quite pleased because it was an entertaining enough game and there are probably more positives than negatives to take despite the result. however, the back four choice, particularly kelly in the centre still baffles me even after trap has tried to justify it. keogh is also never a winger in a million years, why has trap got it into his head that he is? fahey should start every game.
He was shooting blanks tonight anyway.Originally Posted by Yard of Pace
Agree Noely. Midfield remains an issue and while Gibson did pretty well against Macedonia, he did nothing tonight. With Meyler, O'Hara, Reid and McCarthy we would have 4 midfileders who would bring consistency, bite and skill to a team seriously lacking that at the moment.
Welcome aboard.
Tickets please.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Exactly. It was a good few days for once and looking like an interesting immediate future. Also No more McCarthy nonsense.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
Any highlights of the game anywhere?
I think I should the parachute, because I'm great.
In fact, I think I should get both parachutes, in case one doesn't work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lnfXyAgN1c
Goals here.
Westwood: Can't be blamed for any of the goals, claimed everything in the air, and make a magnificent double save
Foley: Similar to Saturday, didn't play well with the winger in front of him, but was probably the most solid of the defence
Kelly: Anonymous at best, didn't lead as a captain, and didn't organise his defence as Dunne would have. Unless he gets back into the Fulham side, he's dropped to 3rd choice right full
O'Dea: Not as impressive as Saturday, but still pretty good. Seemed to cover for Kelly and Clark at times, and nearly did it too
Clark: Impressive step overs early on apart, he was the biggest disappointment on the night, neglected his defensive duties to push forward far too often
Keogh: Like all his performances on the wing, I'm giving Keogh a free pass because he simply shouldn't play there. Improved immeasurably when he moved up front
Fahey: Any and all doubts I had about him at central midfield are gone. Excellent penalty too (see below)
Green: Played right at the limit of his ability, but still short at this level. Improved as the game went on
Lawrence: Assist apart, I didn't think he played well. Not badly, just not well. Is now behind McGeady and Duff for a starting position on the wing
McCarthy: Some nice touches, but didn't get involved in the game enough to judge accurately
Long: Sublime, possibly the best performance by a lone striker I've seen for Ireland. Will be playing Premier League football next season, with or without Reading
Subs
Gibson: Seemed to lose the ball under his own feet a lot
Treacy: Needed more time to make a bigger impact, but still managed some decent crosses and a strong shot when he seemed to have overbalanced that was saved
Delaney: Strengthened the weak left side of the defence, didn't do enough to decide if he should come into the team
Stokes: Not on long enough to make an impact. Good to see he's in Trapattoni's thoughts
McGeady: Came on to give the crowd, and the team a boost, made a massive step up since moving to Russia
After a dire first half when all we seem to do was launch balls the edge of our box (usually from O'Dea, but also Westwood), we were deservedly behind at half time. The defence was badly missing Richard Dunne's organisation, and Kilbane's experience.
Second half was a whole other game. Spurred on by the early penalty from Fahey we played some great, pressing, attacking football and should have come away with at least a draw.
For those who think that Robbie Keane should be dropped, consider this - with him in the side either of Keogh's chances would have been converted.
For those who think that Robbie Keane should not be dropped, consider this - in the build up to Long's goal, Long won the ball in the air and hit the ground hard. Keane would have thrown his arms in the air and called for a free, Long was straight up, ran into the box and converted a header.
Just watching the highlights on RTE, if Fahey's early shot had gone in off the keeper's gloves, instead of looping over the bar, how different would the game have been?
Incidentally, despite the low numbers, the crowd still made a lot of noise, maybe even more than the weekend
My shot of Fahey's penalty, from where I was sitting in the upper tier in the south stand
Excellent photo tets, widescreen - the long version.
Pretty shocking defending for the first goal, seem like they were trying to play the offside trap or something, never a good idea IMO.
I thought Shane got up well for the goal, however in the interview I was surprised he looked so short next to Stephen Kelly.
I always thought he was well over 6' but he is 5'11 apparently.
I guess because his name Long I expected him to be taller.
I assume by this you mean James should be in from the start? Couldn't agree more. It's nailed on now in midfield for me. McCarthy and Fahey in the middle of the middle with Duff and McGeady on the flanks. I'd have Robbie and Walters up front against Macedonia away (and in so doing would be really doing a disservice to Shane Long, because he has been nothing short of superb). But I just feel like we're going to need an aerial presence against them away.
McCarthy should be played in the Paul Scholes role, coming short for the defenders to pick up the ball, and Fahey is brilliant in a green shirt - holds the ball well and uses it brilliantly. To a man every one of the Irish players last Saturday said how good Macedonia were on the ball. When is Trap going to realise that he needs players who can hold possession as much as give it away (Dunne, O'Dea, O'Shea, Kilbane)?
I thought Uruguay were as poor defensively as we were. But all in all more positives than negatives to take from last night's game.
Westwood had another competent performance.
I thought Kelly was our "best" defender on the night but as a defensive unit we were all at sea. Less positive about Foley starting for us based on the two games. O'Dea can fill a hole against medicore opposition, nothing more. Clark didn't have a good game.
Midfield - by his standards, I thought Green had a good game. Fahey makes it all look so effortless, McCarthy was effectively double-marshalled by Uruguay's deep lying midfielders. Keogh and Lawrence both gave energetic performances, Lawrence's cross on his weaker foot for Long's goal was sublime.
Long played himself into contention again after a generally poor run out against Macedonia.
Happy we tried something new formation wise. Two more friendly games before the trip to Macedonia - so ample opportunity to get the defence into shape.
Yes, we'd have pressed our advantage home like we always do! I think we play better when behind. Bari, Paris...
I think Green's performance was down to having the three in midfield. I would speculate that Whelan would have looked better in that system too. 4-5-1 makes a lot of sense for us but picking one from Long, Doyle and Keane is not an easy decision.
I don't think he should be dropped but Keogh's header was very similar to the header Robbie missed late against Czech Rep., where he failed to anticipate the defender (keeper?) missing the ball, and sent a tame header wide of an open goal.
Keogh's second miss wasn't as bad as Robbie's miss in Slovakia, a near identical situation when Long sent in a sumptuous low cross. Keogh had less time to react than Keane.
Good point about the arm waving though.
Just saying
Fair enough, I'd forgotten those misses. After seeing Keane's goal at the weekend, I think he might be becoming more of predatory striker as he enters the latter stages of his career, and I think he would have done better than Keogh.I don't think he should be dropped but Keogh's header was very similar to the header Robbie missed late against Czech Rep., where he failed to anticipate the defender (keeper?) missing the ball, and sent a tame header wide of an open goal.
Keogh's second miss wasn't as bad as Robbie's miss in Slovakia, a near identical situation when Long sent in a sumptuous low cross. Keogh had less time to react than Keane.
Good point about the arm waving though.
Just saying
Good game, well worth the trip to LR. Not getting into the issue of tickets but from an optical point of view it doesnt look good. There may well have been 20k at the match but nonetheless FAI should consider closing tiers for friendlies if its going to be like this. At least concentrate the crowds in certain areas.
Long played very well and my god did he look fast. All positives from him......pushing for a start.
Westwood, another solid performance, some good saves and he is good in the air. Another pushing for a start.
Defensively we were quite poor but then the back 4 was very makeshift. Clark/Foley did ok. I wondered if O'Dea was good the other night because Dunne was beside him and I suspect so. Dunne will be a big loss away to Macedonia, we will need JOSH and Sledge available for that.
Green and Fahey did ok, I would argue they looked more composed as a pairing than the two lads on sat night.
McCarthy was only alright, didnt get involved as much as I would like. But the lad is very young, lets give him time. Im now starting to think Fahey and McCarthy may not work in the middle just yet. Any thoughts on this? I just feel that neither is particularly good at breaking up play, both are good on the ball but dont ask me why this keeps coming into my head but remember the CM pairing of Kilbane and Ireland in Cyprus??
Disappointed with Lawrence, one of my favourite Irish players and bar the cross the goal I thought it offered little considering he should be pushing for a place in the team. Very slack from him for their third goal.
Keogh was ok, but I dont think a realistic option at his current level.
Uruguay looked a very good team, very slick passing, great finishing. Not surprised they got as far as they did in the WC.
It looked to me like Keogh was afraid of smacking into the post. Any one of us would just love to take a smack off a post to score a goal for Ireland!
It was a 4-4-1-1, I wouldn't use the three central midfielders argument to take away from Green's ok performance. McCarthy was so far forward he couldn't be seen to have contributed in midfield.
Let's not tip toe around some issues. Clark had a terrible game as a defender. He was caught out of position on a number of occasions and but for Keogh scampering back to try and plug the gap, it could have been far worse. He also drifted inside a lot. McCarthy was for the most part anonymous. Neither player did anything to suggest they are worth a place in the side. Ok, they were playing in a new team and I have no doubt they will get better but on the basis of what I saw, their time has not yet come.
Only two positives for me. Long and Fahey. Whether Fahey can defend, I am not convinced but creatively he is better than either Gibson or Whelan.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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