Denmark V Republic of Ireland - Sat, 11 November 2017 World Cup 2018 Play Off 1st Leg

[shakermaker1982]

for those who haven’t left yet make sure you bring plenty of Kroner with you! Not many Irish landed yet. Nice city.

[paul_oshea]

its freezing too

[Cathalsmart]

I'm here all alone :/ but supporting my country in the biggest game for as long as I can remember so who cares, the Irish are starting to pile in though!

[IsMiseSean]

Long johns at the ready!

[backstothewall]

I'm starting to get nervous now. God I hope we go through.

[DeLorean]

Press conference live here - https://www.rte.ie/player/ie/live/3/

[shakermaker1982]

Managed to get a ticket. Just need a good result now.

An away goal would be massive.

[geysir]

On the evidence of last night I'd expect Switzerland to win comfortably, 3-0 or so.

2 nil, pulling up at the finish

[backstothewall]

On the evidence of last night I'd expect Switzerland to win comfortably, 3-0 or so.

There is certain to be a reaction from the north. 1-1 with NI battering them for a winner at the end

[geysir]

Though Sweden (and Denmark as well) are far from being the nr1 team in Scandinavia, they did alright v Italy to gain an advantage this evening.
Somehow their performance reminded of when Scotland beat Netherlands 1 - 0 in the first leg, back in the day when Scotland reached dizzy heights qualifying for a play off.
In the second leg you'd expect Italy to romp home by a cricket score, 2 nil.

[backstothewall]

Given how poor the Whelan/Arter partnership was in Tbilisi, I do think there's a good enough chance that O'Neill will be reluctant to go there again. If that is the case, Whelan will be the one left out with Arter being fairly solid in Cardiff. Hendrick could drop to assist Arter in a deeper role.

Of course, that would free up a position further forward for which we'd have a number of options. He could play both Long & Murphy in a more conventional 4-4-2 of sorts, as he did in Lille. He could even start the in-form O'Dowda who he obviously has a lot of time for and, of course, there's the Hoolahan option, but I just can't really see it for reasons already outlined.

I he doesn't go with Whelan, which i think is probably the most likely option, I think he might start Hourihane alongside Arter and Hendrick.

[liamoo11]

I he doesn't go with Whelan, which i think is probably the most likely option, I think he might start Hourihane alongside Arter and Hendrick.
I think the problem then us you have no one in the three with the discipline to track runners and be aware of danger. I'm no whelan fan but I think he has to play tonight with after and Hendrick.

[pineapple stu]

Managed to get a ticket. Just need a good result now.

An away goal would be massive.
Wonder what a good result is?

Given our relatively poor home record, you'd could maybe argue we need a win tonight.

A score draw and we could grind out a 0-0 at home alright; a play-off is a bit different to a group match. Not sure about a 0-0 tonight though - I think we need to get the away goal and have something to defend on Tuesday.

If we lose, I think we're in trouble though. I don't think we have it in ourselves to have a go at teams.

[DeLorean]

BTTW - I can't see MON trusting Hourihane for a game of this magnitude, given his unimpressive auditions so far. I think he'll need to establish himself a bit more in lower key games first but who knows, O'Neill has been known to surprise. BBC seem convinced that Whelan will start, seemingly basing it on O'Neill's press conference yesterday but I haven't seen any quotes which indicate same? I also saw somewhere that Long is likely to start, can't remember where right now.

PS - Anything better than 0-0 is a really positive result I think. 0-0 itself is pretty dodgy but gives us a decent chance, conceding first on Tuesday could be fatal though. I wouldn't get too bogged down on our admittedly poor home record, we've only conceded two goals in our five games there in this campaign, and do have big results in the not too distant past against Germany and B&H as a source of comfort that it can be done when the need it greatest. Scoring tonight with a one goal deficit is probably the absolute minimum we need, but I probably wouldn't fancy us in that scenario to turn it around.

[mark12345]

I think the problem then us you have no one in the three with the discipline to track runners and be aware of danger. I'm no whelan fan but I think he has to play tonight with after and Hendrick.

I think Martin should pick his team from the front tonight. McClean on one wing O'DOWDA on the other with Long in the middle. Put Harry on Eriksen all night and I think we'll be in business

[osarusan]

I imagine that we'll see something very similar to what we saw against Wales. Contain for the most part, trying to nick something from a set piece of a break.

[Diggs246]

I know most commentators feel whelan is a shoe in. But O'Neill has seen the whelan/ arter axis explode already in Georgia. I think he will go with O'Dowda and Whelan will be on the bench with Brady/Hendrick/Arter/ mcclean making up the 5 man midfield

[DeLorean]

I imagine that we'll see something very similar to what we saw against Wales. Contain for the most part, trying to nick something from a set piece of a break.

I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!

[mark12345]

I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!

That is a very astute observation/prediction. It absolutely stands to reason that one team cannot give the other carte blanche on possession of the ball. For as well or as lucky as it turned out in Cardiff, just balance that against Tbilisi

[mark12345]

I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!

Defending when necessary goes without saying, and we'll have to do a lot of it tonight. But we have to pose a threat on the counter

[osarusan]

I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!
No problem with those tactics away to Denmark in a playoff. The problem is that we are likely missing the second "then take them back to Landsdowne and batter them" part of the equation.

[geysir]

We are shackled by the negativity of O'Neill who would regard scoring one goal a good result this evening, unfortunately we have not the benefit of the fulsome shining light of Coleman's positive vibes, driving us onward along the path of victory.

[KrisLetang]

Does anyone have game day superstitions? I just had my lucky breakfast.

[MeathDrog]

Does anyone have game day superstitions? I just had my lucky breakfast.
I have a local boozer where we haven't lost any time I have watched an Ireland game there. (Bosnia away, Italy and Sweden at Euros, Serbia away).

Went to a different pub for Poland away, the France game and was at the Belgium game. Safe to say I'm going back to the first pub..

[Fixer82]

We had more possession against Serbia and they beat us. Possession is nothing, thirst is everything

[Colbert Report]

If the tie is still alive at the end of this match, that will be a positive result for us. Honestly I don't know where the optimism comes from and I would gladly take a 0-2 result right now. I think it could get ugly today and we could end up getting hammered.

The inconsistency is the problem. Sure, we beat Wales 1-0 in Cardiff a month ago. Two months ago we got one point in total from Georgia away and Serbia home, and we looked terrible in both matches, particularly against Georgia whom we made look like Barcelona.

No Meyler is huge. Arter and Whelan just doesn't work, I really hope we go for a different combination in the center of the park. I think Hoolahan will get on the pitch a lot sooner than most of us think because we'll be chasing an away goal to keep the tie alive.

---------Randolph
Christie-Clark-Duffy-Ward
-----Whelan-Hendrick-----
Long-Brady-McClean
-------Murphy

[elroy]

Nerves starting to jangle now. Listening to the excellent OTB build up this afternoon. Also came across the RTÉ coverage at end of the NI game in 1993 - here's to a similar victory over Denmark over next four days.

There is always the fear that we get over run and we'll beaten but bar the Belgium game I don't think there is any basis for that. However, taking into account our recent record both at home and away, my sense is that we need to get a score draw tonight. Obviously a 0-0 is better than a defeat, but I think an away goal will be very important and also not having to chase the game at home. You could argue the pressure is on DK as the home team but they may take a 0-0 and force us to come at them in Dublin. I'd be delighted with two legs to mirror the Bosnia games!

[Philly]

O Dowda starting apparently.

[backstothewall]

O'dowd gets the nod. Whelan on the bench.

[DeLorean]

Randolph

Christie Duffy Clark Ward

Hendrick Arter

Brady O'Dowda McClean

Murphy


Or something like that.

[koneinc]

Randolph

Christie Duffy Clark Ward

Hendrick Arter

Brady O'Dowda McClean

Murphy


Or something like that.

Or maybe a 4-1-4-1? (had posted this previously but it looks like my post disappeared...)

[DeLorean]

Yeah looks pretty interchangeable but I'd imagine Hendrick will have (even) more defensive responsibilities than usual.

[geysir]

I'm watching rte, t for torture, how long do these rugby games go on for? it's worse than watching paint dry.

[Colbert Report]

What has O'Dowda done to deserve a place in the starting lineup? Long and McGeady must feel very hard done by to be left out.

[Colbert Report]

Denmark off to a great start and they are definitely targeting Ward down our left flank.

[CraftyToePoke]

What has O'Dowda done to deserve a place in the starting lineup? Long and McGeady must feel very hard done by to be left out.

Club form I guess, over the other two.

[Colbert Report]

Denmark playing us off the park!! We'll be lucky not to get beaten by four or five the way things are going.

[tricky_colour]

We need to be more negative.

[tricky_colour]

Thought that was in!

[tricky_colour]

we have used up 3 of our 9 lives

[osarusan]

Decent first half, the Danish possession and territory doesn't bother me too much as we're set up that way.

Sisto's miss was a big let-off, but Christie should have done better too, needed to cut it back.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Christie's chance really enraging, no one supported him properly! You can tell he was looking to lay it off, waited too long, then had to take it on himself too close to Schmeichel. Murphy either didn't have the pace, or didn't think Christie would get into the position he did. A terrible missed opportunity.

Played better in last five. Up to that, same old, same old : contain until HT, ride our luck as much as we can, hope for a set piece chance. We cope when Denmark are slow in buildup, struggle when they break at speed. Fitness levels will count for a lot.

[tricky_colour]

We are on the up, we have every chance to sock it to them in the second half.

A goal would be nice, 2 ideal.

[geysir]

It was a rope a dope first half, we looked good in those last 5 minutes as if let off the leash.
We should go for this game in the 2nd half. We need a player revolt.

[tricky_colour]

What a Bjelland

[pineapple stu]

Randolph man of the match?

Wow

[pineapple stu]

Randolph man of the match?

Wow
Prescient from Beglin

[tetsujin1979]

You'd have to say the Danes deserved a win there. Still, the tie is very much alive, that's all I really wanted from the first leg.

[osarusan]

Disagree with Beglin that Denmark deserved to win and made all the running.

I don't think they really deserve much credit for the territory and possession they had when we just handed it to them. It wasn't an achievement.

And for all the possession and territory they had, they didn't create that much. Just a couple of real chances.


The issue for me is that even though I think we saw enough tonight to suggest that we don't need to be so cautious and show them so much respect, I imagine the second leg is still likely to look pretty similar, with us keeping it tight and looking to contain.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Limited Denmark to three chances. We were alright in the second but needed to create more. Long, Hoolohan on for second leg. We can do it. I hope. Still in it.