Joe Aribo was in action for Southampton who beat Leeds United 1-0 in the Championship play-offs final at Wembley stadium on Sunday to gain promotion back to the Premier League.
Aribo featured for 90 minutes in the hard-fought win who saw Southampton join Leicester and Ipswich Town as the three teams promoted.
Southampton and Leeds progressed into the Championship play-offs after wins over West Brom and Norwich.
They were also looking for an immediate Premier League return and this was the third time two relegated teams from the previous campaign had competed in a second-tier play-off final.
Also Read: FA Cup: Ten Hag’s Tactics Key To Man United Win Over Man City –Amrabat
Adam Armstrong was likely to be Southampton’s key goal threat, having come into this game scoring 23 league goals this season (including playoffs), the most by a Southampton player since Rickie Lambert in 2011-12 (27).
Armstrong netted the only goal in the 24th minute after receiving a superb pass from Will Smallbone and slotting it into the far corner of Illan Meslier’s goal.
His deadlock-breaking goal means Armstong has netted five goals in his last four starts against Leeds, including four in three games this season.
It also meant the Saints registered their 100th goal this term, last notching a century of goals in the 2009-10 season (112).
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46 Comments
Congrats Aribo. Welcome back to the big league.
This is the same team that released top league failure Onuachu!
In the same league, Iheanacho played less than 20 mins in the last 4 matches.
Bring up AFCON as the reason for Aribo snub and I ask you why Onuachu, Awaziem, Iwobi, Chukwueze (AC milan flop) and Onyedika get selected.
The only reason why these players keep getting selecte despite performi g below par for the national team.is not far fetched..
The same delusional folks who would come on this forum to nag about Musa’s invitation become silent on the invitation of a bench warming senior man.
If you are rewarding Okoye for club performance what stops you from inviting Balogun..
If you are inviting new players like Tanzanian leaguer what stops you from inviting Ogbu, Samson Tijani, and Osho..
An EPL flop like Onuachu getting picked ahead of an EPL performer like Awoniyi (has scored against 90% of the top 6 teams in EPl).
Congrats Aribo!!
I always concur with you and some other sensible forumites here, but paddy you see abt this aribo issue, I will say just pray your coach likes you, Aribo playing frequently for Southampton is down to the love the coach gat for him, I’ve watched him like twice before today, and I keep asking why keep been selected, dude touched the ball less than 10times in whole 90minutes today and that as a supposed midfielder ohhh, how he remain on the pitch the entire 90minutes beats me.
Ask yourself if you are present in 100% of training and see what the manager/sees everyday in training – If you say you know as much as you say or observed as much as you say, then you should know that this very same manager did not fancy him (Aribo) at all when he first came in and did not play him at all, but gradually as the season wore on, he suddenly regained his spot even at the expense of very obviously skilled players like Edozie and Adams and never lost it again, even till today as you saw, he stayed on for the entire duration of the game – Now unless you are saying that you know something that the coach (who sees everybody everyday in training by the way) does not know or that he is not a good enough coach even though the Southampton hierarchy chose him and stuck with him and he has indeed met his big target of an immediate return to the Premiership – you point is very moot as you have no way of showing any merits of your view and in fact the exact opposite seems to be the case in terms of the reality of things compared to what you are alluding to with your comment.
Oh also remember that it was this same manager (Martin) who could not wait to ship that Onuachu off, and actually agreed to exceptional circumstances to get him off his team list – Imagine a 6ft7 striker who is very bad at heading a ball?? lool!
Please leave story
Fieldo Fieldo…. Oil dey your head. This is the most sensible post you wrote.
Well you right, I wasn’t privy to any of the teams training or whatever might be the coach decisions to always played him which is still down to my point about been loved by your manager, now are you gonna rate him above average in todays match? If you didn’t watch the match today, try and watch it anyhow and I dear you to counter my submission about him not touching the ball for upto 10times the entire match then tell me if that’s the norm or perfect match for a midfielder, the midfielders selected by finish are ahead of him right now and that’s the obvious truth.
