Spain’s Euro 2024 winning coach Luis de la Fuente has said Rodri is currently the best player in the world and deserves the 2024 Ballon d’Or award.
Rodri is likely to be a frontrunner for this year’s Ballon d’Or award, after a successful domestic campaign, precluding Spain’s Euro glory, which was sealed with a 2-1 win over England in Berlin on Sunday.
The midfielder, went off injured in the final against England was named Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament.
The 28-year-old played a pivotal role as City sealed an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title under manager Pep Guardiola.
Also Read: Former Formula One Driver Comes Out As Gay
Commenting after the Euros De la Fuente said Rodri is the only player in his mind who should win the individual trophy.
“Rodri is the best player in the world, please give him the Ballon d’Or now,” De la Fuente was quoted on Daily Mail.
If Rodri wins the Ballon d’Or award he would become the first Spaniard to do so since Luis Suárez, in 1960.
Speaking after helping his country secure a record fourth European title, Rodri said Spanish football deserves a Ballon d’Or winner.
When drawn on whether it should be him who takes the award home, he said: “I’m going to be honest, I would like for a Spaniard to win it, I don’t care who. It would be great.
“I’ve heard that [Dani] Carvajal also deserves it. From an individual standpoint, I’m very proud of what I am doing and the recognition I’m getting.”
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
47 Comments
Euro 24 final showed the difference between a well-coached team (like South Africa) and a mediocre one. Individually England had the better players(like Nigeria), but couldn’t translate this into being a better team because of their mediocre coach (also like Nigeria).
This shows the importance of coaching and I disagree with those who say coaches especially good coaches are not important. It is like saying because you can’t afford okro, that “okro is not necessary for okro soup”!
Implying, with unbelievable arrogance, that the best clubs and top-ranked countries paying big sums for coaches are stupid.
The key to the Spanish performance was their midfield weighted by their wing play. The difference between their performance at the World Cup and their Euro performance was the addition of wingers.
Their possession football at the WC supported by their midfield proved adequate in achieving dominance, but could not translate into winning games. At the Euros they added wings (Williams and Yamal) to their midfield dominance, producing a winning formula that defeated heavyweight stalwarts Italy, Croatia, Germany, France, and of course England.
Essentially they defeated most of the top-ranked European teams.
The question for everyone else is how do they do it? Important, is their midfield dominance. The Spanish midfield is more flexible than others. Their midfielders can adopt or be assigned a variety of midfield tasks.
They do not have static defensive midfielders like Rice (for England) or Ndidi (for Nigeria) whose only job is to shield the defence.
Rodri, their defensive midfielder is a playmaker that sets the tempo of the game. Fabio Ruiz pivots with Rodri, which means with Olmo they can overload the central areas of the pitch.
It means against teams like England that have static defensive midfielders shielding the back line, they have 3 players(Ruiz, Rodri and Olmo) against 2 (Bellingham and Foden).
The Spanish midfield are all adept at holding the ball – rarely losing possession, pressing and tackling to win back possession, and display the most impressive array of passing skills.
It is this flexibility where all the midfield players have the entire range of midfield skills allowing them to interchange that is at the centre of Spanish football success. The icing on the cake is the addition of wings which creates a dilemma for opposing teams as well as sharpening the Spanish attack by providing more goal-scoring opportunities.
The Spanish can launch attacks from 3 areas, the left-wing (Williams), the right-wing( Yamal), and the middle through the interplay of passes of the midfielders(Ruiz, Rodri, and Olmo) and their attacker (Morata). On wing play, Spain has nothing to teach the world, not even Nigeria, as our wingers are just as good.
It is the midfield where Spain is the master and everyone else ‘learners’ and the key clue is how they launch attacks through the middle. They have 4 methods which I’ll call the ‘ladder’, the ‘mirror’, the ‘thread’ and the ‘shield’.
The ladder is to play a combination of passes as they advance into the opposition’s half. This can mean the ball holder is accompanied in near-parallel (usually just slightly ahead) by another (midfield) player. When the ball holder is challenged he simply passes the ball across to the player accompanying him. In this way, they form the rungs of a ladder. They can also play the ladder in the penalty area.
The mirror is to receive a pass in an opponent’s area and deflect it in a different direction to an attacker with only one touch. Its effect is to unsettle the opposing team whose concentration is misdirected. Spain plays a lot of these passes to advance to the penalty area from the centre circle.
The thread – has two types, and is based on how they pass the ball. They thread the ball through the needle of two marking players. They look for gaps between two opposing players and pass the ball between them to their players who are always positioned (from familiarity through training ground routines) to receive the ball from this position.
This is called the ‘lazy thread’. The second is the ‘hard thread’, which requires the ball-holding player to advance on his marker side step left or right and at that moment launch his pass between opposing players. This can take out a lot of players. The ‘hard thread’ is usually deployed beyond the halfway line at the 80-yard mark (i.e. halfway between the centre circle and the opponent’s penalty box) into the opponent’s half.
The shield is hold-up play. An example is dele-Bashiru’s goal against South Africa, but Spain does this differently. They are willing to hold-up play in the penalty box rather than outside as most teams do. And with quick feet and short exchanges of passes, threading the ball through the gaps between opposition players, they can cut through the centre of any defence to obtain goal-scoring opportunities.
Out of possession, immediately after losing the ball, the Spanish midfield operates in threes surrounding the ball holder, and either forcing him to lose possession or to retreat by passing the ball backwards.
The final attribute of the Spanish midfield is courage. They are not afraid to lose the ball or to pass the ball forward. They have confidence in their pressing and tackling ability to win back the ball.
The only critique is that Spain can be slow in transition from defence to attack and does not have fast forward momentum. Their players have a tendency to both over-elaborate with passes and individually hold on to the ball longer than required for fast transitions.
For Nigeria, the lesson to be learnt is that we put more emphasis on central midfield attack. In my view we have to move away from one-dimensional defensive midfield players like Ndidi (and also Onyeka) to mobile Midfielders possessing more attacking skills like Onyedika and Yusuf. This scheme can still accommodate Iwobi or Dele-Basiru as AM but not both of them.
We have to incorporate central midfield attacking tactics, as I describe above, the ladder, the mirror, the thread, and the shield. Imbibe confidence and courage in playing the ball forward through central midfield rather than constantly recycling from one wing to another, even at the risk of losing possession while at the same time having coordinated strategies for ball recovery when possession is lost.
We should seek to improve beyond Spain by engaging in fast transitions with one-touch passes. Caution players like Iwobi who ‘showboat’ by taking too many touches on the ball.
Our wingers are as competent as Spain’s and we have more of them (with Moses Simon now coming back from injury); our attackers are more potent than either Spain or England (with Osimhen, Boniface, and others). Our defense can be improved by incorporating new players like Adeborioyo.
Finally, we just need an enlightened coach who is seeking to improve his career and not one who is looking for a final paycheck.
You write like a coach who knows his craft. If only Finidi could interpret field play like this (and I’ve seen a couple of other brilliant analyses here), we wouldn’t be in this quagmire with minnows in our WCQ.
It says a lot that with all the fluid and mass attacking play of Spain and notching up the highest number of goals at the Euro while brushing aside all the heavyweights in the competition, their number 9 (Morata) accounted for only 1 or 2 goals. That was how potent their wing play (Williams and Yamal) and AMs (Olmo and Rodri) were.
Even though they have many EPL rejects like Morata and Cucurella, they had a genius coach that made them play like a team. England had the best individual players and would have nicked it with some luck, but team play orchestrated by a brilliant coach always trumps.
Essentially, we need a good coach to make the best use of the resources at his disposal. Heard the Beligian, Seibtfeit who’s been desperate to tinker Nigeria is now the front runner (with Renard’s out-of-reach salary demand). That sort of passion over paycheck is good. I still believe our 2026 WCQ is salvageable.
‘……In my view we have to move away from one-dimensional defensive midfield players like Ndidi (and also Onyeka) to mobile Midfielders possessing more attacking skills like Onyedika and Yusuf. This scheme can still accommodate Iwobi or Dele-Basiru as AM but not both of them.’
@ Tristan
Whilst I agree with most of what you stated, I totally differ on Ndidi being static. If you watched Leicester city last season, you would know that Ndidi is quite mobile and do have goals and assist in him. His problem and, most in the Eagles, is simply down to coaching. That much you stated.
I think the Super Eagles have players that can interpret a game plan, but they need a plan to interpret. You can’t interpret what wasn’t given. Or as seen under Finidi,executing bad game plan or tactics.
As seen under Peseiro at the last AFCON, the players executed his plan to the T. So, these are players that can learn and willing to. I dare say, are flexible enough to adapt to diverse roles if/when necessary. We just need a coach that can initiate a good plan and bring out the best tactically in our players. As England, most of the Eagles do great in their club side, so doing same in the national team is not a stretch. Players like Ndidi, Iwobi, Lookman, Simon, Onyedika, Yusuf, Osayi, Fisayo etc. can play multiple roles with proper coaching and a good game plan. The missing link right now is a quality coach like La Fuente.
My only prayer is for the NFF to get it right in their appointment of the National team coach. Or we are simply done.
Please out of the three players who is the best.Ndidi,onyeka, Yusuf.
On the other hand I pray we can get these Chelsea trio- Madueke,Ugo, Carney Chuks.
@ Martin
it would be hard to really rate all three because it is all down to how they are used by the coach.
I love and respect Ndidi and believe he can still offer more but currently; I will go with an Onyedika. I think it is time we trust him. But I can still play him and Ndidi, making Ndidi the more forward of the pair.
I can as well play Onyedika and Yusuf, pushing Onyedika more forward and Yusuf doing the dirty work with support from the former when necessary.
That said, they trio are very necessary. It is down to preference, tactics and execution.
Well, if you look closely, you will discover that Finidi George adopted the same 4-3-3 formation that Spain coach Luis de la Fuente used to win the tournament. However, Finidi was just being silly. When it comes to handling a team like Nigeria, perhaps it is not too wise to adopt a formation that requires detailed and thorough preparations with cast iron attention to details to fully harness and unlock it’s potentials.
It is wise to “play it safe” and build out from the back by prioritizing defensive discipline over attacking flamboyance.
It is only in a parallel universe that this NFF will create the sort of conducive atmosphare for any coach to thrive the way the Spanish coach excelled.
So, it is more of design than accident that Peseiro and Rohr elected for playing patterns and tactical approaches well suited to the time, space and facilties that the NFF will provide.
England actually adopted this sort of approach: maintain team shape; fall back to defend; hit on the counter; score and hold on to that goal with defensive discipline.
Just as was the case with Nigeria at the last Afcon, that type of approach could qulaify you for tournaments and even take you all the way to the final (with the fans buying plentiful buckets to vomit inside due to the stomach-upsetting brand of football). But this approach will NEVER win you the tournament.
Fortune always favours the brave in Cup finals hence sitting behind cowardly to soak pressure and attempt to smash one goal and grab the trophy will always land you in the jail with your silver medals as the tariff.
But I would have loved for Finidi to be wise enough to this logic because, at least we could have got minimum 2 points from he games against Benin and South Africa with greater chance to be more adventurous down the line. Nobody expects Finidi to win the world cup of even Afcon. But with a mundane sickening approach, just like Rohr and Peseiro, he could have got us as far as can be possibly manageable with Afcon Bronze and World Cup qualification and group stage exit.
Now we come to the mechanics. Using 4-3-3 like Tristan said, Spain had players to handle the tactical materials masterfully and weave their movements (offensively and defensively) into the fabric of the formation to manufacture excellence by defeating no less than 4 past World Cup and Euro winners (England, France, Italy and Germany).
Nigeria does not produce such technically gifted specimens. Yet, we what we have and even with the crappy NFF, we can still soar as high as Cocoa House in Ibadan.
It was foolhardy for Finidi to play 2 attacking midfielders (Iwobi and Dele-Bashiru/Onyedika) when they will struggle to synchronise their movements solidly enough tp compensate for just 1 defensive midfield apparatus. Hence, Rohr always played 2 DMs and Peseiro abandoned the attacking midfield altogether and elected for 2 centre midfielders with offensive and defensive responsibilities thereby stretchering the poor buggers to breaking point.
For Nigeria, Iwobi is no longer a force of nature attacking wise hence why Peseiro deployed him deeper and more centrally. Onyeka fitted the bill perfectly as he is too useless offensively and too hopeless defensively but does exceptionally well slap bang in the middle.
We do have credible wingers and eye popping centre forwards on paper. But they seldom transition seamlessly from paper to pitch with movements oven less dynamic on grass than their paper counterparts suggest, lending credence to the notion that we Nigeria fans overhype our players. Hence why prudent coaches like Peseiro overlooked the road Finidi chose to travel by being more pragmatic and less open and vibrant.
Our defenders are even the worst. All of them bar none has the odd error attached to even their paper counterpart. On the pitch, the becomes all to evident leading to intelligent coaches going for 3 at the back whereas Finide thought he new better than coaches old enough to have coached him in his playing days.
Nigeria fans and local coaches should be realistic in what our players can produce based on the structural, cultural and administrative limitation placed on them by a corrupt system.
By keeping it simple and just going for the basics rather than the bombastic, the Super Eagles can achieve moderate success even if it means fans vomiting all over their screens from the noxious and abhorrent brand of football that saw us qualify for tournaments with games to spare not that long ago!
@deo
Excellent piece as always. But I don’t think our boys are overhyped. I think those regularly praise, do deserve it. Club performance shows otherwise. You would agree with me that players like Boniface, Lookman, Onyedika all put out stellar performances for their clubsides. You can’t say the current African footballer of the year is overhyped. Even in an underwhelming season, Osimhen was still amongst the top 5 highest goal scorer in the Serie A. He scored double figures. Even the fringe players that play for lowly clubs are vital in those club sides eg. Iwobi, Bassey, Simon, Osayi even, Ekong etc.
We played an organised attacking brand under Keshi with equally talented players as our current squad and won the AFCON. So as much as should rational and humble, we should always believe and be confident. The plan is to win.
Like most African teams, (in some way, England), talent has never been the problem. There is always talent. The problem with the Eagles is coaching, administration and Management, in general, culture. You did allude to these.
The FA should imbibe in a culture of belief and professionalism. We need the FA to be administered and managed professionally. All these will trinkle down to the national teams. We should always get sound coaches that have that winning mentality, the initiative and right approach to make such plan executed seamlessly by the players. The fans as well are very important to our improvement. We need constructive and honest criticisms when necessary and praise and support if/when needed.
Yes. We need to be realistic, rational and humble but I don’t think we should needlessly downplay our qualities and talent, it could be a disservice to us by negating morale that is always a boost. We just need the right administration, management and coach pushed by the right culture and ethics and our players will come good.
Thanks so much
@ Mr Hush
Your analysis means that the trio in question (Ndidi, Onyeka and Yusuf) are valuable to the Super Eagles.That states clearly that Nigeria is okay in the central midfield.But the challenge is the attacking midfield.We need real quality in these areas to be able to dominate games.aside Okocha we had Oruma and Obodo with incredible dribbling ability.I really hurt me that we can’t get top notch players in that position.I really feel bad and until we do,the team’s potential wouldn’t be realized.Guys like Ejuke,Lookman and co would drop down deep to get ball forward forcing them to struggle and disrupt the shape of the team.That would lead to slow transition for the team.The Super Eagles is world class we must find this exceptional quality players that can make things happen on the pitch.
I feel so bad that we lost Eze to England.
Imagine an Eze,Lookman,Iheanacho combo behind Osimhen,Boniface,Moffi or Sadiq our darling team is good to go.while our rigid coaches gave denied us of the flair and quality Chidera Ejuke and Chuba Akpom could offer.
Who and who do you beloved forumites think we need to add to the Super Eagles midfield to make it World class.
That’s a big question for me.I would be delight to be notified of any world class inclusion.
Thanks and God Bless you so much all.
Please understand that I put forward Nigerian midfield players that I believe can replicate the ‘passing and movement’ of the Spanish midfield. If I was trying to replicate the England midfield believe you me Ndidi would make my list.
Ndidi can certainly drive the ball forward, but has a limited passing range and in national colours he rarely scores. He has played as a box-box for Leicester but I suspect that this was a team injury induced arrangement and not permanent.
Besides, it was in the championship which is more physical than skilful at least compared to the premiership. It would be interesting to see him operate in that box-box role in the premiership.
He would not make the Spanish team not because he isn’t a professional at or near the pick of his game, but because his playing style and skill is limited he does not fit a dynamic midfield.
By which I mean a midfield with players that can press and tackle; have the entire gamut of passing skills to the level of Man City’s DeBruyne or Real Madrid’s Modric; score goals regularly and can still act as defensive shield or even play in various midfield roles.
England’s midfield is setup like Nigeria’s. It is static, because each player has a fixed role with a fixed playing skill. Rice is not a ball passer he is an interceptor and tackler that plays DM. Bellingham can tackle and press but he is also no great passer of the ball, but better than Rice. Foden can pass the ball but as taught by Guardiola needs other passing midfielders around him to thrive. Besides in pressing and tackling Foden is the weakest of the trio.
Spain play midfield differently every midfielder they have possesses the entire skillset of a midfielder in passing, tackling, pressing and shielding the defence. It is why they are able to regain possession so quickly after losing the ball.
Now my argument is that do we remain with a style that has been shown to be inadequate or do we evolve in the direction the successful teams are going? Every time you’ve made the argument for Ndidi you’ve merely emphasised that we should continue a midfield style that both Leicester and England play but which has proven to be outdated.
