Ireland team.

[Shambolic]

Hi,

I know there are many threads on this topic but i just wanted to start a new one so I could get everyone's opinion on this team. I am looking at maybe this time next year when we are on course to qualify for WC in 2006, and the likes of Miller & McGeady are 1st team regulars. And Reid is with a Premiership club.

Here it goes :
Formation = 4-3-2-1
Given
Carr O'Brien Cunningham O'Shea
Miller Keane Reid
McGeady Duff
Keane

Explanation :
Fantastic Goalie, Solid back 4.
Keane holding the middle, supported by Miller & Reid who can drift out wide or come inside. McGeady & Duff running Riot in free roles but also with the ability to get wide and get crosses in, and support Robbie as strikers. And of course Robbie up front.

Subs :
Kenny, Colgon
Finnan, Dunne, Breen, Harte,
Thornton, Healy, Elliot, (All Sunderland)
Kavanagh, Kilbane, Holland, Flood (Man City) Or Partridge (Liverpool)
Morrison.



A strong squad for World Cup 2006 I think. Looking forward to hearing the views of all ye experts.

[tarzan_bray]

Interesting now that half our defence and goalie are all with Newcastle, that has to be positive

I agree with all your selections except I would switch Kilbane for Reid and Reid for McGeady as I think the latter will take a few more years to develop into a great international player

There does seem to be a trend at international football now of playing one upfront with supporting midfielders although Portugal probably regret doing that against Greece now


Hi,

I know there are many threads on this topic but i just wanted to start a new one so I could get everyone's opinion on this team. I am looking at maybe this time next year when we are on course to qualify for WC in 2006, and the likes of Miller & McGeady are 1st team regulars. And Reid is with a Premiership club.

Here it goes :
Formation = 4-3-2-1
Given
Carr O'Brien Cunningham O'Shea
Miller Keane Reid
McGeady Duff
Keane

Explanation :
Fantastic Goalie, Solid back 4.
Keane holding the middle, supported by Miller & Reid who can drift out wide or come inside. McGeady & Duff running Riot in free roles but also with the ability to get wide and get crosses in, and support Robbie as strikers. And of course Robbie up front.

Subs :
Kenny, Colgon
Finnan, Dunne, Breen, Harte,
Thornton, Healy, Elliot, (All Sunderland)
Kavanagh, Kilbane, Holland, Flood (Man City) Or Partridge (Liverpool)
Morrison.



A strong squad for World Cup 2006 I think. Looking forward to hearing the views of all ye experts.

[eirebhoy]

I agree with all your selections except I would switch Kilbane for Reid and Reid for McGeady as I think the latter will take a few more years to develop into a great international player
But this time next year, McGeady will have a full season behind him which players like Reid, O'Shea and Miller only needed to get a place in the squad.

Very good team selection BTW.

[brine3]

Given

Carr - Cunningham - O'Shea - Finnan

S Kelly - Miller - Keane - Duff

Keane - Reid

-----

O'Shea didn't look great at centre-back against Switzerland, but with Kenny next to him giving the directions he should shine. And yes, no big man up front. Possibility of dropping Stephen Kelly, moving Liam Miller to the right and bringing on Alan Quinn for a bit more oomph in the centre of midfield.

[EamonD]

Given

Carr - Cunningham - O'Shea - Finnan

S Kelly - Miller - Keane - Duff

Keane - Reid

-----

O'Shea didn't look great at centre-back against Switzerland, but with Kenny next to him giving the directions he should shine. And yes, no big man up front.

S Kelly? Are you taking the mickey or what? All the players Kerr has tried at right-midfield and you have to put in a player who hasn't even a senior cap, I love it!!

Elliott scored for Sunderland today, he's the obvious choice to partner Keane right because of that right?

[brine3]

Whatever. You don't have to agree with me.

[EamonD]

Has Stephen Kelly even played at right-mid for the Under-21 team? You need to make a case and I am willing to listen to it...

[carnstien]

S Kelly? Are you taking the mickey or what? All the players Kerr has tried at right-midfield and you have to put in a player who hasn't even a senior cap, I love it!!

Elliott scored for Sunderland today, he's the obvious choice to partner Keane right because of that right?
Ya well at least there is someone here who is capable of thinking outside the box and coming up with something different, and it was a better team selection than 99% of people would come up with in my opinion

[tiktok]

"thinking outside the box"

aaargghhh, that's three times in the last 24 hours :D :D

Carnstein, you've been an occasional advocate for Finnan playing on the right wing, have to say that from what I saw of the Liverpool game last night he played well there, could certainly be an option

for me, in a years time

Given
Carr O'Brien Cunningham O'Shea
Miller Keane Kilbane Duff
Keane Morrison

Where i differ, I can't see Keane/Reid being any better than Keane/Duff upfront. I reckon if we went with that we'd have a packed middle third as all those players like to drop deep, there'd be a shocking lack of height in the middle too.

[Adrianovic]

As a Forest fan, I can advise you that Reid isn't much of a striker at all, although obviously you can try him there, it might work out for him as he gets older and you're perfectly entitled to disagree.

I think until McGeady gets older, we will be playing Clinton up front with Robbie, Kerr did experiment with the odd formation but I can't see Ireland drifting from the tried and trusted 4-4-2 formation. I'm sure Kerr is quoted as saying that somewhere, maybe I'll double check that.

So I'd go for 4-4-2, and Shay is a stick on for being in goal.

Carr is the best right back we have, I'd play Cunningham as captain with Josh in the middle with him. Finnan should be given a go at left back and if it works out, then keep him there. It's a pity Harte is such a disaster defensively, because his diagonal balls and free kicks really are such an asset for us. Can you have an attacking defender? :p

I loathe to drop Kilbane, but I'm going to drop Kilbane. He has such a big heart and does a good job for us, but the phrase 'not international class' can apply to him, and so regrettabley he'd be out of my time. I'd have Miller on the right, on the basis that he is a really good player and I reckon Fergie will play him. I'd put Roy in the middle, with Kilbane ready to do the driving role when his knees give way. Andy Reid would be my choice in the middle with Roy, his creativity is something we've lacked for a while, it doesn't quite work at Forest as Reid thinks he needs to do it all, but with players he can trust with the ball, he's really good at distributing it and playing little balls in. Duff on the left.

Robbie up front needs no explanation, and I think Clinton is probably the best of a poor bunch of second strikers. Maybe during the campaign McGeady will be ready to play, but until then...

Ade

[Bowsy]

I think the best Ireland side at the moment is....

Given

Carr Cuuningham(c) O'Brien O'Shea

Miller/Barrett/A.Reid RMK Kilbane/Holland Duff

Keane Morrison

I expect McGeady to Challenge for right midfield not centre forward if he continues playing well for Celtic. Doesn't seem to be an out an out striker even by his own admission and wouldn't be suitable to play with Robbie IMO. Elliott and Lee could push Morrison but i can't see many other new faces coming in this season. There is always a surprise though. I think the midfield of A.Reid-RMK-Miller-Duff suggested is our most talented on paper but far too inexperienced and light weight IMO and would leave us badly expose at times.

[eirebhoy]

I'd play Cunningham as captain with Josh in the middle with him.
O'Brien and Cunningham have yet to concede a goal in 270 minutes against 3 of the best teams in the world. John O'Shea has played 10-15 matches senior at centre half in his whole career. United have Rio, Sivestre, Heinze and Brown for centre back so I can't see him playing there much in the next year. I should also mention he is a very risky centre back and I would even have Doc ahead of him if we had an injury crisis.

Keane and Connolly are both excellent individuals but have never played well together.

We'd be really limiting Roy if we partnered him with Reid. He'd have to stay back and play the holding role for the whole 90mins, if he was partnered with someone like Kavanagh or Holland they could both make forward runs and wouldn't be restricted to the same position.

I'd like to see Finnan at left back which could push O'Shea to the bench which, on current form, is where he should be.

[Adrianovic]

O'Brien and Cunningham have yet to concede a goal in 270 minutes against 3 of the best teams in the world. John O'Shea has played 10-15 matches senior at centre half in his whole career. United have Rio, Sivestre, Heinze and Brown for centre back so I can't see him playing there much in the next year. I should also mention he is a very risky centre back and I would even have Doc ahead of him if we had an injury crisis.

Keane and Connolly are both excellent individuals but have never played well together.

We'd be really limiting Roy if we partnered him with Reid. He'd have to stay back and play the holding role for the whole 90mins, if he was partnered with someone like Kavanagh or Holland they could both make forward runs and wouldn't be restricted to the same position.

I'd like to see Finnan at left back which could push O'Shea to the bench which, on current form, is where he should be.

Actually, I completely forgot about O`Brien whilst I was trying to accommadate Finnan and O`Shea in the same defensive line. So yeah, I'd agree with you in not breaking that partnership in the heart of defence, but I'm still a big Josh fan and I think he will pick up - no doubting Finnan isn't worth his chance in the team. Which would mean my backline would be Carr-KC-O`Brien-Josh, with Finnan coming on to give it a go if either one of the back 4 are having problems. To be fair, Finnan's versatility could prove to be a disadvantage, as he would make the perfect substitute being competant in those positions, and able to play right midfield if we want a defensive slant on the game.

I wouldn't go as far as calling Connolly excellent, he's a decent goal scorer, but never Premiership class, and has an attitude problem - remember when Don Givens didn't pick him for the Greece squad, and so he refused to answer the call after injuries struck? It's hard to play someone regularly when they're a bit hot and cold emotionally. I suppose it shows that I don't really rate him and never have.

Playing Reid next to Roy might limit him, however this is exactly why I'd do it. Over the past season or two at Man United Roy has become more of a holding player, and makes less forward runs than he used to, preferring to sit back, taking the ball from defence and distributing it. Whether we like it or not, Roy has seen better days, although he is still worth a starting spot, I would not expect him to have the same engine as before. I believe this could work to Ireland's advantage, if we coupled him with Reid, so Roy could pick the ball up from defence, pick out Reid who would ideally play a ball through to the strikers for a chance or a wide player or whoever to form a better attack. This would give Reid more of a license to go forward, as from Forest experience, he doesn't seem to enjoy tracking back and it's a shame to see him pinned in his own half. That'd be my argument for a Roy/Reid combination in the middle.

Ade

[carnstien]

Given

Carr
O'Brien
Cunningham
O'Shea

Finnan
Miller / Reid (if Miller plays 1st team football next season, he gets the nod, Reid on the bench, a secret weapon of sorts)
Keane
Duff

Morrison (McGeady and Lee chanllenging for this spot)
Keane

[carnstien]

I'm revising my selection after having seen O'Shea play in midfield.

O'Shea and Keane in the middle, Miller on the right and Finnan left back. Andy Reid as cover if any of the midfield is injured.

[carnstien]

Mattie Holland is twice the midfielder that O'Shea is. Strange that you watched a foreign team play last night instead of Shels. :mad:
I watched the Shels game, taped the Man U game and watched it after.

And boss, you are off your head saying Holland is a better midfielder than O'Shea, especially when you have never seen O'Shea play in midfield. If you had seen last nights performance and were capable of objectivity you would not make such ridiculous statements.

[eirebhoy]

Carnstein, while O'Shea was good last night in midfield, Holland hs put in twice as good a performance on many occasions for Charlton. I wouldn't go over the top on last nights performance though, I would give him about 7/10.

[tiktok]

....you are off your head saying Holland is a better midfielder than O'Shea.....

In fairness carnstein. The chances of having seen O'Shea play in midfield have been scarce, he's only done it twice to my knowledge, last night and as a sub on the recent US tour. Two appearances at CM, one in a friendly and one against poor opposition does not a midfield general make.

It was good to see Liam Miller get a good run oput on the right last night, hopefully he can impress there, he'll have to do it quickly though beacause Ronaldo will be back at the end of the month.

Let's see how the two do against Chelsea at the weekend though before we start discounting proven players though.

[Bowsy]

And boss, you are off your head saying Holland is a better midfielder than O'Shea, especially when you have never seen O'Shea play in midfield. If you had seen last nights performance and were capable of objectivity you would not make such ridiculous statements.

Jaysus Carnstien, one solid performance against mediocre opposition does not make him better than a Premiership captain who's been one of the most consistent players in the premiership in recent years. :rolleyes:
Get a grip. O'Shea has the potential to be a great great player but let's get ahold of ourselves before the calls for McShane to replace Cunningham and someone's nephew who plays for Belvo u12s to replace Morrison start getting bandied about.

[carnstien]

Jaysus Carnstien, one solid performance against mediocre opposition does not make him better than a Premiership captain who's been one of the most consistent players in the premiership in recent years. :rolleyes:
Get a grip. O'Shea has the potential to be a great great player but let's get ahold of ourselves before the calls for McShane to replace Cunningham and someone's nephew who plays for Belvo u12s to replace Morrison start getting bandied about.
I'm gonna put my neck on the line and say that by the end of the season O'Shea will be 1st choice in the United midfield, which means he probably will be in the Irish side too.

Only time will tell but I just have a gut feeling that central midfield will be his longterm position.

And I would appeal to you to watch the Chelsea - Man U game this weekend, I am pretty sure O'Shea will be playing in midfield and if Man U aren't totally outclassed I reckon he will be bossing it.

[tiktok]

I'm gonna put my neck on the line and say that by the end of the season O'Shea will be 1st choice in the United midfield, which means he probably will be in the Irish side too.

for the sake of the irish team I hope he's getting regular football but

Ronaldo Scholes Keane Giggs looks solid to me and

Miller P.Neville Kleberson DjDj and especially Fletcher are still in the reckoning
Unfortunately if Heinze turns out to be anyway decent I can see O'Shea playing less than 20 games.

[1MickCollins]

I think O'Shea needs to pick a position and stick to it, and say I am only going to play in this position, I can't see him making progress as a utility man. Maybe even go out on loan if he can't regular football once Rio & Heinze return.

[brine3]

Go on loan me arse. Solskjaer is a utility striker/right winger who didn't start full time in the Man Utd team, but I wouldn't mind if he was Irish, would you? (Not at the moment of course, with his injuries) If anything, O'Shea getting rested every now and then will only benefit the Irish team.

Stop expecting too much of John O and let him play his football in peace. Have you seen the Dutch squad Van Basten picked? He would kill to have a player like O'Shea.

[carnstien]

for the sake of the irish team I hope he's getting regular football but

Ronaldo Scholes Keane Giggs looks solid to me and

Miller P.Neville Kleberson DjDj and especially Fletcher are still in the reckoning
Unfortunately if Heinze turns out to be anyway decent I can see O'Shea playing less than 20 games.
Well that the midfield you would expect but when you consider that Scholes will spend alot of time playing up front due to injuries, Saha is out unitl Xmas, Keane could end up playing centre back and I don't rate Giggs at all. I think O'Shea has a great chance of establishing himself in that midfield.

Tomorrows game against Chelsea is massive for him, if he performs he could nail down a place for the season.

[carnstien]

Thoght O'Shea did well today in the United midfield, to me he definately looks the best option to partner Roy in the middle.

Miller looked very impressive today, he should get the nod on the right.

[carnstien]

Unfortunately if Heinze turns out to be anyway decent I can see O'Shea playing less than 20 games.
Saw Heinze in the Copa America and he looked like **** on a stick. Adriano made bits of him.

[Bowsy]

Ronaldo Scholes Keane Giggs looks solid to me and



I reckon that's about right when united have all their players back. Thought O'shea did well and Miller worked his guts out yesterday but there will be changes and unfortunately i can see the Irish lads bar Keane making way.

[tiktok]

.....when you consider that Scholes will spend alot of time playing up front due to injuries, Saha is out unitl Xmas, Keane could end up playing centre back and I don't rate Giggs at all...l.

VanN won't be out much longer and Fergie is looking to sign a striker
Rio will be back pretty soon so Keane will be freed up in CM
Fergie does rate Giggs

I know there'll be injuries etc., but from an Irish viewpoint you want Miller and o'Shea playing in every game, not warming the bench, at the moment

Howard
G.Neville Rio Silvestre heinze
ronaldo Scholes Keane Giggs
VanN Smith

seems to be the team that Fergie is planning as his first eleven.
I'd be more worried that Quinton is keeping O'Shea out at Left back to be honest.

Both Miller and O'Shea did well yesterday

[Condex]

Both Miller and O'Shea did well yesterday

Not sure the press agrees with you.
In the Times today the ratings were as follows:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1218088,00.html

[Bowsy]

Not sure the press agrees with you.
In the Times today the ratings were as follows:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1218088,00.html

Bit harsh that. Hardly the two worst players on the pitch (I know Forlan got 4 too but he doesn't count)

[green goblin]

Thoght O'Shea did well today in the United midfield, to me he definately looks the best option to partner Roy in the middle.

Agree. If it's not broken, don't try and fix it.

[tiktok]

Agree. If it's not broken, don't try and fix it.

by that logic, surely he should be kept at left back for Ireland :confused:

[irwinsalegend]

Originally Posted by carnstien
Thought O'Shea did well today in the United midfield, to me he definitely looks the best option to partner Roy in the middle.

O'Shea will never be a top midfield player. Centre half or left back is his best position. He'll still play plenty of games for United this year so will be fine for Ireland but long term he looks like being used as a utility player such as Phil Neville has been for the past 100years.

I thought Miller had a pretty poor game but it will take time for him to adjust to the English game compared to the Scottish league. He looked yesterday like he was still playing in Scotland and thought he had more time on the ball which he just won't get in England

By the way rumors are in Manchester that United are preparing a bid for Andy Reid this week. we'll see

Looking forward to Wednesday night and a good performance to get the Int season started

[Bowsy]

Anyone know the reason Duff was left out of the Chelsea squad yesterday? I thought he was back to fitness.

[NeilMcD]

Duff not ready says Mourinho
Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria
Emmet Malone



Chelsea's new manager, Jose Mourinho, said yesterday he is hoping a strong showing by Damien Duff in Ireland's friendly international against Bulgaria will help the Dubliner to overcome what the coach described yesterday as the player's "mental competitive block" during the club's recent preparations for the new season.

Even with his competition for the slot on Chelsea's left flank, Arjen Robben, ruled out of yesterday's Premiership encounter with Manchester United by injury, the Dubliner failed even to make the bench in his club's league opener.

After the game, which Chelsea won 1-0, Mourinho was asked about the Irishman's absence and said, "Duff isn't ready after the shoulder problem. He has been selected for the Republic. I don't think he's ready for that either but maybe playing for them will help him to overcome the mental competitive block. I know he's a very important player for them."

The former Porto boss didn't elaborate but it seems that he is concerned that the gifted winger is finding it hard to reproduce his former competitiveness in the wake of a shoulder injury that severely disrupted his first season at Stamford Bridge and finally forced him to undergo surgery towards the end of the campaign.

Given Robbie Keane's absence this week, the news that Duff will be available to him for Wednesday's game will be welcome to Brian Kerr even if, as his coach in England clearly feels, the 25-year-old is not yet 100 per cent.

In other areas, however, the manager looks set to be well covered, as his insistence that Wednesday's game marks an important step in his final preparations for the new World Cup campaign seems to have prompted a strong turnout from his players, 17 of whom had turned up for the opening training session of the week, while another four were due in last night.

Definitely out of the game are Charlton's Matt Holland and Andy O'Brien of Newcastle United. Holland limped out of Saturday's defeat by Bolton early on and is due to have a scan on his ankle today. It is believed he has sustained ligament damage and could be a doubt for next month's qualifiers against Cyprus and Switzerland.

O'Brien was one of the many players at Newcastle to come down with conjunctivitis recently and the central defender has not trained for two weeks. It was hoped his condition would have improved sufficiently to allow him to travel but in the end fears that other players in the Ireland squad might develop the problem after coming into contact with him killed off any chance of him coming to Dublin.

David Connolly, Stephen Carr and Steve Finnan, meanwhile, all sat out yesterday afternoon's training session after picking up minor knocks in club games but all look likely to be available for Wednesday. Also in are Manchester United's three Irish players, Roy Keane, Liam Miller and John O'Shea, who, their club said after the game in London, had flown out together to report for international duty.

Kerr said yesterday he was also expecting Kevin Kilbane to arrive although only after the Everton midfielder had two stitches after sustaining a foot injury during yesterday's 4-1 defeat by Arsenal

[Bowsy]

Don't really like the sound of that. Sounds like Mourinho is questioning Duff as a player at this moment in time. Not that Duffer would be short of offers if he wasn't favoured by Mourinho.

[NeilMcD]

Not sure about that, this is the only quote from the article from the manager, the rest is all by the journalist. I think that maybe Duff, is minding the shoulder a bit at the moment.


"Duff isn't ready after the shoulder problem. He has been selected for the Republic. I don't think he's ready for that either but maybe playing for them will help him to overcome the mental competitive block. I know he's a very important player for them."

[Bowsy]

I hope this "mental competitive block" he refers to though is just a language thing as it suggests to me attitude problem which is the last thing i think Duff could ever be accused of having.

[bitored]

Not sure the press agrees with you.
In the Times today the ratings were as follows:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1218088,00.html
How the feck did they give Fortune 5 and O'shea and Miller 4..... the mind boggles


"Duff isn't ready after the shoulder problem. He has been selected for the Republic. I don't think he's ready for that either but maybe playing for them will help him to overcome the mental competitive block. I know he's a very important player for them."
Don't like the sound of that either - "mental competitive" block is not something that we would usually associate with the Duffer :(

[NeilMcD]

I think you are getting overly worried, I am not saying I know what Mourinihio think, but i would guess that he means that Duff is minding his shoulder a bit, which is understandable and the competitive mental block, is that maybe Duffer is not going full throttle into challenges as he does not know how he shoulder will hold up. Once Duff gets the first challenge out of the way, he will be fine

[carnstien]

Don't really like the sound of that. Sounds like Mourinho is questioning Duff as a player at this moment in time. Not that Duffer would be short of offers if he wasn't favoured by Mourinho.
I don't think Mourinho will be good for Duff at all. Going on yesterdays performance and Porto in the CL, Mourinho is a very defensive coach and I also note that he didn't play any wingers yersterday.

Duff claims his favourite pass time is to sleep, Mourinho like to start his training sessions at a ridiculous hour, something like 7AM.

I think Duff will leave Chelsea at the end of the season and probably end up at United or Liverpool.

[NeilMcD]

bit of an exagerration, they have to be in for 9 to have breakfast, and training starts at 10 most clubs just insist you are there on time for training but he wants them all to have breakfast together, Duff usually arrives just about a minute before, the deadline. GOod point though about tactics, i could not believe that Chelsea, were so defensive, If utd had their full team with ronaldo, and van nistelrooy and saha, they would have murdered them, as it was, utds 3rd choice midfield, had 73% of the ball.

[Bowsy]

I am the eternal pessimist but you're interpretation sounds quite likely Neil. I think it's that i don't particularly like Mourinho plus his game plan often seems to revolve around his full backs giving him the width. At least the Tinkerman (and his ma) thought the sun shined out of Duffer's rear.

[carnstien]

At least the Tinkerman (and his ma) thought the sun shined out of Duffer's rear.
And he was right too. I thought that kind of football was gone from the premiership with the departure of that donkey Houllier, but Houlliball is alive and well and living in Chelsea, may the lord have mercy on our souls.

[Bowsy]

Going on yesterdays performance and Porto in the CL, Mourinho is a very defensive coach and I also note that he didn't play any wingers yersterday.


Agree with that Carnstein and hence my pessimism. He brought in Ferreira to bomb forward like he did for Porto and Bridge can do a similar task. Here's hoping this is not the case though.

[eirebhoy]

Bowsy, I don't think you understood exactly what Mourinho meant. :) When Duff was playing in training his teammates know they have to go easy on Duff but in a competitive game Duff gets fouled about 10 times. He's just a little scared that his shoulder will dislocate again so he won't be going past players like he used to for the next couple of games.


The Portuguese manager was without the services of wingers Arjen Robben and Damien Duff. However he had included Duff (still recovering from a shoulder injury) in the squad to leave a bit of a doubt in the opponents’ mind as to how we would play.

“But Duff is not yet ready,” he explained. “He’s working really hard. I tried to push him. I put him against Milan and Zaragoza but he’s not super-confident with his shoulder in competitive matches like this just yet.

“I know he’s selected for the Irish team for the next week but I don’t think he’s ready for it. I know he’s an important player there and maybe this national team match can help him to get over the mental approach of a competitive game because of the shoulder.”

The new manager went on to say that normally one of the two wingers would be playing.

[fergalr]

Beware of hack journos and the "quotes" they attribute.

According to the club, what Jose actually said was:

“But Duff is not yet ready,” he explained. “He’s working really hard. I tried to push him. I put him against Milan and Zaragoza but he’s not super-confident with his shoulder in competitive matches like this just yet.

“I know he’s selected for the Irish team for the next week but I don’t think he’s ready for it. I know he’s an important player there and maybe this national team match can help him to get over the mental approach of a competitive game because of the shoulder."

While the second paragraph is somewhat contradictory, I take it to mean that We should get to see the Duffer on Wednesday.

I'd also like to comment on the nonsense that Duff's time at Chelsea is limited. For some strange reason his move there never went down well with a section of the Irish media - I wonder why.

[Condex]

From football365 :

************************************************
A notable mention should go to O'Shea and Miller who both did solidly well in midfield. Though Miller needs to eat more Shredded Wheat, he showed tons of commitment and isn't short of knowhow. And for a centre-half/left-back John O'Shea yet again proved that in time he should be able to pick a position in the team he wants to play.
************************************************

Is this the two same players that got a 4 rating in the Times.
Agree about the Shredded Wheat, Miller need to get down the qym.

[eirebhoy]

Agree about the Shredded Wheat, Miller need to get down the qym.
Miller is 5'7" which is just an inch taller than Shaun Wright Phillips. There's nothing he can do about his height at 23 I'm afraid. :) He weight seems in proportion to his height to me.

[carnstien]

How the feck did they give Fortune 5 and O'shea and Miller 4..... the mind boggles


Don't like the sound of that either - "mental competitive" block is not something that we would usually associate with the Duffer :(
Looked at those rating scan and they are a joke. Giggs and Fortune were by far ManUre's worst players and they both got 5's. In my opinion Miller and O'Shea were Uniteds 2 best midfielders.

Smith also got a 5, which is a joke, he was by far United's best player, he didn't stop fighting until the final whistle and I would have thought he deserved and 8. Probably would give Miller and Roy both 7's and O'Shea a 6.