Our best XI?

[dr_peepee]

Disparaging Andy Reid is a bootable offence!!!

[geysir]

Here's what the real Kilbane is capable of, if only his club coaches didn't kill his creativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICut2PWmtb4

[danonion]

Here's what the real Kilbane is capable of, if only his club coaches didn't kill his creativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICut2PWmtb4

Jesus, that reminds me - I remember years and years ago, Sunderland couldn't buy a goal, they were scoreless in like a record number of matches, and out of nowhere Kilbane hit a ridiculous overhead kick goal nad they won the game

[elroy]

I think potentially Andy Reid could fill the - comfortable on the ball, can hold it up, good passer role that we need. I agree with Hunt think he is an impact player but he should start one of the friendlies coming up to see how he gets on. Very disappointed with McGeady, Ive never really seen anything from him to get too excited about.
Overall that looks a good team, i think JOSH did well for us in the two games at right back so he should stay there, left back is a bit of a problem though. Finnan does a capable job there but is very uncomfortable on his left.

[sparkey]

Of the players fit at present, in my opinion our best eleven would be:

--------------Given----------------
Finnan---Dunne---McShane---OShea
---------Carsley---Ireland----------
McGeedey-----------------Duff-----
-----------Keane----Doyle----------

With The Reading boys of Hunt and Long being the ideal impact subs as they have shown already. Also until McGeedey starts to show his Celtic form in an Ireland Shirt I would start with Stephen Reid on the right when he would be back to full fitness.

[cavan_fan]

Of the players fit at present, in my opinion our best eleven would be:

--------------Given----------------
Finnan---Dunne---McShane---OShea
---------Carsley---Ireland----------
McGeedey-----------------Duff-----
-----------Keane----Doyle----------

With The Reading boys of Hunt and Long being the ideal impact subs as they have shown already. Also until McGeedey starts to show his Celtic form in an Ireland Shirt I would start with Stephen Reid on the right when he would be back to full fitness.

The back 5 is probably set barring injury, I still dont get the Finnan O'Shea thing and I wish Stan would explain.

What's the story with Joey O'Brien. Is he ever going to play again. We dont need another RB but maybe we could use him elsewhere?

I think I'd start with the following must haves:

Duff to start LM, our best outfield player
Carsley to start in CM
Robbie to start tucked in behind Doyle


So I'd be looking for a right sided midfielder and another CM. The opposition will dictate this a bit but in CM you can pick from S Reid (my pref), Kilbane, Miller, Joey O'Brien, I'd go for S Reid if fit

On the right we have no great choices but I think maybe Joey O'Brien. If you slot Finnan as right back you'd have a solid pairing and Finnan would be able to go forward. For Liverpool he creates a lot of goals so I'd pick this. Other options are Hunt (though I like bringing him off the bench) and McGeady, if he ever proves eireboy half right.

The Keane role behind the front man could be covered by Ireland and A Reid

On Andy Reid, I dont see a point in having him as a first choice as he is injured so much. (Is this due to him adding too much muscle too quickly, a la Jonny Wilkinson?). If he gets 6 months under his belt maybe then.

[citizenerased]

...................Given

Finnan.....Dunne....McShane...O'Shea

...............S Reid.....Ireland

McGeady............Keane..............Duff

......................Doyle

[youngirish]

How about Kelly in place of JOS and Finnan at right back? Kelly seems to have been forgotten a bit. He was good against the Czechs and will more than likely be back in the Premiership in a few months.

Joey O'Brien has a serious knee injury btw. Won't be back until next season at the earliest. He's also a far better central midfielder than a right back.

[cavan_fan]

How about Kelly in place of JOS and Finnan at right back? Kelly seems to have been forgotten a bit. He was good against the Czechs and will more than likely be back in the Premiership in a few months.

Joey O'Brien has a serious knee injury btw. Won't be back until next season at the earliest. He's also a far better central midfielder than a right back.

At the beginning of the season we were all very excited about O'Brien and Garvan, pity injury/sickness has lost them both a season

[Nailer77]

On what we've seen over the last few months :

Given

Finnan McShane Dunne O'Shea

Carsley

Duff S.Reid A.Reid Hunt

Doyle


Thats only going on recent form now, and I think without Keane we look far more direct. Also McGeady hasn't had the impact that Hunt has despite what a lot people seem to think, he was one of the poorer players last night and Hunt made a difference form the second he walked onto the pitch and his crossing is spot on. I'll probably get hammered for leaving Robbie out but I think a side like ours has to make the best of what we have and thats our wide players and to get the best out of them you need to give them a certain amount of freedom to get forward which means more bodies in midfield. Also Ireland and Andy Reid would probably struggle in a 2 man midfield especially with the purely defensive Carsley so thats why I'd use the 3 with 2 capable ball players in the Reids with Ireland as a great option from the bench and then you can get away with Carsley doing what he's good at.

[RogerMilla]

i cannot agree re. andy reid , ireland has shown himself more potent and developing at a rate of knots. I say ireland is in our best XI and andy reid has a lot to do to play himself into it.

[Nailer77]

Thats probably fair enough but Irelands goals have hidden a few deficiencies. He gave the ball away a lot on Saturday and really faded last night, but fair enough potential wise he's got more to his game. One of them should definitely be starting though alongside S Reid and Carsley in midfield, especially against the tougher opposition.

[kingdom hoop]

seeing as though i posted this the other day i very much agree eirebhoy

i see this team as potentially a very good template for the future. replace kilbane with steven reid, then its between andy reid, ireland or possibly keane for the creative role with hunt and again possibly keane putting pressure on mcgeady.

i thought jos' performance was good enough to retain his place. he seemed uncharacteristically focussed last night. but there were a few times where a sliding tackle was cried out for but he was too timid. stephen kelly is also a bit of a wheeler though.

the most positive thing is that outside of carsley the whole team will be a good age for south africa, as per the plan!

[galwayhoop]

We need a Roy Keane. We keep producing these pacey wingers when we need a good midfield player. S Reid may do that when he comes back but we cant rely on carsley for much longer because he is coming to the end.

in fairness you can't just say we need a roy keane and go out and find one. it's like saying we need a george best or a pele. keane was a class act, love him or loathe him.

carsley is doing an ok job at the moment but i see joey o'brien filling that holding/defensive midfield position in the long run. fitness and form permitting of course.

[drummerboy]

Thankfully Owen Garvan is back playing regularly with Ipswich.

Celtic have employed a sprint coach to work with Darren O'Dea. Hopefully it works for him.

Joey O'Brien is a decent player and hopefully he will get fit again.

[Nailer77]

Thankfully Owen Garvan is back playing regularly with Ipswich.

Celtic have employed a sprint coach to work with Darren O'Dea. Hopefully it works for him.

Joey O'Brien is a decent player and hopefully he will get fit again.

Thats one of the real positives. Despite what a lot of people are saying WE HAVE got the players, and when you look at what we had out there last night and then supplement that with Robbie Keane, S.Reid, A. Reid, O'Dea, S Quinn, Garven, O'Brien, Stokes etc then things look brighter. In September injuries permitting we'll have a far healthier squad to pick from. Its getting the best out of these guys thats the task. And Stan really has to look at one or two of those Championship centre backs like Hawkins or McCarthy because we're a bit short there.

[galwayhoop]

...................Given

Finnan.....Dunne....McShane...O'Shea

...............S Reid.....Ireland

McGeady............Keane..............Duff

......................Doyle

i think this team would get absolutely torn apart by any decent opposition. there is no shape to it imo. what are you saying, ireland and reid as the central midfielders. in fairness the back 4 are totally exposed. check out eirebhoys first post for a team with balance.

if you deviate from a traditional ridgid 4-4-2 you need to make sure that there is a good balance of defensive and attack minded players as defenders can be more exposed and you also need to be able to support the front man. that looks like an old fashioned 4-2-4 with stephen ireland (an attacknig midfielder/forward player)as one of the 2 central midfielders!

[Nailer77]

i think this team would get absolutely torn apart by any decent opposition. there is no shape to it imo. what are you saying, ireland and reid as the central midfielders. in fairness the back 4 are totally exposed. check out eirebhoys first post for a team with balance.

if you deviate from a traditional ridgid 4-4-2 you need to make sure that there is a good balance of defensive and attack minded players as defenders can be more exposed and you also need to be able to support the front man. that looks like an old fashioned 4-2-4 with stephen ireland (an attacknig midfielder/forward player)as one of the 2 central midfielders!

Yeh, that setup would get royally rode. Grand for the likes of San Marino and even Wales but not for any side of a decent standard.

[bohsRap]

I still dont get the Finnan O'Shea thing and I wish Stan would explain.

I thought the reason was clear enough, O'Shea is a liability at left back, absolute muck. Defensively Finnan at left back is a much better option if you are to play O'Shea and last night he seemed to adjust more into this position, not cutting back but instead using his left boot.

[NeilMcD]

I said before these 2 games that we should go for a 4 5 1 as it covers up our lack of players in central midfield. I dont think we have a central midfield pairing at the moment that can play together. Carsley is half a top class midfielder and Stephen Ireland is another half of that top class midfielder. As a result we need somebody in there beside them. On Saturday it was Douglas and last night it was Kilbane. Both tireless workers who are limited in their ability to keep the ball.

In future we have a few options. We could replace these guys with Stephen Reid or Andy Reid or even drop Keane back to where Ireland plays and put Ireland beside Carsley.

What is clear is that defensively this formation suits and we have looked very solid over the last 2 games. I think we should play Robbie Keane in the position where Ireland plays as he played here against Sweden and was top class. It is where he plays for Spurs a lot of the time and it suits his tendancy to go look for the ball in different areas of the pitch.

Hunt and Duff should start on the wings and the back four cannot be changed as it has performed very well over the last 2 games.

All in all we look like we have a game plan now and I think the 4 5 1 suits us and it has a flexibilty to it that suits substitutes coming into the game in a number of positions. So far this formation has been used against Sweden Czech Rep, Wales and Slovakia. 3 wins and 1 draw. So I think we should pursue this for future games.