Genk forward, Paul Onuachu is currently Nigeria’s hottest striker in Europe in the 2020/2021 season, but the top form of the 26 year old at club level will not guarantee him a starting shirt in the Eagles lineup ahead of the forthcoming double-header AFCON qualifiers against Sierra Leone.
Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr named EIGHT ATTACKERS in his 24-man squad for the
games, now made up of four centre-forwards and four wingers, with Onuachu initially named among the players on standby replacing injured Moses Simon.
Interestingly, Onuachu is the most prolific of the lot having scored nine goals in 10 league appearances in the Belgian top flight. Despite his impressive feat however, Onuachu has struggled to replicate his club form in the national team leading to criticism in some quarters, while others put the blame on the Eagles’ inability to play to the striker’s
strengths.
It would be recalled that Rohr, in an interview preceeding the recent friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia, said Onuachu must adapt to the Eagles style rather than changing the team’s style to suit the striker.
However, with the return of Eagles’ arrowhead, Victor Osimhen, Onuachu will belimited to cameo roles despite the fact that the Napoli new striker is still trying to settle down in the Serie A where he has one goal to his credit after matchday-6.
Also Read – Rohr Alert: Arokodare Has Qualities That Aren’t Easy To Find –FC Cologne GM, Heldt
Onuachu will also be vying for the central striker’s position directly with Kelechi Iheanacho and returning Emmanuel Dennis despite the duo also having just one goal to their
names this season for Leicester City and Club Brugge respectively.
Also posing an indirect competition for Onuachu are the likes of Everton’s Alex iwobi, Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze and clubless skipper, Ahmed Musa, who all have fewer club goals but better international pedigree than the Genk forward.
New sensation, Chidera Ejuke, with two goals for CSKA Moscow in the Russian topflight is expected to be the cynosure of all eyes rather than Onuachu in the games against Sierra Leone.
Below are the current performance stats of Nigerian strikers so far this season.
Paul ONUACHU (Age: 26; KRC Genk Belgium)
Market Value: €7.00m
Games: 10
Goals:9
Assists:1
Emmanuel DENNIS (Age: 22; Club Brugge, Belgium)
Market Value: €16m
Games:8
Goals:1
Assists: 2
Samuel CHUKWUEZE (Age: 21 Villarreal, Spain)
Market Value: €25m
Games: 10
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Simy NWANKWO (Age: 28; Crotone, Italy)
Market Value: €2.50m
Games:7
Goals: 3
Assists: Nil
Anthony NWAKAEME (Age: 31; Trabzonspor, Turkey)
Market Value: €5m
Games:6
Goals:3
Assists:1
Victor OSIMHEN (Age: 21; Napoli, Italy)
Market Value: €50m
Games:7
Goals: 1
Assists:1
Chidera EJUKE (Age: 22, CSKA Moscow)
Market Value: €8m
Games: 10
Goals: 2
Assists: Nil
Ahmed MUSA (Age: 28; Unattached)
Market Value: €6m
Games: 2
Goals: Nil
Assists: Ni
David OKEREKE (Age:23; Club Brugge, Belgium)
Market Value: 64.5m
Games:7
Goals:1
Assists: Nil
Josh MAJA (Age:21; Bordeaux, France)
Market Value: 66.5m
Games:8
Goals: 2
Assists: Nil
Kelechi IHEANACHO (Age: 24; Leicester, England)
Market Value: €7m
Games: 10
Goals:9
Assists: 1
Alex IWOB1 (Age: 24; Everton, England)
Market Value: €25.50m
Games:8
Goals:1
Assists: 2
Cyriel DESSERS (Age: 25; KRC Genk, Belgium)
Market Value: €4m
Games:8
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
Olanrewaju KAYODE (Age: 27; Sivasspor, Turkey)
Market Value: 62.5m
Games:5
Goals: 2
Assists:1
Brown IDEYE (Age: 32; Goztepe, Turkev)
Market Value: 800 Th.
Games:6
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
By Sulaiman Alao
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26 Comments
What of Junior Ajayi?
Are you talking about the Junior Ajayi that is better than Iheanacho, Dessers and Onuachu…..or Junior Ajayi the young cousin of Semi Ajayi…? If its the latter you are talking about, he is fine and preparing for college in January. If its the former then he cant be on this list….He is better than everyone on the list and hence cant be listed in their class….he is too good to be on this kind of list. This list is for the mediocre average strikers we have in Europe, not the world class strikers we have stuck in North Africa.
You this Dr Drey, are you a comedian? You no go kill person with laughter ooo!
@Dr.Drey… The level of scorn and disrespect you subject a hardworking and diligent football professional like Junior Ajayi, Kelechi Nwakali and Onazi Ogenyi who you don’t hold much regard for is legendary. Even though in your own right, you regard yourself as a football aficionado, you must temper your enthusiasm with humility and not arrogance. The lives of footballers and level of professionalism expected of them is not easy bro and I believe you should know that… theirs is a life of serious and strict adherence to rules and training regimes and all their activities on and off the field must be rightly measured… However you dislike and see nothing more than average of a player… you must be careful not to turn that into loathing! Your views about a player must not always be those of another individual about the same player… I will sound it to you again, the club a player plays for is not always only down to talent… fortunes in life are different just like our fingers. Some PhD holders in Nigeria don’t even have a job… such is the irony of life. In my own eyes and I am sure for a lot of other people… Junior Ajayi playing for Al-Ahly of Egypt the best and most successful club in Africa and maintaining a solid level of consistency in the first team as always as starter, is no mean feat. Some of us hold him very high in regard… and in my eyes, he is not in the least inferior to any player in the current mix of Super Eagles… brother eschew humility and quit talking down and taunting players just for the fun of it. I greet you nevertheless!
You are such a hypocrite. So I should deitify them like you right…? I should worship them and call them the best like you do. You saying Nwakali is better than all SE midfielders including Mikel, when in actual sense, it will take injuries to ALL of them for Nwakali to get playing time, is not disrespect, it is not scornful….those ones are not diligent and hardworking…? Sayin Ajayi is better than Iheanacho, Onuachu and Dessers when in actual sense he will not even make the matchday squad in their clubs, is not hero-worship right…? It is not undermining those guys…? or they too are not hardworking and diligent players…?
It is the same life of a footballer and professionalism that the likes of Kanu, okocha, Oliseh Amokachi etc lived and became legends that your so-called “best” players are living and cannot measure up…and that is why they will remain lost in history forever.
Your views about a player must not also always be those of another individual about the same player. So stick to your views and let me stick to mine….and lets see who will be shut up at the end of the day, since you have been waiting to no avail for me to be shut up about my facts backed and figures verified objective assessment of these players. If you choose to worship you egyptian league striker who averages 10 goals in 45 matches as a regular starter, leave me let me worship my EPL based striker who scores the same 10 goals in 26 matches despite always playing 15-20 mins to the end of each match.
You should listen to your own advise and imbibe it. It will do you a world of good.
@Dr.Drey… hahaha. It’s very easy to rile you up with honest truths. Our tones will never be the same… self-conceitedness is such an embarrassment an affliction. The difference between our views on our players is that I do not insult any of them. I, unlike you, only in my own views push their realities based on my own assessment on the field of play to the fore… have a great evening and just an advice… the English language has such a rich vocabulary and you could always find a subtle word to slight someone without being overly insultive… brother, there was no need to call me a HYPOCRITE, however, I shall keep praying for you to know how to choose your language and tone on forumites and our dear Super Eagles players past and present including those very respectable ex-internationals you often called JOBLESS! Lol… sleep well!
Hahahahahaha….who is sounding riled up between the two of us…? Who is sounding so concerned and offering pieces of advice he should be offering himself. That you are a hypocrite is not an insult…its a statement of fact. You shade Dr.Drey and its fair….Dr. Drey shades you back it becomes an issue. You insult Dr.Drey as an idiot commentator and its fine…Dr. Drey insults you back you cry he insulted you. You chide performing players and praise underperforming ones to highest heavens as “better” and its fine by you….Dr.Drey praises performing players and chides underperforming ones and you loose you head and turn to a counselor overnight. If that is not Hypocrisy, I wonder what is. You really need to go and check the meaning of honest and honesty again and see if it applies to you and the fallacies you peddle here which defeats everything you claim to be. You have at many times insulted me here as a play station analyst, an internet analyst, someone who has never kicked an orange before bla bla bla but between me and you, you know that my analyses are always on point and you have found it difficult to break them, neither have you succeeded in breaking me either. You may chose to be subtle, i may choose to be direct….but an insult is an insult and if i choose to be direct, then I choose to…there is not point hiding an insult under the cloak of subtlety. Good morning and sleep well too…If at all you do.
@Dr.Drey… If you must know I thumbed up your last comment… lol.
_ Can Onuachu re-invent himself for Nigeria? _
Onuachu is doing well by continually making himself relevant to the Super Eagles via his outstanding outputs in club football but he needs to do more.
When he is not scoring goals for Nigeria, it will be helpful for him to provide ‘assists’ because fans and coaches will not forget these as his contributions.
If he continues to be barren in goals scoring and impotent in providing assists for the national team, it then begs the question: of what use is inviting him for international assignments?
I am a fan of Onuachu and I feel he can win Super Eagles fans over. For that to happen, he needs to look for ways to work around the tactical set-up of the Super Eagles that he is planted in.
Rohr is right: Onuachu needs to adapt his game to suit Nigeria, not the other way around.
We can’t be making excuses for him like saying that selfish wingers do not pass to him or that not enough of long balls are directed his way.
The efficacy of these excuses are wearing thin and no one seems to be buying them anymore!
A resourceful centre forward will always seek ways to make the best use of circumstances around them.
Statistics have it that Onuachu touched the ball no less than 7 times in the game against Algeria on 09 October. The questions are: what did he do with the ball? How effective was he when called upon?
I remember Brown Ideye: never the most prolific goal scorer for the Super Eagles but his assists and overall team play endeared him to many Super Eagles fans.
Despite all the talk about the Super Eagles tactical set-up not being conducive to Onuachu’s style, the fact remains that he is seeing the ball. It is what he does with it that is defining him as a Super Eagles underperformer and not the fact that he is starved of service.
But it did not start like that for the Genk man.
“At the first training (with Onuachu) I was like wow! He has a lot of potential and showed during the first session that he is special,” Leon Balogun told BBC Sport in 2019.
“We just need to take it easy and not put him under too much pressure because he’s a quiet and focused young player.
I am very happy to see a player of this quality in our team.” concluded Balogun.
Well, Onuachu is now under pressure and he needs to start fulfilling those potentials that Balogun and others saw in him at the beginning of his Super Eagles career.
Complete sports , when did Okereke’s value soar to over 64.5m, Maja 62.5m and Kayode 66.5m?
Haba, Sulaiman Alaoooo, ooo si beru Olorun.
You this Dr Drey, are you a comedian? You no go kill person with laughter ooo!
With kalu and moses simon out of the qualifiers, who should start on the left side of the midfield. Should it be iwobi, ejuke or dennis?
Dr drey will start, lets see what he can do.
Most of onuachus goals this season has been headers, he thrives on aerial balls. Thats what makes him tick. Even his assist to desser was a headed pass. I mean, if your going to use a guy as tall as paul, you need to take advantage of his height and get those balls to his head.
A long or not so long time ago we had a silmilar player by the name victor ogali. Who scored alot of goals for the Super eagles with his head but when the crosses stopped coming he had a dry stint and people started criticizing him. And he stopped playing for the team.
My point is the team should be flexible, just because the team plays a certain way doesn’t mean they cant or shouldnt evolve when the occasion demands it.should
I remember in one of the last world cup matches, Belgium vs korea or japan I think. Belgium were playing the ball on the ground but were having no impact so what did the coach do, he sent in fellani and another very tall player and instructed his players to cross the ball to them and a goal was the result. So if we know we want to keep inviting onuachu to the Super eagles lets not starve him of the service that WILL make him effective in the team. Lets not use the excuse that we have our own way of playing and he needs to adjust to it. Not every player have the same ability, its left to the coach to see the ability in a player and decide on how best to utilise that ability to the benefit of the team.
Thats MY view on that!
Go super eagles!!!
@Sportsfan. Your analysis is sport on. I had to check it up and found at that 99% of his goals for genk this season apart from penalties were by headers. So if he is that good on arial balls, that we can be flexible to give him such crosses or else no need to invite him. You can see for yourself below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB7wGnKd5-o&ab_channel=MHSTUDIOS
On point.
With this stat, our coaches should find a way of making the best use of the current Naija best striker. If Paul is to come from Europe they would have adopted formulary that will produce result for the country as for us, tqoo much sentiment.na was o.
The qualms about onuachu in the SE is not just that he doesnt score, the qualms is that he adds NOTHING to the team. When he starts, its always like we are a man short. When he comes on from the bench, its always like we have lost one man. He came on against Guinea at AFCON and couldnt hold up play….he came on against Cameroon and and our entire forward line crumbled. He came on against brazil and he got lost in the wind. Vs Algeria nothing worthy of note. Not even a knock down or a ball into space for the other forwards. Ighalo didnt score too many goals initially, but everyone saw how he was a menace to defenders and always playing his teammates in and shielding the ball effective when he has it. Osimhen did not score from open play in his first 8 games for the SE, but I cant remember him being ineffective in any of those first 8 games.
Guys check this out,
Hahahahaha…its so funny even those advocating for homebased players agree that they are not good enough to play….all they advocate for is to call them to camp (to feel the vibe according to them) and sit 1 or 2 on the bench….LMAO They have turned the SE to a holiday destination…LMAO.
My question is why call up a player you know does not stand the slightest chance of playing. But we know the underlying jist….its all about improving the market value of the player so that they can ship him to Europe 1 month after. The moment a player gets called up to the national team he becomes an international and his value increases and agents make more money. All the 20+ home based players who have been called up in the last 4 years pls where are they today….how many of them has experienced any significant progress in their careers since then? NONE.
These administrators are so myopic and looking for short cuts to success…typical of African leaders. Instead of concentrating on developing the league, improving its quality and the quality of the players so that clubs can come down to Nigeria from anywhere to Nigeria to sign any player from any club in the league, they think inviting a player to the national team will automatically increase his quality and abilities. In the 90s a finidi will play at sharks this weekend and by next weekend he is on the pitch for ajax. An Amokachi will play for bees this weekend and the next weekend he is on the starting line up of Brugge. In the 20s Nigerian players were lighting up the Sudanese league, from late Endurance Idahor, to Ndubuisi Eze, Osunwa, Eguakun Efosa, Ezenwa Otorogu and the rest of them…today even the sudanese league, NPFL players can’t pass trials there anymore, but spots should be reserved for them in the national team.
Dem wan turn our SE to jankara market once again. Selfish people with selfish interests.
the problem of onuachu is simple – he lacks mobility and speed. super eagles thrives on counter attack, that is, a break neck speed game. you sit back, absorb pressure and as you get hold of the ball you move, and you do it quickly. this worked for ighalo and osimhen because of their mobility and hold up play. iheanacho also succeeded especially as a second striker because he best quality is poking into space created by the energy of the main striker. besides, super eagles rarely scored from cross and nod in open play. most times it is pass and shoot from the wing. trying to reinvent onuachu won’t work because this is a national team, especially when you have other players gunning for his shirt. as a national coach you can’t waste time, just bring in someone that fits and move on
https://youtu.be/gyH9CDqp5q0
Please you guys should watch this video and tell me where Is onuachu wen all the crosses were given to him against Burundi at afcon . Please u guys shud end dis debate. I’m pissed off by it. Onuachu is playing in Europe today bcus he was lucky. I don’t see any reason why he is even better than me. Common football control he does not have
Please you guys should end Onuachu debate.
Kingston, good talk but why is it that we have players with height (Semi, Onuachu, Osihmen, Ekong, Iheanacho, Ndidi, Balogun, Aribo etc) and we still don’t score from set pieces. I think this has to be a tactical issue that the coach is responsible for. Players have a role to play in this regard as well but the coach has a huge role to play. We should be scoring goals from corner kicks, throw ins, freekicks as a matter of fact. In most countries and clubs set pieces are used strategically to convert chances. Saying this problem is the players fault only is not correct. Its the coaches job to utilize training sessions to inculcate what set piece strategies to implement in any situation. This is one area that I think GR has to earn his keep. With these tall guys we also shouldn’t be conceding cheap goals from corner kicks. If you watch most clubs and countries, they tend to have specific set piece takers and penalty kick takers, does the SE have a dedicated freekick or penalty taker? Ighalo took some penalties in the past, osihmen has taken some while Iheanacho has taking some, I think to prevent what happened between Tammy Abraham and Jirginho in that Chelsea game, its important to dedicate someone for these roles and this is GR jobs. doubt it. What is the point of always inviting Onuachu (which i personally think isn’t ideal and as Drey said offers little or nothing to the team) and not taking advantage of his qualities? If you invite him then as a coach u have to find the best way to use him and make him effective otherwise stop inviting him and give others a try. Just my take.
For a team with so many tall players, we dont score a lot of headers. Thats because our players are now used to dribbling into the box, passing into the box or shooting from outside the box when a cross into the box where a tall player is waiting to nod it into the net could be another option.
Everyone appreciates good football ball and enjoy watching a team that knows how to play the passing game. But when it comes down to it and you meet a tougher team or one that has studied your game plan and has blocked your every move, you may need TO start throwing crosses into the box and hope some tall player will nod it into the net.
On point.