Cullen with the first Irish Premier League goal of the new season. (He says as though there's going to be loads - all our other Premier League first choice players are defenders and a goalkeeper.)
https://x.com/GoalsXtra/status/19592...ArjERc2xg&s=19
And an assist for Burnleys second.
Lovely floated ball through.
https://x.com/GoalsXtra/status/19592...S24BYOdzA&s=19
Was excellent against Liverpool. Probably Burnley’s best player. Played 63 minutes before being subbed as he was starting to tire.
Yeah thought he was great. Good bite, positioning and helped transition defense into attack. Really a shame he seems unable to translate this to international level.
Why is that? He’s playing against better players in PLOriginally Posted by irishfan86
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Can't remember who it was after the match... maybe Damien Delaney, but someone was saying that at Burnley there are more in midfield and they play compact so he never has to cover a lot of space. With Ireland he gets exposed and is unlikely to be any better unless/until we start putting more bodies in midfield.... I think that was the gist of it.
It's exactly that. Cullen is a very good midfielder in the right system but asking him to play in a midfield two is an act of insanity, he's not good enough to do it (not are any of our midfielders) and they end up looking like terrible players when they're put into that system.
It's easy to forget that Cullen was a standout player for us in his early caps when we played a proper midfield three.
Paddy McCarthy has always pushed a midfield two for as long as he has been involved with Ireland and, while that certainly doesn't exclude Hallgrimsson from his share of the blame (he's the manager after all) I do worry also about O'Shea and McCarthy's continued involvement in our setup.
Was it Keith Andrews who said that in Euro 2012, something like 'It was Iniesta, Xavi and Alonso against me and Whelo.'
Trap refused to budge his tactics.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
I suppose Trap didn't want to go to hard on, Iniesta, Xavi, and Alonzo !
Along with Busquets holding and David Silva playing wide - 5 absolutely cracking midfielders packing the midfield. Then Santi Cazorla, Cesc Fabregas and Javi Martinez coming off the bench. Unbelievable depth that Spanish midfield from 2008 to 2012.
True but we had Paul Green
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Paul Green would improve our current team. He was a beast in the Championship at his peak.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Do you remember how we all felt when Trap was picking Green...and now we'd jump at the chance of having him...that really hit home for me how far we've fallen just now
Greener Grass.
Honestly I think we have at least four midfielders currently who are as good as, or in some cases better than Green was. That Green was part of a team that could actually hold it's own with mid ranked European sides shows that it's the setup that's the problem, not the players.
I really didn't rate Green. Seemed like a decent skin but he I think he's significantly below Alan Browne for example and Alan Browne is probably not good enough to make the squad at present.
The real outrage from that Euros is that Wes Hoolahan, the best player in a Premier League team (Norwich) couldn't make the squad (and Trap never even went to see him), while the likes of Paul Green, Paul McShane etc. made it
Yeah Id agree with that, Green was poor player. He is not someone we should look back on with hindsight and say we maybe didnt appreciate him enough, unlike Glenn Whelan for example.
Its really not that complicated!!!
I thought Green was a good squad player, good backup to Whelan and Andrews in CM who would work his socks off for you if called upon.
McShane was a bit of a liability alright.
Trap not picking Hoolahan and Reid was completely because he just didn't like that kind of player. His CMs needed to be like the above mentioned. Grafters and tacklers. McGeady was put to the wing and could play that role (also played a good defensive part in the draw away to Russia, tracking back a lot).
But Reid and Hoolahan couldn't be made into wingers.
As I've said before, watch the look on Trap's face when Hoolahan came on and scored against Poland. It was not part of his plan.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks