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I think it was a good game, we played brilliantly and we deserved to win,but did'nt unfortunately.Excellent performance by all especially Kilbane,Reid,Duff & Finnan.France still on very poor form.Plenty of support there too,fair play to them all.Roll on the Faroes :)
I think we did well - it's a shame Morrison had to go off because he was looking quite useful. The way things are starting to pan out it looks as though Israel are going to be key - if we can get six points from them I fancy us to finish top. France and Switzerland have both dropped points to them so they must be a fairly decent side. On paper at least, we've played our two toughest games and come through both unbeaten.
I agree with Emmet about the six point Israel comment, that really will be the key. I am confident we can get 4 points from France and Switzerland at home, and Cyprus and the Faroes shouldn't really be a problem.
Maybe I was alone, but I thought O`Shea was man of the match, and no, I don't support United. Everything he did was with confidence and he looked the part against the French, unlucky with his chance I thought, didn't really have time to think about bringing it down or do anything but just point it somewhere near the goal. The whole defence was really good though, KC and O`Brien kept their men quiet, and it was vintage from Carr. Seamus was Seamus.
Kilbane was solid in the middle, although I didn't think he would be, we got treated to the nickname "Zinedine Kilbane" in the UK which I had a giggle at. Zizu might not have giggled had he saw KK's tenacity! Roy really set the tone in the first half, I think it's nights like this we need his experience and name to help us on the right track. On the flanks Duffer caused problems like we know he can without the final ball, and Finnan on the right was a good decision, shored up that side defensively and was confident going forward.
It was a real shame that Clint had to go off injured, he really held the ball up well for us when he had it played into him, it was a tactic we had to abandon after that when we had the little men combination. Reid came on and did a job, seems like he was told to shoot on site, which is fair enough, delivery from set peices was smart. Not his best position, looked a bit tubby I have to say. Sorry Andy. Robbie worked hard and kept the Monaco centre backs challenged.
I will rate:
Given 8 - when called upon, superb.
Carr 7 - supported Finnan nicely, looked strong.
KC 7.5 - Solid, quiet, just the way he likes it.
O`Brien 7.5 - same as above, took the elbow from that bitch Barthez well.
O`Shea 8.5 - my man of the match, thought he did almost everything right.
Finnan 7.5 - Got forward nicely and was tenacious in defence.
Roy 7.5 - Would have been higher but for his quiet second half.
KK 8 - Proved many of us wrong, once again. Can't fault him for that.
Duffer 7.5 - Kept the defence interested and had the odd shot.
Robbie 7 - Will have more productive nights, worked hard.
Clint 5.5 - would have got more if he was on the field for it.
Reider 7 - did OK, did well with the set pieces.
Overall, a very good away point, there were a few things I picked up on that differ on the Kerr regime than under McCarthy. It's on night's like this under Mick, not meaning to lay into him, we'd decide a draw was a good result after a while and flat out defend, and often enough we'd concede and rob ourselves of the hard work and good performances before hand. Kerr had told Ireland to go to match up with France tonight and go for the win, there was no underdog methods or inferiority complex, it was two teams on a level playing field, we did well.
Also, Kerr didn't throw on Gary Doherty. Nothing against Doc, but we really didn't need the physical presence tonight, the French would have lapped it up. We stayed creative, played football like we know how and gave a good footballing account of Ireland. There will be days when it will be wise to throw on Doc and mix it up, but today was not that day and Kerr was wise not to do it, in my eyes.
Final mention goes to the fans who turned Stade France in to a neutral venue, if not a redeveloped Lansdowne Road, with better baguettes. Absolutely sensational to hear Robert "Olympic Diver" Pires get so much stick in his own home stadium, he musn't have known what to think of it. All the support must have settled the players in and took away any intimidatory edge that France might have had. A return of Que Cera Cera as well, does it get any better than that?
Well played Ireland, happy with the point tonight.
Ade
good game .. ran into the corners the last 5 minutes but thats no shame. clinton deserves a ton of praise for a well played first half. at least an 8. the guy was nearly cryin when he went off.
felt we were on pace all the way through. andy was great. kilbane was competant and more. Still not happy with his selection but the man himself can't do any more than he has. fair play.
good stuff by shay again. a class act.
pleased as it was very even and we showed we are on their level
I'm not too sure about O'Shea - I think his distribution and his positioning have been suspect whenever he's played at left-back. He is a good tackler though. I don't think that left-back is his preferred position - perhaps when he's played a few times in midfield or in the centre of defence we'll get a better idea of how good he is.
You're right about the crowd - tonight they were brilliant - Pires' dive was disgraceful and he was rightly booed for the rest of the match. Roy Keane started well but tired in the second half.....Kilbane made up for that though - he was superb.
