Republic of Ireland v Switzerland - Tuesday, 26th March 2024 - Friendly

[third policeman]

Is it six or five subs for internationals? Must say off those subs tonight I dread the thoughts of O'Shea getting the job.

Failed the audition on this performance

[NeverFeltBetter]

That's that for the JOS talk anyway. Didn't test the Swiss keeper once.

[JR89]

Dara O'Shea showing that quick recovery pace which has seen him clock one of the fastest sprint times this season.

[SkStu]

Dara O'Shea showing that quick recovery pace which has seen him clock one of the fastest sprint times this season.

It was incredible.

Better, slightly, in the second half but ah that was very poor overall. Still an improvement on Kenny but we need a fresh perspective. Don't think O'Shea is it - he has potential to manage but i'd rather not him learn the trade in this role.

[seanfhear]

Dara O'Shea showing that quick recovery pace which has seen him clock one of the fastest sprint times this season.
Would we expect Dara O'Shea to get a move to another premier league club, after Burnley's surely inevitable relegation ?

[Razors left peg]

Is it too much to ask for a manager to be able to fcuking adjust the team shape and tactics mid game. Its like they learn one formation in coaching school and stick to that forever. All the subs we made tonight and not one adjustment to the shape. There was no need for 3 center halfs as that game went on. We had the top goalscorer in the Championship playing wide all night and then when he went off we put our 19 year old striker wide again. Why not try 4 at the back and 2 up top ffs. Something, anything, just not the fcuking same.

That looked like a Stephen Kenny end of days match with O'Shea on his coaching staff.... I hope to jebus the FAI have an Ace card to play

[pineapple stu]

That's that for the JOS talk anyway. Didn't test the Swiss keeper once.
Didn't fancy that keeper based on how he dealt with those couple of late crosses either.

Can't think of anything particularly positive to come out of that tbh

[texidub]

I realize that most of the excitement watching Ireland under Kenny was born out of fear of imminent catastrophe, but even if we appeared a bit more solid over the past two games, there was also a sense of pre-Kenny deja vu... a sense that these are the solid, boring methods we used for years and started complaining about because it was so turgid and laborious at times. I wouldn't be overly excited about O'Shea getting the manager's job after the two games.

[Crosby87]

Will they ever score a goal again?
Would it be legal for fans to offer money for goals?

[third policeman]

Can't think of anything particularly positive to come out of that tbh[/QUOTE]

Azaz?

[SkStu]

Can't think of anything particularly positive to come out of that tbh

Azaz?[/QUOTE]

Agree about Azaz getting a cap but a five minute cameo is clutching at straws in the big picture!

[Crosby87]

That its over?

[pineapple stu]

Azaz?

Agree about Azaz getting a cap but a five minute cameo is clutching at straws in the big picture![/QUOTE]
Probably both fair posts, yeah. Azaz was lively when he came on, and if that's the positive then we're scraping the barrel

[Olé Olé]

Is it six or five subs for internationals? Must say off those subs tonight I dread the thoughts of O'Shea getting the job.

Leaving O'Brien on the bench and bringin Doherty on to shuffle Coleman across was not a good look. Azaz should have been in before Sykes too. Not sure why O'Dowda gets on before Manning either.

Bringing a second striker on was an interesting move. Lacked a bit of imagination otherwise.



Would we expect Dara O'Shea to get a move to another premier league club, after Burnley's surely inevitable relegation ?

A promoted side would do well to pick him up given his speed. Depending on the asking price, a few sides might be interest. Burnley might fancy a gain on their 8m and re-investing a portion in a cheaper Belgian.

He has just turned 25 which isn't old but would be nice to see him get a bit of security at Premiership level because he has done well in two relegated sides.

[Jd2793]

so kenny was bad but i think its fair to say so are the players. we are just not very good and wont be for a long time, regardless of manager. need a superstar midfielder to pop up from somewhere.

[Fixer82]

so kenny was bad but i think its fair to say so are the players. we are just not very good and wont be for a long time, regardless of manager. need a superstar midfielder to pop up from somewhere.
Don’t agree
We have potential.
Need the right manager to make us stronger

[Fixer82]

Was at the game.
Did anyone norice in second half Coleman firing something at the bench and shouting at them? Think it was an energy drink
He looked very annoyed

[lofty9]

One semi decent performance again followed by a turgid one. Familiar theme.

