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HAPPY NEW YEAR WITH SMILES FROM ALL OF US AT COMPLETE SPORTS
Related: Emery: Iwobi Is A Match Winner
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COMMENTS
Players to make a difference in 2019
Make no mistake about it, fans of other African football national teams are looking forward to a prosperous new year just as much as we fans of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
They will be hoping, expecting and relishing the prospect of their teams to upstage the illustrious Super Eagles of Nigeria.
It is always a big thing for these fans – for their team to defeat the Super Eagles for them brings similar feelings to us like Nigeria defeating Brazil.
To go far in 2019 , we will need players who can rise to the occasion. Players for the big games, to make big impacts at really big stages.
Some of the players I will be looking to are:
Uzoho: If he can work on his technique at handling crosses and diving low to intercept ground shots, then, these will complement other aspects of his game as I will be looking to him to keep out many goal-bound efforts in 2019.
Troost Ekong: Balogun is meant to be the “calm head” at the back however I think a lot will rest on Ekong to bring his valuable experience in the robust defensive-minded Italian league to bear in keeping the likes of Mane and Salah of this world at bay.
Ndidi: the Leicester city midfielder is expected to be one of the star players for the Super Eagles. A lot will be riding on Ndidi’s ability to read the game, make crucial interceptions and thwart opponents’ attacking initiatives. All eyes will be on him.
Iheanacho: No longer a direct goal scoring threat himself, Iheanacho will do no wrong to re-brand himself along the lines of strikers like Emil Heskey, Danny Welbeck, Dirk Kuyt, or Nwankwo Kanu – not always overly prolific but overall hard working forwards.
Simple yet effective passes, link up plays, give and goes, through balls, hold up plays and knock-ons from Iheanacho could be key in unlocking defences in 2019.
OTHERS
Musa’s reputation as a an African world cup legend and Iwobi’s status as a top 10 African footballer of the year nominee already place huge weigh of expectation on both.
The likes of Agu, Ogu, Semi, Akpeyi and Ezenwa should be razor-sharp ready to provide adequate cover for regulars. Standards and expectations should not be expected to drop if Ndidi or Uzoho, for example, are not available for whatever reason.
I am definitely looking forward to a happy new year as a Super Eagles fans.
It hasn’t take long for my observation above about Uzoho to come to light. The first goal he conceded against Tenerife last night came from not being able to deal with a low drive while the second came from a header off a crossing routine.
As I said in my new year message above, if he can work on these aspects of the game, Uzoho’s overall competencies will sour.
Video below:
https://youtu.be/xl0cKJkEFLA
Happy new year bro.
For me I look to our eternal Achilles heel, our sub bench to improve. Our lack of options on the bench has cost us over the years, we’ve always had a good first team, but take one player out and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Hence I hope for the following to step up, raise their game or fulfil their potential to take the Super Eagles to the next step:
Goal keeper:
Akpeyi needs to drop the “calamity GK” tag and show that he can be trusted to deputise for Uzoho.
Afelokhai, needs to reward the promise given and push Akpeyi to better himself.
Defence:
Outside of our top 3 (Troost, Omeruo and Balogun) Ajayi should show that his football head is amongst the best there is and read the game as he can.
Aina and Ebuehi take their battle for the right wing all the way to the top of AFCON
The second left back search continues
Midfield:
Mikel Agu, answer the critics and be a dependable alternative to both Mikel Obi and Wilfred Ndidi. His man of the match performances both in Turkey and in Portugal almost go unheralded over the past few years. He will need to show us that his performance against Uganda was not a one off, but he finds consistency in his game
Attack:
The elusive number 10 needs to be settled and an alternative player to Iwobi still needs to be found for when he loses form, is injured or unavailable.
Chukwueze has shown he is ready to wrestle the right wing from Kalu and heep him on his toes.
Onyekuru to win the battle for the left wing from Moses Simon and show that he can maintain the standard when Musa needs replacing either as a tactical change, manage a game or our of neccesity.
Osimhen needs to show that his first half of the season resurgence is not a flash in the pan, but his confidence takes him all the way to grab the second striker position away from Success, Iheanacho, and for when the tactics call for two strikers or ighalo needs substituting
Bench: coach needs to take decisive tactical changes a little earlier for a greater impact on the result, and show some confidence that he is not afraid to make the necessary changes when necessary
Happy new year bro.
It promises to a fascinating year for Nigerian football in general.
We will continue to follow the likes of Iwobi and Aina in elite leagues while Lobi stars of Makurdi will be hoping to navigate a Caf champions league group that includes Michael Babatunde’s Wydad AC.
Our Falcons will be hoping to do what no other Falcons’ team have done since 1999 by attempting to reach the knockout stage of the women’s world cup while their male counterparts will be hoping to emulate the class of 2013 who lifted the AFCON trophy similarly after a period of absence from the competition.
There are the under-20 and under-23 afcons to look forward to either sides of the under-17 afcon.
There are big names who will flop big times whilst some peripheral players will prove critics wrong.
Some players will make last ditch attempts to gate crash the various national teams.
We are in for a busy period in every quarter of the year.
I am really, really proud to be a fan of Nigerian national teams and look forward to the highs and lows that this year will bring.
All I would say is: fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride………
BigD,
I guess having that “Akpeyi-Moment” is something that can never be 100% eliminated from Akpeyi’s game (as can be seen from the video below). Having said that, his coaches can work with him to reduce his calamity-propensities to negligible level
However, his skills as a shot-stopper and an all-round decent goalkeeper are not in doubt.
But for the goal he conceded (as a result of the hopeless high line kept by his defence), he had an all together convincing display. He is yet to concede more than 2 goals in any league match this season.
Chippa vs Celtic
https://youtu.be/Sy61SgK-QjA
To God be the glory. Happy new year my people. Amen to the prayer. Thank you CSN. New year has come and I am looking forward to it. God bless us all. God bless Nigeria!!!