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Huge loss. Not sure that Holland is fully fit.
Delap has had a good pre-season.
Kav would have to play a blinder v Cyprus to warrant inclusion.
Shay
Carr
Kenny
Andy
O'Shea
Miller
Reid
Kilbane
Duff
Lee/Connolly
Keane
Miller and Reid could trade places as needed.
No holding midfield player would cause huge problems for the defence though.
Come on Matty Holland, get those fitness levels back up.
I suspect you're right there.
It raises the question about Duff playing upfront again, but other than that it'd be a pretty good side.
sorry, I was referring to Irwinsalegend's selection. You beat me to the response Peadar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
given
carr
cunningham
o brien
finnan(o shea has been playing badly for over a season now and has done little for ireland)
reid
miller
kilbane
duff
r keane
morrison/connolly/lee (there all sh ite but i`d leave duff in midfield instead of up front)
hopefully beat cyprus and get atleast a point in basel
I was disappointed yesterday when i heard the news, but our best friendly preformances were without Roy, i.e Brazil and Holland, plus its not like two years ago when we were a one man team, Cyprus at home no excuses 3 points, swiss away we should still edge this one but only just, Are they weaker than they were last year? you would have to think so, plus their two strikers are missing, I hope Kerr has a plan for Hakin Yakin this time around. my midfield would be
Reid, Miller, Holland, Duff
Does anyone know when Holland is offcially back from injury, and was Miller left out last night Man U v Bucharest because Fergie considers him a first choice 11 for saturday and he was blooding youngsters instead??
I think we have a little bit of scope to experiment against Cyprus, though i dont by any means think they should be taken lightly. I agree with Irwinsalegend about Miller's form; he's a good prospect but i havent been bowled over by really any of his performances yet, for Ireland or ManU.
Personally i'm a big fan of Kavanagh, and i think he should get the nod for Cyprus. Not necessarily at Holland and Killer's expense though-
I think i'd go for a 4-4-1-1 formation to start, with Duffer switching between the wing and up front.
Given,
Carr, Cunningham, O'Brien, O'Shea/Finnan
Reid, Holland, Kav, Kilbane
Duff
Keane
I know some of yous hate the idea of Duff not being on the wing. I can see where you're coming from. However i think that this is our strongest 11 and that everyone can be accomadated in it. If you're putting a gun to my head then i'd bring in Morrison, and move Duff back to the wing in place of Holland or Kilbane- a major factor being Holland's fitness.
Losing Keane (Roy) is not such a calamity as it would have been a couple of years ago. We have plenty of cover in midfield. I'd be much more worried if any of Robbie, Duff, Kilbane, Cunningham or Reid were unavailable.
We got to the last 16 of a World Cup without Keane and with a much weaker squad than we have now. The current squad should get by Cyprus and Switzerland with or without him.
Agreed.... is it my imagination or does Given look like he's been eating the pies? :rolleyes:Quote:
PS: based on the 20 mins I saw last night Shay & Carr need to pull their socks up
Maybe it is to do with his illness but then again i am not expert on this sort of thing but it may have something to do with it
I doubt it. I believe he had conjunctivitis. To my knowledge this does not cause weight gain. Pie-eating, however, does.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
To be fair the mood in the Newcastle squad must be shocking!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
They boys will probably be delighted to get over to Dublin for a few days and then away to Switzerland.
Ha ha! Have to admit i thought he looked at little, ahem, 'portly' on the box last nightQuote:
Originally Posted by Greenbod
what kerr should of done over the last few friendlies is try o'shea in midfield as what ferguson is trying to do at utd. whether he'll give that ago in the cyprus match is another thing. if not i'd want to see Kavanagh (Being a of bullish character and also a good passer (a cheap roy keane)) and Holland if fit. If not maybe kilbane in the centre with miller and reid on the flanks.
I dont know were people are getting the perception that miller will play centre for ireland. I wouldnt even have him in the starting eleven yet. Hes proved nothing. Give him time then put him in. kilbane and holland if fit in the centre.
At least the real Keane looks to be on his way back having come off the bench for Spurs last night. IMO Robbie much more importnat to Ireland.
Lads, if Holland isn't fit, either Delap will play or Kavanagh will play the holding role. We are just handing the match over to Switzerland if we don't play a holding midfielder. Only one team in Euro 2004 played without one, England, and they were second best against everyone (Swizz dominated for an hour until they went down to 10 men). I will eat my hat if Sven doesn't play Butt in the qualifiers after watching their performances.
Fr. Murphy, IMO the reason O'Shea played in midfield was because Fergie didn't trust him at centre back.
While the loss of Keane is a blow, hes no where near as important for us now as he was even 2 years ago. The most important members in our squad is Robbie as far as im cncerned, without him upfront we are useless. Cunningham and Duff are also atleast as vital as Keane in my opinion. Our team is far better now than it was when we played Switzerland last time. 3 of their senior players have retired since the European championships and they were first choice players. Frei the keeper, Chapuisat a striker and Celistini a midfielder have all retired, in addition to Frei the striker who will be banned for the first two matches, the latter being against us. An extract from an article on the Euro 2004 article " The retirements of Stiel and Chapuisat will have a major impact on the Swiss team. Stiel played a leading role on and off the pitch as the team captain, while Chapuisat is arguably his country's best-ever player. He won 103 caps and scored 21 goals after making his debut against Brazil in 1989. " Frei was banned due to spitting at Steven Gerrard during the Euro's. Also take into account theyll probably have one or two players injured, its very rare any international team manager gets their first choice eleven on the pitch. Hopefully Keane will be fit for the France games, we should beat Switzerland over the two legs no problem. If you think about it we played absolutely dire football in the last campaign and still had a chance to qualify in first place if we had beaten the Swiss in the last game, dosnt say much for them or Russia does it. Lets not kid ourselves, Ireland have far better players than the Swiss, i think were paying them far too much respect.Central mid is one of the positions where were not exactly short of players, id expect us beat Cyprus comfortably and get at least a draw with the Swiss. Robbie made his comeback for Spurs yesterday and Duff i read in the indo that Duff is expected to play for Chelsea this weekend.
Jesus if O'Shea is not an international class CM I cringe to think what Holland and Kilbane are.Quote:
Originally Posted by tiktok
That midfield you have up there is about the worst you could possibly select from the players available. You've got Duff up front which means straight off you don't know what you are talking about and the 2 players in the centre can't make a 5 yard diagonal pass.
If O'Shea and Andy Reid were on an opposing team to Kilbane and Holland in central midfield, Kilbane and Holland would be passed off the park.
What Holland and Kilbane are, are proven international class players. What O'Shea has proven to date in international football is that he's not yet up to it. If you were capable of an objective view you would see this.Quote:
Originally Posted by carnstien
Oh and btw, Kerr will probably play Duff up front and ignore the outcry from experts such as yourself.
If he does he's as bad as McCarthy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenbod