Republic of Ireland V Brazil - Wednesday, 6th February 2008 - Friendly

[sligobhoy67]

I really cant stand Whelan - McGeady cant do anything right in his eyes yet the sun shines out of the hole of the rest of the team.

McGeady is critisised for the same thing that other players are getting praised for.

[danonion]

We can take a few things from this game.
Shay Given was solid as ever; looked menacing in a dark strip.

Damien Duff beat his man repeatedly - struck a ferocious shot on target that the keeper couldn't hold and looked a threat. He also looked like he had pace and a good level of fitness - two things I did not expect for him to ever recover after that injury.

O'Shea and Dunne - Now don't shoot me for saying this but in some way they kind of compliment each other. O'Shea's headed clearances have by-and-large improved. Dunne made only one big mistake, and as Jon Champion pointed out, it was quite a surprise because he has really been a pillar of consistency

Kelly had a few good tackles. One in particular in the second half early on ... I can't remember what minute. He then proceeded to try and run it out like he was Mark Lawrenson.

Kilbane looked OK at fullback. It is clearly not his position but he is quite strong and still has some speed. One moment of skill in the Brazilian penalty area stood out for me when he beat his man at the by-line left side of the penalty area and put in a cross. Cross was too high but if we didn't have midget strikers we could have been lauding his skill.

Lee Carsley could have possibly done better with regards to the goal we conceded, but he looked fit and sharp enough. He is known to be a fitness/health fanatic - don't be surprised if he plays through the whole of the next campaign, at least in a squad member capacity.

Keane and Doyle were quiet enough (easy to say when a strike partnership doesn't score). Bad move by Don Givens not to bring Fintan Morrison because replacing Doyle with Hunt meant we had too many tricky small players in the attacking positions.

Miller isn't really ever going to be good enough, is he?

[irishfan86]

Well, I may be shot for saying this, to use one of your expressions, but I thought Miller looked decent enough.

Gave the ball up once in a crucial position, but not as bad as some have been saying, and he's certainly had some positive moments for Sunderland this season.

I'm not saying he's beyond dropping, but I think he'll have a role to play in this coming campaign.

[danonion]

Well, I may be shot for saying this, to use one of your expressions, but I thought Miller looked decent enough.

Gave the ball up once in a crucial position, but not as bad as some have been saying, and he's certainly had some positive moments for Sunderland this season.

I'm not saying he's beyond dropping, but I think he'll have a role to play in this coming campaign.

I suppose my criticism may be a little harsh - he'll certainly be in the squad or thereabouts, but he's weak and not very fast - even if his passing is ok that will always make him a liability of sorts.

[shaneker]

Bloody right - McGeady, I thought, was our best player tonight, and Whelen would not get off his back. Never mind, I think Aiden proved him wrong.

[biscuit]

Agreed, thought McGeady did well, ran at players and caused trouble. Maybe the killer ball wasnt always there but it was a promising performance. Luckily i dont take Whelan seriously as a pundit, actually hes pretty ****e to be honest, and that accent...

[McGeady10]

My opinion...

Given 8 - Some good saves but a bit dodgy with the ball at his feet at times.

Kelly 6 - Very average. Not great either going forward or back the way. Would like the new manager to get Finnan back.

O'Shea 6 - Wasteful in possession, easily outmuscled at the goal.

Dunne 7 - Typical whole-hearted performance.

Kilbane 7 - Works really hard. Sure there's better players but he's a good man to have around the squad.

Duff 7 - Very poor to start but grew into the game.

Carsley 5 - Too slow, too pedestrian and not enough range in his passing.

Miller 6 - Was surprised to see him come off. Was outmuscled at times but wasn't atrocious? Was he?

Potter 7 - Added a bit of power to the middle of the park. Done well I thought.

McGeady 8 - Irelands best outfield player I thought. Managed to drive with the ball 40-50 yards at times to give the defence a breather and give us a chance to get up the park - just couldn't feed him in the right areas.

Keane 6 - No service worked hard.

Doyle 5 - No service but continually gave the ball away

Hunt 5 - Toiled badly but worked hard

[shaneker]

Thought McGeady was great, only player who looked capable of unlocking the defence with a clever pass or good run, which he did several times. Almost everything we did well went through him.

Duff was utterly toothless in the first half, I was watching with a German mate of mine and he was getting so frustrated with Duff recieving the ball in a good position and then standing still for 7 or 8 seconds whilst he figured out what to do, which usually ended up with the ball going backwards or possession being lost. He improved in the second half when he came inside more often but the right wing is not and never will be his position.

O'Shea in competent game for Ireland shocker!

Kelly looked excellent getting forward in the first half, really helped Duff out because when he was stood still Kelly was charging past him further forward. Made a few good tackles but also a few shocking ones; one in particular which in a qualifier with a dodgy European ref could have been a harsh red.

Kilbane never stopped running and caused problems late on but was caught drifting too far infield in defence on occasions. Until we get a better LB he can do the job.

Doyle never saw the ball, he really needs a goal.

