Italy V Republic of Ireland - Wednesday, 1st April 2009 - World Cup 2010 Q

I was really impressed by the Ireland team, many will say that they played against 10 men etc etc, but Italy are a good enough team to combat against that. Players are much fitter these days than they used to be, so it is not really a huge advantage.

The Italy goal was disappointing to concede, I think Trap has finally seen the true McShane and Keogh. They were a little out of the depth during the first half, but one has to say McShane was quite good going forward at times.

The Subs were of genius proportions. Trap seen that Keogh was struggling, he could have easily stuck on midfielder to replace him but no, he seen that Chiellini and Cannavaro were completely dominate over Doyle and Keane and with Folan's arrival, it released Keane and Doyle but manily Keane as he was dropped back into a playmaker role in front of the 3 midfielders. Ireland now had a control over the middle of the pitch even if they were not creating too much, they were able to retain possession of the ball. Also, the full backs were providing the width for team, effectively making 5 players in the middle v Italy's 4 with O'Shea and Dunne patrolling Iaquinta.

Andrews was doing OK and Trap needed someone to take the ball and spread possesion about the place, so put on Gibson and he did the job, he brought a spark to midfield that some seem not to noticed. N Hunt replaced Doyle cause was a bit ineffective, and brings on Hunt to liven up the attack and tire the Italian players, which in the end caused the mistake.

Fantastic match and a very good result sums it up for me. We dominated the game from start to finish and on the balance of play probably deserved to win by a couple of goals. That said a draw away to Italy is a more than decent outcome and sets us up for our crucial game against Bulgaria with group very evenly poised between Bulgaria, Italy and ourselves. Thought Italy were awful. Couldn't pass the ball, had very little penetration other than right full and didn't boss the game like I feared they would.
One thing that stood out for me above all else tonight was the character all the Irish players showed. They showed a great amount of determination in everything they did whether it be to close players down, win a tackle or pass the ball. Everything they did was done with conviction and determination. Not sure I've ever seen an Irish side as motivated as this side were tonight. Hugely impressive. Thought Trap's substitutions worked very well and he was brave to do them early. His side went out with a good attitude and reminded me of the way Martin O'Neill's Celtic sides used to go out bursting a gut to get the result.
Analysis given by Dunphy there at the end was just silly. We displayed huge courage there and tactically we got it right. As someone else mentioned he had that script written this morning. Looking at Dunphy to be honest I have a feeling he was willing us to lose. I thought Giles analysis was very good though and we can criticise the way the team performed on Saturday. Thought the way he cut through the bull of some football cliques was spot on also. I do accept the point though that no matter how much freedom or whatever you give the likes of McShane it is his lack of ability which hinders him. Calling him a failed manager though is harsh. Anyway too much talk on RTE's analysis
Given 6 - Nothing to do. Loved the attitude he set in sprinting for the balls when it went behind.
McShane - 2 Horror show at fullback. Ball in behind him caught him out time and again. Showed a bit of heart to get forward well but didn't deliver much. One incident where he let ball go out for a throw in when all he had to do was run onto a pass summed up his lack of technical ability.
O'Shea - 7.5 Was lucky not to give away a peno for blatant shirt pulling. Apart from that though he was his usual self in an Irish shirt since Trap has taken over. Good hunger, got on the ball a bit and defended well
Dunne - 8 Put in one crunching tackle where he should have been penalised. Got on ball well, what he did he did well
Kilbane - 8 Most of their attacks went down other flank so didn't have that much defending to do. One decent effort and a couple of good crosses also. Boucned back well from weekend. Strong character
Hunt - 8 Tried the same trick of looking for a fowl again and again but it worked more often than not. Was afraid he was going to get sent off but I really like his workrate and will to win. Could have done better crossing the ball but had huge workrate.
Andrews - 7.5 Had an impressive 55 odd minutes. Passed the ball well and probably unlucky to be taken off. Encouraging
Whelan - 7 Got one or two good tackles in. Good determination to push his teammate out of the way to continue pushing forward with the ball in the second half.
Keogh - 3 Was mainly at fault for their goal where he fell asleep for a couple of seconds. Wasn't good on the ball for his 20 odd minutes. Felt sorry for him but apparently he has good aspects to his game from central positions which we'll see soon enough
Doyle - 6 Worked hard but to no real avail. Cannavora had the better of him mostly. Was very surprised to see him being taken off but it probably worked though I would have fancied him for that chance at the end
Keane - 7.5 Linked play well at times but would have liked to see him push a little further forward and not play alongside our two central midfielders so much. Good finish though could well have had another.
Folan - 7.5 Pleasantly surprised. Did well with ball at his feet, closed them down very well, set up two very good chances for us. Isn't as slow as I thought
Gibson - 6 Passed the ball decently. Crossed the ball poorly. Looks a more confident player for us than a few months back though
Hunt - 6.5 Worked very well. Great tackle after his introduction. Could have had a goal near the end and think he may have had one if he wasn't so knackered after celebrating Keane's goal

The King of Tallafornia strikes again, did it against the Germans 7 years ago, does it again now vs the World Champions... absolute legend!

Just realised, this continues Ireland's record of not losing a game when Robbie Keane scores! Go on, that lad!

A lot of talk about Italy being down to ten men but all the post match analysis seems to forget that we did play tonight without our two wingers.

just talking to a guy from san marino on msn who was at the game he thought whelan was very good but didnt believe andrews offered much.

Got the point I felt we would get, it looks a beautiful stadium, compared to the kip that hosts our next game, and we haven't lost a competitive game now for 18 months.

It's a real shame Benitez didn't show the faith in Keane that Trap does.

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Originally Posted by irishultra

just talking to a guy from san marino on msn who was at the game he thought whelan was very good but didnt believe andrews offered much.

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oh - ok, good. I was waiting for that very insightful update. I'll be able to sleep tonight now.

I think Trap showed his worth tonight. The game changed dramatically for us when Folan came on and we changed formation. It's obvious now that he is only cagey when we are winning or in a tight game. When the chips are down and he needs to change tactics, he will. I couldn't get over Gilesy going on about us playing like Bulgaria played on Saturday....maybe it's because both teams were chasing the game. You're going to play different when you're 1 ahead than one behind.
Also, this team has fu cking balls. They stuck at it to the end and got what they deserved, in fact we should have won.
Hats off to Robbie for being the king of kings and hats off to the boys in the stands for putting on a great show of strength

a quote from the end of the irish independent article...

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One trick Trap? Ireland could have won the damn thing. The Irish fans were drunk with delight.

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gave me a chuckle. :D

full article here: http://www.independent.ie/sport/othe...e-1695065.html

Not much to be added as most has already been said.... but what I was most impressed with last night was our determination to do the right thing and be patient.

When you are playing against 10 men from an early stage in the game and conceeding so early it is very easy to get caught up and go Gung Ho, ending up making silly mistakes and possibly conceeding or go down to 10 men yourselves. Time after time we recycled the play or tried to get the ball to the winger (the crossing wasn't great unfortunately), very rarely did we have an audacious frustrated pot shot from 30 yeards out. This is a massive indication of a well managed and tatically sound team, for a squad without a true captain (sorry Keano) it shows maturity and teamwork.... something which can be the great divider in football.

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Just realised, this continues Ireland's record of not losing a game when Robbie Keane scores! Go on, that lad!

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Love Keano and delighted for him.

Great result, great spirit, but can't ignore the luckiness! A very, very harsh sending off and the early goal from Italy which FORCED us out of our shell!, substituion Bingo from Trappatoni with a long ball getting him out of grief for the awful decision to start Keogh and start him on the right side with McShane behind.....1-0 Italy !!

Trappatoni copped on eventually to what I have said in here MANY times, you cannot afford to have McShane on the right wing, much less risk to have O'Shea out there and McShane beside Dunner.

We only started playing like underdogs when we went 1 down. Maybe Trappatoni should be kidded in to believing we are 1 down before every game?

We really did get out of jail but it was great to watch, especially when Hunt went past three or four Italians leaving then stranded and bemused.....absolute gem.

Much more respect today for Hunt's have-a-go attitude, he really has no fear, a shame that some of his crosses were dreadful.

We really need to get a more settled side with attacking options with some freedom just to play football. And, we need to consider Reid and Carlsley etc. before the home game v Italy. No reason we can't top the group if that is done.

