African Nations Cup

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by The Voice of Reason, Jul 5, 2021.

  1. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    ACON runs for the 9th Jan to the 6th Feb. During that period we play Newcastle (15th Jan), Norwich (22nd Jan), West Ham (8th Feb).

    I imagine players will be released to join their national teams after the Spurs game on 1st Jan.
     
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  2. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Not so bad in terms of number of fixtures, but certainly winnable games.
     
  3. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    To opt out of the coming Premier League season please Text: ‘Just relegate us now please’ to 65552.
     
  4. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Officially I imagine that's about right but I bet there's going to be a negotiation between the club and the national setups, who will want players in training camps earlier than Jan 1st.
     
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  5. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

  6. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Are Nigeria and Senegal expected to do well ?
     
  7. reids

    reids First Team

    Senegal should top their group. Looking at the format if Senegal win their group they face one of the best placed 3rd teams which again I'd imagine they'd win quite comfortably so will likely go pretty far. Nigeria could top their group but face tough competition from Egypt for the top spot, but Nigeria should still comfortably go through. Nigeria finishing 2nd will likely pit them against either Algeria or Ivory Coast which will be tough, although topping the group will give them a much easier run.
     
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  8. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

  9. TomWatfordFC

    TomWatfordFC Reservist

    Masina and Louza both called up for the upcoming internationals. Seems likely we will be without the following in Jan:

    Sarr
    Dennis
    Etebo
    Troost Ekong
    Louza
    Masina
     
  10. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    Ouch
     
  11. MIlton Dammers

    MIlton Dammers Reservist

    The first three names on the list will be a big miss. The final three not so much.
     
  12. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    At least we look like we may have worthwhile alternatives to Etebo and Dennis, WTE not so much, and when Masina goes, we'll be left with Rose who we don't know if we can rely on to stay fit for numerous games in a row
     
  13. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    It doesn't sound too bad when you consider it's only likely to be a couple of games, but it's our rotten luck we'll be weakened for Newcastle and Norwich. Two teams who are likely to be in the bottom three by the time we play those fixtures.

    Without Sarr and Dennis, we'll be blunt as a butter knife and WTE is showing quite good form right now, so will be a loss at the back for sure. Masina and Louza shouldn't affect us too much, however, we have to hope Rose is not injured during that time. I'd prefer to have Etebo available, but I feel we can function without him for a few games.
     
  14. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    On the flip side, hopefully those are two games that we can still get something from even without our best players. If Dennis is away (which is no guarantee as he only has a couple of caps for Nigeria and wasn't in their latest squad) we have able deputies for the left wing berth in Cucho and possibly JP, although Sarr is basically irreplaceable. I feel we could probably get by for a game or two without Etebo, but I wouldn't want to rely on Kucka or Cleverley for more than that (luckily one of those games could be Norwich at home, they both played well at Carrow Road)

    LB could be a headache, the stupid thing is we could mitigate it slightly if we could mix things up by playing Sema at wingback in a back 3 formation, but we've basically ruled that out with our lack of business at centre back. As for WTE, he's gradually become almost as important to the team as Sierralta, through his own good work as much as Cathcart's mistakes in fairness, I'd like to think that Kabasele would play ahead of Cathcart now, but that's two bald men fighting over a comb isn't it!
     
  15. reids

    reids First Team

    Rumours that the AFCON will be cancelled due to infrastructure problems in Cameroon. Would be huge news for us if true.
     
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  16. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Would it not just be relocated, or is that naivety on my part?
     
  17. reids

    reids First Team

    It's certainly a possibility I'd imagine, but with just over 2 months until the tournament kicks off it would require a quick turnaround in terms of getting things organised which might not be possible.
     
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  18. reids

    reids First Team

  19. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

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  20. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

  21. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    And they probably haven’t got the same sort of vaccination program?
     
  22. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

  23. reids

    reids First Team

    Just 0.6% of the population are double vaccinated according to Google
     
  24. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Logic would suggest that a country like Cameroon with a Delta surge, almost no vaccination and a very basic and limited healthcare system will be in big trouble but hopefully that won't be the case.
     
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  25. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    I guess depends if the big clubs/players kick up and fuss and express their concerns about travelling - they will be more likely to be heard than any of our players.
     
  26. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    Lets hope that todays great win is the start of us climbing up the table, but even if we pick up some unexpected points between now and January I am still concerned what could happen in January.

    My earlier post shown above has somewhat altered since I posted it, but we could still actually lose up to 10 players to this competition in January. They include SEVEN current first team squad players and three from our younger teams.

    Those first team squad players are as follows: - Peter Etebo -Nigeria; Troost Ekong - Nigeria; Imran Louza - Morocco; Adam Massina - Morocco; Nicolas Nkoulou - Cameroon; Ismailia Sarr - Senegal; Emmanuel Dennis - Nigeria. The other 3 are : - Jimiel Chikukwa from the U23 Squad - Zimbabwe and two from the U18 squad: - Darrin Enahoro-Marcus - Nigeria and Toby Adeyemo - Nigeria/England

    I am fairly sure that quite a few of those I have just mentioned in this post might very well go to this competition which would leave quite a hole in our squad. So lets hope we can free up a few places in our current 25 man squad and bring in some decent replacements early in the January window to counteract the loss of those players. Otherwise I fear we could have a very bad January which could cost us our PL status, especially if we do not do very well between now and January.
     
  27. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    I, like everyone else here, am not unconcerned about AFCON, as previously stated, but who gives a shyt about u23s and u18s going?! They can have every single one of them for all I care, or, indeed, all the impact it would have on the pitch for us in the Premier League.

    Nkoulou also retired from international football a couple of years back, so he isn't at risk of going anywhere. Dennis, meanwhile, has for some reason only ever managed 6 minutes in a single competitive international for them - they still prefer to field Ighalo and Musa over Emmanuel, and it seems that the coach is generally uninterested in him - it's possible that may change, especially if he continues to have this kind of impact, but at the same time the competition is just over a month away, and he basically isn't part of the squad that got there, so it also wouldn't be a surprise to see him continue to be excluded/the team not 'disrupted' by a significant change so close to the tournament proper.
     
  28. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Someone's been playing Football Manager! ;)
    Seriously though, what Chumlax said, I don't care if Chikukwa goes to the AFCON, it's no loss to us, in fact it would be far more beneficial to all parties if he does go and gets some serious games there rather than mess around in our U23s. If Dennis is struggling to get into the Nigeria squad, no ******* chance our kids do!
     
  29. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    Not me mate never played Football Manager!

    I basically just listed all our players who are eligible to go, and I also said that I think quite a few of them probably will go, but not all.
     
  30. AndrewH63

    AndrewH63 Reservist

    Is it on the telly?
     
  31. reids

    reids First Team

    I think it's due to be on iPlayer.
     
  32. Bubble

    Bubble Wise Oracle

    I thought Nkolou retired from international football?
     
  33. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    He did, it's in my reply - see post #egnefjkfhehfuilsehjf
     
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  34. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

  35. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet

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