1-1 final result

[tonycuna]

1-1 a good point I think
Now let's go for another point in France, and then kill the other teams chances with the home games.

Bye!

[Metrostars]

Poor performance again in a big game by Kerr's men. The 3 big games we've have under Kerr have been poor.

[Fergie's Son]

A good point because we were desperately poor. How Kilbane gets his game is far beyond me. Kerr removes Reid and then puts Duff on the right and Kilbane on the left! That's $(*@#$ criminal.

Roy Keane had a great game as did Duff and Given.

[dynamo kerry]

based purely on rte radio

given - great
carr - ok
finnan - ok
kenny - improved over the game
o'brien - solid
duff - fits and starts
reid - less than fits and starts
RMK - crap first half - improved
Skilbane - anonymous
Clint - anonymous after the goal
Robbie - never got going?

where am I going wrong?

[beautifulrock]

Dyanmo

Get yourself a video of the game and watch it again in the cold light of day. Roy was outstanding as was Kenny and Andy.

[thejollyrodger]

what a dreadfull performance !! bad tatics, bad performance, Shockingly bad.

[Fergie's Son]

Keane (Roy) had a great game. Carr was very, very poor. Kilbane should never play for Ireland again. He was that shocking.

[brendy_éire]

Crap performance, but it'll do the job. 4 points out of 6 is grand.
Switzerland didn't look great at all, we can beat them at Lansdowne.
Given was our only decent player. Kilbane had a shocker, did nothing. Can't share the praise for RMK. Put in a few good tackles alright, but didn't look anything special. Dare I say, he's past it. Absolutely nothing compared to what he was a few years ago. Wasn't impressed with our defence in the first half at all, they were easily being carved open. Nobody performed, improvement will be needed for the French next.
But ah well, happy enough overall, I suppose.

[Slash/ED]

given - our best player on the night
carr - decent
finnan - decent
Cunningham - at fault for our goal otherwise good
o'brien - the best of the back four
duff - had his moments, set up our goal but still not at his best, than some eejit decides playing him out of position and ending our chance of getting a goal is a good idea.
reid - poor
Roy Keane - woeful at times at the start but came into it more as the match came on, wasn't fit i'd imagine so wasn't the influence he could be but was still decent.
Kilbane - how the hell is this guy an international footballer? how difficult is it to pass to an irish player? i'll wait for only1kilbane to give him man of the match for another storming performance mind you :rolleyes: the sooner miller/delap/healy/holland/anyone becaomes available he's hopefully out.
Morrison - took his goal well and worked hard, nearly got a second. our best striker on the night yet kerr takes him off. have some balls and sub off robbie, i know he's class but if he's not fit and not playing well take him off.
Robbie Keane - still lacking sharpness though did have a goal disallowed. should have been taken off instead of morrison but kerr went by the reputation and left him on when he wasn't at the races tonight, though he did have his moments espically that turn in the first half overall he was poor.

Switzerland are horrible, our performance was very poor and that can probably be put down to our three big players all lacking fitness. I suppose given how bad we were 1-1 isn't a bad result but we should be beating teams like Switzerland, no doubt about it. With Keane, Duff and Keane eile hopefully at their best and our central mid fielders fit we should have no bother beating these at home if tonight was an indication about how good they are.

[eirebhoy]

I can't believe Keane scored a perfectly legit volley and it was ruled out for offside. He was also called offside when one on one with the keeper when he was again onside. Its not his fault he has pace while the Swiss defender were as slow as hell.

Good result and it leaves us ahead of the rest. Any home points dropped by the Swiss and French is only good for us and they both dropped points. We should win all matches with the exception of France x2 and Israel away. A draw away to France and Israel would be great and a win at home to France is what we should be playing for.

Hopefully Kerr goes with Kav to partner Keane against the French but I can't see him dropping Holland to the bench.

[tiktok]

The Swiss were awful, we were worse.
That should have been three points, for the record, I think Kerr's substitutions were right (although Kilbane should have gone right)but should have been made sooner.

Ratings:

Given: 8, MOTM, three brilliant saves, unlucky for the goal.

Carr: 6, got booked early, ended up standing off, but did ok
Finnan: 5, ok defending, but did nothing else, distribution woeful
Kenny: 5, looked slow, got dragged all over, bad for the goal but good in the air
O'Brien: 6, won a lot, a couple of important blocks, best of back four

Reid: 5, poor, had an off night, didn't look strong
Keane: 7, started very bad, didn't look fit, but was the most composed outfield player when the Swiss stepped it up
Kilbane: 4, I'm a fan, but his worst game in a while, Kav should have started, did better when pushed out wide
Duff: 7, still not fully fit, showed flashes, great cross for goal, but didn't get great service

Morrison: 7, worked so hard, took the goal well
Keane: 7, don;'t understand the critiscism tonight, worked really hard, was robbed by the linesman twice, with better service he would have scored

Kav and Doc not really on long enough, but Kav had a bit of fire in his belly, if proof was needed that he should have started

Kerr: 5, defence was poor, but first half we went for it and looked good, don't know why he reined them in second half. felt like he went out for the draw in a game we should have won.

[Plastic Paddy]

I'm not knocking ye, lads, but how can you focus on individual performances to a great enough degree to award individual marks? I watch Ireland games through my fingers. IMHO we got a result that beforehand we'd have all been happy with, from a game that in hindsight we should have won. Is that not enough analysis?

:) PP

[eirebhoy]

Kerr: 5, defence was poor, but first half we went for it and looked good, don't know why he reined them in second half. felt like he went out for the draw in a game we should have won.
I don't think we can blame Kerr for the players defending. Its all down to psychology, not conceding was the main priority for Ireland and the Swiss were going all out to score. It happens in a lot of matches and has nothing to do with tactics. If it had to do with tactics he wouldn't have put Doc up front.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the performance as we know we can do better. The result is all that matters. I'm delighted TBH. The Swiss will be lucky to get a point from their next two games (Israel and France away) while we will get at least 3 and hopefully something in Paris. We held a better Dutch and Portuguese team with a weaker Irish team.

A bit of psychology would actually do the players good. They have to try and get the Irish fans into their heads when they start singing "The fields of Athenry" blank out everything else and pretend they are playing at home. :)

[brine3]

The same old sh|te as usual, defending too deep, inability to pass the ball, trying to score every time we get the ball. It's been like this for 20 years, we now have skillful players but yet it's still the same.

Given - 8

Carr - 5 Got himself into trouble when he had acres of space and nobody around him.
Cunningham 5 Really got shown up for lack of pace tonight.
O'Brien 7 Had a decent game, marked his man, ghosted into the right places at the right time.
Finnan 6 - Decent performance playing out of position.

Duff 7.5 - Managed to constantly threat the Swiss, even with three players marking him all the time.
Keane 7 - Looked a bit unfit but upped his game and tried to pass the ball around a bit and compose things when the **** was hitting the fan.
Kilbane 5.5 - Great heart, ran his arse off, can't criticise his enthusiasm. But got shown up technically and tactically once again.
Reid 6 - Looked lost out on the wing, I thought he'd have been better in the hole behind the strikers. Still showed some flashes of skill though.

Clinton 7 - A constant thorn in the Swiss side, lovely header for the goal and some good defensive work too. Some great work on the right wing just before he came off to produce a chance out of nothing.
Keane 7 - Could have had two goals tonight but came away with nothing. Robbed.

[tricky_colour]

Well 1 point not 3, however it's still a decent result, remember
we lost 2:0 last time so we are 2 goals better now, which
turns our 1:2 home defeat into a 3:2 win.

"We would have liked to have won, but we have shown in the past that we can beat them away," said Swiss defender Ludovic Magnin of Fox news.
However McCarthy pushed for a win and ended up losing, and I believe
they were lucky that night and he is just trying to put make a bad
result (for the Swiss) sound better.

France next, I hope everyone is full fit for that one!!!

[ger121]

Well I suppose 1-1 away from home against one of our group rivals is not bad. Only towards the end of the qualifiiers will will know if it was 2 ponts dropped or one gained. They were poor and so where we, yet we still came outa the game with something. A lot of our players are just getting over injuries or haven't played much ball so far this season. Thought Duff, Morrison and Given were the only 3 to have decent performances. Our back four was poor and our midfield found it hard to retain possession. I did win a few bob on the 1-1 at 11-2 so a good result for me ;)

[Slash/ED]

"We would have liked to have won, but we have shown in the past that we can beat them away,"

If we don't beat these at home we're simply not worthy of qualifying for a major tournament.

[tricky_colour]

Well I suppose 1-1 away from home against one of our group rivals is not bad. Only towards the end of the qualifiiers will will know if it was 2 ponts dropped or one gained. They were poor and so where we, yet we still came outa the game with something. A lot of our players are just getting over injuries or haven't played much ball so far this season. Thought Duff, Morrison and Given were the only 3 to have decent performances. Our back four was poor and our midfield found it hard to retain possession. I did win a few bob on the 1-1 at 11-2 so a good result for me ;)

Congrats on the bet, and good if you got 11-2, as when I looked there
were a lot of 9-2's about, I didn't have a bet my self because I find
it hard to be objective with Ireland and would have ended up going
for a 3-0 win or something daft like that, with a few side bets on
4-0 and 5-0 "just in case" :p

[Gary]

I felt only Given, Duff, O Brien and Morrison did well.

Robbie K was awful. Worst ive ever seen him play for Ireland.

Roy K, as above, but clearly unfit

Carr. as above. Didnt seem interested, and couldnt find a player or any space. unusual for him

Kilbane. I am a fan, but tonight he was dire. he will know that himself, but he will bounce back.

Reid. Was due a bad game

Cunningham. Spose he didnt do much wrong, but was found wanting for the Swiss goal.

Overall, a crap performance, and on that performance, Germany is not a reality.

[tricky_colour]

If we don't beat these at home we're simply not worthy of qualifying for a major tournament.


Well we won the previous two home fixtures against the Swiss, something
he forgot to mention.

[Closed Account 2]

My thoughts after watching it...

Dissapointing after such a good start (well the first 10 mins), we then did "an England" and sat on the lead instead of trying to kill the game off. Worried about our midfield, it just didnt seem to function for the first half, there wasnt really any fluidity and it was just a bit bad. The defence was dodgy too, in the first half we were defending on the halfway line, the Swiss just seem to kick bulls up and their small but quick striker (Fon Lander ?) had the beating of us. In the second half we seemed to do the opposite and defended inside the box for much of the game. We need a balance betweent the two. Also against players like Hakan Hakin I would like to have seen one of our midfielders picking up his runs and closing him down a bit more. Attack was ok, didnt do much, both players could have tried to charge down the Swiss goalie and defenders a bit more, I remember them doing that in a friendly in Amsterdam 3 months ago, so why not last night ?

(out of 10)

Given - 9 - Simply outstanding we'd have been sunk without him.

Carr - 6 - Generally ok, less error prone than against the Cypriots but getting the yellow early on was dangerous

Finnan - 6 - Average, got forward a fair bit tho.

Cunningham - 5.5 Played ok, but given he was in charge of the defense I would liked to have seen him command its positioning a bit better

O'Brien - 7 Fairly good game

Duff - 6.5 Never really got into it except the cross for the goal and a dribble into the box. Maybe not fully fit ?

Reid - 5 Normally a great player, must have had an off day.

Roy Keane - 6 Average for most of the game, but came into it more to the end

Kilbane - 4.5 Well he does try but in the cold light of day was ineffective and his tomfoolery on the edge of the box cost us their goal. He had a good chance at the edge of the box too (after Rb. Keane's skill).

Morrison - 7 Did well to get into the good positions and his goal was a gem, but he lost his rag, and missed a couple of chances too. Could have closed down more as well. Promising tho.

Robbie - 4.5 - Normally our best player and had one flash of brilliance, but looked off the pace. Not fully recovered.

Subs

Kavanagh - 8 - Ah now that was more like it, fired up niggly and put the boot in (but cleverly). He was what our midfield needed - a terminator. He wasnt on for long, and he's no Zinadine Zidane, but Mr Dependable, always keeps possesion and wins a few tackles. Get bonus point for calling Hakan Hakin a "f**king w**ker" in front of the ref and not getting a yellow.

The Doc - n/a - not on for very long, made a good clearance tho.

[BobbySands]

This is a bad result.
Switzerland are a crap team internationally. At the Euros, they and our other Euro adversaries, Russia were two of the worst teams. We had excuses before but today we fielded an almost top Irish team.
Today was our chance to pick up points. We failed.
Maybe I'm wrong. Hope so but the performance today was miserable. A bad France, even without Vierra, will not be too worried. Switzerland will be confident of a point (or more) in Dublin.

[BobbySands]

PS. Kavanagh with Roy in midfield. A bit of f'in steel. Kilbane in the middle didn't work. Although I know and admit B. Kerr knows a hundred times more about football than I'll ever know it's just a suggestion. I'd like to see the man succeed. Think its important as Irish fans to get behind the manager. Hate that Brit game to game attitude.

[the 12 th man]

accept it (our point) and move on.

it was one of those horrible off nights when we could have ended up with nothing.if we beat them here(i did say if),last nights result takes on a new importance.
i'd say france are still kicking themselves about israel.

[Krusty The Mon]

bag of sh***e. we should have been whipped. gormless performance under inexpert guidance. clueless management learned nothing from last visit to Basle. get real :mad:

[Stuttgart88]

The most positive thing I can take from last night is that at least we haven’t given them a 3 point head start on us. In Euro qualification we outperformed both the Swiss & Russians against the other sides. In fact, the Swiss only won two games apart from the two they won against us. And they won the group outright. If we’d only drawn the 4 games against Russia & Swiss we’d have topped the group (jointly with Russia I think) so these draws are quite valuable.

I’m a “glass half full” man but generally I’m disappointed with last night.

I can’t believe I was begging the ref to blow for full time. Between 80 & 85 mins they were booting long balls into touch or over the goal line and had nothing to offer. They had shot their bolt by then but we still insisted on them having the initiative and retreated back into our box for the rest of the game.

[Countyman]

Have to say I'm disappointed with only one point.
I mean how headless were we after we scored the goal. The Swiss could have had a hatful. Where were the tackles on that ****** Yakin? Kilbane was guilty of ball watching when he scored.

Too many irish players lacked match fitness and especially sharpness.
This wont be helped unless the majority start getting more first team games. Some of them can be excused coming off injuries but the simple things were not done right.

Carr and Finnan too often failed to move the ball quickly enough and lost possesion from bad control or aimless passes. Our midfield was too far back from the forwards and overall we looked on edge and anxious.

I do think we will beat them though in dublin. The automatic best 2nd place (or even 1st) is there for us with such a handy group.

Someone said yesterday that Ireland have not beaten a decent country away from home in qualifiers since 1987. Therein lies the problem.


Having said all that we are 4 points better off than last time.

[Dan Druff]

They were like school kids kicking around the playground, only with less shape. Absolutely awful perfomance..don't exactly look like World Cup winners do they? :rolleyes:

[Duffer]

Crap performance, but it'll do the job. 4 points out of 6 is grand.
Switzerland didn't look great at all, we can beat them at Lansdowne.
Given was our only decent player. Kilbane had a shocker, did nothing. Can't share the praise for RMK. Put in a few good tackles alright, but didn't look anything special. Dare I say, he's past it. Absolutely nothing compared to what he was a few years ago. Wasn't impressed with our defence in the first half at all, they were easily being carved open. Nobody performed, improvement will be needed for the French next.
But ah well, happy enough overall, I suppose.

I agree with everything ye said there brendy_eire.
We really do need to improve for the French we're too careless the French will demolish us if we're that sloppy against them.

[Bernie the bolt]

Bottled it again I'm afraid, I have just read a report on the game and Kerr admits that 'we were too cavalier' in the first half! After a shaky spell in the first half I thought we were getting a foothold and began to threaten them. It seems Kerr has then told them to sit deep for the 2nd half, poor judgement in my mind- the best defence is to take the game to them especially when we knew they were a little shaky at the back. These aren't must win games necessarily but when you have an opportunity to take 3 points and eliminate a rival, as the Swiss did in Dublin then this is a missed opportunity.

[CuanaD]

Did anyone else think that roy GOD keane was trying to get himself sent off in the 1st half? HIS distribution was terrible - i think most of his 'passes' went to Swiss.

Best part of the night was realising that I can lip-read:
Kav (at HakYakin after his yellow card): " You W4nk3r, f00king w4nk3r, your a f00king w4nk3r, w4nk3r" its poetic, isnt it!

[Junior]

Irelands performance was disappointing to say the least. Given the only man to come out of it with any credit.

Fullbacks were pretty poor, both caught in posession too often and distribution akin to an U12's team.

Alot of talk on here recently of our great new centreback partnership. Obrien and Cunningham are shockingly slow. They can deal with stuff in the air and the odd last ditch tackle, but the Swiss, time and time again split the defence with relatively simple passes.

Midlfield was well below par. Keane looked like a man who hasn't played much and was also caught in posession a fair bit, Kilbane just didn't do the basics however worked tirelessly in an attempt to make up for his poor play. The game simply bypassed Reid. Duff showed moments of class, but was not involved enough. Kav looked fired up when he came on - should start next game in Paris.

Up front Clint took his goal exceptionally well, worked hard in the first half - non existent in the second. Robbie worked really hard even in the 88th minute, running across the back four closing things down. Was unlucky to be called offside on a few occasions, however not sure he looked like someone who had his scoring boots on anyhow.

I will take the point, however a more focused and disciplined performance could have seen us take all three.

However, the Swiss I feel are still being given a rough ride on here. They WERE organised and disciplined, and they COULD make a killer pass and create chances. Given made 4 world class saves, the defence did make a number of last ditch tackles also - it was backs to the wall stuff for large parts of the game.

The Swiss are being accused of Arrogance, being obnoxious, crap at international football etc........ It sounds like some of the Irish fans are setting the trend in this regard......... :( :(

[Stuttgart88]

Best part of the night was realising that I can lip-read:
Kav (at HakYakin after his yellow card): " You W4nk3r, f00king w4nk3r, your a f00king w4nk3r, w4nk3r" its poetic, isnt it!


You didn't have to lipread when Kavanagh, still in his tracksuit & standing beside Haas(?) taking a throw in, was calling him "a fcuking arse-hole" right into is ear. Hilarious stuff. Best moment of the second half for me.

I usually stick up for Kilbane but Kavanagh is streets ahead of him.

[CuanaD]

You didn't have to lipread when Kavanagh, still in his tracksuit & standing beside Haas(?) taking a throw in, was calling him "a fcuking arse-hole" right into is ear. Hilarious stuff. Best moment of the second half for me.

I usually stick up for Kilbane but Kavanagh is streets ahead of him.

He certainly has a lovely turn of phrase! :D

[cullenswood]

A very frustrating and annoying game. We were a bag of crap again, in a tough away game. No point in saying that the Swiss are sh1te and that we'll stuff them in Lansdowne, cos if this is how we play against them we won't.
I know a point is a good away result, but we should have be looking for a win, seeing as they are so bad.

[Dan Druff]

The bigger picture must be looked at, I mean we are trying to qualify for a major championship..and the way they played was far below what will be required..is Kerr really good enough to not only get us there, and compete on the world stage with the big boys?

[colster]

OK we didn't play well but it's the sign of a good side that gets a result while playing poorly.
You could say that we were lucky at times but so were the Swiss. I think a draw was a fair result and reflection of the game.

I think the problem last night was that we were too Cavalier in the 1st half.
How many times was Roy Keane isolated in midfield looking for support.
I think that part of the reason he played poorly in the 1st half was down to lack of support.

Kilbane was like a headless chicken. Rarely if ever did he take up the right position. I was calling out for Kavanagh after the 1st 20 mins of the first half.

Robbie Keane was brutal. He's becoming a bit of a prima-donna. Did you see him complaining to Reid while the ball was still in play and Morrisson was about to score. He didn't try one iota throughout the game. Morrisson ran he legs off. I think Kerr should have a serious talk with him

[tarzan_bray]

A good point because we were desperately poor. How Kilbane gets his game is far beyond me. Kerr removes Reid and then puts Duff on the right and Kilbane on the left! That's $(*@#$ criminal.

Roy Keane had a great game as did Duff and Given.

Roy Keane did not have a good game, he was average and sloppy with his passing, sad to see when you remember how good he was 2/3 years ago

[Bowsy]

Long time advocate of KK but was woeful last night. Shay was amazing but very few others were above ordinary last night. However, let's get things in perspective. The Swiss rarely lose in Basle and are not nearly as good on their travels. We were the only team they beat away in the last qualifiers if I'm not mistaken. Take the point and finish the job at home.
Hopefully catch the French on the hop in Paris next month. They are re-building and vulnerable right now but mark my words will be formidable when they sort themselves out. Would put money on Kerr going with the team below against France if all fit.

Given
Carr O'Brien Cunningham O'shea
Finnan RMK Holland Duff
Keane Morrisson

[tarzan_bray]

Long time advocate of KK but was woeful last night. Shay was amazing but very few others were above ordinary last night. However, let's get things in perspective. The Swiss rarely lose in Basle and are not nearly as good on their travels. We were the only team they beat away in the last qualifiers if I'm not mistaken. Take the point and finish the job at home.
Hopefully catch the French on the hop in Paris next month. They are re-building and vulnerable right now but mark my words will be formidable when they sort themselves out. Would put money on Kerr going with the team below against France if all fit.

Given
Carr O'Brien Cunningham O'shea
Finnan RMK Holland Duff
Keane Morrisson

Just because Reid had a bad game last night doesn't mean you put Finnan in, anyway Miller is a better option than Finnan who probably will not play much for Liverpool between now and the game, I think Kavanagh deserves to play because he has a fighting mentality and we'll need to be tough in Paris

[cullenswood]

Roy Keane did not have a good game, he was average and sloppy with his passing, sad to see when you remember how good he was 2/3 years ago


He was poor in the first half, but he was excellent in the second half. Just cos he had one bad bad game doesn't mean you can write him off as a has been, and think about how good he was 2/3 years ago. (Robbie has had two bad games, and we are not writing him off). I know Roy isn't the force he used to be, but he is still a very important factor in us qualifying

[tarzan_bray]

He was poor in the first half, but he was excellent in the second half. Just cos he had one bad bad game doesn't mean you can write him off as a has been, and think about how good he was 2/3 years ago. (Robbie has had two bad games, and we are not writing him off). I know Roy isn't the force he used to be, but he is still a very important factor in us qualifying

I am not writing him off I'm just concerned because he hasn't put in a commanding performance for United in quite a few months, he is important to have around anyway for the younger players because he is and always will be a legend in Irish football

[colster]

Roy Keane did not have a good game, he was average and sloppy with his passing, sad to see when you remember how good he was 2/3 years ago

I think he had a bad first half but I think a lot of that was due to the lack of support he got from the other 3 in midfield.
He was isolated loads of times and made to turn and play the ball back to the defence.

The Swiss played a good pressing game and forced us into mistakes.
The Swiss weren't that good but remember they were at home with a very partisan crowd.

I don't think Keane or the rest of the team will play that badly again.

Remember the 2 Keanes and Duff have not played much football this season.

I think they can all play better than they did last night.

[Stuttgart88]

Taking my glass half full approach, I’m hopeful players like Keane x2, Reid & Carr will improve. Duffer was good last night but can be better. It’s too early to call Keane’s demise though he was far from his best.

Miller, if fit, might have been a good sub for Reid last night though I think he’d have been murdered in the centre.

Kilbane must now make way for Kavanagh, though I’d blame Carr more for the goal. Suicidal pass to Kilbane. Exact same error as O’Shea last year, trying to play ball rather than hoof it.

O’Brien played really well I think. I was happier with Finnan at left back than O’Shea.

Last night was probably Shay’s best game, even better than the games against Iran.

I’m hopeful there’s better to come but maybe I’ve my head in the sand.

The Swiss tactics were clearly to double mark Duff and to press Carr & Finnan as soon as they got on the ball. This was very effective but surely this opened up room elsewhere, though where exactly is hard to see on TV. You’d imagine that Kavanagh would be they type of player to pick out these openings, much more so than Kilbane.

[Bowsy]

Just because Reid had a bad game last night doesn't mean you put Finnan in, anyway Miller is a better option than Finnan who probably will not play much for Liverpool between now and the game, I think Kavanagh deserves to play because he has a fighting mentality and we'll need to be tough in Paris

Nothing to do with his poor display last night. We will just need to be more defensively strong. A team like France will swamp us with a line up as attacking as last night. The Swiss very nearly did. Would be very surprised if both Duff and Reid start against the French.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Thought we looked like pretty thin gruel. Defended extremely deeply. As Dunph pointed out -the Swiss weren't caught offside once in the entire game ...sure they couldn't be.
Several occasions saw Reid, Carr, Kilbane, Keane and O'Brien try to play balls out from the edge of our 18yrd box with numerous red shirts 'round them. Fcukin' attempted suicide!!!!
We should've peppering their defence which is proven to be well dodgy but couldn't string anything like enough together.
Scarey that a couple lack of full match fitness notwithstanding this is pretty much the best 11 we have

[tarzan_bray]

Nothing to do with his poor display last night. We will just need to be more defensively strong. A team like France will swamp us with a line up as attacking as last night. The Swiss very nearly did. Would be very surprised if both Duff and Reid start against the French.

yeah maybe you're right, Finnan would offer more defensive stability down the right and Duff can drift about, you cannot really have 2 players doing that against the French, saw highlights of the Faroes game, France look nervy enough, the new manager says he is worried, I mean realistically their only dangerous players are Giuly, Pires and Henry and maybe Rothen, the others are not outstanding especially that donkey Silvestre

[concanta]

Very disappointing.....have to be posistive - viera will miss our match and - both keanes and duff have not played much recently and all looked off colour

I think a draw was fair result - we had a fair few reasonable chances in first half - kilbane was attrocious last night

[tetsujin1979]

Added to the Swiss offsides, we didn't win one corner in the whole game, with players like Duff, Reid and Keane, who scare the sh!t out of opponents when running at them (you could add Kilbane to that list too) that's a dire statistic.

[Beanie]

Have to agree you on the lack of urgency in Irish teams under Kerr, they seem far too laid back, large portions of last nights game were reminiscent of last years debacle in Basle insipid and unfocused, only for an inspired preformance from Given lets face it we would have lost that match.
Can anyone please tell me what style or tactic Brian Kerr uses i for one can't figure it out, on paper last nite we were playing an attacking winger system, yet the fullbacks were not supporting the wingers in the traditional sense, they were pushing the ball behind them more times than not ( Carr being most guilty leaving reid as a passenger for the most of the game) . The swiss on the other hand closed us down with great great urgency. Remember a few years ago when we went to Wembley and dominated the English but came out with a 1-1 draw when Ray Houghton should have won it for us - that was an Irish preformance full of guts and urgency something i worry we won't see under the current management.
The Russian match in september in lansdowne road left me feeling very similar to last night with swiss, no great optimism and a feeling that tactically we are all sea.
Kerr can pull of good results in friendlies and he may be a decent bloke with good man management skills, but his teams when it comes to the crunch lack character and the Killer instinct and tactically are extremely unsound..Eoin Hand mark two!!!