Manu: We Won't Change Our Style

I didn't c it come to this, soon the mathematicians will come in, if we win Hungary & brazil draw against N Korea , if we win lagbaja & hungary play daddy shoki 3-0 our goals can qualify us or a draw against terry.G will qualify us ?????????

The boys tried and i believe they will bounce back. the keeper should be dropped,he created alot of panic in the defence.the defenders do not trust his ability. the midfield should also be worked on. the defensive midfielders exposed the defence to much. the Brazilian coach marked out our midfield but lets relax, its just the first game.they will get better.

@byshop_Joshua, You are very correct Akinjide Idowu shouldn't have been dropped for whatever reason... but in all, the team gave their best and will surely come back stronger in the next match. ..kudos to the boys

I respect this team,but i think the problem is with the fans who over hyped this team and calling for the overhaul of our national team,and put too much pressure one them,the same fans are still the ones criticizing this team after losing just a game,this is a developmental stage for them and are abound to make mistakes,the just have to correct there mistakes in subsequent matches,i think its a good thing they lost to put everyone on ground level

The other troubled spot is the holding role in midfield. The two namesakes, The Ifeanyis (who happens to be my namesakes) looks to have cemented a partnership in midfield, but there seems to be a need for Akinjide Idowu to screen in front of the defence. Unless the both picks up, one should give way for Idowu. All hope is not lost, Though these boys lost, I still hold them in high esteem. They'll come out stronger and firing on all cylinders. I won't single out any player for blame. No, not even the keeper. He has made mistakes like most keepers, we should not condenm him. Rather we should seek to find ways of protecting him more, especially in midfield. Awoniyi? One bad game and many are already saying "I said it..."? Iheanacho was lost in the game. Hopefully in the next match he should find his bearing, so should Awoniyi and others. Well done flying eagles. Welcome back to reality!

Brazil also showed superiority in their preparations to this match by studying the flying eagles team, and we did not, rather we trusted in the fact that our team is good and should be the team to beat. Brazil fashioned out a gameplan that stiffled our game and put them on the ascendancy. They exploited our left fullback position where overlapping Mustapha plays to great effect. They kept their backline well and played a high line of defence against a more dangerous and pacy eagles attack. It wasn't bad an idea to play Awoniyi and Isaac Success together as some of you presume. The two strikers combined well their qualities to trouble the Brazillian defence in the first half. It is only wrong playing both with Iheanacho behind them in a midfield free-role. In my own opinion Iheanacho should play with only one of them as a second striker or in a midfield free role where only Success or Awoniyi plays upfront. Playing Kelechi behind the two strikers, sacrifices a space in midfield. Iheanacho is not strong in tracking back and defending. Hence it would be more productive to play Iheanacho in a more advance position upfront and create space for Sokari in central midfield, while Yahaya mesmerizingly moves forward.

@sunnypa if you watched the game you will know the direct blame goes to enoholo for giving away a easy goal twice

@sunnypa do not be biased be honest we all know awoniyi missed 4 scoring chances plus one tap in chance , why in the world would u solely blame the midfield

Don't blame awoniyi.... The midfield need idowu-mattew-nwakali attack iheanacho-success-yahaya... People should start respecting idowu because he will rearly cross the halfway line

The Brazillians on the other hand were stronger from defence, midfield and attack. They handled well everything our attack threw at them and with the solidity in defence and midfield, their attack were well founded. Flying Eagles team is reminiscent of brazil squad of 1982 world cup in Spain that had a very strong attack of Zico, Socrates, Serginho, Eder etc but very weak defence. Manu must find balance in this team going forward. This match however serves as a wake up call. And if you don't believe in this team anymore, you're in for a shocker cos they're set to go far and may shock Brazil when and if they meet again.

