The *ONLY* After Hours thread about the European Championships.

Opticom

dr.bollocko wrote: »

That was Jack's tactics right there. Only he had a few big heads up front and a much better group of players to pick from.

Only in the last 20mins, a bit late then

Mint Sauce

hondasam wrote: »

Happy now, LOL great stuff.

Come on England. what would we be like if we were playing England?

Not sure I could take watching England tomorrow night after that match, Let alone Ireland v England.

Pedant

Croatians are like ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv5zKd1rqcM

... because they can't afford to buy music that's any earlier than the 90s.

Johro

I dunno...
Being a Dutchman in Ireland I'm usually in the happy position of being able to cheer on two teams. Not so much now.
After the disappointment of seeing Holland go down to Denmark (the back four were always suspect), I was looking forward to seeing Ireland take on Croatia. Now I didn't see too much of the qualifying campaign, but a fairly impressive unbeaten record (apparently) made me think they were better than what I saw today.
Can i just ask though, what the fuck is the deal with hoofing the ball up the pitch at every opportunity in the hope that someone in a green shirt will get on the end of it??-coz that's pretty much all that happens, with the odd variation of Given himself collecting the ball and then hoofing it up the pitch, where if an Irish player gets on to it after a bit of ping ponging around he proceeds to balloon a hopeful ball to somewhere in the box. Ffs...
Is there a reason why the keeper can't roll the ball out to one of his defenders and Ireland pass it around a bit first so at least they got the freakin ball?? It's just miserable to see the ball being kicked up the pitch by Given to be colllected by a Croatian player over and over and over again. Ireland need to hold on to the fuckin ball for a bit, keep passes low and move the opposition round a bit, because what they're doing now is just predictable and useless.
Jeez I thought Holland were fairly crap in their game but at least they can pass it round.
And somebody find that guy with the whistle in the crowd and stick it up his hole.

starbelgrade

Opticom wrote: »

Bring back Jack, he knew how to make the most of it where the spirt was willing but the talent and ability was lacking.

Jack's tactics were extremely negative, despite having a decent team of players - the majority of them came from the top clubs in England at the time. They still managed to do quite well, despite the fact that he had they playing long ball football when they had the quality & class to do a lot more than that.

I like Big Jack, but I really don't think he was as good a manager as most people would have you believe.

Trap, on the other hand has a team of players made up mostly from the lower ends of the English premier league or from the Championship. Despite this, they have done quite well... Trap's tactics are also negative, but he has good reason for using them and up until tonight, where the players simply didn't do the basics, they have also worked quite well.

I also like Trap, but he's not as bad a manager as most people would have you believe.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Route one football is all we've ever played, we don't have the class to play like a Holland or Spain.

My name is URL

Has nobody else switched over to the Loius Theroux porn documentary on BBC2?

We could probably sign some of those lads.

Johro

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Route one football is all we've ever played, we don't have the class to play like a Holland or Spain.

Well ya won't go anywhere without the ball, that's for sure. Surely the team are able to pass the ball without having to hang it up in the air every f#ckin time..

One_More_Mile

No player worth talking about, out classed, out played. Gutted.

Elmer Blooker

Johro wrote: »

I dunno...
Being a Dutchman in Ireland I'm usually in the happy position of being able to cheer on two teams. Not so much now.
After the disappointment of seeing Holland go down to Denmark (the back four were always suspect), I was looking forward to seeing Ireland take on Croatia. Now I didn't see too much of the qualifying campaign, but a fairly impressive unbeaten record (apparently) made me think they were better than what I saw today.
Can i just ask though, what the fuck is the deal with hoofing the ball up the pitch at every opportunity in the hope that someone in a green shirt will get on the end of it??-coz that's pretty much all that happens, with the odd variation of Given himself collecting the ball and then hoofing it up the pitch, where if an Irish player gets on to it after a bit of ping ponging around he proceeds to balloon a hopeful ball to somewhere in the box. Ffs...
Is there a reason why the keeper can't roll the ball out to one of his defenders and Ireland pass it around a bit first so at least they got the freakin ball?? It's just miserable to see the ball being kicked up the pitch by Given to be colllected by a Croatian player over and over and over again. Ireland need to hold on to the fuckin ball for a bit, keep passes low and move the opposition round a bit, because what they're doing now is just predictable and useless.
Jeez I thought Holland were fairly crap in their game but at least they can pass it round.
And somebody find that guy with the whistle in the crowd and stick it up his hole.

You're right, Ireland's style or should I say lack of it is depressing but you shouldn't forget that Holland got to the World Cup final by kicking the s***e out of the opposition and not by playing good football.
Glasshouses and stones etc........

Johro

Btw if I come across as overly critical, I don't mean to, I'm just disappointed with the way they played...