Bro, sometimes, football is not always about the obvious things that you easily see, sometimes a player that is a “glue” in a team’s dynamics may not necessarily be seen as having an obvious impact in a layman’s eyes- Yes I did watch the entire match but if you watched the match also then you should have seen how he made the Southampton team very defensively solid even though he is not a defender – only people who don’t really understand football make those kind of assumptions and mistakes – if you have the knowledge then you can quickly understand why a player makes a team stronger, Makelele was a guy who you could have watched a whole season of Chelsea games and never noticed because he seemed to have so few touches per game that he would seemingly disappear in games but he never missed a game and is known today as one of the greatest players that ever played for Chelsea, never scored a goal even, or maybe one goal in like 5 years but the manager never dropped him ask yourself why- my point is that, football is not a game of individuals although individual talent also has it’s place of course, it is a combination of brilliance and synergy, that is why being a manager is not an easy job and why they get paid the millions that they do – I would rather have the current Aribo that we are seeing over Iwobi, for the simple fact that he works hard for the team and especially in terms of defensive solidity, His new manager has done some work with him and improved his understanding and execution of the game hence why he now starts him every game and even leaves him on throughout, He is now presenting more of an obstruction to the opponent as they try to advance their game as well as helping his own team in attacking when called upon. It is not only going forward that a “forward” should bring to the team, that era of football is long gone, these days even if you are Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden, or Bernado Siva or Doku, Guardiola will still bench you if you are not running back meaningfully and defending, stopping the opposition from advancing in any capacity that you can – in a modern team today, there are only 1 or 2 maybe 3 players max that are possibly allowed not to defend as part of a team and they are either the world class strikers like Haaland, Salah, Osimhen etc or you are playing in a team that is strong enough to carry 1 or 2 people who will not contribute defensively but carry a huge threat in terms of attack like Grealish or Darwin Nunez, even guys like Olise, Ayew, Watkins, Sterling, Nicholas Jackson all contribute defensively to their teams.
So as you said you “dared” me, I have given more than enough evidence to enlighten you, but finally ask yourself what eventually happened in the Southampton game today?, even with one of their main forwards – Aribo not having more than 10 touches according to you (I’m assuming you counted ba?), did they not still win the game? so how much of a loss was him having only 10 touches to the manager’s plan which was to WIN the game?
Mehn, football as a game needs understanding and intelligence, it’s not just rushing and daring people – you only know if you know.
@Field Marshall, God bless you. For some reasons, I have restrained from responding to most new account or uncultured opinions on my views because it’s obvious some are afraid to use their known accounts for fear of being called out.
So I’m the new account and u cultured right? I give you that one okay as per na me comment under ur space. No wahala.
Tribe is what’s all about isn’t it?
Dnt mind @Larry clamoring for Aribo.
Why is it that Chukwueze, Onuachu, Awaziem, Iwobi, Iheanacho, and Onyedika keep getting national calls despite their below par performance for the Super Eagles in recent games ?
Why did Iheanacho who has played just 18mins of his club matches get selected above Aribo who has been ever present for his club ?
It is not all about sentiments, sometimes some of these old players know their way.
Reason why some of them refuse to improve and grow beyond current level.
You’re right,Larry. When all these players are effusive about Finidi, I knew they just wanted to have their way. Finidi is always a No for me.
Aribo. Ha. Let him just concentrate on his club football for now. The guy wasted our time.
Facts!! –
I also wonder the same things, You are calling up very obvious and glaring rejects who have ABSOLUTELY no business anywhere near any elite team – they were all either summarily booted out of a second tier level club in the English championship or not anywhere near being considered for starting or even bench duties in these less than elite level teams and yet they are the first names on our NATIONAL TEAM LIST??? – I was not convinced with that Finidi guy and I still am very far from it!
Imagine a list comprising of Iheanacho, Onuachu, Iwobi, Chukwueze and a few other absolutely mindless and ridiculous picks and yet leaving out high level and extremely desirable names who should in fact be among the very first names on the list?? Omo the mind BOGGLES O… I have ZERO faith or confidence in this Finidi guy!
Only God can help Nigeria at this rate!!
Fieldo Fieldo. Leave Finidi, Fieldo.
