Republic of Ireland V Turkey, Italy, Costa Rica & Portugal - May/June 2014

I felt we actually played some nice confident football at times against Portugal. There was a period in the second half where they could not get the ball off us. Unforunately it had no end product for us.
Our 3 big problems were (1) at the back (3 out of the 4 are not generally first 11 players and all are Championship players), (2) our wingers probably aren't good enough at unlocking the door and burning by the opposition's full backs and (3) we don't seem to have goals in us and can't keep relying on Robbie to deliver for us.

I thought Meyler, Hoolahan and Hendrick did really well. Forde had an off day but is our No.1 I feel.
Under Trap we may not have lost to Portugal by that much (then again, we may have) but we certainly would not have played ANY football on the ground like that, that's for sure. It would have been booted up to Sammon and watching him get beaten in the air, time after time

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Great article and interview with Eoin Hand on that tour here, including the revelation that we actually beat Trinidad!

http://www.thescore.ie/eoin-hand-ire...13921-Jun2014/
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“we should have never went on that trip because of the Falklands War."

Why not? It was nothing to do with us

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Originally Posted by geysir

I didn't realise until today that we actually beat T+T.

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Never knew that in the 7-0 loss to Brazil, 6 of the goals came from set pieces and who that was in goal? McDonagh? He is the blame for at least 3 of them.

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Originally Posted by Fixer82

“we should have never went on that trip because of the Falklands War."

Why not? It was nothing to do with us

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It was being organised by the FAI for starters.
We were down to play Argentina.
Hand had to go to English clubs for the release of players to go on a summer tour which included a country that England had declared war upon. Those players were never going to be released. If Joe Lapira was around then, he would have been capped. That's not the team you'd want to take to Brazil.
In the end the fixture with Argentina was cancelled but the tickets were never changed, the team were on a plane that landed in Buenos aries.

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Originally Posted by Metrostars

Never knew that in the 7-0 loss to Brazil, 6 of the goals came from set pieces and who that was in goal? McDonagh? He is the blame for at least 3 of them.

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Forde would have caught them standing.
At least Brady lived long enough to exact a sweet retribution and recover much of whatever dignity he lost out there.

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Originally Posted by BonnieShels

You're talking about the scorer of important goals, Keith "Andy" Andrews right?

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Keith "Andy" Andrews has already scored more than his fair share of important goals. We're talking about Andy "Andrew" Keogh.

Keogh has made barely any starts, let alone starts in his natural position. His goals per minutes ratio probably isn't far off most of our strikers. Good finishes against Serbia and Germany; impressive cameo against Uruguay. Who knows what he could have done if he was given more chances? He could have been a decent back up instead of the figure of mirth that he is now.

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Originally Posted by shakermaker1982

I'd be seriously worried if our A team got a 5-1 spanking but the B team? Christ we had a back 5 made up of Championship players going up against one of the top sides in the world.

MO'N will now know who he can rely on from September & who isn't up for the battle. It has been a useful exercise. No pain no gain etc.

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I agree to an extent, yes it was our B team especially the back 4. First choice would be Coleman-O'Shea-Delaney-Wilson with Dunne, Clark and Pearce in contention, although O'Shea and Dunne are getting long in the tooth. I'm a little worried if Coleman or Wilson are injured for a qualifier, the likes of Kelly/McShane/Ward are not up to scratch. I thought Hendrick and Hoolihan did well and we still have McCarthy and Wilson to come back.

The lack of leadership is also a worry if Dunne and Keane are taken out of the equation. O'Shea is a powder puff.

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Keogh has made barely any starts, let alone starts in his natural position. His goals per minutes ratio probably isn't far off most of our strikers. Good finishes against Serbia and Germany; impressive cameo against Uruguay. Who knows what he could have done if he was given more chances? He could have been a decent back up instead of the figure of mirth that he is now.

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Andy Keogh got 30 caps and, in hindsight, it's stunning he got more than 10. Let's not get carried away here, Keogh has done very well for himself on the international front. He's had plenty of chances, and domestically, but now he's in the A-League. He just ain't good enough, never was, never will be. He's an honest guy and a hard worker, to his credit. Hope he does well in Australia but just not an international footballer.

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

The lack of leadership is also a worry if Dunne and Keane are taken out of the equation. O'Shea is a powder puff.

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O'Shea got some good notices for his captaincy at Sunderland over the last six months.

If O'Neill deems Keane is no longer an automatic starter, and Dunne isn't back in the equation, would O'Shea be our most likely captain for the campaign?

Walters would be the skipper I think.

Did Andy Keogh not miss a simple header from 6 feet against Uruguay?

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Did Andy Keogh not miss a simple header from 6 feet against Uruguay?

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He did indeed. He was saving the goals for the important games.

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

The lack of leadership is also a worry if Dunne and Keane are taken out of the equation. O'Shea is a powder puff.

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O'Sheas captaincy of sunderland hardly did them any harm in their near miracle escape from relegation in their last 6 matches or so

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Keith "Andy" Andrews has already scored more than his fair share of important goals. We're talking about Andy "Andrew" Keogh.

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Seems like the scientific project to improve our chances of beating Germany by including our only player who has proven his ability to score against them, has hit the stone wall obstacle of seriousness.

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Originally Posted by geysir

It was being organised by the FAI for starters.
We were down to play Argentina.
Hand had to go to English clubs for the release of players to go on a summer tour which included a country that England had declared war upon. Those players were never going to be released. If Joe Lapira was around then, he would have been capped. That's not the team you'd want to take to Brazil.
In the end the fixture with Argentina was cancelled but the tickets were never changed, the team were on a plane that landed in Buenos aries.

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well explained. thanks for clearing that up. I picked up that he was saying we should not have gone to make a political stand

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Originally Posted by Metrostars

I agree to an extent, yes it was our B team especially the back 4. First choice would be Coleman-O'Shea-Delaney-Wilson with Dunne, Clark and Pearce in contention, although O'Shea and Dunne are getting long in the tooth. I'm a little worried if Coleman or Wilson are injured for a qualifier, the likes of Kelly/McShane/Ward are not up to scratch. I thought Hendrick and Hoolihan did well and we still have McCarthy and Wilson to come back.

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What a load of rubbish!

How soon ye forget, cheers fellas

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Originally Posted by geysir

Seems like the scientific project to improve our chances of beating Germany by including our only player who has proven his ability to score against them, has hit the stone wall obstacle of seriousness.

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You can't talk science with yokels.

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Originally Posted by geysir

We're talking about the only Irishman to score against this German team.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Keith "Andy" Andrews has already scored more than his fair share of important goals. We're talking about Andy "Andrew" Keogh.

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Ah Jaysus lads.

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

O'Sheas captaincy of sunderland hardly did them any harm in their near miracle escape from relegation in their last 6 matches or so

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Didn't he lead some sort of player revolt in getting di canio out?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...and-john-oshea

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"I don't like people who, when they speak to you, don't look into your eyes," said the 45-year-old Italian who now believes it is his "destiny" to manage West Ham. "He [O'Shea] should say sorry to some of his team-mates for the many times he came into my office to say something unfavourable about them. This is the same person that also came to me when I first took over and said things about [Martin] O'Neill."<=======

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