It should be possible for the OP to edit the title of the thread, just edit and go advanced.
Alternatively it could be left as it as as it might come in handy for the away leg :laugh:
It should be possible for the OP to edit the title of the thread, just edit and go advanced.
Alternatively it could be left as it as as it might come in handy for the away leg :laugh:
I think McGeady's getting a sore touch. He terrorised the right back for long periods and while his final ball wasn't always the best, it was better than is being indicated here. In particular I'm thinking about his ball for Keogh (which should've ended in a goal) and his cross at about the 75th minute which was put exactly where Robbie should've been - cept Robbie was static, hanging back five yards looking for a ball which wasn't on.
Understandably it's Andorra and, sure, there could've been a bit more - but cut him a break. He played very well tonight. Questions remain over how much protection he offers KK but those'll be answered another day.
McGeady had a great game. Got a bit sloppy in the last 20 but the whole team did. He at least was the only player who whenever he got the ball, went on the attack. Im far more interested in seeing McGeady losing the ball after making a run into their box then the midfielders passing it back to Given, him thumping it and andorra getting posession. Cut him some slack, seriously.
I agree mate and my English pal who watched the game with me couldn't understand why McGeady was getting a hard time of off Ronnie whealan who personally I've never heard of, my English mate thinks like a Joe Cole player but because the Trap goes defensive he gets stuck on the wing.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
And to be fair to the boy he was always coming in from the touchline into centre midfield to create something.
Fully agreed with all of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I agree especially with the ball along the 6 yard box that nobody attacked. One should have hung back, one should have attacked the 6 yard box. Both hung back.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
He put in a few floated crosses that were a bit wild, but my own view is that he wasn't perfect but showed he has something about him. I think that's fair.
My point is more to do with having a natural full back at FB than a centre half.Quote:
Originally Posted by John83
The crosses were not great but Kelly is at home along the wing. Josh is more and more a center half as the years roll on. He has bulked up quite a bit and for a wing full back he is just too wooden to offer support along the wing. We need a full back who romps up and down, gets on the ball and allows the wide midfielder more possibilities. Think of Carrs involvement in the goal against Holland away in 2000, or even Finnan at home. We need that fb support in our play. Both Lawrence and McGeady get little support from the full backs, they get outnumbered.
All in al,l I'd take Kelly at full back now and have Josh with Dunne at CH, tough on St.Ledger.
When Gibson came on, Green had to work double. Sorry to say, but Gibson will not now, nor for the near future, be a part of CM. At best he can play in front of the CM. He has a gorgeous touch, a level above the others, but zero workrate.
Really a case of going through the notions tonight. And by and large it was done well except for moments of sloppiness i.e. the goal, although it was a top finish by the Andorran lad. I am disappointed that Trap didnt use the occasion to put a few more of the younger lads out there, particularly when we restored our 2 goal lead. Not much to be learned from anyone tonight. McGeady is a very frustrating character, has oodles of skill, but the end product is by and large inadequate. I really hope he has a decent coaching team in Russia who will work on it.
Where do we stand ahead of the two big games next month?? Im not sure. We are playing reasonably well. Solid at the back, with the exception of left back. Two very very able strikers and good options in the wing in the shape of Duff and Lawro. CM continues to be a concern and is an area where we are unlikely to dominate against any mid to high tier team. What should we look for next month? 4 points? In a sense, a draw at home and a win away to Slovakia would be the best (albeit unlikely) combination.
Also, interestingly I think Armenia's very good result (and unlikely not to win) tonight away to Macedonia really shows that they are no mugs and credits our win there last Friday all the more. The fact that they have got a result tonight is good for us as well as it keeps them interested in the group for their upcoming games against Russia and Slovakia.
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/mat...ort/index.html
Job done, could have got a few more goals, but I'm happy the only thing we lost tonight was the toss. 6 hard games coming up before we play the busmen and binmen again next year.
If you're in the States, replay is here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Retitled, crap split here, aidanho suspended, obviously.
EDIT: Not his first time, so banned.
Good for the first half hour, poor after Doyle's goal.
Given - 5 Dodgy when called upon which wasn't often. Clearences were poor. He's obviously suffering from lack of practise.
O Shea- 6 Could have came forward a bit more
Dunne -7 Solid
St Ledger- 7 Solid
Kilbane- 7 Good goal and didn't notice any mistakes. Good by his standards
McGeady 5- He beats players and then doesn't have a f*cking clue what to do. Showed flair but crossing was awful. Good play before the 3rd goal though.
Green-6 Better than the Armenia game
Whelan-5 Didn't think he was great
Lawrence-6 Ok but wasn't as good as last Friday
Keane-7 Well taken goal. Could have made better runs but was ok
Doyle -8 Smashing goal and good all round play
Subs:
Gibson -5 Poor.
Kelly -6
Keough -5
The atmosphere, yet again, was ****e. Good to see the creche in the corner didn't get to have their Mexican wave. Why no replays in the TV screens btw?? Are they going to be used purely for ads?
they never show replays in the ground incase of a poor decision by officials.
Very harsh rating considering he set a goal up in the second half, caused havoc down the wing in the first half especially and actually did put the ball into a dangerous area on a number of occasions, only nobody managed to get onto the end of anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by MeathDrog
Maybe there's a UEFA stipulation to avoid potential controversy and so refs won't be tempted to consult a replay on screen in order to make a decision.Quote:
Why no replays in the TV screens btw?? Are they going to be used purely for ads?
Lawrence did some good work for the second ball and supplied the corner for the first, McGeady did well beating his man a few time but often he does nothing with it afterward, however he did put in a good through pass for Keane. Doyle has a good game and scored a quality goal, Given didn't have much to do. Joe Hart didn't have a great game for England, a few fumbles apparently.
Replays of key decisions and goals are banned. Don't know if it extends to entire games as well, (if it does it's a very recent thing) but I was happy the screens were closed to the fans tonight, which allows everyone concentrate on the game.
What absolute rubbish.
I would have given him 6 for his first half because he did look dangerous but nobody got on the end of his crosses because they tended to go too far.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
Christ we are terrible to watch. Doyle is great in the air but I can't stand long ball after long ball. I won't be complaining should the results keep up but I can't see us beating Russia or Slovakia with this approach. We're not THAT bad that we must play this way, are we?
Better game than I expected, to be honest. Really took the game to them for the first 20 minutes; hounded them early, played it quickly, gave them no time on the ball, won it back quickly, scored early doors. Andorra came back into it but we got a second at a nice time. Their goal was a superb strike; the booing after it was over the top though - ridiculous to boo the player for that, and ridiculous to boo the team for conceding a goal like that. Sounded like a load of barstoolers who aren't used to poor teams having the temerity to produce one spark of magic.
Game died after the third goal - not surprising, if also not entertaining. Thought McGeady was awful - yes, he terrorised their full-back, but what bloody use is that if he runs the ball straight out of play? The single most over-rated, I don't get the point, player we've had since John O'Shea. Now in fairness to O'Shea, he's finally been justifying his reputation in the last couple of years and has been excellent. I hope McGeady does that in the next couple of years, but for now, I think Bluebeard's post is the best description of him so far.
Atmosphere was decent enough in the singing section, especially for a game against Andorra (with all due respect to them). Granted, I'd say that gets lost in the ground cos it's relatively small.
really?... an untried (and yet to prove himself with wigan) mccarthy and a.n. other???? give the two lads a break. none of our ctre mids are setting the world alight but are still doing a decent job all the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy Garcia
Was watching a stream from Egypt but the crowd really did sounds like the 12th man again at times. I'd imagine there was a lot of folk there who don't normally go to games cos we were sure to win this one.
few points on last night. O'Shea must have gave the ball away every time he made a pass. Green also gave the ball away a lot, he dosent really offer much atal. McGeady is very frustrating, brilliant one minute but his final ball is still poor but hes still one player who could be a matchwinner yet. I think whelan didnt really get stuck in cause of the yellow card so not to bothered with him. Overall 6 points is vital and we have them so on to the russia game, we have duff, andrews and will hunt be back??
They were probably booing St. Ledger who was caught ball watching and playing for offside. He hadn't a clue that there was a player lurching on the edge of the box ready to strike the ball. He redeemed himself somewhat by quickly intercepting a smart set-play from Andorra in the second half but if St. Ledger was doing his job as he should, Andorra would not of scored, wonder strike or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
McGeady's first instinct when he gets the ball is to beat his man. Look at how he moves his feet when he gets the ball - always shaping up to beat his opposite number. There's no doubting he is capable of doing so but it's of zero value to the team unless there is an end product. He needs to evaluate and pick the best option for the team when he gets the ball. He could certainly learn from watching Duff.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Hunt is expected back mid-October, so we wont have him till the March games sadlyQuote:
Originally Posted by Duggie
I was the far end of the ground, which is where I heard the booing. I didn't see exactly what happened other than that it was a great strike (I was very low down in the stand, near the pitch). If they spotted that from 100 yards away, then fair dues. And even then, I think booing is over the top. Sh!t happens, get on with it. We did, scored within ten minutes and won the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
Well I know there were booing the concession of a goal rather than St. Ledger ;). And yes the strike should really have gotten applause rather than boos.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
But looking at the goal again St. Ledger isn't doing his job.
Haven't actually seen it properly, but as you say, it should have been applauded rather than booed regardless.Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
Everything else has been covered in previous posts. I see McCarthy has been mentioned a couple of times. In terms of missed oppertunities, I actually think we're missing Meyler more than McCarthy in the centre of the park. Tailor made for trapps expectations of his central midfeilders. There's no good time to get injured but his was really bad timing given what was availible to him...
is it certain that andrews will come straight back in for green? will andrews see much action between now and the next games with blackburn, looking at the last 2 games green didnt offer anything IMO. he lost the ball so many times in both games.
Meyler is more a central midfielder in the Trapattoni mould than McCarthy. Trapattoni has already made up his mind on McCarthy. If McCarthy is to come into the squad it will be as a wide midfielder. Chris McCann is another player than would have been useful to us if available.Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
Hopefully. International football is simply a step up too far for Green.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggie
Never heard such a poor rendition of the Irish anthem.
Without the "singing section", support would have been very poor but then I suppose it was hard "to get up" for a game you're supposed to win by at least 3.
Didn't hear much booing except of the Andorran who faked injury. Definitely no Irish player was booed or the team.
Happy enough with the result though Green disappointed again.
Surprised Doyle got man of the match - performance way down on Armenia. not helped by the tall Andorran centre back clattering in to him most of the evening.
Kilbane had some great opportunities to overlap but didn't. Orders from the touchline?
Given punted the ball forward too much - again orders from the touchline? If we can't play through Andorra what hope have we got against the better teams?
Top of the group - I'll take that with the worry that we have yet to beat one of the major sides at home under Trapp.
Trap said something really Sarcy about McCann last year. Something along the lines of everone was calling for him to call up McCann, but when he went to watch him he only touched the ball 4 times... or something to that effect.Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
I have no problem with McGeady in that team, apart from some sloppy play in their half and faded out in the last 20minutes. There was a change made from Friday and the ball came his way. Trap will be well pleased by McGeady's performance. The positives vastly outweigh the negatives.
Which one?? Jayzus they were a shower of bitches... I would have at least under stood it if it was late in the game with fitness being a factor, trying to buy a breather, but it was all game.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Agreed. I had just said to the wife before Keanes goal that I'd like to see McGeady come inside a bit more. It's sweet when non commital comments like that bare fruit!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
i can forgive mcgeady for his final ball not been as good as the rest of his game, he has a touch of class we need so ive no problems with him. he did set robbie in for the goal in case we forget, the only fecking through ball he got all night!!! his service was very poor overall.
Completely comfortable win, and never looked like a different story at any stage.
I think once we'd got the early goal, and realised how poor they were, we relaxed, too much probably, and let them have the ball with no real pressure until they got inside our half.
Wonder-strike apart, they never looked like scoring, so 3-1 with no injuries or cards (I think) is a decent nights' work.
I sometimes think that Trapattoni sets up his team the same for every game so that players are absolutely sure what their roles are, where they should be and what they should, do with the ball, and without it. So we might only beat Andorra 3-1 at home while a more attacking strategy could have got double that, but when we go to Russia and Slovakia, we're a tighter unit as a result of being totally familiar with the formation.
That said, if that is the idea behind playing the same formation every game, I'd have expected Whelan and Green to have been more combative in midfield, regardless of how comfortable the game was.
Strange if he did say that because our central midfielders are not inclined to touch the ball under Trapattoni's leadership. Unfortunately for McCann he's been injured for quite some time now and doesn't seem to be able to shake off what's troubling him. Doesn't bode good.Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee