“He has all of the attributes I was looking for in an attacker. He can score goals, he’s very fast, he can dribble at pace and his intention is to always go forward." -Chief
Phillip Rollo's article had the headline, saying Eze was signed as Kosta's replacement. So they would have used Kostas picture cuz getting one of Eze would be rather difficult.
Eze should find Wellington peaceful after three years playing in first Libya, then Iraq.... Before last season's 15 goals in the Iraq league, he had a modest scoring record in modest leagues. 2019-20, 2020-21: Akwa United, Nigeria: 5 apps, no goals 2020-21, 2022-23: Kano Pillars, Nigeria: 31 apps, seven goals 2024-25: Al-Karkh, Iraq: 37 apps, 15 goals Before the 2024-2025 season in Iraq, Eze played in Libya for two different clubs over two seasons: Al Soqour and Al Hilal. There's no record of him playing any league games there on tranfermarkt.com But Flashscore.com has him playing three league games in Libya and scoring three goals, plus one game on loan in Lebanon and one goal: https://www.flashscore.com/player/eze-ifeanyi/rwVQyUb6/ Continental football: tranfermarkt.com has him playing in the 2023-24 African Confederation Cup (African equivalent of the Europa League) for al-Hilal of Libya. This is the same comp that Andre de Jong's Stellenbosch made the semis of this year. Seven games, two goals. Progressed through the qualifying rounds, then failed to progress from group play: https://www.transfermarkt.com/caf-confederation-cup/gesamtspielplan/pokalwettbewerb/CAFC/saison_id/2023
I reckon after Libya and Iraq he has the perfect experience to quickly adapt to Wellington streets dug up due to a water mains leak or a dodgy sewer line.
Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days
Yeah he's no stranger to living in places with some dodgy danger factor. Kano in the Muslim predominant north of Nigeria has also in the past not been that safe. Boko Haram have carried out deadly attacks against the police and government there. Though with a quick online read it seems not as dangerous now.
I don't think Welly's failing water infrastructure will faze him too much.
Yeah he's no stranger to living in places with some dodgy danger factor. Kano in the Muslim predominant north of Nigeria has also in the past not been that safe. Boko Haram have carried out deadly attacks against the police and government there. Though with a quick online read it seems not as dangerous now.
I don't think Welly's failing water infrastructure will faze him too much.
He’ll spend most of his time in the mighty Upper Hutt anyway where rubbish collection and public pool spending is the main topic of concern
I realise that the internet was designed for incessant whingeing and non sequitur feats of pessimism, but it's worth mentioning – much as Voerman pointed out on Twitter – that Zawada was announced on the back of a terrible goalscoring record.
This guy could end up anywhere on the scale from pure rubbish to gilded majesty so it'd be nice if the discussion did lean more towards substantive commentary than hand-wringing.
You can only go off the facts presented, and he's played in far worse leagues and barely has a Wikipedia page. He's one of the least credentialed imports we've ever signed.
Of course people are extremely skeptical. Looking at the vids, the guy has the first touch of an NPL player
Also, Ahmed Musa, Nigeria's most capped men's player and former captain, who has played in the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Eredivisie, Super Lig, Premier Liga (Russia), and Saudi Pro League, was briefly at Kano Pillars with Eze in the 20/21 NPFL.
Was it Marto who said Eze was going to be a dud? Kudos to Chiefy & Gill. Early days but it looks their scouting of the Iraqi league was justified.
I still think Eze's a strong risk of getting a red card at some point. Didn't see much of the Mariners game, but maybe he's now getting more familiar with the physical nature of the ALM, and the refs being lenient on tough challenges. Less red mist.
The 'made in Nigeria' goal was so nearly a thing. Hopefully there is a route one Oluwayemi assist at some point before the season is done.
He really is everywhere, seems like will keep being a big nuisance to defenders. Hopefully as the season progresses he develops his composure and touch, then I reckon he'll be up there as one of the top strikers in the league.
I think next season if we pair him up with a clinical striker like a Zawada it'll be a lethal pairing as Eze can do a lot of the running and causing chaos which will lead to half chances that the other striker can pounce on.
Was it Marto who said Eze was going to be a dud? Kudos to Chiefy & Gill. Early days but it looks their scouting of the Iraqi league was justified.
I still think Eze's a strong risk of getting a red card at some point. Didn't see much of the Mariners game, but maybe he's now getting more familiar with the physical nature of the ALM, and the refs being lenient on tough challenges. Less red mist.
The 'made in Nigeria' goal was so nearly a thing. Hopefully there is a route one Oluwayemi assist at some point before the season is done.
He doesn't seem too dirty other than that one incident, so the red card worry is more as long as he doesn't get wound up by the other team and lashes out. The one thing I've noticed which I'm not the biggest fan of is he tends to go down quite easily which isn't always the worst thing to win fouls on occasion but the more annoying thing is he tends to go down and stay down even when play is still going on and he's clearly not actually injured.
Was it Marto who said Eze was going to be a dud? Kudos to Chiefy & Gill. Early days but it looks their scouting of the Iraqi league was justified.
I still think Eze's a strong risk of getting a red card at some point. Didn't see much of the Mariners game, but maybe he's now getting more familiar with the physical nature of the ALM, and the refs being lenient on tough challenges. Less red mist.
The 'made in Nigeria' goal was so nearly a thing. Hopefully there is a route one Oluwayemi assist at some point before the season is done.
He doesn't seem too dirty other than that one incident, so the red card worry is more as long as he doesn't get wound up by the other team and lashes out. The one thing I've noticed which I'm not the biggest fan of is he tends to go down quite easily which isn't always the worst thing to win fouls on occasion but the more annoying thing is he tends to go down and stay down even when play is still going on and he's clearly not actually injured.
Also it'll be interesting to see how his goals to shots & chances ratio develops. He and Cosgrove and Randall will make for an interesting comparison.
He really is everywhere, seems like will keep being a big nuisance to defenders. Hopefully as the season progresses he develops his composure and touch, then I reckon he'll be up there as one of the top strikers in the league.
I think next season if we pair him up with a clinical striker like a Zawada it'll be a lethal pairing as Eze can do a lot of the running and causing chaos which will lead to half chances that the other striker can pounce on.
He really is everywhere, seems like will keep being a big nuisance to defenders. Hopefully as the season progresses he develops his composure and touch, then I reckon he'll be up there as one of the top strikers in the league.
I think next season if we pair him up with a clinical striker like a Zawada it'll be a lethal pairing as Eze can do a lot of the running and causing chaos which will lead to half chances that the other striker can pounce on.
Phoenix just cant win sign guys for two years and people bitch and moan then sign someone who many on here were questioning the signing for one year and surprise surprise people are bitching he will end up in OZ.😲😲
Phoenix just cant win sign guys for two years and people bitch and moan then sign someone who many on here were questioning the signing for one year and surprise surprise people are bitching he will end up in OZ.😲😲
Considering its the A League and we are not one if the big budget clubs then getting Eze was a major plus for the club. I think hes a 10+ goals a season AL striker. If he does then hes certainly leaving....more likely to Europe. Would love to see him play alongside a fit Max Mata at the Nix. Eze buzzes all over the field pulling defenders out of their zone and Mata anchors up front. They would cause havoc. I especially like the way Eze puts in a shift defending. Great guy too! Enjoy him while we can
Quickly becoming one of my favourite imports in recent memory. He's got that fight in him that I'd love to bottle and give to everyone in the squad. Hopefully, despite how the season has gone so far, he's open to signing on for another year or two.
The way the loss hit him today! He’s already up there for me with some classic players like Waffles or Manny Muscat. Get him service and he’ll score and sometimes he’ll just get the ball and bang it home anyway. And he seems like a great team guy.
The way the loss hit him today! He’s already up there for me with some classic players like Waffles or Manny Muscat. Get him service and he’ll score and sometimes he’ll just get the ball and bang it home anyway. And he seems like a great team guy.
Its staggering how he gets some of them shots away when he has no right at all to.
Second half this weekend a couple of pommie gits moved in behind me and they were raving on about how shark Eze was and that he should never have been signed and needed to be subbed, they were very quiet after he scored. I was going to ask to kindly shut it and explain to them that at their rather ample physique I'd be surprised if they could make a tenth of the runs that Eze made.
Eze is a revelation. I didn't expect him to be this good.
There's no way he stays with us, especially given how things are going here and being on a 1 year contract. He will almost certainly now be on the radar for other A-league clubs for next season.
