Ireland Vs Cyprus (inc. scores after kick off)

andyman

Could take a while though, unless Robbie has a huge dip in form he has a good 10 years of International games left in him.

redspider

A good result for Ireland. I only saw bits of the game due to the sunny weather so cant comment on all aspects of the match. I come to this forum to get more insight but when I read the postings on this forum I always wonder are people actually watching the same game eg: kdjac and eirebhoy.

From what I saw, eirebhoy's appraisal (and that of the TV panel) seem to be a lot closer to the mark than kdjac. Duff did well, Morrison did well, Reid did well, Kavangah did well. Its true they aren't Pele's - but we know that.

That was a great goal by Reid. He was really aiming and looking for that corner too so it was great to see it come off. Ireland created loads of chances which is good to see, even though quite a few were missed. 3-0 is fine, 4 or 5 would have been better but everyone including Kerr is happy.

The Swiss got off to a great start. Lets hope they are half thinking about a draw on Wed. If we play the same way as Israel did against France (ie: defend and hope for a goal on the breakl or the half-chance) then we should be well able to get that point. Not pretty to watch though, and a tactic that I am not an advocate of.

By the way, did you see the France - Israel match. It was so reminiscent of the Euro2004 games with Greece, defending deep with all 11 players and then trying to get something when they have the ball, but never over-committing. Its a great tactic to use when all you want is 1 point max from the game. But its terrible to watch, and teams and players that work well in open spaces get completly stiffled, ala Henry.

I think the rules of football should be changed, especially after Greece's euro 2004 "wins" as defensive football like what Israel did is ruining the sport. One suggestion might be to have no points for a draw, or maybe decide the game on number of attempts on target (including woodwork!). Another suggestion is 5 pts for a win, 1 for a draw, thereby making a draw more or less useless, but this still has the disadvantage of teams fearing to lose and hence defending.

Ireland might use the defensive tactics on Wed to get a point (3 would be nicer though) and they have every right to do so until the rules have changed (if they ever do).

Bateman

>I think the rules of football should be changed, especially after Greece's euro 2004 "wins" as defensive football like what Israel did is ruining the sport. One suggestion might be to have no points for a draw, or maybe decide the game on number of attempts on target (including woodwork!). Another suggestion is 5 pts for a win, 1 for a draw, thereby making a draw more or less useless, but this still has the disadvantage of teams fearing to lose and hence defending.

Football is primarily a sport, not entertainment. You play according to the resources available to you, you play to your strength, and if the flair teams are not good enough in their concentration and application to break you down, then you deserve your point.

Thought the Carlsberg band were idiotic, and anyway, I didn't hear them once during the game, only when they went around giving away free footballs and that. Just because England have a band, means we have to? In fairness, the atmosphere was down to people being willing to sing, pure and simple. It was the same last time out. Last summer, the buzz was good at the Albania game, but then went downhill after that.

Big Ears

Changing rules to discourage defensive football would do more harm to the game than good .

eirebhoy

redspider wrote:

A good result for Ireland. I only saw bits of the game due to the sunny weather so cant comment on all aspects of the match. I come to this forum to get more insight but when I read the postings on this forum I always wonder are people actually watching the same game eg: kdjac and eirebhoy.

From what I saw, eirebhoy's appraisal (and that of the TV panel) seem to be a lot closer to the mark than kdjac. Duff did well, Morrison did well, Reid did well, Kavangah did well. Its true they aren't Pele's - but we know that.

I have a slight feeling that Kdjac doesn't rate Kavanagh because he's playing in the first division and probably feels we have better options, thus hoping he doesn't do well. I'd probably be the same myself if it was a friendly, for example I was happy to see Duffer play badly up front against Bulgaria as I want him on the left. He's currently second, behind Reid, in an eleven-a-side poll for MOM.

With Keane back, Kavanagh would be able to play in his club role if he starts on Wedensday.

eirebhoy

kaids wrote:

Anthony Stokes!

I knew I'd seen his name mentioned around here. Great article here:
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=221123

Do you know much about him kaids? A Shearer type player is just what Ireland need and someone Arsenal could also do with (they don't need anyone at this moment in time ).