seriously i just don't understand the heart and mind of nigerians. today sani lulu said that if he could find his way nigeria would keep lars lagerback for 4years, because in quote he did a "marvelous job" now lets analyse all nigeria games in worldcup and see if lars actually did a marvelous job. against argentina we were poor. i don't care what the score line says were were poor we should have conceded 10-0 not even because of enyeama but because of argentina poor finishing they were just playing the ball straight to enyeama. now i forgived lars for playing defensive against argentina, but against greece he betrayed us. no matter what anybody says greece were there for the taking we should have gone all attack there was no reason for us to play a defensive minded game absolutely no reason, how can you put keita on the right wing against greece, how can you bench your best striker when you need goals, i can challenge anybody that lagerback tactics against greece was poor. then came the korea game, what kind of selection was that imagine playing yakubu and kanu the two lazyiest player in a do or die game, why put afolabi to start first half when echjile regained fitness. now i just don't understand how anybody can say lars did a good job and should be kept for 5years, after lars was hired he watched our nations cup performance and he saw how bad yakubu played, yet not only did he take him to world cup he wanted to build his team around him. nigerians should know now that if lars is hired we should just forget about youth, it is a guarantee yakubu,yobo,keita, would be called up in august again for qualifying, keita would be a guaranteed right winger for 5years from now till world cup 2010. nigeria would give up its natural attacking football for ultra-defensive football, we should be carefull about what we ask for, for me i think a local coach should be hired not only does he knows all our players from youth, he is also an attacking coach 'siasia' all if we want to keep lars we should not give him a 5year contract immediately, a 1year renewable contract would be better, meaning that if he does well in one year we would extend it, but if he does bad he would be sacked. if they by mistake give this 'white amodu' a 5years contract it is an absolutely guarantee that we would leave to regret it. by the way for those people talking about time,

4months is enough for a coach to know that yakubu should not be our number 1 striker

12large:



4months is enough for a coach to know that yakubu should not be our number 1 striker

Seconded

imagine dickson etuhu saying for this first time in his country you could see some kind of coaching. after what amodu did for him

Yes, 4 months is long enough to see that some players are not World Cup level players.

It takes longer to field and mode a team though, but at least there's common sense from the first week of training. Lagerback "could" have done better with more time, but the short time he had, a coach at his level should have done better.

Dickson, like Odemwingie, is talking rubbish. They were the ones who were praising the Swede citing trivial reasons (showing of tapes and movies, and rubbish). Even Yobo was talking rubbish, so I'm not surprised they played terribly as a team.

I think he did rather poor, despite deceiving the NFF with his wikipedia knowledge of Nigerian football, he really didn't know the players he had at his disposal at all, which was clear with the team selection and tactics adopted, which I feel was the down fall of Naija in this world cup.

12large:

imagine dickson etuhu saying for this first time in his country you could see some kind of coaching. after what amodu did for him

Did Amodu help him play for FULHAM?
This is cra-zy.

4months is enough for a coach to know that yakubu should not be our number 1 striker

He had the players for the first time in the third week in May, theirs no quick fix in football, a player who misses the pre season at a new generally struggles

he had the job since february, he watched all nigeria games in nations cup, then why should he make yakubu is 1 striker, this stuff is like abc,123 is just common sense. to think that sani lulu called it a marvelous performance is just painful to say the list. when people were saying they don't expect lars to do a miracle. a 4years immediately contract is dangerous because your dealing with nigeria fickle fans

this stuff is like abc,123

Why dont you go and do it? if its that simple!!!

Name another Nigerian striker that could play the lone role? looking at the nations cup video means, what? that he should always look back, most news managers at a club wipe the slate clean, why would you want to watch a video of a competition were the player were not motivated to play for Amodu!!!

New managers gives everyone a fair chance,

Yes he had the job from Feb, what happened to international window in March and April for Friendlies? the NFF ,essed it up,

omar22:


Why dont you go and do it? if its that simple!!!

Name another Nigerian striker that could play the lone role? looking at the nations cup video means, what? that he should always look back, most news managers at a club wipe the slate clean, why would you want to watch a video of a competition were the player were not motivated to play for Amodu!!!

