Republic of Ireland V Uruguay - Tuesday, 29th March 2011 - Friendly

[drummerboy]

I reckon Wilson will be alongside O'Dea in the centre of the defence with Clark left full.

Westwood
Foley - Wilson - O'Dea - Clark
Lawrence - Green - Fahy - Treacy
McCarthy
Long

[geysir]

Friday night, Estonia beat Uruguay 2 -0 on a frosty pitch in front of a well wrapped noisy crowd in party mood.
The Uruguay goalie looks very dodgy.



thumbs up for Estonia

[SwanVsDalton]

From Daniel McDonnell's Twitter:- Ireland have new defender impressing in training match. Goes by the name of Tardelli. Anthony Stokes here on the bench.

Take it that means Stokes has been called up. And we're so short on numbers Marco's had to come out of retirement for training.

[paul_oshea]

I think that shows good team spirit actually.

[Closed Account]

Damien Delaney has been called up too.

[pineapple stu]

Estonia beat Uruguay 2 -0 on a frosty pitch in front of a well wrapped crowd

It does look Baltic there alright...

[SwanVsDalton]

I think that shows good team spirit actually.

Absolutely. I'd say a few of the younger guys would be pretty psyched to get stuck into him - it's easy to forget Tardelli is an all-time great.

[SwanVsDalton]

And more Twitter, Tommy Martin this time:

Going by training this morning team for Uru: Westwood, Foley, Kelly, O'Dea, Clark, Lawrence, Fahey, Green, Keogh, McCarthy, Long #ROI

If it happens - I wouldn't have Kelly at centre back, Wilson can count himself unlucky. But no one can say the deck hasn't been throughly shuffled.

[TrapAPony]

And more Twitter, Tommy Martin this time:

Going by training this morning team for Uru: Westwood, Foley, Kelly, O'Dea, Clark, Lawrence, Fahey, Green, Keogh, McCarthy, Long #ROI

If it happens - I wouldn't have Kelly at centre back, Wilson can count himself unlucky. But no one can say the deck hasn't been throughly shuffled.

Would prefer Wilson instead of Green and Treacy instead of Keogh. Has Marc Wilson done something? He's a Premiership regular now so why does Trapattoni always ignore him?

[shakermaker1982]

Keogh?!

[Dodge]

Stephen Kelly annuonced as captain. Presume the team will be announced soon enough

[Dodge]

Has Marc Wilson done something? He's a Premiership regular now so why does Trapattoni always ignore him?

There's premiership regulars not even in the squad (Ward...)

[SwanVsDalton]

Ireland XI vs Uruguay: Westwood, Foley, O'Dea, Kelly, Clark; Green, Fahey; Lawrence, McCarthy, Keogh; Long

Same as the earlier training side. Basically everyone from the original squad, except the goalies, Wilson and Treacy, have got a start over the last two games, which isn't a bad thing. Be curious to see how they line-up. Think it'll be Keogh with/behind Long...

Formation update:

McDonnellDan

Trap said 4-3-1-1 was the formation. Think he meant 4-2-3-1...McCarthy behind Long..Keogh wide

[Kingdom]

Haven't gone through the thread, but suffice to say he needs to give proper game to the fringe players. I'm delighted to see that he released the old heads - fair ducks to him for that.

There are a number of issues that Trap has to resolve between now and June; Centre half, left full, centre mid and the formation.
Centre half: Dunne needs to be replaced as he is suspended; St Ledger was injured and if he was to be injured for the return then it's effectively two new centre halves we're looking at.
Options include moving JOSH to centre half, or blooding two new players over the next three friendlies. The issue is a bit more complicated as a lot of people had seen Clark as a credible alternative to Killer in the short term and would have been in with a great shout of starting if Ledger and Josh were available the other night.
I would favour Josh moving into centre half myself, as I think we've found a good solid player in Kevin Foley. Also in this situation there is a balance with a left footer and a right footer (if paired with O'Dea) and between the combative defender and the more elegant player (O'Dea the former and Josh the latter). In this respect Clark would be able to play the next few friendlies at left full, with a stand in at centre half in place of JOSH/Ledger. For Tues I'd play Marc Wilson, another option even if he is a defensive midfielder by choice.

So for Tuesday, I'd have a back 4 of:

--Foley--- Wilson--O'Dea---Clark--

for the intention of preparing the 3 newbies for Macedonia, where I'd look for:

--Foley---JOSH--ODea---Clark--(even if he probably will still pick Killer)

Centre midfield is something that needs to be sorted out now, once and for all. For the first time, I'll cede to the notion of dropping Glenn Whelan. He has the ability, I don't care what anyone says, he can pick a pass, but for some reason the past few games, I don't know if it's lethargy or just a deficiency, the game seems to pass him by with ease (but I'd still have him ahead of Green). Personally I'd throw Fahey in, and give him a run of games to give him a chance to grow into the role (the same courtesy that was afforded to Whelan and Andrews initially). Glenn while being the more defensive player in midfield, wouldn't be overly aggressive, and plenty of teams show that you can have an effective midfielder who doesn't necessarily need to throw a boot in to be effective (i.e. tracking runs, blocking off space etc.) so in that regard I wouldn't worry about Keith fahey starting in the centre.
I'd give Gibson another go, he wasn't brilliant against Macedonia but he wasn't gash either, and he demonstrated a proper desire on Sat, and wasn't afraid to give Duff, Keane, and Long a tongue lashing for not tracking back at various times in the second half.
Obviously McCarthy has to be an option, even if it was only a cameo he had, he showed a few positive signs (quick movement and releasing the ball in tight spaces), but the best was where the big lump they had in front of the back 4 tried to shoulder him off the ball and was bounced to the deck. Still he seems to be groomed for the off-the-striker role and it would be no harm in checking that avenue out.

A point on the wingers. There can be no doubt that Duff and McGeady are the first choices. No doubt at all. But I would have them on the opposite wings. There is absolutely no rapport between McGeady and Kilbane - none whatsoever. They don't link up properly, they're not on the same wavelengths, and I've seen the odd waving of hands (or dissent) to each other - not many maybe 3/4 times over the past while. It means that we as a team aren't getting the best offensively from McGeady. I'm not saying it would be any better if he was on the right (where he is playing for the club, very successfully) - but I'd bet that he wouldn't be any worse.

So for Tuesday, I'd be going for:

-----------Fahey-------Gibson----------

--McGeady---------------------Treacy--

---------------McCarthy----------------

Up front is probably the easiest solution of all. Am I right in thinking Long and Keogh are the only fit strikers? If so it's a no-brainer that Long starts, but I can't imagine him getting the full 90, and Keogh really is more of a replacement for Keane/McCarthy, so I dunno what might happen there?

Anyway, after all that, I'd pick this team for a bit of continuity as well as experimentation....

--------------Westwood-------------
Foley------Wilson----O'Dea------Clark

----------Fahey------Gibson---------

McGeady-----------------------Treacy

---------------McCarthy--------------

-----------------Long-----------------

I would give Westwood the full game too.

[irishultra]

4-2-3-1 is the formation we need to start using....good news its being tried out. Keane can be the player we bring on if we need a goal or a bit of whatever robbie keanes meant to bring to the team as a 30 year old, but

mcgeady mccarthy duff

doyle

should be the front 4

[passinginterest]

I don't think it'll be anything other than 4-4-2.

Green and Fahey in the middle Lawrence and McCarthy on the wings.

Slight chance he'll play Kehoe on the wing with McCarthy behing Long but doubt it. Trap likes his rigid 4-4-2 and he'll want all of these players comfortable slotting into it.

[drummerboy]

Wilson gone home because of illness

[SwanVsDalton]

I don't think it'll be anything other than 4-4-2.

Green and Fahey in the middle Lawrence and McCarthy on the wings.

Slight chance he'll play Kehoe on the wing with McCarthy behing Long but doubt it. Trap likes his rigid 4-4-2 and he'll want all of these players comfortable slotting into it.

That's not what he's saying but we'll see.

More Twitter updates from McDonnell:

Trap on selection issues “The referee say to us, we can only play with 11 players. Not 25 or 30.”

Trap just referred to his wingers as swingers. Manuela clarified the error to him. “Ah, double meaning,” he laughed.

[Murfinator]

Ireland XI vs Uruguay: Westwood, Foley, O'Dea, Kelly, Clark; Green, Fahey; Lawrence, McCarthy, Keogh; Long

Same as the earlier training side. Basically everyone from the original squad, except the goalies, Wilson and Treacy, have got a start over the last two games, which isn't a bad thing. Be curious to see how they line-up. Think it'll be Keogh with/behind Long...

Formation update:

McDonnellDan

Trap said 4-3-1-1 was the formation. Think he meant 4-2-3-1...McCarthy behind Long..Keogh wide

RTE are saying its McGeady not Keogh.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/...nd_kellys.html

[Stuttgart88]

SSN saying Westwood, Foley, Clark, O'Dea, Kelly, Green, Lawrence, Fahey, Long, McCarthy, Keogh.

I'll reserve opinion until I see how they line out but it could be interesting. Please not 4-4-2.

Kelly could be left back, but we'd then have 2 left footed CBs, one of whom surely would be better deployed at LB - Clark probably, with Kelly CB makes more sense.

No matter how the others line out, there's no natraul left footer. Fats is most likely to play LHM because he has played there before (likes it) and LL, Long or Keogh would be awful there.

Long has shown he can play wide right, but Keogh has disappointed there. LL, McCarthy, Long, Keogh are all possible options in Trap's mind.

My guess is the following:

---------WW-----
Foley-Kelly-O'Dea-Clark
---Lawrence-Green---
Keogh--McCarthy--Fahey
-------Long------

Even with the XI named, I reckon we could all guess the positions and not get it right.