I argue that we should evolve that we possess talented midfielders in Onyedika and Yusuf who have shown they can pass, press and tackle as well as support the attack. They are the future and the sooner they are given starting shirts the sooner they achieve team cohesion!
The danger from the Spanish team comes from the wings or centrally. Morata, Spain’s striker is actually a joke – ask any Chelsea fan about him.
PS. When I say static, I don’t mean that Ndidi as a player is static or non-moving. I mean the midfield role he plays is fixed with no dynamic in-game interchanging with other midfield roles.
I also mean that the skills he possesses and has developed as a midfielder are only suited for a fixed DM role. As a result he can only operate in a midfield with defined roles, he cannot operate in a Guardiola midfield that requires more from midfielders than just the skill to play a fixed role.
To better illustrate what I’m saying imagine a typical construction site with an Architect, an Engineer and a Works Supervisor (our midfielders).
England and Nigeria strictly separate and define these roles such that the Architect only has architectural skills and roles, the engineer only structural skills and the Works Supervisor only has supervisory skills and roles. That is how these two play the football midfield.
Now Spain, always ensures that the architect not only has/uses architectural skills, but also has structural and supervisory skills. The Engineer not only has structural skills but also has/uses architectural and supervisory skills and finally the Works Supervisor, not only has/uses supervisory skills but also structural and architectural skills.
This means Spain can rotate positioning seamlessly and it is difficult for an opponent to identify which midfield player to mark. It also allows Spain to outnumber an opponent in midfield as their DM does not sit back with the centre-backs playing lazy passes to outnumbered midfielders.
Tristan,
Thanks for your write ups which go to highly commendable lengths to drive home your points about the skills and capabilities of Nigerian midfielders relative to those obtainable in other countries.
That said, Nigeria might not have midfielders in the mould of Spain in their movements, fluidity, versatility, creativity, vision and craft on and off the ball.
But, the question is, do we have midfielders who can adhere to the institutions of a top notch coach in a maaner that would neutralise a team like Spain and produce an high end competent outputs in victory, draw or loss? I think the answer is yes.
Nigerian midfielders do not have to replicate or reproduce Spains midfield presentation. They only have to play to the tactical instructions of their coach.
I like Onyeka but don’t rate him highly. But the way he and Iwobi applied themselves with focus, dedication and cutting edge application in the last Afcon helped him and Iwobi (I might add) raise the level of their centre midfield performances to produce compelling, professional, successful, productive and acceptable performances.
What am I trying to say? Ndidi does not have to match the skill set or skills mix of Spanish players. He only has to raise the level of his performance to deliver the goods.
Ndidi has decent passing range. He can still tackle and intercept. He shields and gets in good positions to score goals. But, as with many Nigerian players, particularly under local coaches, loss of concentration and communication breakdown are among the more interpersonal elements that have doomed the Super Eagles in recent times.
Against South Africa, Ndidi failed to effectively communicate with Tanimu leading to the the goal conceded. Against Benin, lack of communication led to both goals as someone should have informed Bassey of the player lurking behind him after the long ball had bubbled past Ndidi. All the players ball watched for the second goal off a corner.
My point: attention to detail gave birth to the defensive discipline we saw under Peseiro in the Afcon. With such disciple, Ndidi will slot seamlessly into that midfield and the Super Eagles will frustrate even this Spanish side and only lose very narrowly. You don’t always need all those flashy, flowery, and flamboyant skills of the Spanish midfielders. You only need to know your brief and execute it with steely focus and unwavering concentration like Onyeka and Iwobi did in the Afcon to carve out an acceptable midfield presence.
Deo, you’re perfectly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. I aspire for a Nigerian football team that challenges amongst the top ranked team. I fear (and I could be wrong) that you have lesser aspirations that I would view as mediocre.
A student that is satisfied with a C grade will never improve, but one that seeks to learn lessons from higher achievers would eventually excel.
I say that the older midfielders like Ndidi have locked themselves into roles that over the years has limited their football versatility. You can’t teach old dogs new tricks. The younger midfielders have the capability to develop all round games.
In my example I’m not saying an architect should compete at the same knowledge and skill level as an engineer, but I’m saying he should have a degree of engineering and supervisory skill. As to Nigeria neutralising Spain, you’re joking surely. Portugal who play similarly to Spain with midfield versatility thrashed Nigeria 4-0.
Again, I would say it as others have stated it, Deo you lack a critical component to your analysis. You justify the actions of current coaches and administrators while closing down those critical of them. For a mere fan [fans always have the highest and sometimes unrealistic expectations for their team], it appears that your aspirations for Nigerian football is quite low if not mediocre.
It comes as no surprise that others have noticed this and it has raised suspicion on this forum.
“As to Nigeria neutralising Spain, you’re joking surely. Portugal who play similarly to Spain with midfield versatility thrashed Nigeria 4-0.”
On the one hand Tristan, you accuse me of being mediocre in my expectations of the Super Eagles but fail to agree with me that, under a credible coach and professional FA, the Super Eagles can cause an upset against Spain.
Okay.
Kudos to@tristian and @deo i really enjoy your analysis @tristian what your was exactly the formation finidi was trying to intruduce to the team. We need a coach that will stop playing double defensive minded mildfielders which has been the problem of the super eagles. Thats why our srikers allways strugle to score goals. With the players we have for now Allasan. Onyedika. Bashiru are the best for the 4-3-3 formation. Lookman must not play as a winger he do better as At mildfielder.
In answer to you, I was ambivalent about Finidi’s appointment as a coach. I even praised him for his attempts to increase the SE’s midfield diversity by introducing players that Peseiro had consistently benched.
Where I was critical was in his squad selection, especially with regard to the defence. I felt even before the South Africa match that he did not call up experienced defenders. I was also critical of his introduction of a 19-year-old as a centre-back. Such a player I felt could not have the maturity and experience for defence work.
In addition, I was critical and suspicious of the manner he kept attempting to shoehorn this defender into his starting selection by playing him as a fullback while destabilizing the normal position holder Osayi, by assigning him to left-back.
I was also critical of the fact that he favoured certain players namely Iheanacho, Onuachu and Ndidi. Assigning Iheanacho to the right wing and more or less dropping Tella.
In midfield, he dropped Onyeka who as Deo affirms put in stellar performances for the SE at AFCON.
Finidi also went an experiment too far, playing two attacking midfielders in Iwobi and Dele-Bashiru. In all, he produced an unbalanced team with all attacking intent focussed on Lukman on the left-wing with nothing in the middle apart from Iwobi dancing with the ball and nothing on the right where Iheanacho’s lack of match fitness was revealed.
To his credit, he attempted to rectify this against Benin, where he produced a more balanced midfield but still played the 19-year-old as a fullback until he panicked and lost his head with crazy substitutions when the SE went behind.
I also felt that he politicised both his selection and substitution. For a vital match, he incorporated untested newly capped players, something he should have done in the friendlies.
Lukman is not a midfielder but plays as an inverted winger, that is a winger that comes inside allowing the overlap of the fullback.
I am in line with your midfield selection although I still feel Iwobi can still contribute if he is disciplined by a coach that tells him to stop slowing the forward momentum of the team with too many touches on the ball and to be braver with his passes by passing the ball forward quickly (even at risk of losing possession) rather than sideways or backwards.
As to formation I am agnostic, I believe the formation we play should reflect the team we’re playing. I support the deployment of 4-3-3 for weak sides but for strong midfield sides, I would accept 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.
We all agree about the need for an appropriate coach who can utilise the players we have at hand.
Wow, Mr Hush, I only just read your initial entry above into the issue of Nigerian midfielders and it appears to mirror my views to the T (to borrow your phrase).
I don’t really find it overly helpful to compare Nigerian midfielders to the Spanish. My question remains: under the right administration, do we have midfielders who can interpret the coach’s instructions to produce professional performances? The answer is yes.
Again, the duo of Onyeka and Iwobi were nowhere near spectacular in the Afcon but they were as solid as centre midfielders which was how Peseiro wanted them to play. They fell deep to shield the defence, drive the ball forward, deliver short passes and progressed the ball in counter attacking manuovres. They interacted with other players with excellent coordination with communication fit for purpose. They put in the shift with 100% dedication that captureed the essence of players going the extra mile to combine with their colleagues to make the system instructed by their coach deliver the success planned.
And thats all we expect.
@ Deo
Totally agree with you with comparisons between Nigerian players and the Spaniards.
Though we should learn a thing or two from the Spanish team but We don’t really need to play like them to be successful. We can create a system that suits the quality and limitations of the players at our disposal as long as such system is flexible.
Argentina won the world cup and the Copa America playing their own style.
We just need a coach that is very initiative ,creative and aware of the qualities and limitations of our players so as to fashion a system accordingly.
“Argentina won the world cup and the Copa America playing their own style.
We just need a coach that is very initiative ,creative and aware of the qualities and limitations of our players so as to fashion a system accordingly.” right on Brother Mr Hush.
I couldn’t agree with you any more that we should, not only learn from the Spanish, but learn good practice, good tactical approaches and good strategies from whichever team from whichever era. But ultimately, we should blend whatever we learn to produce products unique to the skills set of players at our disposal to produce whatever level of success.
I have come to lower my expectations of our national teams based on how poorly football is run in our country. For those who believe the NFF’s methods is blueprint for success and glory, good luck.
If that success does materialise, we will all revel and bask in it!
Ndidi will do better in central defence. A coach like guadiola will never play Ndidi in mieldfield he is not good in moving forward with the ball.
Hi Tristan,
It may come at huge surprise to you that I accept your feedback of me and my views above to be wholly accurate and on point.
You are spot on to say that I have a lesser aspiration for the Super Eagles which you would term as mediocre. That I cannot argue with. With the way our football is run by the NFF and other negative cultural impediments and the general poor state of the economy of the country generally, I have come to massively lower my expectations of our national teams. I appreciate whatever I get under the circumstances.
When you go to the Olympics to play the likes of Spain with zero high profile friendlies; employ a subpar Finidi to handle a whole Super Eagles ; promote Ladan Bosso who only manages to achieve average success with Under-20 to Olympics Eagles and afford teams like the Golden Eaglets just weeks to plan and prepare for tournaments.
On top of all that the NFF owes these players and coaches many years back pay. AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE OPTIMISTIC and not MEDIOCRE?
Funny that. In fact many contributors on this platform have accused me of “sugarcoating” or being too optimistic. So, you accusing me of being mediocre in my expectations actually sits better with me under the circumstance.
“Again, I would say it as others have stated it, Deo you lack a critical component to your analysis.”
Tristan, again, I agree with you 100% I have no technical knowledge of the game. I am just a long suffering Super Eagles fan who shares my biased, partial and subjective view. It brings joy to my heart truly to distance critical analysis from my purely offbeat opinions. Thanks so much. If only more and more people will see it that way.
Just like you, I pray we have a better FA who can run our football well. The maybe my aspirations will be higher. But for now, I can only manage what we have.
In my opinion, it is very helpful to compare Nigerian midfielders to the Spanish.
Very helpful.
We don’t expect Ndidi, Onyeka, and others to transform themselves into clones of Rodri.
However, we expect and encourage them to imbibe the positives that make Rodri such a formidable midfielder.
At the Afcon, we had a solid defense, from the 2nd game. The midfield was ok without being spectacular in the first game against Equatorial Guinea. We were let down by poor finishing. From the second game however, our midfield suffered, as a midfielder was sacrificed for an additional center back. Sans the hardworking Onyeka, our midfield would have been nonexistent. This was by design, a deliberate maneuvre by Peseiro, who adopted the strategy of sitting back deep while allowing opponents to dictate proceedings from the midfield, with a view to launching counter attacks, and feeding off the energy of a fired up Osimhen.
Peseiro had often lamented about the poor finishing in the games leading up to the Afcon, and after the first game, he decided he could not build his hopes on our misfiring attack. He decided to build his campaign around a solid defense, deliberately sacrificing the midfield was part of that strategy, much as a chess player would voluntarily give up a pawn or another piece, in order to achieve a critical objective. This worked initially, as it got us out of the group, and led us to satisfying wins in the knockout rounds.
Unfortunately, that strategy eventually back fired, with SA almost sending us packing in the semis, and CIV finally exploiting it to the max in the final.
With a better midfield, Nigeria would have emerged champions. But when you allow a talented side playing in front of their home crowd IN A CUP FINAL to have their way in the midfield, it likely will not end well for you, and in our case we paid a heavy price for it.
If we had Rodri in our squad in that final, Nigeria would be champions as we speak. Rodri would not allow the likes of Kessie and Fofana to run amok, as they did to devastating effect on that day. Even a Declan Rice, or a Kante would have made a huge difference for us.
Granted, there is a chasm of quality at the moment between the Spanish and Nigerian midfielders. That chasm is not huge though. We have talented midfielders. They just don’t have the technical side of the game that the Spanish are so abundantly gifted in. But with appropriate tactics, we can still give Spain and other elite footballing countries a run for their money, and possibly beat them on a good day.
For Nigeria, a good coach and decent administration are the missing pieces of the puzzle.
“We can still give Spain and other elite footballing countries a run for their money, and possibly beat them on a good day.
For Nigeria, a GOOD COACH AND DECENT ADMINISTRATION are the missing pieces of the puzzle.”
Go on a roof top and sound it out sir.
I gain nothing juxtaposing the skills set and skills mix of our midfielders against those of Spain. Like you said sir, under a right coach working under professional and well runned Football Association, a highly motivated Super Eagles outfit can give Span a run for their money.
Spain is Spain, Nigeria is Nigeria. The only difference is a credible coach employed by a professional Football Association. Address that element and highly motivated Super Eagles midfielders will be up to the job!
Oga sir, a player can definitely gain something from comparing his or her skills with those of another player from another country.
For instance, Osimhen is Osimhen, and Mbappe is Mbappe. Very different players. But Oismhen can learn and improve by adopting things Mbappe is good at. And Mbappe can also improve by imitating or emulating the hunger and energy of Osimhen.
You gerrit? If you don’t gerrit, forgerrabourit!
I gerrit sir. Bruce Lee learnt from martial artists, boxers and even dancers to produce and eclectic mix of skills set that made him unique and allowed his style and presentation stand the test of time.
So, to your point “The Grandson of the Soul Pompei” players can learn a thing or two by learning from each other as you say with the case of Mbappe and Osihmen.
But my angle in this discourse is to say that Osimhen, with his own skills (however he has acquired and honed them) can stand his own on the biggest stage for th Super Eagles under a capable national team coach, something you actually echo. This point, by no means invalidates your point on players learning tricks from each other and adapting it to their own unique style.
You gerrit, Il Duce Pompei ( 🙂 )?
Chief,
Within the context of this conversation, I choose to see no material benefit comparing Osimhen to Mbappe. Osimhen being Osimhen on a good day is dynamite in Napoli. Carry that form, attitude and application to the Super Eagles and I am good.
That statement from me doesn’t preclude others from comparing Osimhen to Ivan Toney. There might be some benefits in that as you masterfully laid out. However, my angle on this today is, Osimhen bringing his A game to the fore under a savy Super Eagles coach will perform wonders. That is the 4 corners of my point. It doesn’t stop comparison but I guess in football, 2 players are often hardly the same, they interpret their roles quite different to bring something unique to bear. The fact Iheanacho doesn’t have Osimhen’s pace doesn’t mean he can’t translate the center forward role in his own unique ways. Comparing players has its very merits but with all tools of analysis also has drawbacks.
However,that’s not really my point. Again, with a good coach under a professional NFF, our midfielders in my view have to apply themselves with the highest level of application and professionalism to thrive, sir.
I gerrit sir. Bruce Lee learnt from martial artists, boxers and even dancers to produce and eclectic mix of skills set that made him unique and allowed his style and presentation stand the test of time.
So, to your point “The Grandson of the Soul Pompei” players can learn a thing or two by learning from each other as you say with the case of Mbappe and Osihmen.
But my angle in this discourse is to say that Osimhen, with his own skills (however he has acquired and honed them) can stand his own on the biggest stage for th Super Eagles under a capable national team coach, something you actually echo. This point, by no means invalidates your point on players learning tricks from each other and adapting it to their own unique style.
You gerrit, Il Duce Pompei ( 🙂 )?
Rodri, LA COLUMNA VERTEBRAL DE ESPANA.
The backbone of Spain.
I agree wholeheartedly with coach De La Fuente.
Give this man the Ballon D’or. He deserves it!
And Tristan,
Please, don’t take it too personal next time your views are challenged. You tried so hard, maybe too hard, to make your case, so hard that you had to supply additional information under your original entry to bolster your claims even when nobody asks you to.
I am glad you see yourself as a critical thinker. I am glad you see yourself ad not being mediocre. Good for you. As much as I chose not to go down the route of personal attacks that you did against me, as I still think you made some valid points, although you were trying too hard.
I may lack the critical elements in my analysis which you stated and I actually agreed with, I think you take yourself way too seriously. If you do this analysis thing for a living, I don’t. So you have to forgive me for not meeting your high and lofty “critical analysis” standards which you yourself struggle to attain with engineer and architect analysis that fails woefully to impress.
For someone with the highest level of critical analysis, I was shocked when you wrote some rubbish about me supporting administrators and coaches
whilst closing down their critical elements. You love this word “critical” don’t you. Well, perhaps you want to familiarise yourself with the word ‘opinion’. These comment boxes are for opinion pieces. If you say I have never expressed opinion critical to coaches and administrators then you must be either crazy or suffering from “selective interpretation” and “selective retention” of what I write. I do stipulate what I see as strengths and weaknesses of my observations all within the framework of my personal observation. I have no intentions of being validated by you or anybody on this forum for that matter.
My aspirations are low and mediocre for the Super Eagles you say. And I ask you, are your aspirations for the Super Eagles consistent with how our football is run? I think your views on rational discourse and how to conduct such discussion are poor, laboured, uninspiring, misguided and ultimately mediocre.
I am not here to win a popularity contest. So you and your fellow contributors who have raised suspicion as you put it can shove your critical analysis prize crap where the sun doesn’t shine, and that is in your big black behind!
Let’s do this.
I’m not sure what you want to do, but I only ever use the word ‘critical’ when responding to you. I certainly do not use it on anyone else on this forum.
You also like putting words in my mouth or assigning views to me. Many a time I’ve chosen to ignore views you’ve attributed to me or quotes outside context.
When I commented, I was not commenting to you. I was commenting to the entire community with the variety of understanding it contains. My use of an analogy was to illuminate understanding to those who may not have your level of education.
If it failed on you, that’s okay I do not take umbrage. I have responded to your comments over the years sometimes benignly in agreement other times to rightly point out not just to you – indeed I have no right to force any view on you, but mainly to other readers that your views are rarely critical.
I read your comments on Eguavoen, Uzoho, and Peseiro, and these reflect, against the grain of the prevailing opinion at the time, that you wield critical opinion with hesitancy. Others have assigned motives to your line of reasoning.
On this forum, we are all opinion formers. We read and others read us in forming their opinion. We all seek validation for our opinions by reading what others say, and we all seek to influence opinion by writing comments, else you might as well write your opinion in a personal journal.
I do not respond or rebut your comments to change your mind. I seek to respond to stop your comments from influencing others by providing an alternative narrative at a similar level of eloquence.
Similarly, when I receive a response that is dismissive of my opinion I rightly question the authority of the source – again not to the responder, but to the community of commentators. After all readers unfamiliar with you should be informed that they’re reading someone with lower than the average expectations on this forum for Nigerian football achievement.
The rest of your comment regrettably descends into personal attacks. I shall not respond to these and I’m choosing to believe that you’re having an off-day. In this respect, I shall not continue this conversation leaving any further interactions to the future after a ‘cooling-off’ period.
I wish you a good morning!
Mr Tristan, Mr Tristan, Mr Tristan!
Let me make this categorically clear: I do appreciate the presentation of ideas on this matter. That much I said in my initial response to you. But you chose to play the “Personal Card” by bringing up prior issues other contributors may have have with my views and using unacceptable language like “mediocre” and lacking this and that”. I merely chose to match your tone.
I am not having an “off day”, I just happen to have the time to respond to perceived personal attacks in kind.
I respect you, I respect you a lot in how you conduct yourself. We see a lot of matters differently but that is only normal. Brother AYtheGreat once told me: “deo, we can’t all sleep on the same bed and always face the same direction”. A statement a found most apt.
You make a compelling case for a robust midfield infrastructure for Nigeria and your aspirations for the Super Eagles are sky high. Nothing wrong with that in my books. But certain painful factors have sadly eaten into my enthusiasm leading to my more tempered, moderate and lowered expectations. I want us to do well and believe we have players who can always strive to rise to the occasion.
But do we have the right administration with a viable short, medium and long term plan for our football? I will leave you to work that out.
My respect for you and your views remain unsullied.
A lot of our players aren’t overrated. Na cricket them de play abroad or space football?
Does it say anything to anyone with half a brain that some of the perceived overhyped players are key cogs in the wheel of their clubs?
I think the question to ask anyone with 25% brain is that how come many Super Eagles players struggle to translate club in their clubs to the national team consistently? In a Super Eagles outfit hailed as one of the most deadly attacking force in not just Africa but world football, their coach, despaired of the inability of these same strikers to convert enough chances, reverted to an overly defensive brand of football that alienated the coach himself from very many fans despite his highly commendable afcon silver.
For anyone with even an iota of a brain, we need to ask deeper questions on how our football is being manged and how to get the best out of our players. Hyping, overt-hyping, under-hyping the players is not enough. Even average teams like Zambia, Greece and Denmark with players far inferior in skills and attributes to their counterparts have been known to win tournaments with pristine planning, preparation to produce performances that propelled success.
Unless we address the more structural administrative issues bedeviling our football at all levels, eloquent player performances in clubs will never translate to success in Super Eagles colours no matter how we hype up these players on the pages of Complete Sports week in week out after club exploits. And by the way, other teams are catching up, the cliche of “no more weak teams in international football these days” continues to hold a ring of authenticity and freshness about it, no matter how many times it is stated.
So, when cricket-loving half-brain nitwits hype Super Eagles players, I hope they do so in the context of other national teams not being asleep on the wheel of producing their own players who can equally hold their own in international football.
@ deo
I assure you; other nations hype their players as much as we do ours. As long as the player or players being praised deserve it, why not?
No one is blinded by the fact that international football has improved but you don’t have to put yours down to claim a sense of humility and close eyes to reality. Two things are factual. International Football has improved. That is true. Most of our boys been hyped are that good. That much is true as well.
Even ıf we choose to go the mute route and say nothing about our boys, our opponents will do that for us. Or do you think the Beniniose, South Africans, Rwandese etc. think Osimhen is overhyped? or you think the Cameroonians will say Lookman is overhyped? or CAF thinks Ekong is overhyped?
The same way we appreciate the qualities of a Kudus from Ghana, Egypt’s Salah, Morocco’s Hakimi and many more, that’s the same way, these countries and others recognise the qualities of an Osımhen, Boniface and Lookman.
So, hyping our boys that deserves it doesn’t really hold sway when things come to shuffle. Hyping Rodri or Yamal before the Euros didn’t stop Spain from winning the Euros. Hyping is a recognition of your feat and push to do more. It is not the hype that matters, it is what you do with it. It could be an extra motivation to bounce on towards further elevation or pill to egotistic free fall or stagnation.
That being said, as I always stated, I do agree with you that we need to fix the administrative and management arms of our football if we really want to get it right. It is down to fixing the culture and ethics of how our football, and sports is being run generally. Yes. we could win trophies and medals now and then, but such success is never sustainable under maladministration and bad management. It is just a patch in a wall in a collapsing building.
Mr Hush,
Hype. That word seems to be the bone of contention. I come to this site, I go on various Whatsapp group to laud, praise and celebrate the performances of our players in club football and their various football achievements when these bring me joy for me as a fan and them as career-footballers.
This website is littered with my diaries of praises for what our players our achieving. Does that constitute “hyping”?
I don’t live in cave, I am not deprived of internet access. So, I really don’t need reminding of what our players produce and the accolades they garner. My point remains: the expectations of what Nigerian players are to produce in Super Eagles colours aren’t always measured against the backdrop of other critical factors that can enhance or harm superior performance. Leading to my notion of “over-hyping”.
You cannot expect players being owed wages, working under average coaches and subpar equipment to perform brilliantly consistently.
I have been known to come to the defense of decent players like Iwobi, Aribo, Onyeka, Tanimu and others when other fans have thrown them under the bus. For me, it’s not about hyping, over-hyping or under-hyping. I have always maintained that, outside the Osihmens of this world, we still have untapped player-resources in the most unexpected leagues who can deliver the goods in an acceptable manner for the Super Eagles. But it takes so many factors beyond just player-capabilities to mastermind success in the Super Eagles.
Why shouldn’t we celebrate our players when they deliver sterling performances? But against the backdrop of some many crucial, important factors, I choose (my choice and my choice only – nobody has to follow me) to temper, even lower my expectations of these players in Super Eagles jersey.
@ deo
Now this is clear.
off course, you have the right (like everyone else who share similar feeling) to lower your expectations and not be too trusting of the boys in Green. I am a realist driven by logic rather than emotions and I am quite wary of the Super Eagles. I thread carefully around the national team. But rationality also shows that most of the boys do deserve their praise based on their Clubside play. That much we agree on.
‘…But it takes so many factors beyond just player-capabilities to mastermind success in the Super Eagles.’ Factors like the right culture and ethics to drive good administration and Management that will positively reflect on the team.
You are actually agreeing with me and I, you . Ain’t no point of contention.
My Hush,
Finally, you used a word I can one hundred percent relate with: PRAISE.
“But rationality also shows that most of the boys do deserve their PRAISE based on their Clubside play.” Mr Hush.
You see, I have always been weary of that word: hype. According to the dictionary, hype can be defined as to promote or publicize (a product or idea) intensively, often “”exaggerating”” its benefits.
So, I am often reluctant to appear to be exaggerating the potentials of our players intensively. I prefer, like you belatedly said, to heap praises on them when their performances warrant it.
Even the “praise” has context as you and I acknowledge.
Thanks.
@ Deo
off course, words, sentences are mostly contextual. Adding to the definition you provided; Hype could also mean excited. Or sensational promotion.
and that’s the main reason, all through my writeups, I used the words hype and praise not necessarily inter-changeably.
But I agree, hype is mostly a negative connotation, praise should be much appropriate. But sometimes we do need the hype to give us that extra boost and motivation to get us going…
Na cricket our players DE play for the clubs and their fans, pundits and journos wey DE dish out the praise?
@ HJK
Nobody dey drag say some players deserve dem praise. If dem earn am. Why not? Somestimes praise na way of congratulation and appreciation for one’s quality and achievement. Na motivation sef. Dat matter don settle.
Na to focus on making sure say our Sports Administration and Management (especially football) dey work professionally as e be for organised country. Till now we still dey wait for coach for Super Eagles. No be ineptitude be dat.
Anyway, na only God go help us. Naija matter no be here.
Babanla ineptitude!
BTW, this is the first time I’m reading Mr. Hush expressing himself in broken English on CSN.
For Mr. Hush to be speaking broken English, na em be say WATER DON REALLY PASS GARRI.
Wahala dey. NFF is creating great anxiety and uncertainty among fans with their ineptitude.
I have marked today’s date on my calendar. The day Mr Hush spoke broken English on the CSN forum.
Remarkable ineptitude o @Mr. Hush
July 17, 2024.
The day Mr. Hush dropped Broken English on CSN.
He scatter Broken English for ground.
Nice one. Hope to see more of it!
Current Super Eagles midfield lacks the composure,compactness, and flexibiloty to match top that of top teams in the world. The midfield is the weakest link of the team. You can’t continue to rely on Ndidi, Onyeka,and Iwobi when they have all failed to step-up. This is the time to freshen up the midfield with players that offer a combination of ball playing skills, speed, and shooting skill.
Onyedika, Yusuf, Fisayo should be given more opportunity while Samson Tijani, Nnadi, and Akinsemiro should be integrated into the team asap..
Hopefully, the team gets a coach that invites the best legs at all time.
I really wish to see midfield players like
Carney Chuks
Kelechi Nwakali
Invited to the Super Eagles.Though it could take much work to get Chuks switching allegiance to play for the Super Eagles.Many of us may not even want to hear the name Kelechi Nwakali but we need to test and see what these players could offer.With Eze gone to England and Michael Oliseh going to the Olympics with France I think it’s like Nigeria should shift their nest to other players.Samuel Edozie and Noni Madueke can play behind the striker if they can be available to play for Nigeria.But we can only hope to get any of these players that can add quality to the Super Eagles.
Let’s keep the comments coming in, while we aspire for a good Coach to handle our darling team,the Super Eagles.God Bless you all forumites so much.I love your passion and intelligent analysis you are putting forward.
More grace and one love for the game.
Hello dear my comment disappeared