Is Super Eagles Fullback Ryan Alebiosu Merely Overrated?

Are we just being unduly carried away by Ryan Alebiosu just because he is a fresh face and a dual nationality player to boot? How good really was he against Uganda?

If he were a homebase playern or one playing in an East African league, who delivered exactly the same output like-for-like like Alebiosu, I think some fans would have come out to condemn his performance outright.

Personally, I felt Benjamin Tanimu delivered a professional performance under Finidi but he could never escape the odour of unacceptably that came with his background which would always obscure and strip away any objectivity in how his performance is judged. I miss Tanimu, you know: I know I am in a minority regarding Tanimu but I hope to see him in a Super Eagles outfit near me soon .

Alebiosu's 1v1 take-ons were largely unsuccessful. His puny tricks were amusing and easily repelled by Ugandan defenders and, in some of those situations, he left his colleagues vulnerable as, if you remember, he was overlapping hence we were minus-1 in defence.

Aina is class, honestly. His 1v1 take-ons are neat, tidy and traumatic to opposition defenders. Even Osayi-Samuel pulls off moderately successful easy-on-the-eye 1v1s. But for me, both Aina and Osayi-Samuel denude the Super Eagles of width.

They both tend to come deep to invert and overload the centre. Nothing wrong with this. But some of us older fans of a particular persuasion still harbour affection for old fashioned fullbacks who bomb to the by-line to deliver deft crosses - this is where Alebiosu shines, that was where Alebiosu got injured.

As I saw him race down the by-line, with the opposition defender in toe, I punched the air and shouted: Oh F*ck-Yeah! Alebiosu instantly grabbed my attention and locked it in place for the duration, winning my affection instantly, instantly I forgave all those failed 1v1 take-ons.

Can you imagine, Bruno Onyemaechi on the left and Alebiosu on the right, stretching the pitch to breaking point from either end before spraying the box 18 with stray bullets of crosses. Something tells me Onuachu and Osihmen will be smiling all the way to the bank of goals!

I always felt that our right side was often under utilised. There is always this area that is left fallow that is begging for crosses to be delivered from, from where Sodiq Ismail duly delivered to Cyril Dessers to score against Ghana on May's Unity Cup in England.

Personally, I think the Super Eagles can do with more of such spicy and expansive fullbacks who pull opposition defenders out of position with purposeful crosses from wide.

It looks pretty, it lands nicely, it connects greatly, particularly when you have strikers like Dessers who make a living from converting off such crosses.