Republic of Ireland V Poland - Wednesday, 6th February 2013 - Friendly

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Originally Posted by mark12345

Sweden will kill us and we'll go demoralised to Vienna and lose to a late goal there

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Austria come to Dublin after we play Sweden.

Sweden seem to concede plenty of goals. 4 against Germany, 2 against England, 3 against Argentina last night. All decent opposition granted, but if we can stay some way solid hopefully we will get chances.

Delighted for Clark last night, he remains a really decent prospect. He's had to grow up and develop faster than most with his club situation but hopefully that will stand to him in the long run. Also delighted for Green who always came in for more criticism than he deserved in my opinion (probably down to his Championship status). I'd take him over Whelan any day.

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Originally Posted by p2011

Hoolahan should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Yet again, Trap didn't start him, and even brought on Green ahead of him.

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Whelan (apparently injured) had to be replaced. Green was the replacement for that role.
Maybe Hoolahan can perform that role better, I don't know. I think he's better working with 2 or 3 midfielders who will do much of the graft for him.

Yes, of course Hoolahan is the alternative to a second wasted striker and not to a holding midfielder.
Friendlies are for trying things out and what's to be learned by bringing on Green? Or Cox? Especially on the left wing where he has been unsuccessful so many times. And why bring on Hendrick so late and then Keogh so late? What's to be learned by giving them so little time? Either try them out properly or don't bother.


I'd like to see v Sweden:
Forde
Coleman Clark O'Shea Wilson
McCarthy Gibson
McGeady Hoolahan Doyle
Long

What we'll probably get:
Forde
Coleman Clark O'Shea Ward
McGeady Whelan McCarthy Cox
Walters Keane

Nothing to take from last night's game that we don't already know.

Forde's no Shay Given, McShane is a liability, O'Shea's better in the middle, Clark can comfortably play CB for us, Cunningham has potential, Brady is a couple of seasons away from senior level, Whelan goes through the motions, McCarthy goes through the motions, it's not happening for McClean, Long isn't get the game time he needs to develop, Sammon isn't a viable option.

As for the subs; Green broke up play and let somebody else use the ball as he is incapable of doing so himself, Hoolahan can pass the ball and improves the team immensely, Walters is a worker, Cox has no position in the team, Hendrick has potential, (Richard) Keogh is similar to St Ledger but has a head like Richard Dunne.

Trapattoni's not for changing.

Judging by the performance last night I expect a heavy defeat in Sweden and a draw against Austria. The Trappatoni era is relentlessly miserable. Cannot wait for his contract to end.

Lose 1-3 & 1-1 draw the next 2 results?

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Originally Posted by Straightstory

Judging by the performance last night I expect a heavy defeat in Sweden and a draw against Austria. The Trappatoni era is relentlessly miserable. Cannot wait for his contract to end.

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To be fair we were all over the place at the back 1st half and a better side would of scored at ease.
However 2nd half we picked up, whether that was down to the Poles giving up, team changes or tactical changes by us is open to debate.

It was easer for us 2nd half we had more time on the ball which may of flattered some of the players performances.

I think we can get a result in Sweden but to do that we need our senior players back and fully fit.

On the positive side some players got game time and a bit more experience and we did win the game, so not all bad.

To be fair if Roy keane & Paul McGrath were both 25 yrs old playin in the centre of midfield for Ireland now we'd still struggle. System is outdated and corrupt. Best passages of play last night were with the extra man in midfield. But as everyone has said he won't change & now it's just a waiting game for him to go. Spain in the euros will forever sum trap up for me, playin the best midfield in the world he saw nothin wrong with being outnumbered from the very start. Tactical genius. Only positive is new lads getting some moderate game time may help A new management team in the future.

What is the point of having an expensive Italian coach if we don't do tactics?

He does!

Just, they're from the Jurassic period...

It wasn't great alright and I don't hold out much hope next month (we'll lose in Sweden).

But that team, on paper, and the subs that came on is fairly extraordinary compared to this time last year. It's some turn around in personnel and there hasn't been a team like that for us probably since the Italy friendly in Liege.

Some benefit of the doubt then for the personnel who delivered a creditable result and some nice passages of play. A 2-0 result against Poland is never a complete loss.

Tactics will again be our problem. The good news is Trap has loosened his approach to personnel. One of this morning's reports also seemed to indicate Long will start with Keane up front next month, which would be far more positive from a harrying/link-up/out-ball point of view. But there's no doubt playing Hoolahan in behind would be far more preferable to 4-4-2.

Let's hope the manager at least sees Wes and 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 as legitimate options.

Personally I'd play Hoolahan behind Keane, play Long wide with a brief to link-up with Keane. We need Wilson fit because while Cunningham improved, he was caught defensively more than a few times. And McGeady won't help out nearly as much as McClean.

I agree with those who say it isn't happening for McClean, but he was very industrious and drove forward out of defence with the ball on more than a few occasions. His passing and distribution was poor though, but he's still not finished.

It's also a bizarre world indeed when David Forde is Ireland's number one. He finally showed the worst aspects of his game in an Irish shirt last night, and he is prone to a few of those on a bad night. Westwood is undoubtedly a safer keeper.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Austria come to Dublin after we play Sweden.

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Maybe he thought the players skipping the game and instead taking a holiday in Vienna might be a better way to boost morale.

Haven't been posting too much recently. But I felt I needed to share this.
Myself and my 6 yr old boy were watching last night, and when Hoolo was brought on Kingdom Jr got quite excited:

"I like Wes Dad, he can play football"

I really couldn't think of anything to respond with except smile, pat his head, and then grimace. Sums it up for me when a 6 yr old with a loose understanding of the game can spot a major difference in our team.

Purely as an observation, this period of transition might turn into something decent for us. We've had relatively* decent underage squads in the past, and scoured the globe for eligible talent, but we've not had the success, and not too many of those players making the breakthrough on a wholescale.
With a bit of luck, with the Under 19's last year, and the 21's having a good campaign, maybe more of them will start knocking on the door, and eat away at the weaker elements of our squad.

I don't really mind if Cunningham didn't do much last night. So long as he was competent, that will be enough for now. If we have himself and Wilson battling for one spot (with JOB as remote cover) then grand. Same on the opposite side, if we had Coleman and JOB as 1/2 grand. It means stop toying with the notion of JoSh as a full-back, and McShane as any kind of alternative.
The days of 1 injury being calamatous for the national side should have ended ages ago.

Plus it's as obvious as day that we need a new direction in terms of setup and tactics.

I'd be delighted with

Westwood
Coleman JoSh Clark Cunningham
McCarthy Whelan/Meyler/Andrews
Hoolahan
Walters/Long McGeady
Doyle

With a bench of:
Forde, Joey O'B, Sledge, Ward, Pilkington, Keane, Long/Walters

The only glaring problem with that team is the obvious small player in McGeady, Long, Wes and poorness of Whelan in the air.



*for a country whose sole intention is to farm out our most promising for a pair of tickets to a PL game and a hand shandy seemingly

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Originally Posted by geysir

Not even a back 4 of McShanes would have defended that set piece like that

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Don't tempt fate.

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In the second half we grew in confidence and deserved to win. And we had grown in confidence before Wes came came on. Probably that was due to Green, who had mobility, plugged a lot of holes and tried to get the ball moving forward on the grass.

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I've been thinking for a while (but not saying, lest I be tarred and feathered around these parts) that Green is a much less limited player than his performances for us suggest. Before Hendrick's assist for Hoolahan, his pass to send McClean through was the pass of the match, and he was unlucky that Szchesny read it so well.

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Originally Posted by p2011

Hoolahan should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Yet again, Trap didn't start him, and even brought on Green ahead of him.

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I'm tired of seeing this. Hoolahan is not a midfielder in the classic sense. He's a link man between midfield and striker and he cannot play in a two-man midfield. Not even Shels played him there. Green came on because he was the best replacement for Whelan - I complained at the time but I can admit that he had a good game when he came on.

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Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton

I agree with those who say it isn't happening for McClean, but he was very industrious and drove forward out of defence with the ball on more than a few occasions. His passing and distribution was poor though, but he's still not finished.

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He might not be finished but he is taking the rumours of his demise to heart.

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

The only glaring problem with that team is the obvious small player in McGeady, Long, Wes and poorness of Whelan in the air.

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Long isn't small, I don't know why people think he is.

There is an array of options available to Trap to make the best out of the 20 or so very competent players we have at the moment.

Going 4-5-1 against the Spanish might be like matching duelling a gun with a gun, but the Irish one resembling more of a water pistol. The Swedish, Ibrahimovic aside, don't have that mercurial array of personnel.

How threatening could a front-line of McGeady-Hoolahan-Pilkington playing behind Long be? Very, would be my answer. Playing Pilkington in a formation like this means there is a higher goal-threat in place and with Hoolahan off Long we have inventiveness matched with pace and toil; quite impressive, I feel.

We won't get that though. I think Trap sees Keane and Long as similar and playing Long last night was only to see how a replica of Keane would combine with Sammon.

Last night showed again how willing Trap is to sell us short. An outfield of Coleman, O'Shea, Clark/Dunne, Wilson/Cunnignham;Gibson, McCarthy; McGeady/McClean, Hoolahan, Pilkington; Long contains some very, very established Premier League talents. And the likes of Whelan, St. Ledger, Joey O'Brien, Ward, Keane, Doyle, Brady and Walters would only make it as far as the bench. Not a bad pick.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

I'm tired of seeing this. Hoolahan is not a midfielder in the classic sense. He's a link man between midfield and striker and he cannot play in a two-man midfield.

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And I'm a bit tired of being misinterpreted. Hoolahan is obviously a link man between two holding midfielders and a single striker. That is obvious to me and you, so give me some credit. He is obviously no direct replacement for Whelan. Where did I say he was? I've already cleared this up above too, and see the team I suggest!!!

Point is: Green wasn't even in the original squad, but is suddenly the first midfielder to come on. And Hoolohan came on quite late. Like I say, give these guys a decent chance or else don't bother at all. Anyway, we'll see what the Italian genius puts out in March....

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Long isn't small, I don't know why people think he is.

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I have him tagged as 5'9"/5'10", sure not midget like, but not huge either.

The point I'm making is that while I'm not doubting his ability to leap well for kick-outs, on one-to-one situations, but it's different for set-pieces around the box where in a bit of congestion the big man wins out generally.

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Originally Posted by p2011

And I'm a bit tired of being misinterpreted. Hoolahan is obviously a link man between two holding midfielders and a single striker. That is obvious to me and you, so give me some credit. He is obviously no direct replacement for Whelan. Where did I say he was? I've already cleared this up above too, and see the team I suggest!!!

Point is: Green wasn't even in the original squad, but is suddenly the first midfielder to come on. And Hoolohan came on quite late. Like I say, give these guys a decent chance or else don't bother at all. Anyway, we'll see what the Italian genius puts out in March....

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Green came on because there was an injury. If you agree that Hoolahan couldn't have plugged the gap Green filled, then there's no real point to saying Green came on ahead of him since he was called on to do a different job by necessity.

There was literally nothing positive to report about our performance last night from the first 25 mins. The ball given away cheaply numerous times, most notably by McShane and Forde.

As the half grew on, we played a little better, scored a decent goal from a poorly defended free kick but finished well by Clark. I thought Cunningham and McClean combined well on the left wing at times and were of the select few who tried to work the ball up the field.

Second half was alot better. McCarthy started to impose himself on the game somewhat better and saw plenty of ball. Green was an improvement on Whelan.

On the positive side:
More experience for Cunningham who in the absence of Wilson is an option at left back.
Forde did reasonably well. Some awful clearances and did not really look composed under a high ball but did make some good saves, notbaly the one on one in first half.
Introduction of Hendrick and Keogh. Hendrick in a short time played very well and a superb ball to create the second goal.
Hoolahan had some lovely touches, offers an outlet and took his finish well.
Clean sheet. Although after the first twenty minutes, the loose nervous Irish defence did not look capable of a clean sheet.
Clark - scored a goal and looked composed at the back, once we got past the first 20 mins.

Negatives
Set piece delivery and crosses in general were very poor
Trap subs continue to baffle. Leaving Sammon on when bringing off Long. Taking off Brady for Walters and leaving Sammon on.
Shane Long - a fine player who is rarely used effectively by Ireland.
The defensive concerns evident in the first twenty minutes.
Paul McShane - hard working but way to error prone.
Sammon - similar to McShane, hard working but some really heavy touches and didnt offer an awful lot. Should be noted that he got no service in the first half.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Green came on because there was an injury. If you agree that Hoolahan couldn't have plugged the gap Green filled, then there's no real point to saying Green came on ahead of him since he was called on to do a different job by necessity.

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Lord, the pedantics are out in force today.