Dunphy 'despair' over Trap management

redout

Eamon Dunphy has said he feels 'despair' over the being tactics pursued by Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni, and suggested that the Italian does not care enough about the Irish football team.

In a stinging review of the Trappatoni's tenure on www.rte.ie/sport's [URL="javascript:showPlayer('/sport/soccer/2009/0328/worldcupextra_av.html')"]exclusive web-only World Cup Extra [/URL]after last night's 1-1 draw with Bulgaria, the RTÉ pundit and ex-Irish international also questioned whether the former Juventus manager had worked hard enough, and compared him unfavourably to England manager Fabio Capello.

Dunphy said: 'He's on a salary of €2million a year, he's got a magnificent CV, he's clearly a charismatic man, but I don't believe that he is doing the work that Capello is doing for England. He is not seeing enough of our players. He is not attending enough matches. He's making mistakes.'


Dunphy added that he had expected better from Trappatoni.
'I thought he would be great for our football. I feel a sort of despair. I really want to see our players at the World Cup.'

Elaborating on the problems Ireland are experiencing after they conceded an own-goal to let Bulgaria draw level in the second half of last night's World Cup qualifier, Dunphy disagreed with the suggestion that Trappatoni had improved Ireland's defense.

He said: '(Trappatoni) hasn't brought a good defensive attitude. We're defending in our own half. The way to defend is to keep the ball and to be in the your opponent's half of the field.'

'If you want my really honest opinion, I don't think he cares enough. I don't think he's working hard enough. I think he is delegating too much work.'

Dunphy also questioned whether Trappatoni had done enough to get the best players on the field, with Stephen Ireland still out in the cold under the new management team.

He said: 'Management is about management situations. If things go wrong you've got to solve problems on the field and off the field.'

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0329/dunphye.html


I have to say that I agree with some of what Dunphy is saying. I posted on here months ago that Trapp should be going to see our players much more often than he does. The guy seldom if ever goes to watch our own players and when he does its about two weeks before our next game which really is not good enough. Capello every week is attending 2-3 games. Surely Trapp could easily do the same. Dublin to London is only 50mins by air ffs or an hour something from Italy. Its not asking a lot now.

DenMan

No.....I don't agree with what Eamon said last night, and neither does John Giles and Ronnie Whelan. Ireland's squad simply is not good enough to compete with Italy in topping this group. Trappatoni is no fool and he knows what type of squad Ireland has. His approach has been defensive and to make it difficult for the opposition. There is no point having a few good creative players in the team (Duff, McGeady)and players who will find space and get into good positions (Keane, Doyle) if the rest of the team has little flair and any willing to get forward and help out in any way they can. If Wenger asked Clichy and Sagna to stay back and not get forward that would hinder Arsenal's game as players like Walcott, Rosicky and Arshavin need them for support. Same for Gallas and Toure when they get forward. He has travelled to games and has scouts watching for him.

The desire just was not there last night, players staying back when Bulgaria's defense was there for the taking. I lost count how many times we gave the ball away last night and there was zero effort in getting it back. We are a limited team with average players who in a lot of cases are playing Championship football and some of them can't even get into the clubs squads for games. That is what Trappatoni, Brady and Tardelli have to work with with. In the 2002 World Cup we had a very good talented squad. And in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups we had better players who were encouraged to defend for the team rather than show their individual brilliance. We are in a bad state now as nobody is willing to step up to the mark. We need Stephen Ireland back asap. He is having an outstanding season for City. As usual Dunphy doesn't see the whole picture when it is clear that Johnny Giles and Ronnie Whelan do.

Mgoraf

DenMan wrote: »

No.....I don't agree with what Eamon said last night, and neither does John Giles and Ronnie Whelan. Ireland's squad simply is not good enough to compete with Italy in topping this group. Trappatoni is no fool and he knows what type of squad Ireland has. His approach has been defensive and to make it difficult for the opposition. There is no point having a few good creative players in the team (Duff, McGeady)and players who will find space and get into good positions (Keane, Doyle) if the rest of the team has little flair and any willing to get forward and help out in any way the can. If Wenger asked Clichy and Sagna to stay back and not get forward that would hinder Arsenal's game as players like Walcott, Rosicky and Arshavin need them for support. Same for Gallas and Toure when they get forward.

