Keane was on his own for most of the game. Not much he can do in that situation. He chased and hassled Polish players and keeper into rushing clearances resulting in throw-ins and regaining possession. And he almost scored. Thought he did well
Martin O'Neill at post-match press conference:
The RTÉ panel discussion: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/0329/690711-video/
Keane was on his own for most of the game. Not much he can do in that situation. He chased and hassled Polish players and keeper into rushing clearances resulting in throw-ins and regaining possession. And he almost scored. Thought he did well
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Just sat down for a rewatch of the coverage on the RTE player after heading to the match as usual last night. Thought first half we were ropey to say the least, second half was the best half of football I've seen us play in donkeys years and we were well deserving of a draw at least. The Poles came over with a cynical gameplan and stuck to it. Unfortunately for us the ref seemed to think we were playing Warsaw and let them away with some quite frankly ridiculous carry on while at the same time coming down heavily on ourselves. Not that I'm saying he should have been a homer but he was more than favourable towards the away team which was incredibly frustrating, either be consistently good or consistently bad with both teams. Obviously the cake they gave him on Friday for his birthday meant he didn't want to show any hint of impropriety!
Cracking atmosphere in Landsdowne last night, ably aided by the local Poles. The supporter culture on the continent/ eastern europe etc is far more hardcore, for want of a better term, than we have here or over the UK the last 10/15 years which ties into the gentrification of the game/ the corporate culture the game has become in these parts at that level. Our support was on the whole very good but it seemed for a home game for us the ground was 50/50 and I'm being generous with that split!
Another late goal to keep us in the hunt, O'Neill has got the lads playing til the final whistle and starting to get out of the Trap mentality of playing within ourselves and trying to nick a goal here or there. If Trap was still in charge we could still be playing now and we'd have not found an equaliser, nor would we have gone for it in such a fashion in the second half to try and get back in the game. Ok, we may make mistakes or get caught out on occasion playing this way but at least we're giving it a go and trying to get a result instead of just sitting there and trying to nick a win/ trying to keep the score down etc. Three wins in our next three qualifiers are needed from Scotland and Georgia at home and then Gibraltar away before we end with Germany and Poland. If we're on 17 points heading to Poland, we're well capable of getting a result over there but we may well be reliant on Poland and Germany doing us a favour in Hampden in the autumn. Seeding wise we really are mired at the moment which is the culmination of the last few years and the luck of the proverbial draw in the group we're in, it was always going to be tight with the group we got.
Speaking of hysterical melodrama, out of the 52 appearances Long has made for Ireland, 23 of them have been starts and he has scored 12 goals. He has made 7 competitive starts for his country and he has scored 2 goals. He's hardly the disaster you are implying he is.Hard to reply to a post so drenched in hysterical melodrama but I'll give it a go...
Long did well, scored when it mattered. He should start. Given that you spent about 30 posts last night calling for Walters to come off and slagging Keane, you of all people should appreciate a thorough examination of his performance which consisted of a) a miscontrolled pass near the touchline, b)a goal and c) a silly foul.
You consistently fail to acknowledge that the burden of proof isn't with a guy with 60 odd international goals and more footballing intelligence in his left foot than Shane Long has demonstrated in his whole career - it's with Shane Long. A guy who, despite your claims, has blown more chances to grab a starting spot than any other Irish player in recent history.
But he scored, and I'd like to see him start against Scotland.
Come off it for God's sake. You think I don't know that Robbie Keane wasn't a better player than Shane Long at his peak? Keane was better than Long over two campaigns ago. He is pushing 35 years old and he is playing in the MLS for LA Galaxy. Shane Long has been playing for mid-table Premier League sides over the last 4 seasons. He is playing at a better level, he can play in more systems and he is younger. Full stop.
An argument could be made for Robbie Keane keeping Long out of the team if he was playing well or scoring goals. He is doing neither. How many times has he touched the ball in the Georgia, Germany and Poland games combined? I'll go further. How many times did he touch the ball against Portugal before that. The games before that.
Long is 28 years old. Walters is 31 and Keane is 34. We don't have young strikers coming through. He needs to be given game time and I don't mean 1 competitive game before dropping him.
"Thorough examination of a 10 minute performance"?! "A silly foul"?!
I won't dignify either with a response but I will say that Jon Walters doing his utmost to give Poland back possession right outside our box in the immediate aftermath of Long's goal could have been considerably more costly than a Long foul deep in the opposition half when the alternatives were *gasp* a Poland goal kick or Poland throw.
Don't be fooled into thinking that I am having a go at Keane because of bias. If that was the case, I would not have given Walters a 6 in my ratings. I am having a go because he played crap again.
Walters & Keane shouldn't be playing if we want to win against Scotland.
Last edited by TheOneWhoKnocks; 30/03/2015 at 4:15 PM.
Keane played well. He was isolated for the first half but he was far more involved and dangerous when he had players in support in the second half. His harrying and chasing, as someone pointed out, led to a lot of possession in the oppositions half throughout the game. I agree that Long should be a starter and that Keane should be an impact sub at this stage of his career but really, you are doing the man and yourself a disservice with the way you analyse his performances and downplay his current value to the team. If you were balanced in your analysis I would listen more to what you have to say but I have never heard you have one good thing to say about him and during this particular game writing crap about getting him subbed off and Long on.
Like, we f*cking get it.
Its not his fault he is getting picked by successive managers and he is doing his best and, to be perfectly frank, he deserves a bit more from the likes of you given all that he has done for and in his country.
It was your brand of hyperbolic sh!t (and some others) that made me want to get out of here for a bit and not much has changed. Such entrenched positions add nothing to the quality of debate here. Stay silent on Keane and show us what else you have going on upstairs.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Where did I imply that? I said he did well, but that he was hardly error free and that some other players don't get away with erros so easily (you made this point for me a few lines later). If you're going to respond to my view, respond to my entire opinion in context.Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks
And he did commit a silly foul. Would Walters or Keane get away with you harumphing 'I won't dignify that with an answer!' if they did the same? I think we all know the answer to that...
Instead of reacting so scandalised and shooting from the hip, why don't you accept that Shane Long has had opportunities? Maybe not as many as you (and some others) would like but he has had them nonetheless. And he hasn't been able to take the jersey off Robbie on merit so far. It's that simple.
This view not as wacko as your incensed reaction suggests. Take these reports from today:
And before you pull a quote out and go off on one again - Long did well. He scored an important goal. I want him to start the next game.
Last edited by SwanVsDalton; 30/03/2015 at 4:52 PM.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Goals win games. Walters is the top Irish goal-scorer this season in the PL. Keane is the top Irish goal-scorer ever in the PL. Even if you think the latter record's relevance has faded with time, the same can't be said of the former.
If I were to pick my side for the Scotland game, on the basis of last night, I'd implement the following: Clark for Brady (with Wilson moving to left back), McClean for McGeady, Long for Keane. That said, McGeady is unlikely to make as much of an impact off the bench as McClean will. Is the same true for Keane? McGeady and Keane have superior levels of footballing intelligence and ability but McClean and Long's physical attributes and persistence make them very valuable to us also, maybe more so from the bench.
What questions? Stutta
He didn't imply any such thing, he advocated the guy should start. Why do you point both barrels at your feet and continue to reload and pull the trigger like this ?
Hmm, If MO'N & co. lose to Alba, it's a Goodbye for me...
Sorry Stu, less about agreeing with TWOK but disagree with most of this post.
Robbie is seriously past it v.the 'top' sides.
Retirement beckons.
I did say clearly thatas I agree that he is past it against the top sides.Keane should be an impact sub at this stage of his career
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
the ones above.
I watched the game again on telly. Given how picky the ref was I'm amazed he didn't penalise Walters for a foul on Fabianski that led to the corner. Even if it was a fair challenge (I'm biased so can see how it mightn't be a foul) it'd be penalised 95 times out of a hundred in almost any country. I'd be livid if that call went against our keeper.
Was thinking the exact same thing. McCarthy's was a clear red card also so we can't complain too much about the referee. One other thing which I don't think has got the attention it deserved was Long's first touch for the goal, top class and deserved the bit of luck with the finish for that alone. I must watch the game back tomorrow.
I think Robbie and the other mouths did a good job of bringing to the ref's attention how much the Poles were play-acting, particularly when the sub made a fool of himself with McCarthy and wound up getting booked himself. I suspect by the end the ref might have been looking at that and thinking Flapianski was just looking to get a free.
I'm going to watch the first half back myself after Soccer Republic is over.
It's amazing the conspiracy theorists haven't accused McCarthy of deliberately trying to get sent off to miss the Scots game! It was so out of character that it's almost worth a second thought.
How the ref penalised McGeady for an excellent tackle is beyond me. He started well but made some odd calls later.
I was apoplectic with one Pole for play acting until I saw on telly he twisted his knee! The playa ting is not a modern thing though, as Souness would seem to believe. The 1991 edition of the Poland team was just as bad, their keeper in particular.
Blog on the game here for anyone interested.
http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/201...-chancers.html
Irish Football Blog - A False First XI - http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/
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Im getting sick of the negativity no matter what from Irish fans, media, forums etc. Never ever bloody happy. We are a small nation with limited resources. Maybe we have been spoiled over the last 25 years with some really excellent even world class players.
Im not saying we get dont critique the team. But the criticism sometimes is crazy. The Scottish performance was the real disaster of the campaign not last night. Having said that it is possible with an organised clever team to go far in international football. I look at the likes of NI and wonder why we cannot do what they do at home (i.e. beat decent teams). Its actually embarrassing how poor our record is against mid to top level teams at home. But I think the negativity of the fans and the media is finding its way onto the pitch. There was an air of nervousness from the team in the first half last night, I think the crowd doesnt help that.
In summary, we have 8 points from 5 games. 3 of our toughest away games played. I dont think its a bad start at all. Another point or two and we'd be ecstatic. Its all in our hands, plenty to play for. Yes we all want more, we all want performances but the half term report does not deserve some of the over the top reactions on here.
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