Hungary v Republic of Ireland - Tuesday, 8th June 2021 - Friendly

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Originally Posted by ifk101

Thought we were the better team and a number of good individual performances. Knight was the pick of our players, disappointing from Hourihane (again).

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Not sure if we were the better team; we were hanging on a bit in that second half while Hungary were generally fairly comfortable at the other end. 7 corners to 2; 15 shots to 5 (per livescore as I know those stats are quite variable) - stats aren't everything of course, but I think it's fair to say Hungary were creating more over the 90 minutes.

But away from home in front of a full house and we certainly looked better than in previous games. Let's take the positives while we can.

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

Undoubtedly biased but I wouldnt describe Horgan as limited

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Well he's playing at Wycombe, so I think it's fair to say there's a fair few players better than him!

I remember seeing him at Dundalk in the Euro run and my view was that he was a great winger with almost no end product at all. Was frustrating to watch at times. I think he's improved since, but still - Wycombe players haven't historically gotten in our squad for good reason :)

I've watched every minute of every Ireland game since Kenny came in and, being brutally honest, not once have I seen anything to suggest that we're heading anywhere other than in the wrong direction - until that second half tonight.

It was raw, very much the early stage of a work in progress, but there was actually something there to work off moving forward.

We actually played with an approach and a game plan that suited us, there's no point trying to be something we're not, and these players are never going to be fast, technical, short passing footballers. They have ability, but we need to play in a way that suits what they can do, not what they can't do. I felt tonight in the second half we finally did that.

There's something there to build on, no question.

Decent, competitive performance. Our formation and shape suited the players and we mixed it up in terms of playing style quite well after some nervy moments early on in attempting to play it out from the back. McClean, Doherty and Knight, in particular, played well. Duffy was as solid as I've seen him in some time. Horgan made a positive impact from the bench again. Kelleher looked good when he came on and you'd have few worries starting him were Randolph unavailable.

Certain caveats apply but some reasonably encouraging signs this evening I think.

We probably say this a lot but Horgan is a chap who would have been better off on the continent. He has played under a few managers that like an agricultural side at club level.

Well it was shown who is the keeper its Kelleher, thought Horgan did well, and that pass from Doherty to the center when they stop the ball to a worst back pass to duffy, those two passes were awful, fom doherty from a mid who puts Duffy under pressure inside the box, I like to play it footie but on the other end.

Horgan what a Litmanen pass near the end, he was the winner of these two matches, I loved the Doherty nutmeg tbh, Knight ok , Cullen started brightly and for the last 3 games he looks like the nephew of that hated Glenn Whelan's of autrefois.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Kelleher having a cracking game here. Far better display than Bazunu's appearances to date (who in fairness didn't do too much wrong tonight)

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Everyone else: Great first half from Bazunu, great second half from Kelleher - we have some battle on our hands for the position now.
pineapple stu: I guess Bazunu didn't do too much wrong but MAN ALIVE that near post stop by Kelleher!

At least try to hide it stu. :)

Bazunu's save in the first half was worthy of more than a "didn't do too much wrong" rating all on it's own.

Decent performance considering we play two men down with Doherty and Hourihane on the field. Pretty clear at this point why Doherty wasn't getting a look in under successive Irish managers who must have seen what we can all see now - disinterest.

Horgan was the standout going forward after he came on. Some lovely quick thinking and passing to set Ogbene free in particular. Interesting to see him turn into the focal point in the final third.

Idah had his best game for us I thought. Held things up better than he has done and looked a bit sharper. We really need him to grow into the role because Collins is just so limited.

Duffy being rehabilitated is a huge plus for us. We'll have our backs to the wall against Portugal, which will suit him.

I thought Kelleher did very well. The only reservation is that people talk about him being weaker under crosses, and I don't think he was really tested that way tonight. Bazunu had one good save and didn't do much wrong tonight either - all that comes to mind is one or two passes where I felt there were better options - but had less to do in his half.

I thought Idah looked much more comfortable than in his first caps. I'm more confident now that he's ready for this level. A goal or two would help though!

More experience for O'Shea, Knight, and Cullen, all useful.

The biggest negative is that we didn't score again; didn't much look like scoring either. Andorra doesn't count for much, and we looked toothless against them until they tired anyway. That said, Robinson and Connolly are big missing players. It'll remain a concern for a while, I expect.

I thought Hourihane and Doherty were poor again.

I mean, when Andorra scored the other evening I thought we were looking at the team's lowest moment ever, a shameful exit for the manager, the side under a pall during a summer of searching for a new manager, all of that. So to be here a few days later with goals scored and a competitive performance against a higher ranked side, it's not nothing.

But there's a lot of hard prep work to be done ahead of the next three games. Is it reasonable to expect four points from those games? A win against Azerbaijan for sure, and a progression to at least a point against Serbia (and a free shot against Portugal, though that shouldn't mean we should be expecting a 6-1 smashing).

The thing about Idah is that he's only 20. He looks so composed and capable in that role at 20. I have such high hopes for him.

U see when you play with a good keeper the whole team plays with more confidence

I enjoyed it, having the crowd there definitely made it much more watchable. We were decent, not brilliant but better that we had been recently.

Hourihane is what he is. Ive been banging this drum for ages now. He is a brutal footballer who hides from the ball. He looks pretty when he strikes the ball so people get fooled into thinking hes a good technical player. Im not sure hes capable of a forward pass. We looked better when he went off.

