Republic of Ireland V Georgia - Wednesday, 11th February 2009 - World Cup 2010 Q

[DeLorean]

I enojoyed McGeady's performance above all else on Wednesday. He showed glimpses of it against Cyprus but really stepped it up the other night, and to his credit he did it at a stage where Ireland were looking for someone to stand up and be counted in a creative sense. I would disagree that he should be played on the right with Duff on the left cos he undoubtedly does his best work on the left cutting in. I know it's restricting Duff a bit but I think McGeady is the player we need to facilitate at this stage as he could be something huge for us. His ability to beat players is something I haven't seen in a long time in a green shirt. I would be tempted to play him on the right in Bari if Dossena is left back and tell him to run at him all night long!!

As for the comments about Italy's WC winning team I'd also like to add that they gave me huge enjoyment when watching that tournament. They have a fantastic resiliance about them which was evident again in the Euros but they always seem to be up against it with no real top class forward, much like Portugal.

[geysir]

The thing with McGeady is his errors are more glaringly obvious than other players. You could here groans from a few over hit crosses or if he got dispossessed while tryinng to beat his man.

I thought McGeady had a good first half despite a few mistakes. He always tried his utmost to be positive and looked dangerous. Him and Duff will be very important in this campaign.
I didn't notice through my blinkers that McGeady got dispossessed even once in the 1st half.

Does someone want to actually list all the dreadful things McGeady did in the first half apart from the 3 poor crosses.
I don't count the one that was a good attempt to catch the goalie off his line as being a poor effort.

[irishultra]

McGeady was above average in first half, his crossing though was shocking.

[stojkovic]

I suppose if Stephen Kelly played for Celtic then he would not have been at fault for the goal.

I still do not know what all the fuss is about McGeady, average player. Another Mark Kennedy.

Obviously I hope that he proves me wrong.

[eirebhoy]

I suppose if Stephen Kelly played for Celtic then he would not have been at fault for the goal.

haha :D

[The Fly]

I still do not know what all the fuss is about McGeady, average player. Another Mark Kennedy.

Christ Almighty!!!

[John83]

I pity those fools...
Never a Harps fan when you need one.

[The Legend]

[QUOTE=stojkovic;1104518] Another Mark Kennedy.

QUOTE]

wow, thats below the belt there man! :D

[Kingdom]

I was looking through previous results, as an after thought, and thats the first time we've won a (competitive) game after conceding first since 2001 against Andorra.
Hopefully the end result is the same.

[stojkovic]

Another Mark Kennedy.

wow, thats below the belt there man! :D

Well Starsky did have the odd decent game aswell.

[stojkovic]

I was looking through previous results, as an after thought, and thats the first time we've won a (competitive) game after conceding first since 2001 against Andorra.
Hopefully the end result is the same.

And before that Luxembourg in 1987 !

[eirebhoy]

Jesus that's some stat.

You know Liverpool under Houllier never came from behind at half-time to win the match? He was there 6 seasons. Benitez's team came from behind at h/t to win the match 3 times in his first 3 months. They've done it plenty of times since.

[tetsujin1979]

I heard before that before Benitez, they hadn't come from behind at half time to win since Notts County in 1991, so it's more than just Houllier!!

[Stuttgart88]

As for the comments about Italy's WC winning team I'd also like to add that they gave me huge enjoyment when watching that tournament. They have a fantastic resiliance about them which was evident again in the Euros but they always seem to be up against it with no real top class forward, much like Portugal.I'm not sure if I'm misisng the point here but I only put up the spoof Italian comments to show how ludicrous the reaction to this game has been in Ireland. By all objective assessments we made mistakes and relied on a lucky decision but we got the 3 points and on watching the game again the operformance was far better than it felt at the time. There's no place for the utter defeatist bullsh1t from the likes of Indo when you've won a game you could have lost. Even Brian Kerr gave guarded credit -noting that the full backs started getting forward (they don't under Trap's Plan A) and that it'll take a tougher test in midfield before we can comment properly on Andrews. Compare that to David Kelly's garbage "midfield was obliterated". The only thing that was obliterated this week was any inclination I have to buy the Indo for pre & post match reporting.

[NeilMcD]

The Indo is rubbish not just for football. It should be boycotted by everybody as its reporting of the economy is terrible also. The Sunday Indo and The Irish Indo belong in the bin. Examiner is good for football coverage and the Times is fair when reporting on the Irish Senior International Football matches.

[Superhoops]

I didn't notice through my blinkers that McGeady got dispossessed even once in the 1st half.

Does someone want to actually list all the dreadful things McGeady did in the first half apart from the 3 poor crosses.

I don't count the one that was a good attempt to catch the goalie off his line as being a poor effort.

00:40: McGeady stood off the right back who picked up the short free kick and whose cross was headed across the box, resulting in the Georgia goal.

02:00: stood back waiting and never competed for a Kilbane pass allowing the Georgian full back to clear comfortably

05:10: miscontrolled a simple pass from Kilbane, ball went out for a Georgia throw.

05:40: ran onto a ball on the left that came off a defender in yards of space and hit a woeful cross far too near to the goalkeeper at least 10 yards away from Doyle the nearest Irish forward

07:55: took a pass out on the left from Duff and crossed (shot! :))the ball way ahead of any of the forwards and over the nearside post/bar

08:45: took a back heeled pass from Keane, beat a player and hit a low short pass/cross into the nearside of the box which might have been intended for Keane but which was behind him.

09:30: clumsily ran across Iashvilli, needlessly gave away a foul in the centre circle which allowed the Georgians to break free down the left side, thankfully their attempt to cross was worse than McGeady’s first efforts.

11:30: half heartedly went for a Keane layoff then dived in and gave away a free on the touchline

12:30: took another lay off from Keane down the left after Doyle won the ball in the air and hit a pass straight to a Georgian defender with Keane and Doyle at least 20 yards away

15:40: took a pass out on the left from Doyle, tried outside the full back, came back inside and hit another woeful cross that did clear the first defender in the box.

17:05: took a pass from Duff, this time on the right, and once again, hit a weak cross that did not beat the first defender

23:35: picked up another ball down the right, ran the full back and crossed but yet again the ball never beat the first defender who cleared for a corner

31:55: picked up a pass from Andrews in his own half on the right, then played a badly placed and paced pass to Whelan who was dispossessed in the centre circle

38:20: won a good corner after chasing down a long through ball from O’Shea but then wasted it taking a short corner to Duff from which the Georgians won a throw in.

39:05: took another lay off from Doyle down the right hand side tried to go outside the full back but once again a low weak cross did not clear the first defender

40:25: McGeady’s best moment when he picked up the ball well inside his own half, ran at the defence and shot from about 25 yds forcing a save from the keeper

44:20: poor attempt to pick up a short pass from Doyle, looked like he pulled out from challenging the defender

01:04 of added time: McGeady’s first decent cross from a corner on the left.

[tetsujin1979]

For some reason my DVR only recorded the first half last night, I'll stick that online if anyone wants to watch it?Managed to get the first half compressed from over 2GB to a little under 600MB, I'll upload it to megaupload or something in work on monday.
Forgot to mention, it also includes the pre-match discussion from RTE.

[Supreme feet]

I'm happy with Ireland's results so far, and with Wednesday night. International football really is a crazy, crazy business at times, and we'll take any breaks we can get.

There's no doubt that we're better than Georgia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Cyprus on paper - but it's another thing getting results. It's not like ten years ago when we could hammer Malta 5-0 and beat Cyprus 4-0 home and away. The small teams have improved.

More teams are packing the midfield and grinding out results. In the last campaign, Germany were the only team we played against who didn't try to outnumber us in midfield; which could explain why Andy Reid was excellent against them, while struggling against Cyprus four days later.

There have been so many times when results against small nations have cost us; Liechtenstein '95, Iceland '96, Lithuania '97, Macedonia '97 and '99... The last two successful qualifying campaigns - 1994 and 2002 - were built on a 100% record against the lesser teams. And not all of those victories were achieved easily - in fact, they included some of the worst performances in those particular campaigns (Albania away in '93, Andorra home, 2001). Wednesday's result and performance isn't without precedent in the context of a successful Irish team.

Bulgaria and Italy next, and I've a feeling that we'll see the best of this Irish team now. We're a big-match team, always have been, and it's good that Trap has been able to use the last four games to create a settled, competitive side. It all starts here! :)

[geysir]

I did ask for dreadful play examples apart from the 3 poor crosses,
dreadful in football terms means extremely poor.

