I think the problem then us you have no one in the three with the discipline to track runners and be aware of danger. I'm no whelan fan but I think he has to play tonight with after and Hendrick.Originally Posted by backstothewall
I he doesn't go with Whelan, which i think is probably the most likely option, I think he might start Hourihane alongside Arter and Hendrick.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
I think the problem then us you have no one in the three with the discipline to track runners and be aware of danger. I'm no whelan fan but I think he has to play tonight with after and Hendrick.
Wonder what a good result is?
Given our relatively poor home record, you'd could maybe argue we need a win tonight.
A score draw and we could grind out a 0-0 at home alright; a play-off is a bit different to a group match. Not sure about a 0-0 tonight though - I think we need to get the away goal and have something to defend on Tuesday.
If we lose, I think we're in trouble though. I don't think we have it in ourselves to have a go at teams.
BTTW - I can't see MON trusting Hourihane for a game of this magnitude, given his unimpressive auditions so far. I think he'll need to establish himself a bit more in lower key games first but who knows, O'Neill has been known to surprise. BBC seem convinced that Whelan will start, seemingly basing it on O'Neill's press conference yesterday but I haven't seen any quotes which indicate same? I also saw somewhere that Long is likely to start, can't remember where right now.
PS - Anything better than 0-0 is a really positive result I think. 0-0 itself is pretty dodgy but gives us a decent chance, conceding first on Tuesday could be fatal though. I wouldn't get too bogged down on our admittedly poor home record, we've only conceded two goals in our five games there in this campaign, and do have big results in the not too distant past against Germany and B&H as a source of comfort that it can be done when the need it greatest. Scoring tonight with a one goal deficit is probably the absolute minimum we need, but I probably wouldn't fancy us in that scenario to turn it around.
I think Martin should pick his team from the front tonight. McClean on one wing O'DOWDA on the other with Long in the middle. Put Harry on Eriksen all night and I think we'll be in business
I imagine that we'll see something very similar to what we saw against Wales. Contain for the most part, trying to nick something from a set piece of a break.
I know most commentators feel whelan is a shoe in. But O'Neill has seen the whelan/ arter axis explode already in Georgia. I think he will go with O'Dowda and Whelan will be on the bench with Brady/Hendrick/Arter/ mcclean making up the 5 man midfield
I'd say that's guaranteed. One of these days though, a team with 70%+ possession is going to make it count against us!
That is a very astute observation/prediction. It absolutely stands to reason that one team cannot give the other carte blanche on possession of the ball. For as well or as lucky as it turned out in Cardiff, just balance that against Tbilisi
Defending when necessary goes without saying, and we'll have to do a lot of it tonight. But we have to pose a threat on the counter
No problem with those tactics away to Denmark in a playoff. The problem is that we are likely missing the second "then take them back to Landsdowne and batter them" part of the equation.
Last edited by osarusan; 11/11/2017 at 1:40 PM.
We are shackled by the negativity of O'Neill who would regard scoring one goal a good result this evening, unfortunately we have not the benefit of the fulsome shining light of Coleman's positive vibes, driving us onward along the path of victory.
Does anyone have game day superstitions? I just had my lucky breakfast.
I have a local boozer where we haven't lost any time I have watched an Ireland game there. (Bosnia away, Italy and Sweden at Euros, Serbia away).
Went to a different pub for Poland away, the France game and was at the Belgium game. Safe to say I'm going back to the first pub..
You've got no fans.
We had more possession against Serbia and they beat us. Possession is nothing, thirst is everything
If the tie is still alive at the end of this match, that will be a positive result for us. Honestly I don't know where the optimism comes from and I would gladly take a 0-2 result right now. I think it could get ugly today and we could end up getting hammered.
The inconsistency is the problem. Sure, we beat Wales 1-0 in Cardiff a month ago. Two months ago we got one point in total from Georgia away and Serbia home, and we looked terrible in both matches, particularly against Georgia whom we made look like Barcelona.
No Meyler is huge. Arter and Whelan just doesn't work, I really hope we go for a different combination in the center of the park. I think Hoolahan will get on the pitch a lot sooner than most of us think because we'll be chasing an away goal to keep the tie alive.
---------Randolph
Christie-Clark-Duffy-Ward
-----Whelan-Hendrick-----
Long-Brady-McClean
-------Murphy
Nerves starting to jangle now. Listening to the excellent OTB build up this afternoon. Also came across the RTÉ coverage at end of the NI game in 1993 - here's to a similar victory over Denmark over next four days.
There is always the fear that we get over run and we'll beaten but bar the Belgium game I don't think there is any basis for that. However, taking into account our recent record both at home and away, my sense is that we need to get a score draw tonight. Obviously a 0-0 is better than a defeat, but I think an away goal will be very important and also not having to chase the game at home. You could argue the pressure is on DK as the home team but they may take a 0-0 and force us to come at them in Dublin. I'd be delighted with two legs to mirror the Bosnia games!
O Dowda starting apparently.
O'dowd gets the nod. Whelan on the bench.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Randolph
Christie Duffy Clark Ward
Hendrick Arter
Brady O'Dowda McClean
Murphy
Or something like that.
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