Keane followed closely by McGrath. I pray somebody comes along shortly with that kind of ability.
Keane for me by a distance. Followed by Paul McGrath. Anyone who suggests Irwin obviously never watched him play for Ireland. He was solid but never spectacular and wouldn't drastically improve our team as a whole in the same way a Keane or McGrath would. He also played most of his games for Ireland at right back and not left back as many on here seem to be suggesting.
As for Brady while undoubtedly one of the most talented players we ever had he was not a patch on Keane at the top of his game in an Ireland jersey. Keane was one of the few Ireland players that could almost singlehandedly win a game by himself.
Last edited by youngirish; 15/07/2008 at 11:19 AM.
Keane followed closely by McGrath. I pray somebody comes along shortly with that kind of ability.
Paul Butler anyone?!
Terry Phelan
That question was less stupid, though you asked it in a profoundly stupid way.
Help me, Arthur Murphy, you're my only hope!
Originally Posted by Dodge
And Dominic Foley got 2 from 5!
Your sarcasm doesn't change the fact that he didn't singlehandedly win too many games for us, obviously he was a far better player than Connolly but we never won any games where Keane was the only one who performed, others played their part too but its typical of many to dismiss everyone else and give all the credit to Keane
I would argue that he lost us two points in Israel in 2006 with his negative play. Kerr got blamed but it was Keane on the pitch who was pointing backwards.
Bit harsh though ..
didn't score in the dutch game, but it was him dragging us towards that famous win. didn't score in the giants stadium but he was immense (obviously people rightly remember Mc Grath's performance). Or in Seville in the 0-0 against Spain (1993ish) .. when Maradonna became a fan after watching his performance.
I think his performance in the portugal game at home in 2001 was the one that stood out though .. we should have been 3-0 down with some comedy defending at the back .. and a shot off one of the posts .. but Keane dragged us back into it as most as of you can remember.
Wrong his influence on the pitch in many of the games he played was often the difference between picking 3 points up instead of 1 or 1 point up instead of 0. Some of those games have been mentioned already I also thought he was immense against the Dutch both home and away in the 2002 campaign. There are many more through the years.
When did I say that we would have won those games without him? Would we have won the game against the Dutch without him? probably not but we probably wouldn't have won it if McAteer hadn't played either or Given, Finnan etc, he played a key part but to say he singlehandedly won it for us isn't accurate
Exactly. McAteer scored in both games against Holland. Did he therefore "singlehandly" got us to Korea/Japan ? The fact that one player is better than the others doesn't mean he is THE team. It takes others to perform (eg. Given) as well.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
You're the one who brought goalscoring into it!!
Think you're confusing that with the Dutch game as regards the ball coming back off the post.
That said I was at a wedding the day of the Portugal game and didn't even get to see the first half so it may have happened that day as well. Keane was immense against Portugal as well mind you, just think the Benny Hill defending was against Holland.
cheers .. will pull out the dvd tonight.. I remember Stan and a Dunne being an untried pairing at the back against portugal and they were all over the place for the first 25 minutes. might have been the dutch game though. or both!! and keane popping up everywhere and basically playing everywhere bar goalkeeper and then scoring .. and then running towards the crowd with the lad in the wheelchair going mad. brilliant. someone didn't pick figo up at the corner though for the equaliser.
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