Watford forward Emmanuel Dennis will be assessed ahead of Wednesday’s home clash against Chelsea, reports Completesports.com.
Dennis picked a knock in the Hornets 4-2 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday.
The 24-year-old was replaced by Ashley Fletcher in the 71st minute of the encounter at the King Power Stadium.
“I’m not sure how long Ben will be out for, but [Daniel] Bachmann made some good saves and I am comfortable with him in goal,” Ranieri told the club’s website.
“With Dennis and Masina, I’m not sure at the moment. Tomorrow we’ll check everybody because Dennis came out and Masina didn’t finish well.”
The Nigeria international has scored five goals and provided five assists in 12 league appearances for Watford this season.
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Some fans doubted the qualities of Dennis and Onyeka before they moved to the summit of English football, the mecca of world club football.
I always believed in both from the days of their humble beginnings. I remember getting into heated debates about how prolific Umar was in Serbia only to be told that he was bossing it in a mediocre league; Umar’s attacking prowess was meant to congeal into frozen impotence in a more better league.
His eloquence and ruthlessness in form in Spain suggests otherwise.
We shouldn’t wait until Nigerian players breakthrough in an ‘A’ rated league before giving them the respect they deserve.
There are many Umars, Onyekas and Dennis in less glamorous leagues across Europe. Funsho Bamgboye (in Hungary) and Orji Okonkwo (Serie B) are but 2 examples. Some will be fortunate to make it to mecca of world football, many others will not be that fortunate but crucially, it takes nothing away from how good they are.
A shrewd coach will wise up to the fact that some of the best outfield players (or goalkeepers) available to Nigeria are not just the ones playing in glamorous leagues. Some players in ordinary leagues are capable of extraordinary performances.
You couldn’t have said it better. I also came to this conclusion not too long ago after some analysis. That’s why we’re suffering in that midfield position. Despite some not too consistent performance from aribo for Nigeria in recent times, he’s still guaranteed to start games with his full chest(no competition). Despite underwhelming performance from iwobi that has continued to be questioned by Nigerians in recent times, he’ll still start. Those are our best options in the estimation of the coach since they’re the ones playing in more fancied leagues. If Iwobi stops getting regular game time at Everton, I’m sure he’ll still be playing for the national team regardless of his performance on the field of play. The only reason why Onyeka is getting called to the national team under Rohr, is due to the fact that he now Plies his trade in England. There’s nothing you would have said to make Rohr give him a fair chance in the national team if he were to still be in Denmark. Don’t forget Ndidi only became a regular in the national team after he moved to England. How many players do we have in the top five leagues for us to be behaving this way? There are good midfielders not plying their trade in top leagues but would hold their own if given a chance in the national team. No competition in that position yet the players are not living up to expectations. He prefers the 3 or 4 midfielders he keeps inviting all the time to the national team even when they put up underwhelming performance. We’ll only shoot ourselves in the foot with the way we’re going. I don’t know when we became England or Brazil to be so choosy with players and looking for those only in top five leagues.
We have Nwakali, Tom dele Bashiru(four goals for reading this season from his midfield position), Amoo, Anayo iwuala(stopped getting invitation since he left the domestic league despite the position reviews he got from Nigerians), Tosin Kehinde(doing fantastic in Randers with Stephen Odey). We can also get serious with our pursuit of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. If we don’t want to beg these two or they’re not ready to play for us, I think I’ve mentioned enough players that can challenge the existing players we have in order to get the best from that shambolic midfield. We can also look into the local league and bring in one or two talented players that are hungry and wants to make a name. There’s no big deal about looking into the local league as the late Keshi did same.
Is it until a midfielder starts playing in England or Spain before they’re given a fair chance to challenge the current crop of midfielders that are not so impressive? We only have Ndidi, Etebo(injured at the moment), Aribo(not consistently gotten his rhythm). Onyeka just started getting regular invites due to his move to England. We have two good DM’s already in Ndidi and Onyeka. Please let’s go and look for good AM’s that will complement our strikers rather than make them look useless. Midfielders that will create something from nothing. I rest my case.
Not all players will directly move to a top league. Some will only get that move after starring for the national team in a competition. The question should always be ‘Is this player good enough to play for the national team?’ Not just assuming that a player must fit in because he Plies his trade in one of the fancied leagues regardless of underwhelming and questionable performance for the national team.
Sense no go kill you. You have said it all.
If you don’t play this guys how will you know if they are good or not… Rohr has completely killed competition in the SE, the best can only come out of this players if there is competition..