Serbia V Republic of Ireland - Wednesday, 24th March 2021 - World Cup 2022 Qualifier

[pineapple stu]

Well someone's getting thrown in. But it's hard not to see it as a very worrying problem though. We've been competitive under Kenny because Randolph has done quite well. We need to keep things tight because we can't score. Throw in a green keeper and we're much weaker.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Guys I would have opted for experienced gloves like Doyle or McDermott I want the youth but up front, the question is the defensive system and how to protect Travers, or O'Hara. I dont believe the other guy will start. Iam afraid that he could play it openly, I would play very cagey with a 10 and two fast fwrds

[Bielsa´s irish]

Well someone's getting thrown in. But it's hard not to see it as a very worrying problem though. We've been competitive under Kenny because Randolph has done quite well. We need to keep things tight because we can't score. Throw in a green keeper and we're much weaker.

thats the scenario I agree

[Razors left peg]

Well someone's getting thrown in. But it's hard not to see it as a very worrying problem though. We've been competitive under Kenny because Randolph has done quite well. We need to keep things tight because we can't score. Throw in a green keeper and we're much weaker.

Randolph has done ok but hes been terrible with ball at his feet and maybe one of the younger guys with better feet will fit into Kennys system a bit better. I've been advocating for quite a while that even if everyone was fit that Id start Kelleher ahead of Randolph for that reason.

When Pep went to City one of 1st things he did was get rid of Hart because he was crap with ball at his feet. I think Kenny similarly needs to change from Randolph, especially when Randolph isnt even playing club football. Now of course that scenario has changed for this game but I think by throwing in Bazunu we might benefit from having a keeper that can pass the ball more effectively.

Incidentally, I would also get rid of Duffy for same reason. Id start with O'Shea and Clark. Duffy gets us into all sorts of trouble trying to pass the ball

[pineapple stu]

Agree with Randolph and the ball at his feet - see Helsinki if course.

But he's conceded what - 4 in 7 or something? Excluding England which was a silly game to play. He's played well, and we've needed him to play well. There's a lot more to goalkeeping than passing a ball.

I don't get the confidence in Bazunu; I think it's misplaced. I've seen it said Man City rate him very highly - I don't think that's the case; he's just another academy player for now. I've seen it said he's getting rave reviews; I haven't seen any. One Team of the Week award. A different Rochdale player got the division's Young PotM in January so it's not him plus ten incompetents in the team. And we know foot posters have a tendency to overestimate youth prospects. He's a promising player for sure, but that's no use right now.

I'm happy to remain pessimistic. I'll either be right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win.

[Razors left peg]

Agree with Randolph and the ball at his feet - see Helsinki if course.

But he's conceded what - 4 in 7 or something? Excluding England which was a silly game to play. He's played well, and we've needed him to play well. There's a lot more to goalkeeping than passing a ball.

I don't get the confidence in Bazunu; I think it's misplaced. I've seen it said Man City rate him very highly - I don't think that's the case; he's just another academy player for now. I've seen it said he's getting rave reviews; I haven't seen any. One Team of the Week award. A different Rochdale player got the division's Young PotM in January so it's not him plus ten incompetents in the team. And we know foot posters have a tendency to overestimate youth prospects. He's a promising player for sure, but that's no use right now.

I'm happy to remain pessimistic. I'll either be right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win.

On how highly Bazunu is rated I would say hes far from just another academy player. How many 18 year old keepers in Premiership youth teams are out on loan in English lower leagues. Usually that doesnt happen until they are older. To me it looks like they are grooming him from a very early age because they rate him so highly. He was voted Rochdale Fans player of the month recently I believe.

We'll get a look at him Im sure in the next week whether its Serbia or Qatar. Travers scares me much more than Bazunu for some reason

[Eirambler]

I'm happy to remain pessimistic. I'll either be right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win.

That's basically my life motto.

Conor Grant actually seems to get more hype than Bazunu does from Rochdale fans, Bazunu makes some amazing saves and doesn't have too many howlers but I've seen a fair amount of criticism of his distribution and his command of his penalty area. On the plus side he'll have got about two season's worth of experience in the space of a season playing behind that Rochdale defence.

I would definitely pick Travers. He's a year or two ahead of Bazunu in terms of development and even though Bazunu may end up being the better keeper in the long term Travers is the safer option this week. It sounded like he was very solid at Swindon during his short spell there.

[Razors left peg]

Pessimism is the life motto of most Irish people

[tommy_c12000]

I was hoping for Kelleher as he gives me confidence, despite some of the flaws that he’s working on which have been highlighted on here nicely.

I would go for Travers for now. But the poor guy has been pretty nervous each time he’s been offered a chance (his debut aside vs Spurs), a shame he was brought back from Swindon. Part of me would love to throw a 19 year old into the mix, but I think Bazunu is a bigger risk. His decision making remains my biggest concern, when to come for crosses/threw balls etc, but he’s an excellent shot stopper (but which keeper isn’t?!).

It looks like Travers will get the nod, so let’s get behind him. Hopefully it will help kickstart his club career

[backstothewall]

Well someone's getting thrown in. But it's hard not to see it as a very worrying problem though. We've been competitive under Kenny because Randolph has done quite well. We need to keep things tight because we can't score. Throw in a green keeper and we're much weaker.

Ordinarily i agree, but these are very particular circumstances.

I say go for it at this stage. Pick Bazuna.

