Poland 2-1 Ireland: Left-sided defensive weakness and absence of Hoolahan guile condemns Irish to playoff
I agree with Cymro that the criticism is overly harsh. We were playing, days after an emotional victory, away in a noisy cauldron of a stadium against a team who were so obviously up for it and who have probably the world's best striker at this particular moment.
Also, when Brady has a dead-ball off-day it's, well it's a disaster really. Keogh getting that free header showed they would have been vulnerable if Brady had his usual deliveries. I hope MON has learned from the two games and jettisons Whelan. McCarthy was much better once he was gone.
I wouldn't fancy drawing us in the play-offs, I gotta say.
All those factors have nothing to do with how poor our performance was. The noise, the team being up for it, the emotion.
We couldn't control the ball for the first 50 mins.we were second to evertyhting and they always seem to have an out. Everything that we could control, that was within our control,we didn't and couldn't control. Forget all the other external factors gotta look introspectively first and we were just very poor. 1 header. On any other day that game was a 2 - 0 loss and probably more because at that point we would just collapse and probably be exposed at the back as we chased 2 goals.
Game was very tense. Nerves were wrecked. Ultimately, it was terribly disappointing though. We were all over the place and created absolutely nothing, bar Keogh's header, when we really needed to go all out for a goal. It was all very frantic. We looked exposed and disorganised. Not sure I fancy us making it through the play-offs. We just lack a consistent cutting edge, if we have a cutting edge at all.
Lewandowski was very cynical (or clever; whatever one wishes to call it) all game - worst I've seen since Dudu Aouate - but that's how FIFA/refs allow the modern game to be played and we weren't up to dealing with it. It was terribly frustrating to watch, though. McCarthy was visibly seething with him. Not that it cost us the game - we were the cause of our own downfall - but it would be nice to see the authorities make a proper effort to stamp that crap out.
Polish fans created a great atmosphere. Was a cauldron of noise and I'm sure it aided their team and ensured our players didn't feel too comfortable. A lot of our players played poorly. Did they buckle under the pressure? There were definite signs of tiredness after Germany as well, although we should remember that Poland played on Thursday nigth too and had to travel back to Warsaw from Glasgow.
Overall though, disheartening. Onto the dreaded play-offs we go... Bah!
I was wondering about this, mind you I have only seen the game on a stream where it is hard to identify players,Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanOB
however I think we would have been better off with Ward at left back and Brady on the wing.
Indeed I would have played the team which beat Germany, I bet Poland were delighted to see us change it!!!
That team would have had a certain 'fear factor' which would have helped up and would bring
the confidence and experience of that win with it.
So a blunder by O'Neil imo.
That was the reality check we had coming after the euphoria of Thursday. I thought we looked tired from the first whistle, to be honest. Poland took the game to us and, while they were no great shakes, were better than us. And they have the best striker currently playing the game, which ultimately proved the difference. Five changes showed that we're still a long way from having the squad we need to compete at this level, but we have a play-off and we'll see what happens. O'Shea and Walters big losses for the first leg, though O'Shea in particular was poor all game.
Ward wasn't on the bench as far as I know, due to the injury he picked up against Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
I know last nights performance was poor and an opportunity missed which we may prove to regret. However, I want to note the over the top negativity from the rte panel. Is it any wonder the general public has a low opinion of the team.
Considering we just beat the world champions in our last game, the negativity and particularly Dunphy ranting prior to kick off was a joke. Overly focused on the Houlihan omission. Little technical analysis or insight.
I'm not asking for cheerleaders but we deserve better than this old drivel and constant negativity.
smallish point but dunphy kept referring to hoolahan being left out v Scotland away but conveniently ignores the fact that wes was injured for that game. he also said Holland were in the play off teams when their participation is unlikely at this stageQuote:
Originally Posted by elroy
After coming back from the game in Cardiff that was a bit of a come down. I thought we were gonna snatch a 2-2 draw at the death.
MO'N picked the wrong team last night. He had got the perfect combination in midfield against Germany but went back to the old tried and trusted (but ultimately) unsuccessful option of Whelan. As I pointed out the other day McCarthy is miles better when Whelan isn't in the team. We have to use him as the DM for the play off games. We also need to steer well clear of starting McClean - impact sub at best.
