excellent result. Dunne was superb 10/10 made st ledger look better than he was.
cant see what all the fuss is about with that fella and he was party at fault for the goal- although he is better than Mcshame but not O'dea IMO
his decision making can be poor, it is the weakest part of his game. obviously I have nailed my colours to the mast with my username as a huge fan of mcgeady.Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
his shooting is bad when like last night he just swiped at it! didn't realy give it enuf thought. similarly with his crosses just swings it in anywhere. when he trys to pick out a man he does quite well.
Obviously geysir i stand to be corrected by future team selections but i will be shocked if Mcgeedy starts against Italy, or other qualifiers for that matter, i honestly dont know how you can talk about shape ect when it was he who took us out of shape, he may have nearly won it but his positioning is one of the worst ive ever seen, he was getting exploited big time on the left and that is a major problem from traps point of view. Poor decision to bring him on in my opinion but shows lack of options we have.
noticed how thick i was about 5 mins after posting!
Harry and Liam, Harry and Liam, Harry and Liam, Harry and Liam.
Just re-watched a good bit of the game again this morning. Just a few extra things not mentioned already:
The amount of time Whelan had his back turned to the ball when Bulgaria were advancing was unreal, rather than closing the attackers down, Trap seems to have enstilled a tactic of marking the forwards rather than closing down the man on the ball. The longer the game went on, Andrews and Whelan essentially played like two centre defenders in front of Dunne and Ledger. Personally I would like to see us put more effort putting pressure on the first ball in as opposed to marking the targets. Cant fault the work rate of them however.
Andrews was much better with his distribution of the ball but it was a bit of a concern how many times in the second half in particular we hoofed to ball to no one. Our greatest success with long balls was to Folan in the first half (when he had support) or long to either corner.
Folan played very well in the first half and is a genuine alternative up front. Would anyone else feel that Folan and Keane up front with Doyler on the right might be the best way to utilise each of their strengths.
Duffer still in my opinion is our best player with the ball at his feet, much better than McGeady and Hunt.
Not Keanes greatest game, think he was carrying an injury along with a few others. He didnt get a huge amount to work off plus it was a very marginal decision for offside when he was clear on the keeper in the first half.
On the ref, i think he was fair and thank god didnt not get carried along by the hostile crowd. Does anyone else feel that Trap may be a big factor in this?? Trap is an influential figure in World football and would command alot more respect and influence than say a novice like Stan. Less likely to get a ref giving homer decisions against us.
With a fit Steven Reid and a solid left back this team can go places.
Looking at the table at the fixtures ahead, even if we win our next three games, i still think we'd finish a point off Italy. Next up, Cyprus and revenge!!!
We dont have two games in hand on France take away the faroes they still have three games to play like ourselfs, agree about scotlands group think they will miss out
"when the seagulls follow the trawler,
it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea" Ooh Ahh
,
We did not have any shape in the 20 minutes before McGeady came on, except defend, lump it and lose it.
Whelan and Andrews stuck to hanging around the D. Duff was pinned back to our half Any high ball lumped up and won by Folan, there was nobody from midfield there to support. There was a 30 to 40 m gap to where Whelan and Andrews were policing.
That is not a shape.
I was quite happy with Hunt's effect in the first half, anybody can see how cynical the Bulgarians can get on their home turf, he was the right man for the job. Even a class player like Brady would endorse that selection and role 200%
Lawrence has not shown anything to be considered even as a sub.
Well lets just assume that we did finish second and all the groups remained as they are now. What in gods name do we have to worry about if we got drawn against Hungary, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia or Scotland. If we got any of them in a playoff we really should fancy our chances. If we can't beat any of them then we really don't deserve to get to South Africa. Some Irish fans are so pessimistic. We do need luck in the draw if we manage to finish second, and if we get that then we should qualify. However i can see us getting Turkey, Russia or France
Well said Carloz.
Only Russia and France would worry me in a play-off.
"Football is a game you play with your brain".
Worry would be an understatement.
Against much of the rest of possibles, I'd bank on Trap to get us (painfully) through the 2 legs.
Totally agree that Sledge / dunne partnership is the future with Josh at LB. Always liked Foley, but I wouldn't be surprised if Andrews plays at RB for Blackburn next season, especially if Reid is back, and there is always Stephen Carr..........................
All in all we must be happy, I agree with the majority of the postings so far.
Great result last night, performance was excellant for one third of the game, for the rest is was dogged.
Our problem is defence, if you think back, 4 of the goals we have conceded have been defensive errors (Kelly V Georgia, McShane V Italy, Kilbane V Bulgaria & Kilbane V Bulgaria) and maybe these have contributed to us going into our shell a bit. So basically we still need to finalise our defensive make, having said that we have defended excellently at time.
And this brings me to the point about Whelan and Andrews, if we take these out we will be much more open to being played through. AT the moment we are so hard to play through, I dont think anybody has played through us to score yet??? I am not the biggest fan of the CM style of play (negative & defensive) but it is very effective. Maybe they will progress over time.
I said before that this team is building and I still believe that, we do not have a settled team , many positions are up for grabs and to be in second place in our group whilst building our a team is a great achievment for Trap, the staff and the team. I think the only way is up for us, we are learning.
Word on the Robbie Keane critics...he is the groups top scorer!!!
I agree with all who said the ref was excellent last night, really impressed and happy to see sane refs still exist.
Roll on september with a fully fit, on form squad (fat chance); and team as follows for Cyprus
Given
Finnan Dunne O Shea Kilbane
McGeady S Reid Whelan Duff
Doyle Keane
Squad: Keily, Kelly, St Ledger, Foley, S Hunt, Folan, Gibson, Andrews, Long
Actually just thinking about our right back situation, a rejuvinated Carr, Stephen Kelly, Kevin Foley and Steve Finnan(don't know if he'll stay with espanyol, they were relegated right? He will probably move to the English League) so that is 4 right backs playing in a top tier European league. Pretty good
Whelan, Fahey, Andrews(? i reckon he'll be sold) Carsley, Gibson, McCann all playing in the Premier League as well.
Finnan and O'Shea at full back for me. People have been saying a player getting caught out at full back isn't as critical as a centre half getting caught out. But as you said yourself, pretty much all our goals have come from the full back positions. Bulgaria clearly targetted Kilbane last night.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 07/06/2009 at 2:53 PM.
Exactly what youv said there was our shape, watch it again, midfield and defence were moving as a unit until his introduction, shape isnt about attacking or defending its about the overall game plan, which was to defend and it worked, if anything the shape was to rigid
Kelly looked decent enough when he came on. In the absence of Finnan, he is the next choice at RB, as long as he gets his game time with his club.
yeah YI, my inebriated state last night led to me posting that. I just read it totally wrong and dont even remember posting it.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Given: No chance with the goal, only had one other shot to save
O'Shea: Kept Petrov's influence on the game to a minimum. Looked calm in possession even under pressure
Dunne: Quite possibly the best performance from Dunne since single handedly keeping Liverpool at bay more than a year ago
St. Ledger: Leapfrogged McShane and Bruce in the two games. Might not start every game, but is first back up at centre hald
Kilbane: Was clearly targetted for the majority of the game. Got sucked into the middle when their right winger was stuck to the touchline and needed marking. Possibly could have done with more cover from Hunt/McGeady
Duff: Great first half. Didn't work a tiring Kishishev enough in the second half, but wasn't given the ball to do it either
Whelan: Not sure if he was anonymous or was too busy stopping their midfield from getting forward to get on the ball
Andrews: Worked very hard, and covered at right full until Kelly came on. Was unlucky not to score with a long shot in the first half
Hunt: Great free kick for the goal, but not enough else from the winger
Keane: Could have taken the shot on the turn down before shooting, instead he got right under it. Was clearly not 100% and wasn't surprised to see him substituted
Folan: Along with Dunne, one of the better performers on the night. Won the ball in the air, and held it up well. Rightly complained to Keane that he wasn't available for the knockdown
Subs:
Kelly: Performed well, considering his lack of game time recently
McGeady: The long ball tactics we were playing at the time clearly didn't suit the diminutive winger, but he nearly scored with the one real chance he had
Best: The large and large partnership was surprising, but made more sense with the amount of long balls coming from defence
If you had offered me a 1-1 draw at 5, I would have taken it. Having said that, the game was there for the taking in the first 20 minutes. Once again, we retreated after going ahead. I felt we learned a lot from the first game, but still didn't deny Stilian Petrov time on the ball enough. St Ledger and Folan have definitely emerged as squad players over the last few games, but we're still lacking a strong central midfielder and left full.
A point gained, and more importantly two points denied to Bulgaria, keeps second spot in our own hands. With two winnable games away to a fading Cyprus and home to Montenegro the real question is where the team is going to finish in the second placed teams table.
Reviewing the goals we've conceded recently, it seems that we're concededing due to mistakes we've made more than the opposition creating chances. While Trapattoni has improved the defence, and the organisation of the team in general, these mistakes still need to be removed.
Great result and encouraging performance yesterday. Shows the benefit of Old Trap having the players at his disposal for a week as the players seemed well drilled from the start. Ended up watching it in O'Sheas here in The Republic of Mancunia and had to doubletake when I walked up to the bar next to Darron Gibson - Reckons he staying at United and spends a bit too much time texting during the match - but seemed like a nice lad and did give a massive cry of delight at the goal (dare say I would if it increased my chances of playing in a World Cup too).
Thought Dunne and St Ledger were immense - the beginning of a great partnership - both are leaders, talkers and can play the lead or sweeping defender. I know that Foley didn't acquit himself as well as he could against Nigeria, but with a year's experience in the top flight - I reckon we'll be sorted for the finals with him or Kelly on the right and O'Shea on the left (Killer needs to call it a day - great servant and always gives his all but is sadly going to be remembered for the wrong reasons at this rate).
Thought Folan was quality as well - didn't realise what a big old unit he was - he'd be a handful against any defence and surprised he didn't get more games at Hull. Has quite a good touch for a Big Man - took one high ball down instantly in the first half. As mentioned before, not sure he's as prolific as needed, but with him, Dunne, St Ledger and O'Shea we are a threat from Set Pieces.
Bit worried by the lack of availability showed by the midfield. Worked hard defensively but seemed to be passengers, especially in the 2nd half. We are desperate for a box to box midfielder - need someone to demand the ball in there as the game just bypassed them with the long balls to Folan and the wings. Basically, we need Steven Reid - hope to God this is the last of his injuries. Hope McCarthy can get a year of Premier League football next year also (preferably with Wolves) - could be the difference between a good world cup and a great world cup if we get there.
Looking good for the future though.
Good work Tets, considering how drunk you were last night
You're right, Keane wasn't himself last night and the partnership did not click. Robbie was nowhere close to the sharpness he displayed in Bari.
What did you make of the chance he had from the knockdown in the first half?
I think there are games where Robbie would have buried it.
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