[seanfhear]

You need very strong panels these days with the two games so close together, and the players might not get much of a welcome back at their clubs if, they have flogged themselves in two games so close together ! !

Of course this is a big advantage to the stronger countries with stronger panels, which I am sure suits UEFA and FIFA just fine.

[Jd2793]

Don’t agree
We have potential.
Need the right manager to make us stronger

we've had potential since 2020! facts are our midfield is bad regardless of formation and we dont have the wing backs to really play a back 3 (though i think ogbene should be playing there). i really cant see how a new manager makes a midfield of cullen,smallbone,browne,knight,szmodics better. its championship fodder at best.

[Eirambler]

so kenny was bad but i think its fair to say so are the players. we are just not very good and wont be for a long time, regardless of manager. need a superstar midfielder to pop up from somewhere.

I don't know, there's an awful lot of mediocrity heading to the Euros this summer. Incredible that we weren't even partaking in the lottery of the playoffs at the end. We have enough to be in the mix if we're properly managed. But it's been as much of a mess off the field the last few years as on it.

[mark12345]

I don't know, there's an awful lot of mediocrity heading to the Euros this summer. Incredible that we weren't even partaking in the lottery of the playoffs at the end. We have enough to be in the mix if we're properly managed. But it's been as much of a mess off the field the last few years as on it.

Properly managed in my opinion is creating goalscoring opportunities. The lack of goals in crunch games in recent years has been our downfall. With a goalscorer like Sam Szmodics and wingers like Johnson and Ogbene how can we not be scoring goals?

[Fixer82]

we've had potential since 2020! facts are our midfield is bad regardless of formation and we dont have the wing backs to really play a back 3 (though i think ogbene should be playing there). i really cant see how a new manager makes a midfield of cullen,smallbone,browne,knight,szmodics better. its championship fodder at best.

We’ve also had Stephen Kenny since 2020.
We have enough decent players to make us hard to beat and competitive and aiming for play-off spots

[backstothewall]

Azaz should have been in before Sykes too.

For obvious reasons I'd love to see someone from Belfast getting their chance and becoming one of our leading players, but in all honesty it isn't going to be Mark Sykes. He's 26 now and playing for a mid-table championship side. That feels like being as good as it will get for him, and he'll make a good living from it and fair play to him, but he shouldn't be called up again unless he can find a new level to his game. He's not good enough to be there on merit, and he's too old to be there as a prospect for the future.

[elatedscum]

I don't know, there's an awful lot of mediocrity heading to the Euros this summer. Incredible that we weren't even partaking in the lottery of the playoffs at the end. We have enough to be in the mix if we're properly managed. But it's been as much of a mess off the field the last few years as on it.

We weren’t in the lottery cause we got ridiculously hard groups both times around. We got France and Netherlands, instead of say Denmark and Finland (to quote our neighbours group)

And in the nations league we got Ukraine and Scotland. Ukraine took points off both England and Italy. Scotland beat Spain and took 4 points off Norway. Could easily have had a group with Iceland and Finland instead.

Also if we were in league A, C or D, we’d probably have made the playoffs. Winning the D which Estonia did got them playoffs. All league A teams reached playoffs if they didn’t qualify. And you’d fancy us to be a top 4 team if we were in League C.

[elatedscum]

It’s the same the time around. We got England. **** luck. One team you want to avoid and we get them…

[elatedscum]

As for the game. Was pretty disappointing. Freekick given away was needless, O’Shea didn’t need to make the foul, the touch was heavy and Brady was clearing it. Thought Bazunu could have done better for the goal (was at the stadium so haven’t seen a replay). But it wasn’t hit that hard and although it was well placed, I’d be disappointed. Also the pass that gave Xhaka the shot that hit the post was poor. Poor Gav, looks like he’s lost some of the confidence he had at the start of his Ireland career.

We didn’t really give up many chances but we didn’t do enough once we conceded to turn the game around. The shape was uninspired and didn’t get the best out of Szmodics, who is clearly an excellent all round footballer but doesn’t have the pace to play there. Also that 5-2-3 is so defensive chasing the game. We had 3 centre halves when they were playing without a striker. They just overloaded the midfield and dominated possession. You can live with that if you’re playing against superior opposition and holding out for a draw or a win - but to cede that when losing is kinda mad.

Thought Knight didn’t have a good game and Smallbone’s introduction was a notable improvement. Really disappointed not to see Obafemi at all. Ferguson was knackered and totally low in confidence even though his overall game is really good. He had that one opportunity where he got the ball and could have run at goal, instead he went away from goal and laid it across for Cullen. I think a confident Ferguson carries towards goal and scores. Idah made a huge difference when coming on with his pace, impressive cameo.

Dara O’Shea’s recovery pace is excellent. Showed it off well twice. Doherty was good off the bench. Good to see Azaz make his debut, probably should have shot earlier the two times he got in scoring position. Sykes isn’t a winger, I think if he has a future in the squad, it’s as a midfielder. Really want him to do well and he might be a decent footballer but it was a bad substitution.

I think it was pretty apparent tonight, to anyone who wasn’t aware already, John O’Shea isn’t the man to lead us…

[CraftyToePoke]

It looked like O'Shea had made a plan, on Saturday it worked in fairness to a good extent, but equally nobody had seen it before Saturday either, tonight it looked like Switzerland had [ as part of only one weeks work for them remember ] had a look at us v Belgium, worked it out, countered it and nullified it and O'Shea had nothing in reply. Three at the back, three up front, but hopelessly outnumbered in midfield all night isn't a great look & he made every change but the one required to sort that out, he couldn't and he got beat. His post match was a concern also, there was a confidence there which I would deem misplaced, that what he had seen was ok and on another night we get a couple of goals & win that. I think we could play them five times in a row & he'd be bested five times also. He needed more than one way of setting up, he didn't have that, at the very least he needed to be able to counter the midfield numerical upper hand they had and he couldn't.

Which is annoyingly disappointing after Saturday.

Broadly agree with Jd2793 about the midfield, we don't really have one, and the ongoing unwillingness of posters / fans to objectively appraise what we do have, whoever is manager, in midfield baffles me. Even one very good one would change the dynamic, but the wait continues.

[Razors left peg]

Crafty I think we all agree the midfield is an issue, we don't have a dominant player in there, but we make that situation worse by having 2 against 3 in games like tonight. That was the needed change, get a defender off and get another midfielder in there to help. Instead we got Ferguson playing left wing.... those UEFA coaching courses must teach weird sh1t

[CraftyToePoke]

Crafty I think we all agree the midfield is an issue, we don't have a dominant player in there, but we make that situation worse by having 2 against 3 in games like tonight. That was the needed change, get a defender off and get another midfielder in there to help. Instead we got Ferguson playing left wing.... those UEFA coaching courses must teach weird sh1t

That was what I said though.

I'm more on about those thinking the good old days type times are a managerial appointment away. They aren't unless the guys name is Gandalf.

[elatedscum]

We probably missed Molumby’s tenacity tonight. I know he’s been a bit scarred by some of his club managers and he stopped being expressive and progressive on the ball - but when I think of our best performances under Kenny, Molumby was excellent in most of them. Still remember him absolutely bossing McGinn and McTominay when we played Scotland in Lansdowne. It was far too easy a night for the likes of Xhaka and Shaqiri

[CraftyToePoke]

We probably missed Molumby’s tenacity tonight. I know he’s been a bit scarred by some of his club managers and he stopped being expressive and progressive on the ball - but when I think of our best performances under Kenny, Molumby was excellent in most of them. Still remember him absolutely bossing McGinn and McTominay when we played Scotland in Lansdowne. It was far too easy a night for the likes of Xhaka and Shaqiri

Probably true alright, put him in the mix tonight and they don't pass us back into our shells as easily.

[Razors left peg]

I think Knight could do Molumbys job but he needs more than Cullen beside him. We were better with Smallbone and I still think you can get something from this squad if they are set up properly. We are usually in games, they are usually fairly tight and a good manager can change draws to wins and loses to draws by being a bit more clever.

[Olé Olé]

For obvious reasons I'd love to see someone from Belfast getting their chance and becoming one of our leading players, but in all honesty it isn't going to be Mark Sykes. He's 26 now and playing for a mid-table championship side. That feels like being as good as it will get for him, and he'll make a good living from it and fair play to him, but he shouldn't be called up again unless he can find a new level to his game. He's not good enough to be there on merit, and he's too old to be there as a prospect for the future.

I agree with all this. Given his back story, I would love to see him he a successful international for us but I'm afraid that unless something clicks then he's going to be a middling Championship player and, thankfully, enough players have improved and progressed upwards (Knight, Ogbene, Johnston), enough new talent come on the radar (Moran) and even a new player come onboards (Szmodics) that means we have options at top end Championship or lower Premiership, or else younger lads who are equivalent or better currently with more potential (Azaz, Moran).

