Republic of Ireland V Portugal - Thurs, 11th November 2021 - 2022 World Cup Qualifier

[zero]

I thought we were excellent overall and could have nicked it in the end. Portugal are a very good side and CR7 was very unlucky not to score but we were competitive all over the park and played with good intensity and composure.

[centre mid]

Rode our luck a tad but all in all another encouraging performance from Ireland. Had the feel of a friendly at times but some excellent individual performances. Robinson was very composed again, such an important olayer going forward. Ogbene had a really strong 2nd half. Cullen's best game for Ireland I think.

[pineapple stu]

Well how are the naysayers tonight? That was stuff to be very proud of. A wonderful performance. Stifled and strangled the many threats in that team. Disappointed not to win it, really.

In Kenny We Trust.

No, that's too much for me.

Portugal were dire and that's a big factor. Yet their keeper made one save in the 90? And Ronaldo had four great chances, two of which shaved the post with the keeper beaten

Brady calling it right for me

[Insidetherock]

I think thats pretty unfair.. we're playing a top tier team, no matter what people think.. and they never looked like they were going to be over run, as they have been way too many times in the past

Judge them on Sunday.. thats a game we're expecting to win if we really want to show progress

Once we really analyse this group..

Two one goal defeats away to the top two seeds

Two home draws against the top two

Two brutal home results v 4/5th seeds

The win away v Azerbaijan put one of those results to bed

Hopefully we can do the same in Luxembourg on Sunday

[osarusan]

Weird performance from Portugal. The first half was a relatively professional 'take a point' performance, but the second they were a bit of a shambles, and fairly needlessly so. Looked like they couldn't care less. Lads like Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix when he came on did absolutely nothing. Even then, they had the better chances through Ronaldo.

But that's their problem. We can take some positives from it in terms of the result and clean sheet. Robinson did well again, Hendrick was solid, and Ogbene came into it much more when he went out wider. Idah didn't offer much when he came on, and we really are so light up front, it could be a problem for years.

[SkStu]

Totally agree ITR. Its night and day stuff to a year or so ago. People can choose to be miserable, i guess, but that it a fine result and a strong performance against what is still a quality outfit.

[mark12345]

Kind of surprised at the seeming consensus here on Ogbene — with his pace and some of his runs, I’m really liking the look of him. Far from the finished article but I can see why Kenny has selected him.

Surprised also at the comments regarding Ogbene. For me he was our MOM.

[SkStu]

No, that's too much for me.

Portugal were dire and that's a big factor. Yet their keeper made one save in the 90? And Ronaldo had four great chances, two of which shaved the post with the keeper beaten

Brady calling it right for me

Brady is being put in his spot by Sadlier and DM. Being called out for the negativity he is spouting. The evolution of the team over the last year and a bit is something we should be quite positive about.

Portugal had more chances because they are a far superior team to us. We kept a clean sheet and could have won it. On top of a similar performance away to them where we had our hearts broken. If you cant be positive and proud of that then i am not sure what else to say.

[SkStu]

Surprised also at the comments regarding Ogbene. For me he was our MOM.

I was worried in the first 10-15 as he looked way off the pace of the game and his touch was poor. But after that he grew really well into the game and was definitely in the running for MOM for me too.

[Insidetherock]

I'd agree there.. good performance. Ogbene was poor first half, but improved. That's progress. Idah getting a hard time.. hes 20, loads of time to improve. Remember how long it took Aldridge to break his duck? Bazunu hadn't a save to make. Robinson growing game by game.

Our level is NL B.. can we beat the Scotlands, Finlands, Swedens etc

[mark12345]

I've been one of Hendrick's biggest critics for a while now. Have to say however, he played fine game tonight. Looked far more like the player we need him to be.

[pineapple stu]

Brady is being put in his spot by Sadlier and DM. Being called out for the negativity he is spouting. The evolution of the team over the last year and a bit is something we should be quite positive about.

Portugal had more chances because they are a far superior team to us. We kept a clean sheet and could have won it. On top of a similar performance away to them where we had our hearts broken. If you cant be positive and proud of that then i am not sure what else to say.


I don't think you've said anything there to actually argue against what Brady said though.

