Ireland v Slovakia - Pre Match thread

[Ordinary Fan]

Stans Team
Given
Finnan McShane Dunne O'Shea
Duff Carsley Kilbane Hunt
Ireland
Doyle

Finnan puts in a load of great crosses for Liverpool from the right and zero crosses for Ireland on the left!
Doyle or stokes will start up fromnt on their own and one will replace the other.

Given will have to play the game of his lfe if we are to survive.
IMO Ireland (S) is over-rated and played c*** on Saturday but the goal changes everything. If he scores the only goal on Wednesday then that is enough 4 me.

If we perform like we did against Wales we will loose heavely

[Torn-Ado]

We badly need a targetman up front.

Most of the balls being played into the strikers on staurday were skyscrapers. Two midgets up frontand landing in high balls. Classy stuff.

We also badly need a decent central midfielder. Douglas is cack, Ireland is ok but too light and Carsley is too negative. I'm not a fan of non Irish players playing for us but I would take Kevin Nolan in a heartbeat.

[gustavo]

Slovaks are very long odds at 3/1 to win this game , I would have had them as slight favourites.

[tetsujin1979]

Hard to say who's the favorites, I'd give Slovakia a slight edge
We beat Wales 1-0 at home, they beat Wales 5-1 away.
We lost to Cyprus 5-2, they beat Cyprus 6-1 at home and 3-1 away (albeit Cyprus were down to 10 men, and leading 1-0 at half time)

On the other hand, we had a good showing in a 1-0 loss against Germany away, Slovakia lost 4-1
Also, we drew 1-1 at home to the Czechs, Slovakia lost 3-0

We're missing Robbie Keane, and possibly Stephen Ireland and Shay given
They're missing Jan Durica (played every minute of their campaign so far) and Matej Krajcik (played every game so far)

[Galwayutdcelt]

looking forward to giving him a cead mile failte

[gufct]

No which is great news for everyone who gets embarrased by the booing of Rangers or ex Rangers players by the small minded hooped fraternity. Bit like the booing of giggs on Saturday.

[Sumac]

Can you please delete this thread. This is an Ireland forum, not a forum for British clubs. True Irish supporters do not boo a player merely because of where he happens to earn his living.:mad:

[NeilMcD]

Hard to say who's the favorites, I'd give Slovakia a slight edge
We beat Wales 1-0 at home, they beat Wales 5-1 away.
We lost to Cyprus 5-2, they beat Cyprus 6-1 at home and 3-1 away (albeit Cyprus were down to 10 men, and leading 1-0 at half time)

On the other hand, we had a good showing in a 1-0 loss against Germany away, Slovakia lost 4-1
Also, we drew 1-1 at home to the Czechs, Slovakia lost 3-0

We're missing Robbie Keane, and possibly Stephen Ireland and Shay given
They're missing Jan Durica (played every minute of their campaign so far) and Matej Krajcik (played every game so far)

They are missing their best player in Mintal too. Ireland and Given will make it I think.

[tetsujin1979]

No which is great news for everyone who gets embarrased by the booing of Rangers or ex Rangers players by the small minded hooped fraternity. Bit like the booing of giggs on Saturday.
giggs was cheered by a bunch of people sitting near me.
dunno which is worse to be honest

[finnpark]

My team would be:


-------------------------- Given --------------------

Finnan ------- Dunne -------- ? ----------- O'Shea


McGeady ----------- Carsley -------------------Duff

----------------------- Ireland--------------------------

------------------------ Hunt (Capt) -------------------

------------------------ Doyle -------------------------



Staunton will probably play Shay Given down the right and have Richard Dunne down the left wing with Finnan up front along side Wayne Henderson.

[NeilMcD]

Mc Shane has not had a bad game for us, why leave him out instead of a question mark.

[gufct]

Given
Finnan
McShane
Dunne
Harte
Duff
Ireland
Carsley
Kilbane/Hunt
Doyle
Stokes/Keogh

I know people slag off Harte but he is worth having on the Team for his Passing and Dead Ball situations and is far hungrier than John O'Shea who doesnt seem ars*d most of the time.

[finnpark]

Mc Shane has not had a bad game for us, why leave him out instead of a question mark.

Its a matter of opinions but in my opinion he has not had a good game for us. He got man of the match against Czech despite the fact that he combined with Henderson gifted them the goal. Against San Marino the same exact duo combined again for yet another howler and he looked far from certain against Wales. Bellamy made a joke out of him for Wales' best attempt. I think hes dour to be honest. Calamity waiting to happen (again).

[Nailer77]

Given
Finnan
McShane
Dunne
Harte
Duff
Ireland
Carsley
Kilbane/Hunt
Doyle
Stokes/Keogh

I know people slag off Harte but he is worth having on the Team for his Passing and Dead Ball situations and is far hungrier than John O'Shea who doesnt seem ars*d most of the time.


Harte hungrier??? Don't know about that. If people are describing O'Shea as lazy then Harte is comatose! I'd still rather have O'Shea.

[finnpark]

Given
Finnan
McShane
Dunne
Harte
Duff
Ireland
Carsley
Kilbane/Hunt
Doyle
Stokes/Keogh

I know people slag off Harte but he is worth having on the Team for his Passing and Dead Ball situations and is far hungrier than John O'Shea who doesnt seem ars*d most of the time.

How you rate Kilbane on a par with Hunt is behond me. Hunt will probably get player of the season at Reading. Kilbane will probably get a P45 from Wigan.

Keogh is not good enough to be in the panel. McShane is also a pile of sh***.

Ireland's 3 best outfield players are Hunt, Doyle and McGeady and none of the 3 of them were playing last Saturday.

[TheBoss]

They are missing their best player in Mintal too. Ireland and Given will make it I think.

Mintal is a good player but I think that Karhan is more influential for them, Vittek is also a solid player, can not afford to give him a chance, cause he will take it.

[TheBoss]

How you rate Kilbane on a par with Hunt is behond me. Hunt will probably get player of the season at Reading. Kilbane will probably get a P45 from Wigan.

Keogh is not good enough to be in the panel. McShane is also a pile of sh***.

Ireland's 3 best outfield players are Hunt, Doyle and McGeady and none of the 3 of them were playing last Saturday.

How about Liam Miller ;)

[finnpark]

How about Liam Miller ;)

Sorry hes from Cork. Lets not speak of him again.

[NeilMcD]

Its a matter of opinions but in my opinion he has not had a good game for us. He got man of the match against Czech despite the fact that he combined with Henderson gifted them the goal. Against San Marino the same exact duo combined again for yet another howler and he looked far from certain against Wales. Bellamy made a joke out of him for Wales' best attempt. I think hes dour to be honest. Calamity waiting to happen (again).

The goal was John O Sheas fault not Mc Shanes. O Shea has never had a man of the match performance, deserved or not deserved yet you have him in your team. The goal against San marino was as much Dunnes fault as it was Mc Shanes but the one at fault was the keeper. Against the Czechs and the Welsh , Ms Shane showed good reading of the game and an agression and leadership that has been lacking since Keane retired. Bellamy is a very pacy player and only got into that position cause Dunne made the mistake but you blame Mc Shane for it.

[gally]

Given
O'Shea
McShane
Dunne
Finnan
Duff
Carsley
Kilbane
Hunt
Ireland
Doyle

4.4.1.1.

[eirebhoy]

finnpark - what would a top class defender have done that McShane failed to do against Koller for the goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxNGjKMiPVo)? I don't know how anyone that knows the game of football could critisise McShane for that. McShane has a superb football brain and leadership skills. I think he's an excellent young player. His passing is dodgy but it's not exactly necessary for a centre half.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Given and Ireland set to play- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6493225.stm

Given

Finnan Dunne McShane O'Shea

Duff Ireland Carsley Hunt

Doyle Stokes

We have to play 4-4-2- we don't have anyone suitable to play the lone striker role, except perhaps Keogh but it would be too much of a risk IMO to play him just to accomodate 4-5-1.

