Republic of Ireland V Uruguay - Tuesday, 29th March 2011 - Friendly

[Kingdom]

We would get destroyed defensively, though against a team like macedonia where conceding would be ok as we could easily score enough to outnumber (outscore) them.

Begs the question do you think Trap should change the system/players based on the opposition? I know consistency etc etc, but our football would improve and it would make me a hell of a lot less nervous watching us playing the lower middle ranked team such as Macedonia.

I'm fully aware that most would expect us to be a hiding to nothing with a team such as that. What I've consistently said is that I believe that we have the personnel (or will soon have) to really hurt teams. We've never had genuine pace and trickery on both wings at the same time. We do now. We also have the players capable of playing keep ball too.
Something that seriously gets on my nerves is the Irish fan mentality of crying from the stands to "launch it" when the back 4 and a midfielder retain possession amongst themselves for any considerable period of time. You can almost hear the screams from the crowd to launch it. If the pass is not on, the sensible thing to do is to keep possession however lateral or backward, rather than hoof a ball into nothing, which some of our fans almost long for. It does my head in.

I'm posing the question that if we were good enough in possession is there the need for a Green/Whelan/Andrews type player to act as a breaker, if instead you could play Fahey and McCarthy? Competent full backs are key and we have been blessed in that department down through the years - hopefully it will continue. The worst thing about posting formations anywhere is seeing it rigidly. I'm probably off on my own on this one, but if you have players comfortable in possession and with each other, a system can be fluid. In what I posted above, realistically Long and Duff are interchangable, while McGeady is comfortable anywhere going forward. Also Duff and Long's workrate compensate for the perceived lack of defensive ability.

I believe there are more options available to use than simple black and white, 4-4-2. When Clifford, Meyler and McCarthy progress further again, we really could be onto something.
With a different manager (not that I'm advocating sacking trapattoni) i think the future could be very interesting for us.

[Junior]

I really do think if we had a DM, a really good one, i know longer think we need anything else, then we could play 4-4-2 with Mccarthy or Fahey. I don't think with whelan in there we are good enough to play the other two. But as things stand i think Mcarthy or fahey could play in a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 or whatever, basically pack out the midfield.

I think after the last showing, again a little unfair and maybe irrational, but lawrence doesn't really do it as a winger in traps formation, so perhaps we could try him in midfield, again it woud be in a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 ideally.

Just great that we have these options now(formation and players, but the formations are not mutually exclusive, i think they are dependent on one another i.e. the best players dictate the system/formation).

Could JOSH do it? I know he is not the enforcer per se but defensively sound, particularly down the middle and with Foley/Kelly Sledge/Clark/O'Dea to cover defensive duties could make a decent job of the role allow Fahey/McCarthy/Whoever have the free-er role...

Perhaps Marc Wilson could do it, just havent seen enough of him. Perhaps NI/Scotland Trap will give it a try.

[Duggie]

Could JOSH do it? I know he is not the enforcer per se but defensively sound, particularly down the middle and with Foley/Kelly Sledge/Clark/O'Dea to cover defensive duties could make a decent job of the role allow Fahey/McCarthy/Whoever have the free-er role...

Perhaps Marc Wilson could do it, just havent seen enough of him. Perhaps NI/Scotland Trap will give it a try.

O'Shea distribution is brutal though, i dont think he would solve the problem. I wonder about putting lawerence in there, hes a good passer and seems pretty good defensively, but trap must not see it as an option.

[paul_oshea]

I believe there are more options available to use than simple black and white, 4-4-2. When Clifford, Meyler and McCarthy progress further again, we really could be onto something.
With a different manager (not that I'm advocating sacking trapattoni) i think the future could be very interesting for us.

Ya except when those come on, the earlier point "We've never had genuine pace and trickery on both wings at the same time. We do now." one of those will have retired probably. Maybe not but we need Mr Right right now!

[Kingdom]

Ya except when those come on, the earlier point "We've never had genuine pace and trickery on both wings at the same time. We do now." one of those will have retired probably. Maybe not but we need Mr Right right now!

lol - yeah I was waiting for that. For that reason I'd love to see Treacy get more game time when fit. He reminds me a bit of Albert Riera, only quicker.

[SwanVsDalton]

You have qualified it with the last bit, we can beat macedonia by 1-0 or 2-1, I said outscore them. I didn't say we would win by 3 or 4 goals. Most definitely over the last 5 years have teams improved that there is a consistent level, i was just chatting about this to a guy at work, lots of different reasons really, but most of these teams all seem to be more comfortable on the ball than us, better in tight spaces, yet we are ahead in rankings and are considered the favourite. Now that is another really interesting point but back to the original which was that if we keep possesion from them play it about a bit, i reckon we would create more chances, we would ease the pressure, and it would certainly make it more comfortable to watch :)

We are our own worst enemy in these situtations really.

A bit more comfort would be nice, but we were comfortable for the first 43 minutes and last 20 on Saturday. Fair enough, but I feel the quality of the opposition is often understated (not necessarily by you, just generally).

[Junior]

O'Shea distribution is brutal though, i dont think he would solve the problem. I wonder about putting lawerence in there, hes a good passer and seems pretty good defensively, but trap must not see it as an option.

I'd agree JOSH's distribution has been poor, particularly at FB. However, at the same time Ive always thought of him as fairly comfortable on the ball and I've seen him play for Man U with decent distribution, I think its an option.

Lawrence has said he prefers a central role, he certainly has the robustness & strength required, would he have the discipline though? I dont know the answer to that one but I wouldnt be opposed to seeing him tried there in a friendly.

[SwanVsDalton]

Lawrence has said he prefers a central role, he certainly has the robustness & strength required, would he have the discipline though? I dont know the answer to that one but I wouldnt be opposed to seeing him tried there in a friendly.

Don't think he's athletic enough. It's the one thing our midfield really lacks, and the only options who are particularly athletic are Andrews, McCarthy and possibly Green.

[Duggie]

Don't think he's athletic enough. It's the one thing our midfield really lacks, and the only options who are particularly athletic are Andrews, McCarthy and possibly Green.

oh i dont know about that, he seems like hes got a great engine. remember in yereven wasnt he just back from injury if i remember correctly and he ran himself into the ground in the heat and had a good game.

[Junior]

Don't think he's athletic enough. It's the one thing our midfield really lacks, and the only options who are particularly athletic are Andrews, McCarthy and possibly Green.

I know what you mean, Ive always sensed he looks like a guy on his last legs but then plenty of players look fcuked from the first 5 minutes but seem to be still going strong come 90 (I think he could be one of them). McCarthy, Ill give you but Green and Andrews dont particularly stand out as being much more 'athletic' than Lawrence in my opinion.,

[SwanVsDalton]

oh i dont know about that, he seems like hes got a great engine. remember in yereven wasnt he just back from injury if i remember correctly and he ran himself into the ground in the heat and had a good game.

It's not just about engine, he could run all day I don't think Lawrence has the pace and endurence to really snap into tackles, pressure opponents and go box-to-box the way Andrews or McCarthy can. Think Meyler has this in his game too.

[Charlie Darwin]

Don't think he's athletic enough. It's the one thing our midfield really lacks, and the only options who are particularly athletic are Andrews, McCarthy and possibly Green.
I think Andrews is the only pure athlete we have in midfield. Meyler and Steven Reid are the only others at the moment who I think have the potential to be a box-to-box player for us. Maybe Clifford but he's probably a couple of years away from challenging for a place in the international team.

edit: looking at those names, it's probably no coincidence that they're all chronically injured. It's surprising we don't produce more players like that.

[AlaskaFox]

We just need to find a defensive midfielder to do the dirty work.

Clark ideally should be this player. As he's played in defence and midfield for Aston Villa. However, for me, he's often like a player in an under-12s game. The manager may have selected him in defence, but wherever the ball is, he goes after it, particularly if it's up front. I'm giving him time though.

[seanfhear]

Clark ideally should be this player. As he's played in defence and midfield for Aston Villa. However, for me, he's often like a player in an under-12s game. The manager may have selected him in defence, but wherever the ball is, he goes after it, particularly if it's up front. I'm giving him time though.
It would be interesting to see if Clark/Wlson or Meyler when he gets back from his injury could do the defensive midfielde role to an international standard. At this stage we don't know enough about any of these players to say for certain if they can do the job. Maybe thats what makes it interesting !

[DeLorean]

Bumping thread.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xPbmedKRbQ

[DeLorean]

Closed thread.