Republic of Ireland V Russia - Friday, 8th October 2010 - Euro 2012 Qualifier

[TrapAPony]

Hopefully we'll see Andrews and Rowlands in the middle against Norway...good idea bringing on Long whose only goal this season is a penalty

I hope it's Green and Rowlands in the centre with Keogh and Long upfront. McShane deserves a spot too.

[ken foree]

if it stays 0-3 or gets worse, any upsides? perhaps james mccarthy eventually blooded in midfield??

[ken foree]

ehh if it stays 1-3 i mean... ;)

[theworm2345]

LONG!!! proved me wrong...do it again!

[ken foree]

lucky trap?? comme onnnnnn

[bullit]

Shane Long= plan Z
ohh errmmmmm:fim:

[jebus]

Game on, not that we deserve it given that we've been woeful and Keane took a dive for the penalty

[theworm2345]

The Boys should hold their heads up high after that one. Played like complete **** for 70 minutes but never gave up. In reality it could've been 5 or 6 though for Russia

[Noelys Guitar]

Some pride restored second half but playing for second place now. Fair play to Long for that Goal and shift.

[tricky_colour]

Well pride and confidence is restored.
This was a game I always feared we would lose, but if we can get our other results right
we should be OK.
Nice to finish by putting 2 past Russia.

[jebus]

The Boys should hold their heads up high after that one. Played like complete **** for 70 minutes but never gave up. In reality it could've been 5 or 6 though for Russia

And that's why football well never advance beyond kick, rush and hope for the best in this country.

How in God's name can you say in one sentence that Russia could have beaten us by six at home and in another say that the players should hold their heads high? They were woeful, only got back in the game by Keane cheating and Long knocking in a scrappy goal after the Irish players finally realised that their keeper was dodgy with crosses. Terrible performance that will hopefully not be whitewashed by our two goals.

I do hope the Moral Crusaders of Paris come on and deride Keane for conning the referee as well

[seanfhear]

:(We really really missed Damien Duff

[tricky_colour]

Some pride restore second half but playing for second place now. Fair play to Long for that Goal and shift.

I would say it is wide open now, Russia lost at home to Slovakia, so all three on 6 points
from 3 games, we may even still top the group, depends how they sort out tied teams.

[theworm2345]

How in God's name can you say in one sentence that Russia could have beaten us by six at home and in another say that the players should hold their heads high? They were woeful, only got back in the game by Keane cheating and Long knocking in a scrappy goal after the Irish players finally realised that their keeper was dodgy with crosses. Terrible performance that will hopefully not be whitewashed by our two goals.
They could've hung their heads and quit after number 2 or 3 but they didn't, that shows some character at least...or would you have preferred they just hung their heads and allowed the 5 or 6? I didn't say they should be proud of the performance only that they didn't quit as teams often do.

[jebus]

They could've hung their heads and quit after number 2 or 3 but they didn't, that shows some character at least...or would you have preferred they just hung their heads and allowed the 5 or 6? I didn't say they should be proud of the performance only that they didn't quit as teams often do.

I'd have preferred they weren't so god awful in the first half to be honest. I don't go in for this 'well we got a goal or two back to make the scoreline look presentable' nonsense either. We lost 3-2 at home to our biggest rivals in this group, we should have lost by at least three goals and we were lucky that we didn't.

[Paddy Garcia]

Agree missed Duffer
Green & Whelan were rubbish
McCarthy would have been a fantastic option on the bench
Did someone say McShane deserves a spot (Im off for a drink)
The CBs wont play that bad again
O'Shea would make a better midfielder than either of those two
CM still our greatest weakness
Thought McGeady was the one bright spark

[Sullivinho]

The two goals flattered us, that was a horror show.

[rebelmusic]

Paul Green should never be started again. At least we know Whelan is capable of a good performance, but that's 3 terrible caps from Green. Dunphy's right, should be Fahey playing there. Gibson made 0 impression.

Only player who can walk into the dressing room with his chin up is McGeady. Absolutely shocked he wasn't given MotM.

[Predator]

Dire performance. Played right into Russia's hands by giving them far too much space. When we had the ball, we were lethargic and lacked imagination. I absolutely hate how we have to be on the backfoot or losing (in this case heavily), for us to have a sense of urgency. We saw how Russia were worried and reckless when we got at them and made them work for the ball - something we should have been doing regardless, especially at home.
I was annoyed with the way in which Gibson appeared more worried about a few yards, than getting the ball into the box and how no one picked the ball out of the net after the penalty. Showed a terrible attitude in my opinion.
It seems that the mentality was never "play to win" as Trap said in the media, but rather, "play not to lose" - and it failed miserably.

[shakermaker1982]

Posting this on my phone before I calm down and think rationally....

Woeful performance which was not helped by the fact that 442 does not work against teams like Russia who play a fluid 451. Whelan and Green were chasing shadows. Changes should have been made to system after 20 minutes. Whelan must be injured because he couldn't run.

Only positive was Shane Long.

[The Fly]

I don't know what game your watching but McGeady has been our worst player.


:shock:

[Predator]

Thought McGeady was the one bright sparkHe was arguably the best of a bad bunch, but it doesn't say much after that game. Whelan was shocking and I think Given's lack of game time is showing in his positioning.

[geysir]

Russia very good and we were very poor, the bit of a fightback has some merit but it had little to do with cohesive football.
Jebus as usual write sh'ite - Russians didn't make the slightest protest with the penalty award, a clear clip on Keane tripped him up.
Of the 2 at cm, Whelan was much more culpable, hid too far away from Greene and left him to try and deal with everything in the first half. I suspect he had taken a heavy knock to explain the performance or just should not have started.

[Predator]

It will definitely be interesting to see who Trap starts with against Slovakia. After that, he has to make some changes. The midfield was definitely the worst area. Whelan and Green were anonymous and McGeady should have supported Kilbane better.

[jebus]

Russia very good and we were very poor, the bit of a fightback has some merit but it had little to do with cohesive football.
Jebus as usual write sh'ite - Russians didn't make the slightest protest with the penalty award, a clear clip on Keane tripped him up.
Of the 2 at cm, Whelan was much more culpable, hid too far away from Greene and left him to try and deal with everything in the first half. I suspect he had taken a heavy knock to explain the performance or just should not have started.

Christ almighty. He was touched alright but made a huge deal of going down to ensure the referee bought the penalty. Didn't expect much from the guardians of honest football on here to be fair so I'm not surprised

[OwenGoal]

Three steps forward two steps back. You just don't know what you will get with this team. Unfortunately you do with Trap. Didn't change things radically or soon enough during the game, and actually seemed bereft of ideas. To be fair tonight was more the players fault than his. Despite what's being said by some we have no white knghts waiting in the wings - I think the difference McCarthy et al would make would be marginal. Oh, and if Keane's blatant dive had stolen us victory we'd have to stay silent forever more about cheats and Henry and Paris.

[Crosby87]

That sucked. Will be interesting to see how they come out in Slovenia.
If they lose we can start talking about who the next coach should be for '14. Not Tardelli. Sigh.

[osarusan]

On the penalty - I thought we were a bit fortunate. Keane was definitely clipped, but I don't think the defender even knew Keane was coming in behind him. No real protests from the defender though.

Other than that, it was just an awful performance. The contrast between the speed and fluidity with which the Russians played the ball out of defence and the plodding way we tried to do the same before eventually lumping it long was pretty bleak.

More than anything, I think it showed us that you are going to find it very hard to win games when your tactics involve giving away so much possession so cheaply. Especially when the other team can pass the ball. And especially especially when your midfield destroyers aren't really functioning.

That said, despite this shocker, we're still very much in the thick of things, and a good perfromance in Zilina to bounce back from tonight would make things feel a lot better.

[theworm2345]

McGeady was enigmatic as always I think. Showed some very very bright flashes but then also showed why I used to refer to him as "the black hole" because the ball came in and never came back out. Sometimes he tries to do too much but then again today it was permissable as no one else was doing anything. He reminds me of Wile E. Coyote on occasion (did someone else make that comparison before on here? I feel someone did) where his feet are moving a mile minute but hes not going anywhere.

Given - 4
O'Shea - 5
Dunne - 6
St. Ledger - 3.5
Kilbane - 5
Lawrence - 5
Green - 3.5
Whelan - 2.5 ("we've lost that Glenny Whelan" :()
McGeady - 6.5
Doyle - 5
Keane - 5.5

Long - 7 (didn't really do too much wrong)
Gibson - 5
Fahey - X (not really enough time)

Both Given and Keane need to get some games under their belts. Rowlands and Andrews hopefully will get some time against Norway. Hopefully Coleman and Walters will get a game as well though neither would have made a huge difference today I don't think as Kilbane wasn't too bad and I don't know what Walters would've added that Doyle didn't. First obviously is Tuesday though.

[gaiscíoch]

I don't think we are giving Advocaat and Russia enough credit they were excellent reminded me of how Advocaat had Zenit playing. He knows these players inside out and stamps his style of football all over them.
Dzagoev in midfield times his runs to perfection getting into the box.

From my minimal football knowledge 4-4-2 against 4-5-1 will only work if the two wide mid-fielders tuck in when you do not have the ball. Then it's up to the full backs to put in a shift and track the runs.
We did tuck in but the long ball crap with small midfielders doesn't seem to work against a packed midfield.

IMO it's up to the players on the pitch to get on the ball if they are only playing one up front we should have had loads of time on the ball at the back to try get the Russian mid-field to push up. Full backs have a massive part to play in todays game and even though O'Shea plays for Man Utd I think his distribution is crap he doesnt put in enough crosses or get up the line well enough.

Green is not up to it. Kilbane is past it. St Ledger needs to play at a higher level if he wants to defend against this type of attack. Not the static Italian like one but the fast paced interchanging one.
Why Seamus Coleman ain't starting is beyond me for me he has been the best Irish player in England even if he doesn't start every game.

[The Fly]

I still hold to the belief that McGeady is not a proper winger. To get the full use of his abilities, I feel he should be played in a free role. Trapattoni has already alluded to this, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see him deployed here during this campaign.

[The Fly]

Why Seamus Coleman ain't starting is beyond me for me he has been the best Irish player in England even if he doesn't start every game.

That sort of statement kind of sums up the talent at our disposal.

[geysir]

On the penalty - I thought we were a bit fortunate. Keane was definitely clipped, but I don't think the defender even knew Keane was coming in behind him. No real protests from the defender though.

I suggest you watch that incident again. The defender knew Keane was there when he clipped him. He looked over at Keane who had surprised him by darting in front, then after noticing Keane - he clipped him. What the féck is so fortunate about the Ref giving us a penalty. It was a penalty.

[gaiscíoch]

Christ almighty. He was touched alright but made a huge deal of going down to ensure the referee bought the penalty. Didn't expect much from the guardians of honest football on here to be fair so I'm not surprised

He tried to con the ref twice. I don't think he should be the Captain I hate the constant arm waving. Surely given the defensive set up we should have Richard Dunne as captain....

[jebus]

He tried to con the ref twice. I don't think he should be the Captain I hat constant arm waving. Surely given the defensive set up we should be has Richard Dunne as captain....

Agreed. Keane is always at it at both international and club level, he's not fit to be captain

[gaiscíoch]

That sort of statement kind of sums up the talent at our disposal.

Yes talent we have at out disposal that gets over looked in favour of...... Paul Green????

[OwenGoal]

On the penalty... I was watching a fuzzy image on a poor stream but I saw no contact. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt if he was clipped. On the bigger picture it's hard to see where we go from here. We#re still in it, even for top spot. But Trap seems unlilely to make even minor adjustments in mid-campaign. What I find frustrating is he didn't really respond to the situation the way he did in Bari, with a tactical rethink.

[The Fly]

Yes talent we have at out disposal that gets over looked in favour of...... Paul Green????

On Paul Green, I am in complete agreement with you. He is clearly inadequate at this level.

[gastric]

One possible positive out of this debacle is that they cannot play as bad against Slovenia.

[The Fly]

One possible positive out of this debacle is that they cannot play as bad against Slovenia.

Have the FAI arranged another friendly?

[gaiscíoch]

On Paul Green, I am in complete agreement with you. He is clearly inadequate at this level.

In which case how the fudge can we expect to beat Russia with players like that.
I could swear at one stage Dunne said "the midfield is F##cking S##T" T O'Shea during one of the set pieces.
The sooner Andrews gets back the better he is more of a lose than we know...

[OwenGoal]

That sucked. Will be interesting to see how they come out in Slovenia.
If they lose we can start talking about who the next coach should be for '14. Not Tardelli. Sigh.

If we come out against Slovenia we really will be in trouble.

[TrapAPony]

http://www.goal.com/en/match/52538/ireland-vs-russia/player-ratings

[gastric]

Fly, you are one persceptive bugger! Smart***

[geysir]

Not hard to be regarded as pearsheptive when surrounded by such mediocrity.

[The Fly]

In which case how the fudge can we expect to beat Russia with players like that.
I could swear at one stage Dunne said "the midfield is F##cking S##T" T O'Shea during one of the set pieces.
The sooner Andrews gets back the better he is more of a lose than we know...

Even with our full complement of players we can't expect to beat Russia, so it's a false premise to begin with. A team whose central midfield is chosen from Whelan, Andrews, Gibson, Green, McCarthy, 'Reid', Fahey etc... is always going to be comparatively weak.


Not hard to be regarded as pearsheptive when surrounded by such mediocrity.

Where you thinking of Sean Connery when you wrote that?

[rebelmusic]

Even with our full complement of players we can't expect to beat Russia, so it's a false premise to begin with. A team whose central midfield is selected from Whelan, Andrews, Gibson, Green, McCarthy, 'Reid', Fahey etc... is always going to be comparatively weak.

Andrews would have made ****e all difference. The only player who I can think of that would have done better is McCarthy. At least he would have brought more attacking flair. It's all well and good to say we use holding midfielders but when those two are doing feck all, we're better off having anyone in there. They were crap defensively and diabolical going forward.

[Jinxy]

The Russians were very tidy and their passing was very crisp and precise.
That said, when we decided to just lump balls in on top of them in the 2nd half their defence and dodgy, punch-happy keeper were shown up.
Dunno how the Russian lad missed in the last couple of minutes from straight in front of goal.
A 3 goal win would not have flattered them.

[MeathDrog]

Russia were good but like a lot of the former USSR teams, they panicked under pressure. Their defence was actually quite dodgy but we did not have the tactics nor the knowhow to test it for long periods.

[Closed Account 2]

I was always worried about playing Russia and them having a good day, that's what happend tonight, if Dzagoev was Spanish the media would be having a field day about him. He seems impossible to mark and was popping up everywhere.

That said i was shocked at how pedestrian we were tonight, the Russians closed us down the whole time, they were full of running and punished us whenever we gave the ball away. We did the complete opposite, gave them so much time on the ball, and you cant afford to do that against such attacking talent. I was sorry we didn't test Akinfeev more as (as I had suspected) he looked inept at dealing with long shots and has a real reluctance to catch the ball. Conceeding the first goal so early meant they could hit us on the break which they are exceptional at doing.

It's probably the sternest test we've had since perhaps Germany back in 2006-7 (I think this Russia team is a level above France, the friendlies vs Brazil and Argentina, and possibly Italy). I wonder how much preparation the coaching staff made for this game. Did noone flag Dzagoev as a danger, why did noone put pressure on Zyrianov ? Why did we play so many central (long) balls when Keane and Doyle were never going to have the build to out-jump Berezuitski and Ignashevic more than 30% of the time.

That said all is not lost, Russia may well slip up against Armenia or in Slovakia... if we get them on an off day we might scrape a point in Moscow - they are a very emotional side, some days hopeless other days world beaters, and pace and shooting from distance might let us sneak a goal in Moscow.

If we dont take anything from Zilina on Tuesday we'll be in a pretty bad way, but a win there and we'll be back in contention. Even a draw would keep us in the mix.