Will let the mods do their thing with the thread title
Squad is announced - Duffy is back, as is Cannon and Coleman.
No Doherty, Omobamidele, Stevens, Browne or Manning (and Brady is injured) - it's becoming less and less clear where we're going at fullback. Coleman, Scales, O'Dowda, O'Shea for two places? Don't really like any of those options to be honest
No O'Brien. Five midfielders but eight attackers - and the mids include Andy Moran, who I thought was more an attacker? Feels a bit unbalanced there.
No Taylor either, which is strange as I thought he did well in his cameo in Greece
But we shall see how it goes
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2024...november-ties/
Last edited by pineapple stu; 07/11/2024 at 1:25 PM.
Midfield looks wafer thin there alright (which it is in terms of talent) but theres a case to be made for Johnston, McAteer and Ebosele to be listed in midfield - Ebosele even as a defender...Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Interesting to see Duffy back. He has been playing well for Norwich by all accounts - and I suppose with O'Brien and Omobamidele not seeing game time, its a call he had to make. Maybe Manning could be in there too - problem position - not sure he is the answer to the problem but he is starting LB/LWB for Southampton in the EPL... really glad to see Cannon there too - I love how he plays and think hes going to be good for us.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
One thing I don't particularly like about Hallgrimsson's approach is his squad sizes, he keeps them very tight. Already Coleman has been named but is a doubt for these games, so straight away that's a space that might need filling. Would much prefer him to call up 26, with an extra defender, midfielder and forward, especially this time as there's no competitive under 21 games. Otherwise the squad itself is largely fine.
Ryan Manning missing out seems very strange, especially with Brady injured.
Apparently he wasn't too far off and still might get a late call in, but I think the problem is that Manning just isn't that good. He's a solid Championship player, but we have loads of those already, he's not great defensively and not especially quick going forward either. I could be wrong, but I'd predict that once Russell Martin gets the boot at Southampton that will be more or less it for Manning in the Premier League.
I think while there is something in that, it has to be put in the context of our existing wing-back options being (it seems) Coleman (who may be injured, and for whom this season looks to be one too far), O'Dowda (who has looked exposed there before), Scales (didn't work out there for Celtic, and when he moved to centre-half he nailed down a spot) and O'Shea (again not his natural position)
He doesn't necessarily have to be good to be the best we have unfortunately.
Don't see why we keep having 23 man squads. Feels like we're an outlier in European footballer in that respect, then we continue to not call up replacements when players get injured. Presumably it's just FAI cost saving.
Kind of expected Doherty to be in, considering the quotes from both him and HH last time round - don't think he can complain though, same with O'Brien - they're not playing football and there's only so many you can carry like that. Coleman hasn't kicked a ball since the England game but I guess he's captain so he gets a call up - you'd still have concerns about how much he can play across the week, especially if he doesn't play this weekend... Very surprised Manning was left out, suspect him and John O'Shea had a disagreement but that's purely speculation. He's by far the most natural replacement for Brady and he's starting in the premier league.
Midfield clearly needs bulking up, I'd have Browne and Connell in there in addition to the current lads. Also think Callum Robinson is very unlucky to be left out considering his form...
Yeah I’d have Manning in. Not that I particularly rate him, but we’re short on left sided players and he’s a capable set piece taker (something missing in the squad selected). Certainly, more deserving of a place instead of McAteer who isn’t playing with his club. Doherty doesn’t necessarily deserve to be in the squad but the explanation for leaving him out is weak. Could do without personality clashes.
A bit, but I guess we've plenty of attackers in there so you're probably going to be leaving someone out to accommodate him (unlike adding, say, Manning, Browne or Connell). And who's that going to be? Johnston, Festy and McAteer are more wide players than forwards, so not a straight swap I think. Ferguson and Parrott are definitely ahead of him. Cannon looked lively against Portugal and I think has form and youth on his side; Szmodics is also on an upwards curve (albeit not as young); I'd have both ahead of Robinson. And that leaves Idah - but is Robinson for Idah really a material change?
I don't really think you need to leave someone out. You should probably have 4 wide players, especially considering we've used Knight out wide in the past there but given the lack of midfielders that would be a bad idea. Szmodics could be considered the 4th wide man, which is fine - but I'd also have Robinson ahead of McAteer cause he isn't really playing at all. Played 19 mins in the league and 72 mins in the league cup since the last window...
Moran has been playing as a centre mid in a midfield 2 for Stoke so hopefully they look to use him in that role in a midfield 3 against England along with Cullen and molumby
Moran has been playing fine for Stoke, but not exceptionally. The general consensus of the supporters last week seemed to be that his MOTM awards was an error. He still seems to offer little or nothing out of possession so I wouldn't see much point in starting him against England. I think it's a question of whether you consider him as an alternative to Azaz or a less creative midfielder for the Finland game. If you play Moran in that game I think you would likely need to play Knight in one of the wide positions to make sure we have enough battlers in midfield when we don't have the ball.
Iceland used to play Sigurdsson as one of the midfield two so wouldn't be surprised if Hallgrimsson tries him out there. Don't see it happening this season though unless his performances for Stoke make him undroppable.
If we end up in a group that doesn't start until September 2025 then should try Moran out in midfield. Even for the U21s last month it felt like he was playing much deeper than he normally used to play. Phillips was often higher up the pitch than Moran when playing.
Dara O'Shea is out injured this weekend according to McKenna today. He will probably pull out of the Ireland squad now too.
Barnsley v Rotherham on Sky Plus if anyone wants to see why Luca Connell should be in the Ireland squad. 5 minutes in was described as 'the best footballing midfielders, quarter backs, at the level for a number of seasons.". He had played 4 good passes in those first 5 mins... Corey O'Keefe and Joe Rafferty are both playing right back for their respective clubs along with Sean Raggett at centre-back.
My money is that HH has no idea who Luca Connell is
Joe rafferty , I had high hopes for him in his liverpool days. Luca is a bit of a slow conor hourihane just can't see the athleticism there to play at premier league. Lovely footballer non the less
Who would be the contenders to replace him? The biggest problem is that O'Shea was perhaps your starting right back as well. So you really need two players to cover his loss
Centre-halves:
Currently Injured: O'Shea, Omobamidele, Salter-Clarke, McNally, Lenihan, Lawal
Not Playing: O'Brien, Egan, McLoughlin
Playing: Cashin, Dunne, Molloy, Garcia-McNulty
Think it's probably too far or too soon for the likes of Adegboyega, O'Riordan and the LOI boys (Is Joe Redmond the outstanding centre-half? Dan Cleary? Lee Grace?)
I guess it has to be Jake O'Brien. Otherwise Eirin Cashin if you want someone who is playing regularly. But jesus, what are the options at full-back now?
RB: Seamus Coleman who hasn't played in 2 months, Festy Ebosele, an attacking wing back or winger
LB: Callum O'Dowda and Festy Ebosele, attacking wingbacks - and Liam Scales, a centre-half who has really struggled at left back both with club and country.
For all the talk of experimentation, we have dropped Doherty for 2 squads and Brady is now injured and we still haven't seen any of Josh Key, Jon Gallagher, Danny McNamara, Ryan Manning, Will Ferry, Sean Roughan etc in a HH squad. Not sure any of them are good enough, except Manning, but I think as a manager, you take your best guess and at least watch them in training - I also don't think any of them would embarrass themselves against Finland. Unlimited squad and the only natural fullback is a 36 year old who last played in the league in August...
Interesting battle between Ebosele and Kioso on SkySports. Both did very well. Kioso having just declared for DRC - immediately looks good enough.
Festy just carried off injured, Rocco Vata comes on
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