Serse Cosmi knows the 4-3 win away to Parma only increases the sense of Crotone regret about this season, but he confirms Nwankwo Simy will move on.
The Squali knew they would be relegated if they had lost today, so postponed the inevitable for a little longer, albeit remaining in last place.
“I might be biased, but few teams have so many forwards who can get shots on goal as Crotone,” Cosmi told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s a pity, because this team has always shown quality and our recent defeats have been narrow. Unfortunately, we don’t have the sense of desperation needed for a defence – and the rest of the team – that is battling to avoid relegation. That can be decisive, because we lack confidence and when Parma got back to 3-2, we froze.
Read Also: Simy Bags Brace, Nets 19th Serie A Goal As Crotone Beat Parma Away To End Winless Run
“We make mistakes that frankly are not worthy of this level. It’s a shame, because we have fun with our football and are entertaining for the neutral too. We play, we attack, but we tend to lose.”
The main positive from this season is the flourishing of Nwankwo Simy, who has 19 Serie A goals under his belt.
“He won’t remain in Serie B, because he deserves a different level and could even go abroad,” confirmed Cosmi.
“It’s not easy to understand the sheer potential he has without looking at his statistics. He scored 20 in Serie B last season, 19 in Serie A. That’s a huge amount.
“He has quality and is so calm in front of goal. When he steps up to take a penalty, you just know it’s going in. He will leave Crotone because he deserves a better situation than this.”
12 Comments
Good talk Coach I like ur confidence
Onuachu may have scored two of recent after much critisms from fans for now performance. However, statistically i think Nwankwo Simy deserves a place in S.E more than Onuachu. Italian league is by far higher than Belgian league and so score 19 goals in Seria A and being rated third best stricker in behind only C boy and Lukaku speaks Volumes. Granted than simy was earlier called like Mr Rohr stated in a recent interview, but how mamy minutes was he given. The fact that Nigeria now has a plethora of strikers of high repute calls for strigent measures to be applied in selecting them and one factor should be quality of league the player is playing in.
Onuachu may have scored two of recent after much critisms from fans for poor performance. However, statistically i think Nwankwo Simy deserves a place in S.E more than Onuachu. Italian league is by far higher than Belgian league and so to score 19 goals in Seria A and being rated third best stricker behind only C boy and Lukaku speaks Volumes. Granted than simy was earlier called like Mr Rohr stated in a recent interview, but how mamy minutes was he given. The fact that Nigeria now has a plethora of strikers of high repute calls for strigent measures to be applied in selecting them and the number one factor should be quality of league the player is playing in before anything else
The most sincere statement I have read from a club president in 2021. “He will leave Crotone because he deserves a better situation than this.”
It baffles me how simmy nwankwo that has 16 league goals is rejected then osimhen that have scored just 5 goals is regarded more and dey operate in dsame Italian league….m confused
@Effion Aniette, abeg leave Osihmen out this . He is special . Whether he scores for Napoli or not does not count bcos because his S.E goals return speaks for itself.We are looking for the second and pwrhaps third .thats whr there is competition.for me i think Simmy should be second ,then Mofi before onuachi
Simi Nwankwo’s feat is remarkable moreso as it is coming playing for a team at the bottom of the league. No doubt he must be given a look in with the Super Eagles. Nobody can ignore quality.
Unfortunately, Simmy will have to prove himself all over again next season (wherever he finds himself) for him to work his way back to the Super Eagles.
This assertion also holds true for other fringe strikers vying for a slot in the national team.
International football resumes in June and runs all the way to November after conclusion of the third round of World Cup qualifiers.
For the June assignment, I will be suprised if Rohr jettisons any of his trusted generals for an international football rookie.
As a consequence, I will be suprised (but pleased nonetheless) if Simmy is included in the squad to face Liberia in June as the current crop of centre forward options for the Super Eagles all finished their respective seasons profitably.
More so, they all delivered the goods for Nigeria in the most recent international assignments.