Young lads at that age feel indestructible. You don't have to worry about nerves, over confidence is the problem. But without a crowd there he's less likely to end up taking the head staggers (nordie expression).

Nobody has any real experience. So just pick the best goalie. It's that simple.

[pineapple stu]

But is Bazunu the best keeper? Or the best prospect? There's a huge difference.

Young players - especially keepers - absolutely do feel nerves. Any keeper taking a step up needs to be able to grow into a match. If they make a good save early on, that's a great help. But if they make a mistake - even flapping at a cross or hesitancy like tommy suggests - that can quickly get on your mind. And he simply hasn't played or trained at this level, whereas Travers has at least.

(Source for that btw is (a) being a keeper and (b) interviewing a keeper who did play well when thrown in for a big match for my book)

[Razors left peg]

I would say the training at Man City at all levels is possibly better than Bournemouth 1st team training

[pineapple stu]

I don't think you've anything for that though. The Man City academy stronger than what was up until last year another Premier League side? It doesn't stand up logically. Man City in the EFL trophy beat two League Two sides and failed to beat two League One sides. They're clearly not Premier League strength, or even Championship strength (as Bournemouth are now)

[paul_oshea]

Agree with Randolph and the ball at his feet - see Helsinki if course.

But he's conceded what - 4 in 7 or something? Excluding England which was a silly game to play. He's played well, and we've needed him to play well. There's a lot more to goalkeeping than passing a ball.

I don't get the confidence in Bazunu; I think it's misplaced. I've seen it said Man City rate him very highly - I don't think that's the case; he's just another academy player for now. I've seen it said he's getting rave reviews; I haven't seen any. One Team of the Week award. A different Rochdale player got the division's Young PotM in January so it's not him plus ten incompetents in the team. And we know foot posters have a tendency to overestimate youth prospects. He's a promising player for sure, but that's no use right now.

I'm happy to remain pessimistic. I'll either be right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win.

Very well said, some sense here. He's a business investment at present short and simple. Pick up a talked about young player, and more than likely never see any game time with City but sell him onto another club. There's giddiness at any and every corner, because people are desperate, when hopes all you've got.

On how highly Bazunu is rated I would say hes far from just another academy player. How many 18 year old keepers in Premiership youth teams are out on loan in English lower leagues. Usually that doesnt happen until they are older. To me it looks like they are grooming him from a very early age because they rate him so highly. He was voted Rochdale Fans player of the month recently I believe.

We'll get a look at him Im sure in the next week whether its Serbia or Qatar. Travers scares me much more than Bazunu for some reason

Only because you've seen and heard more of Travers. He's been more relevant cos hes been in the media for more bad than good and most recently its been more bad.
No one really pays any attention to the lower leagues.

That's basically my life motto.

Conor Grant actually seems to get more hype than Bazunu does from Rochdale fans, Bazunu makes some amazing saves and doesn't have too many howlers but I've seen a fair amount of criticism of his distribution and his command of his penalty area. On the plus side he'll have got about two season's worth of experience in the space of a season playing behind that Rochdale defence.

I would definitely pick Travers. He's a year or two ahead of Bazunu in terms of development and even though Bazunu may end up being the better keeper in the long term Travers is the safer option this week. It sounded like he was very solid at Swindon during his short spell there.

Its called managing expectations.

We can only hope that Travers games is the one where he isn't inconsistent and making clangers. Then replace him for the Lux game and Qatar is irrelevant, ride your luck : D

[tetsujin1979]

Paul, you're here long enough to know how the multi-quote feature works

[paul_oshea]

I am, I replied consecutively though, but it would be good if after posting you could then squash and merge into one post, is that possible?

[tetsujin1979]

you can edit the posts into one, I've done it for you

[paul_oshea]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021...of-chocolates/

18.02 is another comparison to British football. Don't fear any individual, no real individual quality, but perform as a team. The normal backhanded compliments. Serbs believe they are better. I wonder why all these Eastern(South) Europeans think this about us given the English leagues would be seen as strong.

Didn't realise Stojkovic has only 2 training sessions before this game, theyve still got the bang in the back of the head from the Scots, from an opponent viewpoint, there's never a better time to be playing them, he cant have had that much influence on them negatively or positively in that short space of time.

Sadly its also the worst possible time for us, but hopefully we can grab a draw.

*The box of chocolates was funny, very true about the Serbs.

[DeLorean]

Travers is nearly 22, Bazunu has just turned 19. That in itself is a big difference for a game of this magnitude, and the (main) reason I'd have preferred Kelleher to Bazunu also, despite feeling his current position at Liverpool is more a result of somebody else's poor form, rather than being originally merited by his own. He could just as easily be the one out on loan if Adrian was a fraction of the back up keeper Liverpool would have expected him to be. But he's done well in some high level games, as has Travers, Bazunu simply hasn't yet.

I'm not sure I could put forward any argument for Bazunu being the better choice right now, outside of the fact that he's the one playing regular football. And to be fair we're all guessing as to how well he's actually doing. He's received some positive comments and won that player of the month award, but unless you're actually watching Rochdale regularly it's a vastly underdeveloped opinion. At least we've seen the majority of what Kelleher and Travers have produced, good and bad.

I went Travers > Kelleher too simply because he appears to have the greater physical presence, Kelleher still seems very childlike. Splitting hairs though probably.

[pineapple stu]

Could I add in the obvious extra observation that Travers gives us an additional goalscoring threat?

Let's be honest, we need everything we can get.