Ireland Vs Switzerland (Pre Match Thread)

thejollyrodger

Looks like Cyprus were a bag of sh!t after all. Still it was a good match to have before the game next wednesday. I wonder who kerr is going to pick. Will Millar and Holland be available for selection ? I dont think RMK will be available with those cracked ribs.

I would largely go with Kerr's starting 11 today for next wednesday. At the back it would be same as before if Carr is fit. They looked more or less pretty solid. Carr and O Shea look good going forward.

Duff and Reid offer our best imagination on the pitch. Hopefully Duff will get his confidence back. In center of the park I was impressed with Kavanagh and Kilbane, Im not overally impressed with Millar, Holland just looks tidy but doesnt do a lot.

Up front I would stick with Robbie and Clint. No questions about Robbie, but he should go back to his glory days, he was a lot better. I think the new signing at Brimingham did the trick for Clint

____________________Given_______________________

Carr_______O Brien______Cunningham__________O Shea

Reid_________?___________?__________________Duff

______________Clinton___________Robbie__________

smemon

thejollyrodger wrote:

Carr and O Shea look good going forward.

yeah carr looked good 3 years ago. poor performance today from him and doesnt deserve to be picked over finnan for the next match imo. the rest should hold down their places.

thejollyrodger

Carr was sick as i posted on the other thread.

I reckon Ireland can beat the Swiss. And we should beat them. a draw is ok but were good enough for a win. Pity roy wasnt fit.

andyman

I think Ireland can top the group unbeaten.

mike65

The Swizz looked pretty decent against crappy opposition admitedly. 6 goals by two guys, Johan Vonlanthen and Alexandre Rey who hav'nt really figured before, but Hakan Yakin is the man Ireland have to stop.

Mike.

Pigman II

I've lost track of whose actually still available for us in midfield but permitting Kavanagh should definetly be dropped for the Swiss game. The guy got knocked off the ball in the first minute today and that set the tone for his entire performance. If Cyprus can get on top of him then he's not going to stand a chance against the Swiss.

Also, as much as I hate to say it Robbie probably should be dropped too to teach him a lesson for his half-assed performance today. He was an embarrasment out there today. Since Kerr's appointment he's been coasting thru too many games for us for my liking and I think it's about time 'Mr.Untouchable' got a sharp shock to his system. Fair enough, bring him on at after HT v Swiss if were in trouble but I think he should be left on the bench for a game to stew a while for his troubles.

Finally it amused me to notice how Morrisons stock has risin in some peoples opinions simply because he got goal. Morrison was no better no worse today than he's been in his previous 11 barren games but all some people ever notice is the scoresheet. It's the same ill-informed opinion that caused Alridge to get a hard time off 'fans' during initial years with us and despite him being one of our most hardworking and vital players at the time all the 'fans' saw was 1 goal in 3.5 years.

andyman

Is Holland back yet does anyone know

thejollyrodger

Clinton works his ass off so maybe thats the the reason he got a bit of respect today. Its first choice because there is no one else who is any better. He does a lot off the ball and just needs to work on his finishing.

Maybe thats why you arent the manager, dropping Robbie because he didnt run after everything. We have a big game in a few days and there was no point in running after balls when we had a win in the bag. I expect robbie to play very well next wednesday;)

As for Kavanagh,I thought he played very well. He is no RMK (who is ?) but ran from box to box, made some great passes. He gave away some balls but the stuff was very minor. Well done for Kerr to pick him out and bring him into the squad.

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/international/republic/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/04/09/04/SOCCER_Republic_Quotes.html
After recently being sidelined by an ankle injury which resulted in him missing the start of the Premiership season and not returning to action with Spurs until just 10 days ago, Keane was also understandably delighted to come through his first full 90 minutes of this campaign.

"I know I was off the pace a little today, but come Wednesday I am sure I will feel a lot sharper," added Keane.