I can be positive while keeping in context that Portugal were hugely disappointing. They'd dropped a rake of players (everyone on a yellow), gave the ball away under no pressure too often. Perspective is needed here

[SkStu]

I don't think you've said anything there to actually argue against what Brady said though.

I can be positive while keeping in context that Portugal were hugely disappointing. They'd dropped a rake of players (everyone on a yellow), gave the ball away under no pressure too often. Perspective is needed here

But you're not being positive. And neither is he.

[Trequartista20]

A poor enough game; a lack of real quality from both teams. Portugal were extremely disappointing. and never really turned up, but we just aren't of a standard, particularly in attack, to be able to have taken advantage.

Nobody was truly outstanding from our point of view. Robinson was bright and Hendrick was busy. McGrath didn't look 100 per cent fit and offered little. I would have preferred to see Idah start.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I don't think much can be taken from this match and it's still a long way off a performance like we seen against European championship semi finalists Denmark in McCarthy's last game. I think under McCarthy we would have won that game. But we already know we've gone far backwards under Kenny.

[pineapple stu]

But you're not being positive. And neither is he.
I feel happy we drew. It's better than losing 3-0 which was a possibility.

I just don't agree with your effusive praise of the performance.

[NeverFeltBetter]

We did fine, I wouldn't go too mad with praise: some good performances, some not so good ones. A point against Portugal nothing to be dissapointed with really. But now Kenny has to make sure we don't regress, like we did after the last Portugal game, and go out and beat Luxembourg. That's the cup final. Do that and I'll actually think better off him.

[centre mid]

There was a really good passage of play in the 2nd half where Coleman was in very tight spot that we played it out and up along the wing that led to Egan having a very good chance he blazed over. 99 times out of 100 under any of our last 3 managers that was pumped up field only for it to come back.

Players are certainly buying into Kenny.

[Razors left peg]

I don't think much can be taken from this match and it's still a long way off a performance like we seen against European championship semi finalists Denmark in McCarthy's last game. I think under McCarthy we would have won that game. But we already know we've gone far backwards under Kenny.

That might be one of the worst comments I've ever seen in all my years on this forum. As the rules say attack the post not the poster, but my god dude

[yurt]

Would have agreed with the people here saying to replace Ogbene at half time but thank God that didn't happen. He was immense in the second half, he really grew into the game after a shaky first 30 mins or so.

Some heart in mouth stuff in the first half trying to play out but I think it's really important that we're confident enough to knock 5-6 passes around in those areas so that we didn't become too predictable on when we were going to knock it into space. It's exactly what we weren't doing under previous managers and was the reason everyone couldn't be f*cked watching Ireland games anymore.

I'm sure we will see a lot of the coverage talk about a poor (and understrength) Portugal performance but credit has to go to the management and players that we were able to capitalise and keep the ball for large periods in the second half, even before the sending off I thought we were giving just as good as we were getting.

I thought Doc, Hendrick and Robinson were our standout players tonight. The team is looking much more confident we just need to figure out how to score some goals.

I'm assuming I have my green tinted glasses on, but was the free out for the foul on Patricio at the end a little soft?

[pineapple stu]

I'm assuming I have my green tinted glasses on, but was the free out for the foul on Patricio at the end a little soft?
Very soft.

But if we're complaining about that, we have to allow that Pepe shouldn't have been sent off.

The ref was crap

[TonyD]

I think we did well. You can say Portugal weren’t up for it etc, but they still have a lot of quality. It’s clear that some people are just unable to give Stephen Kenny any credit whatsoever. In my view we’re definitely improving. I don’t mind Brady too much saying he’d wait until next year to make a decision. In reality there is no rush. I definitely think we’re going in the right direction though.

[Neish]

Perspective is needed here

Yeah the perspective is that Portugal can drop several key players and still have a squad valued at and earning far more than if Kenny had his every eligible player available to him

[irishfan86]

It was very poor refereeing indeed. The foul call against Keane was soft but I think Keane did a poor job of timing/positioning.

In an ideal world you’re in between the goalkeeper and the ball as opposed to obviously moving toward the keeper as the keeper is coming out.

Ah well. Hard to say if it actually would have led to a goal as Portugal obviously turned off after it happened/whistle blown.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

That might be one of the worst comments I've ever seen in all my years on this forum. As the rules say attack the post not the poster, but my god dude

Let's be fair, McCarthy had tougher opposition in his group and deserved to beat both Switzerland and Denmark at home. I feel we would have beaten a disinterested team like Portugal under McCarthy but then again, we probably would be still in the group so Portugal would have put out a stronger team.

[pineapple stu]

I think we did well. You can say Portugal weren’t up for it etc, but they still have a lot of quality. It’s clear that some people are just unable to give Stephen Kenny any credit whatsoever. In my view we’re definitely improving. I don’t mind Brady too much saying he’d wait until next year to make a decision. In reality there is no rush. I definitely think we’re going in the right direction though.
I think that's spot on for me

[TonyD]

Very soft.

But if we're complaining about that, we have to allow that Pepe shouldn't have been sent off.

The ref was crap

Would agree with that. I commented earlier that he was giving us nothing, but Pepe could certainly feel hard done by to get sent off. Didn’t see too much wrong with our goal either.

[Neish]

Very soft.

But if we're complaining about that, we have to allow that Pepe shouldn't have been sent off.

The ref was crap

He was on a yellow and threw is hand/arm out at a player, may not of been much in it but it was idiotic and put his team under pressure. Pepe has a track record of such needless booking and sending offs

[pineapple stu]

Ah there was nothing in it though. He was a bit silly but really neither was a yellow. And Danilo's wasn't a yellow either. The ref was giving those soft fouls all match

[SkStu]

I feel happy we drew. It's better than losing 3-0 which was a possibility.

I just don't agree with your effusive praise of the performance.

That’s fine. Conversely, I wouldn’t have gone as diabolically negative as many others (not you) have in the recent past.

[Neish]

Ah there was nothing in it though. He was a bit silly but really neither was a yellow. And Danilo's wasn't a yellow either. The ref was giving those soft fouls all match

Yes the ref was card happy and yet Pepe still knowing this and the fact he was on a yellow did what he did. Deserves to be sent off for being such a idiot

[SkStu]

I think we did well. You can say Portugal weren’t up for it etc, but they still have a lot of quality. It’s clear that some people are just unable to give Stephen Kenny any credit whatsoever. In my view we’re definitely improving. I don’t mind Brady too much saying he’d wait until next year to make a decision. In reality there is no rush. I definitely think we’re going in the right direction though.

What bothers me about Brady is he says “we must at all costs wait until the friendlies before making a decision on his suitability” while (during the exact same discussion) having said “we can’t read anything into positive performances in friendlies”. That’s absurdly twisted logic….

[pineapple stu]

That’s fine. Conversely, I wouldn’t have gone as diabolically negative as many others (not you) have in the recent past.

For clarity, I don't agree with BOOMSHAKALAKA's posts.

Cos I think there's been more than one reference to him lately :)

[TonyD]

What bothers me about Brady is he says “we must at all costs wait until the friendlies before making a decision on his suitability” while (during the exact same discussion) having said “we can’t read anything into positive performances in friendlies”. That’s absurdly twisted logic….

Well, yeah, that’s the kind of thing I’m talking about with people giving no credit for improvement at all. No doubt if we win in Luxembourg it will be “its only Luxembourg ffs”.

[SkStu]

For clarity, I don't agree with BOOMSHAKALAKA's posts.

Cos I think there's been more than one reference to him lately :)

I thought he was your other account! LOL!

Yeah, he’s one of the cranks!

[da bishop]

I don't think much can be taken from this match and it's still a long way off a performance like we seen against European championship semi finalists Denmark in McCarthy's last game. I think under McCarthy we would have won that game. But we already know we've gone far backwards under Kenny.Won under Mccarthy??really?Under him we would probably have drawn the match as well with one difference,we would have hoofed the ball up the pitch the whole game and seen little willingness to pass the ball.Very disappointed with Bradys comments,to suggest and over emphasis the Portugal B team comment was disrespecting the result the Irish team achieved,that so called B team are full of quality and surely it was in Portugals best interest to get a result to put them in pole position in the group.Our squad did very well tonight and Brady should think about the fact most of these lads are in the Championship,Div 1, and are not regulars at their clubs in the premiership.

[brine3]

Brady is being put in his spot by Sadlier and DM. Being called out for the negativity he is spouting. The evolution of the team over the last year and a bit is something we should be quite positive about.

