Republic of Ireland V Colombia - Thursday, 29th May 2008 - Friendly - Craven Cottage

[irishultra]

****....*walks away with head down*

[passinginterest]

I thought Whelan did OK. He broke up an awful lot of attacks. Miller offers nothing beside him, far too little presence. Whelan is a play breaker rather than play maker, he just needed someone beside him to demand the ball and offer support. I wouldn't argue that centre mid was outclassed, but, I would say I think Whelan has more to offer the squad long term.

Though Doyle was brilliant in the air. For a fella that's six foot at most he won an amazing amount of ball in the air. He held it up well at times too. Just a few final balls that were a bit poor.

McGeady never really got past his man, he worked hard, did OK, still not really doing what we hope he can do though.

Delaney looked the most composed of the back four I felt, he tried to pass it more than the others too. Overall the defence was OK, considering the midfield was under severe pressure in the first half especially.

[irishfan86]

Have to say though that Dunne, athough a great defender, is not a great footballer. Whacked the ball long all night even when he had an option.

If I had only watched Ireland's last two matches, I would agree with you.

But at Man City, he will very rarely go long ball.

This is because the central midfielders do a great job of showing for the ball.

I felt Whelan and Miller did not look particularly hungry to get on the ball.

[theworm2345]

Capped from a stream
3' Keane Goal: Sharebee (cut from Analysis)
Full Time Analysis: Sharebee

[Qwerty]

Whelan was shocking. I know it's never in vogue to criticise newcomers but if John O Shea played a game like that this thread would be flooded with "O SHEA OUT" comments. I couldn't see one positive thing he did with the ball, he gave away possession time and time again, he didnt tackle well, he didnt pass well, he didnt mark his man well. He had a nightmare, he wasn't just poor he was a liability for the side.

Are you trying to get a response from eirebhoy? I'm surprised he hasn't jumped to Glenn's defense as he has been champioing Whelan & McGeady for the past 2 years, perhaps he is on vacation or found a better use for his free time...

[strangeirish]

Check out the ball in the above pic with the FAI logo? Is this new?

[Claret Murph]

I have to agree centre mid was a waste land , I don't want to go on about Miller as he has never or will ever be anything but a championship player in my view .
On a positive note I was happy how the Trap sent them back out again in the second half and they only had one or two at best chances to score from open play , it is a sort of thing the Italians would do . Hang on is our manager from that neck of the woods ........................

[shakermaker1982]

I just hope our luck holds out for the games in September. The Trap clearly doesn't like substitutes. The centre of MF was woeful, it offered no protection to the back 4 and if the Colombians had ran at the centre backs instead of shooting from 45 yards every time they might have had more success. We need more players with a physical presence and I'm delighted we have found one in Delaney, he'll be dangerous at set pieces and likes to get stuck in. If only we could find a couple of live wires in MF....

Kiely - 9 - outstanding performance.
O'Shea - 6
Dunne - 6
McShane - 8 - Looked like a man with a point to prove and played well.
Delaney - 6.5

McGeady - 7
Miller - 5.5
Whelan - 5.5
Keogh - 6

Keane - 6
Doyle 7 - worked hard and held the ball up well.

[The Scientist]

Colombia play some lovely stuff, a pleasure to watch and will do well in the African heat in 2010 presuming they qualify.

those hedge school boys in Donegal love their geography !!!

[irishfan86]

those hedge school boys in Donegal love their geography !!!

I think he was just saying that they would do well in African heat because they're used to the heat in Columbia...

[craig7042]

I sky+ it and am watching it tommorrow (working tonight). Was it worth me doing so??

It was a great game..not a good game!

Anyway.. positive to get the win and we always look up for it. Not conceeding was important.

The major thing that Colombia taught us is that we have to pass better through midfield. Its quite amazing how top premiership players like we have just dont have the instinct for that. The English were talking about the same thing in their game against USA the other night. Its weird but maybe its harder than we think?!

The other point is that Colombia were not as good as the hype on the TV made out. They had no end product - blazing the ball over the bar frequently and they gave the ball away atleast as much as us. At times they could pass the ball brilliantly in build up play and a draw would have been fair, but to say we were taught a footballing lesson is extreme.

[Dr. Ogba]

Have to say lads that I've been an advocate of McShane for a while on this board but every time the ball came near him on the ground I cringed. He's just far too uncomfortable on the ball to be allowed anywhere near the team in the qualifiers. Also he was responsible for playing the Colombian forward onside on several occasions in the first half. If only the game was constantly played in the air cause his headed clearances were excellent.

