Republic of Ireland v Denmark - Dublin - 18th November 2019 - Euro 2020 Qualifier

[samhaydenjr]

Disappointing to hear the result when I came home from work but encouraged by the reports that we went down fighting, at least. So what are our chances of qualifying through the play-offs? Well, there's no room for error and we will have win the first game away from home (on penalties, if need be). But we will be playing teams of a similar quality as Denmark, who we got two 1-1 draws against in this campaign, albeit playing on the back foot in the away match. And our squad will hopefully be significantly better in four months for the following reasons
1. Players who haven't played much of a role in this campaign due to injury who will hopefully be back to their best by then: Clark, Brady, McCarthy, Long
2. Experienced players in their first full season in the Premier League and will hopefully be a little better after 15 more games or so: Stevens, Egan, Hourihane, Robinson, McGoldrick
3. Teenaged strikers who have just broken through or may break through before March: Connolly, Obafemi (also hampered by injury) and Parrott - outside chance of Afolabi and/or Idah breaking through also
I do expect, based on this and the fact that this team as a whole is more battle-hardened than they were at the outset of the campaign, that we stand a fair chance of getting through, but everybody will have to be close to their best, at least.

[geysir]

I'd love if we played more put 'em under pressure stuff. The problem is we still have the Trap mindset of sitting deep and being compact. Maybe it makes sense against big sides but Denmark ain't one, albeit in Eriksen they have a player who can tear you apart if you make mistakes.

The biggest misconception of put 'em under pressure is that it was a brainless tactic imbued by a tactically deficient coach (Charlton) in order to empower a technically inferior strategy. When in fact it was in part a press high strategy and lets play the technically minded football in their half.
Our problem last night especially in the first half before the Danes retreated was showing for the ball in midfield. The back 4 tossed the ball around but nobody showed from midfield to take it further. There was a centre midfield avoidance strategy.

[placid casual]

The central midfield is where football matches has been controlled since the dawn of man. We insist on playing players that there who have all the control of an incontinent geriatric.
Irish international sport is in thrall to the idea that you must reward loyalty over form. Both the rugger & football have fallen down because of this. You hear constantly from arseholes like Liam Brady that Ireland don't have the players,but how will we ever know if we keep picking airheads like Hendrick & cavemen like McClean...

[jbyrne]

very good performance but just didn't have the required quality needed to get another goal.
denmark were there for the taking but mainly because of the pressure we put on them. it was amazing the amount of times we won the ball back off them / won 50/50s on the ground.
our players sheer desire was excellent.

one real annoyance was that Schmeichel was booked for time wasting in added time yet the ref actually blew up just before the 4 added mins was up rather than add on anything for the time wasting. every yellow card in added time should result in 30 secs being added. small point but him getting the yellow card simply wasted more time

[elroy]

Agree with lots of comments about that one of the biggest difference in performance last night was that generally we didn’t sit back but instead put pressure on the man on the ball. Simple stuff but very effective.

As the game wore on I thought we became much better at using our best strength, the full backs/wings. Would like to see much more deliberate play getting the ball into the wings in the attacking quarter. Doherty in particularly grew into the game and really began to impose himself as the game went on seeing plenty of ball down the wing.

[shakermaker1982]

Looking forward to March it’s clear that Mick isn’t going to make wholesale changes, we aren’t going to ditch 6 or 7 players unless there was a massive injury crisis but we do need to make 2 or 3 changes. Midfield is clearly still an issue and we’ll need a striker in the box to play off McGoldrick who had another good game last night.

I’d like to see Cullen come in and for the 9 it would have to be Connolly assuming he’s fit. Mick isn’t going to chuck Parrott in unless he got some sort of loan move and was banging in the goals.

The GK and back 4 picks itself. McGoldrick is a bolter and McClean for his work rate if fit will be in so that is 7. The other 4 slots IMO are up for grabs.

[brine3]

The central midfield is where football matches has been controlled since the dawn of man. We insist on playing players that there who have all the control of an incontinent geriatric.
Irish international sport is in thrall to the idea that you must reward loyalty over form. Both the rugger & football have fallen down because of this. You hear constantly from arseholes like Liam Brady that Ireland don't have the players,but how will we ever know if we keep picking airheads like Hendrick & cavemen like McClean...

