Czech Republic post match thread [Archive] - Page 3

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Soper

12/10/2006, 2:10 PM

Will Staunton learn?

Or will he revert back to putting O'Shea in midfield?

passinginterest

12/10/2006, 2:17 PM

Just to clarify, he's obviously still unproven but he's playing regular football and has to represent a better option alongside Dunne than O'Brien, who's hardly played in a year. O'Shea should be the obvious choice but he continues to have Gary Breen like lapses in concentration. I'd probably keep him at left back though, he definitely improved against the Chzec's and maybe he got a real reality check in the Cyprus game. While McShane probably should have done more to stop Koller's shot, O'Shea gave away a silly free, then made no effort to get back in position, didn't even stand over the ball to delay it being taken, just at a time when the team needed to slow things down and keep composure. You'd think they would have learned a lesson after Cyprus!

kingp35

12/10/2006, 2:18 PM

Surely having seen the difference in the performances in both games that he cant consider playing O' shea in midfield ahead of good ACTUAL midfield players like Carsley, Douglas etc. If he does then he really does need to walk. The reason the team played so much better last night was because the spine of the team was so much better and thus the team was more balanced.

supasparx

12/10/2006, 2:22 PM

I hope O'Shea looks around and realises that there are now plenty more options in the positions he used to occupy. Kelly at LB, McShane at CB, Carsley and Douglas in CM. That might concentrate his mind a bit. I reckon McShane and Dunne will be CB's (fitness permitting) when San Marino visit. Keane does need to get his act together, Doyle would have done a nice job up there tonight!

We've got a few to return to squad as well

McGeady, Kavanagh, Harte, Joey O'Brien, Miller, Doyle, Ireland, S Reid, Dunne, Elliott, Given.

Our strongest eleven out of the above and tonight's squad would probably be

Given

Carr - McShane - Dunne - Finnan

Duff - Carsley - S.Reid - McGeady

Keane - Doyle

Subs: Joey O'Brien, Ireland, A. Reid, Elliott, Kavanagh, Miller, O'Shea, Harte, Kenny, Alan O'Brien, Alan Lee, Henderson.

23 man squad.

No room for Kilbane in your squad?

kingp35

12/10/2006, 2:26 PM

No room for Kilbane in your squad?

Or Douglas who played very well last night. Would have him ahead of Miller every time.

Paddy Garcia

12/10/2006, 2:37 PM

..you can certainly include Kilbane and Douglas at the expense of Kavanagh & Alan O'Brien.

casso36

12/10/2006, 2:43 PM

There was a valid reason for this. Ireland were afraid of Kohler winning flick ons and O' Shea was definitely told to drop off to cover any flick ons that were won.

He did'nt get any flick ons!! Mcshane cleared nearly every ball.

kingp35

12/10/2006, 2:46 PM

He did'nt get any flick ons!! Mcshane cleared nearly every ball.

Yes I realise that but it was expected that he would win flick ons and O' Shea was doing what he was told to do.

tetsujin1979

12/10/2006, 2:57 PM

RTE have their post match interviews with McShane, Kilbane and Staunton as well as their Apres Match up on rte.ie here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/sports_video.html

eirebhoy

12/10/2006, 3:02 PM

What a difference a central midfield makes aye? :)

Henderson - Did well, excellent distribution. There was only one man he could really kick it to that you'd expect to get his head to it, Kilbane, and he kicked it to him every time. I'd need to see it again but probably should have saved the goal.

Finnan - He seems to be lacking confidence this season. 1 or 2 nervy kick back passes to Henderson. It's not just with Ireland but he has made 1 or 2 mistakes with Liverpool. Hopefully it's just a blip.

Kelly - Had a great game considering he was out of position. I wouldn't play him on that side again though as he has no left foot at all.

O'Shea - Did well but that's relative to his usual performances. No better than Andy O'Brien and can't seem to follow the line.

McShane - Great game. Bossed Koller for the 90 minutes and looked like the more experienced player in the defence. Very, very similar to Fabio Cannavaro in his style of play.

Carsley - Made the Czechs know he was there from the first whistle. 3 fouls within the 1st 10 minutes but it was another hour or so before his 4th foul and the ref was waiting for it to book him. Exactly what we needed against Cyprus. Always there to take a pass and we won't be getting caught on the break easily with him in the team.

Douglas - He was given a license to get forward and only for a great save from Cech would have scored. Excellent off the ball and had to be with Rosicky in the Czech team.

Kilbane - His best performance in a long time. He was winning a lot in the air and most of his flick ons were falling to an Irish player. Did well on the ball too and good goal.

Duff - Still a bit predictable but he was been marked by 2 players at all times. The Czech team was a lot more defensive than usual and I'd say Duff is the reason. Kovac came into the team to man mark him. Did well and most of our chances came from him.

A.Reid - He must be the most intelligient player (in a football sense) we have. Him and Duff are on the same wavelength and I'd say Duff loves playing with him. Definitely unfit though so hopefully Dowies sorts him out. Excellent set pieces, his passing was good and he's not afraid to have a pop from long range. No coincedence that we lacked creativity in the last 20 minutes.

Keane - He can't really win. He ran all night but being the lone striker you'd prefer him to stay in the box. If he did stay in the box we'd be complaining that he wasn't putting in enough work. :) Should have hit the target with that header late on but he played well and did lead by example. Less moaning than usual which is good.

A.Quinn looked really good on the ball. I'll be suprised if Alan O'Brien makes it at international or premiership level though. He rips up the wing and gets crosses in but that's pretty much all he does. At one stage he had an excellent chance to cut inside but he still tried to go further down the wing even though there was about 2 metres of grass left. :)

Staunton, whether through choice or otherwise, fielded the best team possible so top marks for that.

pineapple stu

12/10/2006, 4:06 PM

Have you sneaked a peak at "Stans Gameplan"?????
What's that?

elroy

12/10/2006, 4:07 PM

One thing in particular that really impressed me about McShane was his composure on the ball. Many times he was comfortable with the ball at his feet and nearly always found a team mate.

roversman

12/10/2006, 6:44 PM

where can i get to c the goals on internet

dfx-

12/10/2006, 6:57 PM

That makes no sense. The Czechs realised that they were much better than us and could win comfortably but didn't? Ireland put in a decent performance for once, and it's down to the other team not wanting to win even though the could easily for some bizarre reason?

The difference in class between the two sides meant that the Czechs didn't have to go at full pelt to get something. There was no urgency in their play, everything forward was laboured. They could win comfortably if they went for us, but they never really did. A draw wouldn't be too bad for them, as long as they didn't get beaten. The reason why they didn't was because they thought they could get through Ireland if they actually went for us. We'll not know whether they could because they never actually tried to. Even when they scored, they didn't push on like most teams would, they sat back, went 451 and settled for a point and got it easily enough. If they needed to win, it would've been a different situation - when we go away to them later on and they need the points...that team wouldn't live with them. It was a poor Czech performance - fine they had their best players there, but they were in no rush to do anything with them. Germany went for Ireland and won pretty convincingly, Cyprus went for Ireland and got five, the Czechs played poorly, looked for a point and got it comfortably enough.

The real test of Staunton is how they deal with the next side who are going for the win...probably away to Slovakia.

Emmet

12/10/2006, 7:27 PM

Lee Carsleys effect on the team and the performance cannot be underestimated. He set the tempo from the off and gave the fans the first cheer of the night with his determined tackle. When the rest of the players witnessed this hunger and the response of the crowd to it, they followed suit.

I'm not entirely sure about that ... I recall seeing several lunging tackles from Carsley in the first few minutes and he was fortunate that the ref was as lenient as he was. He steadied things down in general though and did not give the ball away repeatedly (!) so in that respect he was definitely an improvement in midfield!!

Emmet

12/10/2006, 7:32 PM

Finnan - Steve Carr to right full (Finnan to left full ? or O'Shea ?)

You'd play Carr over Finnan? :confused: Finnan is miles better ... he holds down a regular place at Liverpool (which when you consider Benitez hasn't fielded an unchanged side for almost 100 consecutive matches is some achievement) and he isn't a good stone overweight!!

oconghc2

12/10/2006, 8:52 PM

enjoyed the game - first one in a while - good excitement but was sick still at the end. We didnt win anything - just stopped a rot.

Can't help feeling that we're back to square one - staunton still in job and delaney safe for a bit longer, john o shea instrumental in a conceded goal! (sorry - don't want to make it a witch hunt!)

Staunton can take no praise for last night! will carsley now make way for ireland when he recovers from injury or kavanagh? Will McShane start the next game? will stevie carr or o shea move to full back? I hope to God he swallows his pride - i would just find it refreshing if he admitted his mistakes - maybe then he move on as he's always talking about.

sligoman

12/10/2006, 9:21 PM

Was at the game. McShane and Carsley were great. O'Shea and Henderson also had good games. Couldn't really fault any of the players that started last night. Much better performance than Cyprus, by a mile!

Thunderblaster

12/10/2006, 9:37 PM

Much happier than Saturday evening. Team had a shape, passed the ball better (still some hoofing though). Good performance in terms of passion and determination while the technical skills were modest. Paul McShane did really well and deserves another start. Stephen Kelly had a good hour and Jonathan Douglas was unlucky not to have scored. Robbie Keane seriously should be stripped off the captain's armband; he is no leader and he needs to perform for his country, not for himself. Remember Seamus McDonagh? He celebrated his international call up by coming to Ireland on the boat to retrace his ancestors crossing and reading the 1916 Proclaimation. Mr. Keane could learn a thing or two from that. Lee Carsley is not exactly a player I'd admire but added some steel to the middle of the park and Kevin Kilbane, a player that would be as gifted as average, found the net and did alright. Probably our best performance since St Denis in a competitive international two years ago. It's a step in the right direction but there is a lot more to do. Do not kid yourselves that it is the polished article.

DmanDmythDledge

12/10/2006, 10:56 PM

Henderson had a good game, did well when called upon. Bit dodgy for the goal, couldn't really tell from where I was but I thought his positioning could have let him down.

Kelly had a great game a LB, won loads of tackles and looks like he could do a job there in future.

McShane was immense. He gave a good post match interview too. Future captain imo.

O'Shea had a much improved performance but he needs to stop trying these long passes. I only remember one finding the man.

Carsley was exactly what we have been lacking in the past few games. Broke up a few of the Czech's attacks and tidied things up when needed. Douglas did well alongside him, but I think he's only a squad player for the time being. Don't remember seing too much of Kilbane for some reason.

Andy Reid had a good enough game, seemed to be lacking match practice though. Duff did well when he got on the ball, caused the Czech full backs problems when he got to the end line.

Also Stan should stop persisiting with Alan O'Brien.

eirebhoy

13/10/2006, 12:14 AM

The difference in class between the two sides meant that the Czechs didn't have to go at full pelt to get something. There was no urgency in their play, everything forward was laboured. They could win comfortably if they went for us, but they never really did. A draw wouldn't be too bad for them, as long as they didn't get beaten. The reason why they didn't was because they thought they could get through Ireland if they actually went for us.
I don't understand this at all? "They thought they could get through Ireland if they went for us"? Does that mean they thought they would have beaten us if they attacked? If so, why didn't they attack more? :confused:

Germany went for Ireland and won pretty convincingly, Cyprus went for Ireland and got five, the Czechs played poorly, looked for a point and got it comfortably enough.
I don't know about that. It was far from a comfortable performance by the Czechs. They could have easily conceded more than the one.

The Czechs played like any away team does in Lansdowne unless they've nothing to lose (ie. They're losing). Maybe they gave us too much respect considering we had 14 players out of the original squad but it was far from a comfortable Italian style defensive performance. As someone already said, the Czechs got their 1st booking of the campaign last night... plus another 4. 5 players booked and they had a comfortable night?

Off topic but Steven Reid seems good at the fantasy football:
http://en.euro2008fantasy.uefa.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=3805&event=4

336th out of over 38,000...

eirebhoy

13/10/2006, 12:21 AM

keenanboy

13/10/2006, 7:41 AM

andy o'brien....
if your reading this...
I, and every other true Irish fan is 100% behind you. You are living out our dream by playing for our country. Everyone makes mistakes, yours is a job like any other, you can't get everything perfect. I've watched you over the years since you were a centre-back at Bradford. you have masses of ability that i believe this country will thrive on for the next 7 years. Those who doubt you now, ignore them, because one good performance later and you will be the best centre back in the world. Just keep your chin up, keep training hard, and the good form will come again, and I for one, am looking forward to seeing you turn it on for Ireland, and watch these doubter's come crawling one by one.

Just noticed that you posted this at 1.41am? You wouldn't happen to have been completely sauced when you wrote it were you? Cos a sober man couldn't pen such rubbish :)

youngirish

13/10/2006, 8:58 AM

BTW - My brother pointed it out to me earlier but I didn't realise it at the time. O'Shea gave away a freekick just inside the Czech half. He got the ball, gave it to them and strolled back into position. By the time he was strolling back the Czechs caught us on the break and scored. If he didn't go out of his way to get the ball for the Czechs he and most of the team would have been in much better positions to prevent the goal. Alex McCleish mentioned this on Sky Sports too.

O'Shea is an absolute donkey. I mentioned earlier he was at fault for the goal because he was strolling back and out of position and the 'black is white' brigade pulled me up over it.

GET RID OF O'SHEA Staunton you dips**t and I might give you the time of day.

keenanboy

13/10/2006, 9:17 AM

O'Shea is an absolute donkey. I mentioned earlier he was at fault for the goal because he was strolling back and out of position and the 'black is white' brigade pulled me up over it.

GET RID OF O'SHEA Staunton you dips**t and I might give you the time of day.

In fairness to O'Shea he had a good game and as stated dozens of times by many posters on here, he needs to leave Man Utd and nail down a regular position at another club. The Man Utd experience has not helped him to develop as a player, he's pulled all over the place...a jack of all trades, master of none. Under say the likes of Martin O'Neill at a club like Villa I think he could do very well.

Stuttgart88

13/10/2006, 10:22 AM

Only back from Dublin this morning & don't really know where to start offering comments on the match & it's implications.

What the Czech match told us is that regradless of who we have available, playing a balanced shape with no lightweights in the crucial positions is all it takes to make us competitive. Sure we may lose, draw or win but as long as we can compete and give ourselves a chance that's all I want for now. This is the first time since Staunton picked a team that midfield looked balanced and purposeful. Carsley is the obvious explanation.

Jonathon Douglas exemplifies what we miss at times. Mobility, bite & aggression. Sure, it'd be nice if you could add real talent to that but beggars can't be choosers. Douglas is taller than he looks on TV too. I'm beginning to think that the likes of Miller really don't have anything whatsoever to offer at this level. Stephen Ireland too but he's got time on his side.

The Czech team from 1-11 would have given the Munster line out a tough time. Almost every team that was competitive in WC06 was the same and I saw Croatia against England and they were all huge too.

Andy Reid is a bit different. He's no pushover and I think if he had been properly match fit & had his shooting boots on we could have seen an outstanding performance from him. What he did show was very promising in my opinion.

Reid was very close to me at times. Despite what it looked like to some, I really don't think he's carrying weight. He's simply just bulked up a lot. His chest is now huge (a lot of bench pressing I'd guess) but he isn't carrying weight around his middle. Not match sharp, but not overly unfit either.

All's not rosy in the garden again by any means but Wednesday is something we can build on. To win our remaining home games and at least one proper away victory will be a very acceptable outcome from this position. 3rd place is definitely up for grabs. Second is fanciful. If we can go into the next campaign with a winning habit, especially away from home, I suppose it's as much as we can ask for and to be honest, it's the very least we should be aiming for too.

geysir

13/10/2006, 10:34 AM

geysir

13/10/2006, 10:42 AM

Reid was very close to me at times. Despite what it looked like to some, I really don't think he's carrying weight. He's simply just bulked up a lot. His chest is now huge (a lot of bench pressing I'd guess) but he isn't carrying weight around his middle. Not match sharp, but not overly unfit either.
Did you get any photos of Andy to update on Eirebhoy's one?

Stuttgart88

13/10/2006, 10:52 AM

No.

But I did meet Ray Houghton again and we had a bit of a yap. I think we're officially mates now. I had YBIG 6 with me (Ray Houghton Way special edition) but didn't have a pen for him to sign it. Then again I'm 39 and I haven't asked anyone for an autograph since I met Michael Stipe in 1988.

End of name dropping.

Stuttgart88

13/10/2006, 10:58 AM

Emmet

13/10/2006, 11:50 AM

With regard to O'Shea I thought that his overall performance was a lot better than what we've come to expect from him but he is responsible for the goal - he conceded a soft freekick and then ran after the ball (away from our goal). One of the Czech players got to it first and gave it to his mate who took it quickly. By this stage JoS was way out of position and had his back to play and was unable to offer McShane any cover. It was a great strike by Koller though - he took it very well.

NeilMcD

13/10/2006, 11:58 AM

Fair play Emmet, best description of the goal and O Shea's involment in the game and the goal as a whole. I thought it was one of his best games for ireland. I knwo thats not a very high level but I liked the way he was talking and organising the defence something I could see from the South Terrace in teh 1st half.

eirebhoy

13/10/2006, 12:11 PM

The O'Shea lapse has been mentioned in detail on this thread already a dozen times.
In particular the sky sports replay of the incident is cruel. With his back to the ball as the free kick was being quickly prepared he is clearly seen looking in a contemplative mood accross to the East Stand.
Still, it was class strike by Koller.
Yeah, I seen a few posts mentioning the fact that he was trotting back to position for the goal but it was the fact that he went out of his way to get the ball for the Czechs that bugged me. Most players would run a few yards with the ball and throw it back or at least make it hard for the player to take a simple freekick. He helped the Czechs so much by handing them the freekick straight away and not even looking until the ball passed him by.

drinkfeckarse

13/10/2006, 2:22 PM

Just a comment on the technique on display, our vs theirs.

Our first touch, almost every player was inferior. I loved the way they played simple wall passes to each other when put under pressure, and the angles they found with their first time passes are something that we just don't see in Irish & British football. It's not just quality sides like the Czechs too, even the second & third tier central & eastern European countries seem to have it.

Worth our coaches studying.

I've mentioned this point before but it's not as simple as our coaches studing it as you probably know. This needs to go to grassroots level and our standard of coaching. Its a huge long term project.

To simplify, at the moment a lot of our coaching at a young level is on positioning and fitness. That's a big problem because these are things that can be taught as a player progresses. We should concentrate more on the simple techniques of the game. You teach that at a young age and it's always with you. Fitness comes and goes.

Too often I see coaches giving their players 10 minutes of passing to each other and thinking that it is significantly improving their technique. Until we recognise that and do something about it then the divide between the Continentals technique and our own will widen.

Sideline

13/10/2006, 3:11 PM

At the game Wednesday
Henderson, ok not a lot to do.

Finnan ,steady but could have attacked more down the flank.

Kelly, we are still searching for a left back. Kelly has no left foot and looked uncomfortable on it prefering to put the ball out of play.Made good decisions.

O Shea, im not a fan because of his distribution, but this was his best game for a long time.

McShane, excellent though a bit more experience might have seen him do better for the goal.Judge him after a half a dozen games we have seen many players rise for their debut.

Kilbane, worked hard finished well from a player who has not been known for his accuracy in a green jersey.

Reid, Im a fan If only he could be a bit more mobile oozes style,never going to last 90 mins though.

Carsley, Set the tempo from the start looks like the best we have for that position.Seized the oppertunity to make an impression.

Douglas,OK but cant see him holding his place should have placed his shot better good save from cech.

Duff. Other teams clued into him now but still causes problems by dragging defences apart.

Keane. I think you have to be at a match to realise how hard he works. covered a lot of ground and was not the only one who missed a chance.

We DEfinitly had the winning of this one we have a mountain to climb now.
I dont see much sense in sacking anyone but need to get another mentor in instead of Robson although how Staunton will react to that is another story.

Stuttgart88

13/10/2006, 3:24 PM

I'm more in agreement with Neil: back him or sack him, but no more consultants.

James Lawson has a piece in today's Independent (UK) berating the decision to (a) appoint McClaren and (b) undermine him by appointing Venables to hold his hand.

Donal81

13/10/2006, 4:53 PM

Keane. I think you have to be at a match to realise how hard he works. covered a lot of ground and was not the only one who missed a chance.

I concede that I was several thousand miles away from Lansdowne Road and can't judge Keane fairly as a result. But what I saw on the big screen didn't seem that much different from all the other times I've seen him in the flesh. A lot of running, sure, but what good is that when he never seems to get the ball and actually do something with it? And when he does get it, he frequently loses it and begins complaining. He held it up well and, as I've already posted, is at his most dangerous when he's playing off another striker. The lone striker role will always see him struggle. But, again, one chance from the entire game isn't good enough for a top striker.

geysir

13/10/2006, 7:20 PM

Donal, I think you mentioned this about Keane before. If you have another look at the game you will see that at least in the first half Keane ran his socks off, not aimlessly but in closing down. On about 10 occasions he succeded in causing the regaining of possesion.
He didn't get a lot of the ball but when he did he used it as intelligently as was possible. Out on the left, he received the same attention that Duff did and still managed to deliver 2 excellent dangerous crosses.
It's not his game, as everyone knows, to be the lone striker.
It's unfortunate that the last impression is of that shocking miss and what a glory night it might have been.
The next one has to go in.
I thought he might have tried to get a silly booking in order to clear out his yellow card.

livehead1

14/10/2006, 12:09 AM

Just noticed that you posted this at 1.41am? You wouldn't happen to have been completely sauced when you wrote it were you? Cos a sober man couldn't pen such rubbish :)

yeh i was rat-arsed

keenanboy

15/10/2006, 1:16 PM

yeh i was rat-arsed

Don't worry about it I've done it lots of times!

Donal81

15/10/2006, 4:09 PM