2023 UEFA European Under 19 Championship

[SkStu]

Are we a bit light with keepers?

Yeah, definitely could be. I think the goalkeeping quality and potential we already have at seniors already is what led to the overt giddiness in the post :)

[Razors left peg]

If we didnt have another goalkeeper of quality coming through in the next 5 years we would still be fine.

[liamoo11]

If we didnt have another goalkeeper of quality coming through in the next 5 years we would still be fine.

That's true at senior level I was thinking more with this group might it be a bit of a weakness. Its tough to top a group to qualify but on paper this looks like a winnable group.

[samhaydenjr]

If we didnt have another goalkeeper of quality coming through in the next 5 years we would still be fine.

If we didn't have another goalkeeper of quality coming through in the next 15 years we would still be fine!:)

[Razors left peg]

If we didn't have another goalkeeper of quality coming through in the next 15 years we would still be fine!:)
I was being conservative, didn't want anyone thinking I was getting carried away!!!

[yurt]

McManus has been very impressive against UCD so far today. It's my first time seeing him play and it seems like he's going to be moving to the UK sooner rather than later.

Looking forward to seeing him in an Ireland jersey.

[SkStu]

Yeah, he’s been class. Strolling around like he owns the place and making it all look very easy. Looks better than some of our more recent exports like Devoy and Tierney to me.

[CraftyToePoke]

Where, if anywhere is todays game being shown ?

[SkStu]

It's on loitv.ie Crafty. Not that I will be able to watch either match today due to poxy work :(

[CraftyToePoke]

It's on loitv.ie Crafty. Not that I will be able to watch either match today due to poxy work :(

Are you in the avoiding spoilers zone & taaaaping it lad ?

[elatedscum]

Abankwah and Moore not in the u19 squad weirdly. Injuries perhaps?

[SkStu]

Are you in the avoiding spoilers zone & taaaaping it lad ?

I'll have to catch the highlights or something later. Won't even be able to follow the updates on here or elsewhere. Pain in the ringpiece. But I've blocked off time for all our scheduled games for the rest of the year - missed this one. Last year a lot our games fell on Saturdays but not the case for this year.

[Razors left peg]

Abankwah and Moore not in the u19 squad weirdly. Injuries perhaps?

Commentator said Moore not available for selection but didnt say why

[elatedscum]

Weird anyway. Hopefully they’re both back for Saturday.

First half performance hasn’t been great. Should have been 3-0 up after 30 mins with O’Mahony having 3 chances. A shot over the bar which he should have scored, another that the keeper spilled which was just outside the reach of mark and Zefi. Third a shot from a corner which was blocked by a defender.

From then on, it’s been bad. The pitch was deteriorated with the rain and Slovakia have looked the more dangerous. Could see a slip costing either team. McJannett and McManus probably haven’t done enough - and O’Mahony isn’t working hard enough off the ball. Zefi and Umeh have the beating of their fullbacks but not much has come of it

[tetsujin1979]

Byrne got really lucky after coming that far and not claiming the ball

[tetsujin1979]

How is Vata's name pronounced? I thought it was "Rock-oh" but the commentator is saying "Reek-oh"

[zero]

strange game in some ways. uneven.

a draw would probably be a fair result from what i have seen.

edit: slovakia score immediately as i posted the above.

[elatedscum]

How is Vata's name pronounced? I thought it was "Rock-oh" but the commentator is saying "Reek-oh"

pretty sure you're right

terrible goal to concede. big 10 mins ahead

[CSAD]

Got what they deserved in the end, the finishing has been laughably bad all day and if you don’t take you’re chances you get punished at this level.

[elatedscum]

the slovakians are so big, makes no sense to pump the ball in the air. tough to play on the ground considering the the pitch

[Razors left peg]

How is Vata's name pronounced? I thought it was "Rock-oh" but the commentator is saying "Reek-oh"

Thats an accent problem I think

[CSAD]

You could see how this was going to go in the first half. It was a carbon copy of the Cyprus game, complete headless chickens from the first whistle which is even worse when you’re defense is so attriocus…

[passinginterest]

Saw bits of first half and most of second. Had the chances to win pretty comfortably but really poor finishing. Defence was a bit soft and got caught far too easily when we were chasing the win at 0-0 and again when chasing an equaliser. Conditions were awful but no excuse really.

[tetsujin1979]

That's how I saw it too PI. Should have gone ahead in the first half, but decision making and finishing were poor around the Slovakian box. Don't think the keeper had a serious save to make in those 45 minutes.
Conditions didn't help, the pitch looked really bumpy, and the rain made accurate passing difficult. Slovakia should have had at least one more, Byrne came racing out and went down easily under a soft touch when he was going to be rounded. They had a clear penalty denied when one of their players was clipped in the box.
If Slovakia beat Greece on Saturday, then they're as good as through, and we'll have wasted an amazing opportunity to have two underage teams at a tournament this summer

[ForzaForth]

Yeah, just back from game now. Ireland deserved at least a point and were at least the equal of the Slovakians. Conditions were dreadful particularly in the first half and the Ferrycarrig pitch, which normally holds up very well, was cut up very badly by the end. Ireland should have been ahead at half-time as O'Mahony shot over when in on goal from the right, Kevin Zefi had a free tipped over and the Slovakian keeper dropped a routine header by Ireland which nearly dribbled over the line. At the end of the first half, Slovakia had two chances from a header which was deflected for a corner and then a free header from a Slovakian corner which probably moved in the wind as the Slovakian player didn't manage to keep it on target.

[ForzaForth]

Second half began with the Slovakians again on top but Ireland began to dominate after about 15 minutes with Zefi having a shot from the left which he pulled wide and Vata having a free shot on the Slovakian goal which was straight at the opposing keeper. Ireland continued to make chances with a free header which went over the Slovakian bar and Vata with another effort just past the post. An error at the back gave the neat Slovakians the chance to score at the near post for 1-0. With a few minutes to go, it was an undeserved 2-0 to Slovakia when another move on the break made it 2-0. Ireland pulled one back when, with a minute to go of injury-time, a shot was drilled home from close in. Best for the Irish, I thought, were Zefi, O'Mahony (although he had a quiet second half), Curtis, Alex Murphy and Vata, when he came on. Weaknesses looked to be poor crosses and corners by Ireland perhaps due to the conditions and the lack of a holding player in midfield which left the defence very open. Pitch was fairly sloppy by the end of the game.

[JR89]

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[JR89]

Camera absolutely shocking for this game. Camera all titled to one side making it seem like Ireland is playing up hill.

[tetsujin1979]

Or a villain's lair in the Batman tv series

[JR89]

At least in the second half we'll have the wind behind us when we play down hill.

[CSAD]

The Irish teams delivery from set piece and crosses is absolutely shocking, it comes as no surprise they haven’t scored in either game bar the consolation at the end of the Slovakia defame….

[CSAD]

The issue is we are reliant of these crosses because our play is so lethargic and slow that it’s very difficult to find gaps in general play. They ought to up the anti the second half as the way this is going we will do well to win this game….

[Razors left peg]

Camera absolutely shocking for this game. Camera all titled to one side making it seem like Ireland is playing up hill.

I was just gonna say the same thing, the wife just said to me it's like something from a guy recording his kids playing. LOI TV is generally not bad, so I'm surprised.

