Ireland -V- Chile

mike65

Its a fine show when the main interest is in the performance of a Liverpool player who has'nt played a game for the club!

For those who missed the game but want to read how Mark Gonzales did
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=126211.0

Mike.

therecklessone

Frankly, an appaling performance by Ireland, and if I was one of the 41000 at the game I'd be asking for my money back.

With the exception of Given, Doyle, Keane and maybe Kilbane (for not being a complete disaster at the back) the starting line-up were either unwilling or unable to get to grips with that game.

Gary Breen has hopefully played his last game for Ireland.
Stephen Reid gave the ball away a number of times, and threw in plenty of questionable tackles when on a yellow. A poor game from a lad who's had a good season with his club.
Damien Duff has regressed so much in the last year, he had no pace at all.
O'Shea/Miller were non-existent in CM.
Stephen Kelly showed why Paul Stalteri managed to keep his place at Spurs despite being sh*t.

I second the "I want my 96 minutes back" motion.

Slash/ED

Jason Byrne one of the few players to emerge with any credit whatsoever, aside from former Cork City man Kevin Doyle anyway...

gimmick

clown bag wrote:

never mind the national team, whats the verdict on Gonzalez .

Are you actually serious? I couldnt give two hoots about the national team the majority of the time, but do you honestly care more about a player you have never seen play, than the national team?

I give up.

Chucky the tree

gimmick wrote:

Are you actually serious? I couldnt give two hoots about the national team the majority of the time, but do you honestly care more about a player you have never seen play, than the national team?

I give up.

Why wouldnt he? If chile had a player that was on his way to Cork/chelsea(got those right didnt i?) would you not be very interested in how he played?

PHB

That is without a doubt, the worst Ireland preformance I have, and hopefully ever, will see.

Nothing I can add to the ****eness, except, god help our center midfield.
If a new star doesn't emerge for us, we have no hope of getting to the next world cup, nada. We need a midfield legend to emerge, by god Gibson better come through for me.

[Jackass]

I wont concentrate too much on the overall performance as stan was trying some pretty random stuff to see how individual performance went...ffs, the last 7 or 8 minutes consisted of a back four of: LB Harte, RB Reid, CB Kilbane (shocking btw), CB Dunne.

My take on the formations were starting with 4-3-1-2 and eventually reverted to more of a 4-4-2 but with a lot of attacking players all over the pitch...a lot of it didn't really work, with the players we have we need four in midfield...for most of the match we had no width on the ball and a non-existant midfield when chilie hit us on the break.

Given, as always, alert and made good saves, wasn't helped by the men infront of him for the goal.

I thought Kilbane was poor enough at LB and I suppose it was worth experimenting with linking him up with Duff that way, but it didn't work. I was far happier with Harte at LB and he would be my first choice in that position.

Dunne was very good, im really impressed by the player he's becoming.

Kelly did ok, I was really impressed with Doyle...fantastic in the air, won virtually everything, nice option to have and possibly our no.2 upfront, linked well with keane.

McGeady was superb when he came on imo and gave the side an immediate new outlet and we played better for him being on the pitch. deffenatly think he should start on the right to give us great options on both sides.

Thought S.Reid did well and is good holding in CM, along with some superb passing.

Breen, Miller, O'Shea...shocking that they are considerd for the squad, let alone play!

my team for the future based on the very limited and brief glimpses we've had of them at this level.
4-4-2

1. Given
2. Finnan/Carr/Kelly/O'Brien (all good options)
3. Harte
4. Dunne
5. O'Brien
6. S.Reid
7. McGeady
8. Ireland
9. Doyle
10. Keane
11. Duff

StickyMcGinty

kelly had a stinker, wone of the worst debut performances from any irish player.

i was at the game, too pissed off with that performance to write anymore

Dirk Gently

gimmick wrote:

Are you actually serious? I couldnt give two hoots about the national team the majority of the time, but do you honestly care more about a player you have never seen play, than the national team?

I give up.

Well at this moment in time, yes. Its because I've never seen him play that I'm so interested. He's on his way to the team I support and I want to find out more about him. I was well more interested in his preformance than the national side because its going to be a while before we see any real consistant shape or style of play from Ireland.

These first few games in charge are all about stan trying to find a formula that works with the right combination of players. When he gets that right to the best of his ability I'll take and interest in the national team but until then I'm just going to keep my eye on individual players. Their is no real national team at the moment to support. When it comes to a competitve match with a team united and use to playing together then I'll watch to support Ireland, until then I'll watch the friendlies to check out any potential new premiership players, in tonights case Gonzalez was the man I was interested in. After a good few more matches in charge for stan I'll turn my attention to the national team and not just individuals.

mchurl

Shockingly bad performance from Ireland. I went into the game and was disgusted i did. The only players i thought did ok were Gvien, Kilbane, Doyle and Bryne when he came on. Chile were the better side by far and they didnt qualify either! I know it was end of the season and i may be getting carried away, but if we play that come the autumn, we are in serious trouble.

Andrew 83

Was at the game, terrible performance. The substitutions worked reasonably though in some cases. Kavanagh played very well and made a real difference. Showed a little composure and solidly which barely anyone else did.

Disagree with the other poster on McGeady. This may be easier to see at the gorund than on TV but he made a lot of silly mistakes of judgement. He seemed far too desperate to impresss and kept taking the wrong decisions. He did well looking for possession and got plenty of the ball but he kept holding onto the ball for too long when he'd good passes open and refused to ply simple but effectvie balls. Instead he ran into dead ends and tried overly elaborate passes which then didn't work. He showed good potential and is only just 20 but he only played the right ball about twice in the time he was on the pitch.

I agree that Dunne did well.

No link up play between midfield and attack, particularly before the substitutions and contrary to the concensus didn't think there was that much between Doyle and Keane either.

Tired, often appearingly disinterested, end of season performance with worryingly little composure, anticipation, or judgement.

evilhomer

Given - As good as ever, not much he could do about the goal.

S Kelly - looked like a rabbit caught in headlights for most of the match (on a slightly more positive note, looked a little better bombing up the wing when he had a chance)

G Breen - Out, out I say!! Caused the defence to sit too deep and was just useless all over. (Best Moment : walking off the park injured)

R Dunne - Done the best he could with Breen and Kelly playing rubbish. Unlucky not to clear the ball when Chile scored

K Kilbane : Looked solid enough at left back/wing-back linked up with Duff well and made some good challenges. Still can't cross the ball.

D Duff : Looked unfit for the lack of games towards the end of the season. Needs to get out of Chelsea as he is loosing his flair and creativity. Still was our best outlet for 70 minutes and had our best chance of the game.

L Miller : tried to get about the place but never had anyone to pass to (that was when the ball was not just being hoofed at Chile players) He eventually gave up trying!

S Reid : was ineffectual on the right, but played a bit better when moved more centrally.

John O 'Shea : might as well have walked off the pitch after kick off for all the good he did.

Kevin Doyle : Played his heart out and done what he could to link up the play with flick-ons and holding the ball up. Really poor service didn't help him.

Robbie Keane : Starved of service all game long, not much he could do without the ball.

Subs:

Aiden McGeady : looked Lively and very creative on the right, really put a good case forward to start on the right wing.

Graham Kavanagh : Came on and took control of the midfield along with S Reid, played the simple passes and rarely gave the ball away.

J Byrne : Had a positive effect up front and troubled the Chileans with his aerial ability and size.

I Harte : Nothing spectacular, was a big ask for practically his first kick to score from the free kick. Delivered some good balls into the box and picked out Byrne once or twice with long passes.

W Henderson : Didn't have much to do.

A Reid : Looked as fat as I have ever seen him and totally not match fit (He tried to run thirty yards with the ball and had to slow down!!!)

The team looked stretched out all over the field for most of the game (I think this was Breens doing personally, scared to be caught for pace).
We needed to squeeze the game and put a foot on the ball, stop giving the ball away too cheaply.

We looked a little better in the final 20 minutes after the subs, hopefully we don't see another performance like that.

Really shocking performance, Midfield was bypassed for most of the game.

missingtime

Ireland were pretty awful, unless the players were knackered somethin's up. They gave the ball away far too much. Robbie Keane was nowhere to be seen but we'l use the ol 'new players coming through' excuse.
From a liverpool perspective Gonzalez looks quite the player but did anyone find him similar to C. Ronaldo in his demeanor?

blu_sonic

so would george o'callaghan have goteen into the midfield?

redspider

I didnt see all the game, but before everyone talks about being bad and doom and gloom, lets put the game into context - an end of season experimental friendly. This was not a first 11. And just like the 3-0 win against Sweden which put a gloss on that performance, lets not get too carried away with this.

Staunton's experiment of 3-4-3 just didnt work. He of all people as a defender should realise that to play such a formation you need very fast and experienced defenders, and a midfield that can link attack and defence. Kilbane, Dunne, Breen, are not fast enough for such a formation. Surely Breen and Kilbane should be retired from international football at this stage, or at least only restrict Kilbane to central midfield where he has been ok for Everton and Ireland. Left back, give me a break!

I think Miller isnt good enough. Reid is much better as a central midfielder.

Stephen Kelly did ok for a 1st cap. As long as he keeps playing well for Spurs then he will be a good option for the right back position, in a 4-4-2 formation, as cover for Finnan/Carr!

O'Shea was below par, but for future matches we will need him.

Kevin Doyle was good, very good in fact. He had no support from midfield, and with Robbie K also staying forward there was a lack of linkage between midfield and the forward line. Doyle looking good though.

Aidan McGeady was lively and tried to create. With more 1st team club experience and match practice he will be a prospect for the Irish team. If he doesnt get it at Celtic he will have to move on.

Jason Byrne did well in the air but I dont expect him to be as effective against European teams.

Overall, an experimental match, lessons for Staunton, and the honeymoon is now over, just as well really.

redspider

Big Nelly

redspider wrote:

Stephen Kelly did ok for a 1st cap. As long as he keeps playing well for Spurs then he will be a good option for the right back position, in a 4-4-2 formation, as cover for Finnan/Carr!

As I mentioned earlier on this thread Kell is leavig Spurs because he can get his place in the first team squad, his contract is up and West Ham are reported to be interested, Spurs are trying to buy Chimbonda from Wigan who plays in his place and Saultari was in his position for the most of last season!!

RE*AC*TOR

Was at the game last night. Very subdued right from the off. Even from the start the crowd were in a malaise. I think everyone was expecting the kind of performance that ensued.

The major points i took from the game were:

1. Kevin Doyle looks like a great partner for Keane. If they can get used to playing together - he looks very handy.

2. John O'Shea is a terrible footballer.

3. Ian Harte is a terrible footballer.

4. McGeady (sic?) looks promising.

5. Chile are a mediocre enough side, but Gonzalez looks a bit special, despite not really trying towards the end (hope he gets that work permit).

6. Graham Kavanagh is probably our best central midfielder at the moment (:eek:).

eirebhoy

Who was Chile's no.6? I want him at Celtic.

Töpher

Jason Byrne was good when he came on, nervous at the start I think - evident from one poor touch and his scuffed shot - but that was all he did that wasn't class. The chances he set up were done beautifully, and he looked very good in the air. None too bad for a player holding back and playing in a role he's not used to (he's never been deployed as a target-man before - he's used more as an out and goal-scoring out striker). Would not be surprised to see him earn another call-up, 4th choice striker? 3rd behind Clinton?

Kevin Doyle did what those who've seen him play before have always said he could do. Fantastic.

gimmick

Is the only reason people are saying McGeady did well last night, because he plays for Celtic?

Now, Im not going to write him off straight away, but he was absolutely rubbish last night, worst player on the pitch by a mile.

Töpher

He had no end product from what I saw - you can take on players all you want, but if there's no quality end ball its meaningless.

johnos

Sheer torture watching that shambles. I've never wanted to leave any match early as much as I did last night.
As for experimentation, if that was the aim, why didn't he play Gamble? Would have done a far better job than Kavanagh, who was negative and gave the ball away easily. At one stage he was on a flying run towards/across his own goal and people were shouting 'Shoot!'.
Gamble would have been a much more interesting inclusion than Byrne.

eirebhoy

gimmick wrote:

Is the only reason people are saying McGeady did well last night, because he plays for Celtic?

Now, Im not going to write him off straight away, but he was absolutely rubbish last night, worst player on the pitch by a mile.

I've a feeling the only reason you're saying that is because he plays for Celtic tbh. Of course he wasn't the worst player on the pitch by a bloody mile. I said it last night that I'm suprised that people are actually praising McGeady's performance, he was poor compared to what he usually offers. He was very nervous last night and tried to do too much. There's a lot of pressure on him with the way he turned down Scotland for us and the press he got.

He has end product but he needs a lot more opportunities to get the ball in than he should need. Last season (04/05) was his first season with Celtic and he got 6 goals and 11 assists in 25 starts. That is end product, his final ball is poor though. He'll be a star though, there's no question about it. If he was released by Celtic tomorrow he'd have all the top teams after him as his potential is endless.

I seen virtually every minute McGeady has played for Celtic so I was disappointed with his performance last night. He'll get better though, it was obvious how nervous he was. Hopefully when he settles in we'll see a bit of this:
http://media.putfile.com/McGeady-v-Motherwell (a cameo role against Motherwell where he single handedly won the game for Celtic when he came on)

gimmick

^ Thats why i said I wouldnt write him off. He was feeding off scraps, and crap long balls for him to run onto.

