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

[the doc]

Loads of new posts appeared in the time it took me to write my last reply. So it's good to see that there is a general opinion that the biggest problem with tonights game was a poor CMF pairing resulting in Colombia having too much of the ball to come and attack and also limiting our attack to hoofing the ball out from defence again.
Delaney and McShane had decent games which sweeps our defence problems under the carpet until the next game at least. However, these players could really be found out when the competitive games start. Fingers crossed that they develop into solid international-class players, neither will be world-class.
What's really interesting for me, if the defence holds steady, is how we will play when all MF players are available.
Carsley has his knockers on here but he would have shored up the MF tonight if he played instead of Whelan. Anyway, from Reid x 2, Carsley, Ireland we can surely find a paring that would work better than tonight. Will Trap employ a style where we will create more chances or will he use the more solid CM pairing to make us more difficult to beat. Pity we have to wait until August to find out.

To be fair McShane had a good game, a little too hasty at times but overall he did ok.
The slow build up play from the Columbians suited his game, as he wasn't put under any real pressure, which he tends to panic if closed down quickly.
Still doesnt hide the fact that there are better players in his position, not in the squad and that is something that needs to be addressed.

[ifk101]

Agree with pretty much everything said already. Miller and Whelan weren't at the races last night. Distribution from the back was poor but Miller and Whelan weren't showing for it. McShane played a number of 25 yards back passes to Kiely as nobody was showing for the ball. Also noticed Delaney got caught on the ball a number of times - to a certain extent because Miller and Whelan weren't showing for the ball. McGeady needs to learn when to dribble and when to pass. He was our most creative player last night but it's frustrating watching him dribble into cul de sacs and subsequently losing the ball.

The positives are that we won the game, we closed them out in the second half, Kiely had a great game, we kept a clean sheet and we were organised.

But plenty to work on.

[lionelhutz]

Thank God Kiely has come back. If he wasn't in goals tonight, we could have been humiliated - especially if Henderson or Kenny were playing. I thought McShane was excellent except for 1 or 2 sloppy passes in the 1st half, Dunne looked wrecked.

Defence played pretty well as a unit. As already stated, the midfield was awful. Its up to the central midfielders to demand the ball from the defence but instead they hid and the ball had to be lumped up the field where possession was almost always lost.

Whelan and Miller simply weren't up to it. McGeady was ok, when there's better players in CM he'll get more quality ball. I was very worried to see them put Keogh on the right - did they not watch the Germany game in Croker? He's lost there.

Keane and Doyle worked hard but again due to nobody taking control in CM, they got no decent ball. They spent the night chasing balls into the corner and challenging for balls in the air they were never going to win.

Andy Reid is without doubt going to make or break this campaign for us. If he stays fit and performs to his ability, we have a real chance of qualifying. Otherwise, we don't have a hope.

[lionelhutz]

As i posted in another thread, it's painfully obvious that Andy Reid will make or break our qualifying campaign. He'd be important in any team but he's absolutely essential for Ireland. We have no-one else anywhere near his passing ability, technique and reading of the game in CM. Ireland is a different type of player and could be useful further forward and S. Reid And Carsley are different types of CM to A. Reid.

We'll need him to drop off and take the ball off the defence regularly so we don't have to lump it forward and lose possession the whole time like we did last night. His distribution of the ball is top notch so we'll able to hold onto the ball so much more with him there.

Also with Duff, S.Reid and possibly Finnan and Ireland back we'll have more players with the ability to keep possession. We were terrible at ball retention last night

[Blue Man]

I think the most pleasing aspect was how solid we looked under immesnse pressure and didnt crumble to a late goal a la Croatia, Macedonia and Russia. Even if it was only a friendly and not a qualifier, it was still good to see.

Yes I agree it wasnt the best performance, buts its the winning mentality that Trap is trying to drill in that will determine how well we do. So what if its a friendly, its a win and Colombia are no mugs and a better side than Serbia. At least we seem to be getting back to the thinking "if you dont concede, you cant lose" , and I think thats been Ireland's problem in recent campaigns. Personally I'll take poor performances and beat everybody 1-0

[Superhoops]

Just back from London, enjoyed last night immensely,

It wasn't just the win but the atmosphere was mighty, mainly generated by the Colombians in fairness. But watching an Ireland game in a real football ground made a pleasant change.

They should definitely play more of these games in London where, no matter who the opposition is they are likely to have a good following, and to give UK based Irish who don't normally have the opportunity to see the team playing, a chance of getting to a game. Much better than the US games they have played.

As far as the game went, most of it has been said already but Kiely and McShane were excellent. Delaney is definitely a candidate for permanent LB spot. Glen Whelan isn't good enough. Miller has talent but is lazy. Doyle looks jaded and needs to be revitalised with move from Reading.

Finally a word of praise for two of my least favourite Irish players. JOS looked comfortable at RB but in second half drifted into the centre a few times and McGeady who didn't contribute much in going forward but definitely got a big plus for the way he tracked back, especially in the second half when the Colombians had us under pressure. He just looks so small and light

Anyway, got to catch up on the ZZZZ's after a late night in Brogan's (Fair play to 'mine host' Tony and his crew). Got to get ready for the big match this weekend, Wicklow v Laois

[geysir]

The back 4 got a good work out and all did well.
But so many lumps up the field.
There is a lot of work in progress.
Compared to Colombia, we look bereft of threat in attack, can't shoot from anywhere, set pieces poor, little movement to support McGeady's cuts inside.
McGeady started weak, got stronger.

I don't yet see system imposed on the team as regards our style of play, we are waiting for the players like Andy Reid to come in and do it for us.
I would have preferred to see Murphy on instead of Doyle for 45 mins.
ATM i'd see Murphy as better suiting us as a team and as a partner for Keane.

[Emmet]

I was actually quite pleased last night overall - we were up against a very good Columbia side who went into the match with a very good record; we certainly rode our luck at times but we also created some decent chances and maybe should have had a penalty in the second-half. I definitely agree about the size of the pitch - I don't know what the dimensions are at Croke Park but our players look a bit lost out there at times. On a smaller, more compact, pitch we were able to get up to support the attacking players and were able to create more chances as a result. It's good that the team has signed off the season on a positive note - that will ensure we start next season in a positive, go-forward, state of mind.

[boovidge]

I don't understand the praise for McShane here. He was dodgy in the first half and only OK in the second. Good performance compared to his recent lot i suppose.

We rode our luck a bit in the first half but i'm pleased that we managed to keep a clean sheet and keep hold of a lead for once.

The atmosphere at Craven was great. Closer to the ground, less groups of kids and the columbians ( ) helped with that. Ok so no new chants to speak of but at least we gave the usual lot (athenry, boys in green etc) a good go.

[amaccann]

I don't understand the praise for McShane here. He was dodgy in the first half and only OK in the second. Good performance compared to his recent lot i suppose.

We rode our luck a bit in the first half but i'm pleased that we managed to keep a clean sheet and keep hold of a lead for once.

The atmosphere at Craven was great. Closer to the ground, less groups of kids and the columbians ( ) helped with that. Ok so no new chants to speak of but at least we gave the usual lot (athenry, boys in green etc) a good go.

McShane has potential - his critics say he's a championship level player at best, and yet Championship players form a good percentage of our squad. McShane though is young & raw, like all central defenders that age. No more than Dunne at the same point in his career, McShane is having a rough time of it & some shakey matches. I think Trap sees the potential and wants to coax it out.

[carloz]

Think people are being just a little unfair on Miller. He is never going to be a player to set a game alight, but he is an good honest grafter. He could have done with someone like like S. Reid or Carsley beside him, lets not forget that Whealan was in a Championship struggle with Sheffield Wednesday up to a few months ago. He is new to this so he needs time. Miller reminds me a little of Matty Holland. His passing can be a tad annoying at time but he is a decent squad player to have.
Happy for McShane. Getting a lot of abuse recently, most of it merited, but hopefully this will help get his confidence back. Dont think Dunphys comments yesterday in the Star would have helped.
Think a result like this can give great confidence. We beat a very good technical team, easily the third best in South America at the moment. If we can get a result now in Norway i would have a lot of optomism going into the September double headers

[boovidge]

what would this result do for our World rankings?

[carloz]

Dunno, but should be very helpful to us, they are ranked 19th while i think we are 42nd. If they count it as an away game for us it will be even more helpful

[Reality Bites]

Our central midfield is the only really problem from last night, we need Andy Reid back (lets hope he stays out of Burger King during his Hols) and of course S Ireland!, Carsley also as DM, not sure if S Reid is more suitable for this role...

I thought A Reid salvaged Sunderland from Relegation he is comfortable on the ball and he has vision, I remember one of his first touch during the season created a memorable goal for Daryl Murphy!

[Metrostars]

Some good pics of the game here:

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=1227#comments

[kingdomkerry]

McShane showed he can do a job for us, even though we accept he is liable to the odd mistake. Finnan will give the back four a more solid look.

Finnan Dunne O'Brien/McShane Delaney/O'Se

Midfield is the real problem area and it has been really since keane left. Whelan and Miller just wont do. I think Duff and McGeady will do well as the two wingers but im not sure if you can play the 2 of them together not in away games anyway

Duff Ireland Carsley S.Reid A.Reid McGeady
Pick four from that depending on the opposition

Keane Doyle/Keogh

I think they are the players that will determine if we qualify for the world cup!

[paul_oshea]

lads missed the goal cos the stupid stadium was letting in on the gate with money as well as tickets. who actually scored was it good?

Trap said he wanted us to play it on the ground more we never did that the only one who constantly played it on the ground was mcgeady, trap was right after every 2 or 3 passess it was hoofed. I thought he said they worked on this.....

The colombians booing cos we wouldn't do the mexican wave, i think i saw Stutts, tets and Sligo_hornet starting it off at one point. Shame on them.

[boovidge]

Sky are showing the game again atm.

^Keane scored. It was a poor deflected goal that barely crossed the line

[geysir]

The colombians booing cos we wouldn't do the mexican wave, i think i saw Stutts, tets and Sligo_hornet starting it off at one point. Shame on them.

Name and shame them Paul

[Superhoops]

lads missed the goal cos the stupid stadium was letting in on the gate with money as well as tickets. ...

No, missed the goal cos you stayed too long in Brogans

Well done owl, far more informative than myself, though I thought he was just wondering which stop to get off rather than directions. TFL is done using the main roads rather than side streets. It is definitely not 26 mins. If you look on google its slightly over a mile if you over jendal place, turn left off dawes road onto bishop street ( in the lower left of the picture posted by owl )and continue on straight onto gowan avenue. It should only take the average punter about 12 - 15 mins.

You're obviously not the average punter.

26 mins from pub to ground was about right.