Republic of Ireland V Scotland - Saturday, 11 June 2022 - 2022/23 UEFA Nations League

[Predator]

Duffy looked very nervous today..

Only a few posts ago you said Duffy was "overconfident". Was he "overconfident" or was he "nervous"?

[Bielsa´s irish]

It'll be intresting to see if Steve Clarke is still in charge in September,pretty mad how bad they where with alot of players playing at a higher level than ours....

well but it doesnt mean anything, it is just on paper, we won a WC in 86 with Diego, of course, and Real Madrid's Valdano, but we had mostly unknown player in the starting eleven Brown, Cucciufo, Ruggeri very young, Pumpido, Enrique, Giusti, Burruchaga, Olarticoechea. Away from Argentina, All whites almost beat Italy and Slovakia in WC 2010, the team you play club football is not so relevant at international football, today England full of stars almost loses vs a second string Italy with mostly unknown players from rare teams, I watched the game, Italy should have taken one or two of those chances , England is awful !!!

[Bielsa´s irish]

Only a few posts ago you said Duffy was "overconfident". Was he "overconfident" or was he "nervous"?

He looked overconfident in first half, then made those two turnovers , and in 2nd half he looked very nervous maybe because of those two

[lofty9]

Looked like a Stephen Kenny LOI team to me. I'm going back to his Derry City days when possession football wasnt the fad, aggressive, counter attacking and clinical.

[Trequartista20]

Rankings weren't introduced until 1993?

Good point. Daniel McDonnell's stat, I guess he means higher seeded.

[pineapple stu]

Rankings weren't introduced until 1993?

You sir are technically correct.

The best kind of correct!

[TheBoss]

Good point. Daniel McDonnell's stat, I guess he means higher seeded.

Considering Ireland qualified for Euro 88 and were in Pot 4, and Northern Ireland didn't in Pot 3, kind of shows how messed up the system was back then.

Many Pot 3 teams qualified for that World Cup. So, not sure how those seedings were organised as no ranking system was in place.

But since the introduction of rankings, Saturday's match would be the first time that Ireland beat a higher ranking side in competitive match by 3 goals.

[tommy_c12000]

Im sticking with:

Travers
Ebosele, Collins, Duffy, O’Shea, McClean
Cullen, Molumby,
Parrott, Obafemi, Knight

That team will beat Scotland if selected.

Kenny getting close to his strongest team. Amazing what happens when he starts selecting his team better. Concerning that he is getting so long getting there. Need O’Shea for Duffy, Ebosele for Browne and he’s almost there. McClean was pretty poor today, Manning is not of international standard and Stevens is off form, we are caught here until next window. It’s nice to see the youngsters coming through with playing reasonable football.

[Eirambler]

Considering Ireland qualified for Euro 88 and were in Pot 4, and Northern Ireland didn't in Pot 3, kind of shows how messed up the system was back then.

Many Pot 3 teams qualified for that World Cup. So, not sure how those seedings were organised as no ranking system was in place.

But since the introduction of rankings, Saturday's match would be the first time that Ireland beat a higher ranking side in competitive match by 3 goals.

May have been linked to previous World Cup performance - NI were at Mexico 86 and we had a poor qualifying campaign for that tournament.

But NI were heading into long term decline by the 1990 qualifiers, so the seedings were a bit kind to them to be honest. We got a really kind draw for Italia 90 qualification actually, Hungary were a declining force at that point also.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Kenny getting close to his strongest team. Amazing what happens when he starts selecting his team better. Concerning that he is getting so long getting there. Need O’Shea for Duffy, Ebosele for Browne and he’s almost there. McClean was pretty poor today, Manning is not of international standard and Stevens is off form, we are caught here until next window. It’s nice to see the youngsters coming through with playing reasonable football.

I thought McClean was very good, Manning is more of a midfielder, what about BAGAN?

[tommy_c12000]

Bagan looks very good, was good for Cardiff too. Might be too early/risky, later this year if he consistently starts with his club.

[Eirambler]

Bagan and Adaramola look like the future at left wing back, assuming they stay with us (both are eligible for two other countries). But I'd say we're a year or two away from them being ready to step up. So we just have to hope the older lads can plug the gap for now.

[tetsujin1979]

Bagan's already changed his eligibility once, can he change again?

[elatedscum]

McClean was pretty poor today,

Thought McClean was excellent today. He put in about 8 good deliveries and 2 bad ones. He provided a constant out ball, won his 50-50s, was good defensively and going forward. Felt it was a huge huge improvement on Enda in the last two games.

James has flaws, we all know them, but I really thought it was an impressive performance

As for the position going forward, wouldn’t be surprised if one of McNamara, Bagan or Adaramola break into the squad over the next year or so. Doesn’t feel like Stevens has much life left in his legs - hope I’m wrong cause he was a very good player when Sheffield United first got promoted but looks like he’s a little cooked. I know McNamara is mostly a right back but he’s done well on the left as well when I’ve seen him there - and he’s probably closest to the senior squad.

Bagan is always a solid 7/10 for the 21s. Has never had a bad game for them but doesn’t look like he’s gonna waltz straight up a level either. Adaramola was impressive in his debut for the 21s, to the extent that I’d consider starting him ahead of Bagan going forward. So logically could easily see him stepping up ahead of Bagan as well. Either way, good problems to have…

[Bielsa´s irish]

Bagan looks very good, was good for Cardiff too. Might be too early/risky, later this year if he consistently starts with his club.

really good, tremendous talent, plus he scored a few andy brehme kind of goals, that are amazing, for me is the next fellow to bring into the puzzle

[Insidetherock]

Said it a year ago.. we'd loads of games to bring new players in.. finish second in this group and we're nailed on for at least a play off spot.. with another 8-10 qualifying games to come.. uf we can qualify all those young uns will be two years further down the line by Germany 24

[John83]

It was a big game for Obafemi and Parrott obviously, but Molumby also did better than I expected, at a time when we were desperately short of options in centre mid. Here's hoping this isn't another lone swallow; it's been a long winter.

Is Obafemi out for Ukraine? There's a serious selection question there so: we went toothless again the second he came off yesterday.

[Razors left peg]

Is Obafemi out for Ukraine? There's a serious selection question there so: we went toothless again the second he came off yesterday.

Did we? Hogan looked like he had number 4 if the FAI paid for goal line technology. Thought he actually did pretty well when he came on and I don't rate him at all.

We obviously attacked less as game went on but I thought that was due to circumstances.

Obviously I hope Obafemi is fit for Tuesday, he was brilliant

[Diggs246]

If kennys remit is to confuse us
Congratulations job done!
World class yesterday after two turds the week before. I just don't get it
My guess is obefemi will be out on Tuesday, which is a real pity. Himself and mulomby were the real difference
While Scotland weren't great yesterday. Its a far better Scotland team then we usually get.
Jason knight might technically be a league one player, but technically he belongs in the Premier league!

[Eirambler]

Bagan's already changed his eligibility once, can he change again?

Yes, he only played a non-competitive game for Scotland Under 16s, so was never formally with them. This meant he didn't have to use his switch when he went with Ireland. So he could switch to England or Scotland in future until such time as we give him a competitive senior cap.

However, as Scotland are absolutely loaded in his position and he's probably not on England's radar at all, it seems unlikely. If Adaramola broke through at Crystal Palace he could be more of a concern though as he moved to England quite young I think.