Ireland V Italy predictions and buildup

[Mr Maroon]

Expected Italy line up according to this (http://www.football-italia.net/oct7x.html) arcticle:


Buffon

Zambrotta Legrottaglie Chiellini Grosso


De Rossi Palombo

Camoranesi Pirlo Iaquinta


Gilardino

[Crosby87]

De Rossi. Oy. Bombs away.

[Colbert Report]

4-0 Italy. I think we're due for a hiding. I still see us getting into the play off no problem after a win at home to Montenegro.

[hunt4the]

all this optimism is a joy to behold....

I reckon bulgaria to beat cyprus, Italy then to beat us 1-0,
nerves get the better of us and we go and lose at home too monty on wednesday, thereby finishing 3rd in the group and left with nothing but a horrible taste in our mouths!!

Worst case scenario I know but someone had to bring this thread down to earth ;)

[SUB of the day]

Italy to coast home 2 nil.

[Mr Maroon]

Claudio Marchisio is out injured.

[Splurge]

Anyone know if you can pay at the gates going in? I want to see this one but cant go to the game the following wednesday, can you buy tickets seperate?

[Razors left peg]

Anyone know if you can pay at the gates going in? I want to see this one but cant go to the game the following wednesday, can you buy tickets seperate?

not a chance of them taking cash at the gate but there would probably be a few tickets floating around up there

[SuperDave]

all this optimism is a joy to behold....

I reckon bulgaria to beat cyprus, Italy then to beat us 1-0,
nerves get the better of us and we go and lose at home too monty on wednesday, thereby finishing 3rd in the group and left with nothing but a horrible taste in our mouths!!

Worst case scenario I know but someone had to bring this thread down to earth ;)

I fear a situation like that, where we play well against Italy and are unlucky to lose, with us getting a goal against montenegro early enough and then sitting back deeper and deeper and maybe conceding, maybe not..... God I hope I'm not right.... I just want Cyprus to do us a favour on Saturday.

[punkrocket]

Can someone please remind me who's on a yellow going into the Monty game?

Do yellows carry over into the play offs or are they scrubbed after the group stages? ....... as I fully expect us to be there.

[wdunne]

I think they are scrubbed, not 100% sure though

[irishfan86]

Do yellows carry over into the play offs or are they scrubbed after the group stages? ....... as I fully expect us to be there.

As far as I'm aware, cards carry over into the playoffs, but once qualification is secured, everybody is given clean slates for the tournament (unless they have been suspended in advance).

[Splurge]

not a chance of them taking cash at the gate but there would probably be a few tickets floating around up there

Is there anyway to get a ticket for just the Italy game then?

[Razors left peg]

Is there anyway to get a ticket for just the Italy game then?

there are always people with spare ones around the pubs

[Mise Le Mas]

IT looks lke Lawerence might get the nod instead of Hunt as that was the setup in both training session's wed' and Thursday?

[drummerboy]

there are always people with spare ones around the pubs

Trap seems to prefer starting Hunt in the away games, for his work-rate. He will certainly get the crowd going if he does come off the bench in Croker.

[shakermaker1982]

1-1 & I'm so glad I'm able to make it after a bout of illness.

We'll score early and then not go outside our own half for the rest of the game before conceding a deflected shot in injury time. I don't think you can play both Hunt and McGeady in the same team. Both inconsistent and liable to lose the ball at any moment. If the team concentrate (Kilbane needs a big game), don't concede silly fouls in danger areas and frustrate then a draw is feasible. If we concede early and look sloppy from the get go then we're in trouble.

[paul_oshea]

shaker come down to kates, be good to put a name to the face, plus the CDs are great that babysis has made :D

[shakermaker1982]

shaker come down to kates, be good to put a name to the face, plus the CDs are great that babysis has made :D

I might pop in tonight and have a look around! Get in at 8.30pm and will test the body to see if it is able to drink some guinness before the big day tomorrow. Somebody was telling me there is some Germany beer festival on at the moment with maids serving beer?! :D

[tetsujin1979]

reading around the reports, the management seem to favour Lawrence over McGeady because of his physicality against Grosso. To be honest, you'd have to agree with them, Grosso is 6"3 and a tank, McGeady is 5"10, and slight.

[youngirish]

As someone mentioned earlier can you imagine going into the Montenegro game needing a win with a midfield of Miller and Rowlands if Whelan and Andrews pick up bookings against Italy (quite likely the way Whelan tackles). I wouldn't be able to watch.

[Mise Le Mas]

Yes it's Lawerence, i for one think it's long overdue, although in such a big game and to leave out Hunt not sure, maybe if it doesn't work then no better player than Hunt to come on and to really have a go at the Italian's, maybe it does make since

[Noelys Guitar]

Here is the team
Shay Given, John O'Shea, Richard Dunne, Sean St Ledger, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Aidan McGeady, Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane.

