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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carrigaline
Reid is definitely not a box to box midfielder!! and he is definitely not a ball winner either which is what need in there.
I'm not disputing that Reid has qualities but real managers can't just pick the 11 best players, he has to think about the team and at the minute Trap is obviously sacrifricing Reid for the greater good of the team.
If Reid was to play, maybe Duff and McGeady wouldn't get as much freedom?
Johnny is a mere 68 years old, I've seen fresher looking 80 year olds.
I always knew Golf wasn't a sport.
well said. i agree totally.Quote:
Originally Posted by KildareFan
everyone is getting carried away about this. we have had a poor selection of midfield players since RK left (the first time). if we had a world class central midfielder then perhaps things would be different but we do not. granted Andy Reid is a decent player but really is only a middling premiership player - if even that.
Trap obviously doesn't think he can play the disciplined role he wants his two central midfield players to play. he doesn't want a player spraying the ball from the middle. he has identified our wingers and front two as our best options for scoring goals and wants two players to stay in the middle and protect our defense. simple as that really.
the two on wednesday (lets be honest neither top players) had a role to protect our defense from the pace and penetration of the cypriot's going forward. they achieved this, when they had possession they were to give the ball to our atacking players. they did their job, were disciplind but not flamboyant. if we had a strong enough midfielder to do both he would probably play but in fairness i think Trap has identified how he wants us to play and he now wants players to stick to the game plan.
Where did you hear this because I'd assume Trap wasnt happy with his reasons for missing the end of season get togther and had discarded him. I dont think he would have added much on wednesday but he could be crucial in some of the big away games, but only if we switch to 4-5-1. You can see the job he did at Everton from the way they have been conceding this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
It was in the press a while back.Quote:
Originally Posted by RiffRaff
Just like he was open in the Irish Times today - Trap's exact reasoning behind Andy Reid's ommission. You may or may not agree with it but at least he is answering the question and I believe him when he says he is above having vendettas against players.
"Look, I know how your game . . . last month it was (Stephen) Ireland, now it's Andy Reid," he said when asked about the player. "But I want to clarify this. Even in Stuttgart, I always played players that were needed in that particular moment, I always looked at the team's interest.
"Andy Reid? Ireland? I have nothing against any player. They are all like my children. I just look at the balance of the team and try to give it a solidity that can give us hope for the future. Sure, I can make mistakes but I don't have anything against anybody."
Warming to his theme, the Italian managed to damn the Dubliner with fairly lavish praise, comparing him to some pretty big international stars, Ronaldinho among them, while still making it clear he is not what is required just now.
"I just want a solid team with a good balance that plays international football," he said. "Like this table, with its legs, you have to be solid. Andy has very good qualities but not necessarily what we need. It's not that it should be a problem for Andy Reid. It's about the team."
Reid, he continued, might well come into his own if Ireland can get to the stage where they are dominating games but as long as the likes of Cyprus have the capacity to come to Dublin and make life difficult for their hosts, as they did in the second half on Wednesday, then, he made clear, he remains something of a luxury.
"When you command the play then it's possible but when you have pressure to contend with then you don't want to lose the work done by Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle.
"It's nothing against one particular player, let's make it clear. If we get to the point where our team dominates the game and we have the right balance then, of course, Andy Reid can be very useful to us. But I can't turn someone into a worker. I can't turn someone into a craftsman if that is not his job. I wanted to test the situation in Portugal but there was injury. I didn't get the chance to try him and now it's qualify, qualify, qualify . . . we can't gamble.
"I've been able to build a team that has a certain balance and I can't keep changing, I need to stick to what I've found. I have to be coherent. There is a philosopher who says if you are too coherent, you run the risk of being an imbecile but I can't keep changing. It's not easy to qualify. It's not easy to immediately find solid bases on which to build."
Trap said it in an interview and it was reported in the papers with quotes.
Carsley wasn't injured according to the Herald today, Trap definitely said it last week though...
http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/in...d-1501778.html
IRELAND'S forgotten man Lee Carsley has reassured Irish supporters that he's still keen to play for his country and wants to play a part in the bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Carsley has not played, or even made it into an Ireland squad, since Giovanni Trapattoni took over in May -- his last cap was in the friendly against Brazil earlier this year.
The Birmingham City man was not called into the squad for last week's World Cup win over Cyprus as he had reportedly undergone surgery on a knee problem, but his club have stated that Carsley is fully fit and in line to play for Alex McLeish's high-flying team against Burnley tomorrow.
With Steven Reid out injured and Stephen Ireland still in self-imposed exile from the national team, some fans wondered if there should have been a role for veteran Carsley (34) for the qualifier against Cyprus, especially as the Irish central midfield of Darron Gibson and Glenn Whelan had so little experience at international level and very little game-time with their clubs this season.
Desire
And the player has today stated that he hopes to keep his international career alive and will make himself available for selection for next month's friendly against Poland -- if picked.
"I am still available and still keen to play for Ireland, my desire to play international football has never gone away," Carsley told the Evening Herald.
"I know there is a four-month break before the next qualifier now, but we have a friendly in Dublin next month and I will be on a plane over to Dublin if I am picked. I want to play for my country again.
"I feel I can still contribute and play a part, I would not hang around otherwise. I have said all along that I will not stand in the way of younger or better players.
"I think we have a great chance of qualifying for South Africa and I will play a part if I am needed.
"I don't know if I will still be around when the finals take place, it's a long way off, but if I can play a role in helping the lads to get there, then I am happy to do it.
"I don't know how my club situation will be, Birmingham have started the season well and we have a good chance of promotion, so we'll see how things are in a year's time. But I feel I can still contribute with Ireland."
Confusion has surrounded Carsley's non-appearance in the Irish squad for the Cyprus game.
He was not named in the original 22-man squad by Giovanni Trapattoni, and when there were doubts over the match fitness of Liam Miller and Glenn Whelan on top of Steven Reid's absence, Carsley's name was touted for a late call-up.
At a press conference in Dublin last week before the 'B' game against Nottingham Forest, the Ireland boss suggested that Carsley was injured and had undergone an operation, as the player came off early in the second half of Birmingham's win over QPR the previous week.
But Birmingham have since stated that Carsley had suffered only a knock on his knee and was back in training a few days later.
For his part, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish -- a former Scotland manager -- is glad that Carsley is not playing international football.
"From a selfish point of view, I'm delighted he's not playing for them [Ireland] because we can save him for Birmingham," McLeish said.
"He's got so much experience that he could play without it being a huge burden on his fitness levels, especially if it was in a five-man midfield. His performances have been very good for us and I hope that continues.
"But for his sake, if Lee still has a desire to play international football, I find that very refreshing and I would only encourage it."
- Aidan Fitzmaurice
Strange one alright I doubt that Trap lied so I am sure there was some sort of mix up. Basically Birmingham are saying he is fit for tomorrow but they did not say if he was fit for last Wed.
I was in favour of Whelan over Carsley but I have to admit I thought CM was crying out for Carsley on Wednesday. We desperately needed a ball winner.
I'm going to have a good look at Delap on TV on Sunday afternoon too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Interesting lads that I pointed on this earlier in a different thread I beleive. This is exactly what I thought he is trying to build up confidence in the team, build a team that has a winning mentality, and that doesn't ship silly or easy goals, and in the future if the team comes into its own in this area, reid will get more of a chance.
exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
the first thing most good managers do when they join an underperforming club is tighten up the defense, stop conceding stupid goals and losing or drawing matches they should be winning. a prime example was blackburn under mark hughes, horrible to watch for a couple of years but then when they had a solid base the last season or so was quite good.
imo trap is trying to do the same. football management isn't really rocket science but more common sense decision making. make yourself hard to beat first and then look to win games well later on...
I see the sense in Trap's approach and have even bought the argument about leaving out Andy Reid. It's just that we dont seem to have chosen the right options for those key centre midfield positions. We need to have a look at Garvan, McCann and O'Toole just to expand our range of choices. The best that can be said about Gibson and Whelan is that they stopped Cyprus from getting through our defence. that may well be a significant improvement on the Staunton era but it is still a fairly modest achievement. Cyprus are not exactly Italy and we were playing at home.
There's a great quote attributed to Bob Paisley that the most effective form of defence is denying the opposition the ball. Gibson, Whelan and the back four held out against Cyprus in the second half, but why did they need to hold out? What prevented us from keeping posession and putting Cyprus under pressure?
I keep forgetting about Joey O'Brien. If Trap wants height he's got it. O'Brien is probably the most like for like replacement for S. Reid. He could probably play Whelan's role well too.
If you live long enough, you'll read some strange things:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Here's the thing. Prio to Wednesday our last three matches against Cyprus went like this:
1-0 Away to Cyprus. We were blessed with a win when a loss, not a draw, would have been the fairer result.
2-5 Away to Cyprus. Nothing more needs to be said, we were broken.
1-1 Home to Cyprus. We barely grabbed a draw and really were not the better team.
On Wednesday we won 1-0 and should have won by more. Best performance against a solid team in literally years.
Trapp deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Among my mates I'm always the upbeat one and the others always see the glass as half empty at best. After the game I said that CM was awful, McShane was awful and that Cyprus can consider themselves unlucky not to have drawn. My mates thought I was mad, that we never seriously looked like conceding and that we came much much closer than they did to scoring.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergie's Son
I reckon I'm just going to have to get used to seeing us becoming a counter attacking team happy to absorb pressure :)
It'll be interesting to see how Trap reacts to going behind.
When was the last time we let the opposition have so much possession at home though? 56% they had. I know that's Traps way but if Steven Reid was playing it certainly wouldn't have been the case. That's a big problem now that he's out for so long.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergie's Son
Well, after we went behind against Serbia, he brought on Keogh and Long, and we ended up drawing with a late goal from Keogh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Dont' think you can draw anything from that, it was Trapattoni's first game, and he was still unfamiliar with the players.
Again though, in those games that we had posession (not sure what the percentages were) we were ran off the pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
We won and deservedly so. First time in years we deserved to beat this team. That is progress and good progress. Steven Reid is gone and most likely will never come back. Andy Reid is a middling Premiership player who can't tackle.
Let's work with what we have and go from there. 7 points from 3 potential bananna skins is a good return.
Hear hear.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergie's Son
Very few teams impress in quallifying but many consistently get results. Have Portugal won yet? Give me the points any day. This team can only get better: good management, management getting more familiar with what's available and good players on the cusp of a breakthrough.