Player ratings Ireland v Italy

[Kevin77]

Can anyone rate the players from last night please? No coverage here in Oz

[wallis]

Ok , I will put myself up for a slating ! (out of 10)

Given - 9. Some great saves keeping us in it, if only the defence was as alert!

Finnan - 6. Very shaky to begin with which was suprising as he has played more competitive games this season than anyone else (replaced by Carr in the last 30 mins)

Dunne - 6. Similar comment applies , very shaky at the start. Perhaps lack of football was to blame.

O'Brien - 7 Good second half, certain starter against the French for me.

O'Shea - 7. Thought he had a good match, moved into midfield in the second half and him and Kilbane worked well. (Replaced by Miller in the 78th minute who did nothing but give the ball away- disappointing)

Holland - 4 totally lost in midfield but was subbed after a clash with Gattuso and replaced with Harte

Harte - 6. Has looked a much improved player in the last few games since his move to Levante. Great delivery from the dead ball positions but you always have this nagging fear about his positional sense.

Kilbane -8. He seems to get better and better during this world cup campaign. He had no help in the first 20 minutes but he never stopped working and it was good to see him actually pick up the ball and drive at the Italian defence a couple of times. He is going to be extremely important in the midfield against France.

S Reid -7. have to say I was suprised he played as well as he did. Nothing spectacular but he worked hard, kept possession and did the simple things very well.

A Reid - 7. Usual Reid performance these days. Some long range shooting combined with some over hit passes and a few bits of individual skill riding Italian tackles. Interesting to see him swopping positions with Duff and coming in off the wing. Good finish and technique for the goal.

Elliot -7. Came on for Reid and was desperately unlucky not to get a goal. This kid is really starting to look good. Did his chances no harm even though he only replaced Andy Reid for the last 15 minutes

Duff -7. Typical Duff , looks knackered after 5 minutes but everytime he got the ball the crowd just lifts up. Skinned the Italian right back on a number of occassions and the summer rest seems to have done him the world of good compared to his laboured performance in the Faroes. Gallas and co beware!

Morrison -7. Never stopped working. We only played one up front and CM did everything he should have done , held up the ball , made himself available , found the supporting midfielders. Unlucky to have had his goal ruled out which would have given him a real boost- lets hope someone buys him from Birmingham and gives him regular football.

All in all one of the best friendly matches seen at Lansdowne. The first 30 minutes was helter skelter stuff. We had no idea how to play against the Italian system and the defence was all over the place. The midfield didnt know who to pick up and had it not been for Shay it could have been much worse. But we eventually worked it out, KK and OShea got to grips with it and we created a number of chances towards the end. As stupid as it sounds the defeat could be what we need. There were a lot of things to be worked on (defence mainly) but the positives were that this was an excellent Italian side with a core of the Milan team running through it and we responded well to going 2-0 down. You have to give the Italians credit because they really went for it and played a very awkward formation - Vieiri up front could have had a hat trick and hit the bar with a sublime sidefoot volley

Shay was MOM and looks in terrific form. Kerr picked a good side , got a lot of people into the game and must be reasonably pleased with the performance (not the result).

Im actually feeling more confident now that we can get a result against the French. I was worried that we might grab a 1-0 win and it would paper over the cracks of our problems in recent games but this is exactly what I would have liked. No one will go away happy with the result but its plain for all to see where we can improve in the next four weeks.

Allez les Greens !

[eirebhoy]

Ask a neutral or an Italian who watched that game to rate Duff and he would have got a 9 or 10.

[tetsujin1979]

Shay Given: Kept us in it in the first half with some spectacular saves, and was desperately unlucky with both goals. Not tested as much in the second half, but still proved to be up to the job

Steve Finnan: Kept it simple at right full, kept possession well and always available as an out, thought some of his crosses were a bit wayward, but that's not his job. Should still start against the French

Kenny Cunningham: Relatively poot showing in the first half, came more into the game in the second half with his regular defensive partner O'Brien.

Richard Dunne: Only played for the first 45 minutes, and didn't do himself justice, perhaps because of fitness issues. Should be in the squad for France, but I can't see him starting

John O’Shea: Didn't come into the game until he moved to central midfield, where he did play well (certainly better than Holland) but another option at left full has to be found. Fast. Clive Clarke??

Matt Holland: Didn't notice him do much, won a tackle at one point. Then got creamed by Gattuso and came off. Nice work if you can get it!

Kevin Kilbane: Started badly (like a lot of the team) and came more into the game in the second half with some nice runs, with more confidence he could have had at least one goal, as some of his shots were awful, and passes were badly judged in the final third.

Steven Reid: Added real strength to midfield, with some strong tackling (as you would expect from a Blackburn player). Faded when he moved out to the right wing.

Damien Duff: Man marked by 2 and sometimes 3 players when he got on the ball, but still managed to produce some quality crosses and passes, we've got to figure out how to take advantage of the extra man when he is being double marked.

Andy Reid: Top finish and was MOTM for me, produced more than Duff, but wasn't marked as closely as the Chelsea player. Definitely approaching the finished product. Also looks like he's lost weight!

Clinton Morrison: Worked like a demon, in an unfaimilar role - neither him nor Robbie are suited to the lone striker role - and definitely adopted a shoot on sight mentality, with more luck (and match practice) he would have got one too. I can't comment on the handball as it was on the other side of the stadium to me.

Subs:

Ian Harte: Linked well with whichever winger (Duff or Reid) was in front of him at the time, and made inroads into the Italian half. Didn't produce from dead ball situations though.

Andy O‘Brien: Defense looked a lot solider when he came on, should be safe to start against France

Stephen Carr: Wasn't really tested as the Italians faded in the second half. Even as first choice at Newcastle, I can't see him ousting Finnan from the right full slot.

Stephen Elliott: Should have started, and did well when he came on, providing another option to Clinton up front. Desperately unlucky not to get his first international goal. Still a squad player, but pushing hard to be a starter.

Liam Miller: Tried hard for the little time he was on. Needs to leave United. Should have done it last season too.

All in all, I didn't think Italy did enough to win, but Ireland didn't do enough to not lose until about 20 minutes to go (i.e. when Elliott came on). If nothing else, we've learned 4-5-1 doesn't work with the strikers we have available, and (at the moment at least) Cunningham-O'Brien is our best partnership in defence.

[brine3]

Given - 9
Finnan - 6 (Carr - 6)
Cunningham - 6
Dunne - 5 (O'Brien - 8)
O'Shea - 6
Duff - 8
Kilbane - First half 4, second half 7 = 5.5
Holland - 3 (Harte 6)
A Reid - 6
S Reid - 6
Clinton - 7

[Drumcondra Red]

John O'Shea needs to be of that pitch ASAP, he is absolute crap, just taking his time coming back when they were on a counter attack! At one point he was marking Kilbane!!!

[wallis]

I think the 'conclusion' that the formation was bad is jumping the gun. Ok , it didnt work particulary well last night but people seem to forget that we did not play our first XI, it was the first time we have tried it and more importantly we were up against one of the best sides in europe.

I dont think its fair to dismiss it on one performance, I would still like to see us try it when we have RK in the middle and Robbie up front. What we lacked last night was someone to take command in the centre when it wasnt working and Holland didnt do that. Its not a fault of the player himself but rather that we were up against a side who knew how to exploit the weakness we were showing. Once O'Shea moved into the middle we settled into it a lot better , perhaps because he has played it more often at Man U where they play a combination of Giggs/Scholes/Rooney/RVN and Ronaldo up front.

Personally a midfield of Kilbane and Roy and a.n other (O'Shea?) with Reid and Duff playing in behind Robbie excites me. Lawrensons attack on it is quite petty as he doesnt seem to be willing to give it a chance. Its too late to try it against the French but we have to learn to be more adaptable at international level. We cant plod on with the same format game in game out. The ability to change the set up (as the top sides do , Italy , Brazil , Argentina etc) and have everyone feel comfortable with it would be a great advantage to our chances in future competitions.

[zinedineontour]

The plus points from last night imo :

Andy Reid, Morrison , Duffer , Kilbane, Shay

Bad Points :

John O Shea, Holland, Finnan ..

Otherwise ok from the rest .. Thought Elliott was very good when he came on and still cant see why we played five in midfield .. should we not be playing the formation we will against the french with two up front ?

[dublinred]

Anyone notice that Steven Reid moved out of the way for the first goal , probably ok if you are playing five aside and don't want he bruises but if you are getting paid a lot of money you should be used to gettting hit by the ball.

[NeilMcD]

I dont understand the criticism of O shea on last nights game. Fair enought he has been poor for the last year for Ireland but last night he was one of our best playes in my opinion. He was more composed on the ball than anyone other than our 2 flair players Duff and Andy Reid. I woudl rather have O Shea in midfield than Stephen Reid or Matt Holland.

[tetsujin1979]

I dont think its fair to dismiss it on one performance, I would still like to see us try it when we have RK in the middle and Robbie up front.

Robbie should never play up front by himself, at least Clinton has some bit of a build to him, but Robbie would definately not be suited to winning balls in the air, or muscling centre halves off the ball to take control

[elroy]

In a way, Im glad we didnt win or sneak or draw near the end cos there was alot of areas exposed particularly the defence in the first half.
We all know the first half of friendlies is about the only meaningful part of the game, the Italians made 3 subs at half time.
I thought on the attackin front we were much too static and obvious, compare our attack to the fast moving italian attack, they had players making runs off the ball on every attack, whereas we had little or no options.
Also why start in midfield, we need elliott to be gettin more experience, plus it was alot to ask of morrison to play up on his own. Overall, there is plenty to work on before the french game but nothing happened last night that i think would change kerrs team selection. (i just hope he doesnt do somethin stupid like play 5 in midfield against the french)

[OwlsFan]

Agree with most of what the 1st poster said.

Other than the first 15 minutes where the TWO centrals defenders repeatedly lost their man and were exposed by the midfield, we did well.

I am dubious about Kilbane at midfield but I thought he had an excellent game. Clinton for the 1st hour was also excellent until he faded. Andy Reid looked back to his old self. Cunningham/O'Brien looked better than C/Dunne but the Italians had taken the foot off the pedal by then.

Don't be deceived by Harte. He's an absolute liability at full back with his lack of pace and positional sense. Nothing has changed there. Miller should be dropped from the squad - he has nothing to contribute at the moment I'm afraid.

O'Shea had his best game in ages and actually found some of his own players with his passes for a change. Finnan - never has been one of my favourite players but has done enough in the past to keep out Carr.

Team for France based on above (can't remember if anyone is suspended):

Given, O'Shea, Finnan, Cunningham, O'Brien, Duff, Keane, Kilbane, Reid, Keane, Morrisson.

[pete]

Steven Reid is still terrible. Can anyone tell me what he brings to a team?

He is very unadventurous which is why he never makes a mistake. Reid barely beat one player in the whole game. I thought Reid was supposed to be getting forward from midfield but looked like Kilbane trying more.

[Bowsy]

criticism of O'Shea baffles me too. I have knocked him in the past but last night i thought he had a fine game. Certainly added a great more value than Harte and Holland did in the same positions. I thought he looked very good against Everton last week too and have real hopes that this season will see a return to form for him. Still wish he was at a club were he had a set position though.

Miller's continued inclusion in the squad not to mention the fact that he generally plays at least some part sets alarm bells ringing for me with regards to Kerr's management. Miller may be at Man U but he plays week in week out in the same league as Karl Bermingham, Paul McShane, Anthony Stokes and numerous other Irish players yet to prove their potential - the Reserve League.

Apart from that i was encouraged by the performances of Clint, Elliott, Duff, Andy Reid and of course Shay.

[geysir]

Ok , I will put myself up for a slating ! (out of 10)
Allez les Greens !

Well done with your ratings.
Personally I thought Kilbane was MOM. I never thought I would utter those words. He was like Forrest Gump, kept appearing out of nowhere and always available.
I thought a blot on Shay Givens excell. perf, was deflection from his save went straight to the Italian for the 2nd goal

[ColinR]

Well done with your ratings.
Personally I thought Kilbane was MOM. I never thought I would utter those words. He was like Forrest Gump, kept appearing out of nowhere and always available.
I thought a blot on Shay Givens excell. perf, was deflection from his save went straight to the Italian for the 2nd goal

given produced a reflex save not a 'defelection' for the secod, and kilbane on the first goal does a flick in the 6 yard box after another amazing given reflex save, and he gets your mom

[geysir]

given produced a reflex save not a 'defelection' for the secod, and kilbane on the first goal does a flick in the 6 yard box after another amazing given reflex save, and he gets your mom

Yes :-) obviously Shay can think 3 seconds faster than Kilbane, but Holland who was about 10 seconds behind everyone else while this was happening was culpable.

I did say he made excellent saves. It has happened before that reflex save or not the ball has ended up at the feet of an incoming attacker.