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there are a vey good side outside of the stars in the team some fine players likes of zryanov,semshow,pogrebniak,that fella at everton is handy aswell don't ask me to spell his name, keeper is solid despite the odd howler here and there, I think as a team they are the biggest threat..Then again Wales only lost 2-1 in moscow and probaly could of got a result
he can hardly be called solid if he does howlers here and there surely!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by briancool21
well same can be said of david james overall 99% of the time solid good keeper but there's always that 1% that's what i meant
I actually can't understand why they allow them for any top class football. I believe the pitches do cause injury and offer a distinct advantage to the team who regularly use the plactic pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
The team it would give me most pleasure to knock out would be Portugal. I cannot stand Quiroz and would love to hear his excuses after they dumped. That said,they are the team I would fear most if Ronaldo was fit and if the ref is i any way weak
Is Ronaldo likely to be healthy? Maybe he will come back and aggravate that ankle. Tricky injury.
To be honest, on our day, we can match any of the seeded teams.
Russia were beaten twice by Germany and Germany are no great shakes. Obviously Arshavin is the danger man.
France are only half a team without Zidane.
Portugal are a team of average players apart from Ronaldo.
Greece are long ball merchants. Dunne and O'Shea should deal with that.
Dunne wasn't too convincing under the high ball against Montenegro. Often let the ball bounce after going up for it, assuming that there was no one behind him. Did that a lot in the 1st half, and eventually you will get caught out doing that. could be an issue to be addressed if they play a team like Greece.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emmet7
All the seeded teams have struggled with form, that's why they finished second. Yes if they were playing well we might fear them. But I don't think they are.
The French manager is something of an idiot and unpredictable. Ronaldo is hardly ever as good at international level as club level. The Russians couldn't beat the Germans which should give us belief. On paper they look like tough games as on paper any game against France Russia or Portual should.
But we beat the Portuguese before with a Roy Keane goal and if anything that was a much better side with Figo and all those players. We ran the French close under Kerr. And we have beaten the Russians before.
If we go in fearing the worst, we probably won't do ourselves justice. We cannot be beaten before we leave the dressing room. And we have the players. Damian Duff isn't afraid of any defence and has played with Chelsea. Robbie Keane has done it time and time again against the big countries. Dunne, Given, O'Shea, won't be phased by the big countries.
That was a 1-1 draw.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emmet7
Again though, what do you think they are saying about us? We beat Georgia and Cyprus only and got pummeled by Kangaroo ranchers in a friendly. I mean Im all for us coming out on top but they are definitely licking their chops for a crack at the Irish. When was the last time we beat a good team? I dont even know.
That game finished 1-1. You might be thinking of Andy O'Brien's goal that beat them 1-0. But Figo wasn't in that gameQuote:
Originally Posted by Emmet7
We drew 0-0 and lost 1-0. Repeat those results and we're outQuote:
Originally Posted by Emmet7
Yes we have. Once. In 6 encounters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emmet7
And we've never beaten them in a competitive game.
Against France I would think playing a similar approach to the Italian games would be the right idea. At home I think we would need to set the game to a high tempo to start with. Even though McGeady and Duff dont have as much end product (crossing) as I'd like I think them running at the French full backs could generate set pieces for us. It's likely thei full backs will be a combination of Evra, Clichy, Abidal, Squillaci. These are reasonable players but they are not brilliant at tracking back and defending. Similarly the center backs will probably be Gallas and Escude, looking at some of their previous games a big physical striker might cause the French problems (Zigic of Serbia certainly did) so having the option of throwing Folan on might be good. The French goalkeeper is (in fact all of the seeded goalkeepers are) a weak link. Mandanda and Llloris are not anything like as good as Coupet. Llloris has a tendancy to rush out and either conceed a pk or get lobbed, Mandanda is not good at positioning and often is making last gasp dashes back to tip shots over. Ribery and Gourcouff are the danger men but if we can be disiplined and tell our full backs to stay tight would could restrict them. Henry is a danger upfront but Domenech doesnt seem to rate Benzema and plays Gignac and Babfemi Gomis instead, they are ineffectual and this is good news for us. Domench could be our saviour, there was a feeling that the French were finished 4 years ago but Zidane galvinised the dressing room and performed heroics on the pitch, without him they've stuttered and stumbled across in most matches. We have a real chance against the French and I'm confident Trap will play an effective system should we play them.