Osimhen can’t be dropped neither can Iheanacho nor Onuachu who were all pivotal in the morale boosting victories of March Afcon qualifiers.
This now leads us neatly to next season.
Should Simmy keep up this performance by then, then there will be credible claims for his name to be included in the squad for the Afcon and also participation in the latter stages of the world cup qualifiers.
But, these strikers are on fire! In the last 10 years, I don’t think I have witnessed any season where these many Nigerian strikers have painted top flight European leagues green with goals.
This has been quite simply an astonishing season for Nigeria eligible goal getters.
And I get the sense that they will not relent, so next season promises to be even more exciting. More so as they will not want to turn out to be one-season-wonders (even though the likes of Simmy and Umar were prolific last season albeit at less competitive leagues).
So, I am afraid Simmy will have to do it all over again.
You have Ike Ugbo, Josh Maja, Terem Moffi, Isaac Success, Taiwo Awoniyi, Chuba Akpom, Tolu Arokodare, Peter Olayinka and Cyriel Dessers all eager with pent up anger just waiting to take next season by storm with the ultimate reward of an invitation letter from the NFF to come and stake their credentials in national team colours.
And one thing will give each of them an edge : healthy goals-to-games ratio.
The only strikers with an edge are ones currently established in the Super Eagles: Osimhen, Iheanacho, Onuachu and Ahmed Musa (who might well be a centre forward option for the Super Eagles into the future due to his age and years of experience). But even they too have to put their bumper goals harvests of seasons gone by behind them and brace up for breakneck competition for places from June.
So, I still feel Simmy’s chances to break into the Super Eagles team remain slim. If he is scoring and other strikers are doing likewise, Rohr will have to pick those whom he believes can better translate his strategy into results.
From recent interviews, the German seems likely to extend an invitation to Ighalo instead of Simmy if the former Watford man rescinds his international retirement and continues to score goals in the gulf.
And that line of thought extends to other strikers that he trusts regardless of the league they play so long as their efforts are nestling at the back of nets.
It is such a fascinating time to be a Super Eagles supporters. Seeing these many strikers doing well in club football delights the heart every weekend and stirs up healthy debates on invitations to the Super Eagles.
All I can say is: long may it continue.
What a sincere way to commend a player who is really on fire? You have to be a top player to be able to produce 19 seria A goals in a season. These goals make him a candidate for the No9 shirt of any national team in Africa and beyond. Given a different coach, he will be starting every super Eagle’s match as No9. The only player that may challenge him for the No9 shirt in the super Eagles is kele not based on number of goal scored yet this season but based on the quality of the league he is playing in. Onuachu irrespective of the number of goals he has scored may have to be content with a bench role because jupila league is not at the same level with seria A, EPL, laliga etc. It is a miscarriage of justice and fairness to start Osimen ahead of Simy at this point in time.
Just a I predicted. This team is awful, no good defense. Only 2 clean sheets and Simy is number 3 in serie a of goals scored and his team is in relegation zone? How is that possible? This guy is literally carrying the team on his back. The coach even knows Simy deserves better than the team gives him, just doesn’t make any sense to me, a top goal scorer at the bottom of the league
The coach is really being honest about his team and simy. The team didn’t play well defensively and simy deserves to play in the top flight and not serie B.
Osimhen is coach rohrs own find. He took him to the Nations cup ahead of a more experienced iheanacho who was playing for a bigger team and league than Osimhen but Rohr saw something special in him and continued to encourage and groom him and today we are seeing the results.
A player, physically strong, fast and a natural goal scorer. The most expensive Nigerian player signed.
Sure he had a slow start in the serie A , he Is part of a new club, league and new football culture. He is picking up gradually and im expectant that he will reach double figures before the season is over.
So it will take Osimhen probably losing form for the coach to move him down the pecking order.
Simy is a good player and striker and he will get his chance just like onuachu got his and utilized it. But the fact remains not everyone can play at the same time. Given the quality of players we currently have in the team, even some players who are doing very well will be left out of the team.