Ireland V South Africa - Tuesday, 8th September 2009 - Friendly - Thomond Park

[SkStu]

definite peno there crazy decision!!

[weldoninhio]

Know that feeling. I remember being able to say things like "are you watching the big game at the weekend" and everyone would assume I was talking about a qualifier.

Now they assume firstly that I'm talking about an all-ireland match / heineken cup match / premiership match. :(

But if Ireland qualify for this it'll get the team in the spotlight again so maybe it's not all doom and gloom. :D

Do you honestly think that even if we get to SA, that there won't be doom and gloom? Any top side will tear us apart, especially our midfield. Its not like before when the team went for it and got the fans excited about watching the team.

Under Trappatoni the emphasis is on not losing, rather than winning. Which is a fine philosophy for a tight qualifying group, but in a play-off situation or a tournament these tactics won't excite fans and get them behind the team and won't help us progress from the group stages. There has to be a balance. Ireland don't have this balance under Trap.

[geysir]

Ray must have been a perfect player in his day.

[Tipp Townie]

here!

http://www.justin.tv/greasychipbutty

quality, thanks lads

[geysir]

Keogh will hit the 10km marker soon.

[geysir]

26m Gibson on the ball, where did he come from?

[rambler14]

Those South Africans are dirty pr!cks. All they use in the tackle are their elbows.:mad:

[geysir]

So far the games is
SA pass it around
Ireland run around to try and stop them

[geysir]

Ray agrees with me

[kingdomkerry]

Its brutal to watch. SA are dominating posession. Kieth Andrews looks like the worst player on the pitch constantly giving the ball away.

We cant even string 5 passes togeter

[geysir]

Lawrence free kick 27m out
cracker goal

[elroy]

Fantastic free kick, one nil Lawrence.

Our first attempt on goal

[rambler14]

What a goal!

[centre mid]

super free kick, fair play.

[SkStu]

lovely goal - these SA players are FILTHY!

[SkStu]

honestly for a second string, its a decent performance.

[geysir]

Ray wants 2 more

[geysir]

To call us a - one pass then hoof it or lose it - team is grossly unfair.

We do a lot of running as well

[irishfan86]

honestly for a second string, its a decent performance.

Not really. Okay, we're in the lead, but we can't keep the ball at all.

[tricky_colour]

That was a quality free kick from Lawrance.

[centre mid]

it would be nice if we could keep the ball, nobody to get a grip of the midfield at all.

[kingdomkerry]

HT 73% possession to SA!!!!

[elroy]

Jaysus who is your wan doing the voice over on the ground, most annoying voice ever. Ronnie was struggling against it.

[Fester]

Great Goal, and we should of had a peno, other than that we cannot hold 2 passes together.

[MeathDrog]

Very harsh on Doyle/Andrews to ask them to play again only 3 days after the Cyprus match.

[MeathDrog]

This is dire stuff. Really poor for international standard.

[Fester]

Very harsh on Doyle/Andrews to ask them to play again only 3 days after the Cyprus match.

Best on for Doyle

[MeathDrog]

Ohhh good play there! Lawrence unlucky.

[eaststand85]

Missed first half which sounded dire but second half seems a useful exercise so far. Folan and Best working well and Lawrence got on the ball and used it well a couple of times. SSL getting chance to show what he can do without Dunne and O' Dea being given a taste of international football.

Andrews and Gibson anonymous though. Is it always our CM players who are that bad or is it Traps tactics at this stage?

[elroy]

As a midfield, we really dont want to/cant show for the ball near enough. The number of times that either of the midfield has had sustainable possession of the ball is few and far between.

[Murfinator]

To be fair you rarely notice them playing for blackburn or stoke either.

[Fester]

Best playing well since he came on..

[oconghc2]

Really is poor showing by some of the Irish players - even for a friendly! You cant deny that they are making an effort but I find it hard to believe that they are this bad technically! Stephen Kelly looks frightened every time he gets the ball. Gibson has hardly looked for a pass all evening. I want to blame Trap but these players should be well able to put the foot on the ball and make some of their own decisions on the pitch.

[eaststand85]

Really is poor showing by some of the Irish players - even for a friendly! You cant deny that they are making an effort but I find it hard to believe that they are this bad technically! Stephen Kelly looks frightened every time he gets the ball. Gibson has hardly looked for a pass all evening. I want to blame Trap but these players should be well able to put the foot on the ball and make some of their own decisions on the pitch.

Agreed but could be like under Charlton where they're afraid to go against orders and risk whatever chance they have of playing in future.

[boovidge]

Performances from Best and Lawrence are positives.

[Fester]

Performances from Best and Lawrence are positives.

and perhaps O'Dea who has done alright

[Jicked]

Overall I'm pretty happy with that night's work.
The archetypal Trapattoni performance. Think of all the possession SAfrica had and then remember they didn't have a single shot on goal in the whole game. Let them have as much of the ball as they want in certain areas but don't give them an inch in the final quarter, and crowd the box when in defence. It means we have no attacking midfield, but with the quality we have on the wings and up front we'll still always create 3/4 chances to score.

Lawrence put in a very good shift, Folan continues to impress me (even though he must be the most defensive striker I've ever seen...we've had holding midfielder, he's like a holding attacker). I still don't rate either St Ledger or Nolan too highly yet, get the impression both have a big mistake in them. Best did well coming on too, though Keogh really is a waste of time on the left.

[Fester]

Anyone get the attendence?

[centre mid]

best was bright enough when he came on, we actually may have some options upfront now. midfield again was none existant.

[Noelys Guitar]

lawerence looked good. If he had a little more pace he would be a top player. We should have had 2 penos

[Tipp Townie]

Yep Best did well for 10mins or so after he came on, but then the supply dried up. Lawrence can be pleased with his shift- great goal and some nice touches.

I thought Nolan had a bit of a mare to be honest, almost always lost the ball when it came to him. Ledge looked a little shaky i thought. And Keogh was pretty anonymous, although arguably he's out of position.

[boovidge]

Overall I'm pretty happy with that night's work.
The archetypal Trapattoni performance. Think of all the possession SAfrica had and then remember they didn't have a single shot on goal in the whole game. Let them have as much of the ball as they want in certain areas but don't give them an inch in the final quarter, and crowd the box when in defence.

We didnt look that comfortable at the back and we'll be facing alot better strikeforces than South Africa's.

[tricky_colour]

Largely a defensive performance the S Africans had a lot of possession but few chances on goal with so many defenders back, you never felt they could score.

[Jicked]

We didnt look that comfortable at the back and we'll be facing alot better strikeforces than South Africa's.

I thought we did look pretty comfortable, you have to remember the way we're set up to play. Them having possession around the edge of our box doesn't mean we're not comfortable when we have two banks of eight between them and the goal. Not once did they really get past either bank of defence and create a chance.

[geysir]

Has Ronnie got all the stock phrases flowing on tele-pronter

[Stuttgart88]

To call us a - one pass then hoof it or lose it - team is grossly unfair.

We do a lot of running as well

Very good.

Hey, I saw Iceland U21 were 4-0 up against NI U21 at HT tonight.

I didn't see a Geysirsson on the scoresheet.

[irishfan86]

Not many positives to take in terms of our play, but we defended well with a back four that has hardly played together.

If Liam Lawrence has jumped ahead of Keogh in the winger pecking order the exercise will have been well worth it.

[geysir]

A much more confident Lawrence tonight. The free kick just exemplified that.
Not bad progress from his first game. He was the biggest plus of the night.

With Folan, you'd have to applaud the way he has adapted to the team and becoming a genuine sub option after minimal game experience.

[Stuttgart88]

More positives than negatives for me. Seriously.

Negatives:
The usual gaping hole in midfield. Andrews puts himself about but just doesn't use the ball well enough. Gibson just has to be more assertive. He's got the ability so show the willingness to get on the ball. All the time. Demand it as Houghton was saying. Gibson really needs to get out of his comfort zone.

Failure for the ball to stick upfront, but that's largely down to the failings in CM. The balls forward are from deep and are speculative & inaccurate as a result.

Positives:
The shape without the ball. Instead of pressing the ball we simply set ourselves across the pitch and give the opposition little way through. Very disciplined & organised. Very boring to watch but effective.

A lot of the younger lads did well:

Kelly looked comfortable, SSL looked good, McShane looked confident - good on him -, Nolan didn't unimpress if you know what I mean but didn't do much to catch the eye either, O'Dea looks a player. Westwood has a confident demeanour & took a tough catch when called upon. Narrowed the angle properly for their chance late in first half.

Lawrence did well enough but not enough to be a starter. As if86 says, has to be ahead of Keogh in that position though.

Keogh - not fair to rate him. Thankless job playing so out of position.

Best impressed.

So, for me - a useful look at younger player (almost all in defence) and again nothing wrong that a better CM wouldn't put right.

[Tipp Townie]

With Folan, you'd have to applaud the way he has adapted to the team and becoming a genuine sub option after minimal game experience.

Totally agree