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lads all the players were given too much space outside the box, as it seemed the defence didnt want to commit in case they were nut megged. dunne turned his bloody body for gods sake rather than attacking henry. i dont know, i just dont know.... :( :(
I thought that myself too. He was far too far out and wasn't expecting it. What happened just before that was it a misplaced Dunne clearance. Henry takes it down has some space pushes it forward, did defenders back off??? i know we've seen henry pull off sh!t like that but in fairness it all seemed to easy and a little bit sureal.
it as one of those moments when you knew it was in the second Henry got the ball.It was like slow motion,everyone stopped and even Henry was so cool in his finish.
Plenty of fight and spirit, but lack of class.
After 60 minutes and seeing how the game was unfolding, I had a bet with a couple of guys in the pub, that the french would knick it by one. Earned meself a few quid. It was pretty obvious at this point who was in charge and was looking like winning. They dominated the middle with zidane pulling the strings, we sat back too deep and invited them, to play in front of us.
How many times did I see both Robbie and hog the halfway line, chasing shadows :confused:
Roy played well and broke up their momentum, bit slow on the tackle a few occasions.
Kilbane was totally at sea and the gulf of class between him and Viera/Zidane was clearly evident. He will fair better aginst waeker cyprus and the swiss.
I was fuming at the long ball tactics. The back four were launching high balls at every opportunity. Scenes from the charlton era. robbie and clint hadn't a hope. What a waste:confused: :mad: Reid and Duff didn't get enough opportunites to punish them from the wings.
Pre-match, Gallas was right when he said Ireland are long ball experts, and play old english type football. They never looked thratened by our attacks.
When big Doc came on I almost left the pub :(
Glad Roy, Duff and Reid didn't resort to those desperate measures. They kept it on the floor all game. :)
In a nut shell, we were never going to win and should never have expected to. THAT MY FRIENDS IS RELAITY.We got lucky aginst the Dutch Sep '01, and skill/class/and tactics were always going to decide this one.
The French were a class outfit, who deserve to win the group after that performance.
I still we believe we have enough class to beat the cypriots and swiss for a play-off place. That's what we deserve and our abilities merit.
One more thing, did anyone hear Niall Quinn on Skysports. After 50 minutes
he was settling for a 0-0 draw. That and alot of other comments, make this man a pessimist and an extrmely irritating person.
well said hobo.
quinn was trying to dig at keane at every opportunity. i think he is a big time "ireland are great" type commentator to be honest.
no chance for given, top corner. he abs buried it
One more thing, did anyone hear Niall Quinn on Skysports. After 50 minutes
he was settling for a 0-0 draw. That and alot of other comments, make this man a pessimist and an extrmely irritating person.[/QUOTE]
I would have settled for a 0-0 draw at that stage too,he just saw it for what it was and we never looked like scoring and were beginning to flag in midfield.If Roy wasn't playing it would've been alot worse.
Given nearly got to it...and was 7 yards off his line...if he was a bit closer to goal....Quote:
Originally Posted by VinnyL
I'll brace myself for the response but that chant irritated me no end. I posted before that Keane's booking (that's 4 in all this tournament meaning he misses 20% of the games through suspension) in the Faroes for dissent could cost us dear. That chicken may now come home to roost.
Take it as read that Keane was our best player on the night. He loses possession (through his legs) and scurries back to foul a Frenchman who is in a threatening position (fair enough) and the ball breaks to Makalele on the floor (no threat) and he goes in on him with stud showing. Booking.
Our best player has once again put himself out of a vital trip to Cyprus where he carried the team last time we played there. The crowd in response chant "Keano". Muppets. Do those of you who made that chant support his action in getting himself banned for our vital qualifier. I didn't hear any chant of "Reido" or "Morro" when they also got booked - but maybe they haven't got 4 needless bookings in the campaign so they're not worth the chant. They're were plenty other well deserved chants of "Keano" but when someone needlessly put themselves out of a vital game, I certainly won't immediately chant their name.
Time will tell how disasterous his absence will be. 6 pts will pretty much get us a play off place. I would have been reasonably confident of 3 in Cyprus if he had been playing. Now.... :eek: Reid and Morrisson we can live without.
I think you might find if you watch the booking again that Andy Reid should have got the card, not Keane, as it was Reids challenge that brought the free kick.
Keane did make a rash challenge to get booked though .. still gets on my tits though when keane touches the ball 30,000 people nearly have an orgasm and cant stop applauding the man .. when he fouls someone the stadium erupts with keano if he gives the ball away its hard luck roy great effort son ... if anyone else gives the ball away its moans and groans and you ****ing eejit your **** .....
