Starting 11 confirmed

[Irish_Praha]

13/8 with Paddy Power.

That's pretty mean from Paddy

[Qwerty]

McCarthy played Elliott is a withdrawn role on the right earlier this season as well so it's not like he hasn't played there before and Doyle offers a bit more height upfront.

[livehead1]

i just hope this dont mean ss sees kavanagh as a benchman, he should be a key man, as should clinton

[tricky_colour]

That's pretty mean from Paddy

Thats ridiculous, surely thats for an Ireland win?
Something like 7-1 would be more appropiate!!
(mind you they usually quote for *first* goal scorer) but mean odds
nonetheless.
He is 15/8 at William Hill where I play my poker :)
Mind you Gary Breen is 10-1 and he is not even starting!!!
Talk about mean, unbackable.

Stephen Elliot might be a better bet, he is not even listed at Hill's

Anyway you won't get value backing Ireland at Paddy Power, too
many biased bets from Irish men. Best find a Swedish bookmaker ;)

Example Harte is 7/2 at Paddy and 5-1 at Hills. (Still poor odds though).

[Stuttgart88]

Going back a few posts, I've always been impressed by Elliott too & at all levels. He's not that small either and he's strongly built too.

Good all round player but very instinctive goalscorer. He's been unlucky this year. Was one of the few Sunderland players to play well early season, despite being played further to the right than he'd have liked and scored 2 great goals, though I think he should have scored another in each of those games. Was p1ss poor in the first half in Faroes, but made up for it in the second. Made an impact off the bench against Italy & scored from a very difficult chance in Cyprus.

I'm excited to have him & Doyle showing so much promise.

But to play him on the right would be criminal. I really really doubt that's how it will pan out.

[shakermaker1982]

I'd be very surprised if he starts with 3 upfront.

[Reality Bites]

Expect Andy O'Brien and Richie Dunne but AOB in particular to be exposed badly tonight by the guile of Larrsson and sheer power and skill of Ibrahimovic

[Pablo]

Midfield is really soft if thats a long term team. Hopefully Stephen Ireland will come through in the middle, and Paddy McCarthy will come through at centre back.

We can dump Donkeys like Stephen Reid and Andy O’Brien then

[Stuttgart88]

Expect Andy O'Brien and Richie Dunne but AOB in particular to be exposed badly tonight by the guile of Larrsson and sheer power and skill of IbrahimovicWill be a good test for them alright. AOB looks all at sea at times at club level but for some reason he's always looked better at international level. I wonder how much of this was Cunningham's influence. Any player that plays next to him looks good I think. Just look at how much acclaim Upson got when he first went to Birmingham, but then lost form when Cunningham was injured. Will be interesting to see.

Dunne on the other hand is a great man to have when it's backs against the wall time, but tends to lose concentration during more comfortable games. It's imperative these two play well together.

[greatbleddyman]

To be honest he would be one of the first names I would have on the team-sheet in centre mid. He is strong, atlethic, covers ground and adds a goalthreat

[John83]

To be honest he would be one of the first names I would have on the team-sheet in centre mid. He is strong, atlethic, covers ground and adds a goalthreat
I'd agree. He's one of our better options there. Certainly as good as Kilbane, which would pretty much have him starting and he's an option on the right wing too.

[Stuttgart88]

I'd agree too. Did anyone see the Bellamy / Lehmann incident on Saturday? That all came from a surging run from Reid, carrying the ball at pace quite a long way, something he's been doing all season long for Blackburn. MOTD on Saturday highlighted Bellamy's contribution to the game, but nearly every ball Bellamy got was from Reid, and some were from long-range too.

Reid is most definitely not a donkey. Anyone who's seen him play this season will attest to that.

[shakermaker1982]

bloody delighted S Reid is starting tonight, a sign he might have a big part to play in us getting to Euro 2008. Wouldn't have minded seeing Ireland get his first cap straight away but I'm sure he will come on at some point. I'm optimistic we'll either nick it 1 nil or draw 1-1. The boys should be out to impress tonight and make a statement.

[geysir]

Reid is no donkey but I have been trying to work out Ibrahimovic's origions
from an article in today's Indo
"Born in Malmo, the son of a Bosnian father and Croatian father"

[geysir]

How long is it since Elliot has played a game for Sunderland?

[NeilMcD]

about 4 days.

[Pablo]

Reid is no donkey but I have been trying to work out Ibrahimovic's origions
from an article in today's Indo
"Born in Malmo, the son of a Bosnian father and Croatian father"

at least he was born in the country he plays for

[NeilMcD]

aww that Old Chestnut.

[Kingdom]

thats a stupid handle for someone obviously living in fantasy land when they post that AOB and Reid are donkeys.
What a silly post. If anything in International games over the course of the last campaign Andy O'Brien has been our best defender. And I don't buy the fact that it was because he was playing alongside Cunnigham either. Dunne played alongside Kenny against Italy and was brutal. I've plenty of time for the Dunne - O'Brien partnership, esp. when there's little else.

As for Steven Reid, he has come on leaps and bounds and looks better now and is in a better position to be a regular than when he first came on the scene and lit the place up (pre WC 02).

[NeilMcD]

Good post Kingdom however If I remember rightly Dunne was playing his first game of the season and his lack of match practice was so obvious it was unreal.

[Kingdom]

Good post Kingdom however If I remember rightly Dunne was playing his first game of the season and his lack of match practice was so obvious it was unreal.
That's a fair point too Neil; should have acknowledged that in my post. I think the two played together in the Cyprus game also, when Kenny had his worst game in an Irish jersey.

[eirebhoy]

O'Brien has been absolutley fantastic for Ireland since he broke into the team. I feel safer with O'Brien at the back then Dunne, although Dunne is the better of the two at club level.

[Kingdom]

O'Brien has been absolutley fantastic for Ireland since he broke into the team. I feel safer with O'Brien at the back then Dunne, although Dunne is the better of the two at club level.
Thats exactly my position on the situation. Pity I couldn't have typed that. Seems easy enough !:D

[Junior]

O'Brien has been absolutley fantastic for Ireland since he broke into the team. I feel safer with O'Brien at the back then Dunne, although Dunne is the better of the two at club level.

Dunne has played particularly well against the better sides at international level, that combined with his club form, I'd have him in ahead of O'Brien, though we don't have to make that decision at the moment!!

[eirebhoy]

What I'm wondering now is with Cunningham gone, who'll lead the line? Neither O'Brien or Dunne seem to do it at club level and if neither are up to it the defence could be left seriously exposed. It reminds me of Celtic with the only player that is probably capable of leading the defensive line at the moment being Roy Keane and he doesn't even play centre half. I suppose it's another thing to look forward to tonight. :)

[Stuttgart88]

In fairness to Dunne, he was muck out in Cyprus but recovered really well & had a great game against Switzerland I thought. I've no worries about that pairing, but if either gets injured we're struggling. I wonder does Staunton, despite what he's been saying about O'Shea as a midfielder, view O'Shea as third choioce CB too.

[youngirish]

In fairness to Dunne, he was muck out in Cyprus but recovered really well & had a great game against Switzerland I thought. I've no worries about that pairing, but if either gets injured we're struggling. I wonder does Staunton, despite what he's been saying about O'Shea as a midfielder, view O'Shea as third choioce CB too.

I worry about both Dunne and O'Brien as I believe at best they are very average defenders though unfortunately I have to concede that they're our best options at present. Dunne can have good days but always seems to make silly mistakes while O'Brien is very mediocre. Both are severely short of pace. We need a decent new central defender coming through soon as I don't believe McShane or McCarthy wil prove any better than what we have already.

On the whole the team looks pretty good to me. At least Kilbane is nowhere to be seen.

The only problem I see is O'Shea being put in central midfield. I was hoping he would be booted out of the first team as a thank you present for all his dire performances in the Ireland jersey over the years but it looks like Stan hasn't the bo**ox to do this yet because he still gets a run out for united. Unfortunately he's even worse employed as a central midfield player than a left back for a number of reasons:

1. He can't pass the ball to save his life and I see this as more of a problem in midfield than in defence where he'll get more of the ball and will be expected to provide some creativity for the forwards.
2. He can't shoot to save his life so offers no goal threat.
3. He's keeping far more talented players than himself from playing in that position (Kavanagh, J O'Brien, S Ireland)
4. He only keeps Ian Harte out of the team when playing at LB so this is not such a waste of resources

Stan needs to give him the bullet. If he does we might go somewhere under him.

[pete]

I think its a bizarre selection with keane, Duff, Elliot & Doyle in the same team. Reminds me od the Spurs 4-1-1-4 formation under Ossie Ardiles.

:eek:

I could under stand 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 with 3 from those 4 players but Stan does not seemto be learning from Mick McCarthys sweeper formation gambles.

It is difficult to judge new players if playing a formation that you not likely to play competitively. New formations are fine to try (kerr did in a few friendlies & did not work out) but with very few friendlies before next qualifiers this is not the right time for it.

[geysir]

Dunne struggled in some games in the Irish team when he was clearly not fit and had not played enough club games. He is a type of player who needs more playing time than others to be at a sharp enough level. The Italy friendly game comes to mind.

[eirebhoy]

I think its a bizarre selection with keane, Duff, Elliot & Doyle in the same team. Reminds me od the Spurs 4-1-1-4 formation under Ossie Ardiles.

:eek:

I could under stand 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 with 3 from those 4 players but Stan does not seemto be learning from Mick McCarthys sweeper formation gambles.

It is difficult to judge new players if playing a formation that you not likely to play competitively. New formations are fine to try (kerr did in a few friendlies & did not work out) but with very few friendlies before next qualifiers this is not the right time for it.
I'll be very suprised if he doesn't start with a 4-4-2 tonight.

[dr_peepee]

I've to work so I couldn't go to the game... Taping it so i can watch it tomorrow.

Have to say I was disapointed with the starting line up... Seems a little naive. A very light midfield. If you're gonna play three up front they should be supported by a grafting midfeild three. Surely Duff'd be better served as one of the attacking three and not the supporting three.

Time will tell I suppose

[John83]

I've to work so I couldn't go to the game... Taping it so i can watch it tomorrow.

Have to say I was disapointed with the starting line up... Seems a little naive. A very light midfield. If you're gonna play three up front they should be supported by a grafting midfeild three. Surely Duff'd be better served as one of the attacking three and not the supporting three.

Time will tell I suppose
As people have said, it was a normal 4-4-2, with Elliot on the right. No big deal.

[Stuttgart88]

As people have said, it was a normal 4-4-2, with Elliot on the right.
Was it?

Sorry for sounding like a total smartarse but: :)

Examiner:

Ireland were flexible tactically, shaping up somewhere between 4-5-1 and 4-3-1-2, as Kevin Doyle and Stephen Elliott alternated, and sometimes combined, as the spearhead.

Indo:

The 4-4-2 formation certainly wasn't rigid and its fluidity meant that from the start Robbie Keane often dropped deep with Kevin Doyle working across the line and the two wide men, Stephen Elliot and Duff pushing up on the full-backs.

Irish Times:

New captain Robbie Keane was deployed in behind Doyle while Elliott provided good assistance when cutting in from the right. Indeed, the trio alternated roles to good effect and, with Duff lending his weight too, they at times had the Swedish defence bamboozled.

Mark Lawrenson:

Staunton in his experimental phase went for a 4-3-1-2 formation. Fancy without being smancy as they say and a rebuke perhaps to the perceived conservatism of Brian Kerr. It worked well.

London Independent:

Staunton handed debuts to four players and deployed the most fluid of formations, switching from two strikers to four to three and back again.

London Times:

IRELAND (4-3-1-2):

Guardian:

Staunton, playing to his squad's strengths, set up his team to attack. The formation readily became 4-2-1-3 when they went forward, with Keane dropping into the hole and the wide players, initially Duff and Stephen Elliott, getting into advanced positions to support the debutant striker Kevin Doyle.

[John83]

A lot of people are talking ****e about the formation, going on the misconceptions that came from there being three recognised strikers on the pitch. Elliot spent most of his time wide right, Duff was almost glued to the touchline, baring one or two runs.

Tell me, exactly how does the Examiner think you change from a 4-5-1 to a 4-3-1-2 and back? Did Robbie Keane actually play in midfield at some point? It's nonsense from hacks who don't give a damn.

[colster]

A lot of people are talking ****e about the formation, going on the misconceptions that came from there being three recognised strikers on the pitch. Elliot spent most of his time wide right, Duff was almost glued to the touchline, baring one or two runs.

Tell me, exactly how does the Examiner think you change from a 4-5-1 to a 4-3-1-2 and back? Did Robbie Keane actually play in midfield at some point? It's nonsense from hacks who don't give a damn.

I was at the game and it looked like a 4 2 1 3 formation when attacking with Duff and Elliot on the wings and Doyle with Keane just behind. When defending Doyle was left up front on his own.
Also Elliot and Doyle swapped during the game.

[dr_peepee]

I'm glad to say i was wrong... I'll even go as far as to say that if someone posting here had suggested the formation & the tactics that Ireland displayed last night that I'd have argued vehemently against it and questioned their knowledge of the game.

But they were fluid and showed a level tactical flexibillity that I wouldn't have ever thought possible from an international side with our resourses. I'm a firm believer in consistency and while I don't believe simplicity, I do like to avoid over complicating tactics etc..... But last night just crapped all over everything i thought i knew about Ireland and international football ....:D

A Tip of the cap to Steve Staunton & Co.

[geysir]

Also Elliot and Doyle swapped during the game.
Though I could understand if Duff did not want to swap Ostlund with anybody else.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Basically it seems to me that any time the ball was kicked out, by Sweden, the journos noted the position the Irish players were in assumed that was a tactical formation ... hence the multitude of formations quoted.