Slovakia v Republic of Ireland - 8th October 2020 - Euro 2020 Playoff Semi Final

[pineapple stu]

That's grand so.

[Fixer82]

Wasn't he at fault for one of the goals? Give away a pen or something?
I remember RMK saying he should've been called up before that. Wasn't massively impressed with him that night.
in fact, I think his best performances for Ireland were in the last couple of years of his career.
He had some poor displays for us over the years

[geysir]

We took friendlies very seriously then.
Had John been called up before that game then he would have been the answer to the question.

[pineapple stu]

You've missed the link earlier showing Gibson was with Antwerp when called up in 2007.

But he didn't play. Proper order for his first call-up

[Olé Olé]

What's the view on Slovakia folks?

Hamsik and Lobotka should be strong in midfield and Kucka has plenty international and Serie A experience so they're good there.

No real stand out threat in the forwards. Talisman there seems to be Bozenik of Feyenoord who picked up 3 goals in qualification but has yet to register in his 4 league games this season. He's 6 foot 2 and 20 so I would imagine he will be physical.

At the back, Skriniar of Inter is a name that stands out a mile. There's a mix of names then. An experienced right back in the Bundesliga (Pekarik) and the other defensive spot tend to be taken by Gyomber of Salernitana in Serie B and there's a mixture of players filling in at centre half of left back, depending on where Gyomber is selected.

Dubravka's absence in goals is a positive for us, surely.

[paul_oshea]

Hamsik wont have played in about 2 weeks by Thursday, hes still young but how good is he still? And how good is Kucka really? hes probably their version of Jeff Hendrick.

Bar Hamsik i dont see much of a spark or much threat for us to worry about. But neither did Bulgaria or Finland and we completely struggled against them. But all emphasis for that has been put down to fitness and lack of sharpeness so we're going to be outstanding thursday.

[zero]

I don't think Hamsik is the force he was but basing that largely on stats - only 2 goals in 28 league games in china last year. That said he has 2 in 9 this season. He will still have quality though and younger guys around him - he's a semi legendary figure for Slovakia.

I would say we are about at the same level overall but the fact that we are playing a new system which failed to really get going in the first 2 games is probably the major concern.

[youngirish]

On paper it looks to me like their midfield is considerably better than ours whilst their forward options are considerably worse, shackle Boženík and they won't offer much threat upfront.

I think we have better defenders. Egan and Doherty are good Premiership footballers, Duffy is solid and offers a goal threat. I worry about Stevens as defensively I think he is dodgy so hopefully they don't target him too much. Škriniar is likely superior to anyone we've got in the defence. I don't know much about Vavro but he seems to have a decent career trajectory. Anyone know anything about him? Their other defensive options do look poor. Gyomber at 28 playing in Serie B would be the equivalent of a journeyman lower Championship or League 1 defender.

Goalkeeper missing will be a big bonus for us as previously mentioned.

[geysir]

Re Lobotka, none of the Napoli players are being released for intl duty. They are all stuck in quarantine.

I feel a "Welease Stanislaus" campaign coming on.

[paul_oshea]

With first-choice goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and left-back David Hancko already missing through injury, Hapal is thought unikely to risk centre-back Denis Vavro, absent from Lazio’s 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in Rome yesterday as he continues to recover from a groin problem.

Inter’s Milan Skriniar, a Tottenham transfer target, played the first 78 minutes of the same match on the right of a back three. One possible partner in central defence against Ireland, Norbert Gyomber, made his Serie B debut in Salernitana’s 2-1 away win at Chievo.

[paul_oshea]

Re Lobotka, none of the Napoli players are being released for intl duty. They are all stuck in quarantine.

I feel a "Welease Stanislaus" campaign coming on.

?

He's already with the squad.

[geysir]

?

He's already with the squad.

Then the release campaign was successful.

[geysir]

The Indo reports that Stan is still being held against his will in Napoli.

"The Slovak Football Association is still trying to communicate with the Italians about Stanislav Lobotka and his arrival in Slovakia for the requirements of the national team. At the moment I can not tell a definitive position," a Slovak FA spokesman told the sport.aktuality.sk website today."

[paul_oshea]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/...-40060652.html

Slovakia will have powerhouse Stanislav Lobotka harnessing their midfield against Ireland on Thursday after the Napoli playmaker was released from quarantine.

Captain Marek Hamšík may be Slovakia’s most famous player but it was his €25m replacement at Napoli who Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has namechecked as integral to their gameplan in the Euro play-off semi-final.


that article is older than yours

EDIT: Disclaimer my article is written by John Fallon so its as good as false.

[paul_oshea]

"Most of the Irish players play at a high level, they are either in the Premier League or have played a lot there, so Ireland are favourites," he says.

"Slovakia have a problem in the squad, we have good players but they don't play for their clubs: (Milan) Skriniar, (Stanislav) Lobotka, (Robert) Mak, they have all been on the bench for their clubs. It's good that (Marek) Hamsik is here but we don't know how his form is.

"We have too many players who are out of competition, out of form, and we don't have players to replace them, it's a big problem for us as we have a small squad, some good quality but when our best players are missing, or are not match-fit, we are weaker.

[John83]

In the FIFA rankings, Slovakia are one place ahead of us.

In the elo ratings (which I consider more reliable), they're one place behind us but the rating difference is statistically negligible.

All told, this is a very even match. Will Slovakia be allowed a crowd at all? If not, home advantage must be diminished. Injuries seem to have hit them a little harder than us too.

[Olé Olé]

Slightly aside but to make us feel a little better, the Scots are going to be without Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie for their qualifier against Israel after positive covid tests. Yikes.

[Olé Olé]

Having a think on formation and maybe another idea would be 4-2-3-1 with the back 5 picking itself but Robinson at centre forward: McCarthy, Hourihane; Hendrick, McGoldrick, Connolly; Robinson.

Might let us light in midfield and would require a big shift from Jazzy Jeff.

I have an awful feeling, though, that Kenny is going to play the same side as Bulgaria but with McGoldrick for Idah and O'Dowda starting.

[seanfhear]

Slightly aside but to make us feel a little better, the Scots are going to be without Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie for their qualifier against Israel after positive covid tests. Yikes.

The Scottish International football team must have done something weird or kinky to the Gods ~ ~ When was the last time much went right for them ? ?

[pineapple stu]

Last month, when they beat the Czechs away, who were without a couple of players for covid.