Bro, I am not holding him na.. abi which one be say make I leave am again? I am just making observations, he is where he is and I am where I am.
I know we all have passion for the success of our dear Super Eagles that’s why people like Deo, Pompie, Dr Drey, Mr Hush, Omo9ja, Field Marshal, Larry, Glory and co’s takes their time to write on this platform, there has been many disagrees to agree which has kept this platform lively even though some people’s opinion sometimes sounds like an agent player marketer LMAO. On the issue of Joe Aribo, I’ve been following him for 8 consecutive matches, I don’t think he is still a
super eagles standard, dude is playing seek and hide football recently, he barely touch the ball, no call for ball body language as a midfielder, he has lost the zeal and skill of a midfielder and I asked myself when watching him against Leeds today which position can he play comfortably, I still can’t find an answer to my curiosity. Maybe you can convince me with some facts, if you watched him play against West Brom and Leeds. I will be waiting!
Yes you are right about Aribo – I should clarify that I was not making a case for him in the SE over and above other options, no, why Aribo came up for me was because forumite Femi brought him up saying that the only reason he is currently featuring for Southampton is because the manager has a soft spot for him and I disagreed with that view by breaking down what (in my view) is going on with him currently at Southampton, but again, you are right and he has been playing “hide and seek” football for a while now – ever since he left Rangers to be precise and I have even said it about him many times in the past – If you can look back through my comments, I’m sure you will find where I have said this about Aribo many times before- The reason for that I think is that his confidence was completely knocked after he came out of Scotland having being a “big fish in a small pond” over there and then came to a “bigger pond” – (the premiership) where he suddenly found himself no longer that superstar that he was made out to be in the Scottish league – the Scottish league is arguably even lower in quality than the English championship – so that culture shock hit Aribo hard and even though he is not what I would call a premier league standard of player currently, in football, anybody can become good enough for any league (well most can anyway) if they have a manager who believes in them and gives them enough minutes to play and gain not only experience but also confidence, mostly any player, given enough time and the backing of his manager will eventually come good unless he simply does not have it in him, which is also possible.
To summarise and cut this short, I am not advocating that Aribo should be a regular starter for the SE – I only commented on him in direct reply to Mr Femi, and then I used him as an example to show how little confidence I retain in the Iwobi of these days by saying that regardless of how much I think that Aribo is not yet premiership or SE level, I would still prefer him to Iwobi if I had to choose between the two of them, but ideally, I wouldn’t choose either of them as starters for the SE – On the bench YES because both have shown a huge commitment to play for us which many others like them did not do, so their patriotism/commitment is to be commended and must be rewarded somehow, therefore I would have them on the bench and they would get minutes here and there, but on the whole, Aribo’s game has to improve a lot and his confidence has to return for him to even get to a good level and to be in any kind of contention in my view. We definitely have many much better options for our midfield and that’s for sure – Simon Moses is a far better option in the midfield for us than both Aribo or Iwobi but there are still even better options than him, if we can find and unveil/invite them, but currently he is one of our best options for now in the absence of anyone better.
I concurred with part of ur analysis but frown against many, I might be wrong by assuming the coach gat soft spot for him for the reason he has been on the team list, but I stand by my word that dude is no where near the aribo we all welcome with open hands to the SE fold under RORH.
Yes he played more defensively now and that’s exactly the area I’m judging him from, as I see that as been demoted as Mikel’s case under JM that rendered him partially useless during all his yrs with cheasel, though some set of Nigeria fans still see him as top class.
I also disagreed with your analysis abt Makelele, man was an anchor and you will sure see him all over the pitch dishing out tackles and blocking opponent counter attacking moves which we also saw in casemiro, kante, Tchouemeni and many other DM.
We all love this players but candid critism won’t hurt.
The problem with Aribo is no-one, even him, knows his ideal position. When he arrived at Southampton, he was asked what his ideal position was, he said anywhere. He was given the No. 7 jersey and assigned to the right-wing. In the first few games he performed, but afterwards it became clear that he was no winger as he struggled to beat premier league full-backs. He lost his first team place and Southampton were relegated. In the championship he regained his first team place, but not as a winger but as a central midfielder.
To me, he is unconvincing in that role. I do not agree that he is better than Iwobi in midfield. He is not as creative in supporting the attack as Iwobi but he is a better holder of the ball, tackler and presser. The skills he brings to midfield are not a replacement for Iwobi’s skill. He skills are more similar to Yusuf, but I prefer Yusuf to Aribo because Yusuf is more aggressive and involves himself in the game.
For me, Iwobi is a great attacking player. Iwobi’s problem is his defensive lapses and his stamina. He runs out of energy by the 60th minute. The one attribute a midfielder requires is stamina, because midfield is the busiest part of the football game.
I agree, with the skeptism about Finidi. The lapses in his current selection especially in defence is obvious. With the lack of the SE centre-back stalwarts (Ekong, Omeruo), he should have called Balogun who has plenty of experience and is playing regularly. Instead, he called some guy from Tanzania, and another from the NPFL for a world cup qualifier, not even a friendly!
Onuachu.chukwueze.iheanacho has been with the team under rohr and pesciro why are you blaming finidi for inviting them. Go. and hug transformer.
Yes, Onuachu, Chukwueze, Iwobi,Awaziem, Iheanacho, and Aribo have all been with the team since Rohr and Pesseiro. But why should Aribo be dropped and the others continued to get invitation ?
Onuachu has never justified his inclusion in the team, the fact that he failed woefully in a top 5 league where others that played in the Jupiter league had gone to justify that scoring streak in top 5 league (Osi, Awo, Boni, Moffi) with better goal ratio in national team.
In the same German league, Awoniyi scored more goals than Boni in his first full league appearance even playing for a lowly rated club. In the premiership where Onuachu could not
score a single goal, Awo has scored against 90% of the top 6 teams.
Go and fact check, Awoniyi scored more open goals than Boni in full season.
Why is Onuachu selected ahead of Awo ?
In the same EFL, where Iheanacho warmed the bench like a senior warmer, playing just 18mins of his club’s last
4 matches. Aribo has shown creditably well scoring 3.5 and above
in recent matches. Why is Iheanacho selected ahead of Aribo ?
Why Taminu and Awaziem when there are better options (Balogun, Osho, Ogbu, Akpo).
About 4 of the selected players are either nursing injury or returning from injury, why risk 5 match rusty players (Osi, Onyeka, Nacho, Chukwueze, and Semi).. Why not pick the three vital ones (Osi, Onyeka and Semi)..
In one of his interviews, Finidi emphasized the importance of playing regularly for clubsides to player selection. But, the list is somehow far from it.
Lack of self-esteem, corruption and
poor management are the major limitations of local coaches.
Larry- you do make a lot of sense joor, ignore any retard telling you to go and hug transformer abeg, that’s how far their mind and vocabulary stretches that’s all. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks lol!
Although, I myself would not be advocating for Aribo to be a starter in the SE’s though, I’ll definitely have him on the bench – my own whole point is that we need to base our team selections purely on sensible and intelligent merit – nothing else, and some of Finidi’s picks are just not making any sense. Period!
I have never been a fan of Onuachu in the Eagles. I feel he doesn’t suit our profile in terms of play, although I am of the belief Awoniyi is a better striker, I do understand Onuachu’s recent inclusion over Awo. He’s simply in better form. Awoniyi’s recent intermittent injuries hasn’t helped his case, and he has lost his first team place in his club side.
Furthermore, Iheanacho, in form, is simply a different player stylishly than what we have in the forward line. And no one can deny his mostly positive contributions in the Eagles jersey. His contribution far outweighs Aribo’s. Iheanacho in the wings, as a second striker, midfield has done more than Aribo for the Eagles, and this is fact.
And as for Iwobi, the fact is, no one does what he does, especially in the attacking end when it comes to creativity. Iwobi is a necessity, at least till we get a much-improved creative outlet.
Chukwueze plays in a different position to Aribo. He’s competing with Tella. He has been playing regularly, albeit an improvement in play and outcome. So, his call up is justified. I would rather have an Ejuke competing with them over an Aribo on the wings since we lost Moses Simon to long term injury.
We should understand we are going into two major battles, and we need proven and well tested soldiers, as long as they are fit and ready to go.
For me, the list might not be the best but it is fair enough. And I am saying this as a staunch critic of Finidi’s appointment, who is patiently waiting to see how things transpire. Everyone will not play at a time, but they will have their day. Let’s just see how things goes. Just my take.
@mrHush thanks for your contribution. You Sabi football Wella.
@Hush, the point I’m making is very clear. What are the criteria for team selection.
If it is based on current form irrespective of the strength of league, then this scenerio would have played out;
Defence:
Balogun, Osho, Ogbu ahead of Awaziem, Ajayi, and Taminu
Midfield:
Aribo ahead of Onyeka,
Striker; Dessers ahead of Onuachu and Kelechi
If selection is based on the combination of performance in their
last match for tha national team, club activity and strength of league they play:
Players like Chukwueze, Awaziem, Onuachu, and aiheqnacho would have been history for the national team.
Do you think nuachu would score the same number of goals playing in the EPL ?
It is okay for young and new players to be allowed to use the national team as a platform to get the attention of top teams. But, it’s absolutely wrong to select old or self acclaimed senior players who have refused to elevate their career despite having more than 5 years of playing experience for SE.
When Ekong and Okoye were not getting game times, they chose career ahead of money and took the risk to move to a better league to improve their self-worth. Ekong latee became the toast of Africa and Okoye is now one of the best in Serie A.
Recall, in previous AFCON, an injured Awaziem got selected ahead of better options, an injured Iheanacho also got squeezed into the team.
@Larry
I do understand your point of view. But we should understand, there is no perfect list. And this list is no exception like every list out there. There is always going to be someone missing that arguably should be on the list. And I am not blind to the flaws and sentiments regarding Eagles selections. I am just saying this current list selection is quite fair and understandable.
@ Larry
To broaden my answer. I am not the coach and not in his head but from I could see, ı presume his selection is based on mainly those the tested and proven in an Eagles shirt and secondarily, on form. And if there is a contention of both, the former criteria take precedence.
We all know Dessers is in form but hasn’t proven himself in the Eagles jersey in comparison to Onuachu. Remember Onuachu’s goal in the qualifier against Benin rep. in Cotonou? Dessers hasn’t given us that moment and he has been given enough opportunity but failed to capitalise.
And like I mmentioned, Awo hasn’t been in form lately, hence his exception. No one is doubting his ability over both Dessers and Onuachu. But right now, he is not the same AWONİYİ. I beleive he will be back in the future.
Furthermore, there is no way, I will drop a Chukwueze, especially when Simon is injured. All we have is untested Tella,Lookman and Iwobi to marshall the wings. We know Lookman is good on the left. Iwobi will play from the midfield. All we got is an unproven Tella from the right wing. So Chukwueze’s call up is quite neccesary. Maybe in future, they call up an Ejuke to bolster the wings but hey. Samu has picked up recently. Besides, we act like SAMU has been useless all through his time in the Eagles jersey. Though inconsistent, the dude has put up some exceptional perfomances in the green and white jersey.
And Iheanacho is always a joker. he is just different. On his day, he can hurt anyone. ıf he is fit, he should be invited.
As for the defence, I don’t have much to say on that. Yes. I am not a fan of Awazeim but from what I seen of Osho this season, he isn’t exceptional. Maybe Balogun should have been called up, but we all know why that isn’t the case.
As much as there are minuit complains and misses ,ratonally speaking, the list is fair enough.
And this is coming from a guy that has been an open critic of Finidi’s appointment. My jury,like most, is still out on him.
I am not the coach and not in his head but from I could see, ı presume his selection is based on mainly those that are tested and proven in an Eagles jersey and secondarily, in form.
@Hush, I do understand your point but you failed to recognize the toughness and competitive nature of EPL. MAay be we should interview the c best defender and player at AFCON about his experience. The speed, creativity and strength of attackers in the premiership can make defender look really bad.
Osho has even performed better in EPL than Ekong.
The fact that he gets selected into the starting line-up whenever available speaks volume about his caoability.
Hush while I understand your point of view but the stick still has to go to finidi.
Tella is untested but he caused it. He failed to give him minutes in two friendlies.
