Ireland v Germany & Poland

[Olé Olé]

Second Captains has two regular football podcasts a week.

Aye, but it won't be till this afternoon that the second one of the week is released. Not sure how much they'll focus on the match with such a short window for listeners prior the match.

[Olé Olé]

I fancy the following will be the side:
Given
Christie JOSH Wilson (hasn't been definitively ruled out, Keogh if he isn't fit) Brady
Hendrick McCarthy Gibson
Walters Hoolahan
Long

Meyler has been talking as if he's going to get a start but MON does seem to like Gibson and has preferred him in big matches in this campaign.

I can't see how Robbie will start. I think this is the game for Hoolahan to play beside Walters/Long as that pair interchange between being the front man. Who knows though, Murphy got the nod at home to the Scots and O'Neill might fancy him on his return from injury. Christ, maybe Kevin Doyle might return from the wilderness. He'd relish that and has popped up for some crucial goals in his international career.

Wilson hasn't been ruled out, has he? I'd be worried about Keogh facing Mueller. His pace and elusiveness would cause most centre-halves problems. I'd actually have fancied Clark against him more than all our other options. Pity.

That's the team I'm predicting but it won't be the team. There'll be surprises.

[DeLorean]

I think that will be the team, depending on how match fit Gibson has looked. If he starts Murphy ahead of Long this time I'm watching the Scots.

[Stuttgart88]

Kerr saying Murphy might be on LHS, Walters wide right, McCarthy, Meyler, Hendricks in the middle, Long up front.

That'd mean no Wessi in the starting XI. Gibson and McGeady on the bench.

I think I'd be ok with that. Solid, good balance of defensive and attacking capability. A lot would depend on Hendrick being able to get on the ball in their half. Christie and Brady getting forward.

Obviously defence is a worry, ageing goalie lacking game time and CB, Championship CB and RB. A LB prone to lapses, but with a great delivery.

Key decisions:
Brady LB or LM. LB for me.
Which 2 of Wes, Meyler and Hendrick? Not sure. Wes over Meyler probably.
I like the idea of Murphy and Walters wide, Long in middle.

Coybig.

[Kingdom]

Second Captains has two regular football podcasts a week.

Aye but they're a shower of clowns. Off the Ball is still on the ball.

[tetsujin1979]

Aye but they're a shower of clowns. Off the Ball is still on the ball.

Not even close mate, off the ball has gone down drastically since the lads left. I rarely listen to it anymore, apart from John Giles, and I podcast the crappy quiz.

[Real ale Madrid]

I must say I really enjoy both. A few years ago there was no sports talk on the radio bar the weekends - now we have off the ball and the second captains pods. Don't agree with everything and some characters I like more than others but its great to have them both on the go IMO.

[DeLorean]

I like the idea of Murphy and Walters wide, Long in middle.

Surely that would be a clear indication that we're just going to hoof the ball all night?

[tetsujin1979]

I'd go along with that, Walters on the right would protect Christie at right full and give him an out ball when in possession

[Straightstory]

Both Germany and Poland should beat us comfortably. So the big question is will Poland beat Scotland tonight? I'd say the Scots might just get a point, which would be enough for them.

[Kingdom]

Not even close mate, off the ball has gone down drastically since the lads left. I rarely listen to it anymore, apart from John Giles, and I podcast the crappy quiz.

Ugh. we'll agree to disagree so.

Ken Early though? Really. If ever an annoying picture fitted an annoying voice.....

[DeLorean]

The guy who does the buzzer quiz at the end of Second Captains is a bit annoying as well. I don't see/hear either very often though, only bits. Off The Ball seems good to me also but I wouldn't have been that familiar with it when the other guys were there.

[paul_oshea]

I think wessi is too small and weak for the germans, and dont harp on about that one italy game, he gets bullied far too often and i dont think he is suitable for starting in this game.

[BonnieShels]

Not even close mate, off the ball has gone down drastically since the lads left. I rarely listen to it anymore, apart from John Giles, and I podcast the crappy quiz.

Ugh. we'll agree to disagree so.

Ken Early though? Really. If ever an annoying picture fitted an annoying voice.....

This, always this.

Cannot abide him. His absence has made OTB better. Woolly though, is a plonker. I do miss Murph.

[tetsujin1979]

Ugh. we'll agree to disagree so.

Ken Early though? Really. If ever an annoying picture fitted an annoying voice.....

I quite like Ken, although he's never looked comfortable on the TV show. He doesn't treat his listeners/readers like they're idiots.

Ken's actually married to my mate's older sister, although I've not spoken to her in years.

[DeLorean]

I'd go along with that, Walters on the right would protect Christie at right full and give him an out ball when in possession

That's an advantage for sure but I can't see where any creativity would come from. Hendrick can do it in flashes but with nowhere near the same consistency that Wes tries to do it. With Murphy wide as well we'd have no natural width whatsoever as I don't think it will be a night for our full backs bombing forward. We'd basically be totally reliant on long balls in the hope that Murphy, Walters and Long can win free kicks around the box. It might be the best tactic under the circumstances but it wouldn't be much different to the bulldozing approach against Scotland.

[OwlsFan]

d Poland should beat us comfortably. So the big question is will Poland beat Scotland tonight? I'd say the Scots might just get a point, which would be enough for them.

Caps Goals Club
GK Artur Boruc 20 February 1980 (age 35) 60 0 England Bournemouth
GK Łukasz Fabiański 18 April 1985 (age 30) 26 0 Wales Swansea City
GK Wojciech Szczęsny 18 April 1990 (age 25) 23 0 Italy Roma
GK Przemysław Tytoń 4 January 1987 (age 28) 13 0 Germany VfB Stuttgart
DF Jakub Wawrzyniak 7 July 1983 (age 32) 44 1 Poland Lechia Gdańsk
DF Łukasz Piszczek 3 June 1985 (age 30) 41 2 Germany Borussia Dortmund
DF Kamil Glik 3 February 1988 (age 27) 33 3 Italy Torino
DF Artur Jędrzejczyk 4 November 1987 (age 27) 15 2 Russia Krasnodar
DF Łukasz Szukała 26 May 1984 (age 31) 15 1 Turkey Osmanlıspor
DF Paweł Olkowski 13 February 1990 (age 25) 11 0 Germany 1. FC Köln
DF Michał Pazdan 21 September 1987 (age 28) 11 0 Poland Legia Warsaw
DF Thiago Cionek 21 April 1986 (age 29) 3 0 Italy Modena
MF Jakub Błaszczykowski 14 December 1985 (age 29) 72 15 Italy Fiorentina
MF Tomasz Jodłowiec 8 September 1985 (age 30) 38 0 Poland Legia Warsaw
MF Sebastian Mila 10 July 1982 (age 33) 37 8 Poland Lechia Gdańsk
MF Maciej Rybus 19 August 1989 (age 26) 37 2 Russia Terek Grozny
MF Sławomir Peszko 19 February 1985 (age 30) 33 2 Poland Lechia Gdańsk
MF Kamil Grosicki 8 June 1988 (age 27) 31 4 France Rennes
MF Grzegorz Krychowiak 29 January 1990 (age 25) 28 1 Spain Sevilla
MF Piotr Zieliński 20 May 1994 (age 21) 10 3 Italy Empoli
MF Krzysztof Mączyński 23 May 1987 (age 28) 10 1 Poland Wisła Kraków
MF Ariel Borysiuk 29 July 1991 (age 24) 10 0 Poland Lechia Gdańsk
MF Karol Linetty 2 February 1995 (age 20) 6 1 Poland Lech Poznań
MF Bartosz Kapustka 23 December 1996 (age 18) 1 1 Poland Cracovia
FW Robert Lewandowski (Captain) 21 August 1988 (age 27) 70 29 Germany Bayern Munich
FW Arkadiusz Milik 28 February 1994 (age 21) 19 9 Netherlands Ajax
FW Artur Sobiech 12 June 1990 (age 25) 11 2 Germany Hannover 96

I am not sure why you think Poland should beat us comfortably. Other than Lewandowski they don't have anyone I would be particularly worried about. Their goalies are nothing to write home about. Scotland got a draw there. We more than matched them at home, particularly in the second half. Let's not turn them in to world beaters.

[Stuttgart88]

Surely that would be a clear indication that we're just going to hoof the ball all night?

I think we'll resort to that regardless of who plays!

If Brady plays LB who else is candidate for a wide left role? McGeady won't start and rightly so. Wes, maybe, with license to cut in? Wes on the right, also cutting in?

I think Walters will start for same reason as Gelsenkirchen. Long must start in my opinion.

Thing is, one hasn't a rashers what O'Neill might do. Doyle could even get the nod upfront. I doubt I have ever been so unsure about who might start a game!

[DeLorean]

I think if Gibson and Hoolahan started ahead of Meyler and Murphy it would give it a totally different dynamic. There's going to be certain amount of hoofball either way, I agree, but playing Murphy when Walters and Long are already down to start is really setting our stall out in terms of the one dimensional approach we're going to take.

[Kingdom]

This, always this.

Cannot abide him. His absence has made OTB better. Woolly though, is a plonker. I do miss Murph.

Bonnie, In another country, with no GAA ties, I think we could have been friends.

Wooly, agreed is a plonker, but you can sense he knows he's plonker and is trying to change.