Originally Posted by
elatedscum
Scrappy game to say the least, pitch didn't help. You'd have your doubts about Crawford, you really would - won't matter much if we get a win against Sweden next week I guess but he had the far superior group of players and they only created 3 chances in the game… It felt both managers were far far too conservative.
Things I thought:
1) Odumosu had little to do but did it well. Couldn't really tell if he was at fault for the goal from my angle. It was a corner whipped in narrow which pinged around the 6 yard box before being rebounded in. My instinct was it wasn't his fault but frankly it happened pretty quick. Harrington didn't have anything to do in the second half.
2) Sobawele - he's a better full back than you'd have thought. He's filled out a bit and looks shorter as a result, I guess he was never as tall as he looked. Still not sure he's the answer at right back but I guess it's between him and Abankwah for the next campaign, unless Egan-Riley or Bradley defects.
3) Jones was the better of the two starting centre-halves - won everything in the air, used the ball well. The other lad O'Riordan got absolutely skinned by Sam Burgess, who looked good enough to be playing pro football. Ogungbo came on, and had little to do, as the amateurs defended for the majority of the second half. Same with Delaney.
4) Phillips is huge for a midfielder. Built like Declan Rice.
5) Kian Leavy was really impressive at the start. Has a spark about him, not sure he'll make it, lots of those creative midfielders get squeezed out and don't become what they could be - but he was really bright and creative.
6) Gilligan didn't do a lot for me. Matt Healy the same - few too many hollywood passes from him.
7) Was just hoping Joe Hodge wouldn't get injured. He looked very good but not quite his old self yet. Equally the pitch wasn’t conducive to passing the ball. He did almost score a beautiful curler which just went wide. The amateurs were flying in with tackles. I guess in many instances, this is the pinnacle of their careers and they want to give it all. Then there were a few lads who seemed to object to being outplayed by a kid and got really stuck in. Either way, Hodge more than anyone else worried me, could have seen him poleaxed by Michael Fox who had a few lunges at him. Darragh Burns also got a good few knocks, as did Healy.
8) Darragh Burns work rate was pretty impressive. Was doubled up a lot throughout the game and didn't do much with the ball but worked his socks off. Probably would have expected more from the freekick he took, great position for a left footer and he hit the wall, not even particularly high up. Dylan Duffy on the other side struggled for most the game, although he hit the post in the second half, which would have been an excellent goal
9) Tom Cannon had his moments. He had one where he used his pace to go past a player out wide and tried to square it for Leavy who would have had an open goal. The pass was behind Leavy and nothing came of it. So the run to get into that position was really good but the pass was awful. He had another one where he showed good pace and could have been in but a heavy touch, perhaps due to a bobble, cost the chance. Also showed good feet out wide on one occasion. Overall, not a good performance, but you could see him being good at 21s for us, with better players around him. Kyle Robinson didn’t have much of an impact in the few minutes he played.
Was nice to see the likes of Brian Maher, Ross Tierney and Andy Lyons watching. And for what it's worth, Maher seemed tall enough - walked past him when i was arriving and leaving and I'm 6'1, maybe a bit taller on a good day, looked like he might have been wearing some kinda nike platforms but from a yard or two away, it looked like he was about the same height as me in them.
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