Seems like I made the right decision not to tune in then.
That was utterly depressing. More of the same rubbish football. We must be nearly the only national team in Europe that has no confidence to spread the ball bar someone like gibraltar. Game management is absolutely non-existent. Shane Long is a good lad but he is completely devoid of confidence and even though the other options are poor i wouldn't have him near the team.
I lay so much of the blame at mon. Yes we have a limited bunch but so do most national teams in europe and they keep the ball. Whatever about denmark, i would wager that we would have no more than 40% of the ball against a team like georgia if we played them today in the aviva. Northern ireland who are more limited attempt football and aren't bad to watch.
Not a new opinion but this managerial team needs to go asap. I would love a young vibrant coach who puts in a lot of the younger players that may be playing u23 football like parrott but who could be breakthrough players in the next 12-18 months. A bit like wales with some of their young lads.
Seems like I made the right decision not to tune in then.
Every passing game? If only the Irish lads knew it was a passing game (instead of hoof ball every time you get it).
You question whether you should drive (a long distance I presume) to see those lads represent Ireland?
Bit of a waste of time you reckon?
Can't help comparing you with Declan Rice and the decision he is supposedly mulling over.
Yeah it was the right decision. I felt like an idiot the for the last several games and nothing on display yesterday changed that feeling.
Very telling for me was Harry Arter in the opening ten minutes of the game.
He came short to pick up the ball from the center backs and full backs and even one or two midfielders.
He must have done it 15 - 20 times. He was obviously looking to build something.
But each time he was ignored by the passer for a 'safer' backward or sideways pass.
Said it all for me.
Time to stop blaming O'Neill and Keane. It is the players who cannot play.
a bit of over reaction to last nights game here i think. denmark are currently ranked 10th and even without eriksen are a very good team. we looked more solid than we have for the last 11 months and the last 20 mins saw some decent enough build up play from us. a decent step steadying the ship imo... 6.5/10 performance for me.
the north with all their alleged better football regularly end up with less than 40% possession. not all that rosy for them as is made out.
the reaction here to christie in ctre mid is disappointing and smacks of contradiction. on the one hand mon is accused of being conservative and out of touch but when he tries something new, like chistie in ctre mid, is ridiculed. alaba plays full back for his club but ctre mid for his country. not putting christie in the same category yet but i thought he won the ball back well on a number of occasions and his athletisim around the midfield was good. no harm trying it and should be given more than one match before the knives are produced! worth another look for me.
i liked the look of our defence last night and throw mccarthy, coleman and brady into the mix and we may see much better by the euro qualifiers proper. re- capturing rice would be a real bonus
'I was about 14 the last time I played in midfield.'
- Cyrus Christie
sorry, jb, I thought it was desperate, but I agree with some parts of your post.
O'Neill is just chancing it and is ignoring clear evidence from friendly games.
We didn't even try to seek possession in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
McLean has played left wing back and left back before. He has never looked good there.
Stevens is clearly our best left back and left wing back in my opinion. He has shown this in the last few games.
Midfield is lacking the courage to get on the ball. Against the USA Horgan was showing up everywhere looking for the ball and seeking to use it constructively. He also has a good understanding with Stevens. He was cut from the squad.
Christie actually did ok. I quite like him. But O'Neill is forcing round pegs into square holes all over the pitch. In the absence of Rice and McCarthy, Shawn Williams has shown he's the player most comfortable looking for the ball from the back 4 and using it elegantly. He'd have been a better pick in my opinion.
I don't think Hendrick was used well. That may be down to the player but he looks lost to me and O'Neill is on the record as saying it's up to the players to figure out their roles.
I've a few other minor gripes but O'Neill just isn't learning from previous games. I think it's inconceivable that we will improve in any meaningful way if he stays. I didn't like his remarks about accommodating Doherty being the reason behind the odd selection. If Christie and McLean aren't to be used in their natural positions they shouldn't be picked.
O'Neill is also bull sh1tting when he bemoans lack of a clinical scorer. No great goalscorer would even get a sniff of the ball in this set up.
Thanks
A bit of over reaction? I am surprised there is not a mountain more of criticism on here for what is one of the worst teams in Europe (and to think that some people on here choose to blame MON and RK first, before
the players on the pitch, is actually laughable). Denmark may be ranked wherever but what was to stop the Irish lads playing like Denmark did last night?
After all none of the Danes are playing for the Real Madrids, Man Citys, Barcelonas and Bayern Munichs of the world. They are the same level of player as our lads yet they passed us to
death last night. And their intelligent play almost won them the game. At no time did we ever look like threatening them if it was not from a free kick or a throw in (and we made a real hash of some of the free kicks).
Look, when you plant Shane Long at center forward and belt the ball long to him within the first 30 seconds, then the opposition know that we don't have much going for us and boy were they right.
Best thing that can happen for Irish football is a Welsh victory on Tuesday night. Time to tear it all down and build a different model. I am hearing good things about the U-19's and U-17's, let's hope they can
actually play the game, not like this bunch.
My new screen saver
"Best thing that can happen for Irish football is a Welsh victory on Tuesday night"
my main points were:
- over reaction to how bad it was:
i stick by this. some positive performances from our defence, stevens and robinson, when they came on, and christie.
- we looked more solid than we did for past 11 months:
we did
- criticism of mon over picking christie in midfield:
christie was probably the pick our ctre mids. definately from a defensive point of view.
- the additon of coleman, brady and mccarthy may see us much better by the start of the euros proper:
obvious
- getting rice on board would be a real bonus.
also obvious.
nothing i say above suggests brilliance or close to it but if i see improvement in certain areas and some light at the end of the tunnel i will call it.
saying that wales beating us would be good for irish football isnt over reaction???? please....
Bookmarks