Republic of Ireland V Luxembourg - Saturday, 27th March 2021 - World Cup Qualifier

[paul_oshea]

Paul, you have until 8:30 this evening to provide the requested points.

I actually think I said paraphrasing we became static and turned around and held the ball up when breaking, and not passing to the man in front( who was often out wide).

Happy to take back the using the runners bit : )

[Bielsa´s irish]

Something I didn't realise until last night. We had three shots on target in the game against Luxembourg, but I didn't realise two of them came in the first half.
...
In 45 minutes of football, we had one shot on target against Luxembourg.

Unacceptable. With those teams you have to set all out attack. Imagine that portuguese Rodrigues vs any of my southamerican teams, first play a kick in the calf, second another kick in the other calf, One thing I criticize from Kenny is Ireland is too nice to play against. we should kick it as streetwise footie culture

[Bielsa´s irish]

I remember I think it was Shane Long who was kicked up and down the whole match vs Belgium at the euros
Classy teams they are v.good everywhere, but they are crafty at streetwise kicking, at closing down opposition etc etc.

I sense we are too nice to play against.

[brine3]

Oh yeah, for all the total football, the Ajax back four of the 1970s were absolute hard as nails.

[seanfhear]

Oh yeah, for all the total football, the Ajax back four of the 1970s were absolute hard as nails.

Could remove anything !

[brine3]

And Neeskens and Mürhen in midfield were kicking lumps out of everyone.

[Bielsa´s irish]

And Neeskens and Mürhen in midfield were kicking lumps out of everyone.

Big teams they have a bit of dirty arts to combine with their samba, tiki taka etc, Spain of 2007-2012 they were very good but they also block rivals, and the italian teams too from the past, they played it low profile with little pushes, bruises, kicks, etc etc. They played it short between lines, close gaps and were near the guy in possession so they could get the ball back. Streetwise

[tetsujin1979]

Question - Travers was beaten by a chip because the defence was playing a high line against Serbia, and Bazunu tipped a similar shot over the bar against Luxembourg. Is whatever defensive tactics being used by Kenny exposing his goalkeepers to this, or was it just a coincidence in the two games?

[irishfan86]

I think you’re onto something there Tets. Goalkeepers asked to play as more of a sweeper will always be more susceptible to long range chip shots. Young sweeper keepers can get away with it at youth level given many young attackers don’t have the vision or quality to take advantage of those situations — I suspect the vulnerability in that sense will drop as those goalkeepers get more experience at senior level.

[Kingdom]

Ah stop!

The Luxembourg “lob” was a punt. If Bazunu was beaten by that - let’s just say we wouldn’t have witnessed the 3or4 page discussion about him and travers.
The Mitrovic lob - there’s no blame on the tactics, the high line - travers got stranded. I’d have to look back at it again, but there might be a case that Travers wasn’t out far enough to begin with: just to be clear I’m suggesting it, rather than being definitive as I’d have to check the tape, to recall if he just held his position or if he dropped back significantly.

And it has to be acknowledged that it was an absolutely perfect chip for that particular situation.

[paul_oshea]

Question - Travers was beaten by a chip because the defence was playing a high line against Serbia, and Bazunu tipped a similar shot over the bar against Luxembourg. Is whatever defensive tactics being used by Kenny exposing his goalkeepers to this, or was it just a coincidence in the two games?

This is a fair assesment , as also got beaten from a couple of shots where there was no breakdown because the line is one movement leaving a gap between defenders and midfielders. Is Kenny not telling anyone to sit in front of the CBs and break up play or close down the space ? The person looking for the ball from the centre backs needs to be doing this when out of possession.

[paul_oshea]

Can't edit * meant to say got beaten from shots outside the box where there was lots of space to run into and no closing down**

[Kingdom]

This is a fair assesment , as also got beaten from a couple of shots where there was no breakdown

What are you saying here? I’ve no clue, genuinely.
Qatar goal, as pointed out earlier, is a number of mistakes right down that left hand side. Once the first player is committed, it’s a domino effect. It’s not excusable, but it’s f all
To do with Kennys midfield system as you’re pointing out.
Likewise the Luxembourg goal, having watched it again there a number of times, I’m inclined to nearly out the blame onto the defence.

because the line is one movement leaving a gap between defenders and midfielders. Is Kenny not telling anyone to sit in front of the CBs and break up play or close down the space ? The person looking for the ball from the centre backs needs to be doing this when out of possession.

Serbia 3rd goal, Luxembourg goal we lose possession - worse, in Serbia it was our central cog that lost possession, when there was no need to lose it. He’ll know it, Kenny will
Know it, and we know it.
It’s very hard when the team is on the front front, especially chasing an equaliser, if possession is lost in that manner.
Cullen and the team was never able to recover the ground properly.

[osarusan]

Travers lob was just him getting caught in no man's land after misjudging whether he could get there before Mitrovic. I wouldn't say the defensive line was a significant factor at all.

Don't remember the Luxembourg one.

[pineapple stu]

It's at 1:00 here (if you really want to watch back to the game!)

[Kingdom]

I remember I think it was Shane Long who was kicked up and down the whole match vs Belgium at the euros
Classy teams they are v.good everywhere, but they are crafty at streetwise kicking, at closing down opposition etc etc.

I sense we are too nice to play against.

There’s an element of truth there. But you can be a pig dirty team to play against, without being an absolute thug either.
Molumby - of the current midfield options - is our best spoiler and can use the ball pretty well too. My gut feeling is that if we’re going to play two in the middle, it’s more likely to be a Molumby Knight combination, rather than Cullen Knight or Cullen Molumby.

[seanfhear]

It's at 1:00 here (if you really want to watch back to the game!)

There was three defenders in front of Rodriguez there and none of them affected the outcome.

[Kingdom]

It's at 1:00 here (if you really want to watch back to the game!)

Yeah that was the clip i rewatched this morning. It refutes Paul’s suggestion rather than strengthens it.

[osarusan]

It's at 1:00 here (if you really want to watch back to the game!)

Smart effort seeing the keeper off his line, don't see it as being connected to a defensive line.

[Stuttgart88]

In the first couple of games under Kenny we got caught very high after losing possession after our own corners.

I don't think either of the goals in last week's qualifiers was a direct result of a high line. The Serbia goal was Travers anticipating an overhit through ball and getting stranded. There was no real danger if he was a few metres deeper. The Lux one was just an opportunistic effort.

If you don't play a highish line you sit deep and invite pressure. If anything, and Matt Holland said this in his Sky commentary on Saturday, we were too deep all game against Lux. This made it impossible to develop any threat further up the pitch.Trying to play possession football in the opposition half comes with the risk that you lose possession and are vulnerable to the counter. But you can't play good possession football if you don't push up the pitch as a unit.

Good teams don't lose the ball cheaply. We lost it cheaply a few times on a Tuesday and gave away four or five good shooting chances as Qatar found it too easy to play between our lines. I think Cullen is good at sniffing out that danger generally and it's something Glenn Whelan did well.