Hunt can be brought on as in Bari. Lawrence to score from a free kick or header.

[Razors left peg]

Here is the team
Shay Given, John O'Shea, Richard Dunne, Sean St Ledger, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Aidan McGeady, Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane.

Hunt can be brought on as in Bari. Lawrence to score from a free kick or header.

Apart from Kilbane starting and Andy Reids exclusion Im happy with that team. I like the thinking of Lawrence ahead of Hunt and I always prefer Hunt coming on as a sub to inject a bit of energy if we need it

[richieos]

Thats a really attacking team from trap, its been a while since ive been this excited about a starting line up. The set piece delivery from lawrence will add so much to our game and make us much more of a threat throughout, he also holds onto the ball much better than hunt, great decision from trap

[geysir]

It's weird that a team can look decent enough under a good manager and the same team can look shaky with a poor manager in charge.

[Wolfie]

Here is the team
Shay Given, John O'Shea, Richard Dunne, Sean St Ledger, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Aidan McGeady, Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane.

Hunt can be brought on as in Bari. Lawrence to score from a free kick or header.

Happy enough with that selection - the team almost picks itself now.

Duff a big loss through injury but I'm happy to see Lawrence get the nod.

Duff has an understanding with Keane that can't be matched - eg, home goal against Cyprus, 2nd goal away to Cyprus.

I'd like to see Best introduced at some stage - he's got an urgency but a level of composure with it, that could unsettle the Italians.

[Razors left peg]

I'd like to see Best introduced at some stage - he's got an urgency but a level of composure with it, that could unsettle the Italians.

and hes in great goalscoring form at the moment

[DeLorean]

I'm happy with Lawrence as well. It's a big occasion for him though, bigger than anything he's done before I'd imagine.It gives the side a better balance too with McGeady certainly doing his best work cutting in from the left. Like somebody else said it should also help us retain possession a bit better and Hunt is a super option from the bench, should we need him.

[jay1]

I can see this match being a real boring one. The way the both teams play is painfully boring. Probably a 0-0. Hope I'm wrong.

[DeLorean]

I can see this match being a real boring one. The way the both teams play is painfully boring. Probably a 0-0. Hope I'm wrong.

Hope you're right. Can't see us getting top spot so a point closer the playoff will do fine. Really don't see us losing to Montenegro but it could be a very frustrating evening if we needed to win.

[Brendan 82]

I have a good friend that is high up in the marketing department in McDonald's Ireland. He has pretty much confirmed that if Ireland qualify for the World Cup we will be soon seeing, that's right you guessed it... The McShane burger

[gufct]

Im missing this game as its my mothers 80th birthday gutted as the only other game ive missed is the Mony away one but my mothers birthday has to come first. I have a feeling we are going to win this and all those people who were giving away their tickets for wednesday will be kicking themselves.

Heading to a wedding in Malta on Monday but ill be back in Dublin in plenty of time for wednesdays k.o..Lets forget about who is not in the squad and concentrate on the players who are and who have us on the brink of Qualifacation.

[irishfan86]

I'm excited to see Lawrence get the start, but I feel for Hunt, as he has given his all for us in terms of effort.

McGeady playing down the left side may also be an advantage, as he seems to be better at cutting in and shooting from that side.

My only concern would be that a left-side of Kilbane and McGeady may be a bit frail defensively.

[Lenny82]

Off the subject here, but does anyone know if Cyprus v Bulgaria is on the telly? If not, can anyone suggest a good website that it can be watched from?

[irishfan86]

Off the subject here, but does anyone know if Cyprus v Bulgaria is on the telly? If not, can anyone suggest a good website that it can be watched from?

myp2p.eu or http://www.rojadirecta.org/ are your best bets.

[richieos]

i have a feeling that tommorow is the day that kevin doyle will write his name into irish football history

[SkStu]

i have a feeling that tommorow is the day that kevin doyle will write his name into irish football history

that sounds EPIC! :cool:

[Noelys Guitar]

i have a feeling that tommorow is the day that kevin doyle will write his name into irish football history

have the same feeling. He was definetely injured against Italy in Bari and did not play as well as he usually does. He has been excellent for a poor Wolves team in the last few games and I can see Doyler scoring and causing all types of problems for the Italian back line.

[Razors left peg]

I said a few days ago that I was finding it hard to get excited about this game. Now that the day is here Im not able to go coz Im in bed with food poisoning, Im absolutely devastated. Very confident about the game itself, we will miss Duffer majorly but Robbie and Doyler are in fantastic form. We are gonna win this game 2-1