Italy V Republic of Ireland - Tuesday, 7th June 2011 - Friendly - Liege

[tricky_colour]

just for reference here is the italian team in a recent competive Euro 2012 match v Slovenia.

Italy Buffon, Bonucci, Balzaretti, Maggio, Chiellini, Motta, Mauri (Nocerino 63), Aquilani, Montolivo (Marchisio 87), Cassano (Rossi 74), Pazzini.

Subs Not Used: Viviano, Criscito, Gilardino, Gastaldello.

[CraftyToePoke]

Is the current forward roster the best we've ever had - in terms of strength in depth? OK, so the likes of Quinn, Stapleton, Aldo etc. were all greats, but they weren't all at their peak at the same time. Put another way, are our 5th and 6th best forwards the best 5th and 6th best we've ever had? You know what I mean...

Robbie
Doyle
Long
Cox
Walters
Best

Then Hunt, Keogh, Murphy. Cheerio Stokes.

I would say so, I mean if you consider for example we headed off to USA 94 with

Cascarino, then of Chelsea - (English first tier)
David Kelly, then at Wolves - (English second tier)
John Aldridge, by then winding down at Tranmere (English second tier)
Tommy Coyne, of Motherwell - (Scottish first tier)

Or Italy 90 with

Aldridge - Real Socidead (Spanish first tier)
Cascarino - Aston Villa (English first tier)
Quinn - Man City (English first tier)
Slaven - Middlesborough (?)
Kelly - Leicester City (English second tier)
Stapleton - Blackburn (?)

Then I would say the strength down the pecking order now is as strong as I have known it, with Robbie being the icing on it all with his record breaking ways.

[shakermaker1982]

Forget passing and keeping the ball we still keep winning!!! Great defensive effort. Hunt was a man possessed, I'm pleased that he has bounced back after having a season plagued with injury.

Stokes, Walters, Wilson, Best and McCarthy you could all miss out on a place at next years finals. Sort your **** out asap because places are being filled up by guys who wanna wear the green/white/black jersey.

[jbyrne]

it was a meaningless end of season friendly

meaningless in that there were no qualification points at stake but far from meaningless when you look at what we have done in the three friendlies over the last two weeks. you just cant buy what that will do for our confidence going into September

[ifk101]

Italy played the game as a collection of individuals, we played as a team. A victory for synergy and group cohension.

[jbyrne]

Or Italy 90 with

Aldridge - Real Socidead (Spanish first tier)
Cascarino - Aston Villa (English first tier)
Quinn - Man City (English first tier)
Slaven - Middlesborough (?)
Kelly - Leicester City (English second tier)
Stapleton - Blackburn (?)

and john byrne (La Havre)

[AlaskaFox]

Found this while doing up a GreenScene post. One of the Russian news websites was doing live commentary of our game last night:
http://translate.googleusercontent.c...dNAecz6RWZjVWg

[SwanVsDalton]

"McShane hung from the right flank. Unaddressed."

Macabre.

[elroy]

http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/...17244134.shtml

La Gazzetto Dello Sport. I remember having a go at reading this paper on the way back from Bari that time and couldnt get over the level of affection for Trap over Lippi at the time. They love Trap!

Trap stuns Prandelli
Ireland wins 2-0
Second defeat for the Italian coach in the friendly match in Liege: Andrews and Cox score under the rain. The Azzurri never find the net and play without intensity and at a slow pace.


LIEGE (Belgium), 7 June 2011 - Lesson number one: watch how a legendary coach earns a smash and grab win against a young and rampant manager. What a good friend, the old Trap. He left a Liege Stadium packed with Azzurri fans with a sweet 2-0 win. While Prandelli, instead, had to settle for his second defeat since losing on his debut against Ivory Coast in August last year.

trapattoni's strategy — A really good friend. The Irish played with their hearts out, a truly physical game, with an impressive desire of demolishing the Azzurri. They were all over the pitch, pressing deep and not conceding a yard to the initiatives of Rossi first and Giovinco after. And then they scored: first with Andrews (36 minutes in the first half) and then with Cox (one minute from the end of the match). How did the Trap manage to get them so motivated? It was a friendly match, but still, Long refused to help Chiellini after a tackle. It was a friendly, but even the same Trap got furious when Pazzini was spared a booking for handball.

Italy, not Barca — Azzurri couldn’t produce a decent play: with the help of a torrential rain, Trapattoni succeeded in diluting Prandelli’s Catalan sauce. The Irish goalie Forde enjoyed a quite night as a spectator or little more as Italy mastered very few chances. Rossi managed something in the first half, but the rest were just long-distance attempts by Montolivo, a wide shot by Nocerino, a free-kick by Giovinco and crosses by Cassani, at least until Pazzini stayed on the pitch. “Avoid the long-ball style”, the Italian manager had said. There were few, but it wasn’t just that that left Prandelli disappointed. There was little left of the good football shown against Estonia in Modena. Instead, there were only few spells of quality at the start of the game and in the first ten minutes of the second half when Matri created more space and the right movements. But that was not just good enough: too often the support of the wingers went missing as did the precision of the strikers in front of the goal. All too static. All to be reviewed. All very little Catalan.

[SwanVsDalton]

Trap challenges players to maintain form

Includes this: "They [Hunt and O'Dea] showed they have the heart to play, a heart that a lot of Irish players have. I wish that those who don't necessarily have the heart that it takes to be here would take the example of these players."

I agree with him, but I wish he'd stop saying this. We get it by now but it's not the time to bring it up again. Can't complain about the media stirring if you keep throwing them bones.

[OwlsFan]

Not bad when our reserves can beat pretty much a 1st XI Italian side. Nice win but I don't read too much in to friendly results. I remember us winning 0-1 in Holland as well in a friendly. Trouble is we don't replicate those results against the bigger sides under any of our managers when it matters.

Long looked a shadow of himself despite what some said about him not playing in Macedonia. He needs a rest and to recharge his batteries after the play off defeat. Nice to see Cox scoring but other than his work ethic, I am not convinced he brings anything special to the party. I would still prefer a fully fit and enthusiastic Long.

Andrews played well while Hunt was for me the motm. He's great away from home when we need someone to track back and help the defence. Whether he is the player to break down defences at home, I am not sure.

Coleman worked hard but is he worth a starting place? Time will tell but that was his first 90 minutes for us and he did ok. One nice lob over a defender's head.

Trap likes Keogh for some reason - possibly his hard work - but other than giving away a lot of fouls, he didn't do a lot.

Well done the defence and Forde.

A good few weeks for the squad and "the senile old fool" who manages them. Tougher tests ahead though.

[geysir]

From Trap's comments to Italian press,


Trap, "Prandelli must go on"

"My Ireland always goes into the field to win, we demand the most from ourselves. And fortunately to give 100% at these times gives us satisfaction. I have seen, however, a Bell'Italia with a good game, Caesar must go on. must insist, with a little 'experience and a bit' of evil can only improve. Moreover, the Azzurri deserved to balance quality and quantity of play, but with our temperament we managed to bring home a major achievement. We were keen to do well, despite the many absences. "Then he explains how he prepared for the race: "I am Italian, I know how Pirlo moves and I have considered that. I have been careful to so many small details that make a difference in this Italy. " Cassano: "I told him to put his head in place ... The samples should have this too. " And on Rossi: "He has done a great year, has the name of Paolo Rossi and reminds me a lot, its value is unquestionable. " Tardelli also smiles: "Maybe it was a wonderful game, but it certainly put him to the heart. Italy? is a young team grow. "

[culloty82]

Anyone hear Seán Bán Breathnach's TG4 commentary last night - for the first twenty minutes he kept talking about "Chris" Andrews, and was always mentioning the counties that each player came from, so he'd say "Waterford man to a Tipp man" as Gaeilge every time Hunt passed to Long. Has to be seen to be believed.

