Republic of Ireland V Paraguay - Tuesday, 25th May 2010 - Friendly - RDS

[SkStu]

Decent performance, good first half and 10/15 mins of the second half. We seemed to retreat into a shell after that. The usual suspects played well, Duff and Doyle. Lawrence continued to enhance his reputation in an Irish jersey, solid from Kelly, JOSH and Sledge. McShane with his mandatory error a game, the guy just never looks competent enough. Westwood kick outs in the second half were very poor for some reason. Whelan and Andrews did ok but again struggled to imposed themselves on the game.

Overall, good performance and keeps the good feeling about the squad going. The subs didnt really have much of an impact so I def would like to see a more balanced mix in the starting eleven on Friday. The likes of Stokes and Fahey should start.

agree with this summary.

do you think that Trap will change it up too much again from the starting line up? He doesnt usually...

[tricky_colour]

We are ranked 43 which is a 4 year low, Paraguay are on 30 so they are not that far ahead of us, so with that and it being a friendly I doubt we well move
much, also it will depend on the result of the game which drops out of the rating (depending on how they do it).

We should be going to S.A instead of Paraguay!!

[theworm2345]

Same old story, good first half, fall apart in the second when the subs come on.

[Crosby87]

Didn't see any of it but the report on soccernet was much more glowing than on here for the most part. Hard bunch to please?

[rebelmusic]

I thought it was absolutely horrific. I wouldnt count anything on the first goal, one of those rare freak messups from defense. Lawrence's goal had a touch of class about it.

I was tearing my hair out watching how much space paraguay were given. It's this tactic of building a fortress around the box that we use, it works for 80 mins, but its not impregnable. This was the worst midfield performance i've seen since trap took over. Any time the ball was there it was only our wingers available.

Possession was 70% to 30%...watching your team win with the opposition having that much of the ball almost feels like a loss. Every long ball we lost, every 1 on 1 header we lost except the odd one mcshane won. Passing was horrific and noone but duff and lawrence seemed to be looking for the ball. Player ratings:

Westwood : 6 - Couldnt have done much with the goal. Had very little else to do, seemed confident tho

Kelly : 7 - Was impressed with kelly. Defended well, made very few mistakes and was decent enough going forward. Seemed hungry.
McShane : 3 - Mainly his fault for the goal. Made a couple of other criminal errors. You can defend very well for most of a game, but consistently it is his error when we concede and he's playing. Simply not trustworthy and not good enough.
St Ledger : 6 - Played well, did very little wrong
O'Shea : 7 : Based on this performance, i think he should replace kilbane and use one of the many right back options over there instead. Made no mistakes, only problem was as usual his distribution was crap

Lawrence : 8 - Thought he deserved man of the match to be honest. Good distribution, was making himself available for the ball, good tracking back, great finish
Whelan : 4 - Good defensively but terrible outside of that
Andrews : 5 - Same as whelan really, a little bit more adventurous going forward
Duff : 8 - Same ol great game from the duffer. Won a lot of crucial free kicks

Keane : 5 - Had one good chance where he let the defender beat him. Didnt really do much all day
Doyle : 8 - Dodgy goal, great assist for lawrence, work tirelessly. Same ol Doyler

Subs :
Green : 5 - Didnt impact the match much but to be honest, i didnt notice any difference between him and whelan/andrews. Pretty much the exact same type of player
Fahey : 5 - Made no impact, did nothing to impress me
Foley : 5 - Same as above, and please trap, dont bother with him as a winger, we have far far better options
Sheridan : 2 - Was he even aware he was playing? Showed no energy at all. For a guy trying to impress his manager he failed imo. Did look ok on the ball when he had it but really could have done better
Long : 6 - Only sub who tried to make an impact. Infused some energy into his game and should have won a late penalty.

[Razors left peg]

The biggest thing to be learned from the game I thought was that Sheridan doesnt have the football intelligence to be an international footballer.His movement off the ball was awful.There were a few times when he could have made a run to either clear space for the other striker or to get in on goal himself and he didnt seem to know what to do.Ive thought the same thing when I seen him play for Celtic a few times and I was hoping for an improvement last night but it didnt happen.Long on the other hand looked pretty sharp when he came on I thought

[theworm2345]

The biggest thing to be learned from the game I thought was that Sheridan doesnt have the football intelligence to be an international footballer.His movement off the ball was awful.There were a few times when he could have made a run to either clear space for the other striker or to get in on goal himself and he didnt seem to know what to do.Ive thought the same thing when I seen him play for Celtic a few times and I was hoping for an improvement last night but it didnt happen.Long on the other hand looked pretty sharp when he came on I thought
I didn't rate Sheridan before today and I definitely don't now. I don't understand why play him over Stokes. Stokes scored 20+ goals in Scotland and Trap hasn't seen him aside from the B games while Sheridan scored 6 and failed in the Championship. Might as well have called up young Joe Mason who actually scored for Plymouth. He's only 21 which is young, but not that young in football terms. Long did OK in his brief cameo but he's far too streaky. Honestly I hope neither of the two are anywhere near the squad when Qualifying starts in the fall. Obviously this is the point of friendlies to figure these things out so I'm not too mad, though I will be if Trap sticks with him.

[Kingdom]

Last night looked every inch a friendly between a side saving itself for the World cup and a team playing out an end of season match. I was impressed with the RDS, and the pitch looked great, but our view was terrible.
Paraguay were excellent on the ball, and the best player on the pitch was there #16. He was central to the possession they had, always available and only because of the lethargy of those ahead of him, his prodding went unrewarded. They stretched us very well too, and the wide ball was on constantly on both sides.

Doyle was magnificent. Stephen Kelly looked like he was on for a shocker, but I thought he came into the game well. Glenn was quiet I thought, whereas Andrews was more involved. We watched Paul McShane specifically, and the fella doesn't seem to have a clue I'm afraid when the opposition show a bit of movement. Twice prior to the goal Santa Cruz and the #11 criss-crossed and McShane was left standing alone, and the goal was directly his fault. I just wouldn't have him anywhere near the team. It's a pity as he's obviously very committed, but even that turns to rashness at times.
We have looked most comfortable as a back 4 with O'Shea and Dunne as our centre-halves and I'd stick with that. Ledger obviously is decent, but tbh I'd prefer to functional competent full-backs managed by two excellent centre-halves, and that should be the main goal defensively. The thought's of McShane replacing Dunne at centre half worry me greatly. He perhaps can combat a bulky forward, but the tricksters will make a fool of him.

[pineapple stu]

did i just hear ppl Booing santa cruz when he went off?????
Yep. Quite a lot of people (though by no means a majority).

Fairly tedious friendly, I thought. Not that I really expected anything else. Was impressed with Green; generally played the simple ball, but moved it around well from the middle.

[elroy]

I thought it was absolutely horrific. I wouldnt count anything on the first goal, one of those rare freak messups from defense. Lawrence's goal had a touch of class about it.

I was tearing my hair out watching how much space paraguay were given. It's this tactic of building a fortress around the box that we use, it works for 80 mins, but its not impregnable. This was the worst midfield performance i've seen since trap took over. Any time the ball was there it was only our wingers available.

Possession was 70% to 30%...watching your team win with the opposition having that much of the ball almost feels like a loss. Every long ball we lost, every 1 on 1 header we lost except the odd one mcshane won. Passing was horrific and noone but duff and lawrence seemed to be looking for the ball.



Im not for a second saying we are at the same level, but we play in a style similar to that adopted by Inter. Its very tight and organised at the back, almost defending our box at times but very hard to break down. Paraguay had plenty of possession against us but most of it was over and back across our defensive line. They often ran out of ideas, resulting in them carelessly losing the ball and we had one or two breaks with Doyle and Duff arising from their errors that we shouldve done more with. Duff particularly shouldve scored on at least one occasion.
I just your point that it can be frustrating to watch but I think if you change your viewpoint and accept that this is the way the lads are being asked to play and for the most part it works well. How many times did paraguay get behind the defensive line, very few.

On the headers, I did notice how JOSH is head and shoulders above everyone else in the team, we're a small team generally.

[MuckaTucka]

We have looked most comfortable as a back 4 with O'Shea and Dunne as our centre-halves and I'd stick with that. Ledger obviously is decent, but tbh I'd prefer to functional competent full-backs managed by two excellent centre-halves, and that should be the main goal defensively. .

Am I the only one who isn't utterly convinced about having O'Shea at centre-half? Don't get me wrong McShane should never be near that team, but O'Shea doesn't fill me with confidence when playing at centre-half. Hopefully O'Dea will start on Friday.

[Declanus]

Have to say fair play to Santa Cruz when he went off he was sitting on the bench . A gang of kids called him and he posed for photographs and signed autographs, shook hands and smiled.
I noticed that a foot.ie flag was hanging in the Angelsea Stand for a while and then removed. Any reason ?

[geysir]

From what I saw on the RTE highlights, I wouldn't hold McShane mainly responsible for the concession of the goal, not even equally responsible.
Overall he did fair enough and is way ahead of O'Dea as the reserve CH. St Ledger had some dodgy moments but he is more composed at CH and good enough to partner Dunne/O'Shea. Josh hasn't had much football before this game.

[tetsujin1979]

Westwood: Goal wasn't his fault. Called and claimed for everything in the 6 yard box. Hard to judge on this performance, because he didn't have much to do

Kelly: Got sucked into the centre a lot in the first half, which conceded a load of space on the right. Overlapped well with Lawrence
McShane: Completely at fault for the goal, charged out and left space for the opposition
St Ledger: Thought he did well coming off the back of a busy season, and carrying a knock. Possibly needs to lead a bit more in an inexperienced back line (that's only nitpicking though)
O'Shea: Solid at left full. With Duff playing a little far forward he didn't have an out ball every time, but that's not his fault. Played the ball onto his right foot a few times, which might cost him under pressure

Lawrence : Excellent finish and never stopped working the whole game. Hope he gets a move in close season
Whelan: Didn't concede possession in the middle of the park, but could have offered more in the final third of the pitch
Andrews: As above
Duff: Excellent game from Duff, carried his club form into the game. Showed some of the old acceleration that seemed to have deserted him up until this season.

Keane: Took a knock and was quiet in the second half. He's had better games, and worse games than this
Doyle: Never stopped running, winning balls in the air, and generally giving the opposition defence something to think about. Fully deserved Man of the Match

Subs:
Green: Won the ball in the centre. At best he's back up to Whelan/Andrews and probably McCarthy next season
Fahey: Huge cheer from the lads in front of me in St Pat's jerseys when he came on but I didn't notice him. I'd like to see him start on Friday
Foley: Wasted on the right wing, especially that late in the game, but Lawrence was clearly tiring.
Sheridan: Despite some of the other comments, I thought he did alright. Showed a nice first touch and won the ball in the air. Another option, but that's all he is
Long: Apart from the penalty, which was right in front of me and I thought was nailed on, he didn't have much time to do anything

Certainly not the worst end of season game I've ever seen, and despite criticism of Trapattoni's lack of experimentaiton, some new caps were handed out. Despite their superior possession, Paraguay never really threatened to score until McShane's mistake, and Ireland did create chances. The amount of subs from both sides left things a bit ragged towards the end. I said at half time it will either finish 3-0 or 2-1. Paraguay weren't too bothered about losing, but they didn't want to get hockeyed either.
There were some nice passages of possession play in the first half, and I'd like to see us build on that against Algeria on Friday. With the U19 playing qualifiers, I hope Cunningham gets a run because otherwise his time would have been much better spent with them

Finally, I'd like to congratulate the Paraguayan girl about 4 rows back from me on the South Stand who never stopped screaming for her team the whole game. At first it was annoying, but eventually it was just impressive!

[Crosby87]

I wonder what some of you on here expect? The team has not qualified for a tourney in almost ten years, this is the winding down point with nothing to play for..... They are not going to look like Spain.
They won.

[shakermaker1982]

I thought we played well first half but faded badly as the match neared 90 minutes.

McShane doesn't look like a professional footballer & always makes the wrong decision. He commits stupid fouls in dangerous areas when there is no need and until he learns how to defend he should be banished from the squad.

I liked the look of Green, full of energy and kept the ball.

Doyle? Excellent as usual.

Andrews was a bit busier than normal and played well in the first half. Whelan was quiet. Lawrence and Duff both had good games.

[ofjames]

where's darron gibson?

not on the bench last night

[twoenz]

He's injured, but was fit enough to golf on Friday.

[Wolfie]

By no means the worst team performance I've seen from Ireland considering its late May.

I'd like to see Green get another run against Algeria. He seemed tidy and composed on the ball. Not suggesting a fast track to first team but could have the potential to feature in the squad if he progresses accordingly.

Not convinced with Kelly at full back. We're nowhere near as strong in the full back positions than we used to be. For years we had nailed on quality and cover. Not any more.

Despite some of our neat play, I think we're missing the additional option of a target man up front.

Keane and Doyle are the obvious first choice, but I'd love us to have the option of introducing a different style of player if needs be.

Later in a game the likes of Keane/Doyle, Whelan, Duff could get some joy from a knock down.

[MuckaTucka]

Despite some of our neat play, I think we're missing the additional option of a target man up front.

Keane and Doyle are the obvious first choice, but I'd love us to have the option of introducing a different style of player if needs be.

Later in a game the likes of Keane/Doyle, Whelan, Duff could get some joy from a knock down.

Careful what you wish for, that target man could be Cillian Sheridan judging by what Robbie Keane says. No offence to Sheridan but he just doesn't seem up to it at this stage of his career. I've seen him play quite a few times in the SPL and doesn't strike me as international class at this moment

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0526/keaner_sherdianc.html

[Wolfie]

Careful what you wish for, that target man could be Cillian Sheridan judging by what Robbie Keane says. No offence to Sheridan but he just doesn't seem up to it at this stage of his career. I've seen him play quite a few times in the SPL and doesn't strike me as international class at this moment

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0526/keaner_sherdianc.html

Indeed. Wasn't impressed.

Why not give Jon Daly a chance??

[jbyrne]

Despite some of our neat play, I think we're missing the additional option of a target man up front.

Keane and Doyle are the obvious first choice, but I'd love us to have the option of introducing a different style of player if needs be.

Later in a game the likes of Keane/Doyle, Whelan, Duff could get some joy from a knock down.

doyle is our target man and is excellent at it. set up the 2nd goal with a great knock down

[tricky_colour]

Im not for a second saying we are at the same level, but we play in a style similar to that adopted by Inter. Its very tight and organised at the back, almost defending our box at times but very hard to break down. Paraguay had plenty of possession against us but most of it was over and back across our defensive line. They often ran out of ideas, resulting in them carelessly losing the ball and we had one or two breaks with Doyle and Duff arising from their errors that we shouldve done more with. Duff particularly shouldve scored on at least one occasion.
I just your point that it can be frustrating to watch but I think if you change your viewpoint and accept that this is the way the lads are being asked to play and for the most part it works well. How many times did paraguay get behind the defensive line, very few.

On the headers, I did notice how JOSH is head and shoulders above everyone else in the team, we're a small team generally.

It wasn't great viewing was it?
I was watching but not watching if you see what I mean.
Waiting to be woken up by something happening!!
However we looked pretty solid.
Keeping it tight at the back has to be priority because if you don't you just get cut open.
Their goal was a good goal, well worked, I don't blame the defense, but they won't score many like that without a response from us.

[tricky_colour]

Have to say fair play to Santa Cruz when he went off he was sitting on the bench . A gang of kids called him and he posed for photographs and signed autographs, shook hands and smiled.
I noticed that a foot.ie flag was hanging in the Angelsea Stand for a while and then removed. Any reason ?

Failing to pay a commercial advertising fee I would imagine ;)

[tricky_colour]

Indeed. Wasn't impressed.

Why not give Jon Daly a chance??


http://d0inw0rk.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/john-daly-bruised-up.jpg

Not sure he would last 90 minutes, maybe as a late sub though.

[Sullivinho]

Paul Green looks like a decent addition. He's got a bit of aggression about him, seems very tidy and I was impressed with his willingness to shout at his fellow players who must surely have been wondering who the hell he was. David Meyler's injury might have been the best thing that ever happened to this lad.

[rebelmusic]

Hey Elroy,

Agree with you completely, and it's something i defended strongly in the qualifiers..but, maybe i'm insane here but i want to head into the euro's with a belief in my mind that we can actually win it if we try hard enough.

