I'm not saying Irish players don't...I'm stating that Portugal and Portugese sides are the worst offenders in my opinionOriginally Posted by irishultra
KOH
against cyprus, doyle booked for diving and duff got a player booked by doing a dive.
I'm not saying Irish players don't...I'm stating that Portugal and Portugese sides are the worst offenders in my opinion
KOH
Look what came off the bench!
Trapp has worked miracles.
BTW Dunphy has become totally boring, hes like a wee man that didn't get his way on the Wedding night!
Dunphy at his usual inaccurate analysis again tonight.
Watching a repeat of the match now on Sky Sports 1 and several things are clear.
1. Ireland totally dominated the match in the first half. They dominated and held possession extremely well. They closed down the Italians well. The Irish midfield held the ball well and were excellent in their tackling. You couldn't ask for more from them.
The Irish team had a shape, which everyone even the RTE pundits attribute to Trapattoni. Having a shape is vital to containing other teams and limiting their chances.
2. The Irish goals came from set pieces. The reason they came from set pieces is the Italian defenders were torn to shreds at different stages by McGeady, Robbie Keane, Hunt and Lawrence, among others. They had to bring down the Irish attackers to stop them scoring from play. It was only deserving then we scored from these set pieces as it reflected Irish attacking dominance.
3. The first Italian goal was a flukey goal coming from a setpiece which was badly defended. The second Italian goal was against the run of play as Ireland were caught largely on a flukey break. John O'Shea should never have been that far up the pitch and he was at fault for the goal.
4. In the second half there were periods when the Italians controlled the ball, but overall in the match I thought Ireland dominated the match, were particularly impressive in the first half in holding possession and closing down.
Dunphy again, in his anti-Trapattoni agenda was wide of the mark. Unfortunately, Giles also went along with Dunphy, but what do you expect. Each back the other up. I feel sorry for Souness, having Dunphy taping him on the arm and trying to bully and silence him when he tries to say something. I'm all for accurate punditry, but when it comes to Trapattoni, Dunphy is usually wide of the mark.
As for Andy Reid, he may have a good left peg. But what else doe he have? Has anyone ever seen Andy Reid tackle or close down or get back? It's no use being a good attacker, but letting the Italians put in 4 or 5 at the other end because we couldn't close them down. Ditto Stephen Ireland. The Andy Reid drum is getting boring now.
As for us having World Class Players, it's time to put that assertion to bed. St. Ledger, O'Shea, Andy Reid, Doyle, Robbie Keane,and co are good players, but they are not world class players. Keane showed that when he went to Liverpool.
Make no mistake this was another great Irish performance.
Last edited by Emmet7; 11/10/2009 at 1:12 AM.
Coco the..Sorry Dunphy is now just laughable. Unfunny rambling nonsense at this stage. You feel he had his back turned for the entire game. Who would bet on this Italian team not reaching the semis in SA? And possibly winning the thing once again. And we pushed them the whole way.
Im disappointed I missed most of the second half and even moreso that we yet again conceded a goal in the dying minutes. But Im well impressed that a team composed of names not exactly renowned in world football could remain unbeaten against the world champions. Thanks Yellowtop for keeping me informed. In answer to the questions about Congo, I work for a brewery and those UN staff are always looking for cheap beer.
Could'nt agree more
I guess I'll do my usual player ratings and analysis. Overall, I was quite happy with the performance. It was a real battling effort, and there were periods of play when we really frightened the Italians. Okay, we didn't dominate the match, but if that's what Dunphy and co. are expecting, then quite frankly they need to get in touch with reality.
Ratings:
Given-6- He wasn't at fault for either of the goals, but didn't have a tonne of work to do apart from them.
O'Shea-7.5- I thought John O'Shea was fantastic for us tonight, making many vital interceptions. That said, I think he should have taken his man down on the play that led to the second Italian goal.
Dunne-7- Brick wall, solid as ever.
St. Ledger-7- Fantastic goal, but he should have been tighter to his man for the second Italian goal.
Kilbane-5-Wasteful in possession, and I felt he was partially at fault for the second Italian goal.
Lawrence-7-Fantastic defensive work tonight, which I wasn't fully aware was part of his game. Gave 100%, and his collapsing at the end probably represented my feelings at that time better than any other player's reaction on the pitch.
Whelan-8-He scored a key goal, and was our best midfielder tonight. Don't forget who he was playing against, he was very very solid tonight.
Andrews-6-I felt that he had a pretty invisible match, but again, he neutralized a lot of what Italy were trying to do.
McGeady-6.5-He created a lot of opportunities, and put Italy under pressure by running at them with the ball, which can't be under-appreciated. That said, his final ball was typically mediocre.
Doyle-6.5-It was a thankless task but he ran the channels all night and chased everything down. Can't fault his work-rate, he put the Italians under pressure and this led to them losing possession on multiple occasions.
Keane-6.5-Helped out our midfield by dropping deep, and actually made a couple of really good tackles when Italy were pushing. Intelligent with the ball, and generated a few corners for the cause.
Subs:
Best-6.5-Gave the Italians something different to deal with, and was actually better in the air than I realized.
Rowlands-6-A bit invisible, but what were we expecting? It will be interesting to see him a bit more if he plays on Wednesday.
Hunt-8-Awesome stuff from Hunt. Great effort as we've come to expect, and a typically fantastic delivery from the free kick. After his little cameo I felt a bit sad that he didn't get the start. Great attitude though- a lot of subs come on with a few minutes to go and simply go through the motions- not Hunty.
Last edited by irishfan86; 11/10/2009 at 5:09 AM.
I'm not fluent in Italian but I know what "bellisimo" and "Whelan" means!
How have we been lucky. We've taken the lead in four games and given it up. If we'd have been lucky we would have won tonight and at home to bulgaria
I quite agree that Rowlands is a wose player than Reid, but Trap has to look at the bigger picture. He is the only manager we have ever had who has instilled real discipline into our squad. The trips the the pub and sessions with the fans in the team hotel are over. And unlike previous managers who have tried to do that it has worked, becaue on the pitch we are sucessful and the players want to be part of that success.on andy reid drinking/ playing guitar abusing manager agree it was wrong but i am sure he has apologised for behaviuor he has also slimmed down alot.. would you rather see rowlands ( who!!) or reid coming on for final 15 mins or even starting game for ireland
Reid was a good loss for Trap to take. He made his own position strong with the loss of only 1 player who doesn't really fit with our system anyway. To do the job he wants done in midfield he has Andrews, Whelan, S Reid and Gibson to pick from, and potentially J. O'Brien when fit. The fact Rowlands had to come on was due to 3 people in front of him being out, and he still only got on the bench. Can you imagine what our options for centre back look like if we get 3 simultanious injuries?
However what Trap did is working. Reid has improved his attitude. That much is obvious to you, me, Steve Bruce, and anyone else who has seen him play. I'm sure Trap will bring him back when he judges the time is right, and so far his judgement has been on the money. I trust that judgement.
On another note, I think Given, Kilbane and Andrews were a bit naive tonight. They are sitting on a booking and will miss a leg of the playoff if they get a booking in their next 2 games. They should have picked up a booking for dissent or time wasting in injury time and sat out Wednsday.
Last edited by backstothewall; 11/10/2009 at 9:16 AM.
Aiden McGeady is the most p!ss poor excuse for a footballer ever......I hate him. He drove me absolutely mental last night!
I'm happy we didn't lose but after we scored the 2nd we were far too attacking and once yer man Pepe picked the ball up you knew it was going to come.
LESS OF THE BULL NOW!
I actually dont understand Rowlands coming on as a sub ahead of Miller.Its not a big issue and Im not being critical, but when Miller has being in the squad constantly during the campaign and was named in the original squad for this game, how does someone who was only named as a replacement for an injured player jump ahead of him in the pecking order so quickly
Its really not that complicated!!!
Listen, this is the way it has been for 21 years and it is one of my pet hobby horses. Dunphy and Giles having a go at the incumbent Irish manager supported by the laughing Buffoon. I didn't see them. I was at the game. However, for the Whelan goal I looked over at the RTE PAnel in their box/studio and all remained seated (impassive - because they criticise Trapp they want him to fail like the 4 previous incumbents). Saw the Sky highlights when I came home. The Sky commentator almost had a baby from excitement when we scored late on and when Italy equalised he exclaimed "Oh no, oh no"Not sure what any Italians thought watching the game on Sky. The RTE Panel have made a great living knocking the managers under the pretence of objectivity.
Best home performance by a mile under Trapp. Gives me some hope for the play offs but I worry about the away goals rule due to the number of home goals we concede.
There is nothing we should fear but fear itself.
By the way great performance by Lawrence
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Under what circumstances would Trap bring on Liam Miller. Its nice to show loyalty but it is hard to understand why Miller is in the squad.
Miller would not be able to do a job in a 2 man midfield. Has Trap got any fall back plan of playing a 3 man midfield.
I believe that Andy Reid and Liam Miller would have to be part of a 3 man midfield to be effective.
I dont think Miller should be in the squad, but anytime he has played under Trap it was in 2 man midfield.As I said Im not being critial because to me Rowlands and Miller are much of a muchness but if I was Liam Miller I would be extremely p1ssed off about it
Its really not that complicated!!!
The problem is we need Reid now when he can make a difference to our play-off prospects. not when it doesn't matter. If Trapp is willing to select from an under strength squad for these games to make a point, then he is taking his salary under false pretences. Think your comment about Giles is off the mark. He might not have got us to international finals, but you have to remember that he was manager when only the top team in a group qualified. We have never toppped a qualification group. Before Giles took over we were an absolute joke. His record at West Brom was also pretty impressive, given where they were when he took over
I must say the atmosphere was electric last night. I'll post a bit more when I recover.
The three minutes between goals was the best atmosphere Croke Park has ever seen (I've been to all-Irelands, Six nations etc.)
"If you don't work harder I'll pull you off at halftime,"
“Crikey, at Manchester City all we get is an orange and a cup of tea,"
Very disappointed with the performance but 2-2 with the World champions is no bad result. Now for Greece in the play-offs....
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks