Republic of Ireland V Brazil - Wednesday, 6th February 2008 - Friendly

[sligobhoy67]

I really cant stand Whelan - McGeady cant do anything right in his eyes yet the sun shines out of the hole of the rest of the team.

McGeady is critisised for the same thing that other players are getting praised for.

[danonion]

We can take a few things from this game.
Shay Given was solid as ever; looked menacing in a dark strip.

Damien Duff beat his man repeatedly - struck a ferocious shot on target that the keeper couldn't hold and looked a threat. He also looked like he had pace and a good level of fitness - two things I did not expect for him to ever recover after that injury.

O'Shea and Dunne - Now don't shoot me for saying this but in some way they kind of compliment each other. O'Shea's headed clearances have by-and-large improved. Dunne made only one big mistake, and as Jon Champion pointed out, it was quite a surprise because he has really been a pillar of consistency

Kelly had a few good tackles. One in particular in the second half early on ... I can't remember what minute. He then proceeded to try and run it out like he was Mark Lawrenson.

Kilbane looked OK at fullback. It is clearly not his position but he is quite strong and still has some speed. One moment of skill in the Brazilian penalty area stood out for me when he beat his man at the by-line left side of the penalty area and put in a cross. Cross was too high but if we didn't have midget strikers we could have been lauding his skill.

Lee Carsley could have possibly done better with regards to the goal we conceded, but he looked fit and sharp enough. He is known to be a fitness/health fanatic - don't be surprised if he plays through the whole of the next campaign, at least in a squad member capacity.

Keane and Doyle were quiet enough (easy to say when a strike partnership doesn't score). Bad move by Don Givens not to bring Fintan Morrison because replacing Doyle with Hunt meant we had too many tricky small players in the attacking positions.

Miller isn't really ever going to be good enough, is he?

[irishfan86]

Well, I may be shot for saying this, to use one of your expressions, but I thought Miller looked decent enough.

Gave the ball up once in a crucial position, but not as bad as some have been saying, and he's certainly had some positive moments for Sunderland this season.

I'm not saying he's beyond dropping, but I think he'll have a role to play in this coming campaign.

[danonion]

Well, I may be shot for saying this, to use one of your expressions, but I thought Miller looked decent enough.

Gave the ball up once in a crucial position, but not as bad as some have been saying, and he's certainly had some positive moments for Sunderland this season.

I'm not saying he's beyond dropping, but I think he'll have a role to play in this coming campaign.

I suppose my criticism may be a little harsh - he'll certainly be in the squad or thereabouts, but he's weak and not very fast - even if his passing is ok that will always make him a liability of sorts.

[shaneker]

Bloody right - McGeady, I thought, was our best player tonight, and Whelen would not get off his back. Never mind, I think Aiden proved him wrong.

[biscuit]

Agreed, thought McGeady did well, ran at players and caused trouble. Maybe the killer ball wasnt always there but it was a promising performance. Luckily i dont take Whelan seriously as a pundit, actually hes pretty ****e to be honest, and that accent...:D

[McGeady10]

My opinion...

Given 8 - Some good saves but a bit dodgy with the ball at his feet at times.

Kelly 6 - Very average. Not great either going forward or back the way. Would like the new manager to get Finnan back.

O'Shea 6 - Wasteful in possession, easily outmuscled at the goal.

Dunne 7 - Typical whole-hearted performance.

Kilbane 7 - Works really hard. Sure there's better players but he's a good man to have around the squad.

Duff 7 - Very poor to start but grew into the game.

Carsley 5 - Too slow, too pedestrian and not enough range in his passing.

Miller 6 - Was surprised to see him come off. Was outmuscled at times but wasn't atrocious? Was he?

Potter 7 - Added a bit of power to the middle of the park. Done well I thought.

McGeady 8 - Irelands best outfield player I thought. Managed to drive with the ball 40-50 yards at times to give the defence a breather and give us a chance to get up the park - just couldn't feed him in the right areas.

Keane 6 - No service worked hard.

Doyle 5 - No service but continually gave the ball away

Hunt 5 - Toiled badly but worked hard

[shaneker]

Thought McGeady was great, only player who looked capable of unlocking the defence with a clever pass or good run, which he did several times. Almost everything we did well went through him.

Duff was utterly toothless in the first half, I was watching with a German mate of mine and he was getting so frustrated with Duff recieving the ball in a good position and then standing still for 7 or 8 seconds whilst he figured out what to do, which usually ended up with the ball going backwards or possession being lost. He improved in the second half when he came inside more often but the right wing is not and never will be his position.

O'Shea in competent game for Ireland shocker!

Kelly looked excellent getting forward in the first half, really helped Duff out because when he was stood still Kelly was charging past him further forward. Made a few good tackles but also a few shocking ones; one in particular which in a qualifier with a dodgy European ref could have been a harsh red.

Kilbane never stopped running and caused problems late on but was caught drifting too far infield in defence on occasions. Until we get a better LB he can do the job.

Doyle never saw the ball, he really needs a goal.

I think if we play with the work rate and the commitment that we showed tonight, stick Andy Reid in the midfield alongside Carsley (yes his passing was crap but he broke up so many of their attacks, giving Dunne and O'Shea the chance to get into defensive positions; vital if a team is looking to play a quick break) and we could be a right handful. Still, so many false dawns in friendly games before - I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

And don't get me started on Givens! That selfish ******* his new lows tonight; only bringing on 2 substitutes in a friendly against Brazil was absolute madness and to me it looked like he wanted to keep his best team on the field to try and steal an equaliser to protect his unbeaten 'manager' record than bringing on the young lads who need the experience for the coming campaign. Givens showed tonight he cared more about his personal 'Brazil Challenge Match' than about building the a campaign where we need every young player to show potential, and spurned the opportunity to give them a go. Pathetic - I want him OUT of the set-up.

[backstothewall]

It was one of those nights. We could be playing until tommorow morning and still not score. Brazil were toying with us. Critisisng the lad for not creating something is futile in a game where if we had more than 30% possession i would be surprised.

[Den Perry]

I thought Kilbane might be our best bet for Left Full, but he was absolutely atrocious tonight defensively. Can anybody explain why Duff was played on the right and he's left footed and vice versa with mcgeady....MADNESS

[eirebhoy]

Given - As usual his kicking was poor but he pulled off a fantastic save to keep it at 0-0. Other than that didn't have much to do.

Kelly - I thought he did well other than the unnecessary hard challenge. He wouldn't be used to playing a team like Brazil where the player he's mainly marking is also the full back. Looked confident on the ball.
Dunne - Very dominant. Can't remember Fabiano being involved much at all. Won whatever there was to be won in the air and showed his excellent pace when chasing Andersen back from the Brazil half.
O'Shea - I was impressed with this guy who I've given so much stick that it's hard to give credit to. I'm actually starting to believe he's tactically intelligent and it's his poor football ability that lets him down. He was organising our players in the box at set pieces which is a good sign.
Kilbane - It was mentioned before the match but in the first half he was literally a 3rd centre half. He left McGeady playing wing back and the Brazilian right back was having a lot of joy. You can't fault Kilbane on the ball tonight though, he was very inventive. What a run to skin 2 players and send in an excellent cross!

Carsley - Ahh. Way too defensive. He was our most involved player which really isn't a good sign. He did keep possession well, played a few good long passes and even got forward a bit. It was an above average Carsley performance but he's simply not suited to a 4 man midfield with wingers. I like him as a defensive midfielder but only in a 4-5-1. In a 4-4-2 Miller/Potter feel like they have to go deep with Carsley and it meant we had our entire team in our own half for large portions. In terms of pure effort he was man of the match but again he's not suited to a 4-4-2.
Miller - In our top 3 players in the first half imo. It was a bit of a lucky performance in that all the bounces and 50-50's fell to him but it won't do his confidence any harm at all.
McGeady - I'd go with him for motm (Dunne being the other contender). He beat the Brazilians with ease and rarely failed to find an Irish player with a pass. Without doubt his best performance for Ireland.
Duff - Very poor first half. He looked like the clueless Duff we've all known recently. 2nd half was a different story though and they couldn't get the ball off him. Had a decent shot saved. He was a marked man too.

Keane - I can't really say a bad word about him. His movement was top class. His link up and work rate as good as always. Pretty much a typical Keane performance, just needs to be playing in a well organised team.
Doyle - Not great unfortunately. He was most effective defending set pieces. Not in great form.

Potter - Kept things simple. He needs to dominate games more.
Hunt - Certainly not a starter for me. He really showed himself up tonight as a Kilbane mark II imo with a lot more confidence. I don't like to be critical of our players but he's nothing special at all. He has an excellent cross though. Great power too. Great energy and work ethic. No attributes that'll help us pass the ball succesfully when 1-0 up away to Montengro. He's an impact player, simple as that. I'm delighted to have him on the bench but he's marked off my list as a potential starter.

Overall thought the U21s last night showed more class than us and that was down to central midfield. Andy Reid will sort that out as well as the emergence of a half dozen central midfielders coming through.

[Den Perry]

I agree with your points on Hunt and Kilbane. I like Kilbane but he was poor defensively tonigt. Hunt should shut his mouth and concentrate on his football a bit more

[cavan_fan]

Odd game and I suspect that Givens thought if we won there would be a clamour to give him the job full time (By the way who was his assistant, looked like a bank teller)

Given - Am I the only one getting worried, I know the goal was through Carsley's legs but would have expected him to save it. I have a hunch that one of the stories of the next campaign will be Given's increasing fragility.

Kelly - Not good enough to be an international player, Birmingham must be sh*t is he was their player of the first half of the season. That tackle was awful and should have been red. New manager, get Finnan back.

Dunne - Oddly given how much ball the Brazilians had they didnt create that much and the centre halves looked relaxed.

O'Shea. Our second best Centre half at the moment and I feel Trapattoni would be the making of him. Pathetic attempt at a beard though.

Kilbane. Not really a Left Back. He does try hard, do you think Hunt watches him and sees himself in five years time.

McGeady. As always good bits and bad bits. I thought there were more bad bits to be fair, lots of running too far. He strikes me as a stupid player.

Carsley. Awful, terrible, dire. I am a supporter of Carsley but my rule of thumb is the less you notice him the better he is. Unfortunately I kept noticing him. Tackling was ok but he kept giving it away and getting in people's way and not looking like a professional footballer. How a guy who is an instrumental part of a very successful Everton team can be this rubbish is beyond me. Finally, if he is the best choice we have to take a free kick 25 yards out we may give up.

Miller - Looked good while he was on. Best I've seen for a while but it's probably too little too late in terms of a substantial career.

Potter - Looks wimpy, was anonymous. We need a Central Midfield badly.

Duff - As everyone has said; first half poor; second half good. We need him to play well and it might help if he was allowed five minutes on the left wing.

Doyle - Rubbish. I know he didnt get much service but he did nothing. If Keane played like that he'd be lambasted. Why didnt Givens give someone else (not Duff) 45 minutes up front.

Keane - Marginally my man of the match, a few lovely touches; at the moment he and Dunne are our only 2 top class players. Showed Doyle that if you're not getting the service don't just faff about looking grumpy, do something about it.

[Scratchy]

Odd game and I suspect that Givens thought if we won there would be a clamour to give him the job full time

There is a reason to feel positive about a defeat after all. :D Brazil won at a canter and rarely looked like they had to get out of 2nd gear. Given the managerial situation I'm struggling really to see what we can take out of this game.

Of course Delaney and his cronies in the FAI will be happy enough. :rolleyes:

[tricky_colour]

Hunt 9 did more in 18 minutes than the rest of the team combined.

[Junior]

Hunt 9 did more in 18 minutes than the rest of the team combined.

+ve. Two decent crosses of note.
-ve. Gave the ball away on the edge of our own box needlessly and another couple of misplaced passes.

Hardly a 9.

[jmurphyc]

I thought Hunt was quite poor tonight when he came on. Dunne and O'Shea look like they could form a good partnership. I always thought that they were the best 2 options for our centre back pariring, but the problem for the last while is that O'Shea is probably needed on the left, and judging by Kilbane's defensive display tonight, he probably isn't good enough to be our first choice left back as his positional sense is extremely poor. He comes in to the centre way too much.

As everyone else said, Duff was poor in the first half and really improved in the second half. Give him a good run of games and he should be back to his best soon enough. He's going to be crucial to our hopes come September.

I didn't think Carsley was that bad. He's a fairly poor passer, but he'll be a good squad member for us once Steven Reid is (hopefully) back for good. McGeady was our best player IMO, but the one thing that worries me about him is his pace. He still doesn't seem quick enough to leave a defender behind. He was often given a head start of 5-10 yards on a player tonight and they caught up with him. Other than that, he looks like a fantastic prospect and will hopefully have a good campaign provided he can bring his form into a competitive game.

Keane was lively again and Doyle was largely anonymous tonight. Hopefully when the two Reids come back they'll help to support the front two again tonight.

That was probably Miller's best game for us. He covered ground well, helping Carsley to defend and also seemed to work his way out of compact spaces and trouble well. Potter also passed well tonight, but didn't really have enough time on the ball for me to make a comprehensive judgement.

Edit: Forgot to mention Kelly. I thought he was good tonight. He is an excellent option going forward. Unless Finnan comes back he'll definitely be the best option against the smaller teams in the group (at least at home). His tackle tonight was shocking though. Had that been a competitive game he would probably would have been sent off. Also the goal came down his side from a counter attack.

[tricky_colour]

+ve. Two decent crosses of note.
-ve. Gave the ball away on the edge of our own box needlessly and another couple of misplaced passes.

Hardly a 9.

A ball which he hiimself won, net effect zero.
Couple of misplaced passes?? Thats about par for an attacking player.
Look at Duffs first three crosses, all useless. No comment about that then.
And he almost created a goal scoring opertunity, probably our best chance of
the match when in came in from the centre right of the box.
What had we created up until then - answer nothing, zilch.
The only think I can recall was Kilbane getting past a man or two down
the left, but that ending in nothing I can recall.

[papa-j]

does anyone else think lack of communication is a problem in this team?
Nobody seems to call for a ball when defending crosses ie Dunnes flick when Shay flapped at it and also the ball off dunnes head that hit o'sheas shins. It also affects the teams shape, dunne and o'shea should be constantly commanding the shape of the back four and keeping Kilbane pushed wide to mark the winger. The team as a whole sits too deep and just allows teams win easy possession and then cant get forward quickly enough on the counter. It was however a big improvement on the Cprus / Wales games.

[jmurphyc]

Also, we desperately need Andy Reid back. Our attacking set pieces are shocking without him. We are also desperately short of height in the box from set pieces. Other than Kilbane and Doyle we don't have anyone.

In regards to defending set pieces, at first nobody seemed to have any idea what to do. Nobody was on the front post - I remember seeing Keane shout at Doyle to guard it, Doyle ignoring him and then Keane having to run back and do the job himself.

[Armando]

I thought Kilbane might be our best bet for Left Full, but he was absolutely atrocious tonight defensively. Can anybody explain why Duff was played on the right and he's left footed and vice versa with mcgeady....MADNESS

Not really madness at all. McGeady plays on the left cutting inside. Best to keep him there for Ireland too and on tonights evidence it was the right decision.


Hunt 9 did more in 18 minutes than the rest of the team combined.

Laughable comment.

Pretty much made the wrong decision every time he got the ball...and I'm fed up with a large proportion of fans hailing his introduction into games as if he's our great saviour and then hollering at him to run with it every time he gets the ball - he's becoming a sort of freakshow!

He has a contribution to make to this Ireland team and i actually think he's in the very top bracket of crossers of the ball in the premiership...he was brutal tonight though.

Edit: And on Robbie Keane, who I think gets ridiculous abuse from Ireland fans (I actually heard a few muppets boo his name at the team announcements), twice tonight he got in good positions unmarked darting in from the back post with an Ireland player in full possession just outside the box and on both occasions the early ball was not played across and no chance materialised. At Spurs that ball is played into him every time...and he gets a shot on goal, invariably scoring

[kingdomkerry]

same old problems for me. Central midfield. we really need a creative midfielder and someone who can make a few tackles. our backs were solid enough, wingers good enough, midfield was poor and as a result forwards were poor.

Anyone for centre midfield lads thats our real problem

[geysir]

I was very pleased with Duff, Keane and McGeady
We did miss a great opportunity for Morrison to return. In fact if he is anywhere near his best form I´d have him with Keane.

It's the Foot ie mantra repeating itself, centre midfield.
If we played anyone else, who was available to play in midfield, instead of Carsley, we would have been swamped.
We are fécked without Andy Reid, we havent a hope of being able to play the 2 Reids together and will be fortunate to have one of them fit at any one time. It´s time to make a serious decision over the new seniors coming through.

Givens did well considering.
Minus points for not having Morrison on the bench.

[tetsujin1979]

Given - Solid without being spectacular, thought he was unsighted for the goal, or might have thought Carsley was going to block the ball

Kelly - Actually thought he was decent enough, especially going forward

Dunne - One slack pass does not a bad game make

O'Shea - Pass marks, just

Kilbane - Like I said in the build up thread, his positional sense as a left full is woeful, there was frequently an amount of space for the opposing right winger to move into. He'll be telling his grandkids about how he skinned a Brazilian full back though!

McGeady - For the first ten minutes and most of the second half he was the best Irish player on the pitch

Carsley - Why was he taking frees with Duff and McGeady on the pitch?

Miller - Was good in possession, but needs to learn when to release the ball

Potter - Not as good as Miller, not as bad as Carsley

Duff - Anonymous in the 1st half, vastly improved in the second when you could see him growing in confidence. If he kept having to come on to his left foot to pass, why was he not just started on the left?

Doyle - Worked hard with little pay off. His clearance from a corner was the best thing he did in the game

Keane - Worked even harder, dropped deep, moved out wide, could have equalised

Hunt - Worked hard to try and make something out of nothing, but never really got to grips with the game

[Serb]

I thought we weren't great tonight, but the team seemed solid enough all the same. A few points on what I thought of tonight:
McGeady obviously made some really good runs throughout the game and was probably our best performer over 90 minutes.
Duff was rubbish in the first half, didn't look comfortable at all on the right-hand side (skewing a couple of right-footed crosses behind the goal). However, he looked twice the player in the second half and was really impressed by his second 45 minutes.
You could be forgiven for thinking Doyle was never on the pitch
Kilbane, while not the worst, tended to tuck in right beside the two centre backs leaving a lot of space for the Brazilian right-back to explore.
Carsley, O'Shea, Dunne and Kelly all looked reasonably solid, looked like Carsley was caught a bit square for the goal, but it was a good hit all the same.
Given, could he have done more for the goal? I'd need another look at it, but on first impressions I felt he could have saved it. Granted, he may have been unsighted as Carsley was right in front of the ball and there were a couple of other players in the general vicinity.
I thought Miller was ineffective tonight, Potter didn't really improve things
Hunt was ok, but I felt taking off Doyle was taking off the player most likely to benefit from his crossing. I would have replaced Doyle with another striker and put Hunt on for Duff / McGeady maybe. The team looked unbalanced with Hunt, McGeady and Duff all on the pitch at once.

[eirebhoy]

Kilbane - Like I said in the build up thread, his positional sense as a left full is woeful, there was frequently an amount of space for the opposing right winger to move into. He'll be telling his grandkids about how he skinned a Brazilian full back though!
Yeh spot on with that and it really shows Staunton up that we can spot his terrible positional sense yet he plays him as the main man in midfield away to Cyprus.


If he kept having to come on to his left foot to pass, why was he not just started on the left?
This one is open for debate. Messi plays right midfield for Barca but has to drift inside all the time. Just gives him more options for a shot or a through ball. Obviously playing as an out and out winger means he can get a cross in but we're not seeing very many goals scored from crosses in open play these days.

[RivaldoBabb]

I thought both Duff and McGeady played well on the wings, both those along with Hunt as an impact player means we are pretty much sorted in the wide areas for the qualifying campaign.

Still a massive problem in central midfield, an area where Ireland have historically always been strong is p1ss poor at the moment, Carsley is too slow, Miller isnt strong enough and Potter probably not good enough. If we are to have any chance of qualification then we need the passing and guile of Andy Reid and the running power of Stephen Reid...if only they could stay fit.

[mypost]

Little can be taken out of the game. It is a friendly, where the result doesn't matter. Kerr and Staunton started out by winning friendlies, which didn't get us very far in the long run. Better teams than us lose to Brazil, so no harm done.

One negative was the way the goal was conceded, on the break. With Trap in charge, that wouldn't happen. It's good that it happens now, rather than in the autumn.

[eirebhoy]

Still a massive problem in central midfield, an area where Ireland have historically always been strong is p1ss poor at the moment, Carsley is too slow, Miller isnt strong enough and Potter probably not good enough. If we are to have any chance of qualification then we need the passing and guile of Andy Reid and the running power of Stephen Reid...if only they could stay fit.
Owen Garvan deserves a shout too. I'd honestly throw him in now and that was my opinion months ago.

The team tonight was an ideal Trapattoni team btw.

[jebus]

First live game with Ireland in just over 15 years and I have a few comments to make.

Ireland are as hopeless tactically as Limerick 37
It really is run at the opposition and hope for the best isn't it?

Brazil's reserve team wanked on what was nearly a full Irish team and could have scored more if they could be arsed
People will call me a wum for saying it, but it's true, and yet a lot of you expect this team to qualify for the world cup

The atmosphere was equal to Limerick playing away to Kilkenny last year

And that's probably doing last year's Kilkenny-Limerick 37 game a diservice. All in all it confirmed why I couldn't give two figs about international football in general and the Republic of Ireland national team in particular

[jmurphyc]

The atmosphere was equal to Limerick playing away to Kilkenny last year

And that's probably doing last year's Kilkenny-Limerick 37 game a diservice. All in all it confirmed why I couldn't give two figs about international football in general and the Republic of Ireland national team in particular

It was a friendly FFS. There were plenty of daytrippers there. If you're looking for atmosphere, try an away game where the hardcore support goes.

[eirebhoy]

jebus - we'll see. Nothing more to add. :)

Can I just add. You commented on the atmosphere. The vast majority of people at the match are just like you. Guys that don't feel the need to sing. I find it really hard to find someone in this country to talk about our team that's not slagging the team off. It's pretty frustrating. I simply couldn't do without foot.ie. :)

[jebus]

It was a friendly FFS. There were plenty of daytrippers there. If you're looking for atmosphere, try an away game where the hardcore support goes.

Not going to bother from the tripe on show tonight. Again I'll probably be called a wum for saying this but the team were as poor as anything I've seen in the Eircom League. As for the atmosphere being poor because it was a home game :rolleyes: is all I have to say. If you can't get it right for a home game against Brazil then you won't be able to get it right scrapping past Georgia. Just look at the Brazil support for what it should be like, and they aren't the hardcore before you say it

[mypost]

First live game with Ireland in just over 15 years and I have a few comments to make.

All in all it confirmed why I couldn't give two figs about international football in general and the Republic of Ireland national team in particular

:mad:

So why did you deprive someone out of a ticket then? What were you expecting, a WC game atmosphere maybe? :confused: Maybe you should wait until when(ever) Limerick make the AIH final, before going there again. :rolleyes:

[jebus]

:mad:

So why did you deprive someone out of a ticket then? :confused:

Because I felt like it, next

[jmurphyc]

As for the atmosphere being poor because it was a home game :rolleyes: is all I have to say.

I was talking about games with the best atmosphere. Generally the support is a lot better away from home with any team because that is where it will mostly be people who truly care go. If you say that's not true, then you're an idiot. And anyway, everyone has been talking about how the atmosphere is much worse at CP. Once the games are back in Lansdowne it will improve.

[eirebhoy]

Not going to bother from the tripe on show tonight. Again I'll probably be called a wum for saying this but the team were as poor as anything I've seen in the Eircom League.
wum or not that's simply deluded. Anyway, that's the last time I'm replying to you because you've a habit of turning threads into heated debates. I'm off to bed.

And btw, replying to a post with "Because I felt like it" isn't a good idea. That should be pretty obvious if you understand how foot.ie and any decent forum works by now.

[jebus]

wum or not that's simply deluded. Anyway, that's the last time I'm replying to you because you've a habit of turning threads into heated debates. I'm off to bed.

And btw, replying to a post with "Because I felt like it" isn't a good idea. That should be pretty obvious if you understand how foot.ie and any decent forum works by now.

Why isn't it a good idea? Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer and all that. And please tell me how the Irish tactics differ from the standard Eircom League hit and hope


I was talking about games with the best atmosphere. Generally the support is a lot better away from home with any team because that is where it will mostly be people who truly care go. If you say that's not true, then you're an idiot. And anyway, everyone has been talking about how the atmosphere is much worse at CP. Once the games are back in Lansdowne it will improve.

I agree that away matches is where the best support is, but I commented on the poor atmosphere at home, you just through that insult in because you couldn't respond to my response, good one though ;)

[NeilMcD]

jebus - we'll see. Nothing more to add. :)

Can I just add. You commented on the atmosphere. The vast majority of people at the match are just like you. Guys that don't feel the need to sing. I find it really hard to find someone in this country to talk about our team that's not slagging the team off. It's pretty frustrating. I simply couldn't do without foot.ie. :)


Eirebhoy we are going to meet up every Tuesday in Kates Cottage accross the road from Connolly.

It will be called the positive Ireland football fan. People talking positive about Irish football with a healthy interest in the underage set up and the eircom league as well as Irish players playing in England and Scotland and beyone. Stuttgart 88 can give special appearances ever so often and Tuff Paddy can reports from the pub for Sky etc.

[Tis-smeee]

Anderson getting the biggest cheer of the night coming on, presumably because hes a united player.


Discuss

[Shambolic]

Central Midfield is a huge problem. We can cope in all other areas, We have good strikers & decent centre half's, a world class keeper, quality wingers and I wouldnt worry too much about full backs. Kelly is a good player, Kilbane will be ok until we find a left back.

But we have problems in the middle, We need Steven Reid fit and with alot of games under his belt if we are to have any chance of qualifying for 2010. We can use him as a Defensive Mid.

Now, I would like to throw the name of Owen Garvan into tyhe ring for a sqaud call up. I cant understand why he hasnt got called up already. He is the first name on the team sheet at Ipswich, an ever present, a very good young player in a team challenging for the Championship Playoffs.
He & James McArthy of Hamilton are our midfield of the future. Andy Reid is a great passer but not sure about him as a centre mid, and he is always injured. I am not sure about Stephen Ireland either, also a great passer but jury is out on him.

Owen Garvan for Ireland.

Also, I would love to see Stokes get the finger out at Sunderland. Bags of unfulfilled potential, looks a bit lazy for me.

[Bondvillain]

Laughable? What I find laughable is that Hunt is our third highest placed player in the Actim index and he is not even in the starting line-up. Of course these indexes are a joke as are similar results in other indexes like fantasy football and sky ratings etc.......

But I guess these are all wrong too...

I think generally that Hunt is brilliant, but frankly he could pull all the previous Actim index certificates in the world from out of his own arse tonight, and it wouldnt make a blind bit of difference as far as people asserting that he had a poor game this evening is concerned.

That's because he did. Very poor.

Sometimes good players have bad games. Tonight was Hunt's. Don't take it personally. It wasn't a real game, it was only a Don Givens Select XI.

[ifk101]

I thought it was an okay performance, nothing to get excited about.

Givens: Did fine. Totally missed an inswinging cross in the second half.
Kelly: Would have been sent-off if it was a competitive fixture.
Dunne: Sloppy at times but we'd be lost without him in the centre of defence.
O'Shea: Did well, our best option to partner Dunne
Kilbane: Good going forward, needs a good coach to help with the positional side of things
Duff: Why was he on the right? Great to see him back in the team.
Miller: Ok.
Carsley: Can't pass the ball.
McGeady: Good - but one criticism. Great chance to play Duff free in the second half but took too many touches on the ball and Duff was ruled offside.
Doyle: Invisible.
Keane: Looked lively.
Potter: A Championship standard player and it showed.
Hunt: Lost the ball just outside our box by attempting to dribble past two Brazilians. Did the exact same thing in the game against the Welsh. Needs a haircut.

Don Givens: What is it with the finger over the mouth thing? Makes you wonder where that finger has been .....

[eirebhoy]

McGeady: Good - but one criticism. Great chance to play Duff free in the second half but took too many touches on the ball and Duff was ruled offside.
That one was as a case of head down and run to out pace the Brazilian. As soon as he got past the Brazilian he lifted his head up and played Duff through. Too late though.

[Larks]

Fair play to Robbie Keane last night, he worked his socks off and only for the keepers quick reaction would have had a goal.

[Scram]

We can take a few things from this game.
Shay Given was solid as ever; looked menacing in a dark strip.

Damien Duff beat his man repeatedly - struck a ferocious shot on target that the keeper couldn't hold and looked a threat. He also looked like he had pace and a good level of fitness - two things I did not expect for him to ever recover after that injury.

O'Shea and Dunne - Now don't shoot me for saying this but in some way they kind of compliment each other. O'Shea's headed clearances have by-and-large improved. Dunne made only one big mistake, and as Jon Champion pointed out, it was quite a surprise because he has really been a pillar of consistency

Kelly had a few good tackles. One in particular in the second half early on ... I can't remember what minute. He then proceeded to try and run it out like he was Mark Lawrenson.

Kilbane looked OK at fullback. It is clearly not his position but he is quite strong and still has some speed. One moment of skill in the Brazilian penalty area stood out for me when he beat his man at the by-line left side of the penalty area and put in a cross. Cross was too high but if we didn't have midget strikers we could have been lauding his skill.

Lee Carsley could have possibly done better with regards to the goal we conceded, but he looked fit and sharp enough. He is known to be a fitness/health fanatic - don't be surprised if he plays through the whole of the next campaign, at least in a squad member capacity.

Keane and Doyle were quiet enough (easy to say when a strike partnership doesn't score). Bad move by Don Givens not to bring Fintan Morrison because replacing Doyle with Hunt meant we had too many tricky small players in the attacking positions.

Miller isn't really ever going to be good enough, is he?

Who's Fintan Morrison? Wasn't he in Stanley Staunton's assistant manager's Bryan Robson's squad :confused:

[ainsie]

Was it just me, but what was with all these short passes last night. Several times we had possession inside the Brazil half or just on half way and we moved it with a short pass. Now there's nothing wrong with a quick short pass if it is done because someone spots something or the other team are not set up but again and again it ended up back at either the center back or the keeper.
Even Richard Dunne got p***ed of with it at one point.

Strange.

[eirebhoy]

I think some people really underestimate McGeady's intelligence. He's certainly not brainless.

"Exceptional skill on the ball, with more than a few crowd-pleasing pieces of trickery. But sometimes failed to spot the right option, while the discerning coach could be concerned about the lack of cover he offers his full back in an attacking 4-4-2. Still, a huge player for Ireland in the near future and beyond - provided he continues to mature and he’s deployed to good effect."

I don't understand that one at all. When did he fail to spot the right option? Fair enough he failed to play the ball to Duff. That's all I can think of. Nothing about holding on to the ball for a couple of seconds while Kilbane overlapped and then playing a ball over the top (granted it went out of play)? You could predict the analysis of McGeady before a ball is kicked.

[antrimgreen]

I thought Liam Miller was doing ok (he did dilly dally on the ball a few too many times though) but when he got injured to be replaced by Darren Potter, this guy is really out of his depth and that is not his fault he has been picked, but he just didn't want the ball, a centre midfielder that shy's away from receving a pass is not a centre midfielder but a water carrier. Everytime he made no movement into space and when Duff or Kilbane or anyone on the flanks picked the ball up looked in field Potter raised his right or left arm depending on which side to suggest a pass over his head away from him and to anyone else. Someone mentioned he was a championship player, on that performace i wouldn't start him for Havant & Waterlooville. IMO

[Stuttgart88]

Agree with all the comments about central midfield. I said during the live stream last night that the any 2 of the 3 lads who played in the U21 game on Tuesday offer more than the Miller / Carsley pairing.

I thought Potter was better than Miller and Carsley had a better second half as a result. Potter doesn't do anything flash but avoids trouble better than Miller and brings others into the game far more in my opinion. He's much more the Didi Hamann type of player we need but a very poor man's version. Potter & Reid did a very good job in Copenhagen if I recall right. Garvan's time must be coming though.

I like Carsley but just don't think he's mobile enough at this level. You need more than just a few "clatters". He fulfils an important role at Everton, but there he's Sid Little to the Eddie Large of Arteta & Cahill. For Ireland it's Sid Little with Fr. Stone and it just ain't funny.

McGeady showed what a great talent he is. Whelan was right about his final ball or taking a touch or two too many at times but his overall contribution was important.

The back 4 were generally good and Dunne-O'Shea has to be the first choice CB partnership. Kelly didn't convince but one atrocious tackle aside I thoght he was ok.

Robbie was lively but Doyle wasn't at the races last night. Morrison should have been available.

Hunt was a huge disappointment I thought.

Anyway, I believe it's all ok as Don is rumoured to have said "results aren't important at senior international level, it's my job to develop players for the SKy Masters international tournament".


Biggest plus of the night? Georgia losing 3-1 at home to Latvia!