Don't see why we can't....Originally Posted by BonnieShels
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
well said owl. don't care if we perform worse than paul mcshanes barber as long as the result is right.
this slovakia game is huge, especially with it coming down to records against each other. a must win. a result there will almost guarentee a playoff spot and take the pressure off the trip to russia a few days later. i really think we can make it through this group. long wait till sept
Given - At his imperious best when called upon, think the two Carling Cup games brought him right up to speed
Kelly - Solid, kept Trikovsky quiet
O'Shea - Game of two halves, clear weakness in the first half, calming and mature presence in the second. Still needs a leader beside him to get the best out of him IMO
O'Dea - see above
Kilbane - The reason he's the starting left full is because he's the best one available to us. End of discussion
McGeady - Drew fouls and kept the ball well, but some of his passes were wild at best when the simple option was on
Whelan - As you were. There's a reason Trapattoni starts him in every competitive game. I suspect he's a "Neil Lennon" player, you don't know what he brings to the side until he's not in it
Andrews - Solid alongside Whelan. When fit, first in the queue to partner the Stoke midfielder
Hunt - Gave too much space to Popov in the first half, didn't notice Popov in the second until a shot from the opposite wing. Will run into the ground for you. Still think he's best suited as an impact player
Cox - Robbed of a goal on his competitive debut. Not a lot else to say about it
Keane - Legend. End of discussion
Long - Came on and did little more than Cox, certainly not enough to suggest he should have started ahead of the West Brom striker
If you had offered me an away win on Friday, I would have ripped your arm off. Excellent defensive performance in the second half, which at 2-0 up is a luxury you can afford. We're in a good position going into the final round of qualifiers in the Autumn.
Well done, great result, and everything else. Now forget about it, the next qualifier is the most important one.
For the people who question the squad, the lineup and the dropouts, there's a reason Giovanni Trapattoni is an international football manager and we argue about international football on the internet.
Lets not fast forward the summer.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
Not picking on your post, but don't see how we can.
We have feck all creativity from midfield, as the 2 main potential participants & Trap have currently declared their own 'formal separation'....
All as bad as each other in my book.
I'm not too fussed over the lack of fluidity. Apart from Armenia away & Russia at home (where we should / could have scored early) we have a great habit of getting goals early in games. We got lucky with the goals and the missed penno, but I think if this team needs to go looking for the lead they can get it - they usually do. When we're ahead, it's the other team's problem & we just do the boring stuff. It's quite a pragmatic way of looking at it.
All of the defenders had at least one brain fart tonight, bar Kelly maybe, but overall they were OK. O'Dea gave the ball away badly in the run up to the penalty, JOSH was caught unawares and KK and O'Dea conspired to let a high ball fall to Pandev, who handled it before scoring.
I was disappointed in Whelan. He's our best passer and he was very inaccurate. Andrews did well enough at the pressing game.
I can't believe McGeady hasn't been rated higher. He and Keane really looked like our only two outfield players who can play footy properly. Hunt doesn't look effective having to cross with his right, but I guess he was over that side to null their wide guy.
Functional win with some lucky breaks. I'd have done anything for that. 13 points from 6 - only the "elites" like Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland have more.
I didn't agree with Robbie being captain a few years back but he was a leader in every sense last night, and over the last few weeks.
Good call
Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking. Then Josh decided to whack a guy's nuts off.
I thought that too. One Hunt kick just missed the corner flag, going out in the "touch in goal" area. Delaney's idea to try and get some of the Leinster & Munster support on board?
Just pre-empting the "Trap is a lucky manager" guff from Kelly & co.:
Yes, undoubtedly we got lucky breaks last night, but we do what we need to do, but not much more. All 4 goals scored against Macedonia have had an element of good fortune, but all 4 came early. If it was 0-0 after 65 mins who is to say we wouldn't have done what we did in Armenia? "We take the lead, the rest is up to them" is Trap's motto, apparently.
Keane's defection was lucky. Was it any more lucky than the (ceteris paribus) group changing goal that Russia got in Dublin? 3-2 instead of 2-2 has changed the group dramatically. Was the missed penno more lucky than the one missed against Russia, or the one that Robbie missed against Slovakia?
Eh? Qualification is qualification, doesn't matter a damn how you get there.
Plus it'd bring several million Euro into Irish football, which has to be a good thing.
Anyhow, great result, and a very good performance from a weakened side.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Trapatonni was talking about winning in Russia after the game last night which is great to hear. Beat Slovakia at home (which I expect us to do) and make that Russia game a winner takes all encounter. Pile the pressure on the Russians and see if they can handle it seems to be the Trap plan and I like it.
would be great to see a performance like in paris to go top of the group in russia.
I think this is the first time in a long time where we've had consensus on here.
Anyone else note that one of the Macedonian players was almost taking the penalty side by side with the penalty taker? I would have been disappointed if he scored and wasn't asked to take it again. Here's a still shot I took from my TV screen.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Good spot. The ref had already made a visible move to get players behind the line. He was very picky & I reckon he may well have had it retaken. Technically, should it not have had to be retaken anyway?
Only the 2nd Macedonia player was in the box at the time, harsh on Ireland if it had to be retaken.
George noticed that at the time. And reckon it would have been retaken.
From the rules though... hmmm...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_kickFor infringements by the kicking team, should a goal be scored the kick is retaken, otherwise an indirect free kick is awarded against his side where the infringement occurred.
Also see the laws of the game Law 14...
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/8.%20law%2014_559.pdf
Wouldn't agree; I assure you, Robbie never played under-age for NI and his eligibility is fully above-board.
So we should have had a free out on the edge of our box?
Did anyone see/hear Stan on Sky? It was like a bad dream. For the first time ever I was glad when the ads came on. He was talking complete ******ology. Manuela wouldn't be able to tranlate his incoherent ramblings. Makes you appreciate Trap that much more.
Last edited by Noelys Guitar; 05/06/2011 at 11:31 AM.
Did not see it - but reading your post reminds me of the cold sweat running down my back when I heard his first press conference - a strategy essentially build on getting the water carrier back.
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