Has Idah filled out a bit? He looks like a big man out there and has a bit a pace, he could turn out to be an excellent player.

Overall Im still on the Kenny bandwagon. Hes made mistakes (continues to make them in picking Hourihane),but I still think in very difficult circumstances of trying to rebuild the squad during the last year with Covid we are on the right track.

We are in great shape for years to come in goals. I love the look of both Kelleher and Bazunu. Theres very little between them and we could have a great battle between them for the next 15 years

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Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

Everyone else: Great first half from Bazunu, great second half from Kelleher - we have some battle on our hands for the position now.
pineapple stu: I guess Bazunu didn't do too much wrong but MAN ALIVE that near post stop by Kelleher!

At least try to hide it stu. :)

Bazunu's save in the first half was worthy of more than a "didn't do too much wrong" rating all on it's own.

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Teensy bit harsh!

Bazunu's first-half save was good, but it was a nice height and had less power on it than some of the second half efforts. It was one you'd expect him to make. And I think that was about all he had to do?

The two stand-out saves for Kelleher were the tip-overs, not the snap-shot, though that was decent as well. But he was kept busy in the second half and came through it well.

For me, Kelleher was very composed and didn't come with the bad decision-making we've seen with Bazunu (again, not tonight, but in his other three games). Kelleher for me is the one to play in Portugal (if Randolph is out)

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Teensy bit harsh!

Bazunu's first-half save was good, but it was a nice height and had less power on it than some of the second half efforts. It was one you'd expect him to make. And I think that was about all he had to do?

The two stand-out saves for Kelleher were the tip-overs, not the snap-shot, though that was decent as well. But he was kept busy in the second half and came through it well.

For me, Kelleher was very composed and didn't come with the bad decision-making we've seen with Bazunu (again, not tonight, but in his other three games). Kelleher for me is the one to play in Portugal (if Randolph is out)

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I'll have to rewatch it again. It's not always a good thing that a keeper had more to do / looked stretched. I thought both had good solid halves and that seems to be the sentiment shared across the interwebs.

Either way both look like they can become top keepers. It's a shame they are arriving on each others heels and can't play up front instead.

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Originally Posted by CSAD

The problem with playing teams like Andorra is their weakness almost becomes a strength.

With Hungary tonight most of that team you could make a case for playing in the premiership/championship and are the sort of players Irish players play week in week out. With Andorra would any of their players even get into the top 4 league’s in England? Very few if any, combined with them putting everyone behind the ball and us being so low on confidence and it’s a recipe for disaster.

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Its a good point, even the weakest of sides are usually well coached and drilled and hard to break down even for the best of sides, and we are far off a good side yet. When we were ranked top 15 back in the day we had that horror draw in Lichtenstein. Teams can drag another side down (we may need to do it) but when they come out and play ye can compete by hitting on the break. If we had a Guardiola managing us people wouldnt whip up the hysteria and panic when a side is being developed. The unusual international circumstance have in a odd way probably saved SK's job with the early calls to pull the trigger. Any sort of decent showing v Portugal will be a proper benchmark of progress rather than the premature game against England eg - damaging more than helpful experience.

Thought was a very good second half performance. Much improved.

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Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

I'll have to rewatch it again. It's not always a good thing that a keeper had more to do / looked stretched. I thought both had good solid halves and that seems to be the sentiment shared across the interwebs.

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I think Bazunu certainly had a solid half - his first really solid game for us - but Kelleher was very good and I don't think ever really looked stretched. Just looked very assured. I know what you mean about it not necessarily being a good thing that a keeper is stretched, but I think Hungary just upped the tempo in the second half and created more (and in turn allowed us more chances on the break, which allowed us create more)

Agree if they both continue on their current trajectory that it's bad in a way that one will have to sit on the bench. But they've a long way to go in their careers yet of course.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Not sure if we were the better team; we were hanging on a bit in that second half while Hungary were generally fairly comfortable at the other end. 7 corners to 2; 15 shots to 5 (per livescore as I know those stats are quite variable) - stats aren't everything of course, but I think it's fair to say Hungary were creating more over the 90 minutes.

But away from home in front of a full house and we certainly looked better than in previous games. Let's take the positives while we can.

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BBC had it 17-5 and 60/40 possession. So we definitely weren't the better team. But we generally nullified them.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I think Bazunu certainly had a solid half - his first really solid game for us - but Kelleher was very good and I don't think ever really looked stretched. Just looked very assured. I know what you mean about it not necessarily being a good thing that a keeper is stretched, but I think Hungary just upped the tempo in the second half and created more (and in turn allowed us more chances on the break, which allowed us create more)

Agree if they both continue on their current trajectory that it's bad in a way that one will have to sit on the bench. But they've a long way to go in their careers yet of course.

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All fair.

Though if Bazunu is on such a dramatic trajectory of improvement why would you want to stop him? :)

Fairly happy with that and delighted with the clean sheet and the general comfort. I wasnt able to watch the second half in detail but caught most of the good and bad. Nothing to add to what has already been said by most but thought Kelleher was very impressive and is at least equal to Bazunu in my opinion. Ogbene was very impressive when he came on too.

Parrott and Hourihane well off the pace required. SK needs to drop Hourihane.