Former Nigerian midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju has advised Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr to carefully select his choice of striker that will lead the team’s attack against Benin and Lesotho in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Adepoju stated this on the backdrop of calls by some ex-international urging the technical crew to allow Kelechi Iheanacho to spearhead the Super Eagles attack due to his hattrick performance for Leicester City against Sheffield United in Sunday’s Premier League game.
With Osimhen in and out for a while due to injuries and COVID-19, many believe Iheanacho’s form is enough reason for him to lead the Eagles’ attack.
Reacting to the development, the ‘Headmaster’ as he was fondly regarded during his playing days, said that Rohr should be left alone to decide the striker that will spearhead his attack.
“Iheanacho has played for Eagles and has scored goals, so he is capable of doing anything. Osimhen also has done same thing, so he is capable. They are all doing well which is very good, so it is left to the coach,” Adepoju told Punch.
By Augustine Akhilomen
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COMMENTS
A skillful and technical coach will make a fantasy team by making use of his best players together, Osimhen and Nacho can work together as vardy and Nacho works well for Leicester. Nacho can provide assist and score while Osimhen is a powerful finisher that can also create chances and openings for his fellow frontline. This is not a debate for me. I will keep saying it Rohr has every Arsenal to drown any team, he just has to be more technical and ambitious.
Sure… I will love to see him pair nacho and osimhen… It wld be like vardy & nacho, hope our coach can borrow something from Brendan Roger’s approach. Pairing both strikers will be very devastating!
Terrific. That’s the preferred option right there. Ihenacho has been playing as the support striker with success this season. Osimen is used to leading the line, like Vardy at Leicester. Easy to see that both must play, in that formation. We need a winger to stretch the opponents Aribo has been in good form for Rangers whilst Iwobi played well for the Super Eagles in last matches. Ndidi of course is the defensive midfielder. So, how does Rohr get the most out of his in form players, and have a good winnable formation?
I was telling Omo9ja that Dessers has nothing compared to these two. Yet he is trying to convince people that dessers should step in to lead the attack for Benin and Lesotho. I mean sometimes I can’t understand the reasoning on this CSN forum IMHO!
@Chima E samuels I am glad you finally see the light KUDOS!!!!.. It also goes to show you guys what a player playing in a high level and regulary can bring to the team.. One of the most important is confidence and Form. which is why I say Rohr could have extended an invite to Josh Maja instead of wasting a spot on Musa. Maja is playing in the same league with Iheanacho and is doing well. The level of play will not drop if Maja steps in a game second half for Iheanacho. infact he might even offer another dimension. which is why an invitation should have been extended to Maja and not Musa on some “so called” non playing captaincy basis
We need not forget that Iheanacho can even drop to CAM if goals are really needed and you bring Maja on instead of one of our midfielders with the exception of Ndidi and Ariball.. maybe Etebo cause he can sometimes fade in second half.. there are many alternatives on offer for Rohr if he can only think outside the box at times and stop being so one dimensional and bias and also, leaving substitutions so late in game.
@Ugo, Maja is good but at present not better than the trio that was invited, Kelechi, Victor and Sadiqu. Even the ones on standby Onuachu and Moffi are also very prolific, who will Maja bench. Let him find his feet first in Premiership. The strikers doing well are the moment are much and the Coach cannot bring up to 4 Centre forwards in a team of 23 or 24. Players like Simmy and Olayinka are even ahead of Maja based on consistency this season.
Musa did not block anybody, he just increased the no. from 23 to 24. So if he was not there the Coach would have called up 23 players which is usually the no. that goes for such competition.
@Ikeben I sort of see your point however Maja is better than Onuachu. I am sorry We have seen what Onuachu can offer. From watching maja in Bordeaux and now Fulham both better leagues than the Belgian league. he has much more pace than Onuachu. people forget the gap between the English premiership and Belgian Jupiter league is quite huge if you guys don’t know it. Being able to show pace and instinct like Maja does in English premiership is no easy task and is something Onuachu would still have to learn if he ever gets the opportunity to play in England(Every players dream). with how sluggish he is playing for SE he may not survive the challenge in England unless, he works on his pace like Iheanacho had to do all over again at Leicester, something I don’t think Onuachu can achieve because as I always said Iheanacho has X factor something Onuachu doesn’t possess. in conclusion Maja is better than Onuachu that much I can put my neck out to and say.
Sadiq Umar and Maja is debatable but for Tying Maja down to Nigeria it would have been better to invite Maja than Sadiq because knowing Rohr he will not even field Sadiq in any of the games watch and see so why not Invite Maja and tie him down to Nigeria with these two games. this should have been a strategy that should have been prioritised because he is quality and is worth Tying down who is to say England may not come knocking for him before the opportunity arises to invite him for Super Eagles comes again.
England does it so why can’t NFF think outside the box and do it with serious players like Lookman Ademola and Maja.
yes kel is on a better form but I prefer Osimhen leading the line especially with his pace.
I just really want them to play together. It’s a no brainer and there’s no better time than this upcoming window to pair the two together. I believe it will work to devastating effect especially when they’re both fit and in form. Maybe Osimhen is just coming back into his groove, but I think they’re both in top form. This is when we can actually see the best of Nacho in the SuperEagles colors with Osimhen right beside him in attack. I can’t wait to see how that pairing will pan out. Having a striker from Serie A and another from the EPL leading the SuperEagles attack will definitely bring fear to our opponents defense in any competition. The onus is definitely on Rohr to bring out the best in these two. It could be the reincarnation of Siasia/Rashidi or Rashidi/Amokacihi combo. Nigeria’s best ever attacking pairings in history. In those days no matter the opponent I always have the confidence that SuperEagles will score at any time. This Osimhen/Iheanacho might even be the best pairing ever.
It’s normal for heated arguments on players choices from different football fans and ex internationals are not left in this major talking point.
In fact days leading up to an important international match are the most interesting experience football fans can have because discussions can be interesting and most times boisterous.
The choice of striker to lead the super eagles attack is generating a huge debate amongst football fans and the reasons for this forceful argument is not far fetched.
Osimhen has led the line convincingly for the super eagles since Ighalo’s retirement.His all action play upfront has won us games and he wields immense power or influence in the team to the extent his substitution because of injury against Sierra Leone in Benin left a big vacuum in the team which Sierra Leone capitalized on to go all square with the super eagles,such is the influence this young man has in the team.
Sadly,his form for club has drooped and feelers thinks he may not replicate his national team form against Benin and Lesotho due to his poor form for club.
The debate however,is could the gaffer bench the biggest star of the super eagles at the moment for another who just picked a mad form in the English premiership scoring five goals in three premiership starts?A league known to celebrate some of the finest footballers the world has.
Meanwhile,the super eagles coach is known to play with one striker,only on the occasion he plays with two.The argument is should he go for just a centre forward which one of this two prolific strikers would get the nod of the manager?
In my opinion Nacho should start because he is big on confidence at the moment and would be a waste to start the most improved super eagles striker on the bench that would be a bizarre decision from the manager.
It seems unanimous; most wants to see a combo. It wouldn’t be anything new even with Rohr. He played Ideye and Iheanacho together, against Zambia in his first qualifier.
We have been blessed with quality attacking combo down the years ;
Yekini – Amokachi
Yekini- Siasia
Ikpeba- Kanu
Kanu-Agali
Ideye- Emenike etc.
Rohr in some cases have experimented with a twin attack, so if he does this time around, it wouldn’t be far fetched .
I definitely hope to see a Nacho – Osimhen combination. I am fully confident it would be devastating for our opponents .
Start Osimhen and Iheanacho together We’re lucky one is right footed the other a lefty.
I had been waiting with keen interest to see the French national under21 team squad for upcoming European under21 championship, silvain rippol released the squad yesterday without Michael Olise’s name.
I became very hopeful while I couldn’t found his name in the squad this morning as I had been wondering if we are going to loose this rear-gem (Olise) to the French team as we had loosed others in the past?
But I am being hopeful now because I don’t think that the NFF can’t be so stupid to list him in our recent squad standby list without haven’t struck a strong and concrete agreement with the guy considering the mess we have received from some other eligible players in the past.
Here comes a report this afternoon in support of my thought.
The 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation will be welcomed. Osimhen and Iheanacho will be on the field.
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@Dr.Drey… I am in Germany. Call my numbers with a plus (+) as in +49 then the rest digits provided… let us do video call on whatsapp, except you as a PhD holder also does not use a mobile phone because of scammers that made you shut all your social media accounts also… I even want to see your face and how exactly old you. If you cannot do this and answer to my harmless challenge… shut your stinking-faeces-mouth on this forum and stop bullying people for their entitled views, and continue to remain mute-egoistic-thug… proud fool. I ready for your lying miserable being… prove your claims Mr.PhD holder… you met someone above yourlevel this time… impish-thug!
Guts…i like your boldness… Taking up a challenge… Maybe Dr.Drey takes u up on it… I would really like to know d final outcome!
There s too much childish individual ego and too little football science posted by readers of Complete Sports . People are so rude and uncouth
But you are guilty of same sir!!!!
I agree with the idea that Osimhen can provide the “Vardy effect” for Nacho to exploit. I also think we have other strikers that can play alongside Nacho – Sadiq, Dessers and Moffi come to mind. Now, all of them can’t be selected at the same time. However, based on what I observed against Tunisia, one of the strongest teams in the African continent, it is clear and obvious that Dessers is a SE material. The guy is quality. Unless he is off form. This is an undeniable fact.
I would like Rohr to give Dessers a chance in a game that doesn’t mean much. If we secure qualification in Benin for instance, I would love to see Dessers play at least 45 mins against Lesotho. If this happens, I’m willing to bet that Nigerians will be in for a pleasant surprise.
As it stands, Rohr is not looking at Dessers. And that is understandable. Rohr is all about club performance, so it is up to Dessers to play himself back into reckoning. But I believe he does possess the ability to deliver at the highest level.
Same page with @ Broda man Pompei. That boy Dessers is coming like a moving train soon but now only being clouded by Onuachu’s presence at club level. This only emphasizes that everything has its time. For now though,the batton is without any question rightfully in the hands of the trio of Osimenegoals, Nacho precision, and Umar unknown but extremely potent/dangerous quantity/quality. Personally, I will opt for twin attack of Osimene/ nacho, or Osimene/Umar. Osimene’s aggression is crazily needed by both Nacho and Umar to enter into full blown devastation for opponents defences.
This is simple like a, b and c. Oga Rohr should play Nacho behind Osimhen then, he will see the best of both players.
Also for Sodiq Umar, Nacho should partner with him. To see the best of Osimhen and Umar Sodiq, the gaffer should make sure Kelechi is not going to lead the attack and the coach should make sure he play Nacho behind both of the strikers.
We are here to make sure Nigeria qualify to the next Afcon in Cameroon .
Cameroon won their Afcon trophy in Lagos Nigeria. This is our time to go to Cameroon and win the new trophy in Yaounde or so.
Anything less than this is not acceptable from Oga Rohr because we have the players that can get the job done. The pain of Afcon 2000 and the rest still fresh in our memories. The Afcon tournament in Cameroon
is not just an ordinary one. Super Eagles must win that tournament and I believe by God’s grace, we will.
Super Falcons did it in Cameroon and Super Eagles can repeat the same feet too. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Ladies and gentle, It is my utmost pleasure to introduce to you the latest madman in the world @jimmyball…..LMAO
Jimmyballl, pls go and commit suicide if I refuse to give you my personal details. You claim you “defeated” Dr.Drey in an argument but you are still the one running mad on CSN 2 days after…..LMAO. What a defeat…!!!
I can see you are already on the edge bcos I’ve promised to strip you naked on this forum and you know very much I sure will. This your latest madness is just the struggle of a drowning man…..LMAO
Infact seeing the way you are going crazy now, it will be my utmost pleasure to not oblige you so you can demonstrate more craze here….LMAO.
Pls feel free to alternate between your @jimmyball and 1naija names too.
Meanwhile we are still waiting for you to tell us which team you’ve ever seen playing a back 3 in a 3-5-2 with only 1 NATURAL CB….LMAO
Shame on you Drey better park well from this page. You no dey tire?
Okoye- EBUEHI-Ekong-Balogun-Zaidu
Ndidi Etebo
Chukwueze Iwobi
Kels
Osimhen
How’s my team? @Jimmyball, I beg you no reply this message, you no sabi.. @Dr Drey your view.