"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Like everything else in the technology age it’s getting harder and harder to separate the wheat from the chaff, with all these other website resources such as punditarena, sportsjoe, and whatever else. The standard of journalism has plummeted. Judge was given a 4 (by punditarena) and 8 by some guy Brennan who I’ve never heard of in the independent, that is some disparity. Judge should not be in the squad, I’ve said this long ago. A rating of 5 is a fairer reflection. I thought O’Dowda was very unimpressive, he was given a 7 by punditarena (and was thought to have impressed), the indo gave him a 6 which was more accurate. Anyways, I take the ratings and assessment of these resources with a grain of salt, I am confident in my own assessment, and will consider the opinions of thoughtful, knowledgeable and articulate journalists, who are few and far between these days
Meaningless low key match for sure but I think a few players have done their reputations no harm whatsoever. Collins has elevated himself above Hogan and Byrne above Judge. Travers looks the part. Browne was quietly efficient – not a bad thing. Cullen looks to be Whelan’s heir apparent. I loved the simplicity of his “receive-give-receive” style of play.
O’Dowda and Curtis both did well. Brady might be nervous.
I think Arter and Hogan are the biggest losers. Christie was only ever 3rd choice RB anyway so his mistake won’t hurt his chances.
I think this game had its benefits in sorting out the pecking order a bit. I expect Mick’s first XI won’t change without any injuries (Stevens needs replacing obviously – but that’ll surely be Doherty if fit) but I think his choice of deputies / tactical substitutions has changed quite a bit.
Browne's goal was from Curtis' shot, yeah. Reminds me of McClean at his age.
I missed this match — if anybody knows of any way of me being able to watch the full game online could you send me a private message? I have avoided the score & am just interested in seeing how some of our new/fringe players did.
IF86 - reddit (r/footballhighlights) is an amazing resource for the likes of us. I watched the full 2nd half (I skipped the first half based on advice) and extended highlights a few hours after the final whistle.
Links here (can’t speak to which are still working etc): https://www.reddit.com/r/footballhig...aria_friendly/
FWIW - here’s what I shared with others in terms of the game I saw.
Watched the second half. And highlights of the first. Took notes but they’re on my other phone. My biggest takeaway from the second half was how good Alan Browne looks. Lovely on the ball, classy and always gave an out to the defenders in possession. Did brilliantly in the build up to our first goal, as did O’Dowda who is just a lovely player with the ball. I really enjoy watching him play. I thought Curtis looked good to be honest. He tried a few passes that turned the ball over but I thought they were the right passes and that those on the overlap or whatever just hadn’t seen it. Judge seems almost too eager to please and overcooks everything as a result. Cullen didn’t really stand out as much for me. Definitely tidy though. Byrne did well. Collins is the type of 9 that the team needs. Stays high, can win the ball and lay it off and his finish from Stevens cross was decent enough too. Egan didn’t do much wrong and Long was decent too. I actually didn’t mind Hourihane at lb as much as I thought I would. Christie is frustrating - does some things well (nice cross with his left for a Cullen header that was flicked just over the bar) but then completely switches off (penalty, poor 3-4 yard passes). Overall a decent run out and performance from what I saw. Mick will have learnt plenty about all the players from last night which I think is mission accomplished from this game.
Thanks the iptvsurge? Links seem to work fine. As do the sportsshow, well.. maybe not a lot of redirection on the second half, iptvsurge seems best. Reddit seems to be the go to place for games now.
I would avoid the MEGA links, I managed to download the first half but second half is a run around of popups and on one occasion lead to an executable to download,
something you do not want to be doing as you do not know what it does.
Last edited by tricky_colour; 15/09/2019 at 2:33 AM.
Managed to download both halfs from the mega links not sure how though, but I got there in the end somehow after millions of pop ups.
Thanks a lot SkStu — was able to watch full match & never learned score until watching.
Really positive for a friendly. Honestly thought many of our players put in performances that will impress Mick.
Too bad about Christie. I like him so much going forward but he is consistently a defensive liability. Would be very concerned to see him involved in a competitive match.
Nice to see Browne, Cullen and Byrne assert themselves as midfield options. I love Curtis’ attitude but he’s basically McClean 2.0. I don’t think there’s room for both on the field but they both have ability to unsettle defences and generally rattle the opposition. There is value to that and they both have the bravery to take on shots, which can lead to goals or direct rebounds.
Mixed feelings about the Hourihane left fullback experiment. Would prob go with Doherty if fit for Georgia but perhaps go with Hourihane if that isn’t possible. I think Browne would be the natural replacement centrally if Hourihane is deployed at left back.
Nice to see Collins score. I have a feeling he’s going to score at least one big goal for us in the final three matches.
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