Victor Moses, John Mikel and maybe Odion Ighalo are the only starters of the Egypt - Nigeria that are still Nigeria starters. Iheanacho and Iwobi have since become starters. The entire backline is different. The coach is different. The team itself plays entirely differently. Nigeria still has three positions in flux: rb, lb and st.
Yes, but a year ago he was a starter, now he's a sub. That speaks volume. Also: looks at the frontline - Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and (?), two of them key players for their club teams.
Well, the fact you have stupid coaches whom don't call their best players, is just another issue over which has your team losing important points when they are suposed to win them instead. What gives you any certainty, it will not happen again ? . . And no, I'm not trolling here. The fact you particularly, don't like what I'm saying, doesn't make me one (only says that we might have diferent opinions over things here). And btw, this is not the Nigerian forum, but the general CAF forum instead, which is open for anyone to see and/or participate freely if they wish to do so. And if you want to block me by putting me in your ignore list, well, no one is holding your arms behind your back and pointing a gun at you , so you can do whatever you wish. On regards to african qualifiers, at this last stage where they are at, all teams have only played 2 games each, where with more than 75 % of the whole campaign still not played, nothing done till now, is definitive. Till now, any advantage, is important (no doubt on that), but it is only a slight advantage as @zahzah , perfectly said it in a past post, in this same thread here.
Sure, but as posted before, with only 2 matches played, from here to the end there's still lots of things that can happen that can change everything as how they currently are (specially more if the next matches to be played are in about 6 more months). And btw, "big names" in a team may be important, but points won are lots more important. Big names don't give you points, only actual results give them to you.
Togo finished ahead of Senegal and Angola qualified ahead of Nigeria, I think they deserved to be there.
Minor correction: 33% of games are played (or 50% if you count the H2H round). The next game will be key: Nigeria play Cameroon at home, while Zambia host Algeria. That game could well be the last chance for both Zambia and Algeria, while Cameroon need at least a draw.
The fact that they currently have a coach in place who is not doing this. It's not mere stupidity, it's corruption and favor-currying that is hurting player selection under other coaches. This coach has no internal loyalties and is only trying to boost his own career. That's a good sign. He's encouraging honest competition by only choosing in-form players. It's not about me not liking what you're saying, it's about you saying things that are uninformed or outright wrong. A simple search would have corrected that and you tried to be snarky when you did it. If I'm making a statement without prior cursory research, I for sure am not going to be a sanctimonious dick when I do. I'll do my damnest to at least come with correct information. If you'd at least had correct information in your post, then I wouldn't be calling you out for being a troll. When I go on the Reddit forum for, say, the EM Drive, some of those physics grad-students piss me off with their snarkiness and I don't always like they things that they're saying, but they're 100% correct based on the science that we've verified. So they're definitely not trolling... maybe being a-holes, but definitely not trolling. It's more than a slight advantage, especially given the order of the matches. It was the order of the matches that gave Nigeria the advantage in the first place as I predicted prior to the beginning of the qualifiers in the first place. I'd stated that opening on the road against the weakest team in the group and then getting to follow that at home against the highest seeded team would give Nigeria a good shot at opening with a possible 6 points which would given them the mental advantage going forward. That dynamic still exists and getting Cameroon at home first is still an advantage given the dynamics of this group. The Zambia match was always key. You always want to play the weakest team first and especially as a road match where you can set the pace and dictate the course of the group. It was the easiest road match, but still a road match and it would be played with the least amount of pressure. All others playing in Zambia will face a more motivated Zambia side and be under heavier pressure to grind out results. Then getting key home matches against the key rivals in successive matches enable them to continue to build on this by building up an advantage that would not only deprive them of points but also force them to have to be near perfect in the latter half of qualifying. This was aided by the fact that both Algeria and Cameroon have both already dropped home points while Nigeria has gotten an away win. That is the advantage. Not merely the points, but where Nigeria has gotten theirs and Cameroon/Algeria have dropped theirs. Away wins in Africa are always difficult due to the relative parity, and having both rivals dropping a combined 4 home points while having 3 away points in the bag is enormous. Zambia will not drop a full 9 points at home, they're a decent enough team in African contexts. They've made several AfCoN finals and won one a few years back. They can play well enough to frustrate the North and West African (counting Cameroon as pseudo-West African in this context) sides. If Nigeria wins again at home, that will leave 3 matches in which Cameroon only has 2 home matches to make up a 7 point difference and Nigeria will have the weakest team in the group at home in one of their remaining games. They can drop both away matches and still win the group comfortably. Look, I'm not dismissing Cameroon's chances, nor am I understating the importance of this AfCoN as a having a knock-on effect in the qualifiers. I've been mentioning this since the start of this tourny; not having matches or a means of maintaining momentum hurts Nigeria and I've stated that it would help if Cameroon was eliminated early. Them winning this tournament would be a worst-case scenario even if they were to win on pks as it would give them much-needed confidence. None-the-less, if pressed, I'd still say that I'd take Nigeria's performances in their last five matches over Cameroon's entire tournament. Cameroon has grinded their way here. Granted, the purge prior to the tournament makes this Cameroon team a complete wild-card and that's the real danger here. Rohr's going to have to do his homework, but I trust that he will. And Nigeria definitely needs to hammer down those friendlies with CIV and Senegal and play well in both. That said, those are great warm-up opponents to face a team like Cameroon. Especially Senegal. That will tell us a lot about what will happen in the rest of the qualifiers.
The point that I think he might be making is that there's a lack of consistency in CAF and the qualifying setup doesn't lend itself to aiding in establishing that. A building side could be cut down in the nacency of it's ascent. One or two changes each cycle are fine, but established sides need to be able to have consistency in order to build up the type of structure and tactics to compete against the top sides in the world. That's why qualifying for the WC is so crucial for a side like Nigeria who have a group of players who might be together for a long time. It was crucial for Algeria. If they were in CONCACAF, they would have ample time to get their issues fixed. Here, not so much.
Cameroon is truly back to being a contender in everything. They've managed to rebuild and find a new identity at the right time. I thought their attack was weak going into AFCON but I'm not shocked that they've found success. This team that has played well organized and cohesive football for over a year now. They first caught my eye when they played toe-to-toe against France in a pre-Euro friendly. Also, Ondoa is probably the best U21 keeper in Africa at the moment (I rate him higher than Koffi). All the Algerian fans I knew were dismissing Cameroon leading up to their first WC qualification match but I was dreading that match. Even after scoring 10 minutes Algeria ended up posing little to no threat for the final 70 minutes of that match. I do video analysis and I've watched the Algeria's qualifiers vs. Cameroon & Nigeria probably a dozen times now. I found the final scorelines to be a bit deceiving. Somehow Algeria played much better in their loss vs. Nigeria than they did their draw to Cameroon. They were stifiled by Cameroon. Completely bereft of energy and ideas. Perhaps it was due to the ineptitude of their short-tenured coach Milovan Rajevac but that'd be giving Cameroon no credit. People need to understand how hard it is to get a result in Blida. Algeria has been undefeated there since they moved to that stadium in 2008. They won 13 consecutive matches in Blida by a goal differential of close to 50. Cameroon comes in and gets a draw! Mahrez probably had the best he's had in an Algerian shirt but Cameroon came up with so many key interventions. I've honestly never seen Algerian fans that quiet in my life. They were lifeless the entire second half. I've followed Hugo Broos since his tenure with JS Kabylie then NAHD - two very popular Algerian clubs. He's a highly underrated coach. Broos has very specific tactical expectations. He employs a strange 4-2-2-2. It allows Cameroon to attack with numbers while also maintaining their defensive shape. Just look at Bassogog who was playing in the 3rd division of American football breaking into the squad and being one of the best players on the pitch vs. Ghana. Once Njie regains his form in France, he'll be a big threat to Toku-Ekambi's position in the left wing. With Bassogog and Njie on the wings, you have two pacey speed dribblers teaming up with clinical forwards in Moukandjo and Zoua in the middle. I love watching them play. Ngadeu is probably my favorite one of the bunch. Broos has them playing so intelligently. They commit timely tactical fouls to stifle your entire attack. It has led to some ugly matches but that's how they scraped the penalty win vs. favorites Senegal. If Cameroon runs into trouble in WC qualifying, I think it will be because of the card trouble they'll accumulate. They're already down to a weak player selection. Any more suspensions and their fortune may go.
Unrelated, but does Frank Acheampong usually play left back for Anderlecht? I could've sworn he was a midfielder for them. Regardless, I enjoyed watching him play as a left back for Ghana. He's another player that really caught my eye. He was a worthy replacement for Baba Rahman. Personally think Baba needs some work on his defense. Bold moves by Avram Grant putting both Amartey and Acheampong in that backline. Ghana's defense played well. It's sad their loss ultimately came down to some miscommunication on a set piece between Razak and Boye.
The hope that Cameroun can win back some of their players that rejected call-ups to AFCON still lingers. A certain Joel Matip would solidify that defense even further.
I'm also saying that if CAF had a qualification like Asia teams like Angola and Togo would have never qualified
He's nominally left winger but he's played a lot as a left back and left wingback. Will be interesting to see in Kwadeo Asamoah is back for qualifying after rightfully rejecting call up for the AFCON. That's allowed him to reclaim a starting slot at Juventus.
I'm not sure about that. I know he is class but even when Matip and Nkoulou played as CBs the defence always looked fragile. Now it doesn't. Team ethic is key and the defence hasn't looked as sturdy as it does now in ages. Bringing in Matip may destroy this cohesiveness.
Tell that to Ghana who have not won an AFCON since 1982, or to Egypt, who finally beat Morocco after 31 years. Tell that again to Egypt, who have not qualified for the WC since 1990, 27 years ago. African football follows certain laws too.
