Kelleher or Travers?
Both. One half each.Originally Posted by Bielsa´s irish
Kelleher
Assuming he sticks to the same formation, I’d go with:
Kelleher
Doherty
N Collins
Duffy
Egan
Stevens
Hourihane/Arter
McGrath/Knight
Robinson
Idah
Connolly
-
Kelleher was excellent in his debut. Deserves another game. Nathan Collins could also use a start, to see how he compares with Andrew O. Bringing Stevens back into the fold is also worthwhile. Rotate the midfielders out. Keep Idah (he needs a goal) and bring in Connolly (he needs a goal), then keep Robinson as he actually looks like scoring...
I think I’d lean Arter. He’s been involved in the last 3 or 4 squads without getting a minute of football. Probably deserves a game. And I’d lean McGrath over Knight cause of knight’s illness...
Last edited by elatedscum; 10/10/2021 at 10:04 PM.
Can’t see the point in playing Arter to be honest. Without quite knowing why, his club career is in free fall and he’s not a long term option. If we’re looking to the future we should be playing Knight and bringing in the likes of Ronan and Kilkenny to strengthen our midfield options.
Not sure about Arter, but the rest of that elatedscum team looks quite reasonable.
Not sure what to expect from this one. Azerbaijan were bad (the keeper especially), but you can only beat what's in front of you and 3-0 away isn't to be dismissed too lightly.
Qatar are better than Azerbaijan, but still the sort of team we should be beating, especially at home. If we can, maybe the Kenny era is starting to go somewhere. Equally though, maybe Azerbaijan was a one-off against a bad side on an off day, and Qatar will see us back to the form that had us bottom of the group for so long.
For once though, I'm leaning towards optimism rather than pessimism.
I don’t particularly disagree. But if you are going to keep calling him up and he keeps turning up, he probably deserves to get decent minutes under his belt in a friendly
FWIW, if Qatar were actually in the group, the standings would be -
Portugal 7-6-1-0-17-5-19
Serbia 7-5-2-0-17-7-17
Qatar 7-2-2-3-6-13-8
Luxembourg 7-2-1-4-6-11-7
Ireland 7-1-3-3-9-9-6
Azerbaijan 7-0-1-6-4-14-1
They've been easily beaten by Portugal and Serbia (3-1, 3-0 and 4-0) and are unbeaten against the other dross
It’s a pity that when he was at his best for Bournemouth he had a tendency not to turn up.
Bazunu;
Collins Egan Omobamidele;
Doherty Knight Cullen Stevens;
McGrath Robinson;
Idah.
Possibly could rotate the goalie, but if Bazunu is the accepted number one, would rather he got another game to "improve" before Luxembourg and Portugal.
Same reason I'd keep Omobamidele in.
Horgan has relegated himself to impact sub, so McGrath to start.
And I don't see an alternative to Idah in the role he plays for the team.
...................Kelleher/Travers
Omobamidele..Duffy..Egan
Doherty....Knight..Cullen....Stevens
...............Robinson..McGrath
.........................Parrott
I'd give both keepers a half each. Think Kenny said last month that Kelleher would get a game against Qatar but Travers has been playing week in week out this season for Bournemouth.
I'd keep four of the back five from Saturday. Only change I'd make is Stevens starting. Doherty and McClean have both impressed at LWB in the last month but still feel Stevens could push for a start. The three CBs I'd keep unchanged and let them get more game time together. Bring Collins on in the second half for Omobamidele.
The two central midfielders is a problem area for us because Cullen is the only one playing week in week out. Knight is more effective further forward but I'd play him deeper in next Cullen to see how they work as a pairing. Molumby is supposedly in Dublin and wouldn't be surprised to see him link up with the squad.
After Saturday night I'd be giving Robinson another start to try add to his international tally. Jamie McGrath deserves a start and Parrott is playing week in week out as the link up player while Idah warms the bench. He was sloppy Saturday night and while he did have a fever the lack of game time is also a problem.
Subs I'd be looking at are a keeper, Collins, Ogbene, Keane, Connolly.
Yeah, I think Robinson has to be first name on the scoresheet because we badly need a forward who can score. That's not been Robinson up until now (1 goal in 20 is pretty crap) but if he can build on Saturday and get another goal against Qatar, he might start finding a bit of confidence at international level. I don't see that Parrott, Connolly or Idah are any closer to being up to international standard yet unfortunately, albeit that they have time on their hands of course. But the chance to get a forward in form is one we have to take.
I think the problem we have with rotation is if we lose this game (friendly or not). He is going to be sacked? So he will play his strongest team
It depends on the manner of any defeat, but I think the Azerbaijan game has bought him some time in that regard.
I think as long as we don't lose to Luxembourg or get completely embarrassed by Qatar or Portugal, Kenny is safe for another campaign now.
I've no doubt there's going to be some rotation for Qatar, he's going to want to give Kelleher some more time and I think he'll play the 90. Idah will probably get a rest seeing as he wasn't 100% in Azerbaijan. I think Collins probably starts and at least one of Cullen or Hendrick gets a rest. Knight will start if he's fit and presumably Stephens too.
Team will be something like;
Kelleher
Doherty
Egan
Collins
Omobamidele
Stephens
Cullen
Knight
McGrath
Connolly
Parrott
Ogbene
Arter probably deserves a decent run as others have said. Presumably a debut for Keane for at least 30mins, Hourihane, Manning and Collins probably next in line for a run.
Tallaght Stadium Regular
I don't 100% agree is we lose in Dublin to Qatar he is gone ( unless we beat Portugal)
I doubt Kenny will get away with starting 12 players.
Some will argue he's managed to get away with a lot worse.
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