From today's Examiner. There was something very similar in the Indo, but I prefer Liam Mackey!
It's interesting that he commends McGeady. Many felt in the post-match thread that he didn't cross early enough. My suspicion was that he mighn't have seen much to cross to & Robson suggests this was the case. Though regular McGeady watchers will concede that he misplaces a lot of his crosses.
He's still positive on O'Shea but says he needs to keep it simple (something Kavanagh does without even having to think) & he thinks he & Reid is our best central pairing.
As totalfootball said here yesterday, Robson says the Dutch match should be used as a direct dry-run of the German game.
He also comments on his working relationship with Stan & McDonald.
Without trying to be patronising, if the enthusiasm & positiveness of Robson's comments in writing can be imparted on the players' mindsets then it can only be a good thing.
Experiments over, now it’s time for action!
By Liam Mackey
THE time for experimentation is over — Ireland’s friendly against Holland in Lansdowne Road in August will be nothing less than a full dress rehearsal for the European Championship opener against Germany in Stuttgart the following month.
That’s the view of Steve Staunton’s International Football Consultant, Bobby Robson, speaking on the day after the disappointing loss to Chile.
Asked if the manager will have to start with his best side and preferred system for the game against the Dutch, Robson’s reply was emphatic.
“Oh, he has to. The quicker we get down to what we think is our best team and play it and practice the best system in training, the better. Injuries permitting, we need to play our best team against Holland, the team we think is going to play against Germany. We’ll be looking to get a stormer out of the lads against Holland so that we go into the game against Germany full of confidence.”
Robson admitted that there was widespread disappointment in the Irish camp after the lacklustre performance in the 0-1 loss to Chile on Wednesday night.
“We got off to a bad start — I said to the players afterwards that if we’d started the match like we finished it, we’d have won. We went out fighting, with the crowd with us. There was more urgency in the team, a better tempo and more desire to save the game. But we should have had that feeling at the start. In fact, the last thing I said to the players before the game was: ‘Look, you won the crowd last time you played here — don’t lose them now.’
“But, for some reason, we got off to a disappointing start, were slow in passing, cumbersome in collection of the ball, hit misplaced passes — and all that allowed the Chileans to think: ‘Oh, this team is not too good.’ Because of our poor beginning, we gave them added confidence, I think.”
Robson felt a real turning point was captain Robbie Keane’s failure to capitalise on an early opportunity to score.
“Robbie got in and tried to be a bit clever and chip it — you know what Robbie’s like — when all it needed was a firm shot. Like the goal he got here against Sweden when he didn’t think about it — he just whacked it. If he’d done the same sort of thing the other night and got us off to a good start, we’d have been better for it.
“And without being too critical of him, we lost Robbie in the match in my opinion. He wasn’t as prominent in the game as he was against Sweden. So to some degree we lost his inspirational ability. I don’t know why, sometimes you get games like that. But I’m sure we’ll get that inspiration from him again because he adores what he’s doing.
“Little (Aiden) McGeady was quite clever when he came on. He weaved and feinted and double-feinted and got the guy rocking — but he had no one to play the ball into in the box. And I kept saying: ‘Where’s Robbie?’
“Our best play was down the left, where Damien (Duff) in the last 20 minutes and with (Ian) Harte coming on fresh, proved to be our better side on the night.”
Did Robson think the players had problems adapting to 3-4-3?
“I would say they haven’t had much time to spend working on it. But it’s not beyond the intelligence of the players to go three at the back, four in midfield and three up front. Without going into a technical session here, when you play with four at the back, you know that one of your full backs has to go and develop the play.
“So one goes and the other stays — and you still have three at the back. What happened the other night in the first half, in my opinion, is that (Kevin) Kilbane and (Steven) Reid were just a little bit reluctant to go because they felt they were only leaving three at the back.
“Every time Kilbane went and tried to get two on one with Damien down the left-hand side, we looked very good. Same on the right. And we needed to do that to get more balls in the box — then (Kevin) Doyle becomes a better player, Keane becomes a better player. We didn’t get enough from the two wide midfield players, although they’re willing horses.”
Acknowledging the Irish football public is perhaps overly wedded to 4-4-2, Robson said that he backed Staunton’s judgement in going 3-4-3, particularly in light of the defensive restrictions placed on him by injuries. But Robson did feel that, in the heart of midfield, Liam Miller and John O’Shea struggled to impose themselves on their opposite numbers.
“John O’Shea is a better player than what he gives us sometimes,” said Robson. “We like him and we think he’s going to be a very influential player for us — a strong boy, good in the air — as long as he keeps his passes simple and doesn’t try to be like a genius.
“But he also needed to knock out the six (Acuna) a bit more.”
Robson also revealed he sees Steven Reid’s Irish future as being alongside the Manchester United man in the middle of the park. He had high praise for the Blackburn midfielder.
“He played in three positions the other night but I would say his best position is in the midfield with O’Shea. He’s got such a shot on him and he’ll get that shot in on goal more if plays orthodox midfield rather than wide on the right or at full back. He’s such a good player coming onto the edge of the box, picking up ball off the strikers and hitting 25-yarders. Remember Bobby Charlton? Steven has that explosive shot.”
Asked to run the rule over other areas of the pitch, the straight-talking Robson suggested that Damien Duff could be most effective in a central role behind the strikers.
“He can play anywhere but think he’s outstanding in that position — and then we can find an outside left in Kilbane or Andy Reid or maybe McGeady. Although I think McGeady fancies the outside-right position more. Which is okay, we’re not short of left-footed players.”
Forwards? “We know about Robbie. I like Doyle, and he’ll be in the Premiership next season. And I really like Stephen Elliott. I’ve seen him a few times. He turns quickly and shoots and is a real goalscorer. The lad who went from Cardiff to Ipswich, (Alan) Lee, is not bad and they tell me that Terry Dixon — it’s a bit like Theo Walcott this (laughs) — has just opened everybody’s eyes. At 16, I don’t know how good he is, but Stan said: ‘I could not believe what I saw.’
“He’s one for the future. Let’s not get too excited about him, not yet.”
On his working relationship with Steve Staunton and, in turn, the management team’s communications with the dressing room, Robson admitted that all concerned were still on a learning curve.
“We both talk to the players and I have to tell you also (coach) Kevin MacDonald is good, he speaks well to the players. We don’t want to confuse the players — there’s no point me saying one thing and you something else. I’ve only been around twice. The three of us — Stan as boss, number one, with Kevin’s ideas and my thoughts — we need to get together and pool it all so we sing off the same hymn sheet. But we’re not at cross purposes, we just need more time.”
