It nearly hit him on the head with his hand nowhere near . A shocker of a decision and absolute proof of the need for video technology .
Can you imagine if our team went out to that sort of decision .
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It nearly hit him on the head with his hand nowhere near . A shocker of a decision and absolute proof of the need for video technology .
Can you imagine if our team went out to that sort of decision .
Terrible decision but at the same time NI were very disappointing. They didn't create one chance all game and only had a spell of pressure in the last 5 minutes.
From what I've heard NI were very disappointing. A 1-2 win in Basle is well within their capabilities mind. For all that -a dodgy result in Belfast aside if Switzerland do make it who could argue they're not worthy given their qualification run.
Can I imagine us missing out on a World Cup after a shocking handball decision in a playoff match?Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
Funnily enough I can actually
The North weren't great. Swiss should really have won by more and put the tie to bed. Now the IFA team have to convert some of the anger to an actual performance. They only need to score once to have a chance.
The North didn't create anything of note during the game, the Swiss weren't much better and it did take a penalty for them to score. The Swiss did have one great chance in the first half that the keeper palmed around the post. Cory Evans will miss the second leg in Geneva now, they only scored more than one away from home in one qualifier (against San Marino) and the Swiss just need a draw at home so I don't see them going through.
On the evidence of last night I'd expect Switzerland to win comfortably, 3-0 or so.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
yes, I think the north have gone off the boil recently. wouldn't a win away to Norway have seeded them for the play-offs? if so their performance that night was well under par for what was potentially on offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
It's well established that Hoolahan won't start two games in such a short time frame, so surely he'll be kept for the second leg, and even his inclusion from the start there will depend on the first leg result I feel.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12345
I think the team more or less picks itself for tomorrow but there might be one little surprise, as O'Neill tends throw up fairly regularly. Given how poor the Whelan/Arter partnership was in Tbilisi, I do think there's a good enough chance that O'Neill will be reluctant to go there again. If that is the case, Whelan will be the one left out with Arter being fairly solid in Cardiff. Hendrick could drop to assist Arter in a deeper role.
Of course, that would free up a position further forward for which we'd have a number of options. He could play both Long & Murphy in a more conventional 4-4-2 of sorts, as he did in Lille. He could even start the in-form O'Dowda who he obviously has a lot of time for and, of course, there's the Hoolahan option, but I just can't really see it for reasons already outlined.
I didn't realise that if it was the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
for those who haven’t left yet make sure you bring plenty of Kroner with you! Not many Irish landed yet. Nice city.
its freezing too
I'm here all alone :/ but supporting my country in the biggest game for as long as I can remember so who cares, the Irish are starting to pile in though!
Long johns at the ready!
I'm starting to get nervous now. God I hope we go through.
Press conference live here - https://www.rte.ie/player/ie/live/3/
Managed to get a ticket. Just need a good result now.
An away goal would be massive.
2 nil, pulling up at the finishQuote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
There is certain to be a reaction from the north. 1-1 with NI battering them for a winner at the endQuote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Though Sweden (and Denmark as well) are far from being the nr1 team in Scandinavia, they did alright v Italy to gain an advantage this evening.
Somehow their performance reminded of when Scotland beat Netherlands 1 - 0 in the first leg, back in the day when Scotland reached dizzy heights qualifying for a play off.
In the second leg you'd expect Italy to romp home by a cricket score, 2 nil.
I he doesn't go with Whelan, which i think is probably the most likely option, I think he might start Hourihane alongside Arter and Hendrick.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I think the problem then us you have no one in the three with the discipline to track runners and be aware of danger. I'm no whelan fan but I think he has to play tonight with after and Hendrick.Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
Wonder what a good result is?Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Given our relatively poor home record, you'd could maybe argue we need a win tonight.
A score draw and we could grind out a 0-0 at home alright; a play-off is a bit different to a group match. Not sure about a 0-0 tonight though - I think we need to get the away goal and have something to defend on Tuesday.
If we lose, I think we're in trouble though. I don't think we have it in ourselves to have a go at teams.
BTTW - I can't see MON trusting Hourihane for a game of this magnitude, given his unimpressive auditions so far. I think he'll need to establish himself a bit more in lower key games first but who knows, O'Neill has been known to surprise. BBC seem convinced that Whelan will start, seemingly basing it on O'Neill's press conference yesterday but I haven't seen any quotes which indicate same? I also saw somewhere that Long is likely to start, can't remember where right now.
PS - Anything better than 0-0 is a really positive result I think. 0-0 itself is pretty dodgy but gives us a decent chance, conceding first on Tuesday could be fatal though. I wouldn't get too bogged down on our admittedly poor home record, we've only conceded two goals in our five games there in this campaign, and do have big results in the not too distant past against Germany and B&H as a source of comfort that it can be done when the need it greatest. Scoring tonight with a one goal deficit is probably the absolute minimum we need, but I probably wouldn't fancy us in that scenario to turn it around.
I think Martin should pick his team from the front tonight. McClean on one wing O'DOWDA on the other with Long in the middle. Put Harry on Eriksen all night and I think we'll be in businessQuote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
I imagine that we'll see something very similar to what we saw against Wales. Contain for the most part, trying to nick something from a set piece of a break.
I know most commentators feel whelan is a shoe in. But O'Neill has seen the whelan/ arter axis explode already in Georgia. I think he will go with O'Dowda and Whelan will be on the bench with Brady/Hendrick/Arter/ mcclean making up the 5 man midfield
I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
That is a very astute observation/prediction. It absolutely stands to reason that one team cannot give the other carte blanche on possession of the ball. For as well or as lucky as it turned out in Cardiff, just balance that against TbilisiQuote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Defending when necessary goes without saying, and we'll have to do a lot of it tonight. But we have to pose a threat on the counterQuote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
No problem with those tactics away to Denmark in a playoff. The problem is that we are likely missing the second "then take them back to Landsdowne and batter them" part of the equation.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
We are shackled by the negativity of O'Neill who would regard scoring one goal a good result this evening, unfortunately we have not the benefit of the fulsome shining light of Coleman's positive vibes, driving us onward along the path of victory.
Does anyone have game day superstitions? I just had my lucky breakfast.
I have a local boozer where we haven't lost any time I have watched an Ireland game there. (Bosnia away, Italy and Sweden at Euros, Serbia away).Quote:
Originally Posted by KrisLetang
Went to a different pub for Poland away, the France game and was at the Belgium game. Safe to say I'm going back to the first pub..
We had more possession against Serbia and they beat us. Possession is nothing, thirst is everything
If the tie is still alive at the end of this match, that will be a positive result for us. Honestly I don't know where the optimism comes from and I would gladly take a 0-2 result right now. I think it could get ugly today and we could end up getting hammered.
The inconsistency is the problem. Sure, we beat Wales 1-0 in Cardiff a month ago. Two months ago we got one point in total from Georgia away and Serbia home, and we looked terrible in both matches, particularly against Georgia whom we made look like Barcelona.
No Meyler is huge. Arter and Whelan just doesn't work, I really hope we go for a different combination in the center of the park. I think Hoolahan will get on the pitch a lot sooner than most of us think because we'll be chasing an away goal to keep the tie alive.
---------Randolph
Christie-Clark-Duffy-Ward
-----Whelan-Hendrick-----
Long-Brady-McClean
-------Murphy
Nerves starting to jangle now. Listening to the excellent OTB build up this afternoon. Also came across the RTÉ coverage at end of the NI game in 1993 - here's to a similar victory over Denmark over next four days.
There is always the fear that we get over run and we'll beaten but bar the Belgium game I don't think there is any basis for that. However, taking into account our recent record both at home and away, my sense is that we need to get a score draw tonight. Obviously a 0-0 is better than a defeat, but I think an away goal will be very important and also not having to chase the game at home. You could argue the pressure is on DK as the home team but they may take a 0-0 and force us to come at them in Dublin. I'd be delighted with two legs to mirror the Bosnia games!
O Dowda starting apparently.
O'dowd gets the nod. Whelan on the bench.
Randolph
Christie Duffy Clark Ward
Hendrick Arter
Brady O'Dowda McClean
Murphy
Or something like that.