But if an eL player, or a lower division player in the UK turned in a performance like that, I dont think we would ever hear the end of it.

Chucky the tree wrote:

Why wouldnt he? If chile had a player that was on his way to Cork/chelsea(got those right didnt i?) would you not be very interested in how he played?

Not quite. Yes there is Cork City, but Chelsea? Yuck! My teams in England, in no particular order are Leyton Orient and Liverpool.

BaZmO*

McGeady last night reminded of Robbie Keane a couple of years back. Very fustrating to watch. He does have potential though. He just needs to stop over complicating things, however, he is only young so he does have time on his side.

Einst&#252 wrote: »

Jason Byrne was good when he came on, nervous at the start I think - evident from one poor touch and his scuffed shot - but that was all he did that wasn't class. The chances he set up were done beautifully, and he looked very good in the air. None too bad for a player holding back and playing in a role he's not used to (he's never been deployed as a target-man before - he's used more as an out and goal-scoring out striker). Would not be surprised to see him earn another call-up, 4th choice striker? 3rd behind Clinton?

Byrne ahead of Elliott? Can't see it happening somehow.

What was the deal with Andy Reid last night? He really needs to stop supersizing when he goes to Maccy D's. I used to think that he was just built that way, but after seeing footage of him in his younger days a couple of months back his Chubby Status is definitely a new thing.

Speaking of Porkers, that tracking back that Richard Dunne done ( ) last night was incredible. The one where he ran almost the entire length of the pitch to win the ball back. He build really is deceiving, he wouldn't give you the impression that he has so much pace.

eirebhoy

BaZmO* wrote:

McGeady last night reminded of Robbie Keane a couple of years back. Very fustrating to watch. He does have potential though. He just needs to stop over complicating things, however, he is only young so he does have time on his side.

Strachan is the man to sort him out. A lot of the time he's told to just keep possession and he'll just do what Duff has been doing the past season. Stan probably told him to go out and take on the full back and it didn't quite work out. As I said though, Strachan is one of the best people out there for improving players and getting the best out of them.

Roar

McGeady was terrible last night. All he did was do a few step overs and lose the ball, or play it ten yards square. Very, very frustrating. Delighted Byrne came on and did well, that should hopefully see him called up for the next sqaud. Andy reid looks like a sunday league player.. kilbane is useless.. dont even get me started on john o'shea..

Pity Joe gamble didnt come on, i mean if stan is on about looking at players for the future why play graham kavanagh when you know what he can do? what harm would giving gamble 20-30 minutes do?

shockingly disappointing night

dbnavan

There was a dipstick a couple of rows behind me at the game who kept roaring "Bring on McGeady"

I arrived a 20 minutes late for the game traffic, very poor by ireland, passion wasnt there, they look wrecked and not match fit. Having said that Chile were very organised shame they wont be in germany,

eirebhoy

eirebhoy wrote:

Who was Chile's no.6?

I found out it was Acuna. He's on loan at RBC Roosendaal and Feyenoord don't seem to want him. Could be a good signing for someone based on last nights performance.

therecklessone

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

2. John O'Shea is a terrible footballer.

Watched the game with my uncle, turned on with 5 minutes gone, it was another 20 minutes before we were able to name Ireland's 11th player. Yep, you guessed it...:rolleyes:

gimmick

John O Shea is a centre half who is being played out of position at all times. if he were allowed settle in that position, he would excel.

If anyone ever saw him play for the Irish U21s, or Man U reserves before breaking into the first team, you would see this.

His versatility has hindered his career.

KdjaCL

gimmick wrote:

His versatility has hindered his career.

Would he be on a 5 year contract at Man Utd if he lacked versatility? hardly hindered it he plays international football Cl football and PL football every year hes been a pro. Hardly a hindered a career in terms of exp and potential to be playing every week in the above 3, in that respect hes the best irish player we have.

Only Duff and Finnan will be possibly playing CL football next season.

Some national teams have 11 playing Cl football, we barely have 11 playing premier.

kdjac

gimmick

What I meant is that he is a jack of all trades, but master of none. If he were left alone at being a centre half, I dare say he would be a far better player.

However, that is pure speculation, so we could argue the point forever, and get nowhere.

KdjaCL

I think hes a better full back than centre



kdjac

gimmick

You would, wouldn't you

PHB

His best position is center half, but he'll never make it there at United. He has been given chances to play there and never preformed, and at a club like United, you don't get time to settle if you're not foreign.

He is imo,

our best full back
our second best CB (after Dunne)
our third best RB (after Carr and Finnan)
our second best CM (after Reid)
he's probably our best right winger too :P

His versatility hasn't hindered his career at United, it's made it. He's the new Phil Neville. If anyone thinks that isn't praise their wrong. A made like that can come in and help a team when they need it, and can do it amazingly. Very important player for Ireland, and will become very important for United, as he already has to an extent.

CiaranC

John O'Shea is a terrible player for Ireland. I have no interest in what happens in England at club level, I am an Ireland supporter who attends all the games in person, and I have a passable knowledge of the game, along with a pair of eyes. He is appalling.

I think some of you are letting your Manchester replica kits and sky sports subscriptions cloud your judgement.

missingtime

I wouldnt rate him above dunne or finnan. I'm pretty indefferent towards the rest.

Rikand

PHB wrote:

Very important player for Ireland, and will become very important for United, as he already has to an extent.

You're not wrong there, PHB!

Apart from his first season where he was phenominal, he has been a terrible player who makes countless mistakes which has cost his team dearly! He certainly is a very important player, as hes playing a huge part in uniteds downfall.

[Jackass]

Andrew 83 wrote:

Disagree with the other poster on McGeady. This may be easier to see at the gorund than on TV but he made a lot of silly mistakes of judgement. He seemed far too desperate to impresss and kept taking the wrong decisions. He did well looking for possession and got plenty of the ball but he kept holding onto the ball for too long when he'd good passes open and refused to ply simple but effectvie balls. Instead he ran into dead ends and tried overly elaborate passes which then didn't work. He showed good potential and is only just 20 but he only played the right ball about twice in the time he was on the pitch.

I was at the game..I stayed to the bitter end, because the longer I stayed the more i deserved to see the team do something decent!

But i see where you're coming from and simple balls and doing the right thing is what he will need to do 90% of the time in a competetive match, but I just feel he was told to go out there and play, create and show what he can do (shop window and all that).

What impressed me about McGeady though was that he tried things, ran at players and to be perfectly blunt, had a pair of balls! He tried things..ok, they didn't all come off, but at least he didn't hide, like Miller and try and get rid of the ball as soon as he got it and did less when he didn't have it...he's a shirt filler on the pitch, like O'Shea...it's like when you're having a 11 a side with your mates but 1 team is a man short...you call your mate, even though you know he's absolutley crap, but at least it evens up the teams.

I often say when I see Miller play for Ireland, he looks like someone who won a competition to get to play a match with the Irish team, you don't expect much, cause you know he's gonna be bollix...maybe that's how he gets away with it? Anything non-bollix he does becomes impressive.

But McGeady proved (not just in that match, but in the last 2 seasons) he has the skill to compete at the highest level, but is in no way near the finished article, imo is the most promising talent in Irish football.

As for O'Shea, he's a bottler. You only have to look at games like the swiss game where when any player needed a massive performance and to impose himself on the game it was O'Shea. Try to squeeze into that Keane mould...impose yourself on the game! It dosen't have to be spectacular, just impose yourself on the game and fight for every ball! It's now or never!

The next day I was talking to a mate who watched the game (and is a big footy fan) and said how O'Shea was the biggest waste of space on the pitch in that game...we may as well have been playing with 10 men...He genuinely replied "Was he playing?"

Enough said.

Kingp35

Ireland were shockingly bad and offered nothing at all in the entire game. Stephen Kelly was awful from start to finish. Caught out countless times and one stupid passback that nearly cost us a goal. Its pretty obvious now why he wasnt getting a game at Spurs.

Breen has got to have played his last game for Ireland, he was rubbish. Miller and O' Shea did nothing in the centre, Stephen Reid has got to play there and I hope Stan has realised this by now. Harte should play left back, he is a good defender just lacks pace. If you can cover for that he will improve the team.

Duff looked very unfit but you cant blame him due to his lack of games. He needs to move on from Chelsea because they are hurting his career. Keane and Doyle looked ok but starved on service. I thought Byrne did very well when he came bar one stupid shot he never should have taken on. He won headers and set up a couple of chances. McGeady was pretty poor, kept running into dead ends and that one time he ran to the end line and forgot where the ball was and nearly tripped over it was hilarious. Has potential but so have many before him, needs to sort himself out

That better be the end of the experimenting by Stan and I hope he has some sort of plan because Wednesday night was an embarrassment.