Portugal V Republic of Ireland - Wednesday, 1st Sep 2021 - 2022 World Cup Qualifier

[Kingdom]

Portugal had 29 shots in that game and only 7 were on target - Portugal have some decent attacking players, so for me that stat alone screams out that centre-back was where to look for man of the match. And a shout-out too to the defensive work being done in midfield.

I’ll try and have another look at the match tonight, some kind soulorean might upload it somewhere, but if anyone does have it, I’d suggest playing close attention to Josh Cullen’s performance. He was immense, particularly his off the ball work, and was covering an amount of ground in that second half, and he’s clearly a leader for us.

I really feel sorry for Doc too. Best game for us - I wonder is there an element of the pressure being off as he wasn’t being compared to Seamus while Seamus is on the bench? - but he clearly needed to come off with 20 mins to go. That final insane spell of pressure from Portugal I’m pretty sure started when he tried to cushion the ball for Duffy (?) and either there was no communication, or a misunderstanding, but it went out for a corner, where we didn’t touch the ball ina controlled way for a few minutes at least. Don’t recall much pressure in the second half coming down Seamus side either.

[pineapple stu]

Bazunu was jittery at times but context. 19yo playing Portugal away. You have too much of a hang up here.

No hang up. 19-year-old away to Portugal is a fair point and I've always said he's a very good prospect.

But that doesn't mean I can't call out a 9.5/MOTM rating and try bring some reality into the discussion.

Agree with Kingdom on Cullen btw.

[Kingdom]

Just on Molumby, he had a chaotic, headless five minutes on the pitch - not sure if fresh legs helped there. Options on the bench are limited.

I’ve no doubt his instructions were to hunt the ball, and let Cullen and Hendrick sit in and protect the central core. Problem was they always had an outball. But it’s a fair point, and as you say, the contrasts between the two benches and what came off them highlights the problems we faced. That he didn’t bring Arter on says a lot.

[seanfhear]

Looking at Ronaldo's goals again there. I don’t like to say it, but Coleman doesn’t really do much of a job of blocking Ronaldo runs.

Jeez you just can’t let Ronaldo do those runs in the box.

[Stuttgart88]

Those ratings are a bit high to be honest backs!

Connolly was poor; just outclassed. I'd give him a 5. Bazunu - saved the penalty but gave it away too. His fumble nearly cost us, and booting the ball down the pitch after his save in the 94th minute did cost us. It's the last minute of the game; you have to keep possession. Had surprisingly little to do, partly because the centre-backs were great (and they had to be) - and a scoring centre half was the obvious choice for man of the match for me. Idah - had some good touches but found it hard to get into the game. Wasn't for want of trying, but it wasn't a 9 performance.

I think Portugal being so poor has to be acknowledged as a factor - you'd be looking at 5s for them on average, and 7s for us.

You'd suck the joy out of an orgasm. Yeah some of the ratings were a bit generous and some flaws were overlooked but if you and your ilk want to look at this through your glass-half-empty lenses then I feel sorry for you, really I do.

[Kingdom]

Looking at Ronaldo's goals again there. I don’t like to say it, but Coleman doesn’t really do much of a job of blocking Ronaldo runs.

Jeez you just can’t let Ronaldo do those runs in the box.

I really really don’t think Coleman can do anything about the run, simply because of Ronaldo’s starting point. And touch on him before the ball comes and the ref will blow a peon. What doesn’t look great is that he’s crouching down as Ronaldo is jumping. Is it Omabamidele in front of him who jumps a little prematurely?

[Real ale Madrid]

If Connolly could pass, cross or shoot he'd be some player.

Seriously though - I do wonder what he would be like if he got some proper minutes under his belt - he seems like a player with a massive upside. I think saying he was outclassed is not accurate - more like he beats himself. A bit of composure and he surely would have scored. I'd love to see him play again Sat and Tuesday. He needs minutes more than any other player.

[Olé Olé]

If Connolly could pass, cross or shoot he'd be some player.

Seriously though - I do wonder what he would be like if he got some proper minutes under his belt - he seems like a player with a massive upside. I think saying he was outclassed is not accurate - more like he beats himself. A bit of composure and he surely would have scored. I'd love to see him play again Sat and Tuesday. He needs minutes more than any other player.

So accurate. It is like he's still in under 23 mode where he can create 10 chances and score 2 a game and not even need to think about assisting someone else because he'll have done his job getting 2 goals. Serious refinement necessary in terms of composure and decision making and execution.

My dream would be a loan to Derby to play under Rooney for a season.

[seanfhear]

I really really don’t think Coleman can do anything about the run, simply because of Ronaldo’s starting point. And touch on him before the ball comes and the ref will blow a peon. What doesn’t look great is that he’s crouching down as Ronaldo is jumping. Is it Omabamidele in front of him who jumps a little prematurely?

Coleman has to be making life a lot more difficult for Ronaldo for both of the goals. Just because he is Ronaldo you do not escort / give him free runs. Ideally of course you would have a bigger physical specimen on Ronaldo especial in the box at that point of the game, but that is easier said than done.

[paul_oshea]

Anybody seeing similarities between mcgeady and Connolly? Where the minimum requirement for a midfielder or attacking player is to be an out ball? The Portuguese defenders were social distancing all night.

[Kingdom]

Anybody seeing similarities between mcgeady and Connolly? Where the minimum requirement for a midfielder or attacking player is to be an out ball? The Portuguese defenders were social distancing all night.

You’ll need to expand that one there Paulo, for the mentally deficient amongst us (I.e. me!)

[paul_oshea]

Looking at Ronaldo's goals again there. I don’t like to say it, but Coleman doesn’t really do much of a job of blocking Ronaldo runs.

Jeez you just can’t let Ronaldo do those runs in the box.

Of course kingdom defended the goals by Rinaldo's brilliance but you harass him and Harry him before he even gets to make those jumps, I thought Hendrick did very well keeping him quiet.

[Stuttgart88]

Ronaldo's movement for the second in particular was brilliant. From just offside to just the right place at just the right time.

[Bielsa´s irish]

https://twitter.com/zaynmaliksprop1/...70897628708869

https://twitter.com/swearimnotpaul/s...927168/photo/1

https://twitter.com/GregFitzgerald1/...455234/photo/1

if this is true, this is an scandal - If it happened down here the ref wouldnt leave the dressing room with our players looking for revenge.

[seanfhear]

Of course kingdom defended the goals by Rinaldo's brilliance but you harass him and Harry him before he even gets to make those jumps, I thought Hendrick did very well keeping him quiet.

Ronaldo was taking liberties with freedom of movement there. Not say it’s easy but ya don’t let a fall like Ronaldo have the freedom of the box = = Mind you, that ref would have been trigger penalty happy ! He might even have taken the penalty himself and awarded it to Ronald if he scored !

[Bielsa´s irish]

my question is how the fai is gonna act about it ? it has been a long time since a proper even match got this kind of referee that manages to make all the call in favour of one team, all they went for Portugal. Shocking

[seanfhear]

my question is how the fai is gonna act about it ? it has been a long time since a proper even match got this kind of referee that manages to make all the call in favour of one team, all they went for Portugal. Shocking

Was he Ronaldo’s Uncle ?

[Bielsa´s irish]

the var system yesterday was used for just one purpose like yesterday. we were destroyed by refs this campaign

[Fixer82]

Thought they all did well. In particular Bazunu (bar his woeful pass that led to the penalty), Omabamidele, Doherty, Coleman, Cullen and Idah.
Hendrick did well too I thought and showed he’s capable of still performing for us.
Connolly drove me mad. Took the wrong option nearly every time and if he wasn’t diving at every opportunity he might have been awarded that stonewall penalty.

Ref was shocking

[Kingdom]

Of course kingdom defended the goals by Rinaldo's brilliance but you harass him and Harry him before he even gets to make those jumps, I thought Hendrick did very well keeping him quiet.

Ok no problem.
I love defending, more than any part of the game. I know how to defend. The reason you defend the 6yd line is because anything central inside that (in most cases but not in some specific examples) is your keeper has that area.
The longer you camp inside that penalty box as two blocks - first line and second line) the more you become a sitting duck, especially against teams of higher calibre in comparison to our squad current level. If you’re defending in those two lines, you’ve got to move as a unit/line, and you are extremely susceptible to diagonals or arcs between the two lines, which is exactly where their two goals came from.



You’ve actually made a very good point regarding Hendrick, but the context you’re attributing to it, and the comparison with Coleman is simply baffling, for a couple of reasons.
You’re subconsciously saying that Hendrick was marking him well, which Coleman didn’t. Which is of course nonsense. What you’ve done is highlight the freedom of movement that we all know Ronaldo has licendce to do, and what his “heatmap” would look like would make for interesting viewing. What is does illustrate is that it is almost impossible to retain shape and man mark the man. Hendrick of course wasn’t man marking him and keeping him quiet, he was occupying space really well in tandem with Cullen, afforded by the block of 5 behind, and the lack of space between the two ‘blocks’, if you will. Ronaldo gets stood up by Hendrick, he lays off, pushes on and Hendrick can simply let him move inside to be a defenders problem, and continue to occupy space for whichever Portugeezer becomes the creator.

there is a post on this thread that sort of alludes to Coleman stopping Ronaldos runs (plural), and I’m going to the Liberty of understanding that he is somehow mixed up in the first goal - which of course he isn’t.
The first goal is a single movement or phase that is staggered, and it’s primarily Shane Duffy who loses Ronaldo: Duffy follows the movement of the winger while a Ronaldo applies the breaks and is in the space between the two lines. Duffy loses the man and compounds Mcacleans error.
The second goal is pox hard to defend against because of where the first movement breaks down from, and the reversed direction of the second movement - this is accentuated at the moment by the offside rules as they aren’t! If anything, young Andy is as much to blame as Seamus, as he’s caught under the cross and his reaction to the goal I think underlines this.
Again, should Seamus have jumped with Ronaldo? Yes. Does it look bad ? Yes. But I’m not going to hammer him for a moment of exhaustion, having been pulled from pillar to post for the previous 25/35 minutes.I’d much prefer to laud the exceptional movement of an exceptional forward. My first reaction is the cross shouldn’t be coming in in the first place.

The way our defenders like to defend, backs to the wall, in blocks, doesn’t afford a defender the scope to move significantly with an attacker like Ronaldo, and is exhausting, as the discipline must be almost total as you hold your place in the block, which opposition can interchange and move as they please/see fit. Ronaldos heatmap from last night would show exactly the difficulties in this regard.

Once they scored one with significant time left, they were scoring a second.