Ejuke should have been invited over chukuwueze. You see chukuwueze can’t give more than he has. We are just using sentiment to select him. At afcon he drew the team backwards.
He has not been top notch at Milan.
If Osho is not tested so tanimu is tested with just few minutes against Ghana?
Sometimes we always want to conclude that a first time invitee can’t do very well. This is wrong.
There’s no way anyone can convince me that tanimu deserves invitation more than Osho or ogbu all because they are not tested. If players who played consistently in the EPL and has played consistently in European competition like ogbu are not tested and deserve to be invited to the super eagles then we still have a long way to go.
For goodness sake if tanimu is serious what is he doing in Tanzania? He should have at least gone to Libya or Egypt or Algeria etc or even Saudi Arabia.
What was his performance level in his last few matches in his club. Is he fit. Nobody can say except finidi who probably is the manager or someone at nff.
England or Italy or Brazil etc will not invite players playing in one obscure Leagues to their national teams. This can only happen in Nigeria.
I don’t care tanimu may be playing heaven but it downgrades our football or the brand super eagles to bring a player from Tanzania. Not when we have many other options. And when we have something like a crisis in the defense.
He invited only 6 and no left back except bassey who should play in the central defence.
I supported finidi for continuity but he has shown he is confused with some of his recent actions since the friendlies.
1. The mess he put forward during the friendly against Mali
2. The unnecessary problem that came up as a result of his decision not to make good changes and use some players even when we we needed them. He kept s potential APOTY on the bench in those two matches.
3. The careless statement he made about captaincy. Though he came back to correct himself. But he already showed his foolishness again.
4. I also read on owngoal where he said it’s not his duty to go after foreign born players. If he made that statement then it shows he lacks wisdom. Who is asking you to go after them. You are to use your position to influence their choices just like other wise coaches did.
6. Now this kleg list. I pray we don’t have an injury to s defender in training or in the first match.
I pray he succeeds and become wiser with time. I pray so.
Brilliant writeup!
The statement on foreign new players aptly depicts his level of thinking. Iwobi, semi Ajayi, bassey, lookman, Osayi, aina and ekong were all foreign born that make up a good number of his team but yet he does not see it as his job. Only if other coaches had that train of thought, he would not be a beneficiary, would he? I understand What it is though , he was hired on the basis of finding gems in the local league and so he must not sound too excited about a foreign player like olise.
and the ones that made AFCON all star selection are all foreign borns (Ekong, Aina, and Lookman).
Foreign borns are considered a threat cuz they won’t likely do back door deals or allow their wages to be tampered with.
Balogun opened their cans of worms and they decided to block.him from the team. Now, they are planning to dethrone Ekong and install a stooge for things to become as usual.
Invite Ogbu.osho.Akpom football is not simple the way you think no San Coach will gamble with important matches like w/cup qualification matches the list is not bad Awaziem and Ajayi combo with osayi and Bassy on the left are right are good to handle the Bafana Bafana. Aribo is good but not super eagles material iheanacho is super eagles material nacho and osimehn are the best we have for now.
That will be the same Awaziem that played against Mali? When will the handlers start using faculty. The challenge is we have coaches who do not have a clue what their football ideology is. Elite coaches always have in their head the blue print of the kind of football they want to play and this informs the kind of players they poach. A good example is Pep started this false 9 thing because it suited how he envisioned his team, he moved to city and shipped off club hero Joe Hart because he did not fit into his blue print.
This is how you will know if a coach knows what he is doing, he will go for players with certain attributes. Now except F inid wants to play kick and follow football,I do not see what Onuachu will offer. All these sports sites do not help matters with their misleading headers (Aribo helps Southampton gain promotion), meanwhile his performance is below par. Has Awaziem been exceptional at his club since the last international break where he dropped a stinker. If you observe the list of strikers, you will see he has no clue how he wants to play, onuachu is different from osimhen who is different from iheanacho who is different from boniface.I will not fault his selection of the defender from the Tanzanian league because he performed decently when he had his chance . The jury is still out on Finidi but I think it is too early to be overly critical when he has not presided over a competitive game for the SE. He has not inspired confidence with his selection , I for one , wanted a real creative midfielder like olawoyin, jasper. The eagles do not have this profile of player and my concern is we will keep seeing iwobi in that position and the eagles will keep struggling. For those who think dele Bashiru will get a sniff, might as well forget it. He did not get a min in 2 friendlies. That tells me Finidi is happy with the way the midfield is. No wonder all the players are full of praise for Finidi because they know their underperforming behinds will continue to be selected.