The lad played well last night prob our best player after richie dunne but ffs people need to support the team not just roy keane ...
rather he be out fot the cyprus game than the swiss game to be honest... he was bound to pick up a yellow in Nicosia if he didnt pick up one last night - its just the type of player he is
Cyprus are only playing for pride remember
Have to say we were the better team for the majority of the game last night. Anyone watching it could realise this. We had most of the possession, created the best chances and never looked like conceeding until one moment of magic from Mr Henry.
That my friends was the only difference. Keane and Morrison need s**tloads of chances to be created for them before banging in a goal while Henry can conjure up one from nothing.
I agree that bringing Doherty on was all but admitting defeat and I seriously think Kerr's future has to be looked at. After all who has he beaten of any note in two and a half years? No one.
Also was I the only one who thought it was disgraceful that our fans were booing every touch from the French players throughout the match? This is real English behaviour as far as I'm concerned. No one boos us at away games (well possibly the Turks but we are generally well liked by everyone). It didn't do us any good in the end anyway.
Anyone else think he played really well last night?
He made a stunning save in the first half (think from Zidane), he couldn't have done much about what was admitidally a quality goal from Henry, he played with his heart pushing the team up towards to end and making some quality goal kicks.
Paul, it's not a bleedin' science. And Terry's most gloomy predictions hardly came to reality did they? So France won but I still think my prediction was about right - we'll get chances & it's down to whether we'd take them. We didn't.
They actually got FEWER chances than I expected & I was delighted to see all THEIR long balls sailing out over the goal line & touchline all through the first half. In the end their overall quality told but only just. The pessimists are hardly vindicated. And it's totally churlish to say " I told you so". Maybe if we'd been comprehensively thumped...
Have you ever played football? He didn't go in studs showing to kick Makelele on the gound. He got caught in possession and Reid fouled Makelele - he fell in Keanes path. Jaysus, I know he has previous but give him a break. In any event he is a central midfielder - central midfielders get booked (a lot) - especially when there is a ref as fussy as last night's. He booked Zidane for nothing. If Keane is walking around trying not to get booked and pulling out of challenges because he is afraid of missing a game he will not be as effective as he was last night when he effectively had to hold midfield on his own.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Maybe you remember a night when Man United played Juve and Keane got booked for a challenge on Zidane - the booking put him out of the Champions League final. Did he pull back? No. It is not his style. :ball:
wow arent you the clever clogs .... look we were not outclassed outplayed and france had two shots on goal all game ... The result on the balance of play was unfair so your no mystic meg really ... I think the reason a lot of people were positive was shown last night ... We dominated the first half and were unlucky not to go in up at half time ....
Have to disagree. They had most of the possession. Zidane was rolling it around for fun and Viera was surging forward non-stop.Quote:
Originally Posted by youngirish
They could string a few passes together alright :eek: . We sat back too often and gave them too much respect. The difference between both sides is a very large gulf of class and experience. Yes we do have some very good players, i.e. Duff/Reid/Roy and Robbie, but nothing else to compete with them. They upped a couple of gears from their previous shoddy performances and are now on course to win. That's something we could never do.
Given's lack of a couple of extra inches are his only down fall, he's technically one of the best ,he doesn't make mistakes, but doesn't have the height at 6', to be the best
in the world.
thought he was a little off his line for the goal meself. looked like he would've saved it comfortably if he'd been better positioned. otherwise he was very good and not to blame for the result
given is good nut not great in fairness. he does make some good saves but he makes them look fantastic my diving IMO. he is a little short and useless at penos. Still our first choice keeper though
I don't agree we were the better team over the 90 minutes. Fairly evenly matched IMO. Both teams played very poorly.Quote:
Originally Posted by youngirish
I was in the French section and their fans around me were ****ed off that they were playing so badly and ball over the top and not finding anyone. The guy beside me was trilled with the win becaseu he didn't think they deserved it.
I think your point about the booing is ludicrous. Kerr himself asked the crowd to be grumpy and hostile. Again the French around me didn't have a problem with it. We weren't singling any particular player out for no good reason.
No we were just booing all their players for no good reason instead. Booing the opposition like this is pointless. It just gives us a bad name like the English and Turkish supporters. It ****es me off when our players get booed at away games though thankfully it doesn't happen that much. Kerr should be more worried about his tactics and his dodgy substitutions instead of relying on the crowd to get a result for him. It achieved f**kall anyway. Probably only riled Henry up more than usual.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dotsy
On the Doherty sub, it's very easy to be wise after the event (and yes, it was probably one of the single worst performances in an Irish jersey), but who was our top scorer in the last campaign? Kerr was fully justified to put him on and try and shake things up a bit. It didn't work - c'est la vie. I don't think an untried international with barely any Premiership experience would have fared much better, to be honest.
