1. Doyle
2. Dunne
3. Duff
Our top 3 players by a mile.
2nd half was how Trap wants it to be. It's his way. Very risky if you ask me. I'd rather have Reid in there and have about 5-10% more possession.
Anyway, delighted with the 3 points. Win our next 2 home games and we're 10 points ahead of Bulgaria with them having a game in hand.
Central midfield was non existant. Badly need the two Reid's in there.Originally Posted by theworm2345
Whelan shouldn't be a starter for Ireland and neither should Gibson when you consider he's 9th choice at centre-midfield for Man Utd. Gibson is one for the future but at this point in time he should be on the bench.
Tonight's midfield should have been made up of Andy Reid and Kevin Kilbane with Damien Delaney reverting to left-back.
Given 7 - Wasn't really troubled, did what he had to. Shouldn't have gotten that silly yellow card.
McShane 5 - He had two horrendous errors, you could maybe forgive one, but two is not good enough for one game
Kilbane 7 - Solid. I would have liked to have seen him get a little more forward to be honest.
Dunne 9 - Brilliant, totally bailed us out at the end.
O' Shea 8 - Solid, think that the influence of Dunne is a huge boon to him.
McGeady 7.5 - One of his best games for Ireland, did pick the right option, but was very lively and deserved a goal
Duff 8 - Worked tirelessly, back to his best.
Gibson 6 - Didn't look for the ball, didn't get stuck in, was totally bypassed. To be honest, he looks every bit the reserve player that he is.
Whelan 6.5 - Anonymous, but came into it a little towards the end.
Keane 7.5 - Ok, he scored, but I was a little disappointed with Keane. He seems to have lost the yard of pace that he once had. Very frustrating to watch him falling over all the time.
Doyle 9.5 - Magnificent.
Last edited by Carrigaline; 15/10/2008 at 9:04 PM. Reason: Rate O' Shea!
lads all I have to say is woooooooooooo 3 points lots of positives Given, Dunne, O Shea, Duff, Mc Geady, Keane, Doyle all had good games took people on when reid comes back and Finnan we will be ok! the issue was central mid very poor just shows how important S reid is but just shows what A Reid can bring a 2 reid partnership with this team could be a sight to behold!! Garven would be a fantastic third choice above Whelan and Gibson they are just not getting enough club football and it shows!!
Ratings:
Given- Didn't have much to do, but if he did save that one then he's got to get a 10
McShane- 6- Did the basics but not a fullback in a million years. Exposed for pace at times, in addition to poor use of the ball when in possession.
O'Shea- 8- Made some vital clearances and is maintaining his good form in a green shirt.
Dunne- 10- An absolute rock at the back. He had to cover for both his fullbacks and even make a couple of goal-saving blocks. Probably man of the match.
Kilbane- 7- Keeping up the consistency at left-full.
McGeady- 7- Did a lot to create chances, but cancelled this out with some poor decision making and by fouling in dangerous areas.
Whelan- 6- His worst performance in an Irish jersey, he couldn't dictate play in the middle of the park.
Gibson- 7- Impressive debut- he kept things simple but was left to do more than his fair share by Whelan.
Duff- 9- He was our key outlet, and made that goal for us himself. Great performance that would have been a 10 if he could have taken his chance to score.
Keane- 8- Tonnes of off the ball running, and good instincts/positioning for the goal.
Doyle- 8- Fantastic off the ball running, the Cypriots had to foul him because they just couldn't deal with his guile and determination.
Folan- not on long enough to rate.
Overall: Our attacking players did well to create chances, but our finishing was horrible. Still not convinced that Doyle and Keane are a good partnership- didn't work together at all.
Our centre of midfield were inconsistent as you'd expect from a new partnership, especially an inexperienced one.
Wingers did well to create chances and get in good scoring positions. Starting to see the upside of having McGeady in the side, but should have taken his chance to really make it an easier final few minutes. Duff was fantastic as mentioned above.
At the back, everybody played well with the exception of McShane, but again I think it's down to the face that he was up against a pacy, tricky marker. I wouldn't really say McShane had a bad game so much as he was a square peg in a round hole. Did the job.
Given didn't have much to do, but possibly saved us the match (or was it Dunne?), with a fantastic save in the dying moments.
If we'd finished our chances everybody would be raving about a great performance, but we didn't and so people will talk of us as if we played worse than we did.
He's 21 in two weeks. I don't think he's ever going to make it as a Premier League footballer at this stage.
1. Given: Brilliant. Simply Magnificent. For me this man has far surpassed the heroic esteem in which his Donegal predecessor has been held in. A leader on and off the pitch and some outstanding saves.
2. McShane. He had one run up the right that had me optimistic, but his marking, tackling, distribution and position were rubbish. Absolutely not up to international football standard.
3. KK Not overly ambitious going forward, but a solid and capable performance from the Ireland legend (couldnt' resist). Played some good balls to Damien Duff.
4. Dunne: Maybe hyperbolic but this man has the stature and composure of a certain Mr. McGrath. Makes the clearances tackles and blocks of a world class centre half
5. O'Shea: Solid partner for Dunne, although clearly not the leader of the back 4. Can't really be blamed for the overall poorness of the performance, has a fair bit of pace surprisingly
6. Whelan. Invisible performance, no composure in attacking positions. Only contribution was plugging up holes to give Cyprus fewer passing options during Irelands better spells
7. McGeady: Can be proud of his performance. Involved in the buildup play for the goal, he was always full of movement, his distribution is poor enough most of the time
8. Gibson: Ditto for Whelan's description. Should be noted out central midfield partnership have played about only 4 or 5 club games between them this season.