I thought Hendrick was good last night, especially in the second half. Tidy feet in tight spaces, can hold up the ball while defenders are recovering, get it to another player in a green shirt. Plays football, in other words. The problem is that Hendrick doesn't slot into our caveman formation. Only Roy Keane or John Giles can slot into a non-existent midfield and dictate the match all by themselves. We can't be expecting that of Hendrick or any other Irish midfielder. We need a plan, and then we can get the most out of handy midfielders like Hendrick. James McCarthy got the same criticism. Why isn't he single-handedly taking the game by the scruff of the neck and winning it for us. Because he's not a once in a generation top class midfielder. But he is a very good midfielder nonetheless. Give these guys a plan, surround them by fellow ball playing footballers and they will shine. Surround them by the likes of McClean and Whelan and have them run themselves into the ground, then you see what happens.

The sooner Kenny comes in, the better. 12 years of Trap, MON and now Mick Mac. I must have sinned something terrible in a previous life. Nights like Lille or potentially tonight if we had won, it doesn't make up for the systematic ruin that is Irish football.

[paul_oshea]

I Think having an almost completely new backline last night, in terms of none having played together before didn't help. Denmark had one chance and took it, had we gone ahead they'd have come at us much stronger. They were very happy to just sit back and secure a draw. I really dont like the Denmark football team or anything to do with them. THey are a very arrogant bunch. Denmark are an extraordinary average side. We should have taken them last night, i txtd mates with about 15 mins gone saying they have no fight in them and are there for the taking but we will end up regretting not taking them. Which is exactly how I feel this morning.

Randolph slows us down way too much, I think Kingdom mentioned that before here, and he was spot on. Robinson was in acres of space and roaring for it, it would have been a counter attack with a 1 v 1 and randolph chose to hold onto it and wait for everyone to get back into position, he did this far too often last night but that was the glaring one.

We clearly hadn't practiced certain scenarios, players were happy to accept corners time and again instead of taking on their man and fashioning a cross. It was very frustrating to watch at times. I felt like us against Georgia where georgia could have played for 5 hours and still wouldnt have scored. The amount of crosses we then did hit in that were aimed at no one, this is fairly basic stuff that we couldnt get right. And the amount of times the ball dropped around the 6 yard box and no one there to get on the end of it.

Whatever you say about the performance, Denmark let us play in front of them, and didnt even go in for most 50/50 challenges. Had Denmark needed a win things would have been very different.

Maybe we can penaltilise our way to the Euros but I very much doubt it.

[paul_oshea]

The biggest misconception of put 'em under pressure is that it was a brainless tactic imbued by a tactically deficient coach (Charlton) in order to empower a technically inferior strategy. When in fact it was in part a press high strategy and lets play the technically minded football in their half.
Our problem last night especially in the first half before the Danes retreated was showing for the ball in midfield. The back 4 tossed the ball around but nobody showed from midfield to take it further. There was a centre midfield avoidance strategy.

This was interesting because even as we played the ball across the back 4 we always hit slow ball to the closest man, even taking out one of our own and going for the 2nd nearest man we would have moved them around more easily. Instead we just played simple passes over and back that were doing nothing for penetration. Hendrick did come a few times for passes but he wasn't passed to. We tried to play around them down the sides, but you cant do that if you dont play quick ball. It was all over laboured and slow. Its not just about lads looking for possession and having the confidence. its about the player passing having the confidence in their colleague - which they clearly don't and that must come from somewhere. Funny thing with hendrick was he can't seem to pass the ball or get on it when he is in midfield, but when he was pushed up in the second half he had lovely touches and technique and controlled the ball perfectly, which to me seems like a more much difficult thing to do than take the ball turn and find a pass i.e. i dont think its a case of not having players of quality.

[jbyrne]

The sooner Kenny comes in, the better. 12 years of Trap, MON and now Mick Mac.

..... and before that all the previous managers who were blamed for all our footballing woes.
I give it three matches before Kenny gets the same treatment as all our previous managers (with the possible exception of Jack) have received.

[brine3]

..... and before that all the previous managers who were blamed for all our footballing woes.
I give it three matches before Kenny gets the same treatment as all our previous managers (with the possible exception of Jack) have received.

I dunno. We've generally appointed dinosaurs. We consistently go for marquee managers that are famous for something they last did a decade before. Then it turns out they are a decade behind the times.

I had a bad feeling in 2013 that we had appointed the wrong M. O'Neill.

For those who say we don't have the players: ask yourself what kind of players Iceland and Norn Iron have...

[jbyrne]

I dunno. We've generally appointed dinosaurs. We consistently go for marquee managers that are famous for something they last did a decade before. Then it turns out they are a decade behind the times.

I had a bad feeling in 2013 that we had appointed the wrong M. O'Neill.

and how did the staunton and kerr appointments go??


