Republic of Ireland V Wales - Monday, 8th February 2011 - Carling Nations Cup

[elroy]

Trap gave a good Italian post match interview.

Maybe Trap should stick to doing his commuinications in Italian and avoid unnecessary confusion due to his inadequate english, save us the media frenzy we had this week.

Also, the two lads going on the pitch last night, langers! Embarrassing how often he happens.

[paul_oshea]

Coleman has a bit to learn about playing defensively at premier league/international level. He was lucky not to give away a penalty (also in a few premier league games).
He could probably play full back for an attacking Brazilian team (they don't have to worry about the defending so much).

I mentioned this on the other thread, but this is straight out of the school of Gaelic football, a quick tug on the forwards jersey before he makes his run, or to hold him to stop him getting a yard on you. He has done it time and again for everton. Not being funny but someone with a gaelic background and involved in coaching him needs to say this to him. Its plain for all to see.

Gibson and Whelan were so-so at times, but were quite good at others. Whelan ticked things over in midfield, and both made some telling forward runs (obviously lacking in previous games). Darron's goal was a screamer, was delighted for him and that's the kind of confidence boost that will bring him on.

I'm not so sure, gibson comes across as confident enough. I think that gives him the belief that he has done enough and keeps his place because of it. Which is completely the wrong way to look at it.

I don't think long did great when he came on, thought he was ok, but thought this was the game against poor opposition to prove if he was coming on. I dont think he is really, and i didnt follow the hype of others from the previous 2 games. He is still at around the same level.

Thought Green did ok actually his passing seems to have improved.

Is anyone else getting the feeling that Shay is going to let us down in a big way sometime soon?

[paul_oshea]

Not my reading of it at all. Looks like he's going for the shot, digs his foot into the ground and the ball rolls on to Duff. Apart from anything else, his celebration appeared more baffled than jubilant - certainly not jubilant enough for a man who just played a colleague in with a samba-esque dummy.

thats exactly what happened, how anyone can see any different. he clearly is suprised to see duff beside him then. He kicks his foot into the ground, thing is for a shot he should be opening up his body more anyway. It would have been blocked by the defender had he got a shot in.

The biggest plus of the night (other than Duff's return and general play) was Clark's link up play and ability to get up and down the pitch. It allowed Duff a freer role to attack. And it will also help McGeady(certain starter IMO against Macedonia) when he and Duff switch wings. Clark has the ability to play quick 1-2's something Kilbane has a problem with. It is a real pity McCarthy for whatever reason did not get to start in this match. Whelan improved in the second half ( I thought he was very poor in the first half. Chris Coleman agreed. Emmet Malone has Whelan having a great game. Opinions ) and Gibson got a great goal but again did not do enough to suggest he is the answer. I'm posting the highlights of the Macedonia v Russia game to highlight why they are a threat (especially from corner kicks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr-7_9rXIW8. We might well need to score two goals to win that game. NO injuries to the back four that played tonight or Duff, Keane, Doyle or Long will be crucial. And I would still like to see McCarthy at least on the bench if he continues his excellent form.

Agree with all of that.

Thought Coleman did ok, few excellent touches at the start but had a terrible tendency to drift inside many times. Not sure if he was instructed to do this. But with his enthusiasm, his energy and pace I would want the lad to be hugging the touchline at all times.

This was because he was probably a little nervous, and wanted to impress he realised he wasn't getting the ball and wasn't being used as an outlet, so the only way this was going to change was to get more involved and to do that he had to drift in. He also has a bit of urgency about him which others didnt he realised that the balls to the wings wasn't getting us anything and wanted to play neat 1-2s to try and make space and bring on runners.

Maybe Trap should stick to doing his commuinications in Italian and avoid unnecessary confusion due to his inadequate english, save us the media frenzy we had this week.

Does he actually mean in italian or italian-esque?

[OwlsFan]

Its nice to see us beat someone 3-0 but there has to be more useful international exercises available. This was a bit like watching West Brom versus Preston .......... really no point.

Unless you're a WBA or Preston fan. I am an Ireland fan so there was lots of point.

Wales are a warning as to how bad we can get unless things are done right because on paper they were not much worse than us.

Duff was heads and shoulders (which is a strange expression to use for Duff) above anyone else on the pitch.

Biggest negative was John O'Shea. I had a Man U fan sitting beside me so I started slagging every bad pass he made. To my surprise it came to something like 90% (no exaggeration). His distribution is terrible. Defensively though he did ok but we can't afford to give the ball away as much as he did against a better team.

Given needs to get more game time in. WHoever said we should have given Westwood a half was wrong. Given needs gametime and lots of it. Almost let one in which he should easily have saved.

[AlaskaFox]

Is anyone else getting the feeling that Shay is going to let us down in a big way sometime soon?

Could've had a Robert Green moment in the first half, and he did look rusty. Would've liked to see Westwood get a run-out. It's Given's own fault he's not playing regularly. For all the talk of a move away from Man City, he did nothing to make it happen.

[Stuttgart88]

I thought O'Shea was going through the motions alright, and was sloppy as a result. I thought he did very well in Slovakia when he was more focused and up for it.

I'm not sure Given nearly let that one in. He wasn't trying to catch it, he was trying to kill the ball / take the heat out of it, which he did. It just went behind him a little!

[geysir]

It looked to be asking too much of Doyle to play in that friendly - like flogging a tired horse.
Shane Long, overall was poor with a some very careless play.
Green is decent enough as a defensive midfielder and looked comfortable in his role. He takes up the covering positions instinctively whereas Gibson looks like a square peg in our half of the field.

[Duggie]

Could've had a Robert Green moment in the first half, and he did look rusty. Would've liked to see Westwood get a run-out. It's Given's own fault he's not playing regularly. For all the talk of a move away from Man City, he did nothing to make it happen.

seems city were intent on keeping him, he cant talk with anyone unless the club agree and give him permission.

[osarusan]

Only watched the highlights, where the whole first half was chopped down to about 10 minutes, and looked like great stuff as a result.

A decent exercise overall I thought. Coleman and Clark did well, though I still worry about Coleman's tackles at right back - giving away a penalty last night is one thing, but making a silly tackle in a qualifier is quite another. He delivered some lovely crosses though.

Gibson showed again that he's capable of striking the ball absolutely superbly, but I'm just not sure how to accomodate him in the Irish midfield. I thought Walters did what he does well enough, and Fahey was sharp to take the freekick as quickly as he did - woeful positioning by Hennessy.

Overall, Wales were poor enough that you can't read too much into it, but if nothing else it was a good confidence builder which we probably needed.

[shakermaker1982]

Wales are a warning as to how bad we can get unless things are done right because on paper they were not much worse than us.

on paper?

Ireland: Shay Given; John O'Shea, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Ciarán Clark; Séamus Coleman, Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson, Damien Duff; Jonathan Walters, Kevin Doyle. 10 PL players!

Wales: Wayne Hennessey; Neal Eardley, Sam Ricketts, Danny Collins, James Collins; Andrew Crofts, David Vaughan, Andy King; Simon Church, Robert Earnshaw, Hal Robson-Kanu

Look at that Wales team. I rate J Collins, Hennessey and Vaughan but the rest are very average players.

O'Shea has always had a poor distribution. When the pressure is on he'll give it away. People might go on the guardian website and say look his passing completion is usually 85% but that's 4 yards sideways. When in doubt our back 4 always go long. They panic and before you know it the opposition are coming right back at us. Long balls against a team like Wales who were sitting deep is insane.

[geysir]

I didn't see that penalty claim against Coleman clearly.
From what I could make out, the claim had no validity and the ref was right there on the spot.

[SwanVsDalton]

Is anyone else getting the feeling that Shay is going to let us down in a big way sometime soon?

Given needs to get more game time in...Almost let one in which he should easily have saved.

Could've had a Robert Green moment in the first half, and he did look rusty.

I think Given's more a victim of perception here than anything else. He's not getting games, he makes a very, very minor mistake and it seems indicative of a general malaise. But the 'mistake' last night was never in danger of being a goal, just a minor spill every goalkeeper encounters occasionally. As Stutts said, he killed the ball and collected it - heart-in-mouth execution, but no danger really.

Fact is Shay has made the exact same error on numerous occasions when playing regularly for a club and no one batted an eyelid. We all trusted Shay's ability then and, while lack of games are concerning, there's no reason not to trust it now.

[paul_oshea]

This wasn't a once off though.it would be naive to assume that this was the only occurrence of a few errors in the last few months. He is definitely not as assured or composed as when he was playing regularly. If you counter with he is then he certainly isn't showing it. This showed against Russia where he was at fault for one of the goals. I just get the feeling of a bigger clanger in the works.

[Noelys Guitar]

Before the game you could see Dunne, Collins, Doyle and Hennessy and others chatting away in the tunnel so I'm not bothered by O'Shea playing like he was in a summer 7-a-side playing for his in-laws team. Dunne (who was excellent again) was turning Welsh defenders inside his own box. Doyle coming back to almost the halfway line to pick up the ball and Long looking like someone had switched his size 9's with a pair of size 7's. Happens in every friendly. Long played well for us in our last two competitive games and is doing like wise at club level. Dunne, O'Shea and Doyle are having good campaigns for club and country. They are not the problem. Its players not getting playing time for their clubs and their recent performances for Ireland in competitive games. I worry greatly about Given and his confidence level. There is now one major mistake a game. Bellamy (and players of similiar quality)would have been onto dropped ball last night and buried it. Of the midfielders Trap is selecting Fahey is our best option. He came on and scored against Armenia. Played well for a good chunk of the game against Slovakia. And is playing regulary for Birmingham. He is a slightly better option than Whelan, Gibson or Green and helped us collect three points against a very tricky opponent.

[SwanVsDalton]

This wasn't a once off though.it would be naive to assume that this was the only occurrence of a few errors in the last few months. He is definitely not as assured or composed as when he was playing regularly. If you counter with he is then he certainly isn't showing it.

I agree, he possibly isn't quite as assured. Given does look a little rusty. Note - a little. But in terms of actual errors, he's made similar mistakes at regular occasions throughout his career without any passing comment being made. He's just under the spotlight because he's not playing. And none of his errors (in particular last night's, which was totally innocuous) leads me to believe he's a disaster waiting to happen.

[jbyrne]

If the stadium was in any other county you would get more people then this.

The Dubs and surrounding counties citizens are awful supporters considering how low the crowds have been the past year(and the high population of the area).
If i just had to pay the cost of a ticket I'd be there every game, must more costs involved travelling from Munster or Connacht.

remind me how many turned up to the SA game in limerick?

[Wolfie]

The team selection at least resulted in a sense of progression for getting some of the players we want to see established in the squad.

Glad to see Clarke and Coleman up and running - I'd start Clarke in at least one of the remaining Celtic Cup games and the Macedonia game. He's got the composure the slot straight in.

I think Coleman will be a very useful addition for us. Lawrence and McGeady are ahead of him in the pecking order on the wing for now.

Coleman won't weave his way through a body of players - he's more direct and has great pace. He could yet end up an excellent attacking full back, if he improves defensively.

Great goal by Gibson. Credit where its due. That said, there's still a difficulty in how he fully integrates into the team and how we get the best out of him.

The quality of the goal reminded me of a previous midfielder we all had high hopes for at one stage. Everyone remember Liam Miller's cracker against Sweden in 2006?? (2006 Goal of the Year on Foot.ie if I remember correctly????).

[dr_peepee]

Shane Long, overall was poor with a some very careless play.

He strikes as a player that finds it dificult to stay motivated for every game...I believe that's a factor in his form for Club and Country.

[paul_oshea]

Woflie, i think the conclusion and what we can take from teh wales game, or at least the major point is that seamus coleman and ciaran clark have now been embedded in the squad. We all know how cautious and rigid Trap is when it comes to competitive games to have them both in the squad because of this game is a great addition. Lets just hope mccarthy at least makes a subs appearance next month and i think trap will have shown that he is open to change and fast tracking when needed.

[Wolfie]

Woflie, i think the conclusion and what we can take from teh wales game, or at least the major point is that seamus coleman and ciaran clark have now been embedded in the squad. We all know how cautious and rigid Trap is when it comes to competitive games to have them both in the squad because of this game is a great addition. Lets just hope mccarthy at least makes a subs appearance next month and i think trap will have shown that he is open to change and fast tracking when needed.

Yeah - that said, I think its too late for McCarthy to feature for us competetively against Macedonia now.

McCarthy could transform our offensive capabilities from midfield - but the manager may not necessarily welcome this with open arms.

Eg, Reid and S. Ireland previously. (Aware backgrounds not like for like situations etc).

Has to be said again - I thought McCarthy's goal at the weekend was class.