The desire just was not there last night, players staying back when Bulgaria's defense was there for the taking. I lost count how many times we gave the ball away last night and there was zero effort in getting it back. We are a limited team with average players who in a lot of cases are playing Championship football and some of them can't even get into the clubs squads for games. That is what Trappatoni, Brady and Tardelli have to work with with. In the 2002 World Cup we had a very good talented squad. And in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups we had better players who were encouraged to defend for the team rather than show their individual brilliance. We are in a bad state now as nobody is willing to step up to the mark. We need Stephen Ireland back asap. He is having an outstanding season for City. As usual Dunphy doesn't see the whole picture when it is clear that Johnny Giles and Ronnie Whelan do.

We have the players to get forward, create and support. They're either not in the squad or are not allowed to do so. Andrews and Whelan are told not to get forward and support imo. They only got forward at the end once Bulgaria had equalised.

Highsider

IMO the team is playing beyond itself. Some of the players are'nt even up to division 1 standard. Trap is doing a great job with what we've got.

Antrim_Man

I agree with Dunphy in that we are playing overly defensive. McGeady should have been giving the ball all night and told to run at the auld ex Charlton bloke FFS :mad:

JPA

You can watch what he said if you look down the right side of this page, http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/



I'd post a direct link but I don't think it would work.

~Rebel~

Highsider wrote: »

IMO the team is playing beyond itself. Some of the players are'nt even up to division 1 standard. Trap is doing a great job with what we've got.

but at the same time, he should probably be making damn sure the best available players are selected. I think we can all agree that Reid and Ireland should be in the squad. Whatever bit of a dispute he has with Reid should really be put on the back burner as qualification is more important then a battle of ego's. Ireland himself has said he hasn't been approached by Brady or Trap to come back as was rumored - why?!?

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

He said: '(Trappatoni) hasn't brought a good defensive attitude. We're defending in our own half. The way to defend is to keep the ball and to be in the your opponent's half of the field.'

The day Dunphy can teach Trappatoni anything about defending is the day that he shows up sober for TV

LuckyLloyd

We have not qualified for a major competition since 2002. The team that got to Asia was carried there by some amazing individual performances by one of the top five players in the world during that period in Roy Keane. The current squad doesn't have a player that comes close to touching his impact. Aside from Keane though, the rest of the squad was arguably superior aswell.

Ireland vs Bulgaria 29-March-2009:

Given
McShane
Dunne
O'Shea
Kilbane
McGeady (Keogh)
Andrews
Whelan
Hunt
Keane (c)
Doyle

Ireland vs Cameroon 01-June-2002:

Given
Kelly
Breen
Staunton (c)
Harte (Reid)
McAteer
Kinsella
Holland
Kilbane
Duff
Keane

Comparison:

Given = Given
Kelly > McShane
Breen < Dunne
Staunton >>> O'Shea
Harte =< Kilbane
McAteer = McGeady
Kinsella >> Andrews
Holland >>> Whelan
Kilbane > Hunt
Keane < Keane (he's a more rounded player now I think)
Duff = Doyle

2002 Bench >> Current Bench


Of course, Reid and Duff returning from injury would help a lot as it would improve center midfield and place an impact player onto the bench. If they were fit and available, it probably makes it so that both teams are of a similar quality. But the 2002 team would still have an edge because of the depth on the bench and the obduracy of Staunton in the heart of the defense.

And then there is the hypothetical of whether the 2002 team that played the tournament matches would have got to that stage without Keane during the qualification campaign. You have to doubt it when you consider his contributions in the games away and home to Holland, away to Cyprus and home to Portugal when he practically played them on his own. Additionally, the squad was hyped up to such an extent emotionally in the aftermath of Saipan that they were performing way above the collective sum of their parts in the four tournament games.

---

Ultimately, when you consider the results thus far in this campaign and our position within the group I think we are doing as well as could be expected. There will be more guff from Dunphy after Wednesday, and probably a desire from some 'fans' to press the panic button. But when we're beat it will be important to take another look at the table and realize that qualification is still a distinct possibility...

LuckyLloyd

~Rebel~ wrote: »

but at the same time, he should probably be making damn sure the best available players are selected. I think we can all agree that Reid and Ireland should be in the squad. Whatever bit of a dispute he has with Reid should really be put on the back burner as qualification is more important then a battle of ego's. Ireland himself has said he hasn't been approached by Brady or Trap to come back as was rumored - why?!?

I don't believe anything Stephen Ireland has to say on the matter.

Guy:Incognito

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Ireland himself has said he hasn't been approached by Brady or Trap to come back as was rumored - why?!?

and he shouldnt be approached either. Its a self imposed exile. If he wants to play let him come and ask.

I dont care if he's Pele, Maradonna, Zidane and Maldini rolled in to one, he should not be begged or even asked to come back. Brady has said in the press thats he's welcome back, thats more than enough. Ireland knows where the phone is and he plays with Dunne and Given, it's not like he cant contact the right people.

noodler

I was willing to pass it off as Trap disagrees with everyone else but now we hear McGeady is likely to miss Wed and Trap doesn't wsnt to call anybody up.

Beating Georgia home and away, and cyprus at home would have been expected of any manager. Montenagro was a good performane though.

redout

A defeat to Italy and a win for Bulgaria will no doubt increase the amount of people calling him back.

LuckyLloyd

Also, Bulgaria will essentially play their game in hand on the 9th of September - away to Italy. If we can maintain a four point gap up until that point, we'll be in great shape approaching the run in with a lot of pressure on their shoulders.

Fanny Cradock

While I would like to see Trap adopt a more offensive strategy, the simple fact is that we don't have the quality in the squad to be playing the 'sexy football' we would all like.

S. Ireland hasn't got a leg to stand on - just come back for feck sake or retire from international football - and Andy Reid, while a sad loss, is not the solution to all our problems.

As it stands, we are second in the group and have the highest points from any second placed team across all groups. Trap has done a good job, and to feign despair at our current position is typical rubbish we all expect (and demand) from Dunphy. It seems that you get about 6 months with Eamon before he predictably (and most brilliantly) begins to throw all manner of conniptions.

nacho libre

Stekelly wrote: »

and he shouldnt be approached either. Its a self imposed exile. If he wants to play let him come and ask.

I dont care if he's Pele, Maradonna, Zidane and Maldini rolled in to one, he should not be begged or even asked to come back. Brady has said in the press thats he's welcome back, thats more than enough. Ireland knows where the phone is and he plays with Dunne and Given, it's not like he cant contact the right people.

you might not care, but a majority of those who want Ireland to qualify might not share your view if our play off place looks to be in danger in a couple of months time.

CCCP^

Where exactly is Trapp going to get the money to buy tickets, flight and accomodation to see Irish players in England? From the FAI? They couldn't even afford him in the first place!

Boskowski

Now I don't agree with much that Mr. Dunphy is saying and I don't agree with him on this one either.

If you want to defend in your opponents half you need players in the center of the pitch who can keep possession and control of the ball and string more than 3 passes together. Going by the last few performances Ireland is somewhat scarce in that area </understatement>.

If Ireland had an Andy Reid with the fitness of Stephen Ireland and a Stephen Ireland with the willingness of Andy Reid - different story.

I'm not sure what to think of the Mr. Ireland saga and I would be careful to blame management here. Trap and Brady are no idiots and there must be more to it than whats in the press. The guy seems a bit of a loose cannon/headcase. Pity that.

redout

CCCP^ wrote: »

Where exactly is Trapp going to get the money to buy tickets, flight and accomodation to see Irish players in England? From the FAI? They couldn't even afford him in the first place!

Pretty sure the International managers are allowed into the games as guests and dont pay.

kinaldo

I'm surprised so many people give a toss what Dunphy thinks at this stage.

Anyway slightly off topic, is it true that the reason Stephen Ireland doesn't want to come back is because he doesn't get on with the players? I heard that McShane and some others held him down on the ground and pulled his hair plugs out - or something stupid like that.

Aidric

Doesn't Dunphy despair at least once a week? I honestly can't think of anyone who would do a superior job with such a limited bunch of players.

He also doesn't seem to notice that with McGeady not defending on the right we're threatened with Mc****e.

Also MCGEADY IS A LEFT MIDFIELDER! NOT A RIGHT MID.... Right foot doesn't equal right side. the boy can't cross. He likes to cut in.... and on the right he's not half as usefull.

with Us not having a great sub Right mid... Ireland/Reid both injured/in exile.

I can see why... But Duffers past it. I think Even though he's a Centre Forward Andy KEY OGG could do a job at right, pace, passing and crossing ability.

Whelan and Andrews are the same player. We need invention.

Our CB partnership is good though.

As for Right back, McShane is reliable but has NO technique. We need Wolve's Kevin Foley, the boys immense, and trust me, when he gets up to the PL next year, he'll be starting.

We need to stop calling up shane Long too... ask any Reading fan, the boys not even good enough for the Championship. noel Hunt would be better, even Clint Morrison... But maybe next year if Cillian Sheridan establishes himself as 1st choice at Celtic, he'll be called in. Lets hope.

IvySlayer

People are acting like we were beaten...

Traps job is get us to the World Cup. So far, he's doing well, we're second.

purple_hatstand

Anyone else totally depressed by the aimless, long-ball hoofing? IMO, this is confirmation that Given and the defenders don’t trust the CMs with the ball and it means Doyle and Keane have to drop deep or wide to get any action thus taking them away from the danger areas.

Petrov played very well last night (everything the Bulgarians did well and everything we did badly went through him) but he’s no world-beater and the presence of Carsley would have curbed his controlling influence and provided a better link between defence and attack.

Ireland’s midfield will come up against better players than Petrov on Wednesday but I expect one of those great underdog performances against Italy: possibly an heroic 0-0. Unfortunately, that would mean last night’s shambles would be largely forgotten and in that event we’d just be papering over (widening) cracks.

I don't see the punditry disagreements the same way at all. I think Dunphy and Giles are both right. I think some of the players in Trapp's squads are not good enough to play football at this level. I also think that there are players out there who are better than the ones currently being deployed. This means that Trapp believes more in a particular system than in the individual players which would be fine if the system was working, but it clearly isn't when you consider the large periods of last night's game where we didn't have the ball and our inability to do anything positive with it when we did have it.

Fromvert

If Brady/Trap etc want Ireland back and if hes hinting that he wants to come back why dont they call his bluff and stick him the squad and see what he does. France forced Makelele to play for them after he retired internationally. It would settle all the we asked/they didnt ask crap thats going on. Doubt it will happen though as it wouldnt look good from either side.

Chucky the tree

Fromvert wrote: »

If Brady/Trap etc want Ireland back and if hes hinting that he wants to come back why dont they call his bluff and stick him the squad and see what he does. France forced Makelele to play for them after he retired internationally. It would settle all the we asked/they didnt ask crap thats going on. Doubt it will happen though as it wouldnt look good from either side.

I presume Trap et all are hoping he eventually decides to come back, if they stick him in the squad without telling him it will only alienate Ireland even more and then there really will be no chance of him ever playing for us again, certainly not under the current manangement. Also, I'm sure they dont care about settling the who asked/who didnt crap just to please some lads on a forum or twats like dunphy.

aodea

i think trap prefers prem players. he picks say whelen or andrews who are in and out of teams ahead of players like doyle at coventry who plays week in week out. Doyle plays but other than him where do we go for championship players? carsley is class but plays in chmpionship. trap is doing a great job because he has set up a team that will be hard to beat. its not player dependent course we would be better with ireland in the team but under trap he would be asked to do the same job as andrews so the ireland saga is kinda pointless. Charlton played long ball with brady in the team but hey it worked!!!! And thats all that matters.

Davidth88

Ill give you a ' neutrals ' point of view . I went to the game on Sat , I wouldn't usually bother with any internationals because they are rarely good games.

Paul McShane , he looked totally out of his depth, couldn't string a pass together at all.

McGeady was either carrying an injury or is totally over-hyped, I have not seen him play before ( never watch Scottish football ), he looked terrible TBH.

Hunt, ohhhh dear , what has happened there ?

The game was crying out for 2 subs , why weren't these made , everyone I said this to agreed but then said , oh but Trap doesn't make substitutions... WTF ! One of the biggest tools in the mgmt armory and he discards this ?

Wierd

SWAR

aodea wrote: »

i think trap prefers prem players. he picks say whelen or andrews who are in and out of teams ahead of players like doyle at coventry who plays week in week out. Doyle plays but other than him where do we go for championship players? carsley is class but plays in chmpionship. trap is doing a great job because he has set up a team that will be hard to beat. its not player dependent course we would be better with ireland in the team but under trap he would be asked to do the same job as andrews so the ireland saga is kinda pointless. Charlton played long ball with brady in the team but hey it worked!!!! And thats all that matters.

The Ireland sage is not pointless imo...he is one of the best players in the premiership and he is Irish so someone within the Irish set-up should be doing everything in their power to get him back. Ok he may not be willing to make the first move and is waiting for a public calling from Trap or something as he strikes me as the kinda guy who would like all that attention. Regardless of what anyone thinks of him and what kind of job Trap may or may not ask him to do in the centre of midfield, nobody can deny that he is one of the most talented all round midfielders in the premiership...he can defend but he would also give us that attacking and creative option in the middle, something we are seriously lacking at the moment.

Xavi6

I think the Stephen Ireland thing is done and dusted personally.

He has been playing with two of the most senior members of the squad at club level since the rumours of a comeback circulated in January yet nothing has materialised. I would find it very hard to believe that the topic hasn't cropped up in conversation with Given and Dunne so the only conclusion I can draw is that he simply doesn't want to play.

Rightly or wrongly there's not much point harping on about it now.

whatawaster

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

While I would like to see Trap adopt a more offensive strategy, the simple fact is that we don't have the quality in the squad to be playing the 'sexy football' we would all like.

nobody is asking for sexy football.
But even mediocre teams can show ambition at home, at least attempt to pass the ball and generally have the right attitude.
Look at the way Fulham, Wigan, even Swansea play football. I'm not expecting us to turn into Barcelona, but we made absolutely no effort to attack bulgaria for 75 minutes. Anytime Hunt/McGeady got the ball wide there was no support from midfield.

Xterminator

aodea wrote: »

i think trap prefers prem players. he picks say whelen or andrews who are in and out of teams ahead of players like doyle at coventry who plays week in week out. Doyle plays but other than him where do we go for championship players? carsley is class but plays in chmpionship. trap is doing a great job because he has set up a team that will be hard to beat. its not player dependent course we would be better with ireland in the team but under trap he would be asked to do the same job as andrews so the ireland saga is kinda pointless. Charlton played long ball with brady in the team but hey it worked!!!! And thats all that matters.

Andrews is not in and out of his club team.

He has established himself as first choice, and caries a genuine attacking threat, when allow to. While we probably didn't deserve to win, he did create a gilt edged chance right at the death.

Andrews is solid, not spectacular, and is better than gibson or whelan. i think he would thrive with a player of stephen irelands class along side him, but i think that stephen ireland is the only person who can resolve that particular problem.

and i do wish andy reid was called up, i would have him 3rd in the pecking order, behind mcgeady and duffer, both of whom we could be without against italy.

Trap is cutting his nose off to spite his face with his refusal to even call him up.

Highsider

~Rebel~ wrote: »

but at the same time, he should probably be making damn sure the best available players are selected. I think we can all agree that Reid and Ireland should be in the squad. Whatever bit of a dispute he has with Reid should really be put on the back burner as qualification is more important then a battle of ego's. Ireland himself has said he hasn't been approached by Brady or Trap to come back as was rumored - why?!?

I don't agree that Ireland should be in the squad. He has been told the door is open for him and has'nt approached the manager. His move next is the way it should be even it means we don't qualify.

dsmythy

I don't know where people are getting off with their "we are in a strong position". If we were Spain then yeah but we're not.

Three of our last five games are away from home.

Four of Bulgaria's last six games are at home.

Tell me, when was the last time we won away from home against anyone outside of the two teams seeded second last and last?

Can we beat Cyprus in Cyprus considering our difficulties with them?

In trying to qualify for Euro 2008 we lost both our away games against the two top seeds. WC 2006 qualifying we actually got draws against both top seeds but still lost out.

When was the last time we beat one of the top two seeds at home?

Based on this i'm guessing we lose in Italy and Bulgaria. Get a draw at best against Italy at home and possibly draw in Cyprus. All this presuming we perform as we have done during this qualification.

The only way we can make it into a playoffs is if Bulgaria do even worse in their other three home games against Cyprus, Montenegro and Georgia.

I don't feel very strong of our position.


Of course Trap could turn out to be a genius, in which case laugh at me and this post all you want. It will mean we are going to South Africa!

Mezcita

Xavi6 wrote: »

I think the Stephen Ireland thing is done and dusted personally.

He has been playing with two of the most senior members of the squad at club level since the rumours of a comeback circulated in January yet nothing has materialised. I would find it very hard to believe that the topic hasn't cropped up in conversation with Given and Dunne so the only conclusion I can draw is that he simply doesn't want to play.

Rightly or wrongly there's not much point harping on about it now.

Exactly. Regardless of the rights or wrongs about Ireland, he's not an option for us. Neither is Andy Reid. So people just need to forget about them as players who can help the squad.

aidan24326

We may as well accept that this is a poor Ireland team. Andrews and Whelan must be one of the weakest midfield pairings ever to play for Ireland, even though I thought Andrews did reasonably ok the other night, but he wasn't helped by having a limited plodder beside him. Paul McShane is not up to this level either.

We can forget about Stephen Ireland, he obviously doesn't want to play. His City teammates Shay Given and Richard Dunne are two of the most senior and well respected players in the squad, and if they can't convince him to come back then nobody can. All he had to do was pick up a phone and call Liam Brady, and he'd be back in the squad. Problem solved. While I do feel Trap should perhaps have done more to resolve this situation, I can see his point aswell. They said he's welcome back, the player himself has made no attempt to come back. Stephen Ireland, for all his talent, is a very odd character. It's a shame but if he doesn't want to play then we may as well forget about him.

Sadly we'd be wasting our time going to a WC with this team anyway, and with a manager who, for all the good things he's done, is painfully negative in his approach.