The game itself has been awful, need to improve massively in 2nd half

[tetsujin1979]

Soft penalty there, hand on O'Mahony's back as he dove for a low cross. Right in front of the ref, and he pointed straight to the spot.
Zefi converted, shot straight down the middle

[Razors left peg]

If that pen was given the other way we'd be raging, was a terrible decision

[CSAD]

Thank god we got the pen because our finishing is nothing short of shocking. We have a great knack of making the wrong decision on every attack…

[tetsujin1979]

Greece - Slovakia finished 1-1 in the evening kick off in the group
https://www.uefa.com/under19/match/2036899--greece-vs-slovakia/

Not a bad result for us. Means we need to beat Greece on Tuesday and hope Estonia can take something off Slovakia

[ForzaForth]

Not the greatest of games in Ferrycarrig yesterday as Ireland struggled to a 1-0 win against a limited enough Estonia although they had a handy right-winger. Liked the look of Abankwah, McJannet and Zefi while Tommy Lonergan did really well after coming on in place of Mark O'Mahoney who hadn't got a sniff all day against the Estonian defence. Like other posters have said, there are problems in Ireland's attack where the use of the ball is so poor.

The penalty awarded to Ireland was a complete joke - nobody near me had a clue what it was for and it looks very innocuous on the video replay. Zefi got clearly taken down in the Estonian box after the penalty award and the joke near me was that that was the real penalty compared to the one we were awarded. There isn't a huge amount between the three teams I've seen - Ireland, Slovakia and Estonia - although the Estonians do look the poorest.

[JR89]

Mason
Curtis
Abankwah
Grehan
Ryan
Murphy
Gallagher
Vaughan
Zefi
Longeran
Vata

Sam Curtis back with the U19s and would assume John Ryan is playing LB with Murphy in midfield or they've gone for three at the back.

[tetsujin1979]

Live stream on LOI tv
Text updates here: https://www.uefa.com/under19/match/2036912--greece-vs-republic-of-ireland/

Just gone one down

[Eirambler]

I think the last week has confirmed that, outside of Ferguson, there's not a lot to get excited about in the 2004 group unfortunately. Quite a few of the brighter prospects in this squad are 2005 players though, hopefully they can come back next year and give a better account of themselves.

Reece Byrne
Owen Mason
James Abankwah
Sean Grehan
James Golding
Alex Murphy
Harry Nevin
John Ryan
Ed McJannet
Harry Vaughan
Tommy Lonergan
Oisin Gallagher

are the 2004s in the squad. There were no 2004 players with the Under 21s so, other than Ferguson, these seem to be the pick of the bunch from that year. I'd be surprised if any more than two or three at most go on to play at an anyways high level and even that might be being generous.

[elatedscum]

I actually think having 8 u18s in the squad did us no favours. While McManus is doing well for Bohs, he struggled in both games. Mark O’Mahony too - could have scored 6 across the first two games. Overall we were much physically smaller than both Slovakia and Greece and while we should maybe have won both games, at times the physicality showed.


I’d argue that the likes of Luke Pearce, Glory Nzingo and Cian Coleman should definitely have been in the squad. John Clarke has played in the championship for Reading this season. Jamie Mullins and David Okagbue decent shouts too.


You could certainly make a case for Alex McGuinness at Stoke, Ben Quinn at Celtic and Cian Kelly Caprani at Derby.


All done now anyway - of the 2004 kids in the current squad - I’d expect to see Abankwah and Murphy move up pretty fast to 21s. McJannett has a chance too, although he had a poor week overall.

[CraftyToePoke]

You could certainly make a case for Alex McGuinness at Stoke, Ben Quinn at Celtic and Cian Kelly Caprani at Derby.

You mean Dara ?
Think he's on seven goals alredy at Stoke in PL2 and isn't there long, most other guys with those kind of numbers, Moran, O'Neill, Cannon are getting call ups its true.

[elatedscum]

You mean Dara ?
Think he's on seven goals alredy at Stoke in PL2 and isn't there long, most other guys with those kind of numbers, Moran, O'Neill, Cannon are getting call ups its true.

Yep Dara - long long day. Not sure where Alex came from

[SkStu]

Goalkeeper Reece Byrne set to join Newcastle United from Bohs. Good move for him, hopefully it works out!

https://bohemianfc.com/?p=19188

[tetsujin1979]

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