I saw someone on YBIG make the ignorant comment that he'd be playing plenty for NI by now. He clearly did not want that.

[Jd2793]

I agree with all this. Given his back story, I would love to see him he a successful international for us but I'm afraid that unless something clicks then he's going to be a middling Championship player and, thankfully, enough players have improved and progressed upwards (Knight, Ogbene, Johnston), enough new talent come on the radar (Moran) and even a new player come onboards (Szmodics) that means we have options at top end Championship or lower Premiership, or else younger lads who are equivalent or better currently with more potential (Azaz, Moran).

I saw someone on YBIG make the ignorant comment that he'd be playing plenty for NI by now. He clearly did not want that.


has knight progressed upwards? hes very middle of the championship for me. our big problem is our midfield is championship level. szmodics is flavour of the month but fact is hes still playing at a club that could possible be relegated to league 1. we badly need our players to get out of the mid level championship slog

[Jd2793]

We’ve also had Stephen Kenny since 2020.
We have enough decent players to make us hard to beat and competitive and aiming for play-off spots

we had a new manager for 2 games and not much changed! greece was appalling and kennys in game management was poor throughout his time here but no matter who is in charge we will still be poor if most of our midfielders are playing in the championship. people are fooling themselves blaming everything on kenny. the limitations of our players have been on show to us for years now.

[Stuttgart88]

Jeez that was a hard watch. Switzerland controlled the game even when we had the ball. It was like watching One Man and his Dog (Owls Fan will remember, not sure about the rest of you). Switzerland were the sheepdog, we were the sheep. Just by moving around smartly they put us exactly where they wanted us.

If we can't control the terms of the game with the ball through passing and collective movement maybe we need to load the team with our pace merchants.

[osarusan]

we had a new manager for 2 games and not much changed! greece was appalling and kennys in game management was poor throughout his time here but no matter who is in charge we will still be poor if most of our midfielders are playing in the championship. people are fooling themselves blaming everything on kenny. the limitations of our players have been on show to us for years now.
Who has been blaming 'everything' on Kenny?

What I've seen argued on here (albeit with disasgreements of scale) is that we have a pretty poor generation of players, but Kenny still shouldn't have been getting the results he did against the likes of Qatar, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan.

[Fixer82]

I thought O’Shea made a big mistake in taking off Johnston and Szmodicz and not taking Ferguson off

[pineapple stu]

I thought O’Shea made a big mistake in taking off Johnston and Szmodicz and not taking Ferguson off
Johnston wasn't great in fairness; wasn't getting much change out of the Swiss defence. Ferguson was similar in fairness but I wasn't surprised to see Mikey taken off

[Predator]

Yet again, we fall down in the fine margins. Against Belgium it was a missed penalty (the slip was unlucky) and failure to score a great headed chance. This time it was a rash swing of the leg at the edge of the box allowing a technically excellent player to pick his spot. We were comfortably second best in the game and the margin of defeat could have been bigger had Xhaka's chance gone in. The general play overall, as in Stephen Kenny's era, was ok with some bright moments. The tactical set-up was certainly different, but intelligent, defensively tight with a careful balance in the attacking play of the wing-backs. It's worth persevering with.

Robbie Brady was impressive in the two games and I felt we really missed his set-piece deliveries for periods during Kenny's reign... if we just had someone to finish the chances he creates this team would be going places. It feels like we haven't posed anywhere near the same level of set-piece threat as in the O'Neill and McCarthy eras. The team probably played more for set-piece opportunities back then but there was always a sense of expectation - and fear from opponents - any time a ball was sent into the box that we'd score.

Szmodics was one of the real positives from this window. For all the talk of planning for the future with young players and so forth, it shows that late developers and players in the older demographic still have plenty to offer to the squad. I'm reminded a bit of Wes Hoolahan, who played a key role for a number of years into his thirties. Szmodics, if he keeps up his form from this season, could have a big say in this team for the guts of five years if he's lucky. But I'm getting ahead of myself and shouldn't read too much into these games. Things could take an altogether different turn come April.

[ifk101]

Szmodics showed he’s capable of making the step-up from Championship to senior international – so that’s a positive to take from the two games, he’s an extra option going forward. And our shape was better (i.e. more compact) than say the Holland (away)/ NZ (home) games. But other than that don’t think there’s much to be enthused about.

[nigel-harps1954]

Quite happy that I wasn't able to make either game. One of the most forgetful windows we've had in a long time. I don't mean that in terms of results, as we've had much worse in recent years, but it was just pointless. Learned very little about new players, beyond the fact Szmodics will add to the squad, and produced two poor performances against arguably two weaked sides, without really trying anything new.

[Fixer82]

Was at the game.
Did anyone norice in second half Coleman firing something at the bench and shouting at them? Think it was an energy drink
He looked very annoyed

Anyone notice this? Had a friend over that end also and everyone curious as to what was going on

[JR89]

Was it when Callum O'Dowda came on as a sub? Looked like he was handing something to Coleman I believe.

[Stuttgart88]

Neil O'Riordan:

And, when Callum O’Dowda handed him what looked like an energy gel when he was introduced last night, the Donegal man chucked it back towards the dugout with apparent disdain.

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/12617002/seamus-coleman-dedication-new-manager-oshea-switzerland/

[ifk101]

Was it when Callum O'Dowda came on as a sub? Looked like he was handing something to Coleman I believe.

Another incomplete pass for the statistics.

[backstothewall]

has knight progressed upwards? hes very middle of the championship for me. our big problem is our midfield is championship level. szmodics is flavour of the month but fact is hes still playing at a club that could possible be relegated to league 1. we badly need our players to get out of the mid level championship slog

You're right, and I would throw Alan Browne into the mix without it making any difference to the conversation. They're the sorts of guys who would probably have played in the English top flight as many seasons as not 25-40 years ago, but with all the imports from around the world the bar is so much higher these days.

The big advantage Knight has over the other 2 is that he has that bit more time on his side to make the step up that I think we all thought he looked capable of when he broke into the first team as a teenager at Derby. If Sykes or Browne were going to do that, they would probably have done it by now, but I still have some hope that it might all click into place for him some day soon.

He's roughly the same age as Finn Azaz and has already picked up 28 caps, but he's probably fallen behind Smallbone on the pecking order already. With guys like Azaz and Andrew Moran emerging quickly he really needs to kick on in the next 18 months or he risks dropping out of the squad completely. And as he gets older it'll be a lot easier to stay in the squad than it will be to fight his way back in.

[Jolly Red Giant]

You're right, and I would throw Alan Browne into the mix without it making any difference to the conversation. They're the sorts of guys who would probably have played in the English top flight as many seasons as not 25-40 years ago, but with all the imports from around the world the bar is so much higher these days.

The big advantage Knight has over the other 2 is that he has that bit more time on his side to make the step up that I think we all thought he looked capable of when he broke into the first team as a teenager at Derby. If Sykes or Browne were going to do that, they would probably have done it by now, but I still have some hope that it might all click into place for him some day soon.

He's roughly the same age as Finn Azaz and has already picked up 28 caps, but he's probably fallen behind Smallbone on the pecking order already. With guys like Azaz and Andrew Moran emerging quickly he really needs to kick on in the next 18 months or he risks dropping out of the squad completely. And as he gets older it'll be a lot easier to stay in the squad than it will be to fight his way back in.
Sorry - but I don't rate Browne and never have - but you are correct that if you go back to the 1980s many of the Irish players in the Championship with have been playing in the top division. That is something that people need to remember - and that some Irish teams with very average English based players by today's standards performed way above the sum of their parts. Under Kenny that current Irish squad was significantly under performing given the talent that is there. The one area the team is weak is central midfield (which makes the loss of both Rice and Grealish all the more nauseating).

I like Azaz - I really do think that he has something about him and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the PL before too long. Andrew Moran I continue to worry about - he started well at Blackburn but then went completely off the boil when the results started to go against the team. I still think that he is too light-weight and always felt he needed to bulk up a bit to avoid getting pushed off the ball - that hasn't happened. Next season really is a make or break season for him in terms of being able to show he belongs in the PL. I think Knight does have time to kick on - IMO he stayed way too long at Derby (and made zero progress under that clown Rooney).

[samhaydenjr]

Unable to see more than brief highlights on YouTube so can't add much to the conversation about the performances. I have been able to watch a number of Lyon matches on a streaming service and believe that it was a mistake not to give Jake O'Brien significant time. He is definitely good enough to be in consideration, at least, for a starting place once The Nations League and WC qualifiers start, so we should be taking the opportunity to get him blooded in as soon as possible.