Fun/Not so fun fact: Morocco defeated Ivory Coast with a pass completion of 51% (they completed 83 passes the entire match!) In the quarterfinals, Egypt, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso all advanced while posting a pass completion of under 61% In the entire knockout rounds, only one team won a match when they had the majority of possession (Ghana vs. DRC). I don't want to decontextualize passing stats but you have to admit that these aren't incredible midfield displays. Teams are winning matches by defending in numbers and attacking with efficiency. Africa is really lacking a true good holding midfielder this tournament. Having Nigeria in AFCON '17 would've been so much better, mostly because Obi Mikel would've bossed these weak midfields. There are also plenty of attacking midfielders but no true playmakers. It's something Iwobi could've contributed too. Boudebouz as well if he were healthy for Algeria. It's insane to me that many of these sides can't keep possession. Consistent pass completions under 70% is basically at the tactical level of second division European sides. With the players on these teams, they're capable of so much better. Outside of the Ivory Coast (who were eliminated) and Ghana, these midfields are non existent. All this makes me miss the days of Yaya Toure and Michael Essien. They were a class above the rest.
How is Bertrand Traore not a true playmaker? That was some of the best play making I've seen in the tournament in years. A shame Jean Seri didn't step up. Where was the world class play making he been showing for Nice this season? Other than that I agree. There is no general pulling the strings in any other team. Partey for Ghana was decent in that role though. DECongo as a unit though were very creative.
It depends on what your definition of playmaking is. I'm referring to center midfielders that dictate the pace of the match, hold/recycle possession, and can create big chances through clever use of passing channels. For for arguments sake, look at a team like Arsenal. Ozil is the main playmaker of that squad but Sanchez is the most lively and dangerous player on the team. To me, Bertrand Traore isn't a playmaker. He's a talented winger (much like Alexis) that can dribble, score, and deliver balls into the box. Same with Mane and Mahrez. I don't consider any of them playmakers in the conventional sense. Even for his club at Ajax, Traore typically plays as a wide forward while Hakim Ziyech pulls all the strings in the midfield.
[QUOTE="Unak78, post: 35096132, member: 118827" It's not about me not liking what you're saying, it's about you saying things that are uninformed or outright wrong. A simple search would have corrected that and you tried to be snarky when you did it. If I'm making a statement without prior cursory research, I for sure am not going to be a sanctimonious dick when I do. I'll do my damnest to at least come with correct information. If you'd at least had correct information in your post, then I wouldn't be calling you out for being a troll. When I go on the Reddit forum for, say, the EM Drive, some of those physics grad-students piss me off with their snarkiness and I don't always like they things that they're saying, but they're 100% correct based on the science that we've verified. So they're definitely not trolling... maybe being a-holes, but definitely not trolling. [/QUOTE] Well what you seem to believe is that tournament competitions are designed for teams according to the rosters each of them may have. If so, you are completely wrong, as the specific rosters are completely irrelevant. If by any chance a team decides to play with its weakest players, for the issue of a refered competition, it will have the same value as if the team is formed with its stongest players. In other words, no matter which players take part in a competition, it will be their team the one taking part in the competition. For the case, if it is Disneyland-A team, or if it is Disneyland-B team, for the competition in question, it will be plain Disneyland team, the one taking part in it (if it is team A or B, matters peanuts, as the results will be the results of the main team they represent). And as another issue, before posting anything, I almost always look and search at the existent data, to have something to back up whatever I will write afterwards. So, you are simply posting excuses out of deep within yourself, basicly because you didn't like or don't agree on what I wrote about the issue. You can do almost whatever you want, as it is your right to do so, but what you can't do is to start calling out others as being trolls, or having a trolling atitude, just because you didn't like or you don't agree, on what they wrote (doing so, is being highly disrespectful to others). . . So if you don't like my posts, you can put me on your ignore list or simply report my post to a moderator here, so he can decide after if your claim holds ground. @el-capitano
If that were your point, then it would be a silly one, but at least consistent with what you had stated before. However you did make specific reference to the attacking power of Nigeria, so to disregard the players on the field makes little sense since that's what's done in any relevant performance evaluation. Managers don't simply throw players on the pitch willy nilly if they want to keep their jobs so that's definitely a relevant argument if you're trying to make a case about a team's performance. You can question the value of the players in particular but to try to say that it doesn't matter... moving the goalposts. If that's the case why even evaluate the teams. Messi could die tomorrow and Argentina's chances would be exactly the same. This is just moving the goalposts. This is why I'm not calling out @Catracho_Azul for criticizing Iheanacho. He made an argument, one that I don't agree with, but a substantive argument none the less. You just throw out shit and see what sticks. So you can question my motives but I can't question yours.... you're ridiculous. This is why I call you a troll. Or an idiot... pick one. You can report me if you want. And speaking of disrespect, have you read your previous posts?
Just one goal in yesterday's game, but what a goal it was! Shame Alain Traore got injured a few years back, he could have become a world star at Arsenal. He's still among the bets freekick takers of his era, but noone will ever recognize it.