Under-19 Squad

[gastric]

What a frankly bizarre post. AND from a man who has made a career of bizarre posts on Foot.

And yet Bonnie, I can see what he is trying to say!

[BonnieShels]

I get the sentiment.

But to wish to have less talented players just so they won't get poached by Ingerland is insane.

[tetsujin1979]

No Jack Byrne from Man City, I think they might be playing the finals of the Academy Premier League at the time though

Byrne's after posting on twitter that he's been called into the U21 squad: https://twitter.com/Jackb_8/statuses/465864616724418560

So proud to be called up to Ireland u21s cant wait to put the green jersey back on Absolutely over the moon still cant believe it#Proud

They're playing Denmark in a friendly at the end of May. Think he would be better off in the U19 qualifiers personally

<EDIT>
Also, Ian Lawlor called into the squad: https://twitter.com/Ianlawlor/status...95074891829248

Buzzing to have been called up to the ireland U21s next week!! #proud

[Charlie Darwin]

Brian Lenihan of Cork City has also been called up.

edit: should we just have a thread for the U21s (or do we already?)

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30267952.html

Rodgers wanted to add O'Hanlon to his first-team squad for the upcoming friendly against Shamrock but O'Hanlon has elected to join up with the U-19's.

[Charlie Darwin]

Reading between the lines, you'd think he has more chance of playing for the U19s. Still, would have been nice to have an Irish player play for Liverpool in the Aviva.

[Bungle]

Great to see a young player put his country first. It's a shame it is on at the same time though because even a 20 minute cameo could catch Rodgers eye. It will be a friendly in all but name for the Shamrock Rovers lads and the young liverpool players before a big crowd. Far more to be learnt about a player than playing the West Brom u18s.

[Dodge]

It will be a friendly in all but name for the Shamrock Rovers lads

Just to be clear, it is also a friendly in name for them

[Bungle]

For both teams, I think it will be more than a friendly. The Rovers lads will take it seriously, as will the Liverpool lads who will be mostly made up of young lads. I know a few Liverpool fans who are a bit gutted that their big players aren't going to be playing, but from a spectacle point of view, it will be a much better game. I'd much rather see Ryan McLoughlin or Jordan Rossiter than players concerned about missing the world cup and I'm not a Liverpool fan.

[Dodge]

You've no idea about LOI players if you think they'll treat this as anything other than a friendly. The main aim of this game is to not get injured

[Bungle]

Shamrock Rovers is a great club in their own right and I certainly would not mean to patronise the League of Ireland, which is a league that I support each week.

However, I personally think that the Rovers players will be thrilled to be playing in front of a big crowd and against a great club like Liverpool. Maybe I'm wrong, but I reckon that alot of the Rovers players will have been thinking of this game for weeks, just like they would if Man U or any other big team came to town.

[Stuttgart88]

Paul Doolin looking to follow Jack Charlton's example and to take his squad on a "eat all you can" challenge shortly before they play

http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/art...ge-irish-u19s/

[Charlie Darwin]

Mejico 1-0 up after 20 minutes.

[tetsujin1979]

Cracking finish too, volley from just inside the area

[tetsujin1979]

2-0 now, close range finish just before half time

[tetsujin1979]

finished 3-0.
Mexico were pretty much in control for about 70% of the game, their movement was excellent and played some wonderful one touch passes.
For Ireland I was impressed with Moseley at left full and Hallahan seems to have a trick about him too. O'Hanlon did well to find space when he was on the ball, but despite being bigger than most of the Irish side, didn't seem to be very physical.
Byrne was isolated up front, the midfield five near really seemed to get close enough to him to . I got the impression that he was one of those kids who grew a little earlier than everyone else was bigger than the rest of his age group, and just used his strength in his favour. Having said that, he did create the best chance for Ireland of the first half with a cutback from the byline just inside the Mexican area to Mulroney near the penalty spot, who fluffed his shot and deflected the ball wide

Mexico's number seven was amazing, there were some scouts sitting behind me (well I think they were scouts, older gentlemen in club jackets, one from Leicester) and they'd have to have been impressed by him

[Charlie Darwin]

How much was it, tets? Was working tonight so couldn't make it down.

From Doolin's comments before the game, he seemed to be suggested Mexico are a step up from the sides the players are used to facing, and they're a year older as well. Was it a useful exercise do you think?

[tetsujin1979]

five euro in, free for children. not bad

they were definitely a step ahead of the Irish players. one thing I noticed was that when whoever was receiving the ball from defence was in possession, the other CMs and O'Halloran ran away from the ball, a few times the CM (either Dimaio, or O'Hanlon or Mulroney) was outnumbered by the opposition. Hallahan didn't do it as much, and there was some good interplay between him and Moseley at left full.
It's hard to tell if it was worthwhile or not right now, I guess it'll be more obvious after the next friendly on Thursday, and the qualifiers at the end of the month.

One other thing was I didn't see much of Noe Baba in the first half, but he was caught badly out of position when he let the ball bounce right in front of him and let the left winger in. However, he caught up with the player, tackled him hard and won the ball back. He definitely has pace and power. I think his confidence took a knock after the first incident, but he was much better in the second half.

[Charlie Darwin]

Not a bad deal at all, how many do you reckon was there?

Running away from the ball is an unfortunate habit a lot of Irish midfielders have and I don't know whether it's instinct or training or both, but hopefully they can have a bit more personality coached into them in time. Where was Baba playing, centre half? He's been used in midfield for Fulham as far as I know and probably hasn't had as much competitive football as he'd like, so maybe it was just rustiness.

[tetsujin1979]

about 600 or so, 700 at a push
loads of mexicans, one guy was wearing a luchadore mask!

Baba was at right full, Long and Heaney were the centre halves