Against the Portuguese we would need Ronaldo's injury to keep him out of the first game (seems likely) and restrict his mobility in the second. Should this happen we would need to keep shackles on Simao. Danny is badly out of form at Zenit and we should be able to contain Deco (not the force he was at Barca) and Nani. Eduardo, Beto and Quim are all poor keepers and again the wing backs are very attacking (Pepe, Bosingwa etc). They can be beaten tactically, as Sweden and Denmark proved i know Sweden drew 0-0 in each game but that was down to profilgate finishing rather than good Portuguese defence.
Russia would be a game of immense magnitude. Hiddink would be a much tougher match for Trap than the other 2 coaches discussed. Arshavin in the finest player amongst the play off teams (esp given Ronaldo is now probably missing for at least one of the games). Strikers like Pogrebnyak have a lot of pace and are monsters in the air. Their wingers (Torbinsky, Denisov - sometimes operates on the wing, Shemshov and Bystrov) have pace and tricks in abundance. Dzagoev is a very creative player and always tracks back. In the holding, defensive role, they can play Semak or Zyrianov, both of whom are very good at reading the ebb and flow of a game - they have a knack of making that deadly run into the box at just the right time. If there is a weakness to Russia it's at the back, the Berezuitski twins and Sergei Ignashevitch are strong hardmen but they are prone to lapses, Kolodin is probably their best center back but even then there is a mistake in him. Akinfeev is inconsitent one day superb the next prone to the occasional error (like Baku the other night), I'd like to see the likes of Whelan and Duffer try him from long distance to test him out early on. Russia would the game I would dread, but sometimes you have to climb the mountain early on.
wonderful post cfdh_edmundo
well researched, thought out and backed up.
The 1974 3-0 win was a competitive match. And while it's a long time ago, hopefully it will inspire the current crop of players.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
If the Irish management team are worth their salt they will be studying videos of previous games of the team they are playing and identify their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
interesting view from the french media
http://soccerrepublic.eircom.net/New...ew-France.aspx
Beat them as the USSR 1-0 at Lansdowne in 84. Mickey Walsh scored a cracker.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Great post cfdh_edmundo;
I like the optomism for France & I agree that they are badly managed and less than the sum of their parts, that said Henry & Benzema are match winners on their own, as we seen in Lansdowne when we looked pretty comfortable, 1 chance and it's good night. Can we contain them for 180 minutes..probably not, can we score twice... possibly...
Similar for Portugal but they appear to have found their form at the right/wrong time, I can't see us winning over 2 legs. Russia would be a disaster, infact basically if we don't get Greece I will be writing off our chances.
Quote:
Originally Posted by endabob1
what exactly has Domenech done to be labelled a c*** manager?
Wasn't he in charge when they got to the last World Cup Final?. I'm not saying he's not s hite but what's gone on?
You dont watch much international football then:(Quote:
Originally Posted by Den Perry
His squad/team selection is bit bizzare. Benzema has only started both Austria matches and the home match vs Serbia, apart from that he's just been a sub, coming on in the last 15 mins home to Romania, (Gignac started that match), sub in both games with Lithuana (Luyindula was starting). Ribery was benched for the Faeroes (away) and Romania (away) matches. I would guess most coaches would play these players if they were in charge of France. He doesnt seem to have the ability to change things if France are struggling, I know they came back from 2 down in Bucharest to draw with Romania and 1 down to draw wither Serbia in Belgrade, I didnt see the former but watched the latter and France never really changed their rythm and were very lucky to get a 1-1 draw, by all accounts it was the same in Romania.
There are also reports of problems with the players (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...h-1783437.html) also the French press was saying there are problems between him and Diarra / Real Madrid over releasing players. I think he is poor coach who makes bizzare decisions, and only the strength of the squad has saved hime so far, France have enough quality to put in a good performance despite being hamstrung by Domenech, but I would argue that Italy are significantly stronger and we matched them so there is no reason why we should be too fearful of the French.