LOI in Europe 2023

[kksaints]

Having not seen the game, why was it a terrible performance? I saw it mentioned elsewhere that the centre half paring had never played together before and the two goals came through that channel. From the stats it looks like you created nothing. Very unlike Pat’s.

Created nothing, they had at least 3 or 4 more good shots that Lyness had to save. Some of our passing and dribbling was woeful. Norman the new centre back didn't look very good, Brockbank was awful at right back. Forrester had his worst game in a long time. Mulraney did nothing except give the ball away. The younger lads Murphy, McCormack and even Curtis were struggling. This was a horrible performance. Also they looked physically stronger which is a worry if we're meant to be a full-time team.

[Knocklyonhoop]

Hammering Icelandic and Luxembourg sides is not for everyone.

let’s just forget 2012 so…..

Have to say, thought it’d be tough but we would shade it……. For no other reason than they are Icelandic! But Breidablik were a lot better than I thought, technically way ahead of LoI and really can’t see us turning it around. On that performance they’d comfortably beat any team from our league imo.

We might have a bigger budget, but Iceland do fund grassroots properly helping them develop better players and most yrs ties between our leagues are relatively close (bar 2012!) they Certainly have a better national team.

poor result for Pats but should be ok at home you’d think

[EatYerGreens]

Two games out of 4 in Europe this week, and the league is currently sitting on a coefficient score of 0.00 for 2023-24.

All eyes on Dundalk and Derry now to put that right tonight. There surely has to be at least SOME form of posiitve result from their 2 fixtures. Right ?

[pineapple stu]

poor result for Pats but should be ok at home you’d think

You'd like to think so, but no corners and no shots on target until the 93rd minute is a real worry - and Pat's the form team in the league too. Sounds like a much bigger improvement needed than just your standard away/home form.

Derry/Dundalk have to get something in the Faroes/Gibraltar tonight don't they? Yet they'd have been the two you'd have been less confident about anyway. Another 0-0 home draw for the Faroese league last night, albeit against Estonian opposition.

[Kiki Balboa]

Another embrassing display by a LOI team last night. Surely it cant get any worse?

[ger121]

You'd like to think so, but no corners and no shots on target until the 93rd minute is a real worry - and Pat's the form team in the league too. Sounds like a much bigger improvement needed than just your standard away/home form.

Derry/Dundalk have to get something in the Faroes/Gibraltar tonight don't they? Yet they'd have been the two you'd have been less confident about anyway. Another 0-0 home draw for the Faroese league last night, albeit against Estonian opposition.

Watched Daly’s interview last night and I do think there is some merit in what he was saying about not being able to do their research on Dudelange. New Manager and new squad, who are in preseason. They really did not know what they were facing. However, Dudelange did not have this issue and could do a full analysis on Pat’s, which gave them an edge in that area going into the game. I’m not saying that is the only reason they lost and put in a very bad performance but it would have to be a factor. As he also said, they’ve had a good look at them now and will know what to expect in the 2nd leg.

[Buller]

Another embrassing display by a LOI team last night. Surely it cant get any worse?

Disappointing results but a bit of perspective: Losing by one goal away to a team with European pedigree, and to a team with 10 Icelandic internationals is hardly embarrassing.

If Dundalk don't beat the Bruce & Dennis' Magpies pub team, that'll be embarrassing.

[pineapple stu]

Watched Daly’s interview last night and I do think there is some merit in what he was saying about not being able to do their research on Dudelange. New Manager and new squad, who are in preseason. They really did not know what they were facing. However, Dudelange did not have this issue and could do a full analysis on Pat’s, which gave them an edge in that area going into the game. I’m not saying that is the only reason they lost and put in a very bad performance but it would have to be a factor. As he also said, they’ve had a good look at them now and will know what to expect in the 2nd leg.

I think there's swings and roundabouts there - it's not helpful for Pat's not being able to do scouting because Dudelange's team has changed, etc, but it's also not helpful to Dudelange being in pre-season with new players and a new manager with new ideas that haven't gelled yet. Probably balances out. Pat's will have a better idea of what they're facing in the return leg, but Dudelange will be less match-rusty too.

[pineapple stu]

Losing by one goal away to a team with European pedigree, and to a team with 10 Icelandic internationals is hardly embarrassing.

If Dundalk don't beat the Bruces Magpies pub team, that'll be embarrassing.

Ah they're bad results - let's not paper over that.

Breidablik have part-timers in their squad. Most of their internationals have just a token cap or three. I don't know do they do domestic-based squads on occasion for example. Rovers have made millions in recent years from group stage qualification and transfer fees.

Dudelange are in pre-season and even 10-man UCD could beat them. Bohs beat them 4-0 last year. They lost their money man (to Swift Hesperange, the new champions) a couple of years ago so their group stage qualification isn't really relevant any more.

Both sides can play ball, but if the LoI is looking to progress in Europe, our top sides have to be beating teams from much smaller countries. And certainly not getting outplayed by them, as seems to have happened in both cases.

[Buller]

Ah they're bad results - let's not paper over that.

Breidablik have part-timers in their squad. Most of their internationals have just a token cap or three. I don't know do they do domestic-based squads on occasion for example. Rovers have made millions in recent years from group stage qualification and transfer fees.

Dudelange are in pre-season and even 10-man UCD could beat them. Bohs beat them 4-0 last year. They lost their money man (to Swift Hesperange, the new champions) a couple of years ago so their group stage qualification isn't really relevant any more.

Both sides can play ball, but if the LoI is looking to progress in Europe, our top sides have to be beating teams from much smaller countries. And certainly not getting outplayed by them, as seems to have happened in both cases.

Some of the passes they were playing around, even their defenders, the strength and speed of their players, the comfort on the ball and passing it out, I thought was all a level above anything we've faced in LOI this year. Their number 8 and 13 were in particular v impressive on the night.

I also looked up and at least one player played 70 minutes against Portugal.

[pineapple stu]

Some of the passes they were playing around, even their defenders, the strength and speed of their players, the comfort on the ball and passing it out, I thought was all a level above anything we've faced in LOI this year.

Fine - but that's a reflection on the LoI (and on Rovers in this case). Let's not pretend they're world beaters, or that both performances (Rovers and Pat's) were anything other than really poor. ger121 has mentioned it already, but Bohs didn't have any problems against Stjarnan or Dudelange last year.

(There was no Breidablik players in the most recent Iceland squad btw?)

[patsdad]

Another embrassing display by a LOI team last night. Surely it cant get any worse?

I know you’re only trolling but while we weren’t at our best it’s a stretch to say it’s embarrassing to lose 2-1 in the away leg against a club that’s recently made the group stages of the Europa League.

[Philosophizer]

Some of the passes they were playing around, even their defenders, the strength and speed of their players, the comfort on the ball and passing it out, I thought was all a level above anything we've faced in LOI this year. Their number 8 and 13 were in particular v impressive on the night.

I also looked up and at least one player played 70 minutes against Portugal.

You also have an international player who has played full matches against the likes of Mane and Salah.
Bradley obviously sorted some things out at half time and the second half was quite even, so they’re not that great.
Rovers were just awful in the 1st half and made them look like Real Madrid.
Only a few weeks ago we were hearing about how Sligo were the best team to play at Tallaght this year In hindsight, it’s clear that Rovers were just v poor that night while Sligo played well above their usual level.

[Philosophizer]

I know you’re only trolling but while we weren’t at our best it’s a stretch to say it’s embarrassing to lose 2-1 in the away leg against a club that’s recently made the group stages of the Europa League.

I didn’t watch it, but it does sound like the performance was very poor, even though the result was only 2-1.

[Buller]

Fine - but that's a reflection on the LoI (and on Rovers in this case). Let's not pretend they're world beaters, or that both performances (Rovers and Pat's) were anything other than really poor. ger121 has mentioned it already, but Bohs didn't have any problems against Stjarnan or Dudelange last year.

(There was no Breidablik players in the most recent Iceland squad btw?)

The entire team seem to have between 2-6 caps for Iceland.

Standouts Gunnlaugsson with 8 caps and Aðalsteinsson with 12 caps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brei%C...#39;s_football

My point being yes I think we should have done better but its not an embarrassing result at all. Far from it. They're no Drogheda Utd! (Apologies to the Drogs fans!)

[pineapple stu]

Aðalsteinsson is 37 and hasn't been capped in 10 years. Klaemint Olsen is the most experienced - record scorer in the Faroese league and 57 caps. But Rovers have Jack Byrne and Graham Burke, who've also been capped a handful of times. Maybe puts the 2-6 cap crowd in perspective. Plus Lopes and Poom of course.

OK, you can argue that embarrassing is a bit over the top, but I think there's an element of papering over how poor the performances were. The way they played the ball around on the night was in big part a reflection on how poor Rovers were that they let them at it. (And the second half improvement showed that I think)

[Philosophizer]

It’s been mentioned plenty of times beforehand, but it’s been very clearly shown this week that the quality of our prem division is a level below recent years, even though attendances are way up. Why is that?
I think it’s probably a combination of a few things:
1. The league is being drained of all young talent now every summer, and eventually that’s caught up. The best players always left of course, but the last few years it’s felt a lot more pronounced.
2. Rovers have been the standard bearers for a few years, but maybe Bradley’s methods have just become stale after being with the same group for so long.
3. Improved expectations. As we’ve seen countless times with national teams, we don’t do well as a nation when we have expectations to compete. We’re far happier as a plucky underdog. This is the 1st year I can ever remember all 4 of our teams as favourites to progress. In truth, that should have been a clarion cal that some sh!t performances were on the way.
Thoughts?

[Buller]

OK, you can argue that embarrassing is a bit over the top

Finally! Thank you.

[pineapple stu]

Finally! Thank you.

You can have that if you drop the crap about how great their part-tie guy who was capped a couple of times for Iceland a decade ago is

[D24Saint]

Horrendous day in a death trap of a stand. We never got near them on the night. It raises huge questions about the standard of our team. We need more quality in several areas but particularly in midfield. The online vitriol that has crept into the league between younger fans is depressing aswell.