Finland v Republic of Ireland - Thursday, 10th October 2024 - UEFA Nations League

[elatedscum]

Squad announced on Thursday, I’m sure we’re all hoping that HH has a far more hands on role in this window. I think we’ll know a good bit more once the squad is announced. In my mind, there were two big mistakes with the squad last time. 1) overall size of squad 2) lack of midfielders, which was linked to the size of the squad. We ended up starting all of our midfielders in the second game. Really poor squad management to be left in a situation where you’ve got absolutely no midfielders on a 12 man bench.


Worth noting the turnaround between the games is really tight (Thursday night + Sunday night, both away games). So I think you’ll need to use more players to keep legs fresh etc. And maybe rotate a few players as well.


This is the squad I’d like for this group of games:



Goalkeepers:
Kelleher
Traver
O’Leary


Pretty much picks itself with Bazunu injured.


Right backs:
Doherty
Key/Gallagher


Assuming Coleman is injured, no idea who you pick. I’d be inclined to have a look at a genuine full back in training - I don’t think Ebosele is a right back, a wing back or a winger but not a right back yet. Danny McNamara hasn’t really been playing so I think you’re left with either Josh Key or Jon Gallagher.


Centre halves:
O’Shea
Collins
Scales
O’Brien
Omobamidele


O’Shea, Collins and Scales are all shoo-ins. O’Brien and Omobamidele haven’t played enough really - but on talent they’re very much deserving of a place and Omobamidele was decent covering for Coleman at RB against Greece. There’s always a few lads down in the championship who have a case for a call-up: all of McNally, McGuinness and Clarke-Salter are doing well at the moment (JCS missed the game on Saturday with injury). There’s an argument that a back to basics Hallgrimsson/O’Shea Ireland could use Duffy’s defensive instincts and threat from set pieces. John Egan is also back fit if you’re looking for an old head amongst a pretty young group.


Left back:


Brady
O’Dowda/Manning/Gallagher


A problem position for Ireland. None of the kids are good enough yet, so you’re left with Robbie Brady. Manning is probably actually the best option we have but he’s played 0 mins of first team football this season and has only made a squad once (also played 90 mins in centre midfield for the reserves about 10 days ago). Not convinced O’Dowda has the defensive chops to play left back, as opposed to wingback. Jon Gallagher is once again a somewhat left field option. You could also end up playing a centre half in this position, but i do think you want a more natural option that say Dara O'Shea playing there.


Defensive midfielders:


Cullen
Molumby
Taylor
Connell


Serious lack of options for a multitude of reasons. Lawal and Smallbone both unavailable due to injury doesn’t help. Taylor is getting minutes in the premier league and looking ok, so deserves a call-up. Meanwhile Luca Connell is doing excellently at a low level, so also worth a glance.


Attacking midfielders:


Knight
Browne
McGrath
Azaz


Think all 4 have earned their place and we missed Jamie and Finn last time out. In principle, I’d love to see Connor Ronan get a call up but unless there’s an injury, I don’t think you could justify it. Mark Sykes is the other name you could bring into the conversation.


Wingers:


Ogbene
Johnston
McAteer
Robinson


Ogbene is an automatic choice. I thought Johnston had done enough and was surprised by he exclusion from the last camp. McAteer looked bright during the last camp and Robinson was surprisingly good in the last few mins v Greece and he’s scored against Hull last weekend. You could certainly argue for Ebosele or O’Dowda who made the squad last time around. Harness would have been in my squad last time - he impressed against both Liverpool and City but he hasn’t really established himself at Derby, so hard to call him up. Maybe by the next camp, Connolly will be a name worth talking about or Farrugia will have won a few MOTM awards in the Europa League.


Strikers:


Ferguson
Idah
Parrot
Szmodics


Pretty obvious choices. Beyond them, Obafemi is starting on the left wing for Plymouth. Not sure I trust Wayne Rooney to get the best out of him. Tom Cannon is starting for Stoke but not scoring - can’t really argue for either being selected over the 4 on the list.

[John83]

Thanks for that breakdown, elatedscum.

It's probably to our disadvantage that there's already some pressure on Hallgrimsson. It may discourage him from experimenting, even at the fringes of the squad. Full back is has been a problem for a while, but it feels like it's becoming more and more urgent to figure it out. Omobamidele was okay there, but I'd be surprised if that's their long term solution.

Given the switch to packing the midfield against Greece, it'd be odd if there weren't more midfielders in the squad this time around.

[OMTY]

Has Jimmy Dunne been playing at RB for QPR ? Seems to be back to centre back in more recent games?

[tetsujin1979]

Coleman and Smallbone confirmed to miss out due to injury on RTE2 just now

[Eirambler]

I think it will be Doherty plus a centre back to cover right back, and maybe Ebosele also. Not expecting a left field callup there.

I wonder if Scales might be tried at left back, surely he can't be any worse than Brady...

Interesting that just a few hours ago elatedscum made the - at the time - reasonable suggestion that it would be hard to justify a Cannon call up as he hadn't been scoring. And then he goes and scores four in one game. It will be more of a story now if he isn't called up, but possibly the goals have come too late and the squad has already been picked? Will probably now be used as another stick to beat HH with if he's not named tomorrow.

[John83]

Is he clearly available for a call? I lost track of his flirtation with England.

[Acornvilla]

Is he clearly available for a call? I lost track of his flirtation with England.
I think he said he'd like to be considered for selection a while back.

[CraftyToePoke]

Wasn't he in the O'Shea squads & played ?

[tetsujin1979]

Made his debut against Portugal in June
1800626656954003609

[Eirambler]

Is he clearly available for a call? I lost track of his flirtation with England.

Yes, no suggestion that he's anything other than fully committed and available at this point. Needs a competitive cap to fully confirm his nationality, so would be good to see that happen this month.

[Diggs246]

Do we have any idea what time the team will be announced?

Is there a press conference today?

[nigel-harps1954]

Do we have any idea what time the team will be announced?

Is there a press conference today?

1:30pm press conference, so presume we'll see squad before that.

[zero]

Do we have any idea what time the team will be announced?

Is there a press conference today?

haven't seen it mentioend anywhere (other than here) - it's usually around 1pm i think?

[CraftyToePoke]

McGuiness
Taylor in

Azaz and Johnston back in

No Cannon

Round up the usual suspects beyond that.

[Diggs246]

If cannon isn't injured, can we take it he's changed his mind? Or is he just not selected?

[passinginterest]

If cannon isn't injured, can we take it he's changed his mind? Or is he just not selected?

He had no form before last night to be selected. He'll probably get a late call up if there's anyone with a knock.

[Eirambler]

A very interesting squad. The most interesting one in a while I'd say. Has the feel of a squad that has been picked by someone different (i.e. Hallgrimsson), rather than the Kenny and subsequent continuity Kenny squads we have seen time and again since 2020.

Doherty out - will wait to see if he has a knock or something, but hopefully just a selection decision. Or maybe he has withdrawn himself from international duty after the stick he got last month. Looks like Festy and Omobamidele are the right backs, but I wouldn't have Festy in a back four so looking like Omobamidele will start the two games.

O'Brien out - surprised at that one, maybe there's a reason we don't know about.

Browne out - again there may be a reason but much as I don't rate him as a starter he can be useful off the bench and we're already short with Smallbone out.

Taylor/McGrath/Azaz in - I called for all three to be brought in to the last squad after the disaster of the England game (and got a bit of stick for it!) so good to see the manager on the same page there!

McGuinness in - glad to see this one, have wanted him in for a while. Hopefully he gets a cap this month. Happier to see him in than go bringing back Duffy.

Cannon out - suspect the goals came too late. Will be interesting to see if he's with the 21s.

Brady the only player over 30 in the squad tells a story. And he's only there because we're desperate at left back. It's a new generation team now, possibly Egan might get back in at some point and Brady might hang on for a while out of necessity. But that early 90s born generation of players have collapsed as a group in the last two or three years. This time last year Jeff Hendrick was still getting caps so I'm classing that as progress.

[passinginterest]

Republic of Ireland squad

Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth), Max O'Leary (Bristol City)

Defenders: Festy Ebosele (Watford, on loan from Udinese), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Mark McGuinness (Luton Town), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Liam Scales (Celtic), Callum O'Dowda (Cardiff City), Robbie Brady (Preston North End).

Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town), Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen).

Forwards: Adam Idah (Celtic), Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Chiedozie Ogbene (Ipswich Town), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City), Sammie Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Mikey Johnston (West Bromwich Albion), Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar).

[nigel-harps1954]

If cannon isn't injured, can we take it he's changed his mind? Or is he just not selected?

Would presume the squad was already selected before he scored his first goals of the season in that game.

Doherty and O'Brien out is the biggest surprise really. Granted O'Brien hasn't really got his chance at Everton yet, but he's undoubtedly one of the more talented centre backs we have.

Alan Browne is probably unfortuanate to miss out too, as is Callum Robinson after his decent cameo last time out.

Seems to be more like Heimir putting his stamp on it this time. Less of O'Sheas men and a few unlikely callups in Taylor and McGuinness.

