Ireland vs Croatia - Match thread

NinjaK

Wasnt surprised at the performance or result at all last night. A team beaten well by a superior team, shock horror. Those who think we can beat Spain or Italy are deluded. We lost this group when it was called. The only thing to do is enjoy the fact we are there!

leonidas83

NinjaK wrote: »

Wasnt surprised at the performance or result at all last night. A team beaten well by a superior team, shock horror. Those who think we can beat France or Italy are deluded. We lost this group when it was called. The only thing to do is enjoy the fact we are there!

??????

Banjaxed82

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

MUSEIST wrote: »

The irish support was immense yesterday but the performance was depressing and inept. Bilic won the tactical battle clearly and really impressed me. They nulified the irish threat.

Our gameplan is ridiculously obvious, a 2 year old could win the tactics battle. Can anyone see Trap making any changes? I'm not sure Gibson would improve things but he can't be much worse than Whelan.

System needs to change first.

If there's one good thing to come out of this mess it's that when it comes to the crunch, Trap's system is flawed beyond belief and he HAS to change our way of playing.

It's completely futile having a system that works against minnows but gets railroaded by the big guns.

Mr. Loverman

leonidas83 wrote: »

??????

I think what he said is quite accurate. Those who think we can beat France during the group stages of this tournament really are deluded because France aren't even in our group.

:pac::pac::pac:

QDog10

Fair to say that we we're happy to qualify for the tournament. Bar one or two players we have little or no experience of this level of football and that was evident last night. This is the top table of world football which we will see more evidence of on thursday night. Irish supporters were brilliant. Can't see him changing too much however. Spain and Italy looked good yesterday. On the evidence of the weekend we looked the worst team in the competition so far.

jmayo

Spread wrote: »

There was an element of luck in Croatia's 3 goals.

You make your own luck.
We gifted them possession and then did not close down crosses.
If you put yourself under pressure then it is your own fault.

Spread wrote: »

Having said that, I think Given was a bit late off the mark for the first one. The penalty should have been given. But our fellows lack the fire in the belly of Charlton/McCarthy's lads.

We don't have the players of the Charlton or even McCarthy era.
FFS the two donkeys in the centre of midfield wouldn't be fit to clean the boots of the guys that played for Charlton.

Spread wrote: »

All is not lost but even if we get results, the old goal difference is the divil.

FFS.
We were shown up by a half decent team.
It will be a miracle of sort if we get anything against the best team in the world and one which is set up as well as Italy.

devotional1993 wrote: »

...
This is your country-dont put it down!

Id hate to have you beside me in the army.

It is sh**e like that that has this country where it is in many walks of life.

Whilst I agree with everyone about changing the underage structure it wouldn't matter with this team and more particularly this manager.
The manager has been shown up to be no better than some that have gone before him in the recent past.
I find some of Trap's decisions as bad as any of Stauntons.

One of the best wingers in the premiership over the last 6 months of the season is left on the bench and a striker who is of no great shakes is brought on in his place. :mad:
McCarthy and Coleman to name two of the most prominent have been frozen out over the last couple of years.
Yeah we will hear in response that McCarthy wouldn't go, but would he if he knew he was actually starting rather than sitting behind such luminaries as Whelan and Andrews in the pecking order.

Mr. Loverman

I know this isn't quite the same comparison, but remember Italy were beaten by Ireland in their first game at USA 94... and they got to the finals. So we're not out yet!

jmayo

QDog10 wrote: »

Fair to say that we we're happy to qualify for the tournament. Bar one or two players we have little or no experience of this level of football and that was evident last night. This is the top table of world football which we will see more evidence of on thursday night. Irish supporters were brilliant. Can't see him changing too much however. Spain and Italy looked good yesterday. On the evidence of the weekend we looked the worst team in the competition so far.

It is nothing to do with experience, but it has lots to do with ability and tactics.
There are top teams (Itlay, Holland, Spain) playing so far who have blooded young inexperienced guys, with varying success, yet we keep one of our best probable players on the bench.

BraziliaNZ

Cox out!

tayto lover

A big part of the problem last night is that our front men didn't pressure the Croats backs enough and allowed them to spray passes to their midfielders. Back in Jack's time our forwards pressured the defenders into hoofing the ball or giving inaccurate passes thus giving away possession. The Croats did exactly that to our defenders. Also any long balls played by the Croat defenders were won in the air by Jelavich and we haven't seen Dunne dominated like that ever ever before. Ward and O'Shea were very poor too and offered no real assistance.

Hank Scorpio

Still feel dissapointed, the way we condeded the goals was poor. Honestly felt like we were gonna get something from the game when we equalised, but just sat back again and got sucker punched again a few times.