Opticom

starbelgrade wrote: »

I like Big Jack, but I really don't think he was as good a manager as most people would have you believe.

I also like Trap, but he's not as bad a manager as most people would have you believe.

Trap is a superior manager in normal circumstances, but Jack knew that Irish teams have spirit in bounds, rather than talent or ability, and Jack knew how to tap into this and turn it to his advantage.

Kiera

Johro wrote: »

Btw if I come across as overly critical, I don't mean to, I'm just disappointed with the way they played...

We can criticise our own but we wont let others criticise us

Johro

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

You're right, Ireland's style or should I say lack of it is depressing but you shouldn't forget that Holland got to the World Cup final by kicking the s***e out of the opposition and not by playing good football.
Glasshouses and stones etc........

Don't start that now coz I never said I thought Holland were great, I think they should have had a fair few players sent off in the world cup and I also think it's the fault of their manager who's happy for them to win at all costs. He's a wanker.
Holland can play, and I would rather see them play well and lose than see them kick the shite out of the opposition and win, coz that never really feels like a win.

crazygeryy

So sad to hear liam brady say he thinks they wont qualify.even after the first game.hes probably right but it's awful to hear it.

Johro

Kiera wrote: »

We can criticise our own but we wont let others criticise us

Well I'm not fussy.

Daniel S

We played ****e, but we should have won. Their third goal was the only one they deserved. Second was a disgrace and we should have gotten a penalty.

Opticom

Johro wrote: »

Is there a reason why the keeper can't roll the ball out to one of his defenders and Ireland pass it around a bit first so at least they got the freakin ball??

The reason is they would not get it into the other half if they did.
It's a traditional and necessary Irish tactic for years. Irish teams spirit is always willing but the talent and ability is always weak.

Dyr

Opticom wrote: »

Trap is a superior manager in normal circumstances, but Jack knew that Irish teams have spirit in bounds, rather than talent or ability, and Jack knew how to tap into this and turn it to his advantage.

I haven't watched an irish football match since the civil war in 2002 but I feel safe in guessing that Charlton had access to far superior players than this italian lloyd bridges lookalike does.

Johro

Opticom wrote: »

The reason is they would not get it into the other half if they did.
It's a traditional and necessary Irish tactic for years. Irish teams spirit is always willing but the talent and ability is always weak.

I don't think so, I think that's a defeatist attitude that makes it so. A good team is all about confidence.

Toby Take a Bow

Johro wrote: »

Can i just ask though, what the fuck is the deal with hoofing the ball up the pitch at every opportunity in the hope that someone in a green shirt will get on the end of it??

I've heard from people that it's because we just don't have the talent to get the ball from the defenders to the strikers. So we skip the midfielders and hope for the best.

Johro

I don't know, sometimes I think yiz are your own worst enemies, talking down the team and your chances before you've even started, and the strategy reflects that.

Opticom

Johro wrote: »

I don't think so, I think that's a defeatist attitude that makes it so. A good team is all about confidence.

Read the post, I said the Irish spirit was always one of our best advantages, we've a population of 5 million people to chose from, that's a smaller population than many European cities. I'm not a pessimist or an optimist, I'm a realist.

Fr_Dougal

We were very unlucky tonight. I think we can get a result against Spain and Italy.

Johro

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

I've heard from people that it's because we just don't have the talent to get the ball from the defenders to the strikers. So we skip the midfielders and hope for the best.

That just makes every game a lottery. I've seen Irish teams knock the ball around with confidence in games under previous managers. Maybe it's him then.

copeyhagen

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

We were very unlucky tonight. I think we can get a result against Spain and Italy.

lol, both teams looked good today. we're fooked

Elmer Blooker

crazygeryy wrote: »

So sad to hear liam brady say he thinks they wont qualify.even after the first game.hes probably right but it's awful to hear it.

I don't think we'll qualify either but you're only out when it's mathematically certain, we need Croatia to beat Italy on Thurs which I think is possible, Italy won't like their physical style, which could leave Ireland and Spain playing for second place in the group. Unlikely I know but I still think we have a big performance in us.

Johro

Opticom wrote: »

Read the post, I said the Irish spirit was always one of our best advantages, we've a population of 5 million people to chose from, that's a smaller population than many European cities. I'm not a pessimist or an optimist, I'm a realist.

I'm not knocking the spirit, I'm saying that the strategy sets you up to lose. Ireland's better than that.

Opticom

Bambi wrote: »

I haven't watched an irish football match since the civil war in 2002 but I feel safe in guessing that Charlton had access to far superior players than this italian lloyd bridges lookalike does.

Not really, but he was much better at understanding what they were capable of and what they were'nt.

the groutch

this tournament has come two years too early imo.
the team is/has been built towards the next world cup. and were always going to be a notch below the standard required to be competitive in major tournaments.