"But it was good to get back. I didn't think I would return for these games (the qualifiers) because I felt my injury would keep me out for a lot longer.

"So I am just happy to be here, and to score as well makes it extra special."

Just to put things into perspective. Robbie was injured recently and we were lucky to have him play.

Pigman II

thejollyrodger wrote:

Maybe thats why you arent the manager, dropping Robbie because he didnt run after everything. We have a big game in a few days and there was no point in running after balls when we had a win in the bag. I expect robbie to play very well next wednesday;)

I'm not talking his workrate. I'm talking about all the stupid tricks, and feints he does that 99% of the time don't come off and end up putting his teammates in trouble. That's fine when your playing Cyprus but against the Swiss (who IMHO are top drawer at counter-attacking from their own box) we will be punished.

However, on reflection, dropping him might be somewhat of an overreaction but at the same time I'm getting bloody sick of his performances for us since Kerr came in. Perhaps Kerr can remind him before next Wednesday that he isn't Roy of the Rovers.

thejollyrodger

Yeah, its true about the terrible flicks faints dummies and 1-2's that robbie does when there is clearly no one there. Clint did miss a massive amount of potential goals. I think we had 20+ shots on goal with 3 acutal goals. Not brilliant.

I think Robbie acknowledged that he played poorly and I expect he will deliver on wednesday. Clinton wont probably score. I would still play the two of them up front.


It looks like Roy keane will be back. I have to question, was he really injured ??
So the question is who to put in the centre of the park with Roy? Im not overly impressed with Millar and thought about Kavanagh but I would put in Holland for experience sake.


Duff and Reid on the wings again please Kerr. Back four as the same starting 4.

smemon

thejollyrodger wrote:

Carr was sick as i posted on the other thread.

then why the hell was he playing? he wasnt too sick if he named himself fit to start the match.

swiss aren't great, 6-0 will give them too much confidence and they'll get ahead of themselves. id much rather playing the swiss after them hammering the faroes than playing france after them underachieving with a draw.

nothing less than 3 points will do on wednesday. theres no reason why we shouldnt get them.

bizmark

John o shea is out for the swiss game

click me

Pigman II

So I guess is this the team until further notice?


____________________Given_______________________

Carr_______O Brien______Cunningham__________Maybury

Reid_________Keane_______Kilbane___________Duff

______________Pres.Clinton___________Robbie____



Good enough I reckon.

The Muppet

Its funny people say there are no easy games at international level. Then we beat cyprus 3 0 and we're told the opposition were crap. I admit they looked poor yesterday but was that because they were made look that way by an excellent Irish performance or are they really rubbish?

I thought Kavanagh had a good game and I too would give Kerr credit for having the courage to play him. I was less tha impressed with the lack of understaning of each other showed by our strikers in the second half but the game was over by then and maybe they were trying to showboat a little.

Pity Robbie couldn't have broken Quinns record yesterday and got that out of the way. I hope it doesn,t affect his game in the way it did Linekears when he was with England.(thats one for us oldies). I though morrison played well enough and while he is not top class, after Robbie he is our best option up front.


Roll on Wednesday but as we found out in our Euro 2004 qualification group the Swiss are no push overs but i feel we have a stronger team now than the last time we me and I,m sure the Boys will be out for a little revenge.

thejollyrodger

I thought O shea played very well for a change, but then again it was only cyprus.

I hope Duff, Kavanagh and Carr will be ok. I would stick Maybury in for o shea. If Kavanagh is fit I would give him the nod over kilbane but worry about whether him and roy will be mobile enough. Duff and Reid really have to produce the goods and the same with robbie and clinton.

A win looks there for us, hopefully roy will have everyone wound up

jongore

Should be almost the same team fot the Swiss with prob Keane in for Kavanagh.
France only drawing at home to Israel shows how good the result against Cyprus was.

Dewey

I hope Duffer will be fit for the match. Shame O'Shea is out and its looks like Maybury willl be his replacement........not to sure about that.

Its good keane is back. the Midfeild will be at it strongest so i would be hugely disappointed it we lost. a point would be good but we should go for the 3 points.

The Rooster

I really cant see him putting Maybury in for such a big game. Dont forget he's not a natural left footer. I think Finnan will play left back. If JOS wasnt injured I would have expected Carr to be dropped. I dont care about illness and I really like Carr as a player, but I thought that was his worst competitive display for Ireland. Should have been taken off earlier really, and showed a bit of petulance (not sure whether it was directed at himself or Kerr) when he was subbed. Deserves to be dropped, but O'Shea's injury should give him the chance to redeem himself.

I thought that Kavanagh did really well. Very composed and classy. Always available for the ball, was at the fulcrum for most of our moves, hit a couple of fantastic long balls, but mostly kept it simple taking the ball off defenders and giving it to our dangermen, mainly Reid and Duffer. I suppose Kilbane could be moved to left wing (or even left back) but probably the best option for the Swiss game would be Keane and Killer in the centre of the field.

I thought Cyprus were very poor. The amount of times they gave the ball away when under no pressure was incredible.

As for us I thought the two centre backs, two centre midfielders, O'Shea and Reid did all we could ask of them. The rest can and should all improve for the Swiss game.

Villain

Imo the team should be:

__________________Given________________

Carr________Cunningham__O'Brien____Finnan

Reid_________Keane__Kavangh_______Duff

_____________Morrisson__Keane_________

Kone

irish1 wrote:

Imo the team should be:

__________________Given________________

Carr________Cunningham__O'Brien____Finnan

Reid_________Keane__Kavangh_______Duff

_____________Morrisson__Keane_________

I agree! Completely! Maybe switch Kavanagh for Kilbane, maybe....

StickyMcGinty

kerr wont play finnan left back! he just wont do it!

killer kilbane put in one of his best displays in a green shirt at the weekend, he crows were loving him for once!

morrisson is very poor, i' even prefer, dare i say it, connolly to be in ahead of him!

LizardKing

I thought Morrison had a good game against Cyprus, was getting on the end of crosses and took his goal well , also hit a post too (I think) ... He was definetly a handfull. Robbie Keane on the other hand , moaned and dived and moaned and tried deft touches and moaned and stepped over the ball and moaned and tried a few dummies.. to what end. Morrison will start against swiss , as will Keane (injury free) I just hope Keane plays a little better and tries to stay up to challenges more ...

Villain

I doubt Kerr would play Maybury ahead of Finnan, as for Kilbane he done well but thats not his position and against the Swiss I think he would suffer, Kavangh has the ability to find a player but can also get stuck in when needed.

The Rooster

I think centre midfield is exactly Kilbane's position. Can run up and down like a demon and doesnt have to cross the ball. Harsh on Kav to drop him, but I cant see any other option. But I believe Kavanagh showed that he is better at this level than Holland is. He has the balls to get on the ball, take pressure off the defenders and give the ball to our dangermen (not as good as, but still not unlike what Roy does).

I'd be on the side of Clinton being poor enough, much as I'd like to say otherwise. He had two decent chances in the second half, and both were pathetic enough efforts.

Robbie was just terrible. The one mistake Kerr made (IMO) was taking off Clint instead of Robbie when Lee came on. That would have been a nice kick up the rear. But Robbie did admit himself he was below par, which is a good sign. I'm sure he'll improve for the Swiss.

thejollyrodger

Duff is only rated as being 50/50 !! He might not play....

Kone

thejollyrodger wrote:

Duff is only rated as being 50/50 !! He might not play....

FECK FECK FECK! If Duffer doesn't make it let's hope Reid has a cracking game!

StickyMcGinty

who will be on the right then?

if duffer is out, its bad bad bad

Villain

If Duff is out I'd imagine Kilbane will play on the left with Reid staying on teh right and Keane and Kavangh in the middle.

thejollyrodger

I dont know if we can beat the swiss with such a weakened squad, O Shea and Duff missing. It would take a big effort from Roy Keane to do that.

It's a major set back if he cant play . I have a gut feeling that he will, 3 days rest should help a lot and Duff has been well rested since last season.

Kone

VinnyL wrote:

who will be on the right then?

if duffer is out, its bad bad bad

Kilbane?

andyman

Duff is a doubt for the game with a calf injury and O' Shea is out.
I thaught Kilbane was a left winger(correct me if I am mistaken).

eirebhoy

Pigman II wrote:

I've lost track of whose actually still available for us in midfield but permitting Kavanagh should definetly be dropped for the Swiss game. The guy got knocked off the ball in the first minute today and that set the tone for his entire performance. If Cyprus can get on top of him then he's not going to stand a chance against the Swiss.

I actually can't remember Kavanagh losing the ball from a tackle once. He passed it to a Cypriot two or three times but other than that he did his job and set up Reid's goal (albeit not expecting to set a goal up) as well as setting up Kilbane's chance at the far post. Kavanagh is not even a holding midfielder so isn't used to being the person who everyone passes to when in trouble so if partnered with Keane you'll see a different Kav.

andyman

Thats right actually he normally plays on the wing for Cardiff.

StickyMcGinty

btw, i was in the east stand and noticed reid playing VERY central for the first half, left a HUGE gap on the right! did he get instructions to do this? carr was covering his ass for the whole first half!

eirebhoy

andyman wrote:

Thats right actually he normally plays on the wing for Cardiff.

He plays in the centre for Cardiff but doesn't play the holding role, someone like Willie Boland plays that role.

mike65

Someone just gave me a red reputation point for spelling Swiss "Swizz".

And they did'nt even leave a name! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Mike.

GuanYin

Ireland should win this and are a good price to win at the moment with PP. 15-8 for the win.

I actually spotted a nice accumulator for weds:

Andorra v Romania (Away)
Kazakhstan v Ukraine (Away)
Armenia v Finland (Away)
Faroe Islands v France (Away)
Israel v Cyprus (Home)
Slovakia v Liechtenstein (Home)
Switzerland v Republic of Ireland (Away)
Wales v Northern Ireland (Home)
Portugal v Estonia (Home)

All for approx 31/2

Dewey

I think Duff will make it. he has a knock but from the way Kerr was specking i would think he will play him. I think it will be Keane and Kilbane in the middle. that is hard on Kav as he did very well for us on Saturday but if Kerr goes with Kav and Keane i would be happy with that.
We have to go for a win. It wouldnt be the worst thing if we draw but we should go for all 3 points.

evilhomer

I'm not sure how well Kavanagh and Keane would get on together in midfield.
Both are very much leaders and may clash in midfield.
or of course Keano could like the fact that he doesn't have to do all the shouting and they could get on great! IMO

The Rooster

Decent bets there Syke.

I'd just be a bit wary about Kazakstan. They might be useless given they've never qualified from Asia, but given its their first game in the Europeans and its against another ex-Soviet state I'd be a little wary. And Kazakstan is a very big country area-wise.

thejollyrodger

Reading some of the quotes by kavanagh... paraphrase " Im a irish fan, if I dont play but we win, Ill be more than happy"... what a professional. Compare him with Heart, whinging that he is missing a few games for Ireland and how can he be left out of the squad. With a brutal record for Ireland

Kerr did well to bring Kavanagh in. I dont think Mick Mc Carthy would have the vision :rolleyes:

I would play Morrison up front, I think he will play well and hold the ball up. he suffers from lack of confidence or something but has got it back after Cyprus.
Cant belive he got racist abuse last time in Basel, that crap isnt on . I'll be booing the swiss player when he comes to Dublin;)

s8n

Just as a matter of interest. Wheres the best place to see this game, considering Sky are showing it on Sky sports Xtra (which NTL don't carry, not too sure about Sky themselves here in Ireland).

Are Rte or tv3 showing it live??

s8n

actually scratch that. Just looked it up. Rte are showing it live.

The Rooster

Pity nobody is showing the U21s v Switzerland tonight. I'd love to see the likes of Elliott, McGeady and Potter in action.

Tellox

Any news on duff playing? We're in a severe amount of trouble if he's out..

BaZmO*

Tellox wrote:

Any news on duff playing? We're in a severe amount of trouble if he's out..

There is no news as of yet, other than everybody saying he is 50:50 to play.

I have a suspicion that he will be definitely playing and Kerr is just playing mind games with the Swiss trying to mess up their gameplan due to the fact that nearly every team that we play against lately try to man mark Duff out of the game. The Cyprus game being a perfect example of this.

B.

eirebhoy

Tellox wrote:

Any news on duff playing? We're in a severe amount of trouble if he's out..

from eleven-a-side.com:
Damien Duff is rated extremely doubtful for tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in Basel as the Chelsea winger is struggling to overcome an ankle injury.

Press conference is at 2.00, live on Sky Sports News.

Kobi Kuhn (Swiss coach) on the Irish:

"I don’t think having Roy Keane available will make that much difference because Graham Kavanagh was very good on Saturday",
"Having Damien and Andy Reid means that Ireland are dangerous on both wings and their availability is an important factor for the Irish".

Morrison is absolutely dying for revenge and he's disappointed that Frei is suspended as he made a racist comment towards him the last time:

"It was like a racist remark. I don’t want to repeat it. I just want to keep it to myself. He said it on the pitch, which I went mad about. I’m disappointed he’s not playing but we’ll see him again at Lansdowne Road hopefully."

syke - I agree with Rooster about Kazakstan. I'd definitely go for a Poland win at 4/1 which would really raise the odds.


Just to add. If anyone wants a free Ireland shirt here's how. Stick E100 France to beat the Faroe's or Slovakia to beat Leichtenstein (as they are the safest bets). Then put 4 more bets on (10 cent bets if you like). Its only for new accounts with gamebookers.
http://www.gamebookers.ie/cgi-bin/explain_highlight.cgi?id=57060

dirkey_wynne

I have to say I don't like Robbie Keane up front all that much. He may have Irelands top goalscoring record, but I think he's way too much of a showboat. There was a chance in the game the other day, and a diving header would have given him quite the opportunity to put one away - instead he winds up for a ridiculously flash volley, from an improbable angle, and needless to say makes a hash of it. I think he has always been like this, and always will be. Sometimes it comes off, and he looks good. But more often than not he loses the ball by trying far too much, and then b*tches and moans to the ref. He's extremely irritating to watch imho as he's always whinging. I just don't think he's the type of player you'd want for those half chances where you need to be brave - he's way too into making things flash. I hope he proves me wrong, needless to say, tomorrow, but I'm not all that convinced he will.

KevIRL

eirebhoy wrote:

from eleven-a-side.com:
Damien Duff is rated extremely doubtful for tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in Basel as the Chelsea winger is struggling to overcome an ankle injury.

QUOTE]

just looking at sky sports news just now and Duff took part in training this morning. Nice!

eirebhoy

dirkey_wynne wrote:

I have to say I don't like Robbie Keane up front all that much.

He's our best ever striker by a country mile. He does miss a fair few chances but people were moaning that he was too selfish. He left the ball for others about 10 times on Saturday and it just didn't work out. He's a better player when selfish. He has 7 goals in his last 13 games btw which is world class.

BTW, are you 100% sure Duff took part in today's training. Sorry, can't see username as i'm editing post.

edit again - just saw the Duff news on Sky text. O'Shea the only absentee so.

Kone

Duffer is ok! Phew!