I don't disagree with Trap's style at all, but, i seriously doubt it's his orders that say hoof the ball in any direction as soon as you get it and lets get our goals from free kicks, which has been our situation. Now, on the free kick side of it, he's obviously doing a great job. If duffer had pulled off that one where lawrence laid it off for him we'd by jumping for joy and i say all credit to them. But it's been proven time and again in the qualifiers that against the stronger teams the last ditch defending doesnt work 100%. We should have beaten bulgaria twice and we should have drawn and beaten italy and imo should have topped our group. But everytime the system broke down there was nothing left as a plan b except for shoving on folan.

Our team needs one creative player. Im all for whelan, i like him and he does a good job. I really believe if we get rid of the andrews position and fill it with someone with a bit more verve to go forward we could be a top team - you could see glimmers of it when it was the whelan/reid partnership. Im not even blaming this friendly cos anyone to take that position is injured. But i truly hope he makes that change, just not sure he will. I am very relieved we have a decent replacement for given tho, thats one major positive im taking out of that friendly.

[Charlie Darwin]

Westwood: Goal wasn't his fault. Called and claimed for everything in the 6 yard box. Hard to judge on this performance, because he didn't have much to do

Kelly: Got sucked into the centre a lot in the first half, which conceded a load of space on the right. Overlapped well with Lawrence
McShane: Completely at fault for the goal, charged out and left space for the opposition
St Ledger: Thought he did well coming off the back of a busy season, and carrying a knock. Possibly needs to lead a bit more in an inexperienced back line (that's only nitpicking though)
O'Shea: Solid at left full. With Duff playing a little far forward he didn't have an out ball every time, but that's not his fault. Played the ball onto his right foot a few times, which might cost him under pressure

etc.
I agree with the majority of this. I thought McShane generally played well but he does have that impulse to rush out of the line and leave a huge gap for the forwards to exploit. I think it did cost us a goal on this occasion, but it's only a year or so since Dunne was doing the exact same thing, only he'd usually take out the attacker and earn himself a yellow card. McShane is still young and will mature. St. Ledger strikes me as the O'Shea to McShane's Dunne - his instincts are better, but he does have a bit of a reluctance to jump in and make the tackle.

O'Shea looked a player still regaining his fitness - John is a very tidy footballer but he looked a bit tentative at times and slightly cumbersome in his movement. Kelly had one of his best games for Ireland - like O'Shea, he's a very tidy footballer and I think he could offer us an extra dimension going forward without losing much defensively (he will probably need to leave Fulham to get a game though, as he's now behind Pantsil and Baird with no European football to give him a few chances). Duff is thriving - he had one chance where he cut inside and was preparing to have a crack at goal but the defender cynically chopped his legs. In a competitive match that would have been a yellow card and would have put the defender under big pressure for the rest of the match.

Keane and Doyle are linking up better than I've ever seen them. Lawrence looks really eager and I was delighted he took the risk to run into the box for his goal - can't understand why he doesn't get his game at Stoke as he usually changes the game for them when he comes on. Andrews was better than Whelan, particularly as he surged forward in the early stages - I think Whelan has more strings to his bow but Andrews is the one making the effort to advance on the field. I'd like to see Fahey or Green tried in the centre on Friday, though, particularly as Andrews has been injured the past few weeks.

[Wolfie]

http://d0inw0rk.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/john-daly-bruised-up.jpg

Not sure he would last 90 minutes, maybe as a late sub though.

I really think this lad should be given the chance, maybe as "Impact Sub". Trapp really has a blind spot on this one.

[Wolfie]

doyle is our target man and is excellent at it. set up the 2nd goal with a great knock down

Yes - Doyle certainly has elements of that role within his game but I was more referring to a "Niall Quinn option" if that makes sense. Someone with height who can be found with a long pass, if we choose to play a more direct style if a game is going against us.

Not advocating a return to a long ball game but an option akin to what Crouch brings to England, possibly from the bench.

[elroy]

Yes - Doyle certainly has elements of that role within his game but I was more referring to a "Niall Quinn option" if that makes sense. Someone with height who can be found with a long pass, if we choose to play a more direct style if a game is going against us.

Not advocating a return to a long ball game but an option akin to what Crouch brings to England, possibly from the bench.

Is that the Best/Folan option? The only time it really worked was away to Italy though.

[Wolfie]

I'd like to see Best get a run against Algeria.

[DeLorean]

Bumping thread.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrO1d7VBVEw

[DeLorean]

Closed thread.