Off we go, game two of the SK years.
A narrow win, decent possession stats and a little more fluidity in the attacking third becoming apparent would do me grand. Clean sheet would be nice as part of that or indeed failing that.
A narrow win would be nice, but Finland are a step up from Bulgaria at the moment. Hopefully Kenny will have had more time to get ideas across, but this match could put the Bulgaria result into some context. Think Finland only conceded late on against Wales last night, and the Leverkusen keeper won't fear a trio of teenagers.
If we can create a few more chances than last night, I'll be broadly happy I think
Anyone see the open goal Finland missed yesterday?
i just think we need mcclean in the team and coleman.
------------------------------randolph----------------------------------
coleman-----------duffy---------------egan--------------------stevens
-------doherty--------------mccarthy---------------arter
connolly------------------------long--------------------mcclean
hendrick and hourihane cant play together
I watched Finland at home v Italy in the qualifiers, they lined up with a 541, Pukki up front.
What I found a bit strange was that they actually kept a straight chalk line of 5 right across the back, when having to defend something.
Randolph
Coleman Egan Duffy Stevens
Molumby McCarthy Hendrick
Brady Didsy Connolly
That would be my team but it doesn't fix our conundrum from the other night in terms of a lock picking midfielder.
I also would not be writing off Doherty. There's a case for McClean too.
I think the team I set about is right but I think Molumby won't start. I reckon Brady will come in for Hourihane, McClean for O'Dowda, McGoldrick for Idah and Coleman for Doherty from the last night.
I think it's asking a lot to throw Molumby in for his debut from the start here.
True I guess.
I don't know if we want to get relegated here as it is a sort of qualifier.
We do need players coming through, but I think a win or two is also important. We've had feck all of them in the past while. Arguably Wales away is our only half-decent win of the past four years
Easier to introduce these lads to a team running on a bit of confidence with a result or three achieved if possible rather than expecting them to be the solution to a generation old puzzle. I expect them to see NL game time but phased, particularly after Idah last night, he will have learned but he'll also know he has a lot still to learn too.
The funny thing about Idah is that I don't think clubs were queueing up for him when he was 16. He's 19 now and he's obviously developed so much but he has such an amount of development to do. The beauty of it is that he didn't look out of his depth. He just looked like a 19 year old making his international debut and doing quite well, all things considered. It is so obvious that he could be a really, really top quality number 9 within a few years if he maintains this trajectory. And the evidence shows that he has maintained an upward trajectory and has the ability to maintain that trajectory. There were so many instances last night when he showed awareness and touch. We are all looking forward to Didsy replacing him. Didsy is 13 years older.
------------------------------------randolph-----------------------------------------
coleman---------------------duffy----------------egan---------stevens (dont touch what is not broken).
----------------------------------browne ----------------------molumby
------------------------------------------james McCarthy ---------------------------------------
connolly-------------------------------long-------------------------------------mcclean
we need little bit of biting in midfield if we play 4-3-3
I see the match is at 5pm on Monday. Whilst I would much rather be clocking off work early to get a couple of jars en route to the Aviva, the commute from the swivel chair to the couch at home will be a much more pleasant one than the normal rush home for this.
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