Article by Ken Early (one of our better journalists imo) on the current plight of Stephen. Good read.
http://www.joe.ie/football/football-...enius-006720-1
Good read that. Quite liked the comparison with Schweinsteiger, even if it seems completely out of left field.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Great article, very well written.
Good article, but I disagree with his last point. I don't think Ireland is a hard worker. He sometimes switches off completely when playing games - like against Sunderland recently.
Are Ken Early and Mick wallace related? And the guitarist in Spinal tap for that matter.
good article but stephen ireland is a good footballer not a genius
FWIW, I think much of the article is the usual constructed nonsense, not unlike the logic that says the team won despite the manager and loses because of him. There is a pretend world that some journalists exist in.
He ends up tying himself up in knots with the last sentence "Some men you just can't reach", probably should have started the article with that line and develop the thought process from that point.
The article reckons Houllier was cráp with players at Liverpool because of examples a b c.
The jist of the rest of the article - Houllier has a dysfunctional talented player in his squad and will not succeed in turning him into a functional player because Houllier has not the language to communicate with/ or the knowledge to guide SI, but Trap could have done that if only SI could've listened to the old maestro coach, ironically - using a support quote from Hamann, a player who Houllier signed for Liverpool.
IMO, Houllier has a dysfunctional talented player, a player who not only did turn his back on Trap, but also acted impudently and insulted Trap (along with every other manager), a player who Bruce and Mancini could not work with and forced out at considerable expense.
If Stephen Ireland can not work with Houllier, it is no reflection on Houllier's competence.
geysir probably makes much better points than i will - i thought the part with schweinsteiger was interesting, if he's the anti-stephen ireland then ballack must be the bald one's german doppleganger.
point being, that mr. early's contention that s. ireland needs to be "constantly behind the ball" or aware of who's covering his space as he roams forward isn't necessarily correct. it IS, if a team is set up that way - with the intent that every notional midfielder must work his socks off/graft/tackle/track etc. but plenty of teams have allowed gifted players the freedom to purely attack via the central 'half-striker' ("mezzapunta") position. the unfortunate thing is that these players can appear superfluous at the best of times and outright liabilities at the worst, particularly when the flow of the game is going against their team.
ballack seemed to exemplify this with chelsea. i can't stand the player (dire cheat, though he's undoubtedly talented). upon initial impressions he seemed oddly utilized with them. his sole responsibility *appeared* to be waltzing casually about near the opponent's back-line, with the intention of creating the attacking rhythm schweinsteiger spoke about. stephen ireland is similar and i don't really buy ken early's contention that he's all about "hollywood passes and goals". ireland is actually quite zen in his play and, at his best, often finds simple angles that create momentum, rhythm, and dangerous situations for defences ("yeah, his own" i hear you murmur). some of his one-touch play particularly, can be terrific.
unfortunately, like ballack, ireland is also a douchebag and at the present time, i wouldn't sacrifice two holding players to accomodate him in our team.
zombie/thread killer..
I thought this bit was bang on:
Roy Keane was not a great player because when things got hot and heavy he would hit someone like Zinedine Zidane. He was a great player because in any given match he would get on the ball more often and play more passes, more accurately, than anyone else.
The violence and intimidation just added flavour.
The ability to get on the ball again and again to influence the course of a game is not a gift but an art that is developed with time and effort. For all his talent, Ireland has yet to work it out.
The Schweinsteiger quote was interesting - especially if it's finessed like ken foree does. Schweinsteiger was essentially saying that he helps determine the shape and the tempo of his team. Stephen Ireland can only react to it. Stephen Ireland can help a team that's on top of the opposition see off the opposition. But Ireland will never get his team on top of the opposition like a player like Scweinsteiger can. Stephen Ireland is not the missing link for the Irish team for this reason.
He came on in the last few minutes against Fulham, looked lively and stroked a few nice passes, then Fulham equalised.
I'd say there is a place for him in that team if he is willing to apply himself to what the coach expects.
Opinion based on 3 minutes viewing.
I like the way national team is underlined in the article.
The downward spiral gathers pace, cant see the Liverpool move having any substance, Joe Cole there already and I doubt Ireland would be Hodgsons ''kind of people'' as it were.Originally Posted by The Fly
Then again, Hodgson may not still be there either, or in charge of transfers even if he is, so you never know.
Such a shame, such a waste of talent, talent we really needed, a Stephen Ireland fulfilling his potential in club and international terms would negate the need to court the likes of Noble and O'Hara.
Interesting that Villa have signed Robert Pires, who even at 37 can probably outclass baldy.
My Guarantee
Am looking for old Irish matches on VHS, PM me if you have some and I'll upload them here
More interesting that Pires came on for Ireland today. Ireland started well actually, but then disappeared into the game, but I don't remember a bad pass from him to be honest.
I don't remember a good pass either.
Didn't he get caught out for Blackburn's 2nd goal, giving the ball away.
He got seriously muscled off the ball a couple of times as well. Commentator noted that he's a player to suit systems, and that villa aren't playing one. Point made, and maybe in line with Houllier's comments is that Ireland must start widening his game to avoid the "luxury" tag.
Zonal Marking did a compare and contrast of Pires' and Ireland's contributions from the game at the weekend using the Guardian's chalkboard feature: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...sis?CMP=twt_gu
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