I think if we play with the work rate and the commitment that we showed tonight, stick Andy Reid in the midfield alongside Carsley (yes his passing was crap but he broke up so many of their attacks, giving Dunne and O'Shea the chance to get into defensive positions; vital if a team is looking to play a quick break) and we could be a right handful. Still, so many false dawns in friendly games before - I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

And don't get me started on Givens! That selfish ******* his new lows tonight; only bringing on 2 substitutes in a friendly against Brazil was absolute madness and to me it looked like he wanted to keep his best team on the field to try and steal an equaliser to protect his unbeaten 'manager' record than bringing on the young lads who need the experience for the coming campaign. Givens showed tonight he cared more about his personal 'Brazil Challenge Match' than about building the a campaign where we need every young player to show potential, and spurned the opportunity to give them a go. Pathetic - I want him OUT of the set-up.

[backstothewall]

It was one of those nights. We could be playing until tommorow morning and still not score. Brazil were toying with us. Critisisng the lad for not creating something is futile in a game where if we had more than 30% possession i would be surprised.

[Den Perry]

I thought Kilbane might be our best bet for Left Full, but he was absolutely atrocious tonight defensively. Can anybody explain why Duff was played on the right and he's left footed and vice versa with mcgeady....MADNESS

[eirebhoy]

Given - As usual his kicking was poor but he pulled off a fantastic save to keep it at 0-0. Other than that didn't have much to do.

Kelly - I thought he did well other than the unnecessary hard challenge. He wouldn't be used to playing a team like Brazil where the player he's mainly marking is also the full back. Looked confident on the ball.
Dunne - Very dominant. Can't remember Fabiano being involved much at all. Won whatever there was to be won in the air and showed his excellent pace when chasing Andersen back from the Brazil half.
O'Shea - I was impressed with this guy who I've given so much stick that it's hard to give credit to. I'm actually starting to believe he's tactically intelligent and it's his poor football ability that lets him down. He was organising our players in the box at set pieces which is a good sign.
Kilbane - It was mentioned before the match but in the first half he was literally a 3rd centre half. He left McGeady playing wing back and the Brazilian right back was having a lot of joy. You can't fault Kilbane on the ball tonight though, he was very inventive. What a run to skin 2 players and send in an excellent cross!

Carsley - Ahh. Way too defensive. He was our most involved player which really isn't a good sign. He did keep possession well, played a few good long passes and even got forward a bit. It was an above average Carsley performance but he's simply not suited to a 4 man midfield with wingers. I like him as a defensive midfielder but only in a 4-5-1. In a 4-4-2 Miller/Potter feel like they have to go deep with Carsley and it meant we had our entire team in our own half for large portions. In terms of pure effort he was man of the match but again he's not suited to a 4-4-2.
Miller - In our top 3 players in the first half imo. It was a bit of a lucky performance in that all the bounces and 50-50's fell to him but it won't do his confidence any harm at all.
McGeady - I'd go with him for motm (Dunne being the other contender). He beat the Brazilians with ease and rarely failed to find an Irish player with a pass. Without doubt his best performance for Ireland.
Duff - Very poor first half. He looked like the clueless Duff we've all known recently. 2nd half was a different story though and they couldn't get the ball off him. Had a decent shot saved. He was a marked man too.

Keane - I can't really say a bad word about him. His movement was top class. His link up and work rate as good as always. Pretty much a typical Keane performance, just needs to be playing in a well organised team.
Doyle - Not great unfortunately. He was most effective defending set pieces. Not in great form.

Potter - Kept things simple. He needs to dominate games more.
Hunt - Certainly not a starter for me. He really showed himself up tonight as a Kilbane mark II imo with a lot more confidence. I don't like to be critical of our players but he's nothing special at all. He has an excellent cross though. Great power too. Great energy and work ethic. No attributes that'll help us pass the ball succesfully when 1-0 up away to Montengro. He's an impact player, simple as that. I'm delighted to have him on the bench but he's marked off my list as a potential starter.

Overall thought the U21s last night showed more class than us and that was down to central midfield. Andy Reid will sort that out as well as the emergence of a half dozen central midfielders coming through.

[Den Perry]

I agree with your points on Hunt and Kilbane. I like Kilbane but he was poor defensively tonigt. Hunt should shut his mouth and concentrate on his football a bit more

[cavan_fan]

Odd game and I suspect that Givens thought if we won there would be a clamour to give him the job full time (By the way who was his assistant, looked like a bank teller)

Given - Am I the only one getting worried, I know the goal was through Carsley's legs but would have expected him to save it. I have a hunch that one of the stories of the next campaign will be Given's increasing fragility.

Kelly - Not good enough to be an international player, Birmingham must be sh*t is he was their player of the first half of the season. That tackle was awful and should have been red. New manager, get Finnan back.

Dunne - Oddly given how much ball the Brazilians had they didnt create that much and the centre halves looked relaxed.

O'Shea. Our second best Centre half at the moment and I feel Trapattoni would be the making of him. Pathetic attempt at a beard though.

Kilbane. Not really a Left Back. He does try hard, do you think Hunt watches him and sees himself in five years time.

