Bosnia-Herzegovina V Ireland - Friday, 13th November 2015 Euro 2016 Play Off 1st Leg

[swinfordfc]

McClean got really badly caught out for the goal - shame he does not have a brain - like to need controlled aggressive!

[geysir]

McClean got really badly caught out for the goal - shame he does not have a brain - like to need controlled aggressive!
McClean did very well as a late sub and had plenty of brain and commitment.
He got caught out in the build up for their goal, but he was isolated, Wilson was just fannying about, no left full back coming in to support him, Ward would have been there, Wilson is a poor LB.

Awful game, we managed to almost reduce them to zero and yet we come away with an advantage.

[Calcio Jack]

McClean did very well as a late sub and had plenty of brain and commitment.
He got caught out in the build up for their goal, but he was isolated, Wilson was just fannying about, no left full back coming in to support him, Ward would have been there, Wilson is a poor LB.

Awful game, we managed to almost reduce them to zero and yet we come away with an advantage.

McClean has to be the most brain dead player ever to be allowed play for us- he's too aggressive , runs like a headless chicken, gets caught up in stupid arguments eg recent antics for WBA when playing Sunderland and tonight topped it off by losing his marker tonight because yet again he switched off - he's an utter gob****e was like that from day one under Trap and just gets worse.

[seanfhear]

My brother said it looked like Dzeko was holding his groin at the end. Anyone else see that?He certainly looked like he was injured. It will be interesting to see if he is fit for Monday.

[DeLorean]

That's a great result. I would fear that Bosnia could improve on a better pitch and, in a way, under less pressure. They looked far more capable of knocking it around than us, obviously that wouldn't be hard. We were well drilled, I thought Clark probably deserved motm but Keogh got it, and you could hardly begrudge him, massive heart. Coleman was very good too, won his individual battles defensively hands down. The same couldn't be said of Ward on the other side but he has to be cut some slack given his lack of game time at club level, he produced heroics against Germany and that shouldn't be forgotten. Randolph was just as assured as he was when called upon against Germany.

Whelan is so bad on the ball, in fairness there usually isn't much on for him but he manages to make himself look like somebody that couldn't possibly be getting paid for playing football. It was embarrassing at times, especially early on but he competed well enough otherwise. McCarthy worked hard to press the opposition in the first half and seemed to settle, from what I could make out, into a deeper, more refined role in the second half.

We never looked a threat at all so to get a goal was borderline miraculous and a real bonus, so let's hope we can make the most of it on Monday.

[SwanVsDalton]

Disappointing to concede late one - but an away goal draw? Would've taken your arm off for that a few hours ago.

Game panned out as expected - nervy, tentative, both sides looking pretty scared but Bosnia wern't great. Had their expected large share of the ball but not particularly imaginative off it. Pjanic below par, Dzeko dropping to deep to get the ball and didn't see much of it until he popped up with the goal, Robbie Keane like.

I fancy us to be better on Monday and take the game to them. The scary prospect is conceding, we're not great at the clean sheet game these days and we dearly need one on Monday.

Thought the team largely did well, couldn't see much of the second half thanks to the pea soup. Brady played like a drain in the first 25, was marginally better until half time, marginally better afterwards and scored a great goal. He seems to be a bit of a slow starter but great finish nonetheless.

Thought the defence, outside Ward, were very good, aside from some understandable communication issues. Ward got a bit of a roasting. Wilson didn't do much better and should've gave McClean more of a hand for the goal. McClean did pretty good when he came on - controlled or not, his aggression relieved a lot of pressure and he was unlucky to concede one of his free kicks.

With Walters, possibly O'Shea and Long to come back - one good home performance and a little bit of luck will see this out.

[SwanVsDalton]

Whelan is so bad on the ball, in fairness there usually isn't much on for him but he manages to make himself look like somebody that couldn't possibly be getting paid for playing football. It was embarrassing at times, especially early on but he competed well enough otherwise. McCarthy worked hard to press the opposition in the first half and seemed to settle, from what I could make out, into a deeper, more refined role in the second half.

