Republic of Ireland V Czech Republic - Wednesday, 29th February 2012 - Friendly

[Charlie Darwin]

Without excusing the defending for their goal (I think O'Shea has to take responsibility as he could see more of what was going on), it was an excellent pass and finish. It's the kind of mistake you can get away with but we definitely won't in the Euros. I trust Dunne will have it drilled into O'Shea and Ward not to take such silly gambles.

Overall, like a lot of our performances, it started bright but ultimately the opposition's superior quality on the ball and our negative tactics meant that they dominated the majority of the game.

Was a bit surprised O'Shea got man of the match too.

[DannyInvincible]

makes sense danny, i don't remember seeing it happen before

True. I've only ever seen the FAI do it as finals, so maybe those within the first 23 are those who would have made the final Euro 2012 squad were it chosen the other week, barring injury. Or those with everything to lose, you could say.

[geysir]

Was a bit surprised O'Shea got man of the match too.

Was that Houghton's choice? I thought either one of the centre halves or Cox.

[Charlie Darwin]

Was that Houghton's choice? I thought either one of the centre halves or Cox.

I didn't actually hear it being announced during the match but I assume it must have been Houghton as Sky were the official broadcaster.

[BonnieShels]

usually they don't have names on their jerseys except for in tournaments.

the players were numbered from 1 to 17 or so and then skipped up to 23,24,25,26.

does anyone think this is trap saying 1 to 17 are certain picks and theres a couple of spaces up for grabs?

I'm guessing they were numbered based on position and order in which they were called up. The initial numbered list would have included those players who were originally selected and then dropped out of the squad due to injury. I assume that's why McClean would have been numbered 26, for example.

Ah come on lads my query was in relation to the significa... really?

[tricky_colour]

Shocking defending for their goal, at one point I can see 3 cech player who have nobody between them
and the goal, you could throw a blanket over 3 maybe 4 irish players.
Nobody seemed to be to sure about what they were supposed to be doing, at least I think not, I'm not 100% sure about that.
I guess to be fair the cechs made it hard for them by moving about.

[Charlie Darwin]

Looking at again, where did O'Dea get to? That's just disorganised defence, and doesn't bode well for us if anything happens to Dunne.

[DannyInvincible]

However Ray Houghton banging on about it for 45 minutes was easily the most irritating aspect of the game.

Houghton's commentary amuses me. He only got to grips with the "new" offside rule years after it was implemented. Often you'll hear him bemoan a player who decides to have an effort on goal and goes close but fails to score: "He rilly shouldnae be hittin' thon there if he's naw gonnae score."

Given the fact most players don't possess supernatural abilities of predicting the future, there will always be an element of risk attached to having a pop at goal. Otherwise, nobody would hit a shot because you just can't know for certain that any shot will go in. Some go in; some don't. The fortuitous "chipper" off his shin against Italy in 1994 springs to mind.

[DannyInvincible]

Ah come on lads my query was in relation to the significa... really?

I thought he should have been number 32, to be honest.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Another view. The main Ireland stuff is 3-4 pages in. Including an occasional poster from here...

http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/optio...limitstart,60/

[geysir]

RTE highlights ran to about 10 minutes of game time, in a program lasting over 50 minutes.

[the bear]

hey did well to get 10 mins out of it

[BonnieShels]

I thought he should have been number 32, to be honest.

And incur the wrath of the OWC? Dangerous.

[tricky_colour]

Was his number "26" picked on purpose?

Not sure I quite understand that?? Can someone explain?

[gastric]

Not sure I quite understand that?? Can someone explain?

26 counties or 32 counties make up Ireland, depending on your politics!

[tricky_colour]

hey did well to get 10 mins out of it

I guess they must have included the injuries.

[TerryPhelan]

Another impressive performance from Walters tonight - the apparent ease with which he can control difficult aerial balls and bring the other attackers into the game, not to mention the power and pace he showed when turning his marker (and wrongly being called back for a foul) make him a seriously strong candidate for a starting place at Euro 2012. For as long as we are going to play long ball, we may as well start deploying a guy with the attributes to make it work. Doyle has slipped out of form and, like Long tonight, generally looks agonised and frustrated by the thankless job they have been entrusted with. Walters seems to make it work for himself. I have had this opinion brewing for some time now and decided to stay up after getting home from the game tonight to put (cyber) pen to (cyber) paper and write an article about it. All thoughts are more than welcome lads - have a read and see what you think: http://lysaghtb.wordpress.com/2012/0...ard-to-ignore/

[Murfinator]

Another view. The main Ireland stuff is 3-4 pages in. Including an occasional poster from here...

http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/optio...limitstart,60/

In McClean, Duffy, McCarthy, Long and Coleman there are five very decent young players coming through who are making their mark in the top level in England. In Given, Dunne, Duff, Keane and to a certain extent O'Shea you have five very experienced top level players. Those ten + McGeady should probably form the basis of a starting XI. 2012 is the first and last chance of all of them playing together. It's a unique chance to blend two overlapping golden generations.

I think this post really highlights the problems with the Irish media and public and how it conflicts with Traps approach. To compare, even lightly the likes of those 5 guys with some of our finest ever players is lunacy, its mental institution stuff. The public in general seems to have a serious problem differentiating between a promising youngster and a once in a blue moon talent. I would say we have none of those coming through at the moment and our actual golden generation has one world cup campaign left in them.
The likes of Duffy, Coleman, McClean and McCarthy will do well to forge premiership careers for themselves, even that is less than certain right now let alone becoming international superstars. Those guys all have a lot to prove, I think Trap would be dead right to be skeptical of them and I wouldn't necessarily disagree if he left all 4 of them at home, I certainly wouldn't consider it a travesty that I'm sure the tabloid media would.

I feel a bit sorry for Green that because of his club situation and age he's considered a lot less desirable than the rest of them. He's certainly done a hell of a lot more for Ireland than the 4 above.

[backstothewall]

Just home. Quick set of ratings before bed

Given 7
O'Shea 6 Wasn't sure who was at fault for the goal. Point off if it was him
Sledge 6.5 But ditto O'Shea for the goal
O'Dea 6.5 As Sledge & Josh
Ward 7 One of our better players on the night
Duff 7
Whelan 7
Andrews 6
McGeady 6.5 His crossing off his left is shocking. Much better when he switched wings
Keane 6.5
Long 6.5

Green 6
Hunt 6.5
McClean 7.5 Changed the game when he came on, but that was as much about the crowd as anything else I think
Cox 7.5

[DannyInvincible]

Just home. Quick set of ratings before bed

Given 7
O'Shea 6 Wasn't sure who was at fault for the goal. Point off if it was him
Sledge 6.5 But ditto O'Shea for the goal
O'Dea 6.5 As Sledge & Josh
Ward 7 One of our better players on the night
Duff 7
Whelan 7
Andrews 6
McGeady 6.5 His crossing off his left is shocking. Much better when he switched wings
Keane 6.5
Long 6.5

Green 6
Hunt 6.5
McClean 7.5 Changed the game when he came on, but that was as much about the crowd as anything else I think
Cox 7.5

Walters leaves thread dejected.