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Brady gave out a very revealing statistic, JOS never once gave a pass to Duff at feet all night. How on earth do people criticise Duff for not doing anything when he's given no service whatsoever from his FB? If anyone on that flank needs to be dropped its JOS, our lack of footballing ability at the back is destroying us to build attacks.
Westwood
O'Shea Dunne St. Ledger Ward
Gibson Andrews
McGeady Duff Hunt
Walters
4-2-3-1
Hunt to help Ward
Duff to retain and link play.
I fully expect argument about the players in the line of three but formation-wise we need to have a go.
I'm surprised nobody has suggested Hunt in the centre yet.
Hunt in goal perhaps?Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I can't see a reason from our last 2 games, for O'Shea to play anywhere on thursday (apart from CM of course).
I can't see Trap making any sweeping changes, Gibson in for Doyle and dropping to a 4-5-1 would probably be it.
Wouldn't mind seeing McClean get a chance but can't see Trap taking a chance in such a big game.
Would love to see Long & McClean given the chance from the start but Trap got us this far being conservative and not hitting the panic button after one bad game.
We should copy Spain, ditch the strikers and play a 6 man mid-field
Would work well against Spain as man for man were are better them.
-----O'Shea---- Sledge ----Dunne ----Ward -----
Duff --Hunt-- Andrews-- Trap -- McGeady ---McClean
Not sure if Trap would be fit for 90 minutes these days.....
Give him 45, then stick Green on ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisRed
Joking aside we only lost because of bad decisions, indeed had the decisions gone our way there is a good case for saying we would
have won, but there is room for improvement nonetheless.
It'd be a bit of a throw back to '02 if Duff was to play in the centre. Possible option, McGeady could play there as well, as could Hunt. Maybe all three switching positions but surely too late for any change like that? Dropping in an extra midfielder is surely the easiest change but should it be done?Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Has he played there much? As I say, possibly 3 players could interchange in that role but can't see Trap adopting that approach.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I've seen him play full-back for Sunderland and have not been impressed. He has no distribution at all. I actually would agree that if he was to play anywhere, it'd be slotting in as an extra midfielder but again, can't see it happening. He's done alright CB under O'Neill as well but no place there.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisRed
Have to agree with that. Should Keane be dropped though? If he should be, will Trap drop him? I agree with the article in the S.Indo yesterday. If Gibson comes in for Doyle, I'd like to see Long or Walters possibly come in in attack.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Bad decisions did not help but I still don't think it'd have made much of a difference. Still though goals do change games so it's fair to question it. 1-1 at half-time, we could've looked at a different second-half. Trap wouldn't have needed to make some of the changes. Croatia seemed to have more though, the goal after half-time summed up our night.
Sorry, that's just deluded. We conceded a couple of fortuitous enough goals but the better team won. Most teams have a decent penalty shout waved away per game. We just didn't defend very well, that's why we lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
I agree that there is room for improvement. Lots. Almost as much as we gave Croatia in our own half last night.
Most important thing is not to give away anything stupid so early like we did against Croatia. Dont fancy us chasing a lead against Spain. First goal should be to get to half at worst 0-0 and then go from there.
Im not convinced Dunne, JOSH and Given are fully fit but all will probably play. I suspect Trap will make a max of 2 changes from the following:
Walters for Doyle
Hunt for McGeady
Gibson for Whelan.
The team which cheated the most won. If the CRoats had any decency they woudl agree to a replay.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
The player who should be dropped is Whelan. I watched the game again today and he played like he was running through treacle. Gave a pass away in the first half that allowed a Croatian a clear run on goal when under no pressure. He kept slowing down our play and turning his back on a forward pass and playing it back to the defense putting them under pressure. Something else I noticed was the defense stepped up a few minutes before we scored. Rather than passing to Whelan who to his credit kept showing for the ball we began to play directly from Dunne or Sledge to McGeady or Duff. Our two wide players came more into the game and Doyle and Keane started to cause their defense some problems. We looked like we might score again and then the defense started to drop deep again. Trap can clearly be seen having a few words with Andrews around this time. I watched the Sky interview with Trap and I didn't here him say he was contemplating changes. So it could be the same team starting again. Possibly with the only change being Keane dropping into midfield. That won't work against Spain. If we are going route one then it has to be Walters and Doyle. Not half hearted route one but 'classic' route one. Defending from the front route one. Playing for a 0-0 or hoping for a half chance and a 1-0. If we are going one up front it should be Long for his pace and ability to score against teams with top defenders. Bring Gibson into midfield with Keane also dropping into midfield.
I'd like to see this team. St Ledger, despite his goal, was not strong at the back at all and I worry about how he will deal with Spain. JOSH, assuming his fitness is okay, would at least offer experience at the back. His crap passing doesn't warrant him playing RB and Kelly is trusty enough. A five man midfield would at least tame the Spanish a little, and Gibson could push forward when he had the opportunity. Duff is one of the few players in the team who is well able to retain the ball for more than a few seconds so he gets another chance despite being poor Sunday.
-------------------------Westwood--------------------------
Kelly---------Dunne---------------JOSH----------------Ward
Duff------Gibson-----Andrews-------Whelan--------McGeady
-----------------------Long/Walters------------------------
All that being said, I have a sneaky feeling Trap will play the same team v. Spain.
Is Westwood definitely in?
Agreed that Duff needs to be played in the middle. Just like Yorke was in midfield for T&T and Giggs in midfield for Man Utd. Duff is our best footballer and he is more valuable in the middle. He looked good whenever he drifted into the middle on Sunday night. In fact, our team should have been built around him. I've been saying this for the last year at least. He's as close as we have to a Modric. And he has years of experience.
We don't need to waste Duff on the wing anyway when we have both McClean and McGeady.
Ward is a total liability and has to be dropped.
Walters needs to feature somehow as the Spanish centre backs really don't like that kind of striker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brine3
His goals per game compares favourably with some of our strikers!!
I thought Ward did fine.