[Olé Olé]

Would presume the squad was already selected before he scored his first goals of the season in that game.

Doherty and O'Brien out is the biggest surprise really. Granted O'Brien hasn't really got his chance at Everton yet, but he's undoubtedly one of the more talented centre backs we have.

Alan Browne is probably unfortuanate to miss out too, as is Callum Robinson after his decent cameo last time out.

Seems to be more like Heimir putting his stamp on it this time. Less of O'Sheas men and a few unlikely callups in Taylor and McGuinness.

Ebosele, McGuinness, Azaz, Johnston, McGrath, Taylor in.

Doherty, O'Brien, Browne, Robinson, Smallbone out.

Who am I missing?

I can't complain too much. All of the lads called in are doing okay at a level at a level equal to the lads dropping out (Smallbone injured). He may as well see if they fit better.

[nigel-harps1954]

Ebosele, McGuinness, Azaz, Johnston, McGrath, Taylor in.

Doherty, O'Brien, Browne, Robinson, Smallbone out.

Who am I missing?

I can't complain too much. All of the lads called in are doing okay at a level at a level equal to the lads dropping out (Smallbone injured). He may as well see if they fit better.

Ebosele was in the last camp too, but you could technically say him in for Coleman from both original squad announcements.

Quite like the fact Hallgrimson isn't afraid to make big calls really.

[EAFC_rdfl]

Ebosele, McGuinness, Azaz, Johnston, McGrath, Taylor in.

Doherty, O'Brien, Browne, Robinson, Smallbone out.

Who am I missing?

I can't complain too much. All of the lads called in are doing okay at a level at a level equal to the lads dropping out (Smallbone injured). He may as well see if they fit better.

Coleman? Out injured now

[Acornvilla]

I think this is grand really. Omobamidele probably doesn't deserve to be called up given his playing time, but he's probably solid cover for CB and RB I assume that's why he's made it and O' Brien hasn't. I think there should be enough to beat Finland there, but wouldn't be very hopeful about the quick turnaround away to Greece.

[elatedscum]

The presser in a nutshell:

- Coleman and Smallbone both injured
- Part of the reason Mikey Johnston missed the last camp is recovery from an orbital bone fracture. Cullen also back from injury
- Left Doherty out to see alternate options at RB, presumably Festy and Andy with World Cup qualifiers in mind. Called Doc - door not closed, just testing other players and didn’t want to include him if he wouldn’t play
- Considers McGuinness and O’Brien and all our centre backs at a very similar high level and wanted to see Mark this camp. Mentioned his aerial ability
- Implied he saw Boro v Stoke live when talking about Finn Azaz. Was asked how many games attended and said he wasn’t counting but had a busy week attending matches up and down England (I’d guess the FAI were on about optics). He defended the decision to mainly use apps + TV to see more games and travel less “time efficiently”
- Repeatedly emphasised Jack Taylor as an attacking midfielder, which may impact how he’s used. Azaz was described as someone who could step up and show his strength and McGrath’s performances at the start of the season were mentioned - and how he just missed out for the last squad
- Used FIFA allowing 23 in a match day squad as the baseline for his squads (24 this time) - in that context said Browne, Robinson miss out to accommodate new players
- Squad was picked before Cannon scored 4 but he probably wouldn’t have made the squad anyway. He’s on the standby squad
- There was a definite reframing of the goals all being about World Cup 2026 and this window was described as a chance to experiment
- Said we needed to be pragmatic on the ball
- Said both we needed to experiment and also needed to find a settled 11. Nathan Murphy asked if that was a contradiction - but I think he was trying to say he needs to see a lot of players now so he can make an informed decision down the line and build a settled 11
- Wouldn’t give a results target for the window, wanted to build on the Greece game with good performances, which normally lead to good results

[tetsujin1979]

Squad stats
1841833397884240343
Only one player over 30(Brady) so the average age has come down a bit, especially without Coleman or Doherty

[ifk101]

Tbf, thought HH was more knowledgeable this time around and spoke with confidence. Sounded like he has put the effort in and is more up to speed on the players. No nods to O’Shea or mention of leaning on the input of others which is a big plus. Slightly more confident of getting a result in Finland now.

[osarusan]

Squad stats
1841833397884240343
Only one player over 30(Brady) so the average age has come down a bit, especially without Coleman or Doherty
That info reveals a lot. Average age 25, average caps 16

One player with over 60 caps, and that's a fading Brady. Apart from that, three players with 30+ caps.