I just hope the game vs Spain won't be cruel, the Irish fans out there don't deserve it, nor do the ones at home. Agree with alot of people here McClean should have gotten a run out, whats the point in bringing him if he isn't gonna be used in a situation where we're 2 goals down with 20 minutes left and out of ideas.

BraziliaNZ

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know this isn't quite the same comparison, but remember Italy were beaten by Ireland in their first game at USA 94... and they got to the finals. So we're not out yet!

We had Paul McGrath and Roy Keane in that side, who have we got now?

Downlinz

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know this isn't quite the same comparison, but remember Italy were beaten by Ireland in their first game at USA 94... and they got to the finals. So we're not out yet!

No, we're out.

Francie Barrett

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

We had Paul McGrath and Roy Keane in that side, who have we got now?

We have Paul Green :pac:

Banjaxed82

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know this isn't quite the same comparison, but remember Italy were beaten by Ireland in their first game at USA 94... and they got to the finals. So we're not out yet!

Unfortunately we don't gave Mexico and Norway in our next 2 games.

Hank Scorpio

tayto lover wrote: »

A big part of the problem last night is that our front men didn't pressure the Croats backs enough and allowed them to spray passes to their midfielders.

Our midfield was sitting so deep most of the match they would have been chasing shadows. I agree that we should be pressurising like that but in Traps system its not really possible

Renn

nuxxx wrote: »

I just hope the game vs Spain won't be cruel, the Irish fans out there don't deserve it, nor do the ones at home.

Irish team will deserve it though.

BraziliaNZ

Francie Barrett wrote: »

We have Paul Green :pac:

Jokes aside, we don't have even one world class player, and I can't see any coming through the ranks right now. We haven't had one since Roy retired, you need one or two to have a good team, like Croatia.

leonidas83

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Jokes aside, we don't have even one world class player, and I can't see any coming through the ranks right now. We haven't had one since Roy retired, you need one or two to have a good team, like Croatia.

Truth is, there's alot of sides in the euros that dont have a world class player, we have alot of good players at our disposal that arent given a sniff by the manager. Its all well and good being conservative when your managing sides like England (Capello) or Italy(Trapatonni previously) but when your a small nation like us you need to grab the chance to give these younger talented players a go.

kitakyushu

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Jokes aside, we don't have even one world class player, and I can't see any coming through the ranks right now. We haven't had one since Roy retired, you need one or two to have a good team, like Croatia.

You don't need any World Class players in order to be able to compete, but you do need a better selection than what we've currently got.

dsmythy

I see McGeady getting dropped from everyone's post Croatia preferred line-ups :rolleyes:

Drumpot

On reflection of last nights game without my dissapointing green glasses on.

We defended poorly for the goals but all three goals had an element of great luck . .

Goal 1 - Bobbling ball and Croatian actually slipped just before he managed to settle himself and then Given only missed it because he was unsighted

Goal 2 - Foul on ward who passed it to Jelevic only because of the foul

Goal 3 - Superb header, but it goes off the post and off given and in. wasnt going in if it hadnt hit Given (not sure why the panel suggested it was going in cause it clearly wasnt).

Penalty not givent on 60 mins. 3-2 with 30 mins to go would of made it a very nervy end and who knows what would of happened.

so they scored one goal that should of been a free out (ward) and we didnt get a clear peno that nobody can excuse. Why are we being so hard on the team ?

Yes, Ireland defended poorly at times, but I dont think the scoreline reflected the game . . Given wasnt pelted with shots (the Croats didnt create much either despite some of their nice football) . .

The panel said that our luck ran out, but the same time Croatias luck was ridiculously in because they werent streets ahead of us , they just got the breaks, thats all . .

By the way, did anybody else think the Irish Lads looked really nervous in the Tunnel before the game ?

syklops

Only saw bits of the match last night but my mother gave me a running comentary via SMS. She said our defence was non-existant. That would tally with St Leger, a defender, scoring.

Now while Im glad that he did so, as it meant our defeat didnt look too bad, does any one have any opinions on his performance in the defensive line?

helimachoptor

Croatia were the better team, however without the luck it would have ended 0-0.
Ireland got a bit of luck with the fake whistle for the goal imo

noodler

Leftist wrote: »

are we the worst team in the tournament?
probably. Czech republic are a close 2nd worst but they almost beat us at home recently.

??

No.

dsmythy

The Irish team reeked of nerves. I don't get it. Sure it's a huge tournament but you're there as the general fans' bottom of the group prediction, there is little to no pressure. The squad was purposely picked to favour experience over youth. From looking at the nerves on show we might as well have come with a younger squad.

Surely at least now any pressure has to have lifted and the players will hopefully be able to express themselves better. Trap has hinted at changes in personnel but I don't expect much. Nevertheless I'd expect the team, even if the same starting 11, to play better against Spain. It may well be a 3-1 loss again but at least show that we are not mediocre.

v3ttel

syklops wrote: »

She said our defence was non-existant. That would tally with St Leger, a defender, scoring.

