I often wonder how so many people have such informed opinions about young players playing outside of the premiership....
I often wonder how so many people have such informed opinions about young players playing outside of the premiership....
I just hope this is the mantra that the rest of the fans keep up because its exactly what I've been saying. I just get the sense that everything he does is for a reason.
Look at it this way. Andy Keogh is held in a negative sense of esteem by the majority of fans. Why? Because of his poor performance in a position he had no experience of under staunton. He has played extremely well for both of his clubs (scunthorpe & Wolves) as a supplier of goals for the primary striker. But how many of our fans would realise that and offer some patience. Few I would imagine.
We as a body of fans need to be patient in this campaign, above all else. Because if it does take a season of trying to knot players together, I'm sure trap will do it as well as anybody can.
Agreed, too early to make any comment on his plans and he has achieved so much in his career to make a mess of it now. That said, making a silk purse out of a sow's ear comes to mind.
On the Columbia match, I would have liked to see Keogh and Long start, McPhail in the middle instead of Miller and hopfully see Scannell at some stage. But I'm sure Giovanni knows what he's doing.
Sky keep reporting that Damien Delaney will play in midfield. How is this so?
Bad reporting me thinks.
Oh and Trap says Keane can be our Totti. I really am liking the soundings of Il Trap.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/...anerobbie.html
From FAI website.
Republic of Ireland team (v Colombia 29/May/08): Kiely; O’Shea, Dunne, McShane, Delaney; Duff, Miller, Whelan, McGeady; Doyle, Keane (captain).
Miller again?! How many chances has he had to make an impression. Let us hope McShane has been working on the offside trap calls this week.
I did (in 2008 at least, he was never had a Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (unless you count Billy Sharp in League 1) before to make me realize his worth), but I'm a Wolves fan. I'm feeling very open minded about McGeady right now. If he excels in one game and does at least decent in the other (meaning Colombia and Norway) I see no reason why not to start him when Qualifying starts
TheWorm: I promise you McGeady will shine under Trapattoni.
I don't support Celtic.
I support Ireland.
Supposedly a new generation of Irish football and yet McShane and Duff are still involved in the team even though their form is the worst in the Premiership amongst the Irish players.
Really looking forward to see the attacking potential of McGeady, Duff, Keane and Doyle as a unit.
I bet you any money McGeady and Duff will not play on the wings for away games unless we have 3 in midfield
Anybody heading to this one then.I'm going to head down after work. Just have to work out times so I may tart early in the morning.Can't imagine I'll fit in a pre-match pint but hopefully get to the game.
Can't remember if there's a tube stop there. Must check that out. If I make it for a pre-match pint anyone got sugestions.
Cheers,
Brendan
As someone stated earlier, and without meaning to be pedanitc, could the OP please change the thread title. It's a common mistake, but it's Colombia, not Columbia. Even though no Colombians will read this, I just think it's respectful to get the name correct.
In fairness, its a common mistake due to the spelling of Christopher Columbus.
So, predictions for tonight?
I'm going for 2-1 Ireland
Trap will fix the problem at the back, for now, 0-0 or maybe 1-0 to us sneaking a goal in the last 15 minutes.
I'll go with another 1-1 with either JOSH or McShane making the mistake which costs us a goal. As for Duff he isn't the player he was but he is still putting in good performances for us but I'd prefer to see him on the left, is McGeady any good on the right?
I reckon another draw - 1-1. Doyle.
An Ireland win. 2-1 for me.
Does anyone have any idea how good this Colombian team is? How did they do in the last Copa America? have they started their 2010 world cup qualifying campaign?
3-2 Ireland in a thriller.
Or maybe a dour 0-0. :)
I think they might nick it. But, it doesn't matter. If we can see some good passing, and a solid team display, then that is fine with me. The Norway game in August might hold more importance. Not that this game doesn't matter, but the result does not.
Argentina 4 - 2 Columbia Thursday, July 05, 2007
Goals: Edixon Perea (10), Crespo (19, pen), Juan Roman Riquelme (34, 45), Jaime Alberto Castrillon (73), Diego Milito (90)
On November 17, 2007…Colombia won the match 2-1, obtaining 4th place in the world cup qualifiers.Ruben Dario Bustos and Dayro Moreno
From the Indo - Thursday May 29 2008
Trap door closing on Irish hopefuls
Giovanni Trapattoni has handed some of Ireland's fringe players the chance to impress against Colombia at Craven Cottage tonight
UNDER the previous manager the experimenting never ended but with Giovanni Trapattoni you sense that the tinkering will cease once proceedings conclude at Craven Cottage tonight.
The 69-year-old will take on Colombia with an Irish side that is unlikely to reunite for the business that really matters in the autumn. Read between the lines of the Italian's somewhat scattered English, and the resounding message is that experience will be a key factor in his selections for the World Cup qualifying campaign. This time around, the plan is quite simply a two-year one.
Aside from the old reliables, only prodigious youths with exceptional talent or elder fringe players who show an understanding of his system have a genuine prospect of involvement in Tbilisi and Podgorica in September. Tonight is arguably the last chance that some of his party from the last fortnight will have to prove they hold those credentials; August's trip to Norway should contain a few more familiar faces and less legroom.
So for the likes of Glenn Whelan, Damien Delaney, Liam Miller and Paul McShane, in addition to whatever substitutes are introduced against the South Americans, this is an opportunity which must not be sniffed at. The confidence shown in them by Trapattoni would suggest they are destined to be squad players at the very least during his tenure, but leaving a positive impression will do them no harm if they're looking for more.
"I've said in the past that you can't change five or six players in two months," said Trapattoni yesterday, speaking at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. "I don't want to change a certain amount of the squad.
"But maybe now, Miller, Whelan and Delaney have a chance. The experience in the qualifiers is very, very important. I need players with that personality. The young can give us power, they can give us energy but experience in international football is very important."
After 12 days in camp, with media duties on almost every one of them, there's only so much that Trapattoni can say right now that hasn't been said before. Repeatedly, he has stressed his happiness with the players who have been around for that time, and their growth in confidence.
Nevertheless, hanging over all of those platitudes is the reality that when Lee Carsley, Kevin Kilbane, Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Shay Given and, maybe, Steve Finnan, Andy O'Brien and Stephen Ireland come back into the fold then many of those who have worked with Trapattoni at close quarters in this window will be watching from afar come August. Some will return to the U-21s, the elder ones banished to the periphery. You can understand the frustration of those who didn't see any action on Saturday against Serbia, and may not do so tonight either given that the only changes to the side see Aiden McGeady and John O'Shea return from their club commitments into starting berths.
It drills home the point that Trapattoni is concentrating on building a functioning unit comfortable with each other rather than simply having a look at everybody. He's done all his monitoring on the training ground.
Instead, the little details that he is looking for ahead of this game relate to the tempo at which his team plays, with Trapattoni adamant that his side can still progress up the pitch a little quicker in more calculated fashion without simply resorting to hoofing the ball forward. He was vague enough in response to a question suggesting this game might give Ireland more attacking freedom as it's anticipated that the Colombians will be positive, but he seemed to be of similar thought.
"In the past, the defence of Ireland has been catastrophic and we need to work on that. But now we have an opportunity to look more confident in all areas. It's a different question, but I hope against strong opponents we can play better and be more assured.
"We want to go up front more, and we tried in the last game, Delaney got a lot of crosses in. We want more of that, but only if the opponent attacks and we have more freedom and more space."
With Robbie Keane by his side, Trapattoni attempted to clarify what role he preferred for his captain, making a comparison to Francesco Totti before reining back and asserting that while he wanted him to drop off the front man like the Roma star, he wasn't stating that they were similar players.
Keane quipped that he wasn't as good looking as Totti anyway, but intimated that he would prefer that kind of flexibility rather than simply being deployed further forward.
"At club level I do it a lot, and it suits me a lot better. As I said before, with Tottenham my role was a little bit deeper than my role was before with Ireland and I like that, it's my favoured position."
The 27-year-old acknowledges, however, that if such a system is to work, with him dropping off Kevin Doyle, then the two wingers will have to be of a high quality in terms of providing an outlet. With Damien Duff and McGeady in situ he is confident in that, and he has been particularly impressed by the improvement of the latter over the past 12 months.
"Ask any striker, to be alongside two wide attacking players like them, it makes your job a lot easier. I've noticed that Aiden is a lot stronger, a lot more mature compared to when he first came into the squad.
Fantastic
"He's been fantastic in the games I've seen him this year. People can say what they want about the SPL but what he's done this year is tremendous. He was a deserved Player of the Year and in any Champions League game I've seen him play, he's roasted the opposition full- back. He's getting better and better."
That's good news for Ireland and particularly for Trapattoni who has consistently stated that the Celtic youngster will be an important part of the jigsaw for the next two years. He's one of his chosen ones.
"When we have a certain 12 or 13 players in the squad, we can play against anyone," he asserts.
For those conscious that they are outside that number, this relatively low-key end-of-season friendly may yet prove anything but meaningless.
Ireland (v Colombia) -- Kiely; O'Shea, Dunne, McShane, Delaney; Duff, Whelan, Miller, McGeady; Keane, Doyle.
Looking up the squad on wikipedia they seem quite inexperienced. Only 2 have more than 30 caps and the only 2 I know are Guarin and Zapata. Are they in rebuilding phase? As a national team they have dropped out of sight a bit since the Valderama/Higuita days (though I gues they could say something similar about us!!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombi..._football_team
Good man trap dont ye love reading things like this. None of the crap from staunton saying we are building for the future blah blah blah. Can you imagine if staunton was still there now saying well its a chance to bring in some new players etc etc. Got love everything about The Trap so far. Couldn't be more positive and assertive.Quote:
"When we have a certain 12 or 13 players in the squad, we can play against anyone," he asserts.
Yeah - he's exactly what was required. Anything is possible with the right attitude and application. As he has continually stressed to the players "Remember Greece. Remember Greece".
The players have nowhere to hide now as I think we could have no issue with the new management teams pedigree.
His enthusiasm is infectious.