Gah some of it was awful. But then he plays a couple of neat balls into Hoolahan, and one lovely spread pass too Coleman after a one-two with McCarthy and you wonder what's going on. Don't think he's uniformly bad so much as his passing can be a lottery. He can (and has to) be a lot neater than that though.

[Crosby87]

Should be able to handle them in Dublin.
Were any of the other games in danger of being abandoned in light of what happened in Paris?

[geysir]

McClean has to be the most brain dead player ever to be allowed play for us- he's too aggressive , runs like a headless chicken, gets caught up in stupid arguments eg recent antics for WBA when playing Sunderland and tonight topped it off by losing his marker tonight because yet again he switched off - he's an utter gob****e was like that from day one under Trap and just gets worse.
Yet another brain dead appraisal of McClean's offering this evening.

[Fixer82]

Should be able to handle them in Dublin.
Were any of the other games in danger of being abandoned in light of what happened in Paris?

I think it happened towards end of the match. And most matches around Europe were on at same time. Plus it wouldn't affect the matches in other countries miles away

[tricky_colour]

Wow we managed to hold out for a full 3 minutes after we scored!!


Impressive!

[Crosby87]

5 things from the evening.

http://www.the42.ie/should-game-postponed-ireland-bosnia-talking-points-2444122-Nov2015/

[Crosby87]

Mol says Irish will be more aggressive in Dubs. Funny quote from the Bosnia manager. Could only comment on the first half, didn't see much of the second.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3317972/Republic-Ireland-game-Bosnia-Herzegovina-Dublin-decider-says-Martin-O-Neill.html

[Charlie Darwin]

Wilson should have started over Ward, that was terrible. He should never play for us again.
And Wilson was at fault for the goal. Good player but he was caught out, and I have no doubt Ward would have dealt with it better.


My brother said it looked like Dzeko was holding his groin at the end. Anyone else see that?
My dad said the same - certainly looked that way.

Overall, we played well. Rode our luck as we tend to do, but they created little. Worry is that once we scored they shifted up a gear and scored, but if this is them at home then I think they may struggle away.

[Crosby87]

The guy saying the refs were on Irelands side is funny.

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uefa-euro-2016-qualifications-play-offs-13-november-2015-republic-of-ireland.2000007/page-335

[tricky_colour]

Whelan was invisible for most of the second half! :D

[Closed Account]

Ha ha!!! I just woke up somewhere.......... In a house. I told everyone that we got a good(not great) result.
But then there was nobody else in the house......... Hiccup. Or was there?

[Closed Account]

Anyway. About 2 minutes in, you could see what was happening. The Bosnians had qualified for little or no championships. And the danger of being the person who messed it up for everyone, had gotten to... everyone. These lads are ****less. The worst thing we can do is give them a stab in the dark. I doubt MON or RK are thinking this, but we are 1-1 going into a home leg.
Don't poke the bear.








































































Lets be clear here. I'm talking about a Kasparovian move to take the Bosnian King.

[boysingreen]

We could score in the 93rd and we'd concede in the 94th. Loss for words on that.

Reality is we should be riverdancing all the way back to Dublin to come away with a score draw. Hoolahan never got into the game. Think it was Hendrick who should've tested the keeper on a decent Brady cross. Not surprisingly, we offered the square root of zero generally in the second and final third.

Long balls were sexy as ever. O'Neill could be the tactical genius of our time, shielding our best playmaker between the sticks.

There were a few scrambles in our box, some from corners, that we were lucky enough not to be punished. They seemed to be winning an awful lot of headers around the top of our box - unnerving to say the least - hopefully we'll do a better job of cutting those out on the way in (easier said than done, given the way they were using their size/strength) or at least stay sharp reacting to the layoffs.

If you pair that performance with the Poland away - hell, most of the campaign - you'd wonder how we're even in with a shout. Chance is there though, can only hope we're brave enough to take it at home.

[TrapAPony]

Whether we got 1-0 victory or 1-1 last night, it still means that a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win takes us through. I'm quite happy with the result as beforehand they were meant to be a very good side. Last night was the night they were meant to batter us but appeared no more difficult than Georgia. The reality is Bosnia ain't up to much. With Walters, Long & O'Shea to return as well as having the advantage of playing at home for the final leg then I cannot see us not qualifying now.

PS. Did anybody else see Dzeko hobbling at full time when going over to shake the referees hand or was it just me?

[boysingreen]

Didn't catch any shot of Dzeko after the final whistle, but he seemed to strain his groin on what was probably his last time on the ball. He took a heavy touch, then lunged at the ball. Thought he should've got a yellow for it, cuz he took someone out in the process.

[Stuttgart88]

That's somewhere between an opportunity lost and a good result.

The away goal is nice to have but I tend to think if one away goal as insurance against one for them in Dublin.

Can we let Paul go unchallenged just this once when he says you see a game better live than in TV?

If Wes can get on the ball in Dublin we can finish this one off.

[Stuttgart88]

That's a great result. I would fear that Bosnia could improve on a better pitch and, in a way, under less pressure. They looked far more capable of knocking it around than us, obviously that wouldn't be hard. We were well drilled, I thought Clark probably deserved motm but Keogh got it, and you could hardly begrudge him, massive heart. Coleman was very good too, won his individual battles defensively hands down. The same couldn't be said of Ward on the other side but he has to be cut some slack given his lack of game time at club level, he produced heroics against Germany and that shouldn't be forgotten. Randolph was just as assured as he was when called upon against Germany.

Whelan is so bad on the ball, in fairness there usually isn't much on for him but he manages to make himself look like somebody that couldn't possibly be getting paid for playing football. It was embarrassing at times, especially early on but he competed well enough otherwise. McCarthy worked hard to press the opposition in the first half and seemed to settle, from what I could make out, into a deeper, more refined role in the second half.

We never looked a threat at all so to get a goal was borderline miraculous and a real bonus, so let's hope we can make the most of it on Monday.randolph looked very assured again and made a great block at 0-0. One of the CBs had a brain fart though.

Apart from that, big credit to Keogh and Clark. Defended well, kept concentration and above all showed big character, personalitee.

Whelan? I often use the terms "accretive" and "adhesive" to describe different types of midfielder. I think Whelan neither accretes nor holds together, he anaesthetises.

[Fixer82]

Was it Murphy who got the knock on for Brady's run in the build up to the goal? I can't really see. Any update on anyone who was there?

[DeLorean]

Can we let Paul go unchallenged just this once when he says you see a game better live than in TV?

I'm not sure about that! Poor George Hamilton was in extreme difficulty describing the action and the Bosnian coach too. At least on TV they switched to the clearer angles from time to time. That said, I'm sure Paul had anticipated this and brought his anti-fog glasses. :)

[DeLorean]

randolph looked very assured again and made a great block at 0-0. One of the CBs had a brain fart though.

Are you talking about the one where Randolph spread himself to save from Lulic in the second half? If so, that was Hendrick's brain fart I believe.

[Fixer82]

Are you talking about the one where Randolph spread himself to save from Lulic in the second half? If so, that was Hendrick's brain fart I believe.

Yes Hendrick smacked it off a Bosnian's ar$e. Randolph was brilliant in what followed.
I also thought he was brilliant in the first half sprinting from his line to prevent a corner.

[geysir]

I thought Randolph was close to being a motm, not that he had a lot to do, but he dealt assuredly with what he did have to deal with and he oozed confidence and his early hand signals to indicate some dangerous looking shots were going wide, were helpful to reduce my stress peaks.