Great result-we could have gotten the win, but this was a game that truly could have gone either way. Shay Given is my Man of the Match. He made a few game-saving stops that could have really done us in. Carr looked comfortable back there for the first time in a while. O'Brien and Cunningham did a great job of keeping the middle an Irish-only zone, and O'Shea had one of his better games in green. Duff was his usual threatening self, but the French did a good job of keeping him fairly quiet. All the same he sent a couple of good crosses in-too bad we didn't have any big men to get on the end of them. Kilbane, against my wishes, started-and I'm glad he did. He really played well beside Roy in midfield. Roy had a solid game in the engine room, although I was disappointed with some of his balls hit into the offensive zone. The quality of his passing in the air left a little to be desired, but nevertheless he did well to keep the French quiet in the middle. Finnan played well on the right, and generated a number of opportunites. Up front Robbie worked fairly hard, but he's lacking that killer instinct right now. Clinton was playing wonderful until his injury, and it's a pity he had to come off. Andy did a good job when he came on, and to have a guy like him who is always looking to shoot is a good thing. Overall a great performance from the men in green, and more importantly, a key point.
Job done - no one had scored against France at the Stade for a few years (last team to do so was Iceland) - so on reflection it's not all bad!
Faeroes on Wednesday - should be 3 points there...
However - Portugal were coasting to an easy win in Vaduz against Liechtenstein. 2-0 up - Liechtenstein came back to draw it 2-2!
A good account of the match Adrianovic
I think everyone played well, I would not rate anyone under 7.5,
Clinton would have got a high rating if he had stayed on.
Given was in top form, I though Henry was a dead cert to score and
his full stretch stop was top draw.
Hard to pick a man of the match as everyone contributed, maybe I would give it to KK as Sam Alardyce did on the BBC, I though Finnan was good on the right wing too, we didn't look one sided. The defence was solid too, I can't recall a mistake. O'Brian impressed me too, he looked in control.
It was a solid performance all round, we never looked ruffled and more
often than not we took the game to the French, it was not a backs to the
wall job at all.
Shame we didn't nick a goal though
We need to get points from our home matches now and make sure
we don't drop point against Israel as the French and the Swiss have,
if we could take 6 points from them we will be flying high in the group.
Good post Adrianovic, I agree with pretty much everything you said.
i admit that i've been unconvinced with brian kerr to date, but today he's actually "man of the match" for me. he had everyone on the team on the same wavelength and he had us playing the perfect style v our opponenets today. i've been harsh on him in the past and today i'm happily eating my words. same goes for KK. he was arguably our best player today, which is saying something, as nobody played poorly. great game, we should have won. well done to the irish squad, and well done to the travelling support as well.
I do remember one thing that alarmed me though-when Roy ran off the pitch in the first half. I actually commented to those watching the game with me-"Oh hell! Korea all over again!"
Kilbane, surprisingly, was deserved man of the match. Losing Clinto was a huge blow to us- he gave us a great outlet in the first half.
Proud of the lads on the whole- we were well worth the point- roll on the faroes.
Come on you boys in green................................
Huge, huge result! You can't pick a "Man of the Match" it wouldn't be fair, I think this game will help the squad and Brian Kerr as well - this was a big one.
Given that France and Switzerland have dropped points to Israel as well as dropping points at home to us - if we can get 6 points from Israel then we have the luxury of not needing to beat France and the Swiss at home. Right now though there is a long way to go we are in a sense in the driving seat and in control, France and Switz have to hope we make mistakes or they will have to beat us Lansdowne Rd.
We better qualify for Germany 2006 because I am going defo been planing it for ages! :)
Well I do hope your not the only Irishman there :pQuote:
Originally Posted by sligoman
My mother was from Sligo, by the way, Rathmagurry.
This is from www.rte.ie/sport :
Ireland take a point from France
Saturday, October 09 2004 11:31
The Republic of Ireland claimed an important draw away from home against France in their World Cup Qualifying Group 4 encounter, but will feel slightly unlucky not to have taken all three points.
A hugely impressive display from Brian Kerr's men saw them force France onto the back-foot for long periods of the game, but they were unable to find that crucial breakthrough that would have seen them win.
French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was called into action to make last-gasp saves from Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, while Shay Given produced some fine saves for Ireland when called into action.
Ireland started brightly, taking the game to France from the start and created the first chance of the game inside 70 seconds. Roy Keane played a neat through-ball for Clinton Morrison to run onto, but the Birmingham striker was narrowly beaten to the ball by Barthez.
France soon found their feet and began to pass the ball about with their swagger of old, but Ireland were threatening up front themselves and Morrison missed arguably the best chance of the half on 30 minutes, when he could only glance Steve Finnan's cross wide from 12 yards.
The visitors' defence, led by Kenny Cunningham, were able to soaked up nearly anything the French threw at them although Shay Given was at full stretch to tip Robert Pires' 38th minute just shot wide of the post.
Ireland suffered a setback just after that effort when Morrison was taken off with a knee-injury, to be replaced by Nottingham Forest winger Andy Reid.
The second half started off in explosive fashion, with Barthez being stung into action by a low powerful attempt by Reid while at the other end Pires set up Gallas for a close range shot which he lifted over Given's crossbar when he really should have done better.
Robbie Keane, perhaps should have opened the scoring when he was one-on-one with Barthez but seconds later, and as Ireland turned up the pressure, Kilbane had his head in his hands after watching his shot trickle wide with Barthez out of his goal.
John O'Shea was the next to miss the target when he somehow side-footed the ball wide after a deep left-wing cross from Reid presented him with a relatively straight-forward chance.
Given then denied Henry in the 79th minute with a finger-tip save after the Arsenal striker's brilliant first touch had created the chance.
There was time for some late controversy as Barthez was lucky to stay on the pitch when he clearly aimed an elbow at Newcastle defender Andy O'Brien after some jostling in the area before an Irish corner.
Ireland were unable to find a way through despite a late push, and the draw leaves Group Four delicately poised after three games as Ireland, France, Switzerland and Israel all have five points.
EMMET.........were u watching the same game as the rest of us. im not a fan of o shea but he did very well
Im glad Kerr got the point, 3 points would have been nice but if France scored in the dying minutes I would be really ****ed.
I was more happy with a solid team performance playing some nice football at times and getting a draw than seeing a weak performance and maybe scrape a win. We can beat the French in Dublin;)
I had €5 on a draw and €5 for Ireland to win so win €18 Im fairly happy :)
I thought Clinton was playing brilliantly. The French didnt know how to handle him at all. I thought they would either give a peno away or morrison would score. I hope he manages to continue that form playing for Ireland in the future.
I thought O Shea was better last night. I think he is still a bit low in confidence and he doesnt know should he go forward or stay back. I think he will come right in another season. Unlucky not to score but the ball came in that quick !
Robbie Keane looks out of form, I hope he gets a goal wednesday. He is still getting into the right positions and did well to hold the ball up on a number of occasions.
Kilbane was defintely man of the match. Played brilliantly and gave something in midfield that was lacking a real engine. The French rate him as well,
Another sound decison by Kerr, I wouldnt have included him or even Finnan but both were solid decisions.Quote:
DION FANNING
In Paris
AT the French training camp on Friday afternoon, a member of their backroom staff sought out some Irish journalists. He had a question he wanted answered: "Is it true that Kevin Kilbane will not be playing?" At this stage, it seemed a possibility and when he was told that his place was under threat, he shook his head in wonder. "Why? We all think he is a great player." It was a point also made by Raymond Domenech, the French coach whose position will again be under threat following last night's unconvincing performance. "Ireland have some great technical players, Duff, Robbie Keane, Reid," he said before the game, before adding unexpectedly. "And Kilbane."
Next up is the faroes islands. We can easily beat them and I hope the team goes on the attack for the 90 minutes with another solid performance. We really need to make up the goal difference.
I think Kerr is a TOP MANAGER. I was a skeptic until last night. He is very professional, makes great tatical decisons, has all the players on the same wave length and brings the best out in his players. He coached the likes of Morrison, who in my opinon looks a totally different player to the one who first played under Mc Carthy. I have no doubt he will bring on the likes of O Shea and Andy Reid. I think Ireland are playing better football as well under Kerr and the first 20 minutes were great to watch.
We played brilliant and the support was the best since 2002!
We outnumbered the Frecnh 3 stands to 1 in their own stadium and I could not be more proud!
France in Lansdowne-3 pts for us!
Givern, O'Shea, Reid, Morrisson all played AMAZING but i'm not going to single out because everyone was BRILLIANT! :D
i have never see an irish team so comfortable on the ball against another "top team" before.
ireland completely dominated large portions of the game (a lot more than the french for sure).
that pires ............a diving wakner that deserves fifa sanction,thats the kind of thing that is destroying the game as a spectacle.
i hate to be critical of the team as they played great as a unit but i think
cunningham is way short of the pace needed at this level.
our midfield did really well on the night and we were unlucky not to get the full three points. :)
:) - judging from a lot of the posts on here, I'm not sure!Quote:
Originally Posted by thecorner
I do think that O'Shea still has quite a bit to learn as a left-back - he didn't make any glaring mistakes last night which is certainly an improvement on some of his past performances.......but he is potentially a top class player who can become as important to us as Duff or either of the Keanes. In a couple of years' time hopefully he'll have realised that potential.