Originally Posted by
Jicked
It really isn't too surprising. In trap's mind, and I agree, Reid simply can not play in that position for Ireland. Yes he can float in a lovely cross, his ability from set pieces is great and he has plenty of other good attributes. But he is not a winger who has pace, can beat a man or willing to get up and down that line all day long. He simply isn't, and he'd admit that. So Trap's choice is to change the style of play we've worked on for a year if he put Reid in, or perhaps ask Anto Stokes to play slightly out of position, though he does have the attributes of pace and the trickery to get down the byline. Yes Reid is the better player, but picking Reid would change the whole set up.
Personally I'd have Reid in the squad as cover for the CM positions in case we're chasing a game late on, and I'm pretty sure the reason he isn't at least in the squad for that is to avoid the constant speculation and moaning about Andy not being pulled from the bench earlier, it would create a very strange atmosphere both during the match and in the week before with the press. But bemoaning Stokes getting called up ahead of Andy Reid is, in Traps eyes and considering the way we play, like saying its terrible Andy Reid wasn't called up to replace Finnan. he simply doesn't play that position.
