Republic of Ireland V Wales - Sunday, 11th October 2020 - UEFA Nations League

[geysir]

And to think some people were saying that we were deliberately over physical with that lot in the WC qual game in Cardiff, as if it were some failure.

[jbyrne]

I dont think ive ever felt as deflated after the start of a managers reign to be honest.

drew 2 lost 7 of micks first reign from memory. stans start not much better.

if we can find a regular goalscorer it would make the world of difference

[Bielsa´s irish]

I wouldnt be too concerned, the team own the match, the red was harsh and condition the last 10 minutes.

I blame Kenny for other things, we need two more players for Finland at least, what happened to Derrick?

I thought Christie is only as last resource atm. He is out of confidence. Why not the elbow against KLong wasnt a red, and the McClean was a simulation and a red?

[seanfhear]

Anyone that doesn't see progress with this team is being willfully negative. If you look at possession stats just against Wales in last 4 games since 2017 we are so much better. Previous games were 41.8% , 28.8%, 38%, 44%. Today we had 50.4%

I know possession isn't everything but we did create some chances and should have won the game. When you consider all the players missing, especially attacking players its very good. I really believe when we can add a few of the young attacking players we have we are going to be a good side.

I'm very positive after today's gameWe could do with a bit of pocession in the opposition goal !

[Nesta99]

ya felt the same expecting him to ask if he had a spare pen.

Will ye swap manager's tops later...lol. Ah in fairness its a great story for SK and I have no doubt that he will get the best out of every player he has available and we will be punching above our weight again, but with a plan and not on a hope and a prayer!

[Bielsa´s irish]

Did Randolph touch the ball with his gloves today?

[paul_oshea]

Set piece issues may not be that surprising. I remember it was a criticism of Kenny when he took over from O'Neill at Rovers that he didn't give anything like the same time to either attacking or defending set pieces as his predecessor. I'd image with Ireland and the limited time he's had, the focus has been almost completely on playing philosophy. The set piece work will hopefully come later.

I wonder did Jack Byrne pick up a knock? Kenny has been pretty consistent in putting in players in the order they were called up, seems strange to overlook him. Unless he really has been gash all week in training!


Wasn't aware but that makes perfect sense.

Kenny was a great man for bigging up the LOI players and calling for their inclusion and saying how great the players at his disposal were at Dundalk.

[Bielsa´s irish]

we need Cillian Sheridan up front with this system, the guy can play a bit and has height as well

[paul_oshea]

drew 2 lost 7 of micks first reign from memory. stans start not much better.

if we can find a regular goalscorer it would make the world of difference

Micks squad I think had 6 or 7 new players and his first team i imagine was something like 3 or 4? But I'm willing to be corrected. If we're going back 23 years or so then fair enough!

[Razors left peg]

We could do with a bit of pocession in the opposition goal !
We definitely need a goalscorer but even before Kenny that was a problem

[John83]

I blame Kenny for other things, we need two more players for Finland at least, what happened to Derrick?
Seems he was the positive covid-19 case that ruled out a bunch of other players today. Not much Kenny can do about that.

[jbyrne]

If we're going back 23 years or so then fair enough!

2 out of the last 5 managerial reigns

[Bielsa´s irish]

I thought we outplayed Wales, Shane Long was really good today, he needs someone else around to play off him as he does for Southampton, i would play him on the right and a tall 9 ahead

[Bielsa´s irish]

Can we call a few more guys for Finland? Does Uefa abide that?

[seanfhear]

Can we call a few more guys for Finland? Does Uefa abide that?
They do if you sing ~ Abide with Me Nicely to Them !

[paul_oshea]

That was a tough watch.

On the plus side, we continue to look more comfortable on the ball and playing it out from the back, and we look defensively more solid than we did in the first two games under Kenny.

On the other hand, what is it now, 300 minutes or so without a goal? That tells it all - we are not creating enough chances, and do not have the quality needed up front to convert what we do create. Long's miss was poor, and other than that we were mainly limited to weak attempts from far out.

I still believe this is the way forward, but it could all be pointless unless some of our young attacking talent comes good during the current season. We badly need Parrott, Idah and Connolly to get goals and consistent appearances. McClean is not good enough for what is expected of him in this system (he got sent off while attacking!), McGoldrick is great but soon 33, and Long is a similar age and has not scored for us in 4 years.

I think it could be a rough few games ahead but it might just be worth it if our attackers come good.

This is it, we've put all our eggs in the one basket, a gamble on the fact we require 2 or 3 players to fit this system, and also that one of those is a proper finisher. We've abandoned set pieces, where we could score from, for creating chances that we can't finish from. ITs all well and good saying where we can get to, but for years the mantra on here was square pegs and round holes, play your best players in their positions, setup favoured to your best players. Now that seems to have all been forgotten based off some potential pipe dream of playing like the Gods of football.

I am all for balance, i want us to hold the ball and pass it about, but I'm not for just doing it all one way or playing possession football just for the sake of it. I know Mick and Danny gabby gabby are old school but they pretty much said this in the first 20 mins.

[paul_oshea]

drew 2 lost 7 of micks first reign from memory. stans start not much better.

if we can find a regular goalscorer it would make the world of difference

We had one shot on goal today, one shot from outside the box.

And don't come back and say wales wales had only 1 or something. We always use defensive tactics here rather than looking for solutions to the problems. And i've already said that our positive was not conceding again.

[passinginterest]

Interesting to hear Ramsey say that Wales struggled to adapt to our pressing and possession game.

Hopefully Connolly can be recalled with McClean suspended now too. Possibly Idah too.

That team is close to clicking. There was a few examples in the second half were the passing was crisper and more one touch and Wales were in trouble. Hendrick looked like he was enjoying trying things and expressing himself, he gave it away plenty but there was lovely flashes too.

A major positive, and something that is a must to keep playing this style and to prevent players losing the confidence to try things, is that any time the ball was lost we reorganised super quickly and never got opened up.

[Bielsa´s irish]

todays ratings

randy 6

doherty 7
duffy 7
k.long 6
stevens 7
molumby 6
hourihane 7
brady 6
hendrick 6
mcclean 6
long 8
christie 5
horgan7
maguire 5
cullen n/a

[Nesta99]

I dont think ive ever felt as deflated after the start of a managers reign to be honest. But its ok, because we have loads of possession though! Doesnt matter if its in our own half, of course, thats not relevant.

You've been watching too much of Cork City Paul. Kenny has arguably gotten big performances from LoI players that supposedly have less quality than these accomplished cream of international player pool. Time will tell but I dont believe it is a repeat of giving Kerr the job without some 'big' management jobs. Kerr showed some lack of faith in his squad, negative when in front, slow to introduce form young players. We know this is more than rebuilding a squad but a complete change in how Irish football is currenty set up. Maybe a trip down memory lane for older fans from pre-Charlton.

[geysir]

Wales succeeded in doing what we use to do , drag the game down to their level.

[Razors left peg]

Jesus there's some amount of sh1te talked on here.

[Bielsa´s irish]

What? That's nonsense. He was a bit loose, sure, but he pulled out of it and barely made contact. The first yellow was nonsense, the second was harsh, and the idea of a ten match ban is just bizarre tbh

In Argentine broadcasting they say it was ampadu simulation.

Some of the broadcasters today are big Shane Long's fans, at least the 3 of this game, they said they would like a fast forward like him for Argentina to run through channels for Messi's range of cutting edge passes

[Olé Olé]

todays ratings

randy 6

doherty 7
duffy 7
k.long 6
stevens 7
molumby 6
hourihane 7
brady 6
hendrick 6
mcclean 6
long 8
christie 5
horgan7
maguire 5
cullen n/a
I'd go with
Randolph 7
Christie 6.5
Duffy 7
Doherty 7
Stevens 7
Molumby 8
Hourihane 5
Hendrick 5.5
Brady 6.5
Long 6
McClean 6

[passinginterest]

My ratings;
Randolph 6
Little to do but might have conceded a silly pen
Christie 7
Did well, one mistake I think but positive on the ball, maybe lucky to avoid a second yellow.
Duffy 7
Solid as ever. Wales wanted him on the ball playing out and it worked for them a couple of times,
Doherty 8
Looked far more comfortable than might have been expected when pushed to left centre back so a higher mark than might otherwise have gotten.
Stevens 7
Looks our most likely option to create something. Delivery not always great but landed one on Horgan's head.
Molumby 7
Kept the midfield ticking over, solid if not spectacular, I did forget he was there for a bit first half.
Hourihane 6
Just doesn't quite do enough of anything.
Hendrick 6.5
Looked to enjoy the space playing almost beside Long at times. Some great touches and passes mixed with some awful ones.
Brady 7
One of his better performances, looked quite dangerous but should have hit target in first half. Almost put one on Duffy too from a set piece.
Long 5
Missed a sitter, tried a one two when he had space to turn and shoot. Pressed well but not in the game enough.
McClean 4
Did ok but can't forgive getting sent off at a stage we were pushing for a winner

[Bielsa´s irish]

Interesting to hear Ramsey say that Wales struggled to adapt to our pressing and possession game.

Hopefully Connolly can be recalled with McClean suspended now too. Possibly Idah too.

That team is close to clicking. There was a few examples in the second half were the passing was crisper and more one touch and Wales were in trouble. Hendrick looked like he was enjoying trying things and expressing himself, he gave it away plenty but there was lovely flashes too.

A major positive, and something that is a must to keep playing this style and to prevent players losing the confidence to try things, is that any time the ball was lost we reorganised super quickly and never got opened up.

dont think so. Finland can take a protest to uefa since it went to the public domain.

Ryan Manning, Greg Cunningham. Cillian Sheridan. James Collins are next in line

[Bielsa´s irish]

Would have taken McClean off instead of Brady. Strange sub

another mistake by Kenny, got exposed again as the seats incident out the pitch this one on the field of play.

brady was playing better and then mcclean got unfairly sent off

[Bungle]

I missed the first half but today continued Thursday in the sense that we tried to play good football. That's a big start compared to the previous 10 years.

It appears very likely that we will be third seeds for the wc draw. Maybe an outside chance if we could win two of the next three games that we could get in pot 2. Ideally within two years, we have a team of high quality young lads who are seasoned to international football ready for ec 2024 qualifiers. I hate giving up on a tournament but it's hard to see us finishing ahead of a team like Ukraine or Switzerland and then beating a similar quality side in a two leg playoff right now, but no reason that the likes of Parrott, O'Shea, Connolly, Knight, Molumby and Idah can't be able to go toe to toe with those type of teams by the end of wc qualifiers.

[CSAD]

I missed the first half but today continued Thursday in the sense that we tried to play good football. That's a big start compared to the previous 10 years.

It appears very likely that we will be third seeds for the wc draw. Maybe an outside chance if we could win two of the next three games that we could get in pot 2. Ideally within two years, we have a team of high quality young lads who are seasoned to international football ready for ec 2024 qualifiers. I hate giving up on a tournament but it's hard to see us finishing ahead of a team like Ukraine or Switzerland and then beating a similar quality side in a two leg playoff right now, but no reason that the likes of Parrott, O'Shea, Connolly, Knight, Molumby and Idah can't be able to go toe to toe with those type of teams by the end of wc qualifiers.

There’s a simple way of avoiding a Ukraine or Switzerland...get 2nd seeds...if there is any lesson we take from the previous regime it’s don’t treat these games as nothing games, they are very important and right now we are at the cusp of second seeds if we do our business.

[nigel-harps1954]

Cillian Sheridan.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Cillian Sheridan.

1 Yes. We need a 9.
2 Is Derrick the player with a positive test?

[Scrufil]

Call up the 2 leading scorers in the LoI. Nothing to lose by giving them a shot, oh wait one of them got a tap in for Ireland alteady.

[The Lilywhites]

Sure put Pele, sorry Jack Byrne, up front.

[Scrufil]

Robbie Keane proved that our style of play is more suited to a small in stature striker.

[Bielsa´s irish]

is Derrick the player infected that some said?

[pineapple stu]

Call up the 2 leading scorers in the LoI. Nothing to lose by giving them a shot, oh wait one of them got a tap in for Ireland alteady.
Do you mean the lads who've flopped at Preston, Gillingham, Oxford, Grimsby and Mansfield?

[Scrufil]

Who cares if they flopped in those foreign places, our so called successful players are no good. They can be no worse.

[geysir]

We were after losing out in dramatic fashion in a play-off penalty shoot out a few days ago in the other side of Europe, now with a weakened starting team shorn of a good few players. Wales just had a warm up game beforehand and should have pumped us silly, or at least come with some adventure, instead they were mundane as if the dullest of draws would do just fine for their league position.

[Razors left peg]

I'm curious to find out from those that are saying that today was terrible if they would rather have Mccarthy back? The same Mccarthy who only had to win 1 of our last 3 group games to qualify and went out to Georgia playing for a draw and had the team wasting time 15 minutes into the game. Then in the last 2 games against Denmark and Switzerland never looked like we were even competitive.

If you don't think the last few games are steadily getting better from that I don't know what you are looking for watching Ireland

[eekers]

Lots of nonsense in this thread (specifically this page)
Obafemi has to come in.
He has spent long enough on Kenny's naughty step.

Every effort must be made to bring Connolly and Idah back in.

We must insure that on the flight to Finland all players all sitting 2 metres apart this time.
The rest of the backroom team can bunch up for all I care.

People are acting like these games don't matter.
If we string a few wins together in the next 4 games we will be in the second pot for the World Cup.
Our Fifa ranking value went up today slightly thanks to a draw with a higher ranked team.

[Scrufil]

Yes there is progress and it will take about 5 games after this to see the fruits but that does not preclude the fact we need a striker.

[Scrufil]

I not nonsense speak eekers!

[Razors left peg]

Yes there is progress and it will take about 5 games after this to see the fruits but that does not preclude the fact we need a striker.
The good news on that is that we have at least 6 that were not there today for 1 reason or another. That is massively encouraging. If we had a performance like that with our best strikers on the pitch I'd be very concerned

[youngirish]

Molumby is so much better than Hourihane and Hendrick even at this early stage of his career. How anybody can see otherwise is beyond me. He just looks so much better on the ball, plays the right pass when required, almost never loses possession and wins it back so much more than these guys.

Hourihane might as well walk off the pitch when we don't have the ball. You wouldn't notice.

Hendrick has a poor first touch and too often loses possession due to dodgy passes or just by making the wrong decision when breaking from midfield. Case in point, his silly cross field pass to McClean when Christie broke with him in the second half instead of just returning the ball to the latter who had a simple run through on goal.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Lots of nonsense in this thread (specifically this page)
Obafemi has to come in.
He has spent long enough on Kenny's naughty step.

Every effort must be made to bring Connolly and Idah back in.

We must insure that on the flight to Finland all players all sitting 2 metres apart this time.
The rest of the backroom team can bunch up for all I care.

People are acting like these games don't matter.
If we string a few wins together in the next 4 games we will be in the second pot for the World Cup.
Our Fifa ranking value went up today slightly thanks to a draw with a higher ranked team.

I just read on other places that Kenny is gonna bring Manning, a center back for McClean robinson egan odowda and browne are out.... and another number 9 for the remaining fixture plus 1 or 2 under 21 if they are injury free after tuesday.

[Olé Olé]

Dan McDonnell saying that Dara O'Shea and Jason Knight are the two coming up from the under 21s. I assume O'Shea is going to start against Finland. Knight presents an option given the minutes Hourihane and Hendrick have put in and McClean's red card.

[youngirish]

Dan McDonnell saying that Dara O'Shea and Jason Knight are the two coming up from the under 21s. I assume O'Shea is going to start against Finland. Knight presents an option given the minutes Hourihane and Hendrick have put in and McClean's red card.

Thank f**k for that. A midfield of Cullen, Molumby and Knight will be so much better than McCarthy, Hourihane and Hendrick once they get a few caps playing together.

[Scrufil]

Whoever comes in should wear hazmat suits and train away from main group. There has to be way more Covid in the camp now, plus close contacts. I'd dread the next few days if I was an Irish squad member.

[paul_oshea]

I think obafemi would have been a very good option the last couple of days and what transpired. Surprised he wasn't called in doesn't make much sense really

[Scrufil]

If the original member of the travelling party who tested false positive caused two players to be unavailable, does that mean they are back available now? Or is there a rule in play I misunderstand?