For once I actually think central mid isn’t our most pressing problem. I think all 3 of Hourihane, Hendrick and Whelan seem to have rediscovered some confidence and purpose under Mick. Hourihane said something like “I now know what my role is” in Tuesday’s papers! I’d say given the resources available Cullen may well see some game time tomorrow. There’ll be a lot of miles run by our guys.
There is one prevailing fear, both Hourihane and Hendrick know how to disappear if they do that, we are in hot water baby
Hendrick has proven he can be a difference maker at major tournaments and Hourihane has played a key role in his club's promotion to the Premier League. Both have an eye for goal. Assuming they have a holding midfielder behind them (Whelan), or Hourihane is deployed in a holding role with clear instructions, I think we'll be OK. But while Mick played the two together against Gibraltar I don't think he'd ever put those two in a two man midfield against a proper team -- and that was part of the problem before IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
Trying to think positively here!
Optimistically, you're right and we see all three do well (as they did against Georgia).Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
A negative take would be, you have Glen Whelan who is 35 years old, who was criminally at fault for the Villa - West Brom goal in the playoff semi and isn't able to cut it at this level, least of all against Eriksson and at this age is an accident waiting to happen. Then you have Hourihane who despite his club form has had just one good game at international level. And then you've got Hendrick who hasn't played well for Ireland since Euro 16. And your only option from the bench is Josh Cullen who has yet to make his international debut...
It'll probably be somewhere between the two.
As for the rest of the side (assuming the same starting 11), you have a good keeper, 4 good centre halves, 2 good fullbacks with Doherty on the bench - and in terms of a front three, there are plenty of options with Robinson, Maguire, O'Dowda and Hogan all exciting options to replace McGoldrick, Brady and McClean. To be honest, just one more player and I'd feel more confident in terms of midfield, you're only a pre-game warm up injury or early injury away from things looking very patchy.
I was at all of the home U21 qualifiers in the last campaign and Rice obviously stood out a mile, apart from that, none of Cullen, Manning, Kinsella or Charsley looked the finished article. They all had good games and good moments and I wouldn't write off any of them, but until I've seen him do it, I'd think Cullen playing against Denmark would be a big step-up to make...
In the scheme of things with Denmark grabbing a draw in Switzerland, it puts some deal of pressure on us to get a point. I see Denmark's manager did not consider that his players were disrespecting the Irish lads with their disparaging comments, perhaps thought we were fair game for them.
It's unusual for the top players in one team to be so upfront with their arrogance before a game, regardless of the gulf in class between said teams. And it's not as if Denmark are blazing a technically gifted trail in European football, currently they're 2nd division.
Yeah, some people saw a draw in that game as a good result for us but I was annoyed to be honest, not as bad but reminded me of when Sweden came from four goals down to draw in Berlin. The jackpot would have been one of Switz/Den getting six points from those two matches. That was always unlikely though and I suppose the worst case scenario would've been one win each, which at least can't happen now.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Mick on occasion throws in a curve ball into the team selection or carry some subterfuge scenario in the days leading up (with questionable effect on the day), not quite on the same level as the Allies' dummy preparations to land on Calais on DDay.
If he were to do something for this game, perhaps Brady is dispensable and we could see a return of the Matt and Seamus duo on the right side.
Is there any website to reliably watch Ireland matches on-demand, after they air? Not always realistic to watch live when you’re living in different time zones.
For a competitive European game that’s getting a decent amount of broadcast coverage, this site is prob the best I’ve found, but not a sure bet by any stretch. As ireland games go though, I’d say a decent chance (50/50) this one may make cut there:
https://hdmatches.com/
Game v Denmark tonight is on ESPN News if you are in NYC - you chould check the ESPN3 and ESPN+ packages - the Euro qualifiers could be on demand on those platforms. Sub is about $5-$10 per month.Quote:
Originally Posted by boysingreen
Football highlights on reddit usually has links to full games: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballhighlights
Great shout - thanks!
I have an ESPN+ subscription, and they do show the odd Euro qualifier. I checked it before you mentioned, but it’s on ESPNews, not ESPN+, so I thought I was out of luck. However, I discovered that if I log-in with my brother’s cable TV info, I can access ESPNews content on demand as well. Happy days.
Reddit is another great shout. Know they’re the go-to for live streams, but never poked around for full replays. Will def check out. Cheers.
Ya this annoys me, their arrogance you had mortensen or whatever his name is, I dont know cos I'm not familiar cos he plays with some championship team saying how you can change the manager but not the players. full strength Irish team and given the strength of the premier league there really isn't that much difference, Eriksen excepted. But that's Scandanavians to a T, overplaying themselves all the time. And the Danish are the worst offenders.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
The only one bar Eriksen who worried me in all the games I saw live was sisto as his running off the ball was causing us all sorts of problems and freeing up space for others. And hes not in the squad this time around.
Keep Eriksen quiet; keep Denmark quiet. We can hopefully grab a score draw.
If we did win. They would have an awful lot of catching up to do
Any line ups yet?
According to LiveScore app, Doherty starts on the right
He’s on the bench.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
https://twitter.com/faireland/status...857261569?s=21
Same as team v Georgia as far as I can recall.
Thought O'Dowda or Robinson would be worthy of a spot on one of the flanks based on the Georgia game. Brady was unfit against Georgia but hasn't been playing much. The role didn't appear to suit McClean against Georgia.
Nicely fired up for this game, so far in the opening minutes