QuoteIf we only had one leftwinger then we would have more than new labour!Originally Posted by tricky_colour
I don't. I think he knows as much as any of us how good Reid is and knows that's a better footballer than Miller and Whelan. Pirlo wasn't getting his game for Italy because he was a central midfielder who Trap didn't think was good enough defensively. That's a CL winner and one of the best players in the world.
If we only had one leftwinger then we would have more than new labour!
Eh he has already scored for us this year against Colombia and by your logic he must be playing for Ireland for 34 years when he has actually only being playing 10 yeasrs so that is 3.4 goals per year.
In Trap we trust
I hate people who say 'we don't have the players'
I think all countries unless you are one of the top countries should stop playing from now on because they don't have these magical players.
Having watched the game I still think that Andy Reid coud contribute more the Whealan or McGeady. It appears to be a trait of Irish managers to have a blind sport towards a certain player for no particular reason.
I just hope that Andy stays fit and continues to show that you don't have to have a six-pack to play football at the top level.
Hear hear. Especially when they don't qualify it by saying what it is we don't have the players for.
Do we have the players to:
(a) win a world cup? No
(b) win a qualification group? Probably not.
(c) come second? Possibly
(d) win an away game against a first or second seed, anytime / anywhere, just once in 20 years? Probably
(e) beat a good team once or twice in a campaign? Yes
(g) pass the ball to each other rather than hoofing it? Yes
(f) avoid being thrashed by fcuking Cyprus? Yes
Still a place for Andy Reid in the side, according to Trapattoni: http://www.football365.com/story/0,1...025219,00.html
It does look like missing out on the training camp in May has cost Andy, but it's given Whelan a chance to impress, and he's grabbed it with both hands
i don't think our squad is strong enough to win the group. not by a long way. (hope i'm wrong obviously!!!)
i mean last night we put had all our players available (afaik) and the 11 that took to the field, on paper anyway, is one that any third or fourth seed in europe would be optimistic of at least drawing with at home.
unfortunately Ireland (and the british teams who play a similar style to us) are technically average and mid level central and eastern european sides are closing the gap annually and in some cases overtaking us.
Shay Given, Steve Finnan, Richard Dunne, Steven Reid, Aiden McGeady, Damien Duf and Robbie Keane..on paper I think that looks damn good.
We have only a population of just over 4.5 million, our squad unless we had a golden era, realistically this is as good as we should have.
I don't think Czech Republic are so good on paper nor Croatia but that doesn't stop them from being a success. I believe we have a far more talented squad than Scotland...and they came so close to qualification...within a game. They really could have won their group.
Norn Iron were within a game of qualifying(although not exactly realistically) and we have a much better squad than them. Only Evans and McCartney would have a hope of making our team(McCartney most likely, and possibly soon Evans)
I'd take Evans over O'Shea at centreback any day.
Both The Indo and the Times pick this as the main talking point this morning.
From the Indo:
The boss confirmed the suspicions that if Duff and McGeady are to be accommodated on the wings, then the two men in the centre of the park needed to conform to the type of style he looks for in that formation.
Essentially, Whelan and Steven Reid are the men he trusts in a battle, with Andy Reid the man for a more refined encounter.
You can't imagine filing the games with fired up Georgia and Montenegro under that heading.
"We have enough offensive players," he said when initially responding to a query about the strengths of Whelan.
"There, we have Duff, McGeady, Keane and Doyle. In midfield, we have Whelan, Reid [Steven], Miller and Potter.
"We need them because we have enough offensive players. I have already answered the question about what Andy can do for me.
"It's about balance. I saw many, many times before here that Andy is a good player.
"But if I decide to play Andy in a game, maybe it would be with one striker. That's my opinion.
"At the moment, I look forward to building a big strong team with spirit but every game is different.
"The Nordic game is about strength but against one of the Latin sides it's possible to play a Latin game, like against the Portuguese. That is my experience."
The inference from that, which will trouble Reid, is that he still isn't viewed as man to take with you into the trenches.
It's 12 months since he suffered the ignominy of sitting on the bench for the Euro 2008 qualifier with Slovakia, while debutant Darron Gibson and the distinctly average Jonathan Douglas were summoned first.
Steve Staunton qualified that by saying he felt the pitch was too heavy for the Dubliner. Worryingly for the 26-year-old, Trapattoni's comments hint at a similar conclusion, a stereotype that will grate with him as his workrate at Sunderland has markedly improved since his move there in January.
Such tenacity has endeared him to the fans and, obviously Roy Keane, who handed him the armband last Saturday.
One marked difference under Trap is that at least he goes into detail describing his thinking.
Under Stan you'd have got "you tell me". A major complaint about the last few years was that we were in the dark about managers' opinions on certain players. Inclusions and omissions were never explained (one wondered if the hacks even saw fit to ask). I've certainly no complaints in this regard now.
I can agree with Trap's logic, except I can't for the life of me see Miller as a guy who can play a defensive midfield role.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 22/08/2008 at 7:59 AM.
Here's how the Times described the same, adding that Duff & McGeady can't be counted upon for goals. I also liked the comment about the players needing to be smarter.
The coach suggested once again that the side that started on Wednesday night had contained "90 per cent" of the players likely to start next time out, on September 6th.
But if Andy Reid left for England yesterday morning believing he might be the man most likely to benefit from a change to the XI, Trapattoni had bad news for the Sunderland midfielder.
"I've said already that we have enough offensive players," he said when asked about the 26-year-old's failure even to get on during the second half at the Ullevaal Stadium.
"The team also needs a midfield with players like (Glenn) Whelan, like Steven Reid. We also have Liam Miller and Darren Potter."
Whelan, he said, had been, "very strong" against the Norwegians and it appears that the Stoke City player may have done enough this week to cement his place alongside Steven Reid in the starting line-up for next month's qualifiers.
Starting with the more creative Andy Reid, concluded Trapattoni, would require a broader tactical reorganisation.
"He is a very skilful player," said the coach, "with very specific characteristics, but with him in the side we could play with only one striker.
"Depending on the game, sure, you can play with just one striker. There are teams like that in Italy but they score goals from the left side and the right. But at the moment we don't have so many players who can score goals - (apart from) Doyle and Keane.
"These days," he continued, "there isn't a team that plays with players like (Aiden) McGeady, (Kevin) Doyle, (Robbie) Keane, (Damien) Duff and Andy Reid. It needs balance.
"Andy can still be an important player for us, though. It is a long campaign and we will play a lot of games over more than one year."
The coach's assessment will come as a major blow to a player who looked to have come of age on the international front last October with his display in central midfield against Germany.
And having captained Sunderland against Liverpool last Saturday, Reid seemed confident about his international future prior to departing with the squad for Oslo. At that stage he restated his preference for playing in central midfield but said he would want to "talk my way out of getting a game on the wing".
Trapattoni, though, more or less discounted that possibility yesterday, observing that he had seen the Dubliner play out wide but "his position is not on the line".
Overall, Trapattoni concluded that the team continues to make progress, though the players must, among other things, exert more control over the tempo of games.
"We have to improve again," he said. "With more experience we can learn to slow the pace of the game. At 1-0 ahead (in Oslo) the players were immediately trying to take quick throw-ins and free kicks like a typical English team. But strong teams choose the right moments (to play quickly). We have to become smarter."
It did occur to me that Trapp's quote above possibly explained his reluctance to rule outs Stephen Irelands return completely........................
Quoting years at random since 1975
If we did play a 5-man midfield, it would mean Robbie Keane acting like a target man, which he clearly isn't. The 5-man midfield only really works when you have someone like Drogba to aim at, someone who can win the ball in the air, hold up play, as well as score
Its funny the only time I remember Reid playing that role for us was away to France when Morrisson was injured and he came on and played well. Brian Kerr did not play Reid too much in the middle either and seemed to play him on the wing a lot. I agree with Stutts thought that it is refreshing to at least have a manager who explains his decisions and you can see the logic and the footballing brain thinking.
In Trap we trust
I understand what Trap is saying, but I disagree. I honestly think the Reid/Reid partnership could be potent. Imagine those two against Georgia- we'd literally play them off the park.
I haven't seen a tonne of Whelan, but he basically seems to be a younger version of Carsley. That isn't a bad thing, he has a role to play for us, but I'd rather Andy in there with Reid as the holding player.
I'm sure Andy will have a role to play for us in this campaign eventually- I just hope Trap has the capability to adapt his views on a player. For me Andy's best position isn't behind the striker, but rather as a deep lying playmaker. Maybe if Trap catches a few Sunderland matches he'll change his mind.
Another aspect in Andy's favour is his dead-ball potency... A free-kick around the box and he's deadly; nobody knew what to do with the chance on Wednesday.
And if Trap says we don't have too many players who can score goals... well, Andy ticks that box too.
Maybe we can get Roy to have a word with him?
The biggest winner out of all this is Glenn Whelan, I wonder how much all this will add to his game. His head, as in self confidence, must have grown a good bit.
Unless Injuries to Duff and McGeady, you can forget about seeing much of Andy Reid in this campaign, Its the first time we have seen controversy like this since Jack Charlton opted to exclude Brady and play to our strengths, and the rest they say is History.
I always get a great kick out reading the threads on this forum from various posters who think they know more about tactics than the manager - I'd love to see Irishfan86 coaching CV it must be good if he understands what Trap is saying but has the audacity to disagree - you just can't buy confidence like that
If we look at the last campaign and the number of times both Duff and McGeady were fit, i would think that Andy Reid will probably play quiet a bit.
So I presume at the moment it is two of three from those for the two wing places. At least I hope it is anyway.
Personally Id go will A. Reid and Duff.
Newtown Celtic FC RIP (1992-2007)
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