Team for the Czech Game

[Closed Account 2]

We have to win this game now (we probably did before tonight's sham anyway). We didn't get any yellow cards at least. I dont see the injured players like Finnan coming back now. Here is the team I'd play:-

Given
----
Kelly
Dunne
McShane
Foley
----
Hunt
Carsley
Ireland
Andy Reid
----
Doyle
Keane

Our full back options are not great with the current squad, and if Ian Harte had played more games this season I'd throw him on. Let's face it without Finnan we dont have a decent full back, they are all suspect at the back so at least Harte has a great attacking dimension to his game (set plays).

Center backs of Dunne and McShane should be solid enough down the center, we'll just have to leave the flanks open against the Czechs.

Midfield I've gone for an attacking approach, Carsley can sit in the middle of the park and break up the Czech game with the occasional foray forward and the odd shot on goal (like a poor mans Vieria).

I'd play Ireland in the center too, he can surge forward if needed and is a good attacking threat. On the wings I'd have Hunt and Andy Reid, I think it was criminal high lunacy on the part of Stan not to start Hunt tonight. With Ried on the wing against the Czech's I think we could try and out pass them. Although not a natural winger, he could switch positions with Ireland during the game (Ireland could essentially be his "runner" and do his physical work). McGeady could be thrown into the fray if needed and add his pace in the 2nd half to attack the weary Czechs.

Upfront I don't think that there is much debate about Doyle and Keane they should both start.

There is slim chance we could sneak a win mid-week but I think Stan will pick O'Shea and we'll go down by 1 or 2 goals.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Given

O'Shea
Dunne
McShane
Kilbane

Ireland
Reid
Carsely
Hunt

Doyle
Keane

Kelly was far worse than O'Shea tonight.

[Sonic]

It doesnt matter what team we have we will be beaten anyway with that man in charge but for what its worth

Given

Kelly- only cos we have noone else and i dont believe in playing ppl out position
Dunne
McShane
O Shea- same as Kelly and likewise id paly Harte if the man was in the squad he should have been called up once Finnan wasnt available which is another stupid stan mistake. For god sake surely he should have called in harte even Gary Breen for goodness sake we had no defender on the bench that has just occured to me. The man is some clown.

Reid
Carsley
Ireland
Hunt

Doyle
Keane

[cobra]

Given
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Doyle
Keane

[BobbySands]

Basically the match on Wednesday is just a friendly. Stan having a look at the lads for the world cup qualifiers. Everyone with a touch of sense predicted this when he took over.

Get rid of him and get someone with a bit of a brain to prepare for WC qualifiers. And give McGeady back to Scotland. Fer Gods sake......

[danonion]

It doesnt matter what team we have we will be beaten anyway with that man in charge but for what its worth

Given

Kelly- only cos we have noone else and i dont believe in playing ppl out position
Dunne
McShane
O Shea- same as Kelly and likewise id paly Harte if the man was in the squad he should have been called up once Finnan wasnt available which is another stupid stan mistake. For god sake surely he should have called in harte even Gary Breen for goodness sake we had no defender on the bench that has just occured to me. The man is some clown.

Reid
Carsley
Ireland
Hunt

Doyle
Keane

I would take Breen in a heartbeat. There should a 23 man squad for these qualifiers, how can stan not replace people

I think the only way to do it for the next game is O'Shea Dunne McS and KK at the back

[Paddy Garcia]

Get rid of him and get someone with a bit of a brain to prepare for WC qualifiers. And give McGeady back to Scotland. Fer Gods sake......

Ridiculous post - McGeady did OK, not great by any means (who did ?), but the omens are that McGeady could be a great player for us.

[Sonic]

Ridiculous post - McGeady did OK, not great by any means (who did ?), but the omens are that McGeady could be a great player for us.


Paddy Garcia what game were you watching. McGeady did not do ok. He is avaerage at best id keep him but only for the reason we have noone else!!

[DmanDmythDledge]

Paddy Garcia what game were you watching. McGeady did not do ok. He is avaerage at best id keep him but only for the reason we have noone else!!
:eek:Are you serious? Ireland, Hunt and Reid are options on the wing. I thought McGeady wouldn't have been as bad on the left- he usually tries to move inside rather go down the wing and he would be better doing this on the left as he always moves the ball onto his right foot.

[Paddy Garcia]

Paddy Garcia what game were you watching. McGeady did not do ok. He is avaerage at best id keep him but only for the reason we have noone else!!

He did OK = average. I'd argue no worse that anyone else bar Dunne & Kilbane tonight. So why pick on him ?

He has great ability and lots of talent & can change a game & he will be a very influential player for us in the future. I really did not like the remark that said give him back to Scotland. Stupid - he is a typical confidence player, the more confident he is the better he will play.

[cobra]

Get rid of him and get someone with a bit of a brain to prepare for WC qualifiers. And give McGeady back to Scotland. Fer Gods sake......

I also have faith in McG but it is running thin at this stage, a couple of times he pulled out of tackles that were 70-30 in his favour of winning.

[Closed Account 2]

Foley's done ok for Wolverhampton so far this season, I'd stick him on against the Czechs... Anything has to be better than John O'Shea.

[Adrianovic]

I'd love to see Stan pick a team that will try and win the game. We've got sod all to lose and it's not like we're the masters of defending leads now, is it?

Reid and Hunt must play, and I'd keep faith with the defence, maybe apart from Kelly, if Finnan is back then please play him. I'd like to think O'Shea will put in a performance one day, he won't get dropped, so he better play well.

Ade

[bellavistaman]

Given

O'Shea
Dunne
McShane
Kilbane

Ireland
Reid
Carsely
Hunt

Doyle
Keane

Kelly was far worse than O'Shea tonight.

Would be my team too.


Given
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Doyle
Keane

:D brilliant.

[Sonic]

:eek:Are you serious? Ireland, Hunt and Reid are options on the wing. I thought McGeady wouldn't have been as bad on the left- he usually tries to move inside rather go down the wing and he would be better doing this on the left as he always moves the ball onto his right foot.

What I meant was id keep him as an option in the team others were saying give him back to Scotland!!

[kingdomkerry]

Given
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Doyle
Keane

Are we that good that we only need 10 players. Put Dunne in with the other 3 at the back and we are right!!

[Irish_Praha]

Will Finnan be ready for Wednesday?

I think the CR won't be very adventerous and will be happy with a draw. This is a must win game for us and all they need to do is defend solidly and try the odd counter-attack or hoof a few hopeful long balls up to Koller.
So it's up to us to take the game to them.

5-4-1-1
Given
Finnan-McShane-Dunne-Kilbane
Ireland-Carsley-Reid-Hunt
--------Keane------
--------Doyle-------

Keane and Ireland to interchange during the game.

If Finnan is still injured I would have to rethink putting Ireland on the right - we would need a solid RB behind him.

[billybunter]

Will Finnan be ready for Wednesday?

I think the CR won't be very adventerous and will be happy with a draw. This is a must win game for us and all they need to do is defend solidly and try the odd counter-attack or hoof a few hopeful long balls up to Koller.
So it's up to us to take the game to them.

5-4-1-1
Given
Finnan-McShane-Dunne-Kilbane
Ireland-Carsley-Reid-Hunt
--------Keane------
--------Doyle-------

Keane and Ireland to interchange during the game.

If Finnan is still injured I would have to rethink putting Ireland on the right - we would need a solid RB behind him.
i'd take that team as well.

[billybunter]

just read that Koller is out for the czechs - small mercies...

[jmurphyc]

yeah, really hope finnan is back for wednesday. we desperately missed him last night. the slovaks seemed to highlight kelly's flank as a weak point and were continuously attacking down his flank (successfully). even though this isn't finnan's natural side, i doubt the slovaks would have done that had he been in the line up, and even had they done so i doubt they would have succeeded.

[kingdomkerry]

Will Finnan be ready for Wednesday?

I think the CR won't be very adventerous and will be happy with a draw. This is a must win game for us and all they need to do is defend solidly and try the odd counter-attack or hoof a few hopeful long balls up to Koller.
So it's up to us to take the game to them.

5-4-1-1
Given
Finnan-McShane-Dunne-Kilbane
Ireland-Carsley-Reid-Hunt
--------Keane------
--------Doyle-------

Keane and Ireland to interchange during the game.

If Finnan is still injured I would have to rethink putting Ireland on the right - we would need a solid RB behind him.

Thats the team alright. We probably would of won last night with that midfield. If Finnan doesnt make in bring Kelly in at right back. Hed be alot more comfortable there.

But whats the betting Mr Incompetant will play O Se and Play half the team out of position again. The only player id play out of position on Wednesday is Kilbane at left back. Hes playing there for wigan. And when you think of the alterantive. Mr John 'afraid to block the ball in case i hurt my leg' O Se!!!!!!!

We need to go out on Wednesday and attack attack attack and not sit back even if we go ahead.

[jmurphyc]

Will Finnan be ready for Wednesday?

I think the CR won't be very adventerous and will be happy with a draw. This is a must win game for us and all they need to do is defend solidly and try the odd counter-attack or hoof a few hopeful long balls up to Koller.
So it's up to us to take the game to them.

5-4-1-1
Given
Finnan-McShane-Dunne-Kilbane
Ireland-Carsley-Reid-Hunt
--------Keane------
--------Doyle-------

Keane and Ireland to interchange during the game.

If Finnan is still injured I would have to rethink putting Ireland on the right - we would need a solid RB behind him.

The only problem with that team is that ireland will be absolutely no threat on the right. finnan would be largely unsupported when coming forward from the back. the same thing happened last night when ireland was switched to the flank. However, i don't see any way to rectify this problem as reid can't be switched to the flank, as then we'll miss presence in the centre and it will be much harder to build attacks from the back.

[DmanDmythDledge]

The only problem with that team is that ireland will be absolutely no threat on the right. finnan would be largely unsupported when coming forward from the back. the same thing happened last night when ireland was switched to the flank.
Doesn't have to be a threat on the right. Teams have been very successful with players cutting in from the wing and there isn't a problem as we would have width on the left to balance the team. Have Finnan overlap as you said to provide some sort of width on the right.

[dfx-]

dfx-

Drum Red
aad
Bluebeard
steno

Sniffer
Anto McC
Caolan
Buller
DmanDmythDledge

superfrank



As good a chance as any.

[craig7042]

yeah, really hope finnan is back for wednesday. we desperately missed him last night. the slovaks seemed to highlight kelly's flank as a weak point and were continuously attacking down his flank (successfully). even though this isn't finnan's natural side, i doubt the slovaks would have done that had he been in the line up, and even had they done so i doubt they would have succeeded.

Finnan is needed no doubt.

[Morbo]

Given
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
Dunne
----
Doyle
Keane

:D That would be mine team as well but if we don't figure out a way to clone 7 Dunne's and accelerate their growth by Wednesday then I'd go with Irish_Praha's team

I think Stan will stick with O'Shea, god knows why, I'd prefer Stan to come out of retirement and play himself than JOSH

[Tipp Townie]

I'd go for:

Given

Finnan-Dunne-McShane-O'Shea

Hunt-Carsley-Reid-Kilbane

Doyle-Keane

I've gone for O'Shea at LB instead of Kelly as, although i quite like Kelly, he got beat down that flank quite a few times on Saturday, even with the added 'protection' he was getting from Kilbane. If he was at his natural position RB then he'd be getting even less protection from Hunt and we'd look pretty lightweight there. I know our left flank as above will look horrific to some of ye, but i really think that Kilbane did enough in the first hour on saturday to warrant a shot at doing it again. Then after an hour on wednesday, unless we're 3-0 up (yeah right) it will be time to inject some pace down the wing and go for the win (McGeady, probably).

Andy Reid simply HAS TO start. Think he would have anyway, but you never know with Stan. Likewise Steven Hunt; McGeady just wasnt good enough on saturday, but could still have a role later in the game as described above.

However, i have a horrible feeling that if Finnan is fit, Stan might just select him on the right side of midfield in front of either O'Shea or Kelly, to 'nullify' the Czech tactic of using the wings. I think all of us have said on here that we want Ireland to go for it v the Czechs, but i have a feeling that it won't happen. Hope i'm wrong.

[youngirish]

Thank God Koller is out. That's all I can say.