WTF? How does that tally? He went up for a set piece and scored.

Teams with "existent" defenses can't send CB's up for a set-piece?

kronsington

Very disappointing result. I didn't expect a win but thought we might battle for a draw. We just didn't play well and they were the better side. Our substitutions were puzzling, particularly Cox and we just never really looked like getting back into it. Whelan did nothing except contribute to their second goal. Dunne and O'Shea looked out of sorts. O'Shea seems so casual and lathargic on the ball sometimes. Our front lads didnt get a chance to do much but didnt play well. I think a lot of irish fans went WAY overboard in terms of what to expect from the team. The Rte poll had 87% of fans thinking we'd win. I know thats through the patriotism and a lot of kids facebooking and tweeting in but it seems a bit excessive. It'll be a miracle if we get a result against span. we have no choice but to go for it. spain didn't look great v italy. they came into it in the second half and we'll see if they stick to playing with no striker. i have found traps's behavious and comments (when they can be deciphered) frustrating the last few weeks. of course ill respect him for his career and getting us to the euros but ive never personally warmed to him. big game on thursday. if they somehow get a result, or day i say it, a win, itll be the biggest irish sporting result of all time.

A Dub in Glasgo

helimachoptor wrote: »

Ireland got a bit of luck with the fake whistle for the goal imo

The fake whistle had absolutely no impact on the the goal. Great cross by McGeady and St Ledger got there before the defender to score

Will I Amnt

helimachoptor wrote: »

Croatia were the better team, however without the luck it would have ended 0-0.
Ireland got a bit of luck with the fake whistle for the goal imo

That whistle in the crowd had no effect on the game.It was probably somebody near a mic which made it stand out above the noise for viewers but not once did I see any player react to it.

mathie

kronsington wrote: »

The Rte poll had 87% of fans thinking we'd win. I know thats through the patriotism and a lot of kids facebooking and tweeting in but it seems a bit excessive.

What was the question RTE asked?
I seem to remeber it was something like 'Do you think Ireland are capable of winning'

I'd wonder why as many as 13% would say No to be honest!

helimachoptor

cambo2008 wrote: »

That whistle in the crowd had no effect on the game.It was probably somebody near a mic which made it stand out above the noise for viewers but not once did I see any player react to it.

They did for the Irish goal, the whistle blew all the players stopped bar St Ledger and the Croat marking him( and keeper)

monkey9

Cox on for McGeady!! I'm still shaking my head at that one. I would have had McClean on to whip some crosses in. Overall though, the better side won. It's only one game gone yet already i feel we've been knocked out of the tournament.

Francie Barrett

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc-kgXz_OzU

Ole Ole Ole

Why do we have to make muppets out of ourselves on such big occasions?

DoctorGonzo08

Drumpot wrote: »

Goal 1 - Bobbling ball and Croatian actually slipped just before he managed to settle himself and then Given only missed it because he was unsighted

Goal 2 - Foul on ward who passed it to Jelevic only because of the foul

Goal 3 - Superb header, but it goes off the post and off given and in. wasnt going in if it hadnt hit Given (not sure why the panel suggested it was going in cause it clearly wasnt).

To be fair, if there was luck involved we helped them have it.

Goal 1 - Andrews had perfect oppurtunity to head the ball clear, but instead pulled away from the ball. Ridiculous defending.

Goal 2 - If it was another team involved, this would not be looked at in such detail. It was the lightest of touches and didn't change the fact the Ward was kicking it backwards anyway.

Goal 3 - Was just a great header, with the element of luck that if it were 2 inches to the right it would have came off the post, or 2 inches to the left and Shay would have got it. It was going in regardless of coming off Shay.

We were just exposed. The team is set up for qualifying, not a tournament. While Trapp plays a very defensive unit, the simple fact is that he just doesn't have the players. Andrews and Whelan are just out of their depth at this level, so the team has to defend.

Spain look likely to click to their new formation against us, which could mean a heavy scoreline. Italy play great attacking football and with Pirlo in the middle, it's another foregone conclusion.

Croatia was the result we needed to keep some possibility of progressing. It was an embaressing performance, and I feel sorry for all the fans that made the journey to support the team.

As much as I was expecting this to happen, it still disappoints because deep down you want to be proved wrong. Really have lost the excitment of watching the tournament after last night.

Renn

kitakyushu

Trap'll be feeling that this morning.

jmayo

syklops wrote: »

Only saw bits of the match last night but my mother gave me a running comentary via SMS. She said our defence was non-existant. That would tally with St Leger, a defender, scoring.

WTF ??? :rolleyes:
Some of best defenders in the world had a habit of scoring, particularly at set pieces.
Some of best free kick experts have been defenders.
Do a bit of research on players like Ronald Koeman or even Ian Harte.

Renn

kitakyushu wrote: »

Trap'll be feeling that this morning.

Tbf, for a 73 year old he recovered pretty quickly.

tolosenc

Rooney10 wrote: »

Teams with "existent" defenses can't send CB's up for a set-piece?

Spain's non-existent defence in the World Cup semi-final, for example.

Banjaxed82

mathie wrote: »

kronsington wrote: »

The Rte poll had 87% of fans thinking we'd win. I know thats through the patriotism and a lot of kids facebooking and tweeting in but it seems a bit excessive.

What was the question RTE asked?
I seem to remeber it was something like 'Do you think Ireland are capable of winning'

I'd wonder why as many as 13% would say No to be honest!

Stupid yes/no polls. Of course with expectation before our first game people go with ireland to win. The poll should have been "will we win, lose or draw?" I think we may have had more realistic poll result to that.

Leslie91

Paully D wrote: »

O'Shea is a centre half and should be played nowhere else. It's the same at club level. He's been poor for us at right back but excellent at centre half.

Dunno bout excellent as centre half but he is one pile of ****e at right back.

Will I Amnt

helimachoptor wrote: »

They did for the Irish goal, the whistle blew all the players stopped bar St Ledger and the Croat marking him( and keeper)

Nonsense,watch it again.
The only players that stopped were the ones the free kick took out of the game that had no chance of getting near it.
At least 2 defenders made an effort to head it.And the keeper was helpless but did make an effort.
You are imagining it differently

plasmaguy

Croatia more than deserved their win but their three goals were incredibly soft/flukey but I suppose you make your own luck at this level.

Defensive errors by Ireland to blame for all three goals.

Keane should have got a definite penalty too.

Looking forward to other two Croatia matches, they look a good side who play nice football.

Sad thing is both Spain and Italy are better than Croatia so we'll be lucky to come away from either without being thrashed.

Trap did a good job to get us to the Euros but there is only so much you can do with a team of bottom half of EPL/Championship players against the likes of Croatia.

Jayob10

Ireland XI post this tournament

---

Given


Coleman

---

O'Shea

---

Dunne

---

Cunningham

---

Meyler

---

Gibson

---

Walters

---

McCarthy

---

McClean

---

Long

leonidas83

plasmaguy wrote: »

Croatia more than deserved their win but their three goals were incredibly soft/flukey but I suppose you make your own luck at this level.

Defensive errors by Ireland to blame for all three games.

Keane should have got a definite penalty too.

Looking forward to other two Croatia matches, they look a good side who play nice football.

Sad thing is both Spain and Italy are better than Croatia so we'll be lucky to come away from either without being thrashed.

Trap did a good job to get us to the Euros but there is only so much you can do with a team of bottom half of EPL/Championship players against the likes of Croatia.

Croatia arent some football superpower by any stretch. I think we made them look much better than they actually are last night, Greece beat them 2-0 in the qualifiers for gods sake. Two set pieces aswell, thats why we should have gotten a better result against them.

plasmaguy

leonidas83 wrote: »

Croatia arent some football superpower by any stretch. I think we made them look much better than they actually are last night, Greece beat them 2-0 in the qualifiers for gods sake. Two set pieces aswell, thats why we should have gotten a better result against them.

I could have said the likes of Spain or Italy too. We don't have the quality for these tournaments to be honest. Its one thing getting here but another to be able to compete. Big Jack had the quality, we don't, we have it in a few positions but not all over the pitch which is what you need at this level.

Croatia were very good last night, not sure what happened to them against Greece but they have come on a lot. Our so called quality players also underperformed last night but I'm not going to pick on one player in particular as that would be unfair.

Andrews was probably our best player, he always gives his best, great servant.

leonidas83

plasmaguy wrote: »

I could have said the likes of Spain or Italy too. We don't have the quality for these tournaments to be honest. Its one thing getting here but another to be able to compete. Big Jack had the quality, we don't, we have it in a few positions but not all over the pitch which is what you need at this level.

Croatia were very good last night, not sure what happened to them against Greece but they have come on a lot. Our so called quality players also underperformed last night but I'm not going to pick on one player in particular as that would be unfair.

Andrews was probably our best player, he always gives his best, great servant.

We do have the quality, its just we dont utilise it or give a chance cos we have a manager very stuck in his ways. He was the same when he managed Italy, albeit he had much better players at his disposal but if your were not part of his team from the start, forget about it. His loyaty to some players goes way beyond what it should be.

Jimmy Iovine

Desperately disappointing result. When you see this kind of stuff from the Irish fans over there then ya can't help but smile about it all. Singing the Home and Away theme tune to drown out the Croatians on the tram. Classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hHGan5YIWg

syklops

Rooney10 wrote: »

Teams with "existent" defenses can't send CB's up for a set-piece?

Do teams with existing defences lose 3-1?