Ireland V Sweden(A) 22 March & Austria(H) - 26 March 2013 - World Cup 2014 Qualifiers

Forde - 8 - Our man of the match. Looked really assured.
Coleman - 7 - Really solid performance. Sound defensively bar one mistake. Made a few clever fouls, and looks comfortable on the ball further up the park.
O'Shea - 6 - Quite a quiet game actually. Did nothing wrong, but can't remember him standing out. That said one of the best forwards in the world was kept quiet, so he must have done some things right.
Clark - 7 - Made a lot of good blocks and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. I liked the look of him now, for Ireland and Villa.
Wilson - 7 - Really good defensively. We might finally have replaced Denis Irwin with this guy.
Walters - 7 - Having his physicality in midfield was of real benefit in the end. Did well helping out Coleman, especially considering he mainly plays as a forward these days.
Green - 7 - OK, I admit it. I was wrong about this guy. Worked really hard, did well, and deserves to stay in the team for Austria.
McCarthy - 7 - Didn't have Green's work rate, but he is clearly a quality player who can pick a pass.
McClean - 6 - Works hard. Poses a threat and helps the full back well.
Keane - 7 - Worked hard for the team, but was running out of steam when he was subbed.
Long - 6 - Not a huge threat, although he became a bit isolated. Should have scored.

All in all a fabulous team performance, with the emphasis on team.

Brady nailed in the post-game: we played very well but we will still struggle to beat Austria because we lack that bit of quality to create chances, that bit of quality Duff brought. I was very impressed by Hoolahan's cameo - I would love to see him have 90 minutes, but I also recognise Keane is still our most important player. Tough one.

Very happy with that point. Goalkeeper and back 4 excellent. Green did his job really well apart from a few erratic passes. MOM between McCarthy and Forde.

Gatusso is player like Green.

Even is his broken English, Trap made a cracking point about McCarthy in the interview.

He is clearly a fabulous player technically, and physically he has more of a presence than he used to have as a young man. But at this stage of his career he really needs to start puffing his chest out and really commanding midfield, in the manner that the likes of Roy Keane, Stephen Gerrard etc have done down the years.

Just for Liam Brady, fair fcks to Trap for getting whatever 11 he put on the pitch to give their all and get some unexpected but fully deserved result at the end.

Was completely wrong in my forecast of the result, well done lads!

You went for an Ireland win, no doubt?

I got my clock cleaned betting on Colorado but im glad to see we got a point here and our Brasil dreams are still alive.
Thanks for the ratings, i wish you would all do ratings.
Extend Traps contract? :D

Absolutely delighted with the performance. Macca and Green were excellent in the centre (was totally wrong about Green per-match), all of the defence were excellent, Keano did his job to perfection, as did Long, while McClean and Walters brought a physicality to the wings.

Still think that the Swedes could've been beaten tonight and perhaps if our lads had better form and belief, they might have really gone for the 3 points. In some ways, the game on Tuesday is the bigger one - a win there and we are in the mix for second, anything less and we probably need to beat Sweden in Dublin and the Austrians in Vienna. I think a place has to be found for Wes Hoolahan in the team, but Trap will have a headache,as on tonight's performances neither Robbie or Long deserve to drop to the bench.

My prediction is that Paul Green will serve at least two yellow card suspensions in this campaign, and will be very important for us. He has usurped Whelan tonight, and any midfield going forward will consist of, in order of Trap's preference, 1) Andrews 2) Green 3) McCarthy and 4) Whelan.

I think the team will take huge confidence from today and will be much more confident than at any point in Trap's reign heading into Tuesday's game with Austria. Unfortunately, we absolutely have to win, and it will be a true test of character for us to do the job. Remember that Germany only beat them narrowly and that we tend to struggle against modern, quick, passing sides. It will be a tough, tough game but I believe we will win it.

I also think the introduction of Hoolahan was a real leap of faith and watershed moment for Trap. I believe that if Keane is absent in future, Hoolahan will take his place in the starting line-up.

disciplined, organised performance. the only blot was not having a shot on target, but that's the drawback of playing one up front.
Coleman was my man of the match, but it could have gone to most of the starting XI and it would have been justified. Think McCarthy's yellow card will come back to haunt us.

Anything other than a win against Austria will negate this result, so it's time to get back behind the team on Tuesday night.

Trap in.

I think Whelan's time is up and I also hope O'Shea is kept at CB instead of back to RB where his distribution had been awful in recent times. We look a lot more coherent with Green and Coleman in those positions.

Trap should get a lot of credit for tonight, the Green marking job on Ibra and Keane's hassling of Elm and Kallstrom was key to nullifying their threat. The call on Forde and Walters also worked out. I liked the way our formation fluidly turned into a 4-3-3 at times during the first 20 minutes. McClean looks a little out of place but with Aidean back it could be a formation to build on. While still 4-4-2 it's a lot more flexible.
I do find it hard to see why Trap wanted Whelan in the team or what he thinks he adds but he got off the hook with that one I suppose.

Okay. What did we really learn tonight? We learnt that, when Ibra doesnt show, Sweden are a very average side. We learnt that 2nd is achievable for us, sweden or austria because we are all approximately equally average. Trap made the right decisions around selection to enable a draw. Mission accomplished. Very good team performance and i believe the draw was the aim before the game. The defence was superb. Forde shone, Coleman was my motm and in Clark we have a gem. Wilson and O'Shea were solid. McCarthy was an accidental masterstroke, Green was poor and shouldn't be in a team that wants wins on the board. He's good enough to get us draws. McClean was hit and miss. Walters was okay. Keane was ineffective from an attacking sense. Long was excellent and p!ssed Olsson off all night.

Anyway, trap went for the draw and got it. Well done. If this makes him a genius as some have proclaimed then were all in trouble. It's going to take a lot more than a 0-0 in Sweden to make up for a 6-1 home defeat to Germany. Sorry. Trap out.

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Originally Posted by SkStu

Okay. What did we really learn tonight? We learnt that, when Ibra doesnt show, Sweden are a very average side. We learnt that 2nd is achievable for us, sweden or austria because we are all approximately equally average. Trap made the right decisions around selection to enable a draw. Mission accomplished. Very good team performance and i believe the draw was the aim before the game. The defence was superb. Forde shone, Coleman was my motm and in Clark we have a gem. Wilson and O'Shea were solid. McCarthy was an accidental masterstroke, Green was poor and shouldn't be in a team that wants wins on the board. He's good enough to get us draws. McClean was hit and miss. Walters was okay. Keane was ineffective from an attacking sense. Long was excellent and p!ssed Olsson off all night.

Anyway, trap went for the draw and got it. Well done. If this makes him a genius as some have proclaimed then were all in trouble. It's going to take a lot more than a 0-0 in Sweden to make up for a 6-1 home defeat to Germany. Sorry. Trap out.

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Bit harsh, Green was effective in the role he was asked to play in, and didnt do any worse than the rest of the midfiels

True. But he is limited. His passing continues to be erratic.

So no disagreement with the rest of my post? ;)

I haven't changed my opinion about Trap that much either. I still think he shouldn't be manager. It's taken him a long time to make changes to personnel and tactics and I still think the answer to "Could someone do better with the players we have?" to be "Yes".

Beating the Austrians is the next step to changing that opinion. He's also going to have to manage a win over the Swedes in Dublin, presumably, to get that 2nd place. Beating higher seeds is something Ireland under Trap have yet to do, so its no easy thing to expect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkStu

Okay. What did we really learn tonight? We learnt that, when Ibra doesnt show, Sweden are a very average side. We learnt that 2nd is achievable for us, sweden or austria because we are all approximately equally average. Trap made the right decisions around selection to enable a draw. Mission accomplished. Very good team performance and i believe the draw was the aim before the game. The defence was superb. Forde shone, Coleman was my motm and in Clark we have a gem. Wilson and O'Shea were solid. McCarthy was an accidental masterstroke, Green was poor and shouldn't be in a team that wants wins on the board. He's good enough to get us draws. McClean was hit and miss. Walters was okay. Keane was ineffective from an attacking sense. Long was excellent and p!ssed Olsson off all night...

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...and that Trap has more form than the.......http://z5.ifrm.com/5902/57/0/e14534//e14534.gif.......the trainrobbers!

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Originally Posted by The Fly

...and that Trap has more form than the.......http://z5.ifrm.com/5902/57/0/e14534//e14534.gif.......the trainrobbers!

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Didn't one of them enjoy an extended stay in Brazil?

In Trap we trust!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkStu

True. But he is limited. His passing continues to be erratic.

So no disagreement with the rest of my post? ;)

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A little, I wouldn't describe ourselves, Sweden and Austria as "equally average". I haven't seen anything of Austria yet, but they've already failed to win in Kazakhstan, so in that respect, we have a slight edge on them. I don't think Long was "excellent", I don't think he was bad, but equally he has played better. Probably lacking match sharpness. I don't think Trapattoni is a genius, but neither do I think he's as bad as he's being portrayed at the moment. Other than that, no disagreements.