murphy or keogh should start against columbia on thu. i think keogh deserves his chance and trap seems to like him. great goal on sat night with murphy flicking on to him.
Obvious point, but the team and midfield in particular is crying out for Andy Reid and to a greater extent the forward runs and passing ability of young Mr Ireland, like berbatov is perfect foil for Keane so to is Ireland. We need him Back!
murphy or keogh should start against columbia on thu. i think keogh deserves his chance and trap seems to like him. great goal on sat night with murphy flicking on to him.
Well, a few things are clear to me after that match.
Keogh is looking like a much better prospect than Stokes. When Robbie Keane hangs up his boots, I can definitely see Keogh taking up his role.
Miller and Whelan were ok, but it's clear that the likes of A. Reid, S. Reid, Carsley and Ireland are a class above them. With Gibson and Garvan coming through the ranks, there's no reason why Whelan or Miller should even be in the squad.
Judging from his Reading and Ireland performances, Hunt is totally overrated. He doesn't have the class of McGeady, far too much headless chicken stuff.
Given our lack of options at left-back, Delaney deserves another chance for the game against Columbia.
never rated hunt to be honest - shouldnt have to accomodate duff on his weaker right side for him. i want duffer on the left, still one of our main threats.
Given that the goal came from a set piece, and that we've been particularly weak in set pieces in recent times (aim for Kilbane, or Dunne, and hope for the best), I'm feeling a bit better than immediately after the game.
Doyle said last week that Trap had worked on free kicks, and throw ins, and the pay off was there in Keogh's finish.
Rome wasn't built in a day, but it's a nice start.
im already in love with trap and tardelli have to say.
Originally Posted by livehead1
Always amazes me how different someone elses view can be than your own.
Kiely looked assured but did he have much to do at all? Any keeper worth their weight could have sailed through that match... in fact if I was being picky I would say he was really slow at releasing the ball and I didn't hear a peep out of him all game, very little communication with the back 4.
Kelly was solid for about 25mins and then his head went.... looks to me like a player who needs his hand held troughout the game, hopefully he'll prove me wrong.
Miller was the worst player on the park in my opinion, never really offered as a passing option to the back four and made them punt. Really looked out of his depth, we really lacked a creative midfielder who could link up with the wingers and strikers and also get the ball and spread it when the defence was under pressure. Whelan got stuck in and had an average game.
Delaney was very solid and no nonsense, he just looked like he wasn't used to playing behind Duff... which is something that you can only improve on with games. I was very impressed with him.
McShane simply isnt international standard.... any decent striker would have a field day with him. Definitely at fault for the goal, schoolboy error running out like a madman trying to play the offside, centre backs command the offside they should always be a yard or 2 behind the full backs and if the full backs are too deep then they push them out first... both of his full backs were behind him.
I agree with Duffs final product, the thing with Duff is the team really has to understand his style of football.. switching wings constantly etc. He is extremely effective at this when the team is aware of how to use him. I was hoping for Keane to link up with him a little more but he looked tired. Duff should have put the ball in the box quicker but I think he was just too eager to impress.
All in all it was a pretty boring display... although we looked a little more organised and closed down the opposition a lot better than under previous management. I'm still upbeat about how things will progress, it does seem like the Trapp is concentrating on getting the basics of international football accross to his players.
I was pleased with the outcome and I'm glad he picked the team that he did. I'm even more glad there is another game on thurs though!
Positives:
Damien Delaney. Played as well as could be expected, I didn't realise he is so tall. Very comfortable on the ball I felt. Deserves another chance on Thurs and would be happy to see him in the squad.
Liam Miller. Proved that another cap shouldn't be wasted on him. I class this as a positive as its out of the way in the first game!
Negatives:
The long ball game! Uggh, how often during the week I read about the ball in the sky being bad, expecting to see good ground football , and in the first minute Kiely and Dunne sky 60 balls to nobody. Start as we mean to go on lads.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Agreed, not much to get excited about in the match but it's early days and I think there is a lot of work to do but I have every confidence in Trappatoni and think he will make a silk purse out of that sow's ear yet.
Esse Quam Videri
All that needs to be said really. Good stuff Tets.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I watched a recording of the game yesterday, just stared at the screen until I started watching about 10 minutes from the end.
International friendlies are now little more than good practice games.
The surreal thing is that FIFA give ranking seeding points for them.
Wasn't Andy Keogh's goal of the exact type that we had been rehearsing as 10 year olds in back yards all over the country.
Everybody could identify with it in some way, like - yeah that's the one, that's how I was planning it, a scorcher to the back of the net.
Amen to that. I love the place when Gaelic games are on, but man the football matches have been stinkers there. I can't decide if its the stadium or the novelty fans that seem to get a ticket and dilute the atmosphere. What it highlighted for me is the need for a 10/15/20k stadium for these type of games. There's one being built in Limerick I think
Can't wait to get back to the Road.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Ky - lee
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Delaney was decent I thought. Didn't see much of Miller in midfield, nothing new there. So many people champion Hunt to start, yet everytime he does he disappoints. I know he's decent but I don't know, Duff and McGeady would be my starters on the wings. Keane really suffered from a lack of quality in our side, couldn't do anything that he gets to do with Spurs. McShane - no comment.
As for the crowd, sat in the Davin Stand, with these 4 bogger muppets behind me, shouting for Trap out and going mad when Duff lost the ball after shouts of 'go on boss, run the oul pitch there harse'. and of couse when people didnt get up for the Mexican wave (ourselves included) 'ahh jaysis dis is savage boys, why won't d rest of ye get up, ye are gob****es!'
Sooner we're out of Croker and back at Lansdowne, the better, less of these sort of idiots bringing the match day down
Thursdays are Oriel.
Trap was emphasising the importance of throw ins in the international game last week. He said he was amazed at how many golas Ireland have conceded in the last few years that came from throw ins. Nice that he is picking up on the significance of the little things
The place is full of people who couldnt really be that bothered if Ireland win or not and are just there to see how nice and pretty it all looks and join in with the bloody mexican wave.The atmosphere has been rubbish for almost all the games in Croker, though the other night was a friendly and atmospheres at those even in LR werent great.
I look forward to when we go back to LR, where the pitch is nice and close to the stands and we have 50 odd thousand people at games who care about Irish football. We also will have a fully complete stadium that will enable a better atmosphere, the gaping hole at the hill end doesnt help things in croker imo.
I'm glad I'm not alone in singling out Miller as being abysmal, yet again.
Our central midfield is crying out for someone with presence and someone with the courage to look for a simple pass from whoever is on the ball.
Apologies for my poor understanding of astro-physics here but Miller is like a black hole. It's not just that he has no presence, it's worse: he has negative presence. His very being there seems to create room for the opposition. He sucks the ball from our team and out the other side to the opposition.
Despite some thrilling attacking moments in the CL for Celtic and the occasional decent game for Sunderland (including at the Emirates in a 5 man midfield), the R5 Live commentary on his MUFC debut against Chelsea now looks generous - "neat and tidy but no more". God, if only he could even be neat and tidy for us it'd be a big step up.
Reid, Reid, Carsley, Garvan, Delap (neat and tidy, physically strong and athletic and a great throw in...), Rowlands, Gibson, O'Toole & Potter are all better players yet of these only maybe 3, max 4, could be trusted in the upcoming competitive games IMO. I'd like to see Rowlands get a start on Thursday if he's fit.
Hunt's poor showing may open the door for McGeady or Liam Lawrence in due course, with Duff reverting to the left.
If ever there was a case for playing some variation of a 5 man midfield, preferably an attacking 4-2-3-1, the last 3 games have been it. I suspect Trap will arrive at this conclusion though he says he wants to change things only slowly.
Agree 100%. I've always felt that bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to footy grounds.The place is full of people who couldnt really be that bothered if Ireland win or not and are just there to see how nice and pretty it all looks and join in with the bloody mexican wave.
I look forward to when we go back to LR, where the pitch is nice and close to the stands and we have 50 odd thousand people at games who care about Irish football. We also will have a fully complete stadium that will enable a better atmosphere, the gaping hole at the hill end doesnt help things in croker imo.
Yes, I hate Croker also and cant wait to get back to Lasndowne.
"Football is a game you play with your brain".
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