I felt we actually played some nice confident football at times against Portugal. There was a period in the second half where they could not get the ball off us. Unforunately it had no end product for us.
Our 3 big problems were (1) at the back (3 out of the 4 are not generally first 11 players and all are Championship players), (2) our wingers probably aren't good enough at unlocking the door and burning by the opposition's full backs and (3) we don't seem to have goals in us and can't keep relying on Robbie to deliver for us.
I thought Meyler, Hoolahan and Hendrick did really well. Forde had an off day but is our No.1 I feel.
Under Trap we may not have lost to Portugal by that much (then again, we may have) but we certainly would not have played ANY football on the ground like that, that's for sure. It would have been booted up to Sammon and watching him get beaten in the air, time after time
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Last edited by Metrostars; 13/06/2014 at 12:33 PM.
"Jacques Santini...will be greeted in every dugout of the country by "one-nil, one-nil" - Clive Tyldsley, 89th minute of France-England June 13, 2004.
"Ooooohhhh Nooooooo" Bobby Robson 91st minute.
It was being organised by the FAI for starters.
We were down to play Argentina.
Hand had to go to English clubs for the release of players to go on a summer tour which included a country that England had declared war upon. Those players were never going to be released. If Joe Lapira was around then, he would have been capped. That's not the team you'd want to take to Brazil.
In the end the fixture with Argentina was cancelled but the tickets were never changed, the team were on a plane that landed in Buenos aries.
Keogh has made barely any starts, let alone starts in his natural position. His goals per minutes ratio probably isn't far off most of our strikers. Good finishes against Serbia and Germany; impressive cameo against Uruguay. Who knows what he could have done if he was given more chances? He could have been a decent back up instead of the figure of mirth that he is now.
I agree to an extent, yes it was our B team especially the back 4. First choice would be Coleman-O'Shea-Delaney-Wilson with Dunne, Clark and Pearce in contention, although O'Shea and Dunne are getting long in the tooth. I'm a little worried if Coleman or Wilson are injured for a qualifier, the likes of Kelly/McShane/Ward are not up to scratch. I thought Hendrick and Hoolihan did well and we still have McCarthy and Wilson to come back.
"Jacques Santini...will be greeted in every dugout of the country by "one-nil, one-nil" - Clive Tyldsley, 89th minute of France-England June 13, 2004.
"Ooooohhhh Nooooooo" Bobby Robson 91st minute.
The lack of leadership is also a worry if Dunne and Keane are taken out of the equation. O'Shea is a powder puff.
Andy Keogh got 30 caps and, in hindsight, it's stunning he got more than 10. Let's not get carried away here, Keogh has done very well for himself on the international front. He's had plenty of chances, and domestically, but now he's in the A-League. He just ain't good enough, never was, never will be. He's an honest guy and a hard worker, to his credit. Hope he does well in Australia but just not an international footballer.
O'Shea got some good notices for his captaincy at Sunderland over the last six months.
If O'Neill deems Keane is no longer an automatic starter, and Dunne isn't back in the equation, would O'Shea be our most likely captain for the campaign?
Last edited by SwanVsDalton; 13/06/2014 at 1:21 PM.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Walters would be the skipper I think.
Did Andy Keogh not miss a simple header from 6 feet against Uruguay?
Didn't he lead some sort of player revolt in getting di canio out?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/...and-john-oshea
"I don't like people who, when they speak to you, don't look into your eyes," said the 45-year-old Italian who now believes it is his "destiny" to manage West Ham. "He [O'Shea] should say sorry to some of his team-mates for the many times he came into my office to say something unfavourable about them. This is the same person that also came to me when I first took over and said things about [Martin] O'Neill."<=======
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