I thought the Keane booking was for dissent after Reid fouled his man - granted, I was in the South touchline seats and didn't have the best of views for working out technicalities like that. Anyone confirm what exactly happened?
The English fans reputation is from the fact that they have a section of their fans that are hooligans and that they routinely boo the opposition's national anthem. Irish fans don't have a reputatuon for either of these. We do have a reputation for enjoying ourselves with the opposing fans and not causing trouble. Creatiing a hostile atmosphere for the opposing team in the stadium is perfactly acceptable in my mind. Fine if you don't think it effects the players but it's not going to tarnish any repuation we have abroad.Quote:
Originally Posted by youngirish
I guess we were predictableQuote:
Domenech: Irish were predictable
08/09/2005 - 14:03:32
http://breaking.tcm.ie/2005/09/08/story219796.html
France coach Raymond Domenech has described the Republic of Ireland as “predictable” after Thierry Henry’s strike proved deadly in Dublin.
But he also issued a warning to any French players who believe the hard work has been done in their mission to reach the World Cup finals.
His players are now level on points with Switzerland at the top of group four, but second on goal difference, and they face the Swiss next month in Berne, before finishing their qualifying campaign against Cyprus.
“There are weaknesses in our game,” said Domenech. “We have a lot of things to improve and we can do better.
“The Irish were tough to control but they were predictable.
“However the Swiss have a more varied game so we will have to be more concentrated and united than ever.
“It will be less easy to get organised against the Swiss than it was against the Irish.”
Back in Paris today, Domenech was reluctant to enter into a celebratory spirit, despite Henry’s fine winning goal which gave France a 1-0 margin of victory.
The Republic are now three points adrift of France, with their qualifying hopes fading, while Israel are a point behind the French, albeit having played one more match than the rest of the top four.
“We are now in the same situation as we were ahead of the Ireland match,” said Domenech.
“If we miss out on our match in Switzerland, we could be in big trouble.
“Also we should not forget that the Swiss will play against the Irish. Everything remains possible.
“This match (against Ireland) was just another stage of the competition and we must clear the next hurdle if we want to keep our hopes alive.
“We have two matches left and any mistake could be fatal.”
The Euro 2000 winners have failed to convince at either the 2002 World Cup or last summer’s European Championships, which perhaps explained Domenech’s cautious stance.
“I am not happy, just satisfied to see that the team is gradually getting into place and improving,” he added.
“My real joy will take place the day we book our ticket to Germany for good. But the other matches before that are just little enjoyments.”
Domenech will spend the coming month travelling around Europe to see his internationals play with their respective clubs.
“The French team is always above the clubs, that’s why there is a permanent contact between me and the players,” said the French coach.
“I will spend next month watching Champions League matches.
“I will also study Switzerland’s game carefully to find the right way to confront them.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by Littlest Hobo
Whats the difference between your bet and Niall Quinns comments.
The game is moving on, away from us. I think the way we played last night was actually better than our WC02 performances but it still wasn't good enough. We were unlucky to lose but we'd have been lucky to win if the full 90 minutes was taken into account. I'm not ignoring the fact that on a few oaccasions last night we played very clever & quick passing to free up our wide men. But it's just not clever enough. Overall I felt that France used less energy to compete with us than we used to compete with them.
Domenech is right. Switzerland play cleverer football than us, even though I think we'll beat them.
In fact just about every semi-respectable continental European international side plays cleverer & more varied football.
Until recently I was beginning to fear that England were in with a chance of WC06. I always try to separate all their hype from the reality but the hype does actually seep through nonetheless.
But watching the ConFed Cup, Villareal against Everton, Holland's friendly against England, Italy against us etc. makes me think that our style of football (as evidenced in the British & Irish leagues) just won't cut it at the highest level of international football. It may be good enough to make you hard to beat & get some good results but how far will it actually get you? Liverpool and Chelsea's success in Europe this year don't exactly endorse my theory. Nor does Scotland getting a draw against Italy. But I still think it holds water.
Kerr said this as far back as the Albania game but he's been unable to do anything about it. With a squad of players brought up in Ireland & Britain, playing professionally in Britain and coached by a coach brought up in the same tradition we'll always be predictable in the eyes of a top-footballing nation.
Kerr did what any manager who watched Niall Quinn & Tony Cascarino in the last 20 yrs would do. Bring on the tall donkey. But Doc isn't as good as those were. A less predictable coach may have had another plan. I'm not blaming Kerr, just pointing out that maybe there's a way of getting more out of what we have.
fair play to Thierry.....
But just reading up on all the coverage is making me more nervous about not qualifying. I do think that we can do it, but it will be difficult and we need to now concentrate on whipping Cyprus, which will not be the easiest game. I am even more determined to get behind the boys in Nicosia, they need full support. Come on lads, get us to Deutschland!!!!! :ball:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ls/4224342.stm
agree with your points but I don't agree with Kerrs insistence that because our players play in England under coaches of that tradition we have to play with the same style.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Many of our players now play under very tactically intelligent managers Benitez/Mourinho/Ferguson and Jol could prove to be a decent manager (was gonna add Souness to that list ... maybe not!! :p . Its up to Kerr now to come up with his own style and tactics and take the odd risk!! I just feel that on occassions we are being too conservative and shy of any risk-taking regarding team selection. This makes our team predictable to others! I reckon we have enough players with skill to worry teams if we get the whole team plan right.
And Domenech!!! he should realise that he's working with a better squad of players than us and far bigger resources! And to say Ireland were predictable when I dont think the French did too much either!
Yes, and if they don't take this matter seriously they should be ashamed of themselves. Don't they support FIFA's campaign against racism in football.?? :mad: I remember not so long ago reading about someone here in Scotland being done for sectarian/racial abuse in a stadium. There are strict :rolleyes: anti-sectarian laws in place over here though. I can imagine though if you had informed a steward, they would have done nothing. Please write in, they would prefer a written letter I imagine and ask them to confirm to you in writing that they have received the letter and are investigating.Quote:
Originally Posted by VinnyL
I am glad you are taking the time to do this, I do not want such filth in our support. Thanks.
KT - sorry to go off-thread there. :o
I agree entirely. But when you listen to the vitriol churned out when Kerr does anything different (4-3-3, 4-5-1) and you get all the "we're Ireland, we only play 4-4-2" you realise he has his work cut out.Quote:
Originally Posted by oconghc2
But regardless of whether this is holding him back or not, I just wonder does Kerr's upbringing mean that he too is bound by the traditions of our style of football. Martin O'Neill was suggested as a successor candidate on another thread. I can think of half a dozen reasons why he'd be an improvement, but also half a dozen reasons why he wouldn't. But somewhere along the line we've got to be cleverer & I'm not sure how we can do it.
Loads of my early posts on this forum were about playing 3-4-1-2 and other ways to play to our strengths and to cover up our weaknesses. My ideas might be wrong but I do think that there's more we can do with what we have.
Actually I'd like to cite Ferguson as a coach whose ideas ARE predictable and who is not capapble of taking United back to the top in Europe. Because, as I said, the international game is moving on.Quote:
Originally Posted by oconghc2
fair point actually! Utd havn't really moved on - but I still rate him as a manager and i think he brings more to the table than most managers. yeah but i dont want to be chattin bout ferguson!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Exactly... All first half, long high ball to Henry.. The goal: a shoot from yards, a magic by Henry.. Zidane? Just a shoot from free kick...Quote:
Originally Posted by oconghc2
They were more predictable than us, seeing all of the wonderful players they have!
In a way I've just contradicted myself on another thread by saying what we are really missing is a creative central midfielder who can make things happen - like Liam Miller promised to be a very long 2 years ago.
You can't expect a manager to coach a side to be less predictable if certain parts of the team just don't have the talent.
Agree entirely - I've been thinking exactly the same thing recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by totalfootball
Does anybody think that Maybe Kerr is trying to be a little bit too tactical and is losing some of the Irish Spirity and gung ho agressino etc. I am not saying we should be running around like eejits but we do lack some bit of spark at times and if our controlled tactics dont work we dont have other avenues to go. Just an idea, I am still thinking on the spot about last night and the Kerr reign in general.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dotsy
Exactly, i dont see the problem of booing any opposing players, there is nothing sinister in it, we just want our team to do well.
Its a different story if we were booing a player cos he played for rangers or something stupid like that. I was in with a large bunch of french fans last night and had great banter with them, it is totally unfair to compare us with english or turkish fans.
Or for the result so disappointing, although as the old cliche goes if you dont take your chances when your on top it will come back to haunt you and it did just that to us last night.
First half I thought we played very well, and were definitely the better team. Second half I felt the teams cancelled each other out, I was kinda hoping we'd get to 0-0 with ten mins to go and the two sides would settle for the draw.
Cant blame Kerr imo, he hasnt much options on the bench to change the game, although I wouldve liked to see him switch duff and reid to try and involve duff more in the game. For me Richard Dunne was MOM, not keane.
Well at least we know what we gotta do now-heres hoping!