Player ratings v Wales

I know it was a meaningless game (anyone else hear the Sky commentator say it had been a 'lively friendly' in the first half!) but I thought we could maybe have a bit more discussion on how the lads performed today.

My view...

Given 8 (where in the name of God would we be without him?)
Kilbane 6
O'Shea 5
McShane 5
Finnan 6
McGeady 7.5 in first half, 6 in second half...maybe 6.9 overall!
Reid 7
Carsley 7 (was a proper defensive midfielder, several times when Wales hoofed it clear he was back to pick up the ball and get us back on the front foot)
Miller 3 (dreadful)
Doyle 8
Robbie 7 (but his running was excellent, close to an 8 if finishing was better)

Anybody else?

Off Topic - Congratulations to Scotland, who deserve every credit for a wonderful campaign (we could learn a lot from the way they get performances from average players) and to NI - I thought they had totally run out of steam but that was an excellent result for them tonight.

eh yea, Stephen hunt. Kinda made an impact when he came on - like an 8.5 type impact. agree with the above ratings except: McGeady was quite good - more an 8 in my book. I thought carsley was excellent - also an 8. given gets a 9.

Completely forgot the subs - think Hunt served about a 17 when he came on, I absolutely love that scruffy fecker, always looks like he is desperate to do well and work for the team. I'd love to see him starting but I'm actually starting to think that he might have Solskjaer Syndrome, he's so useful he might actually be better as an impact sub. He deserves to start but is that the best thing for the side?

McGeady was brilliant until the Welsh lad started to figure him out, which he did after about 40 minutes. He was good on the ball and I think it was his best game for us, but after seeing how awesome he was against Benfica in Celtic's last CL game I expected him to give the lad an absolute nightmare for 90 minutes, and I think he faded as the game went on. Promising though, the inherant optimism in me (I remember predicting 6 points in Eastern Europe after the Denmark friendly...) is starting to flare up again in advance of the 2010 draw next week.

Given 9
Finnan 6
Kilbane 7
McShane 5
O'Shea 6.5
McGeady 6.5
Miller 4
Carsley 6.5
Reid 6.5
Doyle 8
Keane 7

Hunt 8

IMO.

Given: World class saves to keep us in it
Finnan: Poor for the opening goal, but improved after it
O'Shea: Solid, if unspectacular
McShane: Bad positioning led to the penalty, but probably still going to be Dunne's defensive partner
Kilbane: Won the ball well in the air, but needs to work on positioning
Miller: Said it before the game, he's not a right winger. And he proved it.
Reid: Played the ball around well when he was in space, but he was closed down well by the opposition
Carsley: Did his job well, without ever really excelling
McGeady: Probably his best competitive display for Ireland, deserved a goal
Keane: First competitive away goal since Holland in 2000
Doyle: That goal in Slovakia really started his season, he hasn't looked back since

Subs
Hunt: Argument to be made that he should have started, and McGeady on the right, but again showed his worth as an impact substitute
Potter: Not enough time to make any real difference to the game

Given 8 - excellent
Finnan 5 - caught out for Wales goal
Kilbane 5 - made a few errors
McShane 4 -caught out for pace and positioning
O'Shea 6 - didn't do much
McGeady 6 - bad delivery, but worked hard
Miller 4 - just poor
Carsley 5 - invisibly man
Reid 6 - poor passing throughout
Doyle 8 - goal and assist, what more can you ask for?
Keane 7 - nice finish - poor heading again though

Hunt 6.5 - yes made an excellent start, but he then ran around like a headless chicken. Rarely even tried to pass the ball to somebody else.

If Stan was in charge you would all be saying that performance was a disgrace. We just drew with a side made up of Championship and League One journey-men. Once again the Irish team under-preform. Perhaps nobody cares anymore.

we do care Philly. We just want to retain some dignity while we tuck this campaign away to the archives...

Why did Miller start out wide? I think Reid is useful in the centre but seeing as that was probably the strongest 11 available surely Reid is more versatile and would have been a better wide man.

I would have put McGeady on the right, Reid on the left and Miller through the centre.

Mind you I'm not the Ireland gaafa....

in case u didn't know

Given 8
Finnan 5
Kilbane 7
McShane 5
O'Shea 7
McGeady 6.5
Miller 5
Carsley 6
Reid 6
Doyle 8
Keane 8

Hunt 9
I thought we played well ut looking through the Welsh team, was Koumas the only Premiership player??? They really are dreadful IMO.

Why cant we ever hold on to a lead. How many times in the last few years have we conceded late goals??

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I thought we played well ut looking through the Welsh team, was Koumas the only Premiership player??? They really are dreadful IMO.

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I laugh at all the comments here about how poor we supposedly are because we don't have a lot of great individuals.

A quick look at Northern Ireland will tell you you don't need fantastic individuals to be a decent team. Also, we were missing players (Bellamy/Bale) and Davies, Collins and Gabbidon are Premiership regulars, as well as Koumas.