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Originally Posted by jebus

Chipper owner on the way back from the pub wasn't happy with Lippi for leaving out Cassano and thinks Santon should be brought into the first team. He also said that Ireland deserved it and it wasn't a red card (which is true). Might not speak for the rest of the country though

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I mostly agree with your chipper owner, well Santon actually played the day before in Holland with the Italian U21 team and I think it's still a bit early for a call from Lippi anyway

As for the match, people here are unhappy with the final score but praise the defence once again for their good display despite so much pressure and the initial handicap. I think Ireland was disappointing in the first half and improved much in the second. I agree with most of the things you wrote here. I am sorry for Pazzini, he's the most exciting local talent at the moment, since he was released to struggling Sampdoria in January he scored 8 goals. With Cassano he form a lethal attacking pair. Lippi's decision not to call Cassano (who's from Bari) explains part of the poll result (agree/not agree with Lippi that the ref was the cause of Italy's problems)as most people think he could have changed things and deserved a call anyway (in particular when Camoranesi, Toni, Di Natale and Gattuso are unavailable). But this is another story, the link between Lippi and his son's players agency is notorious

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Just realised, this continues Ireland's record of not losing a game when Robbie Keane scores! Go on, that lad!

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Love Keano and delighted for him.

Great result, great spirit, but can't ignore the luckiness! A very, very harsh sending off and the early goal from Italy which FORCED us out of our shell!, substituion Bingo from Trappatoni with a long ball getting him out of grief for the awful decision to start Keogh and start him on the right side with McShane behind.....1-0 Italy !!

Trappatoni copped on eventually to what I have said in here MANY times, you cannot afford to have McShane on the right wing, much less risk to have O'Shea out there and McShane beside Dunner.

We only started playing like underdogs when we went 1 down. Maybe Trappatoni should be kidded in to believing we are 1 down before every game?

We really did get out of jail but it was great to watch, especially when Hunt went past three or four Italians leaving then stranded and bemused.....absolute gem.

Much more respect today for Hunt's have-a-go attitude, he really has no fear, a shame that some of his crosses were dreadful.

We really need to get a more settled side with attacking options with some freedom just to play football. And, we need to consider Reid and Carlsley etc. before the home game v Italy. No reason we can't top the group if that is done.

I think that game would have suited Stephen Reid, he's a much better version of Gibson, but also has Andrew's robust qualities. When is he due back does anyone know? Is the Bulgaria away game too soon for him?

If Trap is going to use Folan as a impact sub for his stature, he should seriously think about Delap to supply the ammunition when we are chasing a game. Can you imagine at 0-0 against Italy in Croker with 15 minutes to go and bring on these two guys. Think it would strike fear into the Italian defence.

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Originally Posted by Scram

Love Keano and delighted for him.

Great result, great spirit, but can't ignore the luckiness! A very, very harsh sending off and the early goal from Italy which FORCED us out of our shell!, substituion Bingo from Trappatoni with a long ball getting him out of grief for the awful decision to start Keogh and start him on the right side with McShane behind.....1-0 Italy !!

Trappatoni copped on eventually to what I have said in here MANY times, you cannot afford to have McShane on the right wing, much less risk to have O'Shea out there and McShane beside Dunner.

We only started playing like underdogs when we went 1 down. Maybe Trappatoni should be kidded in to believing we are 1 down before every game?

We really did get out of jail but it was great to watch, especially when Hunt went past three or four Italians leaving then stranded and bemused.....absolute gem.

Much more respect today for Hunt's have-a-go attitude, he really has no fear, a shame that some of his crosses were dreadful.

We really need to get a more settled side with attacking options with some freedom just to play football. And, we need to consider Reid and Carlsley etc. before the home game v Italy. No reason we can't top the group if that is done.

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Italian defence was uneasy all night mainly because of Hunt , culminating in Grosso's yellow card. Stephen will lose the ball and some of his crosses were not up to scratch but the plusses far outweigh the less positive and was probably our Man of the Match last pm

http://www.gazzetta.it/Fotogallery/T.../01/cas/01.jpg

Lippi check your FaceBook inbox, you have a friendship request from Cassano

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Originally Posted by smasher

Italian defence was uneasy all night mainly because of Hunt , culminating in Grosso's yellow card. Stephen will lose the ball and some of his crosses were not up to scratch but the plusses far outweigh the less positive and was probably our Man of the Match last pm

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I wouldnt be hunts biggest fan but credit where it is due after his performance last night.

lads anyone else think noel hunt scored ??