9. Doyle Abused the Cyprus defence when given the chance. Should have scored, especially with stationary centre half Lambou on the field
10. Keane Took his goal well, tracked back efficiently but overall a quiet game
11. Duff: Magic Magic Magic when he got the ball. Welcome back !
"No regrets, none at all. My only regret is that we went out on penalties. That's my only regret. But no, no regrets." -Mick McCarthy
So solid he doesn't deserve a rating?
This no substitutes thing really annoy's me.
Subs are there to be used and they should be used. They are in the squad because they are good enough therefore there should be no excuse as to why they ain't being used!
Fully agreed subs should have been used big time
Think it was MGMT. Dunno the name of the song though.
Harsh ratings there. I thought Gibson was better than Whelan.
Try this:
Whelan - 1
Gibson - 3
Given - 7 Made 1 good save, but hadn't much to do, mainly because Dunne was getting there before he had to
McShane - 5.5 Remember saying under stan he wasn't a centre back because he is to short and doesn't read the game well, and that his future might be at right back. It isn't. He isn't up to this level and Joey O'Brien should of played
Dunne - 10 Give him the armband Trap. He is our leader. Captains performance. Man of the match without doubt.
O'Shea - 7 Him and Dunne go together like peas and carrots. Looks solid all of a sudden
Kilbane - 7 Quiet, but solid
McGready - 8 Always threatening, but still swapping flanks onto the left where he isn't as dangerous. No idea why.
Gibson - 7 A good perfomance in his first big game. did the simple things well, and Dunphy's post match comments about him were the only thing outragous
Whelan - 6 Not his best game, but again i didn't think he was as bad as Dunphy et al would have you believe. Missed Reid
Duff - 7.5 Worked hard, maybe getting back to his best. Excellent cross on his weak foot for the goal. Gave the ball away a lot though
Keane - 7.5 Right place at the right time for the goal, though went off the boil a bit in the second half. Possibly still carrying a knock after going over on his ankle. i was surprised when he came back
Doyle - 8 Brought his good club form with him. Deserved a goal
We were very lucky to win that game and unless we improve 100% there is no chance of winning this group.How are we going to beat Cyprus at home for instance? They are the best team by a mile we have played so far. The only thing they are missing is a bit of creativity in the last third.
I think that some people are being a little hard on Gibson.It was his first full international game, a game he never thought he would play in.He did not set the world alight but did not do too much wrong either. McShane played as predicted by many but Dunne(superb) Doyle and Duffer were excellent.
I might as well give my ratings.
Given - 7
McShane - 5
Kilbane - 5.5
O'Shea - 6
Dunne - 8.5
Whelan - 5
Gibson - 5
Duff - 8
McGeady - 7
Keane - 7
Doyle - 8.5
Really varied. Trap would given Whelan and Gibson a higher rating and say they did their job but they have to get out of the comfort zone and look at how much Steven Reid isn't afraid to risk disturbing the "system" by moving about constantly.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 15/10/2008 at 9:36 PM.
A scrappy win.
In context though it's a great result because Bulgaria dropped points away to Georgia. We really are starting to control our own destiny.
Not too happy about the lack of subs but I don't think Reid would have made sense. He can't win the ball so he'd never get it to allegedly hold it. Sorry, but he's a luxury in a team as weak as this one.
A win is a win. Now we need to beat Georgia at home and we're really going where we need to.
There is no such thing as a miracle cure, a free lunch or a humble opinion.
Given 6 - not much to do
McShane 5 - looked hesitant and uncertain
Kilbane 6 - has surprised me by looking solid enough in the games so far
O'Shea 6 - not as convincing as last few matches
Dunne 8 - man if the match in a home game against Cyprus, says it all
McGeady 7 - if only he chose the right option at times people would be raving about him
Whelan 5 - does a job with a decent midfielder beside him, but not international standard otherwise
Gibson 5 - I think Trap was the only person who thought he was ready for this level. He isnt
Duff 7 - worked hard and looked hungry for the ball
Doyle 8 -inspirational display
Keane 6 - did what he's there for but didnt get much chance otherwise.
Overall I thought it was a pretty shocking performance and we were lucky. Had Cyprus got the goal they deserved, they would have gone on to win. Our defence got more and more jittery and we couldnt hold on to the ball, midfield was non existant although I did think Whelan came more into the game late on. I'm still unsure if Trap is tactical genius or just been lucky so far but if it continues I won't really care.
That's a negative's man way of looking at it.If he was in our team Cyprus would have found it more difficult to get the ball off us. If Reid was in our team we would have had a lot more possession, no doubt about it.
I have to disagree. He just doesn't win the ball and is a luxury in so far as he's best with 2 ball winners around him. Both Trapp and Keane seem to agree with me. I think Trapp wanted to put him in but thought better of it.That's a negative's man way of looking at it.
Hey, at least Folan is with us now....er.....at 25.
There is no such thing as a miracle cure, a free lunch or a humble opinion.
Dunphy pretty much summed it up.
Unfortunately, it's the Italian way to hang on to what you have. We got the goal and then didn't really try to get a second. The midfield was just crying out for a change, wasn't it?
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