I thought McShane played very well. Then again he was only up against Di Maria and Heinze - hardly world-beaters.
Exactly, the defending was muck. Shay has run to the linesman in his last 3 games for us now: france, Brazil & Argentina. It's becoming a routine.
I thought McShane played very well. Then again he was only up against Di Maria and Heinze - hardly world-beaters.
I thought McShane was poor. Hates having the ball at his feet. Full backs should be as comfortable on the ball as midfielders - not that our midfielders, or anyone in our team, looked comfortable on the ball. The two teams were leagues apart technically.
McShane defended well and distribution was okay. He is not a natural full back and of course does not look comfortable with the ball like for instance Kelly does.
You can't be offside from a goal-kick, just like you can't be offside from a throw-in. If the offside rule applied to goal-kicks, Higuain would have been miles offside. As it was, Higuain definitely touched the ball on its way through to Di Maria who had made his way in front of him and into an undoubted offside position once the tap forward was made.Originally Posted by tricky_colour
No disagreements over the state of the defending, mind. I thought it appeared very fragile at times. McShane looks like Bambi on ice and even Richard Dunne was swinging at the air on occasion. He could easily have been sent off had this been a competitive fixture.
The performance improved in the second half - albeit, our increased possession in the Argentinian half was most likely due to them sitting back - and we certainly could have grabbed an equaliser had the ball dropped our way from a set-piece, but we didn't really look like we were going to open them up otherwise. One thing I've seen McShane do on a couple of occasions now is, instead of moving the ball forward in the dying moments when it has come back out to him after a set-piece and there are plenty of bodies in front of him - even launching it back into the box would do at this point in a game - he sucks all momentum out of any potential opportunity by taking the risk-free option and passing it all the way back to Given; half the length of the pitch. It's very frustrating to see a professional footballer have such a lack of faith in his own ability to stick a ball in the opposition's box.
I thought Treacy looked lively up the wing when he came on and Green seemed competent enough in the centre. Fahey could have imposed himself a bit more I thought and it's hard to judge Sheridan and Keogh really as they seemed limited to trying to head knock-ons to Robbie Keane. I actually thought Robbie's chance after Keogh's knock-on was going to be a last-minute repeat of the goal he scored against Germany in the 2002 World Cup. Duff's free-kicks and corners weren't great either, although he was probably exhausted as most came late on.
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 11/08/2010 at 9:34 PM.
Well I think you pretty much agree with me on the offside, I don't even think the goal kick rule applies because he looked onside to me, However the player he touched it to
did look offside so the goal should not have stood.
The second half was definitely an improvement, I think we could have been more positive sometimes, something rather than go forward, the ball was lost passing it back!! Other than their goal I don't recall them threatening much as in shots on goal.
Could just be my memory though, but not a great game.
The only moment I remember really was Robbies bit of trickery in the box.
Not the worst performance by any means. Bizarre defending for their goal. Beyond that lapse I thought Dunne and O'Shea looked as good as ever. Fahey came into the game a bit more in the second half. Green put in a good shift. McShane played OK in phases and then then continually tried to pass the ball through Argentian players? (Kilbane doing the same on the other wing). We really missed Doyle who would have caused that defense a lot of problems. And our passing into the box was very poor overall. We will need Doyle, Lawerence, McGeady, Hunt and Whelan back. Plus McCarthy and ANother to get out of the group I feel. Overall happy enough with how we played.
Given - 6 - Didn't have a terrible lot to do considering the amount of possession Argentina had. But what he had to do he did well, as usual. nothing he, or anyone, could do about the goal.
McShane - 5 - Two more bad mistakes he was lucky to get away. Not up to this level.
Dunne - 7 - Solid, Reliable, Richard Dunne. Mr 100%.
O'Shea - 6 - I honestly can't remember a single thing he did. Nor can I remember a thing he did wrong. But there were a few like that, so its a 6 on that basis.
Kilbane - 6 - Has lost a lot in acceleration, but still gets up and down the park. His days at this level are probably behind him but good for the old warhorse to enjoy the big night at the new Lansdowne.
Fahey - 6 - see O'Shea
Andrews - 6 - see O'Shea.
Green - 7 - A few bright moments. Seems to fill an Ireland shirt in a way that suggests he is capable of better than Derby.
Duff - 7 - Probably our biggest threat, technically anyway. Has a great relationship with Keane
Sheridan - 7 - Did well. No chances of note, but won a lot of headers, and put himself about really well. Offers a real option, albeit a route 1 option
Keane - 6 - Did well, but loses a point as he really should have scored
Cunningham - 7 - Did as well as could have been expected, but probably good that Messi went off a minute after he came on.
Treacy - 7 - Have to admit, I have no idea what Thunderbird 6 was doing in the squad, but fair play to him, put in a great cross which Keogh could easily have scored from.
Keogh - 6 - Very similar to Keane, but a good squad option. Solid performance, and might have scored. Would like to see him play with Doyle for an hour or so in a friendly at some point.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
He certainly isn't a natural centre back. Right back was his only hope, and he isn't good enough
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Amazingly it seems that some of our highly paid,hugely experienced players don't know the bloody rules and think you can be offside from a goal kick.
Shay should hang his head in shame, he must be playing the game professionally 15 years now. I find it very disappointing.
Champions 2010
Champions 2011
Dick Brush 1 Sligo 0
Bohs are going bust.
The ball was passed/touched onto a player in an offside position.
I didn't see a replay of that goal but I thought Dunne was the main man there who should have dealt with that situation.
Where was Josh then?
Sheridan is absolutely awful. He has no first touch, no pace, no strenght and doesnt even bother to work that hard. Fahey was rubbish tonight too. The difference when Keogh and Treacy came on was unbelievable, we got some pace into our game and looked a much bigger threat.
Was impressed with Greens work rate tonight too. It was a pretty good performance in the last half hour and we were unlucky not to snatch a draw.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Im not disagreeing with you the goal should not have stood. But Shay and Kilbane( i think it was) were arguing wrongly that the Argentinan forward touched the ball and became active not that the lad who scored was offside. If thats the case the lads dont understand the difference between what happens when a forward stands in behind you from a goal kick and free kick and why you have to defend them differently. Am I making any sense?
Last edited by hoops1; 12/08/2010 at 12:09 AM.
Champions 2010
Champions 2011
Dick Brush 1 Sligo 0
Bohs are going bust.
Probably unrelated to this thread but I thought I should post it somewhere.
I thought the organisation of tonight's game was absolutely sh*te. I had tickets for the East stand, and had walked down near to the train crossing, planing to cross and make my way over to the other side of the ground. But no, was met by a wall of stewards who told me that I had to keep right and walk down another street and take a left.
Fair enough, but the turn to the left towards the ground was at least a 10 minute walk. Myself along with a few hundred more fans were led down a side lane, which was interrupted by Guards. It was 7:45 and I was not even in the stadium, even though I arrived in good time. Everyone around me was frustrated that they also had to take this route because they had a "purple" ticket. What a load of nonsense. I noticed that the kickoff was delayed, could have been due to the thousands of fans not even in the ground by 7:45.
If they had just let me continue on before the rail crossing then it would have been a 5 minute walk to the East stand. Turned out to be a 20 minute one. Extremely poor stewarding and I hope it's sorted for the next game.
Regarding the match, we were poor enough but can improve. A serious lack of pace in the team though...
You've got no fans.
When did they argue this?
About the game itself, we have learned that McShane is not a suitable Right-Back, better at Centre, Fahey is not winger, much better in the centre of midfield, Sheridan played a match on the Tuesday and was a bit unfair to play him. Green and Andrews do not boss the midfield like Whelan does, we lacked the width from both sides which improved when Treacy came on. So when St. Ledger, Whelan, Lawrence and Doyle return, Ireland should be fine
Look at the clip on you tube Kilbane put his hand in the air the second the ball got to Higuain. Given then runs to the linesman and turns to where he was standing and is arguing the same point. Because the two tits dont know the rules
Champions 2010
Champions 2011
Dick Brush 1 Sligo 0
Bohs are going bust.
You have no idea what they were arguing. Di Maria was offside the second Higuain touched the ball. They may or may not have thought Higuain was offside but they couldn't have failed to notice the actual offside.
Looks the picture of mediocrity anytime I've seen him play tbh.
He laid on a couple of incisive passes but he's just not a winger. Taking on players doesn't come naturally to him but he is solid defensively. I would have liked him to be given 20 minutes in the centre instead of being taken off.
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