Also Miller - I can't remember the last time I've seen such a lazy central midfield player. After he was so poor last week I wanted to keep an eye on him in this game and by Jaysus the amount of time he was just strolling around while his opposite number dictated the play. Seriously, workrate wise, he makes John O'Shea look like Roy Keane...
I felt awful sorry for Glen Whelan as he's been having to try and do the work of 2 central midfield players in his first 2 international caps!

Apart from that I though Keane and Doyle showed glimpses of a possible partnership forming. Also a bit of a shame Hoolihan didn't get a bit more game time, he's a classy little player...

[Duggie]

poor performance but ill take the win. we did well enough at the back but our midfield were very poor on the night. whelan was terrible have to say. and delaney was caught out a few times moving inside and leaving his side way to much space. but a win is a win, if we play poor and get to the WC who will care.

[tomred23]

Miller and Whelan were very bad, all of Columbia chances very created through the middle. The full backs for ireland defended good as i dont remember a cross coming in to our box, they could of got forward a bit more though. I was impressed with Delaney. I taught McShane did ok but he did make a few mistake that could of cost us a goal or two, if Kiely wasn't on top form. All of our corners were very bad, McGeady never delivered a good cross in the whole match, i will put that down to tiredness.
I think Trap didn't make many subs as he wanted to win the game.

[Duggie]

did anyone else see how delaney came inside to often and left his side exposed a few times ?

[Wolfie]

The 1 nil scoreline flattered us a bit - but we'll take it.

Has to be said that Kiely was excellent - Man of the Match for us. Imagine he could have featured heavily in the last campaign with Given injured, although that alone wouldn't have saved us.

Thought we were solid enough at the back bar a few dodgy moments for McShane and Dunne - again moments where concentration in possession was lacking. Delaney has potential but his distribution on the ball needs to improve. O'Shea was solid defensively to be fair.

Yet again, centre midfield was the root of a lot of our problems. The Colombian lads, Torres and Guarin were excellent and showed Ireland how it should be done. Everything that was good about Colombia involved them. Time and again, one or the other of them dropped off 15 yards to show for the full back. Once in possession, they had a variety of options. Contrast this with O'Shea and Delaney with no option but to punt for Doyle.

Miller and Whelan were very poor. Miller was slightly less brutal than Saturday - but he's not the answer.

I think Andy Reid has the ability to play a similar role that Torres or Guarin played and could be complemented with either Carsley or Stephen Reid.

I though McGeady needed to offer us more width last night. He endeavoured to cut inside too often. I think he need to stay wide and run the line in order to create more chances for Doyle and Keane last night.

Overall - the ship is steadying but a fair bit to go yet.

[amaccann]

I thought the performance was awful, but we were solid and organised & the manager should take praise for that. Especially at the back, where a poorer manager, like Stan, would have had us running around like headless chickens & conceding goals left, right an centre. So I think we have to praise the fact that we didn't lose our head even when totally outplayed by a fairly impressive Colombian team. McShane had a good game (though he panics too often & goes for the thoughtless clearing header / row Z thump even when under no pressure )

Having said that, we desperately need a better midfield & it's gratifying to know that there are ones, albeit currently injured. I am somewhat baffled as to why Garvan didn't get a run out; he seemed like the right type of midfielder that we needed at the time.

You would have to wonder though if Trap doesn't get a little bit frustrated at the inherent lack of technical ability some of the (admittedly fringe) players like Whelan or Miller.

[kingdomkerry]

Anyway lads, Im going for one nil to Ireland. At 18.13 im telling ye Trap will get his first win and first clean sheet!

Told ye so!!

[Morbo]

We were badly molested in the 1st half but somehow kept a clean sheet by a combination of luck, Kale and crap finishing.
In a way this is probably better for the team than if we had one by a few, the players kept their concentration for 90 minutes and it was important not to concede a late goal like we have in the past.
McShane actually played pretty well there might still be hope for him yet.
Midfield was brutal, Whealan unfortunetly just isn't up to it and Miller was ok but should only be used as backup.
I would have liked to see Garvan play, I think he could have done a better job than Whelan or Miller, hopefully he will get a chance against Norway so we can find out if he is ready for international football.
What did Ronnie mean when he said Carsley is gone?

[Morbo]

Told ye so!!

Put any money on it? I think my prediction of 1-1 was more accurate as the Colombians at least deserved a 1-1 draw, hopefully the bookies will see it my way too when I go to collect my winnings