Quote2-1 or 0-3
That's true Neill but I think Tarzan was referring to the year ('05) not the day!Originally Posted by NeilMcD
2-1 or 0-3
Player for player they are a much better team, in the past we did we'll against big teams by being well organised, hell of a work rate and having a set system of play.
Under Kerr we don't seem to have any of these
Tend to agree, a scrappy 1-0 win or a drubbing by several goals.2-1 or 0-3
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
I don't feel optimistic either. Watching Cunningham and Dunne play this weekend made me even more nervous. Now, they both had decent games for their respective clubs, they're solid journeymen, but the lack of pace was so glaring. You can get away with that against the like of Man City and Brmgham strikers, but Cisse and Henry will have both of them for lunch.
And I can't see where our goals will come from. Maybe a screamer from Andy Reid. Don't think Robbie K will get much of a sniff. Duff will more than likely be out on the wing and won't have many scoring chances, unless we go with a Chelsea style 4-5-1/4-3-3, but we don't have the central midfield for that, nor the speedy right winger/forward a la Robben.
The thought of a French midfield composed of Viera/Makelele breaking up play and with Zidane sitting in front is scary.
I'd break the probablity down like this...
Irish win.... 20%
Draw........ 40%
French win 40%
Duff on the wing makes us MORE likely to score goals in my opinion and I think we've got two very quick & dangerous wingers - Duff & Reid - who interchange in exactly the same way as Duff & Robben do, so I don't share your pessimism. Robbie & Clinton WILL get chances. Let's not get too pessimistic about this game. Recently we beat Portugal at home let's not forget.
Duff & Robben appear to have their flair being coached out of them at Chelsea. But the French should be wary of a free-flowing Duff in September.
And for those thinking that the return of the ageing French 3 will make an improvement certain, bear the following in mind (from The Times). Note that the article focusses on the French team & their future chances in general, not specifically in the context of the Irish game. Also, there's no certainty they'll all be fit or in form or even fully match sharp as Italian & Spanish seasons start later than England. Their equivalent of the Charity Shield was this weekend.
(I've highlighted in bold the points I think are most relevant).
Zidane lifeline could prove hard to grasp
By Gabriel Marcotti
A legend's return to the colours may end in tears
JORGE VALDANO ONCE REMARKED that with his weary, sunken features and powerful physique, Zinedine Zidane reminded him of a boxer. Indeed, there was something rather Rocky Balboaesque in the Frenchman’s decision to return to the international scene.
In Rocky IV, the eponymous Sylvester Stallone character witnesses his friend, Apollo Creed, get beaten to death in the ring by Ivan Drago, the fearsome Soviet amateur, and decides to return to the squared circle to exact his vengeance. In Zizou MMV, our hero, together with his pals, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram, rides back on to the scene to rescue Les Bleus from the embarrassment of missing out on the 2006 World Cup.
Last Wednesday, in Montpellier, France played Ivory Coast in a friendly and Act One of the script played out to perfection. Makelele slotted back into his usual watchdog role in front of the back four. Thuram, winning his 103rd cap, marshalled the defence majestically (at least until the 24th minute, when he came off injured). But there was no doubt who was the hero of the night. Zidane’s every touch, indeed his every shimmy, saunter and stare were greeted with rapturous applause.
The day after, the French press was filled with a celebration of the “Zidane Effect”. “The Light has Returned”, trumpeted L’Equipe. Thierry Henry summed up the prevailing mood when he said: “We have rediscovered our pace, our form and the pleasure of playing all together. Zizou brought us a great deal and we felt he was at ease with us.” Indeed, he looked extremely comfortable in the 3-0 thrashing of Ivory Coast. Yet the plain truth for France and Raymond Domenech, their embattled coach, is that things could well take a different turn when France return to competitive action next month in the World Cup qualifiers.
Les Bleus are in serious danger of watching the final stages of the competition on television, which is why Zidane’s return smacks of desperation. Their qualifying group was supposed to be a cakewalk: three minnows (the Faeroe Isles, Israel and Cyprus) and two average opponents (Switzerland and Ireland). Yet France lie fourth after a string of nightmare results. It has been more than a year since they won a competitive match against anyone other than Cyprus or the Faeroe Isles and they failed even to score at home against Ireland and Switzerland.
On the surface, Zidane and the other two musketeers bring an instant psychological lift. But their presence is bound to have a knock-on effect on the rest of the team.
For starters, it will be nearly impossible for Domenech to drop any of them, even if they lose form. After all, they are the heroes who came back for love of country. Of course, if they play to their ability there will be no need to contemplate such a thing. Yet Zidane and Thuram are 33 and Makelele is just a year younger. All three play for clubs who are likely to go deep into Champions League competition this year.Then there is the tactical issue. Thuram ’s presence in central defence forces William Gallas back in exile on the left flank (and we know how much he enjoys that). Makelele will partner Patrick Vieira, which means there is no room for the gifted Vikash Dhorasoo and Benôit Pedretti.
Having flopped out wide in Jacques Santini’s ill-conceived 4-4-2 system at Euro 2004, there is only one place for Zidane: in the hole. The question then becomes how do you fill the remaining three spots around him? Do you play Henry as a lone striker, with some combination of Jerome Rothen, Ludovic Giuly, Florent Malouda and Sylvain Wiltord out wide? If so, what happens to David Trezeguet, France’s only genuine centre forward and a man who, despite his injuries, has an absurdly prolific scoring record for both club (72 goals in 119 Serie A appearances for Juventus) and country (31 in 59 games), without a single free kick or penalty?
Or do you restore the Trezeguet-Henry partnership? In which case, you would have to add a third central midfield player and give up on wingers entirely, which is probably not a good idea since it means Gallas would have to cover the whole left flank on his own. The unpleasant truth is that France’s returning heroes are rather like gaudy wedding gifts from a mad aunt: you may not want to keep them around, but you have no choice because she’s coming over for dinner.
And it’s somewhat disturbing that of the three, the one who is most exposed is Zidane, who has blown hot and cold, both for Real Madrid and for France in the past few years. Sections of the Spanish press have accused him of not turning up against unglamorous opposition and Real acquired two more attacking midfield players over the summer — Júlio Baptista and Robinho — precisely because they plan to rotate Zidane in and out of the side.
Having said all that, you can’t help but commend Zidane and the others for putting themselves on the line. If France do not qualify for the World Cup, it will be a humiliation. And it’s far from an unthinkable possibility. France have four games left, two easy ones against Cyprus and the Faeroe Isles, and two tough trips to Switzerland and Ireland. If they fail to win at least one of those away matches, things will get very tricky indeed and even a play-off place becomes an unlikely proposition.
It would be an unpleasant end to the international career of three living legends. Still, the comeback worked for Rocky Balboa. Not only did he beat Ivan Drago, he got to deliver a speech about reconciliation and brotherhood. Then again, that was just a film . . .
Excellent article thanks for posting
You're welcome. If anyone has seen any other weekend articles from subscription sites such as The Tribune or The Examiner on Ireland can he/she pls post here? Alternatively, I'd be interested to hear the French reaction to the Ivory Coast win if anyone's based over there.
Let's face it, would we be getting all excited if we beat Ivory Coast 3-0 last Wednesday?
I would not be for sure and I think this result has in effect papered over the cracks in the French team
Have to agree. We have a better squad than we have had in the past but seem to have lost our fighting spirit and the toughness that made us so formidable in the past.?Player for player they are a much better team, in the past we did we'll against big teams by being well organised, hell of a work rate and having a set system of play.
Under Kerr we don't seem to have any of these
Being underdogs against the French should help and I think Roy Keane might rise to the occassion. He will have to reproduce his form of 2001 against Holland and Portugal.
Let's face it we need all our guys to come up with big games - play above themselves - , or the French to play below their ability, and we need Kerr to finally prove he is can manage at this level.
For all the matches in the campaign to date I've been waiting unpatiently with anticipation only to be disappointed with the quality of our play and results - except Paris. This is the big one, everyone knows it. A good result here and we should be up for the Swiss and Cyprus.
Come on you boys in green ..........
More in hope than expectation.
This all sounds like the first half hour against Holland in 2001! Roy Keane's tackle on Overmars aside we were an unmitigated disaster. Remember when Gary Kelly got caught on the ball by Kluivert only for him to roll the ball past the post? We had Stan and a young Richie Dunne as an improvised centre-back pairing & a right-back who was so bad that we were actually better when he was sent off! Players like Duff, Robbie & Shay were still relative rookies. If we have even half the luck we had that day we'll be laughing.Sadly our performance against the Italians in the first half (which, in friendlies, is the only real barometer of a performance you can have, given the deluge of tinkering and substituting that goes on in the second) gave me no cause for comfort. They literally strolled through our defence God knows how many times in the first 20-25 mins. Henry, Cisse et al are much faster than a permanently rubicund Vieri who, let's not forget, has not even started his season yet, and the game will be well over after 5 minutes if we commit the same mistakes against France. Our central midfield, apart from looking confused, were anaemic and were shown up by a classier, faster outfit. Gamebreakers like Pirlo had acres of space in our half - I tread to think what Zidane would do to us there. Generally our defence was shown up to be flatfooted and blunt whenever a quality team really presses us. I noted it first in the Romania friendly, how we panicked whenever they launched balls or ran players towards our central defenders. My resignation about a defeat to the French (another Basle 2003) hasn't been lifted at all, I'm afraid...
I wonder will the Lansdowne wind be a factor?
and for once we had a referee who gave us half a chance, remember Shay Given upending a dutch guy? I was sure he was going to give it
Yeah, it was Van Nistelrooy. Stan and Shay were in a mix up and RVN got in between them. Shay stood up as RVN was about to jump over him, totally blocking RVN & they both went down. I couldn't believe it wasn't given.
In the last minute RVN had a header that left Shay rooted to the spot. It missed the post by about an inch I reckon. Such luck only comes around about every 4 years. 4 years and 2 days would be nice.
Nervous. Exceedingly nervous. Can see us being played off the park if we are not careful. Need a wet, cold night and a bumpy pitch! Actually, we need to hold onto the ball and harry them every time they get it. I can't see them not scoring so we are going to need to score ourselves. I think we should attack them like we did the Dutch in Holland. When the Dutch came here we basically let them come at us which played directly into their hands.
There is no such thing as a miracle cure, a free lunch or a humble opinion.
I´m way more nervous for this game than I was for the Dutch game (cos basically for some reason I didn´t think we had a hope against the Dutch!). I defo reckon we can get a 1-0 win out of this, but am dreading any free kicks around the box in the last 10 mins or so with Zidane on the pitch
UCD sha-la-la
I think we all know that we are going to lose to the French. Let's just hope we can eek out a draw to stay in contention. We messed up away in Israel and we should have beaten them at home as well. We don't deserve to qualify at this stage.
I love your positive attitude!!
How can you say we all know we are going to lose to the French? We can hold any team at Lansdowne & have proved that over the years. We also should have beaten France in Paris, we deserve to be were we are in the group & I actually think we will win this group even if we draw with France.
Speak for yourself and yourself alone
France dew home and away to Israel and Switzerland drew away. Do either of them or Israel deserve to qualify ahead of us at this stage. No is the answer. Qualification is still in our own hands. It will be a hard match but I think if our players play to the best of their ability we have every chance of beatring France in LR.
"I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd" Johnny Giles
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