Stokes has to start-there is no other option in the squad. If he plays I think he will have a good game.

[gustavo]

If Stan didnt play 4-4-2 against Wales i cant see him changing it for Slovakia.

[Scram]

If Stan didnt play 4-4-2 against Wales i cant see him changing it for Slovakia.

He did!
Duff and Keane started upfront

Cn't see him not playing 4-4-2 It's what the Irish do.

[NeilMcD]

He changed to 4 5 1 though after about 20 mins. Our best performances have come with a 4 5 1, Sweden and the Czech Rep. While we were not great on Saturday we were never opened up so I think that a 4 5 1 is not a bady way to combat our poor central midfield. Power in numbers in the centre. But this only works if we have players who can pass like Ireland or an Andy Reid. Also Kilbane Douglas and Carsley is far too negative and lacking in imagination. 1 or 2 out of these 3 is enough.

[RogerMilla]

i agree 100% if we let ireland do his thing in the middle then the two lads have to be there , carsley and douglas. 4-5-1 with doyle up front is a good option

[DmanDmythDledge]

I don't think Doyle upfront on his own is an option giving his lack of match fitness. Ideally he would only be a sub IMO even if we had two strikers, but the poor squad selection means that he has to start with a partner upfront.

[Ceirtlis]

Strangly enough id say 4 5 1 will work alot better against this sort of opposition than it did against Wales. Not saying it is better but it might not be such a disaster if Slovakia are good technically and a swift counter attacking team. There record points to them being poor at the back. They dont seem to be able to handle against the big boys getting trashed by the Czechs, Germany and Spain but have a good recent record against the lesser teams. Which are we? **** nows the way things are going these days but i think this crowd are there for the taking.

[cheifo]

Apart from Highlights I have never seen Slovakia play and dont have a clue what to expect.They're mixed results seem to suggest they are a confidence team.Maybe if we get about them early we could put them on the rack.Then again I could be fooling myself and we could get whacked.

[Noelys Guitar]

4-5-1 it will be with Doyle up front on his own. If Doyles not fully fit then don't be surprised to see Stokes up front on his own. It will be the same midfield and backline as started against Wales. Night games are always better and I expect us to put Slovakia under the cosh no matter who is playing. A win here and then everything has changed in this group for us. I have a feeling this will be a much quicker(tempo) game than Saturdays. A half decent performance and a win and everything will change.

[YellowbellyRed]

Please no more mexican waves, if the crowd are that bored they should sing something that tells the manager to change things. Mexican waves are just wrong, wrong wrong. There doesnt seem to be any meaningful singing at Ireland games, surely the welsh could have been slagged off re sheep, or being quasi english or something. No offence to them or anything as I've lots of Welsh friends and drank with a few of them after the game, but its football not flipping hockey we were watching on Saturday!

[Scram]

Please no more mexican waves, if the crowd are that bored they should sing something that tells the manager to change things. Mexican waves are just wrong, wrong wrong. There doesnt seem to be any meaningful singing at Ireland games, surely the welsh could have been slagged off re sheep, or being quasi english or something. No offence to them or anything as I've lots of Welsh friends and drank with a few of them after the game, but its football not flipping hockey we were watching on Saturday!

Agree absolutely! waves only if 3-0 up with 1 minute to go...so no waves.

Tried to start the baaah chants going but everyone looked at me like I was mad :eek:

Sing you schwine....it's not a fcukin library

[paul_oshea]

scram i know that feeling. felt the exact same way on saturday!! :(

[Noelys Guitar]

It creates the wrong atmosphere during a game. It certainly did'nt help us on Saturday.

[NeilMcD]

Who starts these things in the first place. I hate the Mexican Wave.

[Stuttgart88]

Me too, refused fully to participate. But I don't agree with slagging the opposition off either. Leave that to following your club team if you want.

[Dublin12]

I hope the pitch is in the same state as it was last Saturday that way the Slovaks wont be able to zip it around but theres no point thinking like that really,thats only a false dawn.I think we'll get a draw and some will be happy with that,I won't. I'm glad Keane is out,overall he's been useless this campaign,hopefully Stokes will play some part and Hunt too,young players with spirit and fight.

[elroy]

If the FAI all gave us ticket and gave us a foot.ie section in the stadium the place would be rocking, and there would be no mexican waves when we're only one goal up!! Whats the chances of that happening i wonder. :rolleyes:

Judging by the amount of long balls that we played on sat that only Kilbane ever really contested maybe starting Stokes could be an option for his size but i do agree that 4-5-1 could be what stan opts for on wed.

[Dublin12]

But I don't agree with slagging the opposition off either. Leave that to following your club team if you want.
__________________


:eek: What,surely thats part of football,especially when you're playing at home,make it as intimidating for the opposition as possible in my book.It works in place like Turkey,Greece,Portugal etc,we could do with some of that at Croke Park big time.Are you just taliking about the opposition not taking part in the Mexican wave or in general?

[OwlsFan]

What's with the support for 4-5-1? I hate that formation and it doesn't suit our game. In the words of Big Jack, we have got to put them under pressure and play a high tempo game. 4-5-1 allows them to slow the game down and pass the ball around the back 4 and when we do get the ball back, we soon lose it because there is no one up front to hold it. At the moment we don't have the players to play through midfield so swamping that area won't make it any better.

Give me 4-4-2 anyday, especially for a home game we have to win.

[tetsujin1979]

one of the posters on chatsoccer.eu is Slovakian, and posted their results since 2004
You can see the original thread here: http://www.chatsoccer.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

I went through the results, and it's pretty grim reading. Slovakia are very consistent, beating teams ranked below them, and usually not losing to teams above them. They've only lost 4 games since 2004, and all to teams in the top 10 in the world, and beat Germany at home before the World Cup, and France away. On the other hand, apart from France, the next highest ranked side they've beaten away from home in recent years is Hungary, in 64th


Slovakia international matches since 18.08.2004 :

30 international matches: 15 wins, 11 ties, 4 losses, score 50:33

Wins:

24.03.2007.........Cyprus - Slovakia 1-3
10.12.2006............UAE - Slovakia 1-2
15.11.2006.......Slovakia - Bulgaria 3-1
07.10.2006..........Wales - Slovakia 1-5
02.09.2006.......Slovakia - Cyprus 6-1
15.08.2006.......Slovakia - Malta 3-0
01.03.2006.........France - Slovakia 1-2
08.10.2005.......Slovakia - Estonia 1-0
03.09.2005.......Slovakia - Germany 2-0
08.06.2005.....Luxembourg - Slovakia 0-4
26.03.2005........Estonia - Slovakia 1-2
30.11.2004........Hungary - Slovakia 0-1
09.10.2004.......Slovakia - Latvia 4-1
08.09.2004.......Slovakia - Lichtenstein 7:0
18.08.2004.......Slovakia - Luxembourg 3:1
All fairly low ranked sides there, apart for the obvious wins over France and Germany
To score 5 in the Millenium Stadium is no mean feat
7 away wins, 8 home wins.
Quick look at the FIFA ranking shows after France and Germany, no home wins over team ranked higher than 39 (Bulgaria) and no away wins over teams ranked higher than 64 (Hungary)

Ties:

07.02.2006.........Poland - Slovakia 2-2
20.05.2006.......Slovakia - Belgium 1-1
16.11.2005.......Slovakia - Spain 1-1
12.10.2005.......Slovakia - Russia 0-0
07.09.2005.........Latvia - Slovakia 1-1
17.08.2005........... .....Lichtenstein - Slovakia 0-0
30.03.2005.......Slovakia - Portugal 1-1
09.02.2005........Romania - Slovakia 2-2
02.12.2004.......Thailand - Slovakia 1-1
17.11.2004.......Slovakia - Slovenia 0-0
04.09.2004.........Russia - Slovakia 1-1
Thailand?? Liechtenstein?
Poland, Russia away is pretty good going, always tough to get a result there.
5 home draws, 6 away draws

Losses:

11.10.2006.......Slovakia - Germany 1-4
06.09.2006.......Slovakia - Czech rep. 0-3
12.11.2005..........Spain - Slovakia 5-1
04.06.2005.......Portugal - Slovakia 2-0
2 home losses, 2 away losses, although none is anything to be ashamed of, all sides in the top 10
The 4-1 to Germany came 13 months after you beat them 2-0 at home
The 5-1 to Spain came a week before they drew 1-1 in Slovakia - was this the playoff game?

Ah, stats. Tell you all you need to know about absolutely nothing.

The most obvious one there to me is that Slovakia have not lost to a team outside the top 10 ranked sides in the World since 2004 :eek:

[ainsie]

The Republic of Ireland team will be:

Shay Given (Newcastle United); John O’Shea (Manchester United), Steve Finnan (Liverpool), Paul McShane (West Brom), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Damien Duff (Newcastle United), Lee Carsley (Everton), Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Stephen Ireland (Manchester City) and Kevin Doyle (Reading).


I'm scratching my head....:confused:

Kilbane, O shea? Duff up front (as per the radio)

Beats me

[murtybyrne]

Cant believe he has left Hunt out! But I suppose really is it any suprise he's made another stupid decision, this is Steve Staunton we're talking about!

[anto1208]

id like to see

Finnan dunne mcshane o shea
................carsley
Mcgeady ireland kilbane duff

doyle

[ainsie]

Dont think he has the guts to end Kilnabes run, what is it now 40 games??? 40 games of mis-passin, 40 games of knocking the ball too far, 40 games of SH1t.
Anyhow I just repeat what has been said before over and over again.

Given
Finnan Dunne Mc Shane Kelly
Mcgeady Carsley Ireland Duff

Long Doyle

IMO

[Reddladd]

Hunt deserved his start.

[Qwerty]

The Indo is reporting that Ireland will play alonside Doyle up front though it will probably be between Doyle and midfield, I'm happy with that. Looks like he is going to persist with the O'Shea Finnan swictheroo, would like to hear his explanations for that. At least Mcgeady won't give the ball away cheaply and hopefully he will show what he can do - although he is a player who often looks very nervous so this may be a tough assignment. Starting Hunt and bringing McGeady on as a replacement may have been a better idea.

[cavan_fan]

I presume like all Irish managers Stan has caught the Duff up front bug. Therefore team to be

Given
Finnan (I hope!) Dunne McShane O'Shea
McGeady Carsley Ireland Kilbane
Duff Doyle

As for Hunt being left out, to be honest I'm not that down as he's picked McGeady instead and when McGeady has disappointed us for the first 60 minutes (as always) he can bring Hunt on!

[Darco Ooragnak]

The Republic of Ireland team will be:

Shay Given (Newcastle United); John O’Shea (Manchester United), Steve Finnan (Liverpool), Paul McShane (West Brom), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Damien Duff (Newcastle United), Lee Carsley (Everton), Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Stephen Ireland (Manchester City) and Kevin Doyle (Reading).


I'm scratching my head....:confused:

Kilbane, O shea? Duff up front (as per the radio)

Beats me

Hopefully they are able to beat more than just you.

[elroy]

The Indo is reporting that Ireland will play alonside Doyle up front though it will probably be between Doyle and midfield, I'm happy with that. Looks like he is going to persist with the O'Shea Finnan swictheroo, would like to hear his explanations for that. At least Mcgeady won't give the ball away cheaply and hopefully he will show what he can do.


I agree, I think the fact Ireland has got a few goals will see him play just behind Doyle. Def would've like to see Hunt play and also would like to see O'S on the left Finnan on the right but overall is as expected.