Aiden McGeady

[Scram]

Thought McGeady was generally poor tonight with a few exceptions but the team overall were poor. Don't know why they are such a different team at home. Awful to watch so much mediocrity

[Stuttgart88]

Thought O'Dea was ok as well, let Cafu have a lot of space to run into though.

If you look at the slow mo you can see that no.8 (was it donati, or Brown?) tracked the Cafu run until he got to O'Dea and then let him go on. O'Dea kept his focus on Kaka, correctly in my opinion. [edit - just saw it again in real time, hard to tell who should have picked Cafu]

Very impressed by McGeady again. He carried the ball well, drew tackles and won frees. He laid it off well when he needed to. One piece of control was very impressive. Lack of options upfront put a limit on how effective he could be.

When Celtic got to the UEFA final and were winning at Anfield and Ewood I honestly thought they were Premiership top 6 or thereabouts. Now I think they are good Championship level, with a few players better than the rest.

[shaneker]

Saw the Celtic game tonight and thought McGeady was pretty good without setting the world alight. He ran several times in the first half and gained 50-60 yards on 3 or 4 occasions, and only gave the ball away once or twice. After a while the Milan defence copped on and kept very tight on him (the same way the Celtic defence did on Kaka, and to keep the best player in the world by miles as quiet as they did was admirable) and he was less effective but he certainly gave them an extra option than hoofing it upfield, which seemed to be their game plan.

I put this down as another good game for McGeady and on current form would have him starting in our next friendly. Alongside Hunt, A. Reid and Ireland, since you ask.

[tetsujin1979]

If you look at the slow mo you can see that no.8 (was it donati, or Brown?) tracked the Cafu run until he got to O'Dea and then let him go on. O'Dea kept his focus on Kaka, correctly in my opinion. [edit - just saw it again in real time, hard to tell who should have picked Cafu]

What I meant was that Cafu seemed to be getting to the bye-line and there seemed to be a lot of space in the corner for him to run into and cross, on the other hand with O'Dea tucking in next to Pressley he limited the space for Kaka to run into

[Condex]

McGeady was pretty poor tonight from what I saw of him..

Got caught in posession a lot and attempted to go past players a few times and failed. O'Dea played OK doesn't seem to have a lot of pace though..

[eirebhoy]

Sounds like you only caught the 2nd half. He was good in the 1st, there's no doubting that.

[backstothewall]

It wasn't much of a game to rate anyone by. You can only play the team put in front of you, but Milan, inzaghi apart, didn't look all that fussed, particularly in the first half.

Mcgeady did well in the first half. But wit the score in the Benfica game Celtic didn't exactly throw themselves forward late on.

I think it would be most unfair to judge anyone on that game, Scott Brown aside who foolishly managed to get himself booked and banned in a kick about.

[irishfan86]

McGeady played well enough considering the isolation he found himself in during most of the game.

By the end of the game he was double marked as usual, and Celtic lost their most effective outlet.

O'Dea did very well considering the lack of matches he's played, and the fact that's not really a fullback.

Don't know why the fella on the other page compared him to O'Shea, completely different players in completely different places in their career.

O'Dea is a young player coming through a big club, and captaining his country at underage level, whereas O'Shea is a weak link who has really not lived up to his early promise (perhaps a victim of his versatility in this regard).

[cheifo]

You would like to think the experience of playing games against Milan in the San Siro will be beneficial to both lads development.
Bland statment I know but you get my drift.

[Superhoops]

Don't know why the fella on the other page compared him to O'Shea, completely different players in completely different places in their career.

O'Dea is a young player coming through a big club, and captaining his country at underage level, whereas O'Shea is a weak link who has really not lived up to his early promise (perhaps a victim of his versatility in this regard).

The comparison is that O'Shea was at the start of his Ireland career at the same time of his 'golden run' at ManU. He has become a fixture on the Irish team whcich appears to be on his early reputation at club level. it certainly is not on the basis of his performances for Ireland. His Man U career since has gone backwards where he is now a squad player rather than first teamer.

McGeady, by all accounts is playing out of his skin at Celtic, but as far as Ireland is concerned, he has been ordinary at best but certainly has not looked like a player who is playing 'out of his skin' at his club and until he plays well for Ireland, he could be in the same boat as O'Shea, a regular in the Ireland team on the basis of his club reputation rather than for his performances for Ireland.

I would love to see both of them doing well for Ireland but I don't think either of them will. O'Shea because he is not good enough and McGeady because he is too small and too easily muscled off the ball. I hope I'm wrong.

[Maroon 7]

I would love to see both of them doing well for Ireland but I don't think either of them will. O'Shea because he is not good enough and McGeady because he is too small and too easily muscled off the ball. I hope I'm wrong.

McGeady has bulked up considerably this year which goes some way to explaining his improvement. Not shoved off the ball so easily anymore.

[eirebhoy]

Clips of McGeady's first CL start in 2004:



Much more intelligent performance than I was expecting.

[irishfan86]

McGeady is very good, and is still young. The pace he's added to his game this season has added another dimension and it's really made him a more useful player.

There are players we should be criticizing right now, and he definitely isn't one of them.

Expecting him to step into the Ireland team in his first campaign and perform when none of our veteran players were stepping up is a big ask.

I'm not saying he played well for Ireland, but the whole team was a shambles, and to pick on our young players just breaking through is unfair.

O'Shea, for all his faults, played a lot of games in a Premiership winning side last season, and added some crucial goals as well. I'm not an O'Shea fan, but I think he definitely gets more stick than he deserves. He's thrown all around the pitch for club and country, and is expected to adapt and play at a high level wherever he's put.

He's not a world beater for his club, he's a support player that can do a serviceable job anywhere on the pitch where his team is weak.

So if he's not a key player for United, why do people expect him to be a key player for us?

[shaneker]

Bloody hell, considering the opposition, McGeady looks brilliant in that clip.

[danonion]

I really didn't rate McGeady till recently but in some ways he reminds me of Ronaldo at Man Utd. Ronaldo for ages lacked an end product to his game and when he added it, he became a phenom. But for McGeady to advance as a player he needs to get out of that dreadful league. Champions league outings are great but playing the likes of Caley thistle will not help him at International level.

[ifk101]

Both Celtic and Milan seemed very content to play for a draw in the first half - the game didn't have any real intensity and McGeady did relatively well in the first half. Didn't think O'Dea looked too hot - basically the only thing he did in the first half was to pass it sideways or back to the goalkeeper. He did try to play a long ball upfield twice in the first half and on both occasions the ball went directly out of play.

Second half was all Milan IMO. They took the game to another level and Celtic were found wanting. There was a clear gap in quality between the two sides. McGeady was ok in the second half - but one thing that sticks in my mind is that he tried to jig pass the leftfull on two seperate occasions within the space of two minutes - on both occasions the defender won the ball and won it easily. O'Dea, and the rest of the Celtic back four, badly struggled in second half. I wouldn't fault O'Dea in any way in the lead up to the goal. But his general play in the second half didn't look "comfortable" and I'd very much doubt he improved his chances of becoming a first team regular for Celtic after last night's performance.

[irishfan86]

O'Dea, and the rest of the Celtic back four, badly struggled in second half. I wouldn't fault O'Dea in any way in the lead up to the goal. But his general play in the second half didn't look "comfortable" and I'd very much doubt he improved his chances of becoming a first team regular for Celtic after last night's performance.

He's hardly played any first team football this year, and he's a natural centre-half to boot.

That considered, I think he did fine.

[ifk101]

He's hardly played any first team football this year

I know. I think last night's performance showed why.

and he's a natural centre-half to boot.

Yes I know but it wasn't his positional sense that was at fault last night.

That considered, I think he did fine.

He was very average. If he wants to be a regular for Celtic, he has to do better in taking his chances to play in the team. For me he was the "weakest link" in Celtic's back four last night but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[EAFC_rdfl]

It beggers belief that O Dea hasn't featured much this season. Last season he was a revelation in defence for Celtic. Instead Stracahan relies on planks like Mcmanus, Kennedy and Caldwell and don't get me started on Pressley.

As for Aiden, he's playing really well at the moment and it'll only be a matter of time until he sets croke park alight. After the nightmare in Eastern Europe, he's done well in the rest of the games and a fresh start might be what he needs.

You obviously don't watch scottish football - McManus is far from a plank, for a man still relatively young (in terms of centre back) he is a real leader, extremely organised, brave to the last and scores his fair share of goals.
As for last night, I think O'dea did as well as could be expected for a 20 year old playing out of position in only his 2nd game in ages, against the European champions. I am a huge fan but I fear he will never get a proper chance at CB for Celtic as Strachan seems intent on only having one left footed CB, which is a real pity.

[Stuttgart88]

Dion Fanning dissed McManus in a recent article comparing Scotland's team to ours. I nearly choked.

I'd have McManus in our team in an instant. He & Dunne would be a great combo. He's careless at times and makes mistakes but he's a young lad and I think he could go on to being one of the best Celtic captains in a long time.