What is our best XI?

With the seven player long injury list shortening by the day, and an FAI Cup semi-final looming large on the horizon ,a thought occurred to me with the rest of the season remaining and minus Derek Doyle , what would be the best 11 assuming all the other injured players are fit? Pete Mahon really will have a difficulty when there is a full(ish) squad to choose from. I mean looking at it from his perspective , some positions are obvious :-

GK Darren Quigley
RB Alan Mahon
LB Ian Bermingham
CB Conor Kenna
CB Alan McNally

That section almost picks itself as does:
RW Conan Byrne,
LW Pat McWalter
F Paul Byrne and
F Conor Sammon
these would be most people's automatic choices.
So who do you pick in central midfield?

Defensive midfielders : Tony McDonnell, Brian King or Paul Crowley?
Attacking playmakers : Shane McFaul, Ronan Finn or...?

What do most people here think?

Oh and who would make the bench?

I think also you can compare our first XI with our second XI and wonder who'd win.

First XI -
Quigley
Mahon
Bermingham
Kenna
McNally
6 Tony Mac
Conan
McFaul
Doyler
Paul Byrne
Sammo/Timmy

Second XI -
Gregg
King
Gallagher
McMillan
Shortall
Fitz
Finn
Crowley
Podge
Timmy/Sammo
Purcell

And I've still left out Bolger, Moran, Hynes and Murphy.

Fitzgerald may be worth a place on one wing, he could be better as an impact sub though. Playing Finn behind a single striker could be an option too, particularly against stronger teams. No arguments about the rest.

Centre midfield is very difficult. I think McFaul should be a definite at this stage, he's been excellent for quite a while and we'd certainly be missing something if he wasn't playing. Who to pick beside him is a tough choice though. It's almost sacrilege to not play Tony but I think he's been better in defence this year, King has been quality every time he's played and it'd be harsh on Crowley to be dropped too. I'd probably play Tony to add some experience but it's a hard choice.

Well aren't some of them (Hynes and Murphy) ineligible for the Cup? I only left out Doyler cause he won't be able to play till mid 2008 most likely.

Most of the team picks itself apart from centre midfield and whether or not Tony Mc can be accomodated. We've a number of options in centre mid but McFaul, Finn and King stand out from the rest. There's very little separating them but I would go with King and McFaul as Finn has been a little inconsistent this season, especially when compared to the other two. King and McFaul both bring strength and bite to the midfield, with McFaul also bringing passing, creativity and is good in the air. On a side note with Paul Byrne out injured Finn should play behind Sammo as we have no other viable options upfront, apart from Murphy but he doesn't seem to be up for it fitness wise.

It could be argued that Tony Mc should be in the midfield because of the experience he brings but I don't think we really need it. McFaul, King and Finn all have only 50 senior games roughly but most of the players around them- Podge, McNally, Kenna, Mahon- all have over 100 senior appearances. Lack of experience hasn't stopped Bermingham being one of our most composed players. It's all down to the individual really.

Another issue is whether Tony Mc should play in defence, with Kenna moving out to right back. Tony has been lacklustre when played in central midfield this season so it's become apparant that he is now solely a defender. He was excellent against Drogheda- man of the match IMO and had Zayed in his pocket the whole night. Mahon is the weak link in our defence and is prone to mistakes and although Kenna's strongest position is centre back he is more than capable of doing an excellent job at full back, as he has many times in the past. So my team would be:

GK Quigley
RB Conor Kenna
CB Alan McNally
CB Tony McDonnell
LB Ian Bermingham
RM Conan Byrne
CM Brian King
CM Shane McFaul
LM Patrick McWalter
ST Conor Sammon
ST Paul Byrne

With a bench of:

GK Matt Gregg
DF Alan Mahon
MF Paul Crowley
MF Ronan Finn
WG Shane Fitzgerald

With plenty more able deputies after that.

Also mentioned briefly once before but I think that Derek Doyle would make a good striker- good in the air, has an eye for goal and is strong. I've never really been impressed with him as a winger so would like to see him get a run up top, especially considering we have been lacking an able replacement since Paul Byrne got injured.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CollegeTillIDie

Well aren't some of them (Hynes and Murphy) ineligible for the Cup?

---

No, they're both eligible. Hynes couldn't play against Derry as it was part of the loan agreement.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge

Also mentioned briefly once before but I think that Derek Doyle would make a good striker- good in the air, has an eye for goal and is strong. I've never really been impressed with him as a winger so would like to see him get a run up top, especially considering we have been lacking an able replacement since Paul Byrne got injured.

---

I like him on the wing. McWalter is very much a striker who can play a bit on the wing. Doyle is a winger you think can play up front. I'm pretty sure which combination I'd go with if I had to pick. Frankly, we're shy a left winger at the moment with Doyle out long term. I'd still like to see Fitzgerald tried there. Hell, Pires was right footed, and he was just a **** striker who could dribble and dive a bit. ;)

I think we need a new left winger altogether.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

I think we need a new left winger altogether.

---

Ger O'Callaghan was left wing for the U-21s last season and was very impressive. Fran Moran has been playing there this season, however, but I don't know how he's doing. I've heard that he likes to showboat a lot- can't say whether it's a good or bad thing without seeing him play though. Anyway before I digress any further either of these should be given a chance before the end of the season to show what they can do as they are both promising players.

I think the key here, as mentioned by CTID, is that huge credit is due to Pete, the team, the college, Sherro et al insofar as we basically have 2 XI's we could name that could hold their own in the Premier League.

The fact that most of them are under 21 eligible is further credit to the guys and the system - remarkable stuff when you write down the 2 XI's that could compete in the EPL - we basically have cover in every position - not to suggest that some areas need improvement but huge credit to the organisation behind this assembly line of talent.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Poor Student

I think we need a new left winger altogether.

---

:eek:

If DIcker was still here he'd be playing for both the 1st & 2nd XI.