How are you building a culture of competition in the team when iheanacho has been inactive since afcon but still selected ? How can Awaziem be serious with his game when he is rewarded for that stinker against Mali? I get it , you don’t want to alter the team too much but there should also be an element of merit. What can not be measured can not be appraised. This is why I wanted a foreign coach because they are scientific about their approach whilst a typical black man is motivated by sentiments. You want to pick your leaders then tribal and religious sentiments is the order of the day. You want to pick players? Let us apply federal character and shoe horn certain players into the team. I am Ahmed musa and I was club less but still got minutes in a qualifier ahead of players who had clubs and were active. I am Awaziem and I have lost relevance in the team and I never play most of the games but I must be selected. I am Iwobi but I am not an attacking midfielder but I will continue to be shoe horned into that position. The thing with these coaches is that if you never try something new , how will you know that new can be better than the old.
Bro, Speak on please, I like the reasoning, I am seeing a few more rational and intelligent comments from certain quarters on these CSN topics lately and I for one thank God! For so long, I have been literally the only person here trying to bring reason to some of the the tribalistic, big man(isms) and sometimes downright infuriating ways that many on here reason and the things they come out with, their absolutely mind boggling calls on things like team selection and just general opinions on things – (painfully, this is also an actual/real life cross section of Nigerians at large today)
I thank God that there are more of us now it seems, I mean, on this thread here alone, I have read opinions from 2 maybe 3 people already that makes me think – chaii! so we have people who can see the bigger picture like this? Because to be honest, prior to now all I have been getting into is seriously dodgy confrontations with some myopic, one track minded individuals who then very quickly resort to cursing and completely dragging the whole thing into the gutter and because I am not going to take that kind of attitude and will stand up and fight regardless, the whole thing becomes very blurred and absurd and then another myopic gets involved and sees that both parties have exchanged fire, then they get behind their local django (hero) and it very quickly becomes 2 against 1 and then rinse that process and repeat, and before you know it, you are putting fires out left, right and centre by putting a whole bunch of moronic zombies in their place –
Anyway, I digress and my point is that your comment above is well reasoned and hits some of the endless pain points these Nigerians are putting us through – right from the NFF to now Finidi, who is already exhibiting some very scary characteristics – and I am even only basing this on just his team selection list, because as you or was it Larry or somebody else already said, he has not actually managed one competitive game in anger yet and I get that and I am not silly enough not to allow a man space to fully show his hand in conduct first before I make a final call on his ability or suitability, so there can be no final decision on Finidi just yet, but again and at risk of repeating myself, I can tell you that it is not looking good going off his team selection – This is a guy who it looks as if he somehow really has the completely wrong end of the stick when it comes to Iheanacho’s current profile and seems to be wanting to play him as one of our preferred strikers?? I mean what in the world is that???? Iheanacho that should even be lucky just getting on the bench is looking like the one that Finidi is rating alongside the likes of Osimhen and even leaving the likes of Awoniyi out because of Iheanacho? lol, I mean wonders will NEVER EVER end ke! And it’s not just Nacho, there are many other “problems” in his team selection already like Onuachu and all the others that we have been variously discussing all this while!
And I am not being unfair because he already has form, so not only because he called him and we have all seen that he (Nacho) is one of the first, if not the first name on Finidi’s list, but we all saw that last game how he played him throughout the entirety of the game as a striker! Kai, I said before that only God can help us with what it seems we are seeing with Finidi and I maintain that stance still!
If only we have sane, rational and I dare say intelligent people running our affairs in Nigeria, from government, to football and just across the board, we would have a chance of not only survival but a chance to thrive and take over and not only in Africa but even on a world scale, but alas, all we have are naïve, angry, greedy, extremely myopic and very unintelligent people running our affairs and representing us – I mean who can believe that a guy with the profile of that Pinnick was our NFF president?? and now ACTUALLY representing us at FIFA HQ???
I mean what revolting situation!!
Man like Stan
Lool! with statements like Iheanacho is the best we have for now, Nigeria has no hope! teehehe – pure comedy GOLD!! Kai!
I would have said thank God you are not the coach but unfortunately, it seems you and the “coach” may be birds of a feather and oh what a calamity!
Timagine spmeone saying Aribo is good but not super Eagles material. May be he is consudering Chukwueze, Onuachu, Awaziem,Iwobi, Onyedika as Super Eagles material when they have consistently performed at below par and are always on the list.
Okay, its worth taking the risk on a Tanzania based player than a premiership or Europe league performer. All am saying is that there should be consistency in players invitation.
No need inviting a player that has played just 18 mins of his club last 4 matches in the EFL ahead of the ones with more number mins playing in the EPL or EFL.
If it was Musa that got selected playing 18 minutes in the last 4 matches, this space would have been bombarded by fake current form apologists.
It won’t be wrong to assume thar these undeserving players are well connected with corrupt fellas in nff. Reasons they get picked ahead of deserving ones.
@Larry… to be honest with you Aribo brings nothing to that Super Eagles fold… he is a playing seriously lacking.
@Jimmy, you need to get the point. Aribo like Iwobi are attack minded players. Like Iwobi, he had his great times and miserable performance but Iwobi’s performances have been more abysmal in recent games.
If we are honest in our evaluation of recent national team matches, then Iwobi, Awaziem, Onyedika, Chukwueze, and Onuachu would be no where near the Super Eagles list.
For the team to improve, no player should be made to feel indispensable or could buy his way into the team. The 94-96 team achieved a lot cuz the handlers maintained objectivity, transparency and competitiveness.
Aribo is a good player and I believe he definitely deserves to be in the team based on his current run of games. My only problem with him is that he’s neither an attacking midfielder or a winger. As winger he lacks pace and as a midfielder he’s not daring. However, saying that he’s not a SuperEagles material is quite appalling.
He didn’t cover himself in glory at the last AFCON and I think that’s probably what is working against him at the moment. He needs to figure out his best position on the pitch. If he can continue to command regular shirt in the premier league next season he willl surely be recalled to the National team.
For me I only have problem with continued exclusion of Igoh Ogbu in our defense. I hope Nigeria can get Gabriel Okoli and also extend invitation to Kingsley Ehizibue. And finally do everything to get Micheal Olise. These are the players I want to see in the SuperEagles going forward. Our defense is aging and we seriously need a playmaker to give Iwobi competition.
We must qualify for the WorldCup or else!!!!
The last time Aribo made any goal contribution in the SE was in 2019 against Ukraine and Brazil. The first time in many years, the coach invited six midfielders. Adding Aribo to the midfield will mean seven midfielders which makes no sense. The only player that he might take his position in the squad is Alhassan. As a CM, apparently that is his best suited position but in the last Afcon Yusuf played better than him.
Like I have stated, there is no perfect list out there and has proven on this thread, everyone has a player or so, they think should be on or not on the list. There’s always going to a form of bias backed up by logic or mere feelings. But it is what it is.
For me, based on the Naija precedence of players selection; this list is fair enough. I have given my presumptuous reasons why I think some are invited or and some are not.
I totally undersatnd the invitations of Samu, Iheanacho, Onyedika and definitely, Iwobi. If I was coach, I will invite them as well.
I believe Aribo is a good player. He just needs to discover himself. He should find a position he is really comfortable at and build on it.I think that needs coaching and perfect environment for that. Hopefully, he finds it.
Having said that, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand the flaws.
My major qualms are on the defence. I don’t think Awazeim or Tanimu deserve their call up, especially where there is a Balogun or a consistent Ogbu. But I am not bought on Osho. Could I be wrong? off course!
And yet again, this much I have always emphasised; I am not a fan of Finidi’s appointment. I have always preferred a foreign coach for obvious reasons. And my verdict is still out on Mr. George.