I'm sure there are plenty of alternative distractions for Belgian and Croatian youth as well; basketball, handball, tennis, cycling, the PlayStation, whatever...
Are we going to blame the GAA and rugby for our problems now? Let's get on with it and take some responsibility.
Hey look I know it is getting embarrassing that most of our better players now are either English, Scottish or NI born now.... I'd just question whether there's a genuine will or capability out there to change things....
Of course there isn't. Which is why the future looks so grim and depressing. What have the FAI done since we were embarrassed by the products of long-term organisation at the Euros last year? In 2002, we were able to compete with Spain in the second round of the World Cup. Spain then put a comprehensive plan in place and, by the time we met again in 2012, they'd left us far behind and had moved on to another footballing planet. The lack of willingness, imagination and foresight for developmental change within the FAI is unfathomable despite the red lights flashing them in the face.Originally Posted by Grafter
North or South. Drinks or on me. Everyone is welcome.
The difference between rugby and GAA in relation to football is that both are successful in their own right and are home based. For some perverse reason, a football player is only deemed successful when they are playing in England. This is comparing small ponds with a massive lake. This perverse view along with a weak LOI in terms of finance and a limited emphasis on technical ability among junior clubs is at the heart of our problems. There is no obvious solution, the only possible one might if somehow we had teams join the Scottish League which might provide a shot in the arm to Irish football.
Last edited by gastric; 09/09/2013 at 4:55 AM.
One point I would like to make is Seamus Coleman was originally a Gaelic footballer, so you could either blame them or thank them depending on how you see it. Are there others who could switch? Would they want? Would it be right to try and poach them?
Glenn Moore of the Independent doesn't wholly agree!
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...g-8799006.html
I think we develop very good players up to 15 or 16 and people like Niall Harrison are doing a great job with limited resources and limited time with his players. After 16 though its in the lap of the gods. We can plan and reconfigure all we like but basic economics are a hard hurdle to clear.
What was the plan that the Belgians put in place?
As much as it pains me to link to the Daily Fail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...=feeds-newsxml
So the same as people have been suggesting on here since the site was set up, youth, league and national side all pulling in the same direction, with strong and purposeful leadership from the top.
The chances of the FAI ever doing something that makes this much sense: zero.
tactics lost in translation...
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...tion-1.1520102
it cant help when the paid translator is on the pitch being interviewed at HT rather than in the dressing room. you couldnt make it up
Thank you. Would love to read more about this. Must try and dig online for it. Will be interesting to see if this really has worked for the Belgians. Once in a while, countries like Belgium get a good generation of players. If they produce more over the next 10 years then I think they can undoubtedly point to what they've done.
Either way, at least they took some positive action.
They only play football in these countries, wow
I didnt know you had to have a lot of skill to play bog ball
Correct me if I am wrong but arent Belgian club teams doing well this season?
Here's the line-up from 1991 against england at Wembley:
One of the strngest teams we've ever had. Not in any way the result of any academy of root and branch reform of the setup.1 Patrick Bonner
2 Denis Irwin
3 Steve Staunton
4 David Anthony O'Leary
5 Kevin Moran
6 Andrew Townsend
7 Paul McGrath
8 Raymond Houghton
9 Niall Quinn
10 John William Aldridge
11 Kevin Sheedy
Substitutes
12 Anthony Cascarino
13 Christopher Hughton
14 John Sheridan
15 Alan McLoughlin
16 Gerald Peyton
For Ireland to be really good, we're always going to rely on an element of luck (like Belgium).
Last edited by osarusan; 09/09/2013 at 9:36 AM.
The difference is, now other countries are implementing root and branch reform. In 1990, football was a completely different game, and if we keep sitting around hoping for another crop of players like that just to emerge, we're going to be left behind.
That team was wonderful in its day, but would be played off the park by Spain 2008-2012.
i doubt it really. Jacks teams up until post wc 94 regularly competed brilliantly with the top teams in the world.
id say the current spain team would have felt they had been run over by a bus after 90 mins against that Irish '91 team
Yeah twas a pretty strong team and you're right that it wasn't the result of anything Ireland did particularly right in it's approch to coaching.
That doesn't mean we should just sit on our hands and wait for a similar crop of players though. We are never going to be the best team in international football but what we should be obliged to do is give ourselves the best chance to get the best out of what we have. I don't believe that our approach currently does that (although someone on here might offer a counter-viewpoint).
I'm not someone who believes that we should just pass-pass-pass and that'll cure the world's ills. Stu made a good post earlier saying that there is room for mixing it up and alternative styles and I agree. A lot of the time the other night, we did hoof it and although Robbie and Long were never going to win it, we did pick up the second ball. However, some of the stuff the other night was heartbreaking and is rooted in how we teach people to play. We clearly don't teach about space and movement. To pass-pass-pass, it's not the fella on the ball who is the most important, it's the three or four players who should be giving him options. Any professional footballer worth his salt can pass the ball 5-10 yards but if he has no-one to pass to then he's screwed.
I saw Cox the other night looking for the ball from Coleman but he was tucked in behind two Swedish players. Rather than pull wide, where there was space and an angle for a pass, he stood behind the two Swedes shouting for the ball. I have no problem with Cox, quite like him in fact, but it was so dumb. Coleman had a 1% chance of pulling off that pass.
I also remember us getting a free kick and everyone just got in the box waiting for the inevitable long ball. Not a sinner on the wings. No-one had the inclination to pull wide and, if nothing else, pull a Swede with them to leave a bit more space in an overcrowded box. At least give them something to think about.
Watching those kids at half time also didn't fill me with any hope that we are trying to change things for the better. I'd love someone to come on and offer an alternative viewpoint on how we coach though because I'm just being a hurler on the ditch to an extent and don't coach kids so I'm making assumptions based on not a lot of evidence.
We're not going to change our style over night and you're right to say that a change to tikka takka is impossible. Mixing it up is the way to improve things. This needn't even be a tactical change as such, although a 3 man midfield might accommodate better ball players, improving retention etc.
Either way, the immediate solution is to have a midfielder who wants the ball and is always looking for it. The CBs and FBs can have someone to give it to, as will everyone. It becomes infectious and sets the tone. I said after Wembley that the lack of retention and consequent hoofball was almost all down to Whelan's inability to demand the ball and use it well. Using it well can also mean using it simply. Meyler isn't the answer. Green could partner McCarthy more effectively as per Stockholm, allowing McCarthy a bit more opportunity to be composed. I'm sure we've all seen that youtube highlights footage of Hoolahan against Georgia. That's what we need. Whelan just takes too much out of it. It's like slow ball from half-backs in rugby.
Trap doesn't even need to instruct the players to play more football. If he just picked a natural ball user we'd be better. Simple as.
Wilson into midfield, with McCarthy and Gibson could be an interesting midfield set up once Trap departs but that'd be too radical for now, and Gibson's absence is hurting us.
Playing the head height rule when all the lads join up for training camp would be my first recommendation. People might then learn the benefits of making movements off the ball.
If England lose to the Ukraine on Tuesday night they'll be going through the same soul searching as us on here. They have it after every major tournament and there is a great debate about how to fix things for 2 weeks and it's then forgotten about. WE (the FAI, fans, coaches etc) need to make sure something this issue doesn't disappear off the agenda. It's a bloody difficult task, maybe even impossible but if there is a way to improve our football team (at all levels) then the FAI need to ensure they are on the case.
"If God had meant football to be played in the air, he'd have put grass in the sky." Brian Clough.
You'll NEVER beat the Irish.......you'll just draw with us instead!!!
When I read wilson's comments about Trap wanting them to play more through the middle, it's annoying. Why pick Whelan then?
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