Slovakia v Republic of Ireland - 8th October 2020 - Euro 2020 Playoff Semi Final

[tetsujin1979]

I should point out part of my frustration was that he was in my Fantasy Football team for the weekend. But then he got dumped out and my second sub - who I had meant to play, and who kept a clean sheet - came in instead.

So I'm happy out again :)


Ditto, Coady came in for me

[pineapple stu]

That's who I had to by coincidence!

[Eirambler]

Sean St Ledger here, showing a surprising depth of knowledge of Slovakian football (you'll need a translate function unless you speak Slovakian).

https://sport.aktuality.sk/c/463968/euro-2020-slovensko-irsko-sean-st-ledger-jeden-z-najsilnejsich-timov-irska/

Just flicking through that Slovakian sports website two things jump out.

- they seem to have a major weakness at left back
- every Slovakia player interviewed expects Ireland to play "island football" (which I think means they all think we're going to hoof it for 90 minutes on Thursday).

[CraftyToePoke]

every Slovakia player interviewed expects Ireland to play "island football" (which I think means they all think we're going to hoof it for 90 minutes on Thursday).

Well they are in for a surprise when we silky pass them of the pitch all evening Thursday so.

[jbyrne]

Sean St Ledger here, showing a surprising depth of knowledge of Slovakian football (you'll need a translate function unless you speak Slovakian).


pretty sure he is being used as a scout by SK

[Trequartista20]

Sean St Ledger here, showing a surprising depth of knowledge of Slovakian football

He knows his footie.

[paul_oshea]

welcome back Sean

[passinginterest]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1006/1169785-irish-backroom-staff-member-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

Hopefully everyone passed the tests when they arrive. Could be a disaster.

[Demesne Lad]

One of the photos of the 'Futbalisti Írska' (Irish footballers) is of the GAWA, not of the BIG :)

[Demesne Lad]

Michala Ďuriša (striker) is unavailable, due to concussion; Pavla Šafranka replaces him in the Slovak squad. Ľubomírom Šatkom (defender, captain of Lech Poznan) may miss out, as he has been in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Coach Hapal remained optimistic about having Stan Lobotka available: "He's already had two negative tests, and one more test awaits him. We hope to get him to Slovakia from Naples". (Novy Cas, 6 Oct)

[elatedscum]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1006/1169785-irish-backroom-staff-member-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

Hopefully everyone passed the tests when they arrive. Could be a disaster.

Not a member of the coaching or playing staff. Medical staff maybe?

[paul_oshea]

Physio. Means McCarthy's F**** :D

[Eirambler]

Cullen called up. Must be a while since we called up a Belgian based player to the senior squad?

[sadloserkid]

Cullen called up. Must be a while since we called up a Belgian based player to the senior squad?

Gary Waddock the last, possibly?

[pineapple stu]

Dominic Foley?

[Olé Olé]

I'd say so. Is Dominic Foley the last Irish player to play in the Belgian league? Wasn't called up during his time there though.

[Eirambler]

Graham Stack played for the under 21s while in Belgium in the early 2000s, but not the senior squad.

[Diggs246]

Darren Gibson? ( royal Antwerp)

[pineapple stu]

John O'Shea made his debut three months after returning groom Antwerp; don't know was he called up while there though?

Gibson is the same actually

[geysir]

No, John made his infamous debut in the 2-2 v Croatia after his loan period ended.
Close but no cigar.

[Eirambler]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6313743.stm

Darron Gibson, "the Londonderry lad", seems to be the answer, was at Antwerp when first called up.

Didn't realise Randolph was involved that far back, he was in the same squad but didn't make his debut for another five years. Was behind Wayne Henderson and Nick Colgan in the pecking order at that point.

[Trequartista20]

No, John made his infamous debut in the 2-2 v Croatia after his loan period ended.
Close but no cigar.

Can't quite remember that one.

What made his debut infamous?

[Trequartista20]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6313743.stm

Darron Gibson, "the Londonderry lad", seems to be the answer, was at Antwerp when first called up.

Didn't realise Randolph was involved that far back, he was in the same squad but didn't make his debut for another five years. Was behind Wayne Henderson and Nick Colgan in the pecking order at that point.

Yes, of course.

Playing in the semi-professional Belgian second division at the time. A typically nonsensical decision from Stan. I think he later went on.loan at Wolves before finally making his debut for United.

[backstothewall]

Can't quite remember that one.

What made his debut infamous?

He came on with about 5 minutes left. Presumably Mick was throwing on an extra defender to help see out the win.

He handled the ball in the box shortly after, gave away a penalty, and Davor Suker smashed it home for the equaliser.

[elatedscum]

With Arter out, seems very likely that it’ll be Hourihane, Hendrick and McCarthy. Will be interesting to see who of Cullen, Browne, Byrne, Brady and Molumby will come off the bench when the centre midfielders tire...

[irishfan86]

With Arter out, seems very likely that it’ll be Hourihane, Hendrick and McCarthy. Will be interesting to see who of Cullen, Browne, Byrne, Brady and Molumby will come off the bench when the centre midfielders tire...

Those are our three best mids but have to say I’m concerned that Hendrick and Hourihane are just too hit and miss to play together in the same team. The benefit with a guy like Arter or Molumby is that even if they don’t have the best game, they at least disrupt the opposition. Hendrick and Hourihane at their worst can literally disappear. They both are capable of game changing moments with their technique but it really doesn’t come as often as you’d like.

I’d be inclined to drop one at this point. If Brady is fit I’d go for him over Hourihane. One should be on the field for set pieces. Just frustrating as both Hendrick and Hourihane can both individually be so effective at certain moments.

[pineapple stu]

No, John made his infamous debut in the 2-2 v Croatia after his loan period ended.
Close but no cigar.
I know that. The question is when was he first called up though. He may have been called up for a previous match

[Olé Olé]

I agree with much of the above but Brady can go missing too. He looked well off it against Finland, having looked lively against Bulgaria.

If we play Robinson, McGoldrick and Connolly then we have three forwards who are getting club games and goals of late. Our back five is settled and strong. The missing link would be our midfield which is decent on paper but, as you say, could be hit and miss.

I'd love to see the day we get a Hendrick goal from arrive late into or around the box and finishing emphatically. Couple this with Hourihane whipping an inswinging free onto the head of Duffy for another goal. All the while, McCarthy is sitting in midfield battling well against likes of Hamsik and Lobotka and providing good ball to his colleagues.

Maybe Kenny can get a tune resembling that out of them on a more consistent basis as he gets more time with them.

[Eirambler]

I'd probably expect Brady for Hourihane to be the midfield substitution during the game, unless there is an injury to one of the others. Molumby would probably come on for either of the others if needed. Hard to know what Browne's rating is in the squad, seems to always be there but rarely plays.

[geysir]

I know that. The question is when was he first called up though. He may have been called up for a previous match That was his first call up.

[pineapple stu]

That's grand so.

[Fixer82]

Wasn't he at fault for one of the goals? Give away a pen or something?
I remember RMK saying he should've been called up before that. Wasn't massively impressed with him that night.
in fact, I think his best performances for Ireland were in the last couple of years of his career.
He had some poor displays for us over the years

[geysir]

We took friendlies very seriously then.
Had John been called up before that game then he would have been the answer to the question.

[pineapple stu]

You've missed the link earlier showing Gibson was with Antwerp when called up in 2007.

But he didn't play. Proper order for his first call-up :p

[Olé Olé]

What's the view on Slovakia folks?

Hamsik and Lobotka should be strong in midfield and Kucka has plenty international and Serie A experience so they're good there.

No real stand out threat in the forwards. Talisman there seems to be Bozenik of Feyenoord who picked up 3 goals in qualification but has yet to register in his 4 league games this season. He's 6 foot 2 and 20 so I would imagine he will be physical.

At the back, Skriniar of Inter is a name that stands out a mile. There's a mix of names then. An experienced right back in the Bundesliga (Pekarik) and the other defensive spot tend to be taken by Gyomber of Salernitana in Serie B and there's a mixture of players filling in at centre half of left back, depending on where Gyomber is selected.

Dubravka's absence in goals is a positive for us, surely.

[paul_oshea]

Hamsik wont have played in about 2 weeks by Thursday, hes still young but how good is he still? And how good is Kucka really? hes probably their version of Jeff Hendrick.

Bar Hamsik i dont see much of a spark or much threat for us to worry about. But neither did Bulgaria or Finland and we completely struggled against them. But all emphasis for that has been put down to fitness and lack of sharpeness so we're going to be outstanding thursday.

[zero]

I don't think Hamsik is the force he was but basing that largely on stats - only 2 goals in 28 league games in china last year. That said he has 2 in 9 this season. He will still have quality though and younger guys around him - he's a semi legendary figure for Slovakia.

I would say we are about at the same level overall but the fact that we are playing a new system which failed to really get going in the first 2 games is probably the major concern.

[youngirish]

On paper it looks to me like their midfield is considerably better than ours whilst their forward options are considerably worse, shackle Boženík and they won't offer much threat upfront.

I think we have better defenders. Egan and Doherty are good Premiership footballers, Duffy is solid and offers a goal threat. I worry about Stevens as defensively I think he is dodgy so hopefully they don't target him too much. Škriniar is likely superior to anyone we've got in the defence. I don't know much about Vavro but he seems to have a decent career trajectory. Anyone know anything about him? Their other defensive options do look poor. Gyomber at 28 playing in Serie B would be the equivalent of a journeyman lower Championship or League 1 defender.

Goalkeeper missing will be a big bonus for us as previously mentioned.

[geysir]

Re Lobotka, none of the Napoli players are being released for intl duty. They are all stuck in quarantine.

I feel a "Welease Stanislaus" campaign coming on.

[paul_oshea]

With first-choice goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and left-back David Hancko already missing through injury, Hapal is thought unikely to risk centre-back Denis Vavro, absent from Lazio’s 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in Rome yesterday as he continues to recover from a groin problem.

Inter’s Milan Skriniar, a Tottenham transfer target, played the first 78 minutes of the same match on the right of a back three. One possible partner in central defence against Ireland, Norbert Gyomber, made his Serie B debut in Salernitana’s 2-1 away win at Chievo.

[paul_oshea]

Re Lobotka, none of the Napoli players are being released for intl duty. They are all stuck in quarantine.

I feel a "Welease Stanislaus" campaign coming on.

?

He's already with the squad.

[geysir]

?

He's already with the squad.

Then the release campaign was successful.

[geysir]

The Indo reports (https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/slovakia-failing-in-attempt-to-have-star-man-lobotka-released-for-euro-play-off-39597548.html)that Stan is still being held against his will in Napoli.

"The Slovak Football Association is still trying to communicate with the Italians about Stanislav Lobotka and his arrival in Slovakia for the requirements of the national team. At the moment I can not tell a definitive position," a Slovak FA spokesman told the sport.aktuality.sk website today."

[paul_oshea]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40060652.html

Slovakia will have powerhouse Stanislav Lobotka harnessing their midfield against Ireland on Thursday after the Napoli playmaker was released from quarantine.

Captain Marek Hamšík may be Slovakia’s most famous player but it was his €25m replacement at Napoli who Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has namechecked as integral to their gameplan in the Euro play-off semi-final.


that article is older than yours

EDIT: Disclaimer my article is written by John Fallon so its as good as false.

[paul_oshea]

"Most of the Irish players play at a high level, they are either in the Premier League or have played a lot there, so Ireland are favourites," he says.

"Slovakia have a problem in the squad, we have good players but they don't play for their clubs: (Milan) Skriniar, (Stanislav) Lobotka, (Robert) Mak, they have all been on the bench for their clubs. It's good that (Marek) Hamsik is here but we don't know how his form is.

"We have too many players who are out of competition, out of form, and we don't have players to replace them, it's a big problem for us as we have a small squad, some good quality but when our best players are missing, or are not match-fit, we are weaker.

[John83]

In the FIFA rankings, Slovakia are one place ahead of us.

In the elo ratings (which I consider more reliable), they're one place behind us but the rating difference is statistically negligible.

All told, this is a very even match. Will Slovakia be allowed a crowd at all? If not, home advantage must be diminished. Injuries seem to have hit them a little harder than us too.

[Olé Olé]

Slightly aside but to make us feel a little better, the Scots are going to be without Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie for their qualifier against Israel after positive covid tests. Yikes.

[Olé Olé]

Having a think on formation and maybe another idea would be 4-2-3-1 with the back 5 picking itself but Robinson at centre forward: McCarthy, Hourihane; Hendrick, McGoldrick, Connolly; Robinson.

Might let us light in midfield and would require a big shift from Jazzy Jeff.

I have an awful feeling, though, that Kenny is going to play the same side as Bulgaria but with McGoldrick for Idah and O'Dowda starting.

[seanfhear]

Slightly aside but to make us feel a little better, the Scots are going to be without Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie for their qualifier against Israel after positive covid tests. Yikes.
The Scottish International football team must have done something weird or kinky to the Gods ~ ~ When was the last time much went right for them ? ?

[pineapple stu]

Last month, when they beat the Czechs away, who were without a couple of players for covid.