Rep Of Ireland -v- Germany

StickyMcGinty

sprinkles wrote: »

Keogh was awful and should have been off at half time (or not have started out of position in the first place). I mean why was McGeady on the bench - a player who get champions league football and plays in that position and a player who earns his trade in the championship picked ahead of him?? The mind boggles.

Anyway I was amazed that he lasted 80 minutes and I think McGeady did quite well when he came on.

Mcgeady was already given his chance in the two away games and his performance didnt justify him starting last night

i thought keane was frustrated last night but when you get shrugged off the ball dont bitch and moan robbie, get your head back in the game

Carsley did very well soaking up pressure, i thought Steve Finnan had a long overdue super performance too

Steven Kelly is a rubbish player, he was average at best last night, he wasnt tested that much at all, the amount of times he passes the ball backwards rather than inside/forward is rediculous, i saw richard dunne having a go at him at one stage

overall disappointing, atmosphere was second rate (understandable), thought it was a joke having a mexican wave when we were about to go out of the tournament, only in ireland

Angus MacGyver

PHB wrote: »

I can't believe nobodies mentioned this so far, it was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. At the time of the first substitution, the announcer started off by saying,
'And now a substitution for West .... for Germany"

Yea by far the biggest slip of the tongue ive heard in a long time. The whole ground was laughing their asses off

I didnt think much of keane. Ok so he harried Lehman and tracked back but there were occaisions when it lokked like we could break and Keane was in the back four.

_blank_

VinnyL wrote: »

thought it was a joke having a mexican wave when we were about to go out of the tournament, only in ireland

...

Requiem4adream

PHB wrote: »

I can't believe nobodies mentioned this so far, it was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. At the time of the first substitution, the announcer started off by saying,
'And now a substitution for West .... for Germany"

No joke but i looked behind at Mary McAleese and she didnt find it 1 bit funny! Almost a diplomatic incident on her hands!! She had a couple of German Dignatories beside her!

eirebhoy

Clips of Reid's play last night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNPot7Svx4

MrJoeSoap

eirebhoy wrote: »

Clips of Reid's play last night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNPot7Svx4

PHB wrote: »

He was poor in the first half, good in the second.

Are you still of the same opinion PHB?

Tellox

VinnyL wrote: »

thought it was a joke having a mexican wave when we were about to go out of the tournament, only in ireland

You there! No enjoying yourself!
Decent performance, probably couldve qualified if we had played like this in every other match.

MrJoeSoap

Tellox wrote: »

You there! No enjoying yourself!
Decent performance, probably couldve qualified if we had played like this in every other match.

"If I didn't eat so much I wouldn't be so fat" - Charles Barkley

ro2

PHB wrote: »

I can't believe nobodies mentioned this so far, it was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. At the time of the first substitution, the announcer started off by saying,
'And now a substitution for West .... for Germany"

That was a classic, biggest cheer of the game

smemon

Average performance and result tbh.

Ireland had nothing to play for, no pressure and had nothing to lose. They should have used it as an opportunity to really raise the game and rattle in to the germans.

Not enough bite and nastiness - as usual. Woeful down the flanks and ordinary up front.

They kept their shape and defensively looked all right/solid. The germans have a big reputation but tbh they're over-rated and have been for the past few tournaments. They have that team spirit and team mentality though, thats what we lack.

Why won't someone just get out on the pitch and give everyone a kick up the backside? That's all that's needed. We have the players, all we need is someone to put fear into them.

Dunne, Finnan, Given, Keane.. these guys are quality players individually.. some of them very strong characters.

However, none of them can 'lead' a team or are willing to. They're not willing to be hated and that's what we need both on the pitch (a captain) and off it (manager).

PHB

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Are you still of the same opinion PHB?

Yeh. He couldn't find any space in the center. In the second half he came into the game and got the passing going. Our first half play was woeful, and as the central midfielder who can actually pass, he didn't do it.

eirebhoy

I thought he was fantastic in the first half.

That_Guy

Good performance all round but it asks the question as to why we couldn't play like that throughout the campaign. Still it leaves us with something positive to take into the world cup qualifiers.

redspider

eirebhoy wrote: »

redspider mentioned Kelly not being the type of player to get forward. He actually loves to get forward. I don't think Stan likes to give his full backs too much freedom though.

Have you been drinking again eirebhoy ?!? ;-) (joking)

I guess all I was saying is that Kelly didnt get forward enough in the game, and although he may be a player that does like to do it, he certainly didnt do it in the display on Sat.

Whether it was all down to Staunton's instructions or not is another story. I'm sure he said to watch them on the flanks and dont leave a hole behind, as he is all too aware and rightly so that the Germans are very dangerous in the air in the box, so preventing crosses coming in was vital. That means the full backs have to think of their defensive duties first and foremost rather than throwing caution to the wind and making deep runs and leaving gaps at the back.

The German's also kept their midfielders out very wide and our flanks were effectively blocked, so there was a lot of cancellation going on in terms of tactics. In a way, that's how Andy Reid could make some of those passes in the middle as the middle of the park was not packed and there was space. It wont always be that way. Finnan made a few forays forward, but they were seldom, and Keogh had to face two Germans on most occasions. Kilbane seldom got down the wing either and its not as if he was ever going to jink his way past 2 or 3 German's without a lot of luck being involved or run past them ala Walcott/Lennon.

The German's were happy with a draw and we were too. I think according to the stats there was only 8 attempts at goal in the whole game by both teams, and that includes Carsley's wayward cross. Compare that to the 45 (forty-five) attempts at goal in the Portsmouth-Reading goalfest!

Redspider

sprinkles

Excellent piece int he indo today by Daniel McDonnell. Really sums up the mood at the match.

I didn't notice this at the game but aparently with seconds left Shay came out towards the half way and ushered his defence to get forward to look for a goal. Kelly glanced towards the bench and stan was telling him to stay back. His excuse - we didn't want to lose the game. I'm sorry but a draw was the same as a loss in terms of qualification. Is that how this team is going to approach games they need to win!?

As for player ratings they got it pretty right imo:

Shay: 7
Finnan: 7
O'Brien: 6 (did very well I thought considering the position he was put in)
Dunne: 6 (some reckless and stupid tackles after the yellow)
Kelly: 6 (looked a lot more comfortable this time around
Keogh: 5 (not his fault and he can't be knocked for effort but he was thrown in the deep end unfairly)
Carsley: 5 (totally agree with this. I thought he was poor. He drifted around too mucha nd seemed unsure where Ried was at times)
Reid: 8 (Indo says man of the match. Have to agree but it only serves to highlight the fact that he should have started or at very least come on in staed of Gibson/Dougla against Slovakia)
Kilbane: 6 (his crossing is appauling. He's not a winger! He should be relocated if he has to play but I'd prefer to see him dropped on wednesday for hunt)
Doyle: 5 (I have to say I disagree with this. I though Doyle was doing quite well in the second half and he made some clever runs)
Keane: 5 (again I think he did beter than this - despite his misses. He wasn't given the service he craves and he did hassle the defence for the best part of the 90mins. You can only chase Kilbanes poor passes so long....)

Long: 5 (thought he did better than that also)

Staunton: 5 (got lucky with the selection of O'Brien but Keogh should have been substituted long before 80mins - if it was obvious to 67,000 people in the stands it should be obvious to the manager)

The indo questions whether the team are performing to any specific instructions. At time it seemed like there was a lack of structure to the team. Carsley drifted aimlessly at times. Keogh failed to realise that the (west) German left back was almost always out of position and imo the manager should have exploited this and if needed told Keogh where to run. But alas..... nothing.

"So it's no wonder that the public aren't happy. They're confused. Don't know whether to cry or laugh, to clap or boo." Too true!

BaZmO*

Had a post in this thread already but it seems to have been deleted.

Anyway, was at the match on Saturday. Bit of a let down really, thought we might have gotten the win but we just didn't seem to offer anything up front that would get us the win.

I'd also wish that all the kids that are always down in the lower Cusack beside the Davin end would give up on the Mexican Wave nonsense. Mexican Waves should only be done when your team is trashing the other team, not when you're out of the qualification runnings with 3 games to go.

Also, I was listening to the radio on Saturday morning and Stan was on talking about our chances and I was shocked at what he was saying (I know, it's not unusual). He was basically saying that the public can't always expect to win every match. If that was a reporter saying that I'd say fair enough but the Manager should not be talking down our chances like that. He should always say that he expects to win every match regardless, otherwise it just sends out the wrong message.

Third_Echelon

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'd also wish that all the kids that are always down in the lower Cusack beside the Davin end would give up on the Mexican Wave nonsense. Mexican Waves should only be done when your team is trashing the other team, not when you're out of the qualification runnings with 3 games to go.

yeah... bugs the crap out of me too.... 'watch the football FFS!'

sprinkles

BaZmO* wrote: »

Also, I was listening to the radio on Saturday morning and Stan was on talking about our chances and I was shocked at what he was saying (I know, it's not unusual). He was basically saying that the public can't always expect to win every match. If that was a reporter saying that I'd say fair enough but the Manager should not be talking down our chances like that. He should always say that he expects to win every match regardless, otherwise it just sends out the wrong message.

totally agree. He's breeding an air of complacency in the team. If the manager thinks it's ok to draw/lose then there's less pressure on the players to step up to the plate and perform to their best.

Gillie

Thought Ireland were awful unlucky!
0-0 against Germany considering current form is pretty good imo!

Keane coulda nicked one for us but there ya go.

GuanYin

Tactics were better than before, but as many pointed out, the game was approached as if we were already out. To be fair, it really just highlighted that the Carsley-Reid midfield (which someone here once told me any decent midfield would walk through) is our strongest one and should have been played at every chance. Reid ran the game imho.

Kilbane is still our best option at LB with Finnan playing RB and otherwise Keogh and Kelly are the questionable selections.

All in all, I'm not really on for giving Stan a crack at the WC'10 qualifying. I'd like to see reforms coming in quickly and professionally but that will never happen with the FAI

That said, it could be worse, if you see the absolute pigs ear Toshack is making of the Wales situation, I can honestly say I prefer Stan. The players probably don't respect him (it's not good with your only world class player (Given) says at the end of a qualifying campaign that you're still learning the ropes) but at least he hasn't alienated them all.

MooseJam

what score was this game, i missed it

~Rebel~

0-0

MooseJam

thanks