Starting with.
http://www.twohundredpercent.net/?p=19125
Skimmed it but noticed this!
"If there is one thing that Ireland are good at – really good at – it is getting through the group stages of major tournaments. In fact, they’ve never failed to get through the group stages of a tournament that they have entered before."
Ireland are by far the rank outsiders to win the tournament according to Australian bookmakers. You can get us at over $100. The media over here see us as making up numbers too and as we don't play like Spain we are seen as hacks.
Therefore, ignorance prevails over here. When I am told we have no chance, I simply point out that our population is smaller than the population of Melbourne and this tends to shut the ignorant, often arrogant Aussie up!
Except Euro 88, but with 8 teams that was a very difficult challenge.Originally Posted by bennocelt
We have roughly the same population as Croatia in the Republic (4.5 mil). Spain = 47 mil, Italy = 60 mil. We're certainly punching above our weight.
Most uninformed folk are blown away by the population of Ireland, because of the size and scope of the diaspora.
Last edited by boysingreen; 06/06/2012 at 11:54 PM.
Agree 100%. Most people i know figure Ireland has a population of around 8 mil.
Also Jedward aside, Ireland puts out a fine proportion of great music for its population numbers. So, if you can win Euro, you will be sitting pretty.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
If only for the "famine" conservative estimates would put our population at around the 15m mark now. Cannot for the life of me remember where I heard that stat.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
But on the positive side we did finish above England who got 0 points, I think that more than makes up
for not progressing. Furthermore the two who qualified from the group both made the finals, so it is fair to say
were were the third best team in Europe at the time. We also drew with the winners Russia so a good case
to say were were the best team in Europe!!
Don't you mean Holland?
Though they did need a dodgy goal to beat us...
But the after-match abuse of the Germans & English almost made it worth it.
Good article. The possibility of getting through the group and meeting France in a quarter-final is mouth-watering.
Steve McManaman picked us to come second in the group to Spain.. over on soccernet.com (ESPN).
"The media over here see us as making up numbers too and as we don't play like Spain we are seen as hacks."
Seen as hacks? We are hacks. That's all we do - hack the ball clear from defence, and when we do get it for a second in midfield, we hack it away to safety if pressured. We have about 2 per cent of the technical ability required to win the tournament and if you saw the defence on Monday last (away to Hungary) you would have been embarrassed in the extreme. I could have picked four friends to put up a better defensive performance.
You make a good point about the population of Ireland v Melbourne, but look at Holland. Eight million people - somehow they learned to play the correct way.
Look, I think we're all behind the lads on Sunday, and I think they have a bit of a chance, simply because we can score goals, but when we treat the ball like a hot potato we can't expect to go far. It's all down to proper coaching in the first place and we simply don't have that in Ireland.
But Mark, when was the last time Ireland lost a game? Sure it isnt all good, but he does end up getting results. We could have made the last World Cup. If we do resonably well here, can one really complain?
I dont think the lads really gave it their all vs Hungary. Its like the last pre season NFL game. Evryone is ready for the fun to start.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
"But Mark, when was the last time Ireland lost a game? Sure it isnt all good, but he does end up getting results. We could have made the last World Cup. If we do resonably well here, can one really complain? I dont think the lads really gave it their all vs Hungary. Its like the last pre season NFL game. Evryone is ready for the fun to start."
All true. But what's to stop us playing football as opposed to the prehistoric brand of the game we currently play (hoofing it long and surrendering possession for 70 per cent of the game). As I mentioned earlier - look at Holland and look at our coaching or lack of.
who else in the competition will play with two up front and 2 out and out wingers?
I've heard that argument a few places, but I don't mind it. No other team will play with two central midfielders who are essentially both just advanced centre backs either.
I actually thought we did OK in the second half in Hungary and quite well overall against Bosnia. We just don't have a really top quality CM, though Gibson has the technique Mark's asking for. Whelan is actually technically quite accomplished. Often what distinguishes good players from better players are hard to teach qualities like vision, awareness, speed of thought, decision making etc. - though I'm not for a second denying that the right coaching can improve any of this. Even the top quality teams tend to have a grafter of sorts in midfield and that's what Andrews brings to the party for us.
I actually think the defenders played well on Monday but the team didn't defend well. It's not a defender's role to police the gap between our 2 lines of 4.
I also think the reason we play with 2 up front and 2 orthodox wingers is because we have good forwards and good wide players. We certainly don't lack width in our side and very often the better ball playing teams suffer from this. Barcelona v Chelsea for example.
Swings and roundabouts.
Discipline, application, quality of set-pieces, chance completion and luck will determine how we do.
Croatia will play a 442, as will Ukraine, and England will play a 4411 with wingers.
The last time the Netherlands had a population anything like as low as 8m, quite a few thousand of them were German soldiers. Try doubling 8m and you're getting somewhere close
We do what we do because it works for us. There have been no shortage of managers who have tried to get us passing the ball down through the years, but it never works.
If we try outplaying Croatia, Italy or Spain we will lose. But they will not be looking forward to playing us. We are indeed hacks, but we should be proud of it.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Absolutely true. But that's a measure of our ability
And should we be proud that we are hacks? I'm proud of the lads and will be kicking every ball on Sunday, but to say we should be proud of the way we play? That's a lesson I missed along the way.
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