New managers gives everyone a fair chance,

Yes he had the job from Feb, what happened to international window in March and April for Friendlies? the NFF ,essed it up,

My broda God bless you. Yes we know coaches are judged by results but there are exceptions expecially when some circumstances are beyond the coaches control. On a luckier day Nigeria would have made 6 points at least from that group, but sometimes things dont work that way.

Ayegbeni showed some good flashes at the tail end of the season for everton, hence he sure would have been considered by any coach. Anichebe's injury , martins' poor attitude during trainings, and osaze's poor form and his foolish demand for respect from LARS, all played to push Ayegbeni to the top of the order of strikers.

If LARS can drop his wage , which i believe is too high at least for now that we dont have any major competition then he should be retained , except if NFF want to consider siasia for once.

na so what flashes did aiyebenni show, he was totally useless in nations cup, not only was he bad, he was lazy. there is absolutely no excuse for lars to build his team around aiyebeni

na so what flashes did aiyebenni show, he was totally useless in nations cup, not only was he bad, he was lazy. there is absolutely no excuse for lars to build his team around aiyebeni

Tell me his option?


It’s a simple question!!

From what I have seen in world football only Carlton Cole or Gabby Agbolahor could play the lone striker and they both opt not o play for Nigeria…

he did not play a lone strikers he played 2strikers, and what makes you think that martins cannot play that role. omar22 i hope that your not in anyway trying to defend lars decision to build his team around yak because your wrong. i would rather play obinna,martins,uche,obasi,osaze even that old fool kanu before i consider yak

give Lagerback a hundred years, he wont do better than this. As for Sani Lulu, he's only talking with his pocket at heart

he did not play a lone strikers he played 2strikers, and what makes you think that martins cannot play that role. omar22 i hope that your not in anyway trying to defend lars decision to build his team around yak because your wrong. i would rather play obinna,martins,uche,obasi,osaze even that old fool kanu before i consider yak

Name the second striker?

Am not saying he should build a team around the Yak which is impossible to build a team around a lone striker, 

give Lagerback a hundred years, he wont do better than this. As for Sani Lulu, he's only talking with his pocket at heart

True!!! if you pick a PIG, put lipstick, makeup, foundation, perfume or aftershave!!!


It would still be A PIG,

Its not that Lagerback was working with a rough diamond, he is working with a bunch of ego's who cant see pass their manliness and the weekly wages,

1 day is enough to know that Danny Shittu is not good enough to play in our National team let alone being a first choice Central Defender.

1 day is enough to know that Danny Shittu is not good enough to play in our National team let alone being a first choice Central Defender.

Well it seems like he was the best we had since Ghana 2008

If I had to choose between Shittu and the spineless yobo, Shittu all day long,

Poster please edit post to say "Did Lagerback do well or poor"

Lagerback has no clue about football, before he was hired NFF claimed they hired him because of his exceptional knowledge of Nigerian football but when we crached out Lagerback announced his limited knowledge of football in Nigeria. When hired the news media claimed Largerback's agenda was to build a young team and thus asked to be furnished with the players who represented us at Beinjing Olympics. We all know what happend with the final list of 23.

For a group of average players he took to world cup. The emphasis for a coach who know their onions would have been playing as a unit, defending as a unit and playing counter attack football. instead he adopted formations meant for teams with players with real talent. 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 should never have been adopted in this world cup. We don't have the quality for such formations.

The reason South Africa looked like a real team was because they played 4-2-3-1, this same formation is being adopted by Germany and Brazil who are very good sides but yet understand that in modern football the key to winning a football match is not being scored first. If Brazil and Germany can play with a lone striker why can't an average Nigeria. Playing with a lone striker is why Ghana look so good with Asamoah Gyan, it was why Senegal looked so good with El-Hadji Diouf, it was why Mourinho's Inter Milan looked so effective with Diego Milito leading the lines up front thereby outsmarting superior teams like Barcelona and Chelsea.

This formation gives you two sitting defensive midfielders who are like an insurance policy to the back four and allows the two full backs to overlap when they want. Think of Cambiasso and Thiago Motta for Milan, think of Philipe melo and Gilberto Silva for Brazil, think of Annan and Kevin Prince Boateng for Ghana and you will realise how wrongly Etuhu and Sani Kaita were used.

Osaze Odemienge should have been our lone striker in this world cup for his mobility, ability to hold up the ball and bring others into play. he really does not have to get the goals himself. He just needs to hold up the ball and bring in the 3 attacking midfielders  who will be arriving in terms of counter attack attack into play.

Haruna Lukman would have been at the middle of this 3 attacking midfielders just like small boy Asamoah Kwado (Ghana's no. 27) is dazzling the world from that position or germany's Ozeil. Haruna Lukman would have enjoyed his world cup from that position. any other combination of players would have been good enough from the wings, maybe martins cutting in from the right and using his left while Obinna Nsofor cuts in from the left and using his right.

This is what we missed in this world cup.

Even 1 week was enough to know that the problem we had was need to learn how to defend set pieces. We did not defend set piece and yet we did not deliver ours very well when we had some. Danny Shittu did not even know where and when not to foul players. sometimes we gave away cheap free kicks to the South Koreans that led to goals even the the intial situation would have resulted in nothing if our players were disciplined.

Lagerback was a shambolic failure.

omar22:


Well it seems like he was the best we had since Ghana 2008

If I had to choose between Shittu and the spineless yobo, Shittu all day long,

did you watch the friendly with Columbia?

Can you honestly say that the defence line of Shittu/Yobo is better than Adeleye/Afolabi

Largerback was curiously obsessed with Danny Shittu and it did not make sense one bit.

I still maintain that with a 4-2-3-1 formation or Siasia as coach we world have been in the second round.


Enyeama


Odia/Olubayo Adeleye Afolabi Echiejile




Kaita Etuhu



Martins Lukman Haruna Nsofor





Osaze




Our Semi finals target would have been in tact 3 weeks or no 3 weeks.

Adeleye/Afolabi

ha ha ha

We are talking about the same Afolabi who couldnt trap a bag of cement he looked scared stiff, I saw the colombia game, Shittu is the only player who is prepared to put his body on the line to block a shot, last minute tackles to deny the S Koreans

@mikeansy


The lone strikers is an extremely hard role, Osaze would be eaten up and chewed out,  cant you see how Drogba acts as a battling ram!!! the ball to you has to be precise and your first touch has to be perfect,  now moving a winger to play as lone striker sounds a bit looney,

Even 1 week was enough to know that the problem we had was need to learn how to defend set pieces. We did not defend set piece and yet we did not deliver ours very well when we had some. Danny Shittu did not even know where and when not to foul players. sometimes we gave away cheap free kicks to the South Koreans that led to goals even the the intial situation would have resulted in nothing if our players were disciplined.

That sounds like Ayila to me and the free that led to a goal,  thats was the goal keepers fault all day long,  it's the basic error of goal keeping (you dont stay behind the wall)

@mikeansy


The lone strikers is an extremely hard role, Osaze would be eaten up and chewed out, cant you see how Drogba acts as a battling ram!!! the ball to you has to be precise and your first touch has to be perfect, now moving a winger to play as lone striker sounds a bit looney,

Even 1 week was enough to know that the problem we had was need to learn how to defend set pieces. We did not defend set piece and yet we did not deliver ours very well when we had some. Danny Shittu did not even know where and when not to foul players. sometimes we gave away cheap free kicks to the South Koreans that led to goals even the the intial situation would have resulted in nothing if our players were disciplined.

That sounds like Ayila to me and the free that led to a goal, thats was the goal keepers fault all day long, it's the basic of goal keeping,

Osaze plays either as a winger or attacker?

Even if Osaze was an winger it makes more sense to use a winger with an eye for goal, with the necessary work rate and the needed height to lead then line in attack
than
to use a standing defensive ball winner which what he has only learnt to do all his life is break up plays and win the ball and give it simply to others to play as your winger.

Ronaldo is an example of a winger who has been converted to an attacker and he does well in that position.

Some players are dynamic, others are not. Sani Kaita is never a winger and simply just can not do it. Osaze can play both in the wing or in the attack.

Osaze even played the lone striker role sometimes in the Siasia team in the Olympics in 2008. He did very well. Held the ball up very well and brought others into play.

Did Onigbinde do well in Korea Japan 2002?

Ronaldo is an example of a winger who has been converted to an attacker and he does well in that position.

Crisianto Ronaldo is 6”2 in height very powerful in the air, has the speed and technically gifted and is never been used as a lone striker, but as the middle striker of a front 3, this mean he is not upfront alone…. A lone striker is physically demanding.