Given: God help us when he retires - 8
Finnan: Not his best day, but he has performed over years and one mistake doesn't change that - 6
O'Shea: Solid. No terrible errors, this time - 6
McShane: Dreadful. Naive on the peno. Looked lost otherwise. The next manager needs to be looking at the alternatives. - 4
Kilbane: Not bad considering still learning the position. did enough to keep the no. 3 shirt - 6.5
Miller: Didn't look up to much played wide. Taken off and rightly so. I stress though its not his position, and i don't blame him. - 5
Reid: I still have doubts over his fitness. Didn't stand out as poor or particularly good - 6
Carsley: Did his job and did it well. A typical Carsley performance - 7
McGeady: Our most threatening outlet over the 90 minutes - 7.5
Keane: Worked hard, great finish. I really don't understand the stick he is getting. Shouldn't be captain though - 7.5
Doyle: Good performance. Super finish. Has a good understanding with Hunt we ought to be exploiting more - 7.5

Subs
Hunt: Changed the game when he came on. Didn't stop running. created a goal with his first touch. Man of the match - 8
Potter: Not on long enough to rate

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Originally Posted by Cymro

I laugh at all the comments here about how poor we supposedly are because we don't have a lot of great individuals.

A quick look at Northern Ireland will tell you you don't need fantastic individuals to be a decent team. Also, we were missing players (Bellamy/Bale) and Davies, Collins and Gabbidon are Premiership regulars, as well as Koumas.

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Im not basing how poor ye are on the players that were available, though this has an effect. Im basing it on the performances in the campaign and Wales have been pretty awful apart from away to the Czechs and Slovaks. Granted for the most part we have been little better than you.

I think Shay was good but only the deflected header was a top drawer save. Neither of the Koumas shots would have beaten a half-decent keeper in my opinion.

Miller can't even stand out in mediocre company. I accept he was wide right but Ireland plays wide right too and is better. Givens was right tom pick Reid centrally in my opinion, Miller was simply filling space.

Despite the frustration I still think there's not much wrong that a good central midfielder like a fit & confident Steven Reid wouldn't sort out. We were decent upfront, decent out wide and ok at the back, bar individual lapses. Andy Reid is good on the ball but if he had a strong partner who demanded the ball and who could carry it with his head up I think the team would improve quite a bit. The most important functional position in the team is where we are desperately short.

Having watched the replays today of the goals it's clear to me Carsley should have tracked back with Koumas for their first goal. He starts to jog and then stops...... Poor defending for the second with McShane's lack of pace exposed.

As Stuttgart says we lack a central midfielder, a young Roy Keane would suit this team nicely. Let's hope S Reid starts getting game time at Blackburn, stays fit and is ready for the friendly against Brazil. A top quality centre back to partner Dunne is also required, no offence to O'Shea, McShane, O'Brien but they don't fill me with any confidence. Our defence looked 'suspect' all day long and were Bellamy fit we could have gone away with no points. Fair play to Wales, a lot of young lads plying their trade in the Championship/League 1 and they didn't bottle it.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Neither of the Koumas shots would have beaten a half-decent keeper in my opinion.

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Thank you, I had been going to say that.

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Originally Posted by backtowalsall

Finnan: Not his best day, but he has performed over years and one mistake doesn't change that - 6

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WTF have his performances over the years got to do with yesterday? He inexcusably turned his back on the cross for the first goal. For that alone he deserves no more than a 4, and because I hate to see such pussy behaviour I'd give him a 3. Fair enough he's been great over the past few years for Liverpool but I felt like punching him yesterday. Stephen Kelly used to get up to similar tomfoolery but he seems to have improved a lot in that regard for Birmingham this season. I can handle McShane being a bit headless at times but when someone doesn't try put their foot or body in the way of the ball I get uncharacteristically angry, and I don't like that feeling at all. It's ok now though I feel better having said that. :)

Put Jason Koumas into our side and then it'd be a different story. I honestly think that. An athlete who can play football.

Thank God Owen Garvan will have another year before the action starts again. Can anyone speed up Jamie McCarthy's ageing process?

McShane's promising start is a distant memory now I'm afraid. I'd have O'Brien and O'Shea well ahead of him right now.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Can anyone speed up Jamie McCarthy's ageing process?

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Best bet would be to get Barca to sign him, they might fill him with HGH a la Messi.

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Originally Posted by kingdom hoop

He inexcusably turned his back on the cross for the first goal.

For that alone he deserves no more than a 4, and because I hate to see such pussy behaviour I'd give him a 3.

I can handle McShane being a bit headless at times but when someone doesn't try put their foot or body in the way of the ball I get uncharacteristically angry, and I don't like that feeling at all. It's ok now though I feel better having said that. :)

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McShane jumped out of the way of the long range shot in the second half, turned his back on it. And it was a shot he ducked, not a cross.

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Originally Posted by Paddy Garcia

McShane jumped out of the way of the long range shot in the second half, turned his back on it. And it was a shot he ducked, not a cross.

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Fair enough, I can't remember seeing that. Regardless, my point with Finnan stands, he was two feet away from the ball and instead of trying to block it he turned away. Whether his team mates were up to similar shenanigans or not hardly exonerates him. Remember one of the Wales lads (Robinson?) in the first half launched himself at a shot, getting hurt in the process, but it showed his desire and bravery. Are we a bit soft I wonder.