I would agree with this. The irritating thing is we know Long is capable of incredibly clinical finishing, he just doesn't seem to have the confidence to do it consistently.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks
Still, it's hard to escape the fact that from our last four games, we've drawn two, lost two and only scored two goals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theonewhoknocks
link?
Please god he goes to Germany
Depends on the club he goes to. Hopefully whether he goes to Germany or stays in England, he's at a team where he's playing first team football and is encouraged to distribute the ball well.
No stick, think most people are pointing out this was a typical Long performance - great leading the line, poor in front of goal. His finishing tonight was no different to other nights - it's just you were at the game and enjoyed it. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I hope, and expect, we can back up this performance with a couple more like it. Our friendly form under Trap was weak at the end but over the years even his sides pulled out some relatively similar positive displays.
Funny the German interest as always thought he had a "Germanic goalkeeper look" in the Kahn mold....Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
My favourite line from Ray last night was in relation to an Irish break downfield.... just imagine George Hamilton saying this :Quote:
Originally Posted by colonelwest
"And he's off, like a cheerleader's dress on prom night!" :rolleyes:
I think we will back up this performance against Costa Rica and Portugal. At this moment in time I would be leaning towards a midfield of McCarthy, Hoolahan and Gibson. I think Stokes has to come in up front alongside Robbie with Long coming off the bench. Replace Ward with Wilson at left back and we have the makings of a team.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
And a few more
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Most of them taken in Australia, I guess? :p
As I suspected no one has mapped the correlation between italy first 10-12 mins and montilivo breaking his leg? italy tempo completely changed after that. If this were a proper qualifier or world cup game or euro game they would have beaten us no problem.
Ward is so sh1te tho. He really is. poor hoolahan too small and weak. longs chances last night were very difficult and he should have had a pen. In a qualifier it would have been a pen.
I thought meyler was whelan for a while with all the back passing thought when italy tried he was by passed and should have got more stuck in. good atmosphere and good crowd which was nice to see.but I won't read anything into this game. Italy clearly had their minds elsewhere and mainly not getting injured. We badly need to finish the few chances we create tho
And right on cue Paul O'Shea shows up burst everyone's bubble and sanctimoniously point out that we're all ignoring what really happened.
Weren't Italy very much understrength? Therefore the majority playing last night are unlikely to start in the WC? Why, then, would they focus more on protecting themselves instead of putting down a marker in a rare chance to impress their manager? I very much doubt remaining fit enough to sit on the bench in the WC would be those guy's priority.
The commentators and pundits on Setanta made constant reference to the correlation between Ireland growing into the game and Montolivo's injury also. Of course it's a factor worth considering, but Italy still played well in spells after that and certainly didn't appear half paced to me, but it was a friendly at the end of the day. I think everybody accepts that.
I'd say they rather sit on a bench with the hope of making an appearance than lying down with a broken leg on the couch watching on TV.
Yes Paul, it was a completely binary choice. Either sit on the bench or get a broken leg.
I think too much is made of Hoolahan being small and weak. Was he small and weak when he bustled Motta off the ball and put Long through? Agree about Ward to an extent. He could have a good game for 85 minutes but he is always capable of making a rash decision. Agree too about Long. People seem to take a perverse satisfaction in him missing chances. You would swear he is on a goal drought but he has only went two Intl. games without scoring. Meyler already looks an improvement on Whelan, not that that is asking for much.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
You have a point about the correlation between Italy's drop in tempo after Montolivo's injury. Montolivo and Aquilani both got injured in the space of twenty minutes. It would be naive to think that didn't have a lot to do with the success we had.
Not to take anything away from the performance - it was superb - but let's see if we can repeat it against Portugal, a side that regularly struggle against smaller European teams.
I think most fringe players would put the opportunity to impress well ahead of the perceived additional risk of getting hurt. By your logic the WC qualifiers would be better off not organising any pre-tournament games.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
It's actually more than that - Italy haven't named their final squad as yet, so many of the players were actually playing for their place on the plane. So no reason at all to doubt they were well up for the game. Given we were also missing players, it's definitely a decent performance from us.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean