Pick your best Starting Irish 11

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

How are they evenly matched?

Forde has performed superbly since been given a chance for Ireland.

Westwood has only just got his place back in the Sunderland team.

Christ, if Forde's performances for Ireland don't edge you ahead of the likes of Westwood then I don't know what it will take.

How are they evenly matched? By being about the same ability. Not complicated is it?

Pighead

keeponhurling wrote: »

Forde is simply better than Westwood, doesn't matter what clubs they are at.

No he isn't simply better than Westwood. It's a close call and I can see arguments for both sides. Think a few people are getting carried away by Forde's admittedly excellent display against Germany. I'm guessing there are not too many avid Millwall supporters here so most people have probably only ever watched him play a handful of times.

Many people were calling for Forde over Westwood because the latter wasn't getting his game at Sunderland which was fair enough. Now that Westwood is first choice again I think it's pretty close between the two of them as to who deserves the number 1 jersey.

Dempsey

Corholio wrote: »

Who's centre mid in your team?

James McCