I thought we outplayed Wales, Shane Long was really good today, he needs someone else around to play off him as he does for Southampton, i would play him on the right and a tall 9 ahead
Can we call a few more guys for Finland? Does Uefa abide that?
This is it, we've put all our eggs in the one basket, a gamble on the fact we require 2 or 3 players to fit this system, and also that one of those is a proper finisher. We've abandoned set pieces, where we could score from, for creating chances that we can't finish from. ITs all well and good saying where we can get to, but for years the mantra on here was square pegs and round holes, play your best players in their positions, setup favoured to your best players. Now that seems to have all been forgotten based off some potential pipe dream of playing like the Gods of football.
I am all for balance, i want us to hold the ball and pass it about, but I'm not for just doing it all one way or playing possession football just for the sake of it. I know Mick and Danny gabby gabby are old school but they pretty much said this in the first 20 mins.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
We had one shot on goal today, one shot from outside the box.
And don't come back and say wales wales had only 1 or something. We always use defensive tactics here rather than looking for solutions to the problems. And i've already said that our positive was not conceding again.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Interesting to hear Ramsey say that Wales struggled to adapt to our pressing and possession game.
Hopefully Connolly can be recalled with McClean suspended now too. Possibly Idah too.
That team is close to clicking. There was a few examples in the second half were the passing was crisper and more one touch and Wales were in trouble. Hendrick looked like he was enjoying trying things and expressing himself, he gave it away plenty but there was lovely flashes too.
A major positive, and something that is a must to keep playing this style and to prevent players losing the confidence to try things, is that any time the ball was lost we reorganised super quickly and never got opened up.
todays ratings
randy 6
doherty 7
duffy 7
k.long 6
stevens 7
molumby 6
hourihane 7
brady 6
hendrick 6
mcclean 6
long 8
christie 5
horgan7
maguire 5
cullen n/a
You've been watching too much of Cork City Paul. Kenny has arguably gotten big performances from LoI players that supposedly have less quality than these accomplished cream of international player pool. Time will tell but I dont believe it is a repeat of giving Kerr the job without some 'big' management jobs. Kerr showed some lack of faith in his squad, negative when in front, slow to introduce form young players. We know this is more than rebuilding a squad but a complete change in how Irish football is currenty set up. Maybe a trip down memory lane for older fans from pre-Charlton.
Wales succeeded in doing what we use to do , drag the game down to their level.
Jesus there's some amount of sh1te talked on here.
In Argentine broadcasting they say it was ampadu simulation.
Some of the broadcasters today are big Shane Long's fans, at least the 3 of this game, they said they would like a fast forward like him for Argentina to run through channels for Messi's range of cutting edge passes
My ratings;
Randolph 6
Little to do but might have conceded a silly pen
Christie 7
Did well, one mistake I think but positive on the ball, maybe lucky to avoid a second yellow.
Duffy 7
Solid as ever. Wales wanted him on the ball playing out and it worked for them a couple of times,
Doherty 8
Looked far more comfortable than might have been expected when pushed to left centre back so a higher mark than might otherwise have gotten.
Stevens 7
Looks our most likely option to create something. Delivery not always great but landed one on Horgan's head.
Molumby 7
Kept the midfield ticking over, solid if not spectacular, I did forget he was there for a bit first half.
Hourihane 6
Just doesn't quite do enough of anything.
Hendrick 6.5
Looked to enjoy the space playing almost beside Long at times. Some great touches and passes mixed with some awful ones.
Brady 7
One of his better performances, looked quite dangerous but should have hit target in first half. Almost put one on Duffy too from a set piece.
Long 5
Missed a sitter, tried a one two when he had space to turn and shoot. Pressed well but not in the game enough.
McClean 4
Did ok but can't forgive getting sent off at a stage we were pushing for a winner
I missed the first half but today continued Thursday in the sense that we tried to play good football. That's a big start compared to the previous 10 years.
It appears very likely that we will be third seeds for the wc draw. Maybe an outside chance if we could win two of the next three games that we could get in pot 2. Ideally within two years, we have a team of high quality young lads who are seasoned to international football ready for ec 2024 qualifiers. I hate giving up on a tournament but it's hard to see us finishing ahead of a team like Ukraine or Switzerland and then beating a similar quality side in a two leg playoff right now, but no reason that the likes of Parrott, O'Shea, Connolly, Knight, Molumby and Idah can't be able to go toe to toe with those type of teams by the end of wc qualifiers.
There’s a simple way of avoiding a Ukraine or Switzerland...get 2nd seeds...if there is any lesson we take from the previous regime it’s don’t treat these games as nothing games, they are very important and right now we are at the cusp of second seeds if we do our business.
Cillian Sheridan.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
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