With Duffy and Coleman out (and fading too), we have no stalwarts at all, in comparison to somebody like Declan Rice who is 25 but has already played for England 60 times.

It says a lot about how we've mixed and matched and experimented all over the place trying to find (and failing, I guess) to find combinations that work.

[Stuttgart88]

I like this squad. Sure, you can always debate X being included over Y but the overall picture here is one that suggests nobody is safe based on reputation (Doc, Browne...) and if young lads are playing well they can earn a call up. It's a nice change from the same-old same-old we've been served up for years. It looks like there's more room now to have an extra body in midfield and I think it also finally seems to have HH's personal stamp on it.

A small step in the right direction I reckon. I hope I think the same after the actual games.

[Eirambler]

Yeah I'm happy enough too, and the explanations of selections and omissions make sense for the most part. I would definitely have found a space for Cannon though, even if just to cap him and put all that nonsense to bed. But it wouldn't just be for that reason, he'd be in on merit.

I'm not sure about his comments on Doherty. They would make more sense if he had called up someone like Josh Key or Dan McNamara. But there isn't an out and out right back in the squad (I don't see Festy as a straight RB) so I think it still looks like he's being dropped with a few kind words to disguise it.

Looking forward to the games and hopefully seeing a few new faces in competitive action.

[liamoo11]

Yeah I'm happy enough too, and the explanations of selections and omissions make sense for the most part. I would definitely have found a space for Cannon though, even if just to cap him and put all that nonsense to bed. But it wouldn't just be for that reason, he'd be in on merit.

I'm not sure about his comments on Doherty. They would make more sense if he had called up someone like Josh Key or Dan McNamara. But there isn't an out and out right back in the squad (I don't see Festy as a straight RB) so I think it still looks like he's being dropped with a few kind words to disguise it.

Looking forward to the games and hopefully seeing a few new faces in competitive action.

To be fair he has shown a bit of steel to show that doherty s efforts against Greece just were unacceptable and has been droped as a result.

[Razors left peg]

Happy enough with the squad overall. You'd like to see Cannon involved after last night, but I also dont see who you'd drop for him either so theres good competition for places in the front line now. Same at center back, I like O'Brien alot so Im a bit disappointed there, but he hasnt been playing and the move to Everton seems ill advised at this stage so again good competition for places with a new man coming in.

Delighted to see Doherty dropped. I wouldnt say its a big call by HH, but its a notable one and puts a marker down. Shows that he wont tolerate the lack of effort we seen from Doherty from any player, even if they are a senior player. Festy has been playing right wing back for Watford the last couple of games so he could be an attacking option off the bench if we need to change up Omobamidele at right back.

I didnt see the press conference but by all accounts he came across very well. They at least have the optics better this time around after the PR disaster of the previous games. Hes a likeable man, he makes you want him to do well. Hopefully this is his stamp now starting to come across and a result in Finland will get him kickstarted properly.

[backstothewall]

I like this squad. It looks like Festy will finally get his opportunity, which isn't before time. It would have been good to get Cannon capped, but given he's been left out of our squad on merit it's hard to imagine he's likely to ever have the opportunity to pull on an England shirt even if he would like to in his soul. He's 21 now and I wouldn't imagine Harry Kane or Ollie Watkins are losing much sleep over him.

Doherty can have no complaints. HH found a diplomatic way of dropping him because of poor performance in the last window.

I doubt we will be moving away from the wingbacks myself. We just don't have the fullbacks for a traditional back 4.

[Olé Olé]

I like this squad. It looks like Festy will finally get his opportunity, which isn't before time. It would have been good to get Cannon capped, but given he's been left out of our squad on merit it's hard to imagine he's likely to ever have the opportunity to pull on an England shirt even if he would like to in his soul. He's 21 now and I wouldn't imagine Harry Kane or Ollie Watkins are losing much sleep over him.

Doherty can have no complaints. HH found a diplomatic way of dropping him because of poor performance in the last window.

I doubt we will be moving away from the wingbacks myself. We just don't have the fullbacks for a traditional back 4.

Cannon is capped. He came on against Portugal.

[Diggs246]

I think he means "cap-tied"

[Stuttgart88]

Extracts from today's Irish Times

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2024/10/04/nathan-collins-set-to-be-named-ireland-captain-ahead-of-trips-to-finland-and-greece/

Hallgrímsson also confirmed that England under-21 striker Liam Delap, whose father Rory won 11 caps for Ireland, has been asked to change allegiance after scoring three goals for Ipswich Town so far this season.

Capping Delap, however, may require a change in Fifa’s current eligibility rules.
“I just know his qualities. It’s not my job to test that. It’s always the player who decides who he wants to play for and I’m not the right person to ask if he’s eligible or not. Someone else can probably answer that better.”

The FAI have been asked to provide clarity, but Hallgrímsson added: “I’m happy with the level of players we have. We have a lot of good Championship-level players. We are always looking for solutions somewhere else, instead of picking players, playing them and getting relationships between players.”

---

On Glenn Whelan switching from FAI scout, where he attended the Greece versus Finland match last month in Athens, to questioning the attitude of Irish players on Virgin Media days later, Hallgrímsson confirmed that the former Ireland international is no longer involved.

“I don’t know Glenn at all. I wouldn’t know what to expect. I wouldn’t have done that. He’s not scouting now, no.”

Whelan has taken up a new role coaching at Wigan Athletic.

---

After assistant coach John O’Shea picked the squad in September, Hallgrímsson has stamped his authority on the group by recalling the fit again Josh Cullen, Jamie McGrath, Finn Azaz and Jack Taylor to a midfield that lost Will Smallbone to injury.

[elatedscum]

Kelleher misses the Liverpool squad with illness. Might delay his arrival you’d imagine

[tetsujin1979]

Finnish squad was announced last week
https://www.palloliitto.fi/ajankohtaista/huuhkajat-nimetty-lokakuun-uefa-nations-league-otteluihin
Details on wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland_national_football_team#Players

[Stuttgart88]

That squad is drawn from quite an eclectic array of teams / countries

[elatedscum]

14 divisions compared to our 4 (premier league, championship, SPL, eredivisie)

[Supreme feet]

Meanwhile on an obscure Finnish football forum...

'Hey, Benjamin Kallman scored again for Cracovia. Good to see he's on form ahead of the internationals!' :D

'Oh yeah, against Slask in a pig farmer's league. Big whoop.' :rolleyes:

[pineapple stu]

Pukki's finished. Ridiculous he's still included. Call up <obscure 21s international with three games in Slovakia> instead!

[zero]

Pukki's finished. Ridiculous he's still included. Call up <obscure 21s international with three games in Slovakia> instead!

Cue 'Teemu turns back time with terrific treble'.

[elatedscum]

Pukki's finished. Ridiculous he's still included. Call up <obscure 21s international with three games in Slovakia> instead!

You have to go down to the 19s to find the a promising striker. The goal machine that is 18 year old David Ezeh - basically their Mason Melia. 18 years old, tall, powerful and fast - and a finisher. 16 underage goals to his name for Finland. Played 64 games professional games between the 3rd and 1st tier of Finnish football before moving to a Polish team during the summer. Has yet to play in Poland though

[Eirambler]

Hopefully either this window, or the next one with the Finland home game, is the one where we finally start to see some kind of turnaround. I saw a tweet a few minutes ago about Georgian football and how they're now in the Top 20 in Europe in the ELO rankings. But the tweet posted a list of the top 30 - and we weren't even in that. I looked it up and it turns out we're 31st, but when you look at who is below us there's really only one or two more teams we could realistically fall behind before we're down with the out and out minnows. Iceland and Israel are below us, but after that you're pretty much into microstates and teams that aren't even affiliated to FIFA.

So there isn't much further we can fall at this point, because there realistically isn't much left below us. Finland are one place above us, so hopefully we could start by overtaking them.

[John83]

Now there's an optimist!

[Eirambler]

The same page is now noting that we're at our lowest ranking since 1973.

1843960464973439272

[John83]

It's an unpleasant statistic, but I'd be slightly wary of it. I'm very familiar with elo because it's the primary ranking in another sport I play. It's a very useful tool for comparisons over modest timeframes, but it's not really reliable to compare it across decades. Elo is highly dependent on the pool of teams, so it can have periods of significant inflation or deflation.

I think our current winless streak in competitive games does also go unmatched back to that period, so one thing we can say for sure: the last time we were this **** for this long, Eamonn Dunphy was on the pitch.

[John83]

Hallgrimsson interview: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2024/1009/1474412-hallgrimsson-hoping-to-halt-downward-spiral/

[CraftyToePoke]

It would be massive [for my family if I did play]. We've been waiting, I'm 26 now.
"I was praying it was coming a little bit earlier, but these things happen in football and I'm just delighted to be here now and when that moment does come, I think it will be special for the whole family.

Jack Taylor hinting he feels this should have happened before now throughout.
By all means demonstrate why Jack, feel free.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2024/1008/1474050-taylor-hoping-for-senior-ireland-debut-this-week/

[Diggs246]

Am I the only love sick fool, who thinks we will win tomorrow?