I might be tempted to play Andy Reid instead of Mc Geady
I might be tempted to play Andy Reid instead of Mc Geady
I don't know if this is any help:Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
http://www.soccerpulse.com/forum/ind...owtopic=159743
keane is one o my favourite player but hes a greedy **** when it comes to giving doyle passes its like he doesnt respect his position in the team atal..it was very obvious doyle was gettin very frustrated with keanes reluctance to pass it to him and this can oly be bad for the future partnership
That match wasnt in Italy. It was played in ParisQuote:
A disappointing 2-2 draw for Italy, gives us a little hope, we far better than Austria and they managed 2 goals in Italy, more of the same in next April.
I was actually quite happy with that.
I'm disregarding the second half as it was a farce and the conditions completely took some of our better first half performers down a couple of levels. That said, the conditions had nothing to do with Kiely's error or failure to organise from corners in the second half. Great cushioned header from Kilbane - a touch of real class!
For me, the most poignant post on this forum for a long while was Billsthoughts saying his Spanish mate watched us play Brazil and it wasn't even football, just aimless, speculative hoofing. I agreed fully.
From about 10/15 minutes onwards I though we looked cohesive and balanced and our midfield did just what you want a midfield to do. Both Reid and Whelan looked for the ball and passed it purposefully and accurately. They also held their own defensively. The benefit of having Steven Reid back fit and played in position was obvious. Long may he stay fit.
I thought Whelan looked much better than he did alongside Miller (quelle surprise?). Room for improvement but he did most of the right things. I'd still prefer both Reids together mind you.
Both the wingers looked lively and for the most part we played at a very high tempo and in the right way. We were able to sustain pressure in their end of the pitch - thanks to Reid and Whelan picking up the cleared balls and playing them back well - and we deserved our goal.
Our defenders fed the midfield more often than playing it long and both Dunne & O'Shea actually carried the ball forward regularly before passing it.
Doyle & Keane didn't function that well as a partnership I thought.
Sure there were errors and lapses in concentration and defensive situations we didn't deal with well, but the important thing is that for the first time in ages we looked cohesive, balanced and functional.
Yes, it's the very least you'd expect but it's something we haven't seen from our senior side in a few years.
great post! Summed everything up perfectly. I was disappointed by Kevin Kilbane. I've long been a supporter of him but I would be just as comfortable playing Delaney there.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
The only players who disappointed me happened to be the ones who aren't playing for their clubs, mainly Finnan Kilbane, and to a lesser extent O'Shea.
Can we afford to be carrying players anymore? I'm not so sure.
It was in NiceQuote:
Originally Posted by Mayo_Bhoy
Some real signs of encouragement during some periods of the first half.
At least some components of the spine of the team played well - Dunne, Reid, Keane.
Its still up for debate as to who should best partner each of them.
O'Shea is not the answer at Centre Half, even with our paltry alternatives. I know Joey O'Brien is substantively a midfielder but I think he would be a more solid option than O'Shea. O'Shea has two default settings for Ireland 1) Jittery 2) Dozy. Sometimes he's employed both of these methods during the course of a game.
As predicted, Whelan had a more solid and effective game alongside Reid as opposed to Miller. Last night was far from justification enough to discard Andy Reid but its becoming apparent that Andy is in competition with McGeady, Duff or even Doyle for a starting place.
The Doyle / Keane partnership has had long enough time to gel and that fact its not working has to be faced up to. When you compare the likes of Keane / Quinn or even Keane / Morrison it doesn't measure up.
All that said, theres the very early signs of a ship steadying..............
If someone like george graham got a hold of o shea maybe he could instill the concentration needed for a centrehalf position.I dont think he will master the position until he gets continous play there at club level (even then its not certain)and thats unlikely at utd.
Hmm, purple & yellow tinted glasss? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Wexford Delboy
There was one occasion in the first half where Keane played it right instead of back inside to Doyle - a definite error in choice I thought.
For Robbie's goal, although Doyle was inside him, I watched the replay a few times and each time I saw no way that keane could have squared it to Doyle. He'd have had to play it through the defender, any further ahead and the keeper would have got it first.
i didnt see the game just the clips - robbie took his goal well thank God. im a little worried over doyle - needs to start scoring again for reading. murphy might be a better option for a while. disappointed andy didnt come in - maybe the conditions had something to do with that. overall id say not a bad display.
And another thing is he scored. There is certainly a view out there amongst the more rural fans that Robbie Keane is a little upstart from Dublin and that more honest lads like Hunt and Doyle are legends.
lads i think we should only count the first half, and use that as a measuring stick, ireland were very good in particular steven reid. Mcgeady and duff switched flanks and got stuck in well, the passing was accurate and neat. The 1 most important thing was in the past when an attack broke down it was cleared and either a0 the oppossition countered or b) the ball would be cleared out to an oppossing player and the attack broken down, yesterday reid was there for nearly every ball in the first half that got cleared only to set up another attack, his position and his passing was what we have really lacked in the last while.
Very happy with yesterday, and i can see this being the start of something good if we can keep it up and move it up another notch again.
Why was kevin kilbane doing his Kane impression from WWE, like he just received a slap on the chest from the back of the hand?!
im rural and i think keano is a pure legend, love the guy. hunt and doyle arent in his class if were been honest. should never be dropped IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
Not a bad performance at least the team looked like they had a game plan going forward which is a bonus over the dark days under Staunton and to a lesser extent Kerr when we were clueless when in the attacking third of the pitch. McGeady was decent but nowhere near the level some on here have deluded themselves into thinking he is capable of reaching. Duff, Reid, Dunne, Given and Keane were all impressive. Hunt looked decent when he came on.
Negatives were the two usual suspects. Kilbane and O'Shea. Kilbane cost us the three points with his shocking head across goal (he had plenty of time to knock it out for the corner) while O'Shea looked suspect on more than one occasion and will be punished against a higher class of attacking player. When can we finally see a team free of at least one of these two on a regular basis?
Doyle was a passenger for most of the game. Whelan isn't international standard and neither is Daryl Murphy though to be fair he won a few flick ons when he came on. I'd have given Joey O'Brien another opportunity in midfield ahead of the likes of Whelan and Miller as he's looked good there on occasion when playing for Bolton.
dont think kilbane is to blame for the goal. it was kiely's fault. the ball came to quickly at kilbane for him to react it seemed.
how far away is McShane from recovering fully from his injury? We need him at centre back. O'Shea can go to left back. Might be useful for his height at set pieces.
Players/Positions that are no longer up for grabs include:
GK - Given
RB - Finnan
CB - Dunne
LW - Duff
CM -S Reid
FW- R Keane
so in my eyes we have 5 key positions that are still up for grabs. I'd see the following players in the Trap's plans over the next few months and it clearly shows how thin on the ground we are in terms of quality.
LB - Kilbane, O'Shea, S Kelly and Delaney.
CB - O'Shea, Joey O'Brien, A Bruce and McShane
Centre Mid - A Reid, Whelan, Miller, Joey O'Brien, Carsley
RM - McGeady and Hunt
FW - Doyle, Long, Folan, Clinton and Murphy
Liam Lawrence may come in the fold at some point if he gets some game time at Stoke. Fingers crossed Scannell and Jamie McCarthy continue to improve this season because we may need them at some point during the campaign.
If Finnan is not getting any game time with Liverpool I dot think he can be a cert for us. Kelly might be a better option.
if he is still at Liverpool rotting away then I agree. Rust never sleeps. Fingers crossed Fulham or another PL club come in and snap him up. Benitez is a fool :DQuote:
Originally Posted by centre mid
Hope I dont upset anyone here but this question is legit -
Would it be fair to say that Robbie Keane doesn't do partnerships at international and as a result his own goal rate is so high but Irelands success has suffered as a result?