I think we should not be quick in criticising the team or fingering some players for sticks. This team is a very good but lost on tactical grounds. This game makes a big statement for balance in every team. The flying eagles were a team brimming with brilliant attacking player but had defensive frailities. Its obvious that in football, your attack is good as your defence. A poor defence in a team can render the team's attack shorn of its potency. Methinks that Manu Garba should have approached this first match pragmatically and cautiously. Every good team does... Even the most attack minded teams. You start cautiously and then open up as the game progresses. It is risky to play Gung-ho attack with practically 4 attack minded players in Kelechi, Yahaya Isaac and Awoniyi. That leaves our midfield with only Ifeanyi Ifeanyi and Ifeanyi Matthew as the only two natural midfielders left to contain the Brazillian counter-attacks. Mustapha and Muhammed are two overlapping fullbacks, hence, the midfield should have been choked with ball winners who'll provide cover for the fullbacks. The midfield did not screen the defence but left them exposed as Brazillians cut thru like a butter thru knife. Sokari should have started in midfield while Iheanacho is played in attack alongside Isaac, or he starts from the bench.

Am so proud of our team!! And that is what they are, a solid, proper team! Am also so happy to witness their first defeat in a competitive match! When my team lost today, they went out fight, brawling ñ contesting every move. Only the blind, would not see the positives from this game. Now what went wrong? The first half was the most entertaining, attacking ñ breathless game, I have had the privilege of seeing so far in this Tourney! The 2nd half however, was shrouded with a more consistently frequent miscued passes, lapses in concentration ñ for some reason, probably due to the rain, my lads couldn't bring the ball under control quick enough, heavy touches and passes- very unlike them. I wondered whether they had on a wrong set of studded boots. For the 1st time I saw the wind drained out of the sails of the Flying Eagles, after Enaholo's gift of the 4th goal! My boys were beaten today by a team that has studied our game and mapped out the best strategy to contain ñ curtail them. The Brazilians sat back, holding a high back line, while flooding the middle with athletic, fast ñ skillful midfield! Their striker also did his job. When we do meet them again in this contest, they'd have a game on their South American hands. Congrats to the Samba Boys. They were so relieved after the 93'+ game, while my lads, showed emotions reminiscent of losing a cup final. I Love the Flying Eagles ñ boy am I proud of y'all.

I pity iheanacho the boy is quality but the formation rendered him useless , he tried as much as possible but failed

The boys will qualify obviously but what happens when we face germany??? Manu should not mess up his coaching career.....we need free flowing football we looked a bit rushed in today's game

Nigeria will improve in the next game and will qualify from the group.

I will have gone with nwakwali and idowu in the midfeild , iheanacho free role , simon and yahaya on either wing and isaac as the slow striker who plays two strikers in modern day football who????

We need some changes in our next matches it is not comporsary all the star studord will future in the starting 11 at thesame time,the brazilians today was mesmerizing with our midfield,diffence and even goal keeper,all this area was at shakeeè in todays match,we to change our tactics in other to come out victorious in our next matches.God bless Nigeria,,Amen...

Iheanacho got it wrong with most of his pass and He was not involve in the midfield battle, he did not help the midfield . Sokari is too slow though he gave some long range pass. Awoniyi need to start from beach. Nwakali is needed in the midfield to move the ball out fast. our keeper need to do more and believe in himself. Manu got some decision wrong though. up FE

Playing 2 midfielders in the middle also got us jammed up, if you are playing two midfielders then let them be box to box no nonsense players ....Idowu is needed for ifeanyi PERIOD

For those saying that nigeria played well, I think they watched the game from the back of their TV. The team is too direct and over zealous in their game aproach. I've always maintained that Enaholo is a clawn.... Even his backups are still on a low level. During their warm up matches, I made a statement here that the defence is the weak link in this team, they rarely keep clean sheet. Manu made alot of mistakes today, we have always know Yahaya as attacker cum winger, why play success in yahaya's position? Sokari should have played ahead of I. Matthew, and why too many long balls? They gave away possession too cheap. For me, my best player tonight is Yahaya followed by M. Mohamed, savious Godwin had a good game too. That their #8 gave brazil the edge. Breeze don blow foul nyash open. Mtchwww #iRegretNotSleeping