Republic of Ireland V Serbia - Wednesday, 5th March 2014 - Friendly

[DeLorean]

Robbie Keane lacks pace and has always been urine poor at one-on-ones against the goalkeeper. Remember his miss against France in Paris? At least Shane Long got a shot off. Seriously, every time Robbie Keane doesn't play we assign him mythical qualities.

I agree with that to be fair. I always though Robbie was more clinical working off instinct, than when he had time. The idea that chances like Long's falling to Robbie is as good as a goal is far fetched, and nearly everybody on Sky & RTÉ last night would have you believe.

[Stuttgart88]

So even his goals are rubbish now. We give our players so much stick and take down their confidence. We're becoming like the English media.

Nonsense. I just thought it was an unconvincing finish that the keeper will have been disappointed to have let in.

Others said it was class. I disagreed. Long doesn't fill me with confidence in front of goal but he's a menace to opposition defenders. That's a conundrum that needs solving. Long's confidence isn't low because some internet fan like me objectively criticises his finishing, it's because he knows full well he fluffed big chances last night.

[DeLorean]

Think he took the goal well. It was an very awkward chance, one that's easy to pull well wide or fire straight at the keeper. He aimed it gently towards the middle knowing that his body shape and positioning would angle it away from the keeper. Don't think he could have done any more with it but it was a bit unusual looking.

[Stuttgart88]

I think the message from all the posts above is that regardless of who we play upfront we need to create lots of decent half-chances rather than a few clear cut ones

It'd be nice if MON can make us look like a real threat from set pieces again. We may need to rely on them.

[Yard of Pace]

Apart from Romario and a few others, you often see strikers make a meal of one on ones. Like they're used to feeding off scraps and suddenly they have a whole banquet in front of them. There was a ball played across in the first half which was cut out which I'm sure Long would have tucked away. Anyway, there was a lot of talk in the media about last night being his big night. He fluffed his lines a couple of times. Let him do that now and put it behind him once the qualifiers start. And keep knocking them in for Hull.

Agree with Stutts on set-pieces. Can't remember a decent one last night apart from Wilson's header which was a harder one than Houghton made out.


And on credibility:

Does long lack confidence one on one?keane would have a far better understanding with hooligan and finish.

Wes is from the north inner city but I think that's a bit much. And also doesn't make sense.

[Charlie Darwin]

Agree with Stutts on set-pieces. Can't remember a decent one last night apart from Wilson's header which was a harder one than Houghton made out.

Meyler had a free header from a corner shortly after he came on too. It was a better chance than Wilson's I think.

[Crosby87]

This whole thread is a bit of a curates egg.

[paul_oshea]

Our best technical players - McGeady, McCarthy, Coleman, Hoolahan - came through outside of the English system. It's a gigantic leap to assume the LOI is the problem when the evidence suggests the English system is more to blame.

McCarthy and McGeady didnt come from the LOI its not necessarily through the English system I meant, just that those coming out of the LOI lack that technical ability.

[paul_oshea]

Robbie Keane lacks pace and has always been urine poor at one-on-ones against the goalkeeper. Remember his miss against France in Paris? At least Shane Long got a shot off. Seriously, every time Robbie Keane doesn't play we assign him mythical qualities.
I agree with that to be fair. I always though Robbie was more clinical working off instinct, than when he had time. The idea that chances like Long's falling to Robbie is as good as a goal is far fetched, and nearly everybody on Sky & RTÉ last night would have you believe.

Macedonia away, for every one i will counter, he intercepted and a lovely finish past the keeper. It was duff who had a worse miss in Paris one-on-one!

[Charlie Darwin]

McCarthy and McGeady didnt come from the LOI its not necessarily through the English system I meant, just that those coming out of the LOI lack that technical ability.

You said our players would surely be better off testing themselves "against the best" across the water. I assume you don't consider playing in the Scottish Second Division to be "the best" and yet it produced McCarthy. The idea that players are better off in cattle market academies in England is ridiculous.

[DeLorean]

Macedonia away, for every one i will counter, he intercepted and a lovely finish past the keeper. It was duff who had a worse miss in Paris one-on-one!

It was somebody else that mentioned the Paris miss. Yeah, I'm not saying Robbie has never scored a one on one, just saying he's missed plenty but you wouldn't think it listening to Ronnie Whelan & co. last night. God I hate Ronnie Whelan. Ray is annoying too but likable behind it all.

[Stuttgart88]

Pedantic point, but I think that the LOI is an unfair scapegoat. It reflects the lack of joined-upness of the whole structure and does as well as it can despite this.

Long: remember his brilliant backheel against Austria and header at Wembley? Scorer of great goals perhaps, but not a great goalscorer. OK, Austria hit the post but still...

Does anyone remember Cascarino's autobiography where he'd describe the voices in his head if ever given time to think about a goal chance? If anyone is the man to get Long's head right it's O'Neill. Many say O'Neill's best asset is his motivational ability. I still believe Long can become the man but he needs a few breaks. Look at his recent game against Villa - one great goal led to another. Last night could have been a career changer but instead he'll have those voices in his head next time he gets that kind of chance.

Meyler's miss was awful I thought. That had nothing to do with LOI or the English system. Goals like that are scored in the LOI and junior leagues all week. I played with a centre-back in Div 3C of the LSL who scored them regularly. A tall international CM should be able to.

Robbie: he exuded calm in several one on ones since Paris, mainly against weaker opposition. I think it is completely fair to think he'd have done much better than Long in those instances. That was the key message of the Georgia and Faroes games last year. I'd bet that Robbie believes in himself all the time in these situations. Even though the evidence is mainly against weak opposition (so by assumption waeker keepers) he is happy to draw the keeper and play a tidy chip. This isn't a strength that Long has.

[DannyInvincible]

Wes is from the north inner city but I think that's a bit much. And also doesn't make sense.

Funnily enough, an old Irish teacher of mine once told us that, like the term 'scally', the origin of the term 'hooligan' to desribe a rowdy ruffian is to be found in the Irish family name, Hooligan, or Hoolahan even. That's probably self-evident, but I believe the terms were originally used to refer derogatively to members of Irish communities in cities like Liverpool and gradually caught on throughout the wider UK to refer to those perceived to be engaging in anti-social behaviour generally.

McCarthy and McGeady didnt come from the LOI its not necessarily through the English system I meant, just that those coming out of the LOI lack that technical ability.

As opposed to who? The former-LOI group in the senior squad are still better players than many other Irish players who've not come through the LOI. The reason we cannot rely on stronger players isn't really the fault of the LOI. The league can only do its best given its circumstances. It's a credit to it that so many former players are regularly selected in our senior squads.

[geysir]

McCarthy and McGeady didnt come from the LOI its not necessarily through the English system I meant, just that those coming out of the LOI lack that technical ability.

Being involved with the English leagues are not the panacea for our technical woes.
Most all of our underage players (from u17 up) used in competitive games, are with English clubs. In contrast, on the continent, most all such players are still with home based league structure. Even the u21 squads from Norway Sweden Denmark, are mostly stocked with home based players.

[Junior]

Anyone got a link to highlights of last nights game?

[SwanVsDalton]

What does Walters offer apart from work rate? He does not hold the ball up well enough. He doesn't score goals. He doesn't have the pace or crossing ability to play on the wing. Counter attacks are pointless because of his lack of pace or vision (as seen by his reaction to the excellent knock on by Murphy), his link-up play is average... I just don't get it.

I like Walters. Not a spectacular player, but I think he's the most intelligent striker of a physical ilk we have. Runs good lines in behind, stretches defences, opens up space for others and is a total work house. He's stronger and better at holding the ball up than any of our other striking options IMO.

I don't think he's the best goalscorer but he's grabbed four in 22 apps and appears more of a threat than others when on the field. I don't think Murphy brings the above, and less besides. For instance, they're as slow as each other. Just my view of course.

I remember Folan too being quite useless but himself and Walters seem to be largely free of any criticism but it's open season on people like Sammon and Murphy for some reason. It's cynical.

I don't think so. I just think Walters is cut above the others. There's no point lumping all these guys in together. Walters has a quality to him which I don't think the others possess, at this moment. I'd criticism him all day for a bad performance, and he is limited, but I think he'd done fairly well in his relatively thankless stint in a green shirt.

SVD how did you read from towks posts that he wanted murphy?similar to your analysis that's not what he was saying at all...he just really wanted stokes!

TOWK has been banging the Murphy drum for some time, over numerous posts. He also took Murphy's solitary contribution (a flick-on) and used it as a stick to beat Walters. Which is fine, but it's spin.

[brine3]

If Messi had scored the goal like Long did then we'd all be going on about what a genius Messi is and how he wrong-footed the keeper.

[brine3]

Macedonia away, for every one i will counter, he intercepted and a lovely finish past the keeper. It was duff who had a worse miss in Paris one-on-one!

True, Duff's one actually counts as a miss, seeing as he shot the ball at the keeper. Keane just let the ball run out of play.

[SwanVsDalton]

If Messi had scored the goal like Long did then we'd all be going on about what a genius Messi is and how he wrong-footed the keeper.

Messi has nothing to prove and Long does. If Shane wants us to to shut up, he could start putting away sitters. We're a struggling nation, we need a promising forward to turn into a goalscorer and we need it now.

People can split the different on Robbie's goals and one-on-one's but, honestly, I just want a Premier League striker to score when he's clean through on goal. Twice. It's not too much to ask.

[tetsujin1979]

Anyone got a link to highlights of last nights game?

on rte player here: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10259899/