In the first half whenever the Bosnian centre backs tried to play the ball from the back they were closed down successfully by Wes and Murphy, the full backs were out of sync and mostly the ball had to be hoofed out by Begovic, reminded me of us under Trap. The Bosnian back 4 (and Begovic?) are their achilles heel.
As it turned out it wasn't a game where Wes could shine or/and he was off his game. Mostly our defending was sharp and alert but a huge black hole was down our left where a shaky Ward was left exposed. On our right side we had two and three players crowding out any threat but any real danger was coming down the Bosnians right flank against a lone full back. I think even Beglin on RTE was moaning as to why there not more attention paid to this by the rest of the team. In contrast, whenever Brady and McClean went wide, they were closed down by 2 and 3 players.
We succeeded to stop the Bosnians playing football and sucked much of the entertainment value out of the game, not a game for the neutral.

What's the worst that can happen now? to go out on penalties on our home ground? We haven't had that horrible experience yet.

[Stuttgart88]

Yeah, I love when a keeper signals wide before it actually goes wide.

[geysir]

For the away playoff leg in Iran, was it Ch 5 or BBC2 had a little offside flag which popped up a second or two before the commentator noticed
I like those type of things in games where you are dangling on a tightrope.

We could sneak a late winner against a plucky Bosnia in Lansdowne rd via a blatant Keane handball and then tell them afterwards to just get over it - such bad losers.

[DeLorean]

We could have won it. But, yeah yeah. This draw is good.

Agreed. As frustrating as it was to concede so needlessly, so late and so quickly after we scored we really have little to complain about. It's not just that we would have taken 1-1 beforehand, but it's an even better situation in the context of the game. Our performance was completely undeserving of an away goal and the final scoreline is considerably better than it was seven minutes from time. My biggest fear after they equalised was that they had time to score again, and they very nearly did when the big man headed just wide. Now that would have been a sucker punch. I thought we could have done more to prevent that cross actually, particularly Coleman, who seemed happy enough to allow the winger to put it in there and leave our centre backs deal with it, a very risky tactic with a 6ft6 striker lurking about.

[geysir]

The guy saying the refs were on Irelands side is funny.

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uefa-euro-2016-qualifications-play-offs-13-november-2015-republic-of-ireland.2000007/page-335
I though the ref was good, very light touch, another ref could have dished out a few more cards, no player is banned for the return leg, he gave us the benefit of any doubt in incidents in our area and for the most part he saw incidents as they were, when they could have been seen as something else.

[elroy]

I don't know why people tune into watch Ireland if they are expecting to be entertained. IMO it never should be about that, regardless of the importance of the game I am usually on the edge of my seat for the entire game, a bag of nerves. The vast majority of teams at club level and international level aren't entertaining. What we strive to be as a small nation is effective and successful. When we are, you really hear the general public complain.

Last night was effective defensively. We did not give much going forward but from two real chances, we scored and very nearly secured a big away victory. Despite his goal, Brady didn't have a great game, his set pieces disappointed again. Houlihan was largely anonymous. Whelan was poor in possession in the first half but once again both he and McCarthy offered similar - strong defensively but little composure on the ball.

I think Randolph is a great find. Composed, assured and strong. Plus he has some boot on him. Very fine performances from Clark, Keogh and Coleman.

Overall I think we nullified the Bosnian thread. Their style of play is slow and to a degree direct, that suits us. While I suspect they will be better on Monday, so should we. Walters will be a big addition and hopefully long can give us 20 mins. We need to run at their CBs. If long doesn't make it, I would again like to see Mcgeady come in in a forward role to run at them particularly if they are chasing the game late on. Cautiously optimistic, we will need to score at least once in Monday.

[DeLorean]

I though the ref was good, very light touch, another ref could have dished out a few more cards, no player is banned for the return leg, he gave us the benefit of any doubt in incidents in our area and for the most part he saw incidents as they were, when they could have been seen as something else.

Yeah completely agree. I got a good feeling the second I saw him, I knew straight away that I'd seen him before a few times and I had been impressed somewhere along the line. As it turned out George Hamilton mentioned in commentary that he did our game in Moscow when Dunney held out for a nil nil. I'm sure I've seen him other times too though, probably Champions League games. He did give them one free near the end, against McClean for 'high leg' that I would have disagreed with but he was excellent overall I felt. A more fussy ref could have easily booked McCarthy, Wilson and definitely Dzeko but I think he used his common sense, there was nothing really worthy of a guy being suspended.


I don't know why people tune into watch Ireland if they are expecting to be entertained.

Oh yeah definitely, I think it's just frustrating when we can't seem to string any few passes together, even our players who seem well able to do it with their clubs. It's a bit of a collective failure when they put on the Irish jerseys for some reason, far more often than it ought to be. We were incapable of going from back to front last night because we couldn't put enough consecutive passes together, far worse teams than us are capable of doing that at least.

[pineapple stu]

Maybe a post for a different/new thread, but while the result was good last night, it was overshadowed by events in Paris - notably at the Stade.

If we qualify on Monday, I know I'd think twice about going to the finals at this stage. A very juicy target unfortunately...

[Crosby87]

You're already on the no fly list anyway aren't you?

[DeLorean]

Maybe a post for a different/new thread, but while the result was good last night, it was overshadowed by events in Paris - notably at the Stade.

If we qualify on Monday, I know I'd think twice about going to the finals at this stage. A very juicy target unfortunately...

Yeah, security will be insane but there's only so much you can do with freak shows that are willing to blow themselves up.

[pineapple stu]

Yup - best thing you can do is not go near them...

Security will be tight alright. I don't expect anything to happen in the grounds. But en route? In the pub area after? Imagine an attack at the first match of the day; do you postpone the next two? That's what these scum would love

Anyways, let's just look to Monday alright. Bosnia really didn't impress me in defence; nervy and poor in possession. Get a bit of atmosphere going, build up a head of steam, get an early goal and we're well on the way. Probably marginal favourites at this stage, even if they were good at the other end.

Any news on Dzeko?

[geysir]

I don't know why people tune into watch Ireland if they are expecting to be entertained. IMO it never should be about that, regardless of the importance of the game I am usually on the edge of my seat for the entire game, a bag of nerves. The vast majority of teams at club level and international level aren't entertaining. What we strive to be as a small nation is effective and successful. When we are, you really hear the general public complain.
It's fair comment to call that a crápish game of football and any neutral still watching probably would have been glad of the fog so they could do something else.
As a supporter I doubt if ever I have thought of being entertained over and above the value of a result and with Ireland you can't afford to sit on a high horse.
Nevertheless this is not as straightforward as you present it, eg when playing cráp hoof football is hurting our chances of getting a result, when good players are left of the squad because they don't fit into a straightjacket or when other teams easily suss out what we have to offer in our limited fashion and beat us.
So not only were we playing cráp football but we were getting beaten.

[SkStu]

we will need to score at least once in Monday.

I totally agree with your post Elroy but if we will need to score at least once, doesn't that really mean that we'll definitely have to score twice?

[Yard of Pace]

I don't think the Bosniaks will be much better on Monday. I got my Yugoslavian girlfriend to get on a few websites and I think as they considered us as such little threat, the fact they had to salvage a draw has sapped their spirit. I hope it's true and Walters and Long run amok and have it wrapped it up by half time.

[elroy]

I totally agree with your post Elroy but if we will need to score at least once, doesn't that really mean that we'll definitely have to score twice?

Ha ha I see what you mean, twice to win then yes but once for pens.

From reading a few Bosnian comments, they seem very unhappy with their performance and manager, particularly his 442 formation and substitutions. Most consider 4-5-1 is their best set up. Also didn't think much of us. It's funny reading their overall comments, could easily be read on this forum, some seem to consider they have rode their luck at times in the campaign.

Finally just in addition to my earlier comments regarding watching Ireland and expecting to be entertained. For a long time I have heard the argument that these players have shown they can play ball for their clubs. However, every competitive game at international level is of utmost importance, arguably there is more to lose than in your average club game. Does this increased pressure affect our players approach, at least sub consciously?!?

[tricky_colour]

Anyway. About 2 minutes in, you could see what was happening. The Bosnians had qualified for little or no championships. And the danger of being the person who messed it up for everyone, had gotten to... everyone. These lads are ****less. The worst thing we can do is give them a stab in the dark. I doubt MON or RK are thinking this, but we are 1-1 going into a home leg.
Don't poke the bear.


Lets be clear here. I'm talking about a Kasparovian move to take the Bosnian King.

I think we may have over rated the Bosnia's, however that is not as deadly as under rating them.

Bosnia need to get a goal, however the worrying things is it only took them 3 minutes to get one last time they
need one.

Then the fear of failure set in again.

[Crosby87]

Looks like JOSH will be fit. How about Long?

Nothing on the internet about Dzeko and a pulled whatever though it is mentioned on their message boards a bit

[Stuttgart88]

Ref was great, didn't get suckered into penalising silly stuff and had great authority. Looks too young to have such experience. He reffed the home tie v France in 2009 according to Sky.

I don't think you can dissociate entertainment and performance. I think the reason Ireland rack your nerves like nothing else is because we simply aren't comfortable on the ball and for years now we play most of every game without it. If we were better we'd be more entertaining.

[tricky_colour]

Posted on the Bosnia site

https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/12189132_540224276136940_4517399622613107599_n.jpg ?oh=6a9784c32e04b3510d9b95ae42f36822&oe=56BA365E

Looks good we have not been beaten at home in 8 games, on the other hand however all such runs come to an
end, let's just hope it doesn't end on Monday!!

Worth noting that Bosnia's neighbour Serbia was one of the last teams to beat us at home, however that is all history, it is Monday that matters.

[shakermaker1982]

If O'Shea is fit I probably wouldn't change Clark or Keogh. O'Shea could always go to LB if they think they need his leadership.

I'd say the only other change would be Walters for Murphy, then hopefully unleash Long with 30 to go.

Concentration levels need to be switched on from the off, we cannot concede early. Keep the pressure on them for as long as possible.

[DeLorean]

Coleman, Keogh, Clark and Wilson are as comfortable on the ball as most defenders bar maybe your Spanish and Italian types who excel in that area. McCarthy looks comfortable on the ball at Everton even if he could be more assertive at times. McGeady, Brady and Hoolahan are as comfortable on the ball as you get, that should be more than enough in itself to be able to retain possession, work angles for each other and generally be able to play a bit of ball, especially against our equals or lessers. It seems every time one of our midfielders receive possession he's in trouble, he's only uncomfortable because he has no options and is quickly boxed in, even Pirlo or Iniesta would be slightly uncomfortable in that scenario, they wouldn't kick it out of play like Glenn Whelan but they might be forced to put a speculative ball down the wing or play it backwards/sideways. I know it's an overused example and France were terrible, but that night in Paris showed it can be done, and we had arguably less ball players that time than we do now with the exception of Duff. Less competitive teams with inferior footballers do it, where there's a will there's a way. It's simply not encouraged or practiced I think.

[gastric]

Game made me homesick for the days when you would sit in a pub during the middle of winter trying to watch a horse race and not see anything due to the thickest fogs ever known, and then try and work out who had won.
I find with Ireland now I go from elation to depression and back again really quickly due to our style and results. Fickle I am! O'Neill has always been more about results than style and to be fair to him, qualification would justify his game plan. I feel many have been very harsh on McClean, he is headstrong, but when he comes on, for me he is always hungry and totally committed, like a man trying to get a starting spot. Not a bad thing IMO. Brady's goal was a beauty, great to see O'Neill change the wingers around.
I worried about Keogh and Clark together in defence as both can be a little impulsive, but they were solid. I would keep Brady in midfield on Monday and play Wilson at left back as they attacked mostly down the right and looked a big, physical team. Anyhow, the butterflies have already started, hopefully Dzeko is out as this might help the belly prior to the game!

[Stuttgart88]

Easy to criticise McClean for the goal but I think it was Wilson who was out of position. Either way, it was a good goal from their point of view.