Ighalo!!
Our Winger Musa and Chukwueze must know when to attack and when to help with midfield play!
Our back 2 and 3 (Aina and Awaziem or Collins) must strive to complement one another …if one is attacking, the other stays to make a strong back 3 to wade off a possible counter-attack !
And for Oghalo…as the striker he should be with the Teo South African defenders at all time …goal scoring is his main priority as well as starting the high line of defending for the SE!
The only team that had a striker do that to the South African was Ivory Coast and it paid off during the match because most Bafana Bafana attack is launched from the back to the wingers who either finds the influential Tau or crosses to the striker Mothiba !!!
South African will hold the lines in the midfield. Their gameplay is swift counter attacking technics and disciplined defending!!!
Another gameplan (plan B) that South African might employ is taking the game to Penalty shootouts !
Any weaker team will definitely employ such gameplan!
That was their plan against the Egyptians until they got that break through and scored that goal !
So now, if the South African team opted to defend in open play to a draw and “frustrate” the Super Eagles to the shootouts, my question will be;
1. Do SE have five PK takers (Madagascar and Tunisia)
2. Do SE have a goalkeeper to stand a chance of saving a spot kick or two (Tunisia)
Hints ; Penalty Takers : Ighalo, Iwobi, Etebor, Ndidi and Goalkeeper (Ezenwa)
I love my Country so much and I will pray and believe that come today, we will be victorious against South African.
However, all things must be put right and properly do to achieve success!
God is for all and so He will definitely help you if you do your homework well and dedicatively execute your task!
My ideal team list
Akpeyi
Awaziem – Ekong – Omeruo – Aina
Ndidi
Etebo
Musa – Iwobi – Chukwueze
Ighalo
Subs if we need goals
Onyekuru – Awaziem
Osiemhen – Musa
(3-2-3-1-1)
Subs if we are winning
Onyekuru – Chukwueze
Mikel – Iwobi
Balogun – Awaziem
(3-4-2-1)
If it goes in extra time where a fourth sub is alllowed
Ezenwa for Akpeyi
Go Super Eagles !
Viva !!!
Well said. It was as if you read my mind.
Super Eagle are super continue to rain in AFCON 2019 you are crossing to the other side in Jesus Name
I agree with u my dear brother, Akuegbu, the coach should stick with the team that dealt with cameroun. Changing the team would imply altering the chemistry of the team which would be very,bery risky. The only change that should be made should be in the midfield. Mikel should be introduced to hold up play and spray sublime passes to our attackers up front. This is what I observed to be lacking in our last match. We need a player that can calm things down in the midfield and deliver killer passes of which Mikel seems to me the ideal kinda player to do the job. His presence again would to an extent send jitters down the spines of the bananas.
I agree with you too. Chukwueze can cause problems for RSA, but Rohr may want to bring him in after half time for a surprise package. If that is the case, he should be brought in early.
Am not criticizing him rohr we all want the best for our team,u just mention above if he can bring chukwueze earlier can cause from for RSA? why did u say so? how did u knw that? the is simple cos Samuel ve prove to u, he can do it but rohr he don’t believe chukwueze is needed earlier in his on think as a coach that re some of deficiency we all seen in him.
Hmm in term good playing as a team zero error I prefer the team that play against guinea honestly despite error slip by balogun he is far better than e kong and omeruo interm of Agility man marking, win ball on the air, work rate he is super,i appreciate him working with omeruo than e Kong, he ve more confident and ability to move a little forward with the ball than both of them but unfortunately our technical crew are very poor tactically, for a team to be more attacking side both defends and the midfield need much involvement in play not to go and line up allowing too much pressure like we always do,we also need collins and aina cos of thier work rate and ability to move forward and they can as well support the midfield,To be honest rohr is very poor but he is been lucky winner matches
@Abba, if Rohr is poor, take over the coaching job and let’s see how you will fare. Stop criticising him unneccessarily. There is always element of luck in football else the better team in every match will always win. Give suggestions on what he can do to improve the team just as every other person on this forum had done. Will you be happy if he failed? God forbid!
Mr man @abba rosy u are the worst idiot here,to hell with ur ideas,fool
Ubah as for u thank you I did not abusy anybody the forum is all about suggestion go and read again, continue abusing people one day u will regret it surely.
It is good to keep the winning team but a little adjustment can be made to give room for overall improvemnt and performance.