It does píss me off no end when an Irish fan goes out of his to find fault with one of our players and label his overall first half as dreadful, especially when using pieces of play where he did alright, he did good or he didn't do that bad.



00:40: McGeady stood off the right back who picked up the short free kick and whose cross was headed across the box, resulting in the Georgia goal.
Not dreadfull
McGeady was covering the Georgian nr 14 on the right.
Quite farcical to allude to McGeady at all in that horror of horrors.


02:00: stood back waiting and never competed for a Kilbane pass allowing the Georgian full back to clear comfortably
So so,
He did not compete, but to call that a "Kilbane pass" is a dreadfull description of a hail mary miscontrolled ball.
Kilbanes "pass" was the dreadful thing in that move.


05:10: miscontrolled a simple pass from Kilbane, ball went out for a Georgia throw.
He did.


05:40: ran onto a ball on the left that came off a defender in yards of space and hit a woeful cross far too near to the goalkeeper at least 10 yards away from Doyle the nearest Irish forward
First cross, dreadfull


07:55: took a pass out on the left from Duff and crossed (shot! :))the ball way ahead of any of the forwards and over the nearside post/bar
Not dreadful
3 forwards V 5 defenders, none of the forwards in any good position.
Very good attempt at a shot, Ireland's best effort of the early period, which isn't saying a lot.


08:45: took a back heeled pass from Keane, beat a player and hit a low short pass/cross into the nearside of the box which might have been intended for Keane but which was behind him.
Not dreadful
The ball arrived right onto Robbie's right foot. Robbie chose to step over it.
Not great by McGeady, but not bad.


09:30: clumsily ran across Iashvilli, needlessly gave away a foul in the centre circle which allowed the Georgians to break free down the left side, thankfully their attempt to cross was worse than McGeady’s first efforts.
Clumsy, nothing more.

11:30: half heartedly went for a Keane layoff then dived in and gave away a free on the touchline
Not dreadful play.
Half heartedly is BS description, McGeady gave it 100%.


12:30: took another lay off from Keane down the left after Doyle won the ball in the air and hit a pass straight to a Georgian defender with Keane and Doyle at least 20 yards away
Beautiful control by McGeady to trap a poor lay off by Keane.
Any other player would have not have pulled that off.
Awful pass into empty space.
Only pass miscontrolled? (apart from the crosses)


15:40: took a pass out on the left from Doyle, tried outside the full back, came back inside and hit another woeful cross that did clear the first defender in the box.
Second poor cross


17:05: took a pass from Duff, this time on the right, and once again, hit a weak cross that did not beat the first defender

3rd poor cross

23:35: picked up another ball down the right, ran the full back and crossed but yet again the ball never beat the first defender who cleared for a corner
Because he is not George Best, not beating a defender is bad play :rolleyes:
You might have noticed the covering defenders had something to do with his choices, both on the outside and the inside, McGeady won a corner FFS. McGeady did very good here.



31:55: picked up a pass from Andrews in his own half on the right, then played a badly placed and paced pass to Whelan who was dispossessed in the centre circle
So so,
it was a solid pass.
Whelan should have played it to Kilbane just out of picture. That was the obvious pass for a CM to make, not let the ball run on past him.
That play just exemplified some of the shortcomings of CM.


38:20: won a good corner after chasing down a long through ball from O’Shea but then wasted it taking a short corner to Duff from which the Georgians won a throw in.
Hard to tell, did Duff pass it back to him in a difficult position?


39:05: took another lay off from Doyle down the right hand side tried to go outside the full back but once again a low weak cross did not clear the first defender
4th poor cross, one more than I thought.


40:25: McGeady’s best moment when he picked up the ball well inside his own half, ran at the defence and shot from about 25 yds forcing a save from the keeper


44:20: poor attempt to pick up a short pass from Doyle, looked like he pulled out from challenging the defender
Ridiculous, if that was McGeady making the pass you´d say awful pass to Doyle who was in a poor position to receive a pass.

[dr_peepee]

I didn't think it was a bad performance overall .... I'd say Lippi was certainly given some food for thought. We had allot of posession. My biggest worries are the central midfield, the fact we didn't test the keeper much despite the posession and how majorly thin the squad is beyond the first team.

[billydoneit]

Great response geysir, some of the criticism of McGeady is way OTT, the wee man needed to put a big shift in and to be fair to him he did just that, easily the most talented player on the pitch Wednesday night.

[Paddy Garcia]

00:40: McGeady stood off the right back who picked up the short free kick and whose cross was headed across the box, resulting in the Georgia goal.

02:00: stood back waiting and never competed for a Kilbane pass allowing the Georgian full back to clear comfortably

05:10: miscontrolled a simple pass from Kilbane, ball went out for a Georgia throw.

05:40: ran onto a ball on the left that came off a defender in yards of space and hit a woeful cross far too near to the goalkeeper at least 10 yards away from Doyle the nearest Irish forward

07:55: took a pass out on the left from Duff and crossed (shot! :))the ball way ahead of any of the forwards and over the nearside post/bar

08:45: took a back heeled pass from Keane, beat a player and hit a low short pass/cross into the nearside of the box which might have been intended for Keane but which was behind him.

09:30: clumsily ran across Iashvilli, needlessly gave away a foul in the centre circle which allowed the Georgians to break free down the left side, thankfully their attempt to cross was worse than McGeady’s first efforts.

11:30: half heartedly went for a Keane layoff then dived in and gave away a free on the touchline

12:30: took another lay off from Keane down the left after Doyle won the ball in the air and hit a pass straight to a Georgian defender with Keane and Doyle at least 20 yards away

15:40: took a pass out on the left from Doyle, tried outside the full back, came back inside and hit another woeful cross that did clear the first defender in the box.

17:05: took a pass from Duff, this time on the right, and once again, hit a weak cross that did not beat the first defender

23:35: picked up another ball down the right, ran the full back and crossed but yet again the ball never beat the first defender who cleared for a corner

31:55: picked up a pass from Andrews in his own half on the right, then played a badly placed and paced pass to Whelan who was dispossessed in the centre circle

38:20: won a good corner after chasing down a long through ball from O’Shea but then wasted it taking a short corner to Duff from which the Georgians won a throw in.

39:05: took another lay off from Doyle down the right hand side tried to go outside the full back but once again a low weak cross did not clear the first defender

40:25: McGeady’s best moment when he picked up the ball well inside his own half, ran at the defence and shot from about 25 yds forcing a save from the keeper

44:20: poor attempt to pick up a short pass from Doyle, looked like he pulled out from challenging the defender

01:04 of added time: McGeady’s first decent cross from a corner on the left.

I can't believe you have taken the time to do this.

It's like counting the shots in Ali against Frasier and saying Frasier actually won the fight.

The fact is that in the second half McGeady turned the game for us. You could see the Georgians standing off him and it seriously affected their confidence and playing style - they got a real shock to their system - in both respects.

You have totally missed the bigger picture. McGeady was excellent.

[Stuttgart88]

I wonder if Andy Reid had done exactly what McGeady had done all night, pass for pass, run for run, what would people have said?

I personally would have started Duff and Andy Reid wide on Wednesday. As Souness says, 2 out and out wingers is a risky strategy, but a winger and a midfielder playing wide ( a la Pires for example) is a different proposition. However, I'm very happy to say that McGeady's creativity and moral courage was probably the biggest factor in turning this game around, Kevin Doyle's influence not far behind.

[Paddy Garcia]

... agree with that too Stutt.

[osarusan]

Like others, I thought McGeady was poor in the first half, and I'm tired of people attributing this opinion to everybody apparently having a predetermined dislike of McGeady, which means we judge him more harshly than other players. The idea that we might simply have seen his performance as less accomplished than other people saw it is seemingly impossible (2 people watched the same game but formed different opinions on how a player performed - never!!).

[eirebhoy]

I got around to watching the first half again and haven't changed my opinion that McGeady was poor in that half. I definitely heard plenty of groans though at one point when he had the ball, didn't run forward and held onto it for a few seconds while looking around.

A lot of fans just think McGeady is brainless (I've heard too many people tell me that now) and feel they know better. If he's standing around looking for an option I believe people think he hasn't a clue what to do. It puts pressure on him to make a stupid pass.

[eirebhoy]

Here's the incident in question:
http://www.zshare.net/video/556535631aaebee0/

The actual pass was exactly the pass Whelan wanted despite Superhoops putting it down as a mistake.

Maybe the groans were because McGeady hadn't got much passing options? I'd certainly call Whelan a passing option in that incident and he was certainly looking for the pass.

Call me paranoid but I was at the match with a guy that's anti-Celtic and he actually sympathised with me in the en after hearing the groans towards for an hour.

[Superhoops]

I can't believe you have taken the time to do this.......
geysir asked the question!

.....Does someone want to actually list all the dreadful things McGeady did in the first half apart from the 3 poor crosses......
Besides, I always record games and watch them again.


....You have totally missed the bigger picture. McGeady was excellent.
In the second half, yes McGeady was excellent, the best player on the pitch. However, in the first half he was poor. I think most people would expect to see a wide player take the ball wide and supply crosses into the box for the front men. In the first half, the only decent cross McGeady got in was from a corner in stoppage time, all his other efforts never beat the first defender.


The point I (and others) have been making is that McGeady had a great second half but not a great match as several on here seem to think, whereas Kevin Doyle worked hard and played well in both halves and IMO was MOTM.

For the record, I have no dislike of McGeady. I want to see him or anyone else who puts on a green shirt playing well. I don't believe that lining up with 2 out and out wide players works for us, especially when the central midfield is not that strong and when our 2 main strikers prefer to play off balls player through the defence rather than from wide.

[The Fly]

Sorry to keep going on about it but..........McGeady is not really a winger. He is a number 10. During the match it was obvious to see that his best moments came from having the ball more centrally!

Trap said he is going play him here at some point. That time is coming!

[tetsujin1979]

Pre match discussion and the first half of the game here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8SFTEMXL

For some reason my DVR didn't record the second half of the game :(

[gspain]

Maybe the groans were because McGeady hadn't got much passing options? I'd certainly call Whelan a passing option in that incident and he was certainly looking for the pass.

Call me paranoid but I was at the match with a guy that's anti-Celtic and he actually sympathised with me in the en after hearing the groans towards for an hour.

I think you are getting paranoid here.

When your winger is running rings around the defence and then failing to clear the first defender it is incredibly frustrating. Yes there were involuntary groans. However Aiden McGeady is one of our more popular players. Some of the stuff I've heard about Glenn Whelan is shocking but I don't think anyone is being anti Stoke City or anti Dublin.

Can I suggest if you are worried about our fans being anti Celtic that you go and support Northern Ireland. Paddy McCourt received nothing but cheers from their fans last Wednesday.

[Kingdom]

Tipp townie makes a valid point in relation to the Georgia result and runner's up spot. It is all well and good us potentially finishing runners up, but if our record isn't good enough then we could lose out in the final play off shake up. I know thats unlikely at this stage given the results so far, but its obviously better to beat the weaker teams and finish 2nd, rather than drawing or losing as could have happened last night.

Just thinking there, the Bulgaria match at home takes on more significance now. A win there (of any sorts) and it makes the Italian clash even greater. Still keeping the feet on the ground though.

[tetsujin1979]

Daniel McDonnell and Roddy Collins were on Off The Ball last night talking about the game, and Trapattoni's team selection: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6CBPJLFG

[Stuttgart88]

Care to summarise for the technological cavemen amongst us?

[tetsujin1979]

Both think we can play better football but accept it might not be as effective, and were disappointed with the booing at half time. Collins especially wants Andy Reid in the side in case we need plan B.
McDonnell didn't say much actually.

[Stuttgart88]

Thanks. Living in London so long now I'm not sure I'd have understood Collins anyway.

[eirebhoy]

I think you are getting paranoid here.

When your winger is running rings around the defence and then failing to clear the first defender it is incredibly frustrating. Yes there were involuntary groans. However Aiden McGeady is one of our more popular players. Some of the stuff I've heard about Glenn Whelan is shocking but I don't think anyone is being anti Stoke City or anti Dublin.

Sorry my English could have been better. I meant my mate is anti-Celtic! ;)

[geysir]

geysir asked the question!

I asked anyone to list all the dreadfull play apart from the 3 crosses.
You overplayed your hand with at least 7 incidents.

Not a good poker player? ;)

[DeLorean]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvewicmRNdw

[DeLorean]

Closed thread.