[Stuttgart88]

From Trap's comments to Italian press,


Trap, "Prandelli must go on"

"My Ireland always goes into the field to win, we demand the most from ourselves. And fortunately to give 100% at these times gives us satisfaction. I have seen, however, a Bell'Italia with a good game, Caesar must go on. must insist, with a little 'experience and a bit' of evil can only improve. Moreover, the Azzurri deserved to balance quality and quantity of play, but with our temperament we managed to bring home a major achievement. We were keen to do well, despite the many absences. "Then he explains how he prepared for the race: "I am Italian, I know how Pirlo moves and I have considered that. I have been careful to so many small details that make a difference in this Italy. " Cassano: "I told him to put his head in place ... The samples should have this too. " And on Rossi: "He has done a great year, has the name of Paolo Rossi and reminds me a lot, its value is unquestionable. " Tardelli also smiles: "Maybe it was a wonderful game, but it certainly put him to the heart. Italy? is a young team grow. "

Either that's a very bad translation, or his Italian is as funny as his English.

[paul_oshea]

Not bad when our reserves can beat pretty much a 1st XI Italian side. Nice win but I don't read too much in to friendly results. I remember us winning 0-1 in Holland as well in a friendly. Trouble is we don't replicate those results against the bigger sides under any of our managers when it matters.

Long looked a shadow of himself despite what some said about him not playing in Macedonia. He needs a rest and to recharge his batteries after the play off defeat. Nice to see Cox scoring but other than his work ethic, I am not convinced he brings anything special to the party. I would still prefer a fully fit and enthusiastic Long.

Andrews played well while Hunt was for me the motm. He's great away from home when we need someone to track back and help the defence. Whether he is the player to break down defences at home, I am not sure.

Coleman worked hard but is he worth a starting place? Time will tell but that was his first 90 minutes for us and he did ok. One nice lob over a defender's head.

Trap likes Keogh for some reason - possibly his hard work - but other than giving away a lot of fouls, he didn't do a lot.

Well done the defence and Forde.

A good few weeks for the squad and "the senile old fool" who manages them. Tougher tests ahead though.

i'd agree with most of this.

I don't think our style suits coleman, at everton he gets behind the defence by running at them, good counter attacking football, he has the pace and control, but he has the midfielders at everton to make these passes. Thats a luxury we don't have. The reason duff and mcgeady will always start is because they have the trickery to go with it. I fear though as he gets older he could be another kevin kilbane.

[Duggie]

Anyone hear Seán Bán Breathnach's TG4 commentary last night - for the first twenty minutes he kept talking about "Chris" Andrews, and was always mentioning the counties that each player came from, so he'd say "Waterford man to a Tipp man" as Gaeilge every time Hunt passed to Long. Has to be seen to be believed.

ya terrible, kept saying something about westside galway about forde?? painfull to listen to.

[French Toasht]

Anyone hear Seán Bán Breathnach's TG4 commentary last night - for the first twenty minutes he kept talking about "Chris" Andrews, and was always mentioning the counties that each player came from, so he'd say "Waterford man to a Tipp man" as Gaeilge every time Hunt passed to Long. Has to be seen to be believed.

Ok granted Bán Breathnach is a terrible football commentator but at the same time I wasn't particularly put off by his personal touch when describing the players. It was anecdotes like that the made Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh a legend of Irish sports broadcasting. Sometimes I think football commentary is too impersonal and detached from the fans. A happy medium would not be the worst thing that could be introduced to the world of football commentary.

[geysir]

Seán Bán was not at the game, just talked into a mike while he watched the game on TV.

[the doc]

Just got back, great all round performance, I'm shattered so off to bed now!

[geysir]

Nice win but I don't read too much in to friendly results.I remember us winning 0-1 in Holland as well in a friendly. Trouble is we don't replicate those results against the bigger sides under any of our managers when it matters.

Only a fool would think that we could beat Italy at the WC Finals or Holland in a qualifier when it matters

That friendly was against a Holland team ready to board the plane for the Finals the next day. Each game should be taken on its merits.

It remains to be seen how we approach the next 2 qualifiers.
The recent evidence is that we are growing as a squad in the right direction and winning games.