Portugal had more chances because they are a far superior team to us. We kept a clean sheet and could have won it. On top of a similar performance away to them where we had our hearts broken. If you cant be positive and proud of that then i am not sure what else to say.

I'm not seeing the evolution. I thought we played some proper football in the playoff against Slovakia, the likes we haven't seen in years. I think at that point the players were fully on board with Kenny. After that things went really poor, and recently we've pretty much reverted to our put 'em under pressure heroics. I think the players have taken things into their own hands.

Kenny had the right plan but I don't think he ever had the authority with the players to push it through.

[Fixer82]

Thought we did well tonight.
Defensively fairly solid. Ronaldo had a couple of great efforts that could’ve gone in but we’d a couple of chances too.
Thought we deserved that goal at the end but of course, if a player looks sideways at a keeper it’s a free out.
Encouraging!
Will Keane didn’t foul the keeper so we shouldve won.
However, Robinson dived for Pepe’s sending off. Which is just embarrassing really.
Thought Hendrick was good. Don’t know why he took him off.
Coleman excellent.
Ogbene good in second half.
Robinson good but selfish at times

[SkStu]

1458920453037301761

Brine3, the statistics over the last number of games don’t lie. We are playing a completely different game to what has gone before. We are mixing it up - a little bit - when we should but staying true to playing the game the right way. That’s evolution from previous managers and from early Kenny days.

The above is one example. I’ve shared others after other games. Passes and completed passes is night and day stuff.

[pineapple stu]

I'm not seeing the evolution. I thought we played some proper football in the playoff against Slovakia, the likes we haven't seen in years. I think at that point the players were fully on board with Kenny. After that things went really poor, and recently we've pretty much reverted to our put 'em under pressure heroics. I think the players have taken things into their own hands.

Kenny had the right plan but I don't think he ever had the authority with the players to push it through.
I think that's harsh. There was some nice play tonight to bring us up to, say, the final third. That's a big difference to Trap/MON/Mick II

It'd be more effective if we had any threat up front, but not much he can do about that

[mark12345]

Portugal weren’t upto much at all and we still lack up front (that ain’t changing anytime soon) but plenty of positives and all round happy. Improvement continues and the boss is rolling. Happy days.

Have to agree that we are improving. This may not have been a victory for Ireland but it was a big victory for Stephen Kenny. We played it out from the back (albeit a bit scary at times) which is something SK has espoused for a long time. And in so doing we held a good amount of possession. That is something we have failed to do under any recent manager. Against Portugal, that is pretty impressive. So Kenny's methods appear to be working. Only one minor criticism of the manager - he should have brought Will Keane on 20 - 25 minutes before he did. Portugal were struggling under the high ball.

[SkStu]

Thought we did well tonight.
Defensively fairly solid. Ronaldo had a couple of great efforts that could’ve gone in but we’d a couple of chances too.
Thought we deserved that goal at the end but of course, if a player looks sideways at a keeper it’s a free out.
Encouraging!
Will Keane didn’t foul the keeper so we shouldve won.
However, Robinson dived for Pepe’s sending off. Which is just embarrassing really.
Thought Hendrick was good. Don’t know why he took him off.
Coleman excellent.
Ogbene good in second half.
Robinson good but selfish at times

Agree with most of that but re Pepe's sending off - if Ogbene got a yellow for his "elbow", then so did Pepe. Dive or not. To be honest, a bit of smarts on the pitch and playing for the edge is something I am fine with.

[EAFC_rdfl]

Won under Mccarthy??really?Under him we would probably have drawn the match as well with one difference,we would have hoofed the ball up the pitch the whole game and seen little willingness to pass the ball.Very disappointed with Bradys comments,to suggest and over emphasis the Portugal B team comment was disrespecting the result the Irish team achieved,that so called B team are full of quality and surely it was in Portugals best interest to get a result to put them in pole position in the group.Our squad did very well tonight and Brady should think about the fact most of these lads are in the Championship,Div 1, and are not regulars at their clubs in the premiership.
...as they were when he was on the coaching ticket with Trap.
Just extended your last sentence there! That's what I started thinking while watching Brady post match - is he unwilling to praise the way Kenny and his staff have encouraged the team to play, out of fear of criticism being raised about why we played like we did under Trap (with players playing at a higher level).
He was talking nonsense about waiting to see how the nations league goes, that's completely not the time to change manager.
Ogbene gave Danilo a right chasing in the 2nd half, Egan was very composed.
Agree with Stuttgart's comments on McClean, he would drive you mad!

[Fixer82]

Agree with most of that but re Pepe's sending off - if Ogbene got a yellow for his "elbow", then so did Pepe. Dive or not. To be honest, a bit of smarts on the pitch and playing for the edge is something I am fine with.

Thought Ogbene’s yellow was harsh too.
Thought he was being fouled at the time.

Pepe ran himself into trouble. Blocked Robinson with his arm and Robinson threw himself to the ground.

Played it cute but kind of embarrassing to watch back nonetheless

[Calcio Jack]

What bothers me about Brady is he says “we must at all costs wait until the friendlies before making a decision on his suitability” while (during the exact same discussion) having said “we can’t read anything into positive performances in friendlies”. That’s absurdly twisted logic….

That’s incorrect : he said we’ve approx 3 friendlies in March and 4 Nations cup games in June - and after that a decision should be made i.e. allows FAI more time/facts to help formulate a decision - made complete sense to me.

Personally just the fact alone that Kenny persists with giving McClean game time is enough to question whether he should get a new contract

[backstothewall]

I've been very sceptical of Kenny, but that was another good performance.

It will all be wasted if we don't beat Luxembourg though.

[samhaydenjr]

Agree with most of that but re Pepe's sending off - if Ogbene got a yellow for his "elbow", then so did Pepe. Dive or not. To be honest, a bit of smarts on the pitch and playing for the edge is something I am fine with.

Yeah, at least the ref was consistent in dealing with players who flail their arms around while "shielding the ball". Overall, thought it was a decent performance - it's probably true that Portugal weren't at their best, but in comparison to the Serbia game, we didn't have to rely on a string of saves by Bazunu to stay in it. Backline was solid with Coleman in particular doing very well to limit Ronaldo's opportunities. Cullen again showed his importance with some smart forward balls to start attacks. Hendrick OK but not influential enough. Ogbene should be kept on the wing, it seems to be where he's most at home - he's not the complete player that top clubs will want for a full season, but he brings qualities to the flanks that we can make use of, as a middling international team - I thought Idah still looked a more complete package when he came out (layoff to Robinson was sharp) and think he just needs a few breakthrough goals for club and country to really kick on. Our CR7 was lively again and should be first choice up front for now, anyway. We were a little disjointed at times and some of the playing out had me hyperventilating, but we seemed to have more purpose in our play in the second half, Encouragingly, when Pepe was sent off, we immediately managed to take control of the game, even if we didn't manage to create that one, clearcut chance we craved.

On the Stephen Kenny matter, I have been a sceptic but I think this result, if combined with a victory over Luxembourg, would be enough for me to be happy with keeping him on. Basically we have to be confident, going into the next qualifiers, that we can compete with the big boys and be clearly better than lesser and even middling teams and if we do achieve a clear victory on Sunday, he will have shown this autumn that we can achieve this under his management

[SkStu]

That’s incorrect : he said we’ve approx 3 friendlies in March and 4 Nations cup games in June - and after that a decision should be made i.e. allows FAI more time/facts to help formulate a decision - made complete sense to me.

Possibly. Though, I am pretty sure i heard him only specifically mention the friendlies and make your decision then. Sadlier jumped in and mentioned the Nations Cup and knowing who you want to take the reins for the full Nations League.

[pineapple stu]

I thought Idah still looked a more complete package when he came out (layoff to Robinson was sharp) and think he just needs a few breakthrough goals for club and country to really kick on
Here's a hand grenade into the discussion for fun. Idah reminds me of Sammon. Holds the ball up well, doesn't know where the goal is, surprisingly poor in the air.

12 caps now, not a hint of a goal, and not getting into a poor Norwich side. I think he needs a loan move fairly soon.

Discuss. :)

[Real ale Madrid]

Here's a hand grenade into the discussion for fun. Idah reminds me of Sammon. Holds the ball up well, doesn't know where the goal is, surprisingly poor in the air.

12 caps now, not a hint of a goal, and not getting into a poor Norwich side. I think he needs a loan move fairly soon.

Discuss. :)

Hasn't pushed on but only 20. Plenty time for him.