Brady was woeful last night- keep him in midfield.
Lewandowski is a talented player but by God does he love a dive. O'Shea just kept falling into the traps, you'd think an experienced defender would be wise to such things.
I hope we end up with Sweden or Denmark. I think we could nick a score draw over there. Let's not all go back to the doom and gloom after the euphoric victory on Thursday. Emotionally and physically the players were spent, Hoolahan not being 100% was a problem and it ultimately cost us a result. Need to wrap him up in cotton wool. I just thought we'd have sneaked a draw. Oh well 2 more games....
Agreed Lewandowski went down easily but O'Shea is experienced enough at this level to have copped onto it. He continually man-handled him. If Shane Long was doing similar at the other end of the pitch we'd all be praising him. O'Shea was terrible last night.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
[QUOTE=paul_oshea;1843033]All those factors have nothing to do with how poor our performance was. The noise, the team being up for it, the emotion.
QUOTE]
Nothing? ;)
Get up the yard. I don't know how you put a percentage value on it but it had something to do with us being on the back foot from the start until about 25 minutes from the end. It's a fact that the home team wins more often than the away team. And a determined Polish side ripping into us from the start roared on by however many thousands of pivo fuelled Poles had an effect. The way you've dismissed it, you make it sound like it could have been a pre-season friendly behind closed doors and we'd still have been so poor.
However, just to reiterate, it's fairly clear I'm not blaming our poor play solely on that.
:rolleyes:
Lewandowski didn't need to be even touched to go down last nightQuote:
Originally Posted by IsMiseSean
Cute forward play. It's up to the referee to stop that, who I thought was poor last night. And there are plenty of incidents were JOSH is all over him.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
JOSH's two yellow cards were for fouls on Lewandowski. The first one was a little soft, but there was an elbow on the side of the head (not intentional) but you're giving the ref a decision to make. The 2nd YC is just plain stupidity knowing your already on a yellow.
Walters yellow is the most ridiculous, why he feels the need to pull back Lewandowski is beyond me. Plenty of cover around & he was going nowhere.
Don't think there was too much difference between this performance and our game on Thursday to be honest. Main difference was Poland had an attacking threat, which Germany didn't have.
Thought the ref was one of the worst I've seen at this level. Our penalty was never a penalty. O'Shea's first yellow was nonsense, as was Whelan's. I thought Poland could have had a penalty at one stage when O'Shea was all over his man in the box. And the ref was far, far too picky overall - refused to let the game flow. 43 frees overall, and it wasn't a dirty game.
But in the end of the day, we weren't good enough - simple as that. Onwards now to the play-off - though I don't see much different happening there to be honest.
The other thing was both those cards were so late in the game, the chances of us getting that second goal had gone, it would have been better for Walters and O'Shea to avoid the cards and not pick up the suspension. The Poland game was done at that stage, but we will be a bit weaker for that first leg without O'Shea (our main organizer) and Walters (who has been one of our most hard working attacking players).Quote:
Originally Posted by IsMiseSean
People are mentioning tiredness. The worst thing is that it's the same time frame between the two legs of the play-offs.
The world is surely ending. perfect summary.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
I thought we looked very leggy, I don't think O'shea had the legs for the two games in quick succession, in a weird way it may be a blessing that he'll be available and fresh for the second leg, assuming we're still in with a shout. Same for Walters,the intensity of the Germany game took it's toll on the lads.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
I personally think that we need to develop another player who can come in and do the Wes role if he's not fit. If it was me, i'd use Brady in that role, and move cyrus/wilson to left full back. We can't replace our playmaker with Glenn Whelan.
I agree that the diamond seems to suit us better than the 4-1-4-1, but given that it was introduced to accommodate Hoolahan - who declared himself unfit to start last night - reverting to the latter shape can't really be interpreted as a blunder IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
As for Ward, as someone else mentioned, I think he was injured. Though, with all due respect to the lad, although he did well against Germany, we know all too well that he's hardly the answer to any left-sided defensive woes!