For those who say we don't have the players: ask yourself what kind of players Iceland and Norn Iron have...

what exactly have the north or iceland done that we have not?

in relation to MON you cant just brush results like austria and wales way, italy and sweden at the euros, bosnia in the play offs and of course germany at home in 2015 under the carpet. at the very least on a par with anything those we should be aspiring to emulate like the north and iceland have done.

[brine3]

Please don't use Steve Staunton as an example of us appointing a progressive and forward thinking football manager.

[brine3]

and how did the staunton and kerr appointments go??



what exactly have the north or iceland done that we have not?

in relation to MON you cant just brush results like austria and wales way, italy and sweden at the euros, bosnia in the play offs and of course germany at home in 2015 under the carpet. at the very least on a par with anything those we should be aspiring to emulate like the north and iceland have done.

MON is an interesting one. Against Germany at home we had a midfield of McCarthy, Hendrick, Brady and Hoolahan. By far the most footballing midfield we've played in years. Ironically because Whelan was suspended, who many for some reason agreed we'd miss badly against Germany. He also started Given, a legend, but one who should have been nowhere near the team at that stage. Given goes off injured and Randolph comes on and gets the assist. Then we beat the world champions.

So I'm undecided on MON. Yes, sometimes he picked the right team, but almost by accident. Other times he had us playing absolute rubbish. He's an odd one. I dunno what happened, I think he fell into the "results matter more than the performance" trap. He's also well known for sending players out on to the pitch with almost no tactical instructions. Maybe his luck ran out.

[paul_oshea]

"But a massive part of that is the player in midfield that recycles the ball. You can't be pedestrian when you're passing across, it has to be done quickly.

"You need someone that looks up and whips it out. If it's Jack Byrne that does that, that's amazing, but that's what we need. If it's tippy-tappy around by the time it gets out there, the space is gone and we can't use it."

Stephen kelly saying similar today. If the neigbours dog can see it how can Mccarthy not?

[brine3]

what exactly have the north or iceland done that we have not?

Well, Iceland qualified for two tournaments in a row and knocked England out of the Euros.

Can you imagine if we had done that? You'd never hear the end of it.

[mark12345]

I thought we were great tonight. Just a bad goal to concede cost us

Couldn't agree more. I thought we were brilliant. Very impressed with the way we held possession, didn't panic, and measured our passes. Haven't seen a performance like that in years. And hopefully from last night's game, the players will realise the wastefulness of long balls from the back and the value of having a front man (McGoldrick) who can hold the ball

[Real ale Madrid]

Well, Iceland qualified for two tournaments in a row and knocked England out of the Euros.

Can you imagine if we had done that? You'd never hear the end of it.

We pretty much did that in Euro 88 & Italia 90 and - well yes - we are still talking about it.

[dynamo kerry]

Couldn't agree more. I thought we were brilliant. Very impressed with the way we held possession, didn't panic, and measured our passes. Haven't seen a performance like that in years. And hopefully from last night's game, the players will realise the wastefulness of long balls from the back and the value of having a front man (McGoldrick) who can hold the ball

I was up in the west stand on the half way line with a pretty good view and for the most part I thought we were lots more positive than previously. I don't care if Denmark sat a bit - but every time they could they sprinted forward to close down the space especially in the first half. They were right up in or half looking to win the ball high but thanks to excellent control by stevens and doherty (on average) we played our way out.

what we did well
- tried to limit hoofing it forward
- played out from tight spaces where denmark were in our faces
- linked up pretty well (a few exceptions)
- several of our players kept cool and tried to be progressive

not so well
- mcgoldrick sucked deep so no focal point up front often enough
- didn't move it fast enough in transition
- certain players are not really able for a quick passing game/close quarter control and they were found out last night
- one or two players continually seemed surprised to have the ball land at their feet

Stars on the ball - Stevens, doherty, hendrick actually did a lot of good stuff, whelan had a very good game from where I was sitting, McG
Pretty effective - clark and duffy were very progressive and settled in nicely together. I thought Egan was fine too.
not so effective - Browne took some time to settle into his role.
less effective - a lot of plays broke down with mclean in the first 75 minutes. got to the point we watched him carefully hoping the next ball would be the good one. hourihane for me also got caught on the ball more than I'd like but he appears to be have been very productive overall (however I didn't see it )

overall I thought their game plan was solid enough against a decent side. there's some revisionism going on that the danes are not that good after all which I don't buy into - no world beaters but no mugs either. I was proud of them on the night and I remain so. I think if we want to move on, and play a different kind of football, mclean is not going to be able to raise his game to join in.

https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1341443/Live/International-European-Championship-2019-Ireland-Denmark stats are very informative

if we go out then so be it but if we play like that in the next game we have a chance. a buddy of mine came to the game last night and I told him I hoped the team didn't get too much negative press today to which he replied "what can they possibly say to them after that match and effort" - I said "they'll find something".. I'm disappointed to see I was right..

[pineapple stu]

..... and before that all the previous managers who were blamed for all our footballing woes.
I give it three matches before Kenny gets the same treatment as all our previous managers (with the possible exception of Jack) have received.
Have to agree with this. The Kenny revolution isn't going to happen. We just don't have the players. I think Mick's done a pretty decent job with the squad available and where he started from (i.e. the dregs of the MON reign)

[brine3]

I think Mick's done a pretty decent job with the squad available and where he started from (i.e. the dregs of the MON reign)

Well, MON finished second in a bigger group. Mick has finished third in a smaller group and failed to beat anybody ranked above us.

Let's not give Mick credit here for improving the team.

[brine3]

We pretty much did that in Euro 88 & Italia 90 and - well yes - we are still talking about it.

Exactly.

[davidatrb]

Three things I think can improve.
1. Recruitment. I know it was embarrassing being known as the England B team back in the 90’s. It’s a different world now. There are 4.8 million Irish ppl in Ireland and 6 million Irish ppl in the UK. Total about 100 million across the world. I would think most of our best players are not born in Ireland so it’s strange given the facilities and player development in UK that we aren’t tapping into that avenue more for recruitment.

2. Development. We have kind of never been good at this, but I think we were better before with clubs like home farm. Some how we have been left behind and have abdicated responsibility to the UK academies/clubs to develop our players for us. Whether a central academy can be formed or more investment in individual clubs own academies and youth systems. Or a deal with a big UK club that some clubs here could act as academy clubs for them like the Hone Farm Everton deal? I think we need to be much better at focusing on player development above all else. Clubs here are too much focused on winning today.

3. Investment. End of the day it’s all about money really. I think GAA clubs and rugby clubs are much much better at securing government grants and funding. I could be wrong but that’s my impresssion. I think football could do better here for themselves and be more active in looking for applying for grants, fund raising etc. I think the government could be more active too, like the investment that Iceland government put in to funding facilities for every school. I think it’s absolutely shameful that many schools in Ireland don’t have any piece of grass at all for the kids to play any sports on.

I think talking about managers and switching managers is a waste of time, and changing manager will just mean the real problems will be ignored again.

[Tipp Townie]

if we go out then so be it but if we play like that in the next game we have a chance. a buddy of mine came to the game last night and I told him I hoped the team didn't get too much negative press today to which he replied "what can they possibly say to them after that match and effort" - I said "they'll find something".. I'm disappointed to see I was right..

Fair play. I didn't mean to be too negative afterwards. I do think we played pretty well - and the team deserves credit - without really looking (to me) like we'd score, which was the crucial element last night of course.
I just feel that over a number of years, going back to Kerr, now we've done the same kind of thing over and over of being hard to beat, and it primarily results in lots of draws but very few important victories. The period under MON with wins over Germany, Bosnia, Italy, Austria and Wales was an outlier. I wish we'd go for it a bit more and risk a defeat in order to get more wins. We talked a lot about tactical courage before the game last night. Last night's tactics nearly worked, but the fact is they didn't.

We've 'secured' the playoffs for reasons unconnected to this qualifying group, so i'm not sure i'll feel any different about this even if we do get through.

[pineapple stu]

Well, MON finished second in a bigger group. Mick has finished third in a smaller group and failed to beat anybody ranked above us.

Let's not give Mick credit here for improving the team.
The dregs of the O'Neill campaign was the Nations League, which was an unmitigated disaster. And a not unexpected one either, given the growing feeling that we'd been very lucky to come second in our group with some awful performances. Serbia away in particular we were absurdly blessed to get a point from.

I think Mick has to get credit for improving things.

[dynamo kerry]

Fair play. I didn't mean to be too negative afterwards. I do think we played pretty well - and the team deserves credit - without really looking (to me) like we'd score, which was the crucial element last night of course.
I just feel that over a number of years, going back to Kerr, now we've done the same kind of thing over and over of being hard to beat, and it primarily results in lots of draws but very few important victories. The period under MON with wins over Germany, Bosnia, Italy, Austria and Wales was an outlier. I wish we'd go for it a bit more and risk a defeat in order to get more wins. We talked a lot about tactical courage before the game last night. Last night's tactics nearly worked, but the fact is they didn't.

We've 'secured' the playoffs for reasons unconnected to this qualifying group, so i'm not sure i'll feel any different about this even if we do get through.

the sense of qualification masking deficiencies is one I share but I genuinely feel there is a difference between what 6/7 players were trying to do last night and previous efforts. it would take serious bravery to lose some games and build an ethos moving forward (instead of drawing them 1-1), blood players in a system, strive for something more. Kenny may be that person, we won't know. for me Mick only let himself down by not starting odowda or someone on the left. McG was the right call up front. the players need to take some responsibility too - sometimes I think they are so surprised to have the ball in the final 3rd that they don't know what to do. at least last night they were taking shots, bursting into the box, trying things. winning is a habit and this was a step in the right direction. if they play like that in play offs I almost don't care if we qualify. they need to be brave and try things and trust themselves. there's ability there. not loads of it but more than people give them credit for.

[Stuttgart88]

Have to agree with this. The Kenny revolution isn't going to happen. We just don't have the players. I think Mick's done a pretty decent job with the squad available and where he started from (i.e. the dregs of the MON reign)I personally think Byrne instead of McClean would have changed things dramatically last night. I think we do have the players. Nobody was error free last night but generally the back 5 (and replacements) are goodand our full backs are more than capable of playing dynamic modern football. The rest are fine, some better than others. I think we'll have to be patient and maybe Kenny will flop, but we're only now coming to the end of the Charlton era conservatism. Kenny can be our first genuinely post-2008 manager and with the good talent coming through all used to post-2008 football I think the cultural change can be effected.

[pineapple stu]

I like Byrne as a player, but I think it's a stretch to suggest a player in a part-time league would have been a dramatic improvement last night.

Yes, he performed well in Europe, but Denmark is a step up again, and I don't think we can say he'd have stepped up. McCarthy has to be a better judge of that having seen him in training, and doing just ok v New Zealand

[paul_oshea]

Ya Im not sure he was the right man there either, and yes he only did ok v new zealand who were very poor, but we definitely needed something, I txted a whatsgroup of some members here and said at half time, because we have so much possession(relative to any other game i mean) we dont need the qualities of mcclean, and said we should take him off at half time and bring on Maguire, as he did well the last day out on the wing, plus he would have been confident coming on with the goal as well. He came on far too late, as he did get involved when he came on. Even brady would have made one or two of the crosses the mcclean couldnt make last night. God forbid maybe even o'dowda.

[Stuttgart88]

I like Byrne as a player, but I think it's a stretch to suggest a player in a part-time league would have been a dramatic improvement last night.

Yes, he performed well in Europe, but Denmark is a step up again, and I don't think we can say he'd have stepped up. McCarthy has to be a better judge of that having seen him in training, and doing just ok v New Zealand I watched the game from the West Upper and all I could see was McClean sucking the life out of anything on the left hand side, almost crowding out space for Stevens to attack, while at the same time I saw space in front of their back four just dying to be exploited. Hendrick found that space in the second half but is too direct to use it well. Several times in the second half we played through their lines and with some success, often by players like Doherty simply running through the lines. The game was crying out for a player with Byrne's eye for a pass and willingness to receive the ball. Instead McGoldrick had to come deep and wide looking for it himself. I don't think the level he plays at would have made much difference. He was exactly what the game needed. McClean is great for those frantic last ten minutes when we need a goal but not for much else imho.

[ifk101]

Horses for courses :-)
Agree with you Stuttgart, Byrne was the option on the bench - use him. I think I'd have gone Byrne for Hourihane, and gambled on Brady for McClean.

[ifk101]

I thought Hendrick was good last night, especially in the second half.

He improved in the second half. Not so good in the first. One thing sticks in my mind though. We had a corner early in the second, played short and back to Hourihane who swung it in with it bouncing up off their goalie's hand. That subsequent ball was there for Hendrick to attack and win but he chose to back away from it for some reason allowing Denmark to clear their lines.

[Real ale Madrid]

We might have been able to throw Byrne in if we had a full range of 3 subs late on. Clark for Egan may have scuppered those plans. Robinson was a logical first sub and a little surprised that Maguire got the call then. (It was a good week for him - he has moved up the pecking order a bit ), he got himself into space once or twice and did ok in the short time. Would like to see him take the game to the opposition more in an Ireland shirt - run at players etc.

I don't buy the Byrne plays LOI argument. Roger Milla scored 4 goals in a World Cup finals while playing his club football on Reunion Island - at 38. Extreme example I know but Byrne has clearly proved he can operate at a higher level than LOI anyway and I'm not altogether sure we had better off the bench either.

[Dunners]

Midfield is where the problem lies

Hendrick would be fine in a better balanced/functioning Midfield , so i would include him going forward

Out
Whelan (will retire not based on last nights performance)
Hourihane - not good enough (squad player)
Browne - not good enough (squad player)
McClean - past his sell by date

In
Molumby - needs to be fast tracked / all round power house
Cullen - neat and tidy playing at a good level / technically very good
McCarthy - if he gets himself fit he walks back into to the holding role
Byrne - creativity , need to see more of him playing at a higher level
Crowley - creativity / technically very good , need to sort out his papers smokescreen nonsense
Arter - better than last night's crew

Options to replace McClean
Connolly
O'dowda
Brady

I don’tthink the immediate future would be all that bad if we didn’t have big Mickpicking the team

[pineapple stu]

I don't buy the Byrne plays LOI argument. Roger Milla scored 4 goals in a World Cup finals while playing his club football on Reunion Island - at 38. Extreme example I know but Byrne has clearly proved he can operate at a higher level than LOI anyway and I'm not altogether sure we had better off the bench either.
I actually never knew that about Milla!

Though he was an experienced international anyway. Byrne isn't.

Like, I get the argument about McClean, and I'd like to see Byrne get more game time. But I still think it's too optimistic a leap to say that Byrne would have dramatically improved things tbh.

[brine3]

Midfield is where the problem lies

Hendrick would be fine in a better balanced/functioning Midfield , so i would include him going forward

Out
Whelan (will retire not based on last nights performance)
Hourihane - not good enough (squad player)
Browne - not good enough (squad player)
McClean - past his sell by date

In
Molumby - needs to be fast tracked / all round power house
Cullen - neat and tidy playing at a good level / technically very good
McCarthy - if he gets himself fit he walks back into to the holding role
Byrne - creativity , need to see more of him playing at a higher level
Crowley - creativity / technically very good , need to sort out his papers smokescreen nonsense
Arter - better than last night's crew

Options to replace McClean
Connolly
O'dowda
Brady

I don’tthink the immediate future would be all that bad if we didn’t have big Mickpicking the team

Yeah Crowley been starting all his matches for B'ham City since his transfer there. Yet not in the squad. Doesn't seem right.

While Glenn Whelan hasn't been too bad since he came back, I think it is wrong of us to keep picking players like him. He's the safe option. But we always go for the safe and mediocre option. We're always just trying to wing it just enough to get to qualify for the next tournament, instead of developing our best team. It's disheartening and it's difficult to watch. I'm not as fully invested in it as I used to be. And that's coming from somebody who watched every Ireland qualifying match religiously for going on 30 years. If we're going to be finishing third in a group then lets do it by at least trying to play some ball. 7 goals from 8 matches, which includes Gibraltar and Georgia home and away. That's just not good enough. People can complain that we don't have a proper striker. Neither do Denmark and Switzerland.

[brine3]

He improved in the second half. Not so good in the first. One thing sticks in my mind though. We had a corner early in the second, played short and back to Hourihane who swung it in with it bouncing up off their goalie's hand. That subsequent ball was there for Hendrick to attack and win but he chose to back away from it for some reason allowing Denmark to clear their lines.

What sticks in my mind is the number of times he got the ball in a tight space surrounded by Danish players but managed to wiggle his way out and get the ball to another green shirt. Irish players who can do that are like gold dust.

[SkStu]

Yeah Crowley been starting all his matches for B'ham City since his transfer there. Yet not in the squad. Doesn't seem right.

While Glenn Whelan hasn't been too bad since he came back, I think it is wrong of us to keep picking players like him. He's the safe option. But we always go for the safe and mediocre option. We're always just trying to wing it just enough to get to qualify for the next tournament, instead of developing our best team. It's disheartening and it's difficult to watch. I'm not as fully invested in it as I used to be. And that's coming from somebody who watched every Ireland qualifying match religiously for going on 30 years. If we're going to be finishing third in a group then lets do it by at least trying to play some ball. 7 goals from 8 matches, which includes Gibraltar and Georgia home and away. That's just not good enough. People can complain that we don't have a proper striker. Neither do Denmark and Switzerland.

Agree completely with this brine3. The FAI - and to the same extent the fans - have put the pressure of success (qualification) ahead of all else since on the shoulders of every manager since the end of McCarthy's original tenure. That has resulted in a lot of players being retained at the expense of high potential (sometimes correctly, in fairness) and often times keeping those players far beyond their best before date. It creates a bottleneck for our talent to try and force their way through instead of a smoother pathway where they are brought through and the subsequent talent gets promoted through each age group. In Mick's defense, the last couple of squads are evidence of doing that well.

When Kenny comes on board, i do hope and pray that we see the next campaign (maybe two) as developmental and about bringing our excellent young talent through and building a winning team that plays the game the right way. The FAI supporting that approach and being vocal about it will be important. Otherwise, managers will always default to the safe, "tried and trusted" options. Of all, I think Kenny has the cojones to "just do it anyway" but he will need our backing and patience as will the players.

I dont think we will get through these playoffs and as a result i would love to see the rebuilding start in March but I know that not many will see it the same way and so it likely wont be until next Autumn.

[SkStu]

Midfield is where the problem lies

Hendrick would be fine in a better balanced/functioning Midfield , so i would include him going forward

Out
Whelan (will retire not based on last nights performance)
Hourihane - not good enough (squad player)
Browne - not good enough (squad player)
McClean - past his sell by date

In
Molumby - needs to be fast tracked / all round power house
Cullen - neat and tidy playing at a good level / technically very good
McCarthy - if he gets himself fit he walks back into to the holding role
Byrne - creativity , need to see more of him playing at a higher level
Crowley - creativity / technically very good , need to sort out his papers smokescreen nonsense
Arter - better than last night's crew

Options to replace McClean
Connolly
O'dowda
Brady

I don’tthink the immediate future would be all that bad if we didn’t have big Mickpicking the team

I agree with most of this (I rate Browne and for me the jury is still out on Hourihane).

The second biggest mistake the Mick has repeated is around his use of McGoldrick. He's a good quality talent but he is not at his best - and it impacts the effectiveness of the team hugely - when he is selected at 9. This was evident again last night. He'd be super in a #10 role. The problem if i was picking is that i also like Hendrick at #10 so, while i rate him as highly as you appear to, it would probably be a game by game decision on him v McG.

His biggest mistake is not having found an exit strategy for McClean. Does more harm than good. I think one of Stutts' recent posts nails it.

[geysir]

Yeah Crowley been starting all his matches for B'ham City since his transfer there. Yet not in the squad. Doesn't seem right.

While Glenn Whelan hasn't been too bad since he came back, I think it is wrong of us to keep picking players like him. He's the safe option. But we always go for the safe and mediocre option. We're always just trying to wing it just enough to get to qualify for the next tournament, instead of developing our best team. It's disheartening and it's difficult to watch. I'm not as fully invested in it as I used to be. And that's coming from somebody who watched every Ireland qualifying match religiously for going on 30 years. If we're going to be finishing third in a group then lets do it by at least trying to play some ball. 7 goals from 8 matches, which includes Gibraltar and Georgia home and away. That's just not good enough. People can complain that we don't have a proper striker. Neither do Denmark and Switzerland.
Is this whats called a scarecrow argument? Moaning for the sake of moaning without just cause.
If you had been following the fortunes of the Irish team like most people here you might have brine in the know that Crowley's request to tranfer to Ireland has not yet been requited by FIFA.

Glenn Whelan played well above what most expected of him at this time in his his life, most fans appreciated his 100% efforts and upmost dedication in that game v Denmark.
Apart from that, most fans and pundits expected Ireland to get beaten by Denmark, even well beaten, but we didn't and we even came closer than most people expected to by winning against the Danes. Now we even have our pecker up going into the play offs.. Did you expect Ireland to beat Denmark? I didn't, but I thought it might happen and am proud in a way that the team went all out to claim the victory. What is all this grief about not being able to beat Denmark when you probably thought Ireland would get pumped?

[Fixer82]

Is this whats called a scarecrow argument? Moaning for the sake of moaning without just cause.
If you had been following the fortunes of the Irish team like most people here you might have brine in the know that Crowley's request to tranfer to Ireland has not yet been requited by FIFA.

Glenn Whelan played well above what most expected of him at this time in his his life, most fans appreciated his 100% efforts and upmost dedication in that game v Denmark.
Apart from that, most fans and pundits expected Ireland to get beaten by Denmark, even well beaten, but we didn't and we even came closer than most people expected to by winning against the Danes. Now we even have our pecker up going into the play offs.. Did you expect Ireland to beat Denmark? I didn't, but I thought it might happen and am proud in a way that the team went all out to claim the victory. What is all this grief about not being able to beat Denmark when you probably thought Ireland would get pumped?

Well said.
The negativity from some fans (not necessarily on here as in general) is shocking. McClean is a real hate figure but I watched the match back and he played quite well.

None of our lads had a stinker the other night and I’m proud of the team.

They have a bit of momentum now and my biggest worry is that the Slovakia game is so far away. Would love a friendly or two in between.

My other big fear is that McGoldrick will get injured as he would be a huge loss

[Olé Olé]

Whelan was brilliant. He burst a gut in midfield and covered more ground than I could have expected. Hourihane was anonymous in comparison and it forced Whelan into persistently shouting at those around to close down the Danes. It was great to hear "Whelo, Whelo" chants break out a few times too.

[Stuttgart88]

Did anyone notice how we had sent two big lads up for a set piece in the first half which ended up in Schmichael’s hands? He launched a big kick upfield and it was Whelan, our last man on halfway, who stretched to head clear what was very nearly a 2-on-1 otherwise. Obviously it’d have been a terrible chance to concede and you could argue that he was only doing the basics by covering for his CBs but still, I thought it was symbolic of his overall performance. Great to hear his name being sung. The yellow looked harsh. It looked like he clearly won the ball but it was recovering from a loose touch I suppose, and that’s always a card waiting to happen.

[IsMiseSean]

Well said.
The negativity from some fans (not necessarily on here as in general) is shocking.

I seen a claim on twitter yesterday that Luxembourg performed better than us in qualifying - they finished on 4 points and lost 8 games. :rolleyes:

[paul_oshea]

What sticks in my mind is the number of times he got the ball in a tight space surrounded by Danish players but managed to wiggle his way out and get the ball to another green shirt. Irish players who can do that are like gold dust.

He did that when he was pushed further up the pitch when in tighter areas, which is the strange thing. His distribution is clearly poor, but would be helped by better ball playing players around him

[tetsujin1979]

He did that when he was pushed further up the pitch when in tighter areas, which is the strange thing. His distribution is clearly poor, but would be helped by better ball playing players around him
He completed 83% of his passes - https://www.sofascore.com/ireland-denmark/BObsTTb

[seanfhear]

Wheelman ( funnily enough if he had better wheels through out his career he would have been a few levels up ) has a Great Attitude . He could easily be retired from International Football . A lot of people seem to think we have better , but do we ?

[SkStu]

Well said.
The negativity from some fans (not necessarily on here as in general) is shocking. McClean is a real hate figure but I watched the match back and he played quite well.

None of our lads had a stinker the other night and I’m proud of the team.

They have a bit of momentum now and my biggest worry is that the Slovakia game is so far away. Would love a friendly or two in between.

My other big fear is that McGoldrick will get injured as he would be a huge loss

I agree in general with the sentiments about how well we played. Finally watched the game uninterrupted last night (watching from work is a killer!). But i do disagree about McClean. He was to type - running poor channels, dreadful final ball/crosses (one good one in every five) and giving the ball away very cheaply in general play. There is also the antagonistic side to his game where he gives the ball away and then freaks out at his teammates which he did 2 or 3 times on Monday when clearly he had over or underhit a pass. And there was the stupid side to his game where going into injury time the ball is breaking near the Danes box and breaking to an irish player but McClean decides to push over a Dane who wouldnt have gotten there first. Infuriating. Would be frustrating to play with. On the other side, and this is why a lot of fans like him, there was the 60 yard sprint in added time to win the ball in a spot where you have to think Denmark would have scored. It was quite something in fairness.

I thought Hourihane was terrible again, anonymous. But i do not think that defensive midfield is his position. I would have had Browne in beside Whelan and maybe brought Hourihane on in a more attacking midfield role later on if we were chasing the game. Browne was a bit of a square peg in a round hole but overall did ok. I do like the way he plays. Didnt rate Hendrick as highly as some on here.

I thought Clark was fantastic when he came on. I just love the way he plays - no fuss, low key defending and a threat in the oppositions box. I am a huge Duffy critic (in terms of his hoof ball) and didnt think he could play a possession game but, i am going to eat a bit of humble pie and say that he has been vastly in that regard over the last 2-3 games. A significantly marked improvement. So fair play to MickMac on that.

Doherty was outstanding all round. My motm i think. He played so well - it looks like the game just comes so easily to him. There was a few times in the second half where he just carried the ball out of the rb position and set up chances for us. Took his goal very well too - easy to lose concentration there and think the ball wont reach you. I think the position is his to lose.

I am not confident we will make the euros next year - the path is difficult - but, overall, I wonder if Mick not having had the luxury of the NL and a few additional friendlies to look at his team and formation cost us automatic qualification here?

[nigel-harps1954]

He completed 83% of his passes - https://www.sofascore.com/ireland-denmark/BObsTTb

That same site lists Glenn Whelan as having made 0 tackles..

[jbyrne]

Please don't use Steve Staunton as an example of us appointing a progressive and forward thinking football manager.

i didn't. stan certainly didn't fit this description though.....

We've generally appointed dinosaurs. We consistently go for marquee managers that are famous for something they last did a decade before.

and that's my point