QuoteHe thought the ref was crap as well. Apparently they thought they should have had a peno when Van Nistelrooy floored Given.
"The difference between playing England two weeks ago and today was the pitch and the Irish defending," said Van Gaal, whose position as Dutch coach may be under threat.
"I blame myself for not qualifying for the World Cup, because I'm directly responsible for the team, but I don't know what I must blame myself for."
Tosser!
He thought the ref was crap as well. Apparently they thought they should have had a peno when Van Nistelrooy floored Given.
on five strikers at the end of the game, that is mad, maybe if he had stuck to his game plan he might of got something, Ireland defended well, although at times i nearly sh*t myself, there were sometimes in game when i thought "this is it, they'll get one and they wont stop" but the lads done well with ten men, Staunton had a great game, Duff and Keane were the candidates for Man of the Match, no question of that. But it ain't over yet.
A couple of points worth remembering:
Van Gaal is a superb manager/coach with a proven track record.
On any other day you might care to pick, the Dutch, with any kind of luck at all, would have given us a pasting. Sure, the Irish defended like men posssessed, but I saw on SKY TV where the VISITORS had 24 attempts on goal. At the end of the day, if we are completely honest about it, our victory owed as much to their proligacy in front of goal as to any effort above and beyond by the green shirted heroes.
They've beaten us continuously over the past decade, converting the vital chance from noticeably fewer opportunities. Last Saturday, thankfully, they left their shooting boots in Schipol.
But who cares? We've finally 'done em'!
Although it might serve us well to recall ALL of the contributory factors in the victory...and not just be selective about it. In a nutshell: we were brave, but we were very, very lucky too!
Gerry
Lucky?
I try telling people we were lucky too but get shot down as a pessimist!
People say the best Micko could have done was beat the dutch so how could he do better.
The weird and wonderful ways of football:
We played much better in Amsterdam, but only drew. We were played off the park by the Portuguese in Lansdowne, but nearly won. We fought hard but played badly (IMO) against the Dutch last Saturday but took three points.
All I'm saying is we had our moments, but we were lucky too...
Gerry
BTW, full credit to Big Mac! I admire the way he lets his team play, and he is learning all the time since his appointment. Unlike a certain former manager who was convinced he knew it all...
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