We haven't moved on at all.we can show one big performance against a top team but that performance is as bad as anything since O'Neill took over.
We haven't moved on at all.we can show one big performance against a top team but that performance is as bad as anything since O'Neill took over.
Really poor. Huff and puff and not much else. Set pieces poor. Brady had a poor game which we can't afford, being one of our few players who can use the ball.
should have played the 11 who beat Germany for physiological reasons apart from anything else,
we know our regular line up cant deliver the good and so it turned out.
was noticable how v germany you could see two clear line of defence a good shape, today just a ragged mess.
You'd think Whelan & McClean would be chomping at the bit to put in a display after missing the Germany game. Probably are two worst players tonight.
It was a brutal performance that hopefully doesn't dent their confidence too much going into the playoffs. No Walters and O'Shea is a massive blow. I'm also not sure we can justify a place for Robbie Keane anymore as great as he has been over the years. He's still the best finisher we have but the rest of the side's not good enough to make him of any use. We need the brute force and pace of Walters and Long
can't see us getting past 8 of 10 possibilities over 2 legs. Slovenia are about the only one I can see us beating over two legs and even that would be tight. We simply aren't good enough.
These players can't produce consistent performances because they're not good enough. We were very much second rate throughout the whole game. Our touch was terrible, our control was terrible , our passing was terrible, our defensive line and structure was terrible ,and that was simly bexuase we didn't have two lines of defence.*
Was it 1 shot on target? Keoghs header.Brutal.
Whelan and McClean were poor alright. Brady also. McGeady didn't do much either, apart from one decent cross. Keane too, but he never had a chance to get into the game. We can't afford so many poor performances.
Really open fast-paced game in the first half and we never really got to grips with them. Until the last 20 minutes maybe, then we got on top a bit, but that was also just them going more defensive.
We didn't deserve anything from the game. 45 minutes to score 1 goal, and we produced only one Keogh header.
poor show but poland were decent going forward. i do think the emotion / exertion of thursday took it's toll.
if my calculations are correct, to be seeded in the playoffs we need: croatia to beat malta, and norway to not win in italy AND one of
cyprus to beat bosnia
or
ukraine to beat spain
I'm not sure if Ukraine beating Spain helps any more. We can't even draw with Poland but now will very very likely have to beat Ukraine, Sweden, Bosnia or Denmark. Might even throw Netherlands in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by zero
And do it without O Shea and Walters.
Too many bad performances, we were lucky enough to lose by one I thought. Really dissapointed with showings from Brady and McClean, while Whelan, well, was Whelan. We move on, wait and see about the play-offs.
ah... you are correct. though i'd rather hungary as a potential seed than ukraine.Quote:
Originally Posted by davidatrb
so we need the norway draw/loss and the cyprus win to be seeded? not going to happen.
So poor. One heroic performance against Germany aside, we don't deserve to be going to the Euros.
I have to say, I think some of the comments here a being a tad harsh on the performance tonight. Poland looked a very dangerous side going forward and played with a huge intensity for basically the whole game, only really dropping off the pace in the last 10 minutes. The two goals although poor defensively to an extent were also world class finishes and the 'poor' defending for the second goal was actually down as much to the pressure and positioning of the Polish forwards than to actual poor defending. Granted, the marking was poor initially, but the defender did the right thing in trying to cover Grosicki (?), which then allowed Lewandowski to get in and score. If Lewandowski hadn't, the other guy probably would have.
In my opinion, if Poland were in our group, they'd probably be competing to win it. They'd walk NI's group, and in England's group may have taken something from England and challenged them a bit more than the Swiss. They are not great defensively but play with not just intensity but class going forward. It's very difficult to deal with as the results from the group have shown.
If you compare tonight's game with the Germany game which I saw bits of, Poland looked the much more dangerous team offensively.
For the play-offs, the draw looks difficult as you look set to be unseeded. Losing O'Shea is also a big blow. The draw is all-important, Slovenia, Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina are quite beatable though. Bosnia-Herzegovina are vulnerable if they start getting injuries. They lost 3-0 to Israel and have also lost to Cyprus in our group, and in all honesty up until they scored last night we shaded the game. I think you would have maybe a 50-50 chance against them.
I don't see that Scotland managed two draws against them and were very unlucky to concede last minute.
They were very comfortable in Dublin and we did very little going forward against them and were always looking ljke we could concede when they went forward we were so disjointed. Perhaps we werent as well drilled defensively as the first game but I don't think it's that.
Germany scraped through tonight, Poland and Scotland were close enough to them in the contests but we never really looked as competent against poland or Scotland and scraped a draw at the death agausnt Poland and comprehensively beaten by Scotland and Poland without creating any real chances.
Bar 1 decent performance and a dollop of luck( which we didn't get at the death tonight ), we have been very poor.
McClean and long should have come on late today.
We were beaten this evening, but not by much. We didn't perform to any great standards and were beaten by Poland who performed a little better on their home turf. It was a tight, nervy game of few chances for either side. Thanks to Platini we still have another life in these Euros.
That RTE panel talk a load of pretentious know it all crap. Did Giles ever get an away point when he was actually an Irish manager?
To be honest I never expect to win, defending all game and hoping to hit them on the break is one thing,
but going to Poland and expecting to beat a odd and determined side is another. They are not the Germans
too arrogant so break into a sweat and with nonchalant attitude to the result.
So my main hope was on the play off and obviously still is, after all it is easier, two legs
home and away and I doubt we will meet a tougher team, afterall you have to be pretty shoite
to finish third, we are living proof of that!! :p
So who are we likely to face? I have not really looked into it yes and understand it is not settled yet.
I best go and read the relevant stuff I suppose. :)
Bosnia or Slovenia would be nice :)
Overall I thought we were average tonight. Both sides looked nervy. O'Shea was awful - we've seen the very best and worst of him this week.
Plus points were Randolph, Hendrick & Keogh. Coleman was immense.
I personally don't fancy our chances too much in the playoffs. We're not better than any of the potential sides. I suppose our best chance is drawing our way to the Euros by going through on away goals.
Scotland's two goals were outstanding individual strikes, on another day Poland would probably have won that game. I can't really comment too much on most of the games having not seen them fully, but it does seem to me that Poland are one of the better second-placed sides to have made the finals.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea