Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[mark12345]

Ireland have the better squad?
Bale is best player by a long stretch in both squads. Ramsey is the best midfielder on show and one of the best in Europe. Williams is a world class defender.
And Tom Davies and Joe Allen and Joe Ledley are all starters with their PL teams.
While McGeady is in sensational form at the minute, Ireland can really only use Coleman as a counter argument.

Five starters now confirmed missing for Ireland through injury or suspension (Arter, Clark, Duffy, McCarthy, Brady) and Hoolahan on very thin ice. If Wales don't beat us now...........

[geysir]

Is McCarthy a confirmed non starter?

[DannyInvincible]

Arter definitely out: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-35545142.html

Harry Arter has been ruled out of Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Wales on Friday due to a calf injury.

The Bournemouth midfielder missed Saturday's win over Swansea City with Cherries boss Eddie Howe afterwards casting doubt of the player's ability to recover in time to feature for Martin O'Neill's side.

“I would have thought there’s no way he’ll play," said Howe.

It's understood Arter has conceded defeat in his bid to be fit and will concentrate on his rehab during the international break to ensure he's back for Bournemouth's Premier League run-in.

His unavailability is all the more disappointing as he was likely to start in midfield having impressed on his competitive debut in Austria last November.

When can we expect an update on Wes?

[DannyInvincible]

Is McCarthy a confirmed non starter?

I don't think he has been ruled out for definite just yet. Paul O'Hehir reported the following today:

James McCarthy gave O’Neill a positive update on his hamstring injury on the start of the week, but was not in Everton’s squad for yesterday’s 4-0 rout over Hull City.

In relation to Wes, O'Hehir wrote:

Hoolahan, 34, last night emerged as the latest injury concern after shipping a thigh strain in Norwich’s 2-0 win over Barnsley.

The Canaries will submit a medical report to the FAI today but are pleading with O’Neill to use common sense.

Caretaker boss Alan Irvine said: “If they ask to see him of course he will go over but we will look to treat him here.

“I’m hoping when they see he came off as early as he did, in those circumstances they will probably say, ‘Look don’t bother coming over.’

“It’s clearly a genuine injury. He has a bit of a thigh strain. We don’t know how bad it is at the moment.

“It’s a bit sore and something we have to report to Ireland. Whether they ask to see him or not I am not quite sure.”

[DannyInvincible]

If the squad are meeting up tonight to attend the FAI international awards show in RTÉ (as reported by O'Hehir in the article I've quoted above), then I assume the squad will be whittled down to a final 23 at some point today?...

[The Fly]

Bale is best player by a long stretch in both squads. Ramsey is the best midfielder on show and one of the best in Europe. Williams is a world class defender.

Good one.

[DannyInvincible]

I don't agree with that. Ireland have the better squad; we have the better 1st XI. Our squad is quite mediocre, but on paper our strongest side contains 10 established PL first teamers, four of those real stars at that level, and an excellent Championship player (Gunter) who can easily step up to PL level. It's a very strong side. The problem is when we get injuries, as we had against Georgia.

Fair points. The closer I look at your starting eleven, it is admittedly strong. The squad lacks strength in depth though, whereas I think we have good cover throughout our squad.

Even with five potential starters looking likely to miss out for us, I'd be confident that our back-up players can fill in OK. Wes missing out would be the biggest worry in terms of finding an adequate replacement who can bring that spark of creativity to the attack. Obviously Brady is suspended too, so it looks like we'll have to rely on McGeady for the ingenuity and artistry, but he has been in tremendous form of late for Preston in fairness. His confidence will be high, so I'm expecting a big game from McGeady if he starts; there's maybe even a goal in him.

[DannyInvincible]

Ruaidhrí Croke looks at how the entire provisional squad have fared with their clubs over the weekend: http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...kend-1.3016222

[tetsujin1979]

See if you can spot the mistakes in the Independent's review of previous games VS Wales: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-35544327.html

[Diggs246]

Harry Arter is on his way to Dubai as we speak not Dublin. I have to say that is not good enough. He is obilged to make himself available to the Irish medical team for assessment and if he is injured why isn't he been treated in Bournemouth

[DannyInvincible]

Harry Arter is on his way to Dubai as we speak not Dublin. I have to say that is not good enough. He is obilged to make himself available to the Irish medical team for assessment and if he is injured why isn't he been treated in Bournemouth

How to you know he's on his way to Dubai, and for what reason? A holiday? Maybe he's heading to Dubai for rehab/treatment? John Fallon reported that he'll be using the international break to focus on rehab.

If the Irish medical team wanted him to come over to Dublin, he'd be on his way to Dublin, as those are the rules. I'd say it's highly likely the Irish medical staff received a medical report from the Bournemouth doctor(s), reviewed it and excused him of his duty.

Edit: Just seeing that Fallon's short piece on Arter has been updated with the following:

Instead of joining up with the Ireland squad, Arter will fly to Dubai with the rest of the Bournemouth squad for a training camp.

Nevertheless, we still don't know the full facts of the situation, but I would have to assume he has been excused by the Irish medical team on the basis of a medical report from Bournemouth.

[Diggs246]

The facts are he has made himself available twice in two years. Maybe he is unlucky with the timing of his injuries, but it's a worry all the same

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Harry Arter is on his way to Dubai as we speak not Dublin. I have to say that is not good enough. He is obilged to make himself available to the Irish medical team for assessment and if he is injured why isn't he been treated in Bournemouth

It is pretty concerning, especially when you see the lengths McCarthy will go in an attempt to participate on Friday - even when under pressure from his own club.

[DannyInvincible]

The facts are he has made himself available twice in two years. Maybe he is unlucky with the timing of his injuries, but it's a worry all the same

He's got 4 caps in the last two years and has been selected in squads but not featured, so what you say is simply not true. Are you saying it's a worry in the sense he's injury-prone or are you insinuating he's skulking off? You don't know the full medical facts of the situation so it would be imprudent to jump to conclusions. And hasn't he missed a lot of game-time for his club due to his injuries anyway? Didn't he play through the pain barrier in the friendly against Holland before the Euros?

[Diggs246]

Sorry he does have 4 caps my error. But I am concerned it looks and feels terrible and he has pulled out of squads and then played the following weekend for his club. I fear he will play for Bournemouth on Saturday week