McGeady. As always good bits and bad bits. I thought there were more bad bits to be fair, lots of running too far. He strikes me as a stupid player.

Carsley. Awful, terrible, dire. I am a supporter of Carsley but my rule of thumb is the less you notice him the better he is. Unfortunately I kept noticing him. Tackling was ok but he kept giving it away and getting in people's way and not looking like a professional footballer. How a guy who is an instrumental part of a very successful Everton team can be this rubbish is beyond me. Finally, if he is the best choice we have to take a free kick 25 yards out we may give up.

Miller - Looked good while he was on. Best I've seen for a while but it's probably too little too late in terms of a substantial career.

Potter - Looks wimpy, was anonymous. We need a Central Midfield badly.

Duff - As everyone has said; first half poor; second half good. We need him to play well and it might help if he was allowed five minutes on the left wing.

Doyle - Rubbish. I know he didnt get much service but he did nothing. If Keane played like that he'd be lambasted. Why didnt Givens give someone else (not Duff) 45 minutes up front.

Keane - Marginally my man of the match, a few lovely touches; at the moment he and Dunne are our only 2 top class players. Showed Doyle that if you're not getting the service don't just faff about looking grumpy, do something about it.

[Scratchy]

Odd game and I suspect that Givens thought if we won there would be a clamour to give him the job full time

There is a reason to feel positive about a defeat after all. Brazil won at a canter and rarely looked like they had to get out of 2nd gear. Given the managerial situation I'm struggling really to see what we can take out of this game.

Of course Delaney and his cronies in the FAI will be happy enough.

[tricky_colour]

Hunt 9 did more in 18 minutes than the rest of the team combined.

[Junior]

Hunt 9 did more in 18 minutes than the rest of the team combined.

+ve. Two decent crosses of note.
-ve. Gave the ball away on the edge of our own box needlessly and another couple of misplaced passes.

Hardly a 9.

[jmurphyc]

I thought Hunt was quite poor tonight when he came on. Dunne and O'Shea look like they could form a good partnership. I always thought that they were the best 2 options for our centre back pariring, but the problem for the last while is that O'Shea is probably needed on the left, and judging by Kilbane's defensive display tonight, he probably isn't good enough to be our first choice left back as his positional sense is extremely poor. He comes in to the centre way too much.

As everyone else said, Duff was poor in the first half and really improved in the second half. Give him a good run of games and he should be back to his best soon enough. He's going to be crucial to our hopes come September.

I didn't think Carsley was that bad. He's a fairly poor passer, but he'll be a good squad member for us once Steven Reid is (hopefully) back for good. McGeady was our best player IMO, but the one thing that worries me about him is his pace. He still doesn't seem quick enough to leave a defender behind. He was often given a head start of 5-10 yards on a player tonight and they caught up with him. Other than that, he looks like a fantastic prospect and will hopefully have a good campaign provided he can bring his form into a competitive game.

Keane was lively again and Doyle was largely anonymous tonight. Hopefully when the two Reids come back they'll help to support the front two again tonight.

That was probably Miller's best game for us. He covered ground well, helping Carsley to defend and also seemed to work his way out of compact spaces and trouble well. Potter also passed well tonight, but didn't really have enough time on the ball for me to make a comprehensive judgement.

Edit: Forgot to mention Kelly. I thought he was good tonight. He is an excellent option going forward. Unless Finnan comes back he'll definitely be the best option against the smaller teams in the group (at least at home). His tackle tonight was shocking though. Had that been a competitive game he would probably would have been sent off. Also the goal came down his side from a counter attack.

[tricky_colour]

+ve. Two decent crosses of note.
-ve. Gave the ball away on the edge of our own box needlessly and another couple of misplaced passes.

Hardly a 9.

A ball which he hiimself won, net effect zero.
Couple of misplaced passes?? Thats about par for an attacking player.
Look at Duffs first three crosses, all useless. No comment about that then.
And he almost created a goal scoring opertunity, probably our best chance of
the match when in came in from the centre right of the box.
What had we created up until then - answer nothing, zilch.
The only think I can recall was Kilbane getting past a man or two down
the left, but that ending in nothing I can recall.

[papa-j]

does anyone else think lack of communication is a problem in this team?
Nobody seems to call for a ball when defending crosses ie Dunnes flick when Shay flapped at it and also the ball off dunnes head that hit o'sheas shins. It also affects the teams shape, dunne and o'shea should be constantly commanding the shape of the back four and keeping Kilbane pushed wide to mark the winger. The team as a whole sits too deep and just allows teams win easy possession and then cant get forward quickly enough on the counter. It was however a big improvement on the Cprus / Wales games.

[jmurphyc]

Also, we desperately need Andy Reid back. Our attacking set pieces are shocking without him. We are also desperately short of height in the box from set pieces. Other than Kilbane and Doyle we don't have anyone.

In regards to defending set pieces, at first nobody seemed to have any idea what to do. Nobody was on the front post - I remember seeing Keane shout at Doyle to guard it, Doyle ignoring him and then Keane having to run back and do the job himself.