For what purpose... to possibly qualify for another tournament maybe? Today is all that matters- the qualifying tournament is on NOW. Let's try our best to qualify rather than putting our house on 'exciting young talents', who if they are good enough will get their chance anyway.Originally Posted by SkStu
Yes but surely we would have a better chance of qualifying if Trap picked better players than some of the ones he has picked. St Ledger is a much better footballer than Bruce and McShane for instance and Reid a better one than Miller.
OK So Today and Now who is a better central defensive midfeilder. Lee Carsley or Darren Gisbon. Try and answer without compromising your posts.
He's just not exhausting enough avenues to back up his stance for my liking.
its called foresight - okay, you seem to want the immediate gratification of qualification for a tournament, one that if we do qualify for it we will be humiliated - whatever about qualifying groups, that team and style will be ripped apart by any decent team. That is something i am not too keen on.
Perhaps i didnt make it clear in my first post but as well as having "exciting young talents" with potential, these same players are arguably better than those being selected right now, experience or not. They are playing regularly and are generally excelling at their level. I would rather see these players being handed the reigns or at the very least being handed a chance.
I was excited by Traps appointment as i thought everyone would start with a fresh slate and that he would do his utmost to evaluate the pool of players at our disposal. In this regard i think he has utterly failed and has taken the lazy option and listened to those with vested interests. It sickens me. What a waste of excitement, what a waste of money. The fact that there is even a need for this thread says a lot in my opinion.
To back Trap without questioning or evaluating his decisions or even understanding who the people are that are advising him and examining their motives, as quite a few people here do, is madness in the extreme.
I would rather Traps legacy be a young exciting team ready to step it up to the next level than qualification for a WC and then utter humiliation. But thats just me.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Well articulated SkStu. 100% agree with everything here.
Well girls... we'll just have to agree to disagree on some things in life
I'm still not convinced any of us fully understands Trap's system and I think this stems from that awful & misused term "holding midfielder" that prevails in Ireland & UK. For me, using this term is like us Irish only having one word for snow whereas eskimos have over 40, depending on its type. I believe that Italians have multiple terms for midfielders, each with its own nuance and descriptive ability.
Every hack I've read blandly describes Trap's systen as having 2 holding midfielders and 2 wingers. This was even when Steven Reid was in the team. Regardless of his club role, Reid's role under Trap was anything but "holding" midfielder. The classic holder was Whelan.
Therefore I think it's more apt to ask if Whelan or Carsley is better.
Despite the widespread perception of Trap's preference - probably compounded by his mistrust of Andy Reid - I still think he likes a guy in the middle who can use the ball creatively, or at least keep the ball rolling, bringing others into the game. I think this is precisely what Gibson can do though I personally believe he is a gamble at this level, as is Whelan.
Aside from this, I think integrating young players is a tricky task. Staunton did it with such widespread abandon that he did more damage than good. In fairness to Trap he has made a decision on which youngsters to work with. It may be worse to, for example, give Gibson a couple of games and then bin him in favour of another youngster who'd need a few games to play himself in.
I do think that leaving out your current best options in favour of future best options is generally misguided. Alex Ferguson has the luxury of a 70 game season to gradually bring in younger players. We only have a handful and given our failure to qualify for anything in over 7 years the here and now is more important than if we'd had recent success and were in a better place to take chances.
I think Trap is by and large on the right track but some selections / non-selections grate at me. I can't help feel that Givens has undue influence.
Fair point. But let's face it, Trapp has fairly very limited/specific expectations from his central midfielders. It almost seems to me that the central players are given a couple of options for each scenario A, B or C and warned not to venture from it. Someone else on another thread reckons Steven Reid took matters into his own hands from time to time, but had enought savi to know when to do that.
P.S If I was paranoid I'd even put out a theory that the reason Trapp keeps opting for lower profile central options is purely because he knows they'll work exactly within the constraints he wants from a player in that role, where as a player with more experience/status might have ideas themselves. If that's his stance, well and good. It's not for me to disagree with (Still doesn't explain Alex Bruce).
The crux of my argument revolves purely around his efforts, or lack there of, in ensuring we have the best panel available to us. My point on Gibson and Carsley was a dig at that dude for calling us Morons for quesitoning the Gospel according to Trapp.
I think that's the biggest aspect of this forum. We are well within our right to question Trapp...he's had a magnificant career but it's not a flawless one. Italy were brutal under his guidance in the 02WC and 04EUROS.
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