Opticom

Johro wrote: »

Ireland's better than that.

No they're not, Charlton knew that, that's how he got results.
Bottom line we don't need to see fancy football, just results

gurramok

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

We were very unlucky tonight. I think we can get a result against Spain and Italy.

Agree, the team learnt a hard lesson tonight. Can't see them getting beaten by the same scoreline again, i think they'll battle alot harder for a result against Spain & Italy. They have to!

Rougies

Opticom wrote: »

Read the post, I said the Irish spirit was always one of our best advantages, we've a population of 5 million people to chose from, that's a smaller population than many European cities. I'm not a pessimist or an optimist, I'm a realist.

There's a difference between spirit and confidence. We play with spirit but not confidence. We can play good football, but for whatever reason it seems to be in the psyche of the team that we can't and we have to rely on spirit instead.

Fr_Dougal

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

We were very unlucky tonight. I think we can get a result against Spain and Italy.

Did you see the Spain Italy game? I don't think we have a chance against either tbh. We played well tonight but not well enough, the instinct isn't there, we didn't know where the ball was gonna end up. Croatia didn't deserve to win, but neither did we.

Opticom

gurramok wrote: »

Agree, the team learnt a hard lesson tonight. Can't see them getting beaten by the same scoreline again, i think they'll battle alot harder for a result against Spain & Italy. They have to!

I agree as well, they only had real spirit and fight in the last 20 mins when they realised all the pre-tournament Irish self-hype and praise was bull. The prima donna's on the Irish team are always in danger of slipping into that mode.

Robbie keane scores in approx. 45% of Irish games, so chances are we'll see a Keane goal in at least one of the next two games.

DEFTLEFTHAND

TRAP OUT!!!!!!!!

Aidric

Deleted User wrote: »

Croatia didn't deserve to win, but neither did we.

Ah here, what? Croatia more then deserved to win that game. They were great to watch in possession and we were more then happy to stand off them. It was tough to watch tbh.

Rougies

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you see the Spain Italy game? I don't think we have a chance against either tbh. We played well tonight but not well enough, the instinct isn't there, we didn't know where the ball was gonna end up. Croatia didn't deserve to win, but neither did we.

Yes they did, they were the better team. We were a bit unlucky maybe, but they deserved the win.

hondasam

Deleted User wrote: »

Croatia didn't deserve to win, but neither did we.

Croatia were by far the better team and deserved the win.

Johro

Opticom wrote: »

No they're not, Charlton knew that, that's how he got results.
Bottom line we don't need to see fancy football, just results

Well fuck that, who wants to watch that? Like I said, I'd rather see a team play with a bit of flair and passing ability and just generally see them play well and lose than see a team that knocks the ball around hopefully and play for free kicks, penalties and corners and win.
I'd like to be able to say I'm proud of a team regardless of winning or losing, and for that reason I wasn't crushed when Holland lost out to Spain in the world cup, coz they didn't deserve to win, and if they had it wouldn't have felt like a proper win.

I disagree

Opticom

Johro wrote: »

Well fuck that, who wants to watch that? Like I said, I'd rather see a team play with a bit of flair and passing ability and just generally see them play well and lose than see a team that knocks the ball around hopefully and play for free kicks, penalties and corners and win.

Face facts, we don't have that skill, and at the end of the day results are all that count.

hondasam

Deleted User wrote: »

I disagree

we are all disappointed with the result but we could be pleasantly surprised with the next game, we will cheer them on regardless.

Rougies

Opticom wrote: »

Face facts, we don't have that skill, and at the end of the day results are all that count.

This is the attitude that's the problem. Damage limitation instead of a winning mindset. What's the point in thinking like that, it will get us nowhere.

hondasam

hondasam wrote: »

we are all disappointed with the result but we could be pleasantly surprised with the next game, we will cheer them on regardless.

Oh of course, this was the game we needed to win though. But we could surprise ourselves! It's always the hardest games we do well in.

Tell you what though, anyone who had Italy written off (and there were many who had) should be hanging their heads in shame tonight.

Johro

Opticom wrote: »

Face facts, we don't have that skill, and at the end of the day results are all that count.

Well you're a lot better than what you showed today, that's for sure.

Johro

Deleted User wrote: »

I disagree

It's allowed.:p

Opticom

Rougies wrote: »

This is the attitude that's the problem. Damage limitation instead of a winning mindset. What's the point in thinking like that, it will get us nowhere.

The winning mindset is to win and get the result, not to play fancy football.

Opticom

Opticom wrote: »

The winning mindset is to win and get the result, not to play fancy football.

When do Ireland ever play "fancy football" to be fair?

starbelgrade

Opticom wrote: »

The winning mindset is to win and get the result, not to play fancy football.

Someone should explain that to Arsne Wenger.