QuoteWith Kevin tonight and Robbie playing a stormer last night maybe it will be a good night in Stuttgart. Fingers crossed
With Kevin tonight and Robbie playing a stormer last night maybe it will be a good night in Stuttgart. Fingers crossed
I think it shows how valuable Kevin Doyle can be against the Germans instead of Clinton Morrisson (who incidently i do think can hold the ball up well when it suits him, like in Paris). But the fact is that Doyle is playing regular PL football now and Morrison barely gets a sniff at Crystal Palace even though Andy Johnston is gone. Roll on Stuttgart, feeling better already after Keane last night aswell.
Interviewer: “Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?”
Gordon Strachan: “No, I’m just going to crumble like a wreck. I’ll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge.”
Why was this moved from the National Team section?
any player capable of scoring at EL level was always going to bang a few in the Premiership in England . The standard of defending is not as good in the UK
I was wondering that myself.Originally Posted by gustavo
Yeah it should be moved back.
In Trap we trust
You taking the mickey?
NO. DEFENSIVELY it is really quite poor and practically any team can score against any other on any given day.
To quote you again, "any player capable of scoring at EL level was always going to bang a few in the Premiership in England . The standard of defending is not as good in the UK"
You are really claiming that the standard of defending in the eircom League is not merely equivalent to but better than in the EPL? You have to be kidding me.
how many did he score in the el and how many has he been banging in accross the water. cant argue with the facts...
Which would obviously lead one to believe that the Eircom league defenders are better given that there are fewer goals on average than the premiership of course....
Just look at the players who played in the League here before going to England. Paul McGrath, Roy Keane, Curtis Fleming - all acknowledged legends of the game. Can Kevin Doyle join the pantheon of greats? Either way there's clearly a gap in standard between the respective competitions. Just look at the players who have made the transition in the other direction - Gareth Farrelly, Liam O'Brien, Alan McLoughlin - need I go on?
SIGNATURESCOPE
That's because the strikers are better in the Premiership. Comapre Byrne, O'Brien, McHugh, Farren, Crowe to Henry, van Nistelrooy, Robbie Keane, Rooney etc.Which would obviously lead one to believe that the Eircom league defenders are better given that there are fewer goals on average than the premiership of course....
Very few other players have. Zayed was on trial at Crewe and never played as a recent example.
Keane only played a handful of games before moving to Forest.
That's 4 players in 15-20 years. The league is getting stronger, but to compare it to the Premiership is a bit much at the moment. When Eircom League teams are getting into and competing the later stages of Eiuropean competitions on a regular bases (think Rosenberg level) then we can truly claim to be a strong league.
couple of points Rosenburg are only just ABOUt competitive in Norway at the minute let alone europe. Zayed has played in the UEFA cup this season, Nobody to the best of my knowledge has done so at Crewe in the last 20 years. I was making a harmless quip at the Doyle goal in the premiership , best of luck to the lad. I would be of teh opinion that the Premiership is a poor league for defending. Now dont jump down my throats. what i mean is there is frequently no rhyme nor reason to the pattern of play, yes its exciting, but defensive masterclass it aint! Its just to do with the english tradition of play which dictates up and at em all the time - and is the main reason why their national team cant beat more defensively patterned teams - were the art of defending is pivotal not just a freak occurrence
With the Germany game in mind - keane and Doyler on form and now this from Ireland.com......
Weakness appears in German defence
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 24th August, 2006
Germany coach Joachim Loew will be without three of his four World Cup central defenders for the start of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign on September 2nd against the Republic of Ireland.
Injuries to Per Mertesacker, Robert Huth and Jens Nowotny will force Loew to rebuild his defence. Christoph Metzelder, who missed Germany's 3-0 victory over Sweden in a friendly last week, will, however, be back in the 20-man squad. "We've certainly got some problems with our central defence," said Loew, who opted not to nominate any new players for the first two Euro qualifiers in the first week of September.
The manager will also have captain Michael Ballack back in midfield. Ballack after the Chelsea had missed the Sweden friendly with a hip injury. "These two players are enormously important for us," said Loew referring to Ballack and Metzelder. "We assume Michael will be able to return to training soon. I talked with Christoph (Metzelder) on the phone and he expects to be back in training by the start of next week." The only new face will be Loew's new assistant coach, Hansi Flick, who was hired yesterday to fill the post that Loew had held under Juergen Klinsmann the last two years. Loew was promoted after Klinsmann stepped down after the World Cup in July. Loew has stuck loyally by the squad that finished third in Germany under Klinsmann, saying they all deserved to be included on the basis of their performances at the tournament. That is good news for VfB Stuttgart's Thomas Hitzlsperger and VfL Wolfburg's Mike Hanke, who have struggled and are no longer first choices at their clubs. It is also fortunate for Lukas Podolski, who has been off form at his new club Bayern Munich. Because of the injuries to Mertesacker and Huth, Loew had nominated Manuel Friedrich from Mainz and Hertha Berlin's Malik Fathi for the Sweden match and they both played in the second half. Berlin's Arne Friedrich, normally a right back, was shifted to central defence against Sweden and did a solid job. Both Manuel Friedrich and Fathi will again be in the squad for the match against Ireland in Stuttgart. Germany then play on September 6th in Serravalle against San Marino in their next qualifier.
Consider a few season ago when they were beating the likes of AC Milan at home, how far away are Eircom League teams from that?
Maybe Zayed was a bad example, again we need players playing in the later stages of European competitions regularly. No EL team has made it into the Champion's League group stages, again Rosenberg were regular competitors at this level.
I may have misread your intentions so, I've no interest in getting into another EL VS Premiership debate, suffice to say my opinion is that it is improving but still has a massive way to go, and the majority of players are still well below the level required at international level
Get real
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