Starting 11 v San Marino

[Reddladd]

Right we know the squad, the game is a week away, so barring injuries who would be your preferred starting 11.

Henderson
Finnan Dunne McShane Harte
Duff Carsley Ireland Hunt
Keane Stokes


Hard to guess Stan on this one but would think he will still start O'Shea and Kilbane. I would also give Long a shot at some point and McGeady should be brought on in the second half. I think Hunt deserves his start but I reckon he will lose out to Kilbane.

[Bring Back Mick]

I think Hunt deserves his start but I reckon he will lose out to Kilbane.

Is the San Marino Keeper really that good !!! :eek:

[elroy]

Dont think you're far wrong although I dont see him starting hunt. More like McGeady and Duff on the wings with probably Carsley and Kilbane in the middle. I think he actually may drop JOSH - from his interviews Stan sounds like he is a fan of harte who is back in regular first team action unlike JOSH.

Also I wouldnt be so sure about Stokes starting.

[republicofwhite]

Long could be a more likely starter than Stokes at this stage, although I just can't really envisage a Long/Keane partnership...

[NeilMcD]

If Kilbane starts in the centre with Staunton he should resign or be sacked on the spot. The one thing for certain that seperates us from teams like San Marino is the ability to pass and move the ball. So if we play someone like Kilbane it negates that. He cant do the basics of football like trapping the ball and passing it and making space.

[bellavistaman]

henderson
finnan o'shea dunne harte
duff ireland carsley hunt
keane stokes
is what i'd love to see, i think ireland should play instead of kilbane we need a good passer in the middle and let carsley break everything up.

[tetsujin1979]

what i'd pick:
.............Henderson
..McShane..Dunne..O'Shea
...............Carsley
McGeady..Ireland..Douglas..Duff
...........Keane..Stokes
Carsley to protect the back 3 and spray the ball out to the more creative players in front of him - it's what he does at Everton FFS!
Let the midfield pass the opposition off the park, Keane and Stokes to get on the score sheet within the first 20 minutes

What I'd imagine Stan will pick:
.............Henderson
Finnan..McShane..Dunne..Harte
McGeady..Carsley..O'Shea/Ireland..Duff
...........Keane..Stokes

Hunt to come on for Duff
Keogh to come on for Stokes
1 other from S.Quinn and Shane Long to get a run out

[kingdom hoop]

love that team tets, except i'd have hunt in from the start instead of douglas. i cant wait to see hunt play for us, i'd say the exuberance will be unreal. the only problem is that our defence needs time to play together so you think we'll stick with that formation v wales?

[dr_peepee]

Ireland and Carsley would do well against SM but would be over run against most of the average to good teams...

Has hunt ever played centre midfield?? Might be a more leggy agressive alternative to Douglas in the middle alright. But Hunt is no better than Kilbane though from what I've seen. He's a hard worker and a spoiler against better teams but that's about it.

[paul_oshea]

Has hunt ever played centre midfield?? Might be a more leggy agressive alternative to Douglas in the middle alright. But Hunt is no better than Kilbane though from what I've seen. He's a hard worker and a spoiler against better teams but that's about it.

I reckon hunts over-exuberance could cost us yet!!

[Bring Back Mick]

I reckon hunts over-exuberance could cost us yet!!

How True......... Don't think the European refs would be as leniant as the premiership refs if he leaves his trailing knee embedded in the opposition goalkeeper's head :D

[NeilMcD]

Its amazing how Mourinhios spin has managed to influence Irish footballs fans view of hunt.

[Collyontour]

I'd play Hunt at left back and have McGeady on the wing

[Bring Back Mick]

Its amazing how Mourinhios spin has managed to influence Irish footballs fans view of hunt.


And how may Jose have influenced my view ???:cool:

[NeilMcD]

I dont know. How has Mourinhios view influenced your view.

[SeanieBoy]

My best team for the SM game is:

GK:Henderson
LB:Harte
CB:Dunne
CB:McShane
RB:Finnan

LM:Duffer
CM:Carsley
CM:Hunt (not sure if he plays central or not)
RM:McGeady

ST:Keane
ST:Stokes

[NeilMcD]

Surely Ireland who is playing the form of his career deserves a start ahead of Hunt who people dont know if he has even played central midfield before. Ireland is a top class passer of the ball and has been playing very well for City of late in the attacking midfield position.

[Wolfie]

Surely Ireland who is playing the form of his career deserves a start ahead of Hunt who people dont know if he has even played central midfield before. Ireland is a top class passer of the ball and has been playing very well for City of late in the attacking midfield position.

Ireland alongside Carsley would have a bit of balance about it, sure enough.

[ChrisRed]

Ireland should get the nod but i'd imagine Stan will pick O'Shea in the centre of midfield to add some hight to a quite short midfield and attack. Think McGeady should get a chance on the right wing. How likely is Stan to play Finnan on the right wing and Carr at right back tho?

[kingdom hoop]

Ireland is a top class passer of the ball and has been playing very well for City of late in the attacking midfield position.

agree, but both carsley and ireland(and a.reid too) play in 3 man midfields at their clubs with such a system seeming to suit them. hunt's attributes are adaptable to different positions - the complete player! the worry would be whether his football brain can also adapt. for reading he seems to pop up all over the pitch, is prone to rashness(random lumping of ball) but also shows a lot more finesse than kilbane at other times. the fact that posters here arent aware of his versatility should not stop him being picked in front of ireland. anyway IMO the dynamic of ireland/hunt/carsley would work well, with hunt linking up with duff on the left, ireland and stokes/keane on the right....a flexible 433 formation

[dr_peepee]

Ireland alongside Carsley would have a bit of balance about it, sure enough.


Wouldn't really! Neither of them cover enough ground efficiently enough to be an independant central midfielder. Carsley's defensive merits and Irelands passing/playmaking are obvious compliments but you'd need a third midfielder in there, for me anyway.

[ifk101]

Wouldn't really! Neither of them cover enough ground efficiently enough to be an independant central midfielder. Carsley's defensive merits and Irelands passing/playmaking are obvious compliments but you'd need a third midfielder in there, for me anyway.

Agree. I think Ireland looks exposed if there's not two other central midfielders around him. He'd be very useful in a 4-5-1 formation away from home but he's not yet an option for the 4-4-2 against competitive opposition.

[Paddy Garcia]

. Carsley's defensive merits and Irelands passing/playmaking are obvious compliments but you'd need a third midfielder in there, for me anyway.

Ideally a fourth &+ fifth too.

[NeilMcD]

Lads he plays every week with Joey Barton in the City Midfield in the Premiership which is a higher level than San Marino. Ireland has been better than Barton but its Barton that gets the headlines as he is English. I would have no fears of playing Carsley and Ireland in the centre against San Marino.

People in this country seem to think you need big physical lads in the midfield but the most important part of any central midfielder is an abilty to keep the ball and have good passing and good vision and control. Ireland has this abundance. Fabregas is not exactly big and strong and neither was jonny giles. I would rather have a midfield with Ireland in it than either Kilbane or O Shea whos inability to keep the football and control the game loses the game for us so many times.

[gustavo]

henderson
finnan o'shea dunne harte
duff ireland carsley hunt
keane stokes
is what i'd love to see, i think ireland should play instead of kilbane we need a good passer in the middle and let carsley break everything up.

Call me old fashioned but I wouldnt move our best left winger to right wing just to accomodate a left winger who has never played for us before.

[kingdom hoop]

Lads he plays every week with Joey Barton in the City Midfield in the Premiership which is a higher level than San Marino. Ireland has been better than Barton but its Barton that gets the headlines as he is English. I would have no fears of playing Carsley and Ireland in the centre against San Marino.



you're right he plays with barton, but he also plays with dabo, who would be more in the carsley role. hunt would be the barton if we continue the analogy.

ireland, on form, is our best midfielder and deserves to start. but its worth remembering that kilbane/ireland was the worst CM i've ever seen for us. there's no doubt carsley and ireland would work against SM but with that logic you could argue that we play 2-3-5. v wales we cant play carsley ireland(a.reid) and mcgeady/duff. so we need to do something different i feel. thats why i proposed a 433 earlier, i'm not convinced but given the players available i think it would be a good idea

[NeilMcD]

Kilbane and Ireland will not work against anyone but Ireland and Carsley will work against San marino. That is due to the fact that Kilbane cannot play central midfield and he got away with it for one or 2 games as he had roy keane beside him. He has no idea how to move for a pass or how to pick a pass and to control the speed of the game the way Keane could or to a lesser extent the likes of Carsley and Kinsella and Matt Holland could. Not saying any of these are top players but they know the role of a central midfielder and Kilbane does not.

I think from talking to people it seems that people who like GAA like players like Kilbane.

[kingdom hoop]

Kilbane and Ireland will not work against anyone but Ireland and Carsley will work against San marino. That is due to the fact that Kilbane cannot play central midfield and he got away with it for one or 2 games as he had roy keane beside him. He has no idea how to move for a pass or how to pick a pass and to control the speed of the game the way Keane could or to a lesser extent the likes of Carsley and Kinsella and Matt Holland could. Not saying any of these are top players but they know the role of a central midfielder and Kilbane does not.

I think from talking to people it seems that people who like GAA like players like Kilbane.

do you think ireland would be fine in a 4 man midfield with two wingers against wales/slovakia?

second paragraph :) , i'd say he'd make a fine gaelic player, great athlete, engine, no skill, and he can sing amhrán na bhfiann!

[Kingdom]

well summarised Neil. I think the problem with KK is that there are two ways of looking at him. One is that people appreciate the effort that he puts in despite being of limited ability and would like to see him incorporated into the team in some position :D
The second is that people can't stand him.

I'm fond of him, and would like to see him tried as an auxilary left back, on a trial say. The one thing I worry about this team is the size. There is no denying that we have a small team. If most people were to list their ideal XI, the majority would have maybe 2 players 6 foot plus (Dunne + McShane). Now while this isn't a problem against San Marino or Cyprus, it would be a problem against the likes of Germany and the Czechs who have big physical teams.

[eirebhoy]

Even someone like Frank Lampard never plays in the centre of a 4-4-2 at Chelsea because he's an attacking midfielder. A defensive/holding midfielder partnering a box to box player is what any manager would play in a 4-4-2. Ireland isn't a box to box player (from what I've seen).

Kilbane was ok in midfield when he played with Keane and Kavanagh but Stan played him in a defensive role in Cyprus. Kilbane has no positional sense or football brain at all so you don't give him the most important role in the team. We lost possession and there was no midfield. Every single time we lost possession I feared Cyprus would score. I don't think I'll ever see another Ireland manager make as big a mistake in my lifetime tbh. :)

I agree that Ireland-Carsley would work against San Marino but I wouldn't risk it against a decent team. Ireland hasn't proven himself as a central midfielder at all yet.

[Paddy Garcia]

McGeady is out & who has he called up - Alan O’ Brien. Unbelievable.

[Stuttgart88]

I've long felt that to incorporate Stephen Ireland into the team he must be partnered by Steven Reid, the only midfielder we have that has the stamina, strength & comfort in the middle of the pitch that the vastly underrated Joey Barton has. Yes, Barton's a horrible character but he's a fine footballer.

Alas, Reid's latest injury leaves me feeling that waiting for him to fulfil his potential will be like waiting fot Godot.

Alternatively, we have a wealth of players who'd add value between a 3 man midfield and the front two.

Ireland, Andy Reid, Robbie, McGeady, McPhail and others could excel in an advanced playmaker role but that'd by necessity require us to give up our traditional width. We can't, for the time being at least, continue to build our team around Duff and you could argue that with Finnan at RB and KK at LB you'd still have that width. A 3 man midfield of Carsley centre, Hunt and maybe Douglas would be solid and have a lot of bite.

That said, I think that it's great that Irealnd is playing well at City but he still needs time to mature if he's to be a regular international footballer against better quality teams. Andy Reid remains our best creative central midfielder and I'd play he & Carsley, Hunt left, Duff right if all were fit.

Hunt and S. Quinn's performance in last 8 weeks have been among many small positives as an Irish footballer watcher recently. Kilbane's slipping towatrds his natural level, i.e., better end of the Championship, has been one of the negatives.

Miller's ommission from the squad is a big step forward for us.

[NeilMcD]

As this is teh thread for the starting 11 versus San Marino I have put what I think should be the 11 for that game. When the Wales game and the Slovakia game comes around I will put what I think should be the starting 11 for both those games. At the moment Ireland deserves to play in the centre for ireland with Carsley versus San Marion. He is the best fit player we have at the moment to open a team up with a pass

[Irish_Praha]

Kilbane and Ireland will not work against anyone but Ireland and Carsley will work against San marino. That is due to the fact that Kilbane cannot play central midfield and he got away with it for one or 2 games as he had roy keane beside him. He has no idea how to move for a pass or how to pick a pass and to control the speed of the game the way Keane could or to a lesser extent the likes of Carsley and Kinsella and Matt Holland could. Not saying any of these are top players but they know the role of a central midfielder and Kilbane does not.

I think from talking to people it seems that people who like GAA like players like Kilbane.

We forgot to wish KK a happy 30th on Wednesday :)

[NeilMcD]

well summarised Neil. I think the problem with KK is that there are two ways of looking at him. One is that people appreciate the effort that he puts in despite being of limited ability and would like to see him incorporated into the team in some position :D
The second is that people can't stand him.

I'm fond of him, and would like to see him tried as an auxilary left back, on a trial say. The one thing I worry about this team is the size. There is no denying that we have a small team. If most people were to list their ideal XI, the majority would have maybe 2 players 6 foot plus (Dunne + McShane). Now while this isn't a problem against San Marino or Cyprus, it would be a problem against the likes of Germany and the Czechs who have big physical teams.

I like Kilbane as a guy and I think he is a credit to the shirt etc. But he should only ever be consider in either left back or maybe at a push left side of midfield if we are stuck. Never in the middle.

[republicofwhite]

I actually CANNOT believe Alan O'Brien has been called up for McGeady... The recurring joke has become all too real... And If he gets a game ahead of someone like Hunt...

[tetsujin1979]

Stan's replaced a winger in McGeady, with another winger in Alan O'Brien. O'Brien's been getting a few games in recent weeks for Newcastle (although he hasn't really impressed). It's like for like, I've no problem with O'Brien's call up. There's no real obvious name to replace McGeady besides O'Brien.
On the other hand if he starts.....

[DmanDmythDledge]

Henderson

Finnan McShane Dunne Harte

McGeady Ireland Carsley Duff

Keane Stokes

[FarBeag]

I suppose McGeady would be good enough even though he is injured:)

[NeilMcD]

I would play Hunt now that we dont have Mc Geady

[DmanDmythDledge]

I suppose McGeady would be good enough even though he is injured:)
Stephen Quinn then!

[FarBeag]

Is it my imagination or is Damian Duff getting worse with every game? I know that he has problems with various injuries but he is nowhere near that player that terrorized defenses week in week out. For some reason I am not feeling anyway optimistic for him to return to his best in the near future anyway.

On a positive note Steven Hunt (particularly) Steven Ireland and Derek Geary continues to progress and maintain consistency. All three had excellent games yesterday as did Shane Long despite not getting on the score sheet. Steven Quinn was reasonable but was the cause of Blackburn’s second goal as he let a player pass him with relative ease to cross the ball. Steven Carr was horrendous and Steven Finnan made an awful back pass to let in Johnson who nearly scored.

I see that Darryl Murphy started before Anthony Stokes who came on in the 60th Minute but is still firing blanks.Dont knows where Connolly or Elliot were?

Hopefully Keane hits the net to-day as we would at least have one player with his scoring boots on at the moment. Well it’s only San Marino after all.:)


My Starting 11 with the present squad would be.

Henderson

Finnan McShane Dunne Harte

Hunt Ireland Carsley Duff

Keane Stokes/Long

[tetsujin1979]

I see that Darryl Murphy started before Anthony Stokes who came on in the 60th Minute but is still firing blanks.Dont knows where Connolly or Elliot were?
Stokes is just coming back from an injury and isn't 100% yet.
Connolly picked up a knock last week and will be out for a week or so. Dunno about Elliott though.

[FarBeag]

I see Mr. Versatile himself J O' Shea played the last ten minutes in goal for Man U after Van De Sar getting injured.Pulled off a nice save on a 1v1 from Keane.

[Fubar]

john o shea in goal? :D

[liaml]

Please God Stan no.

-liam

[carloz]

Well i hope to god we dont pick the team that Cathal Dervan picked in the Star yesterday. This seems very much back to the old days and is a slight insult to Stokes and Long.

Henderson
Carr Dunne McShane Harte

Finnan O'Shea Carsley Kilbane

Keane Duff



there are so many things wrong with that team. Carr was dreadful against a poor Fulhma team last weekend. Finnan again out of position. O'Shea playing. Kilbane for me should not be in the squad. the wigan fans have turned on him and he was dropped at weekend. And Duff up forward:mad:

[NeilMcD]

Jesus that just confirms to me that Cathal Dervan knows nothing about football.

[shakermaker1982]

I concur. Keep Kilbane and O'Shea on the bench.

Henderson

Finnan Dunne McShane Harte

Hunt Carlsey Ireland Duff

Keane Long

[Paddy Garcia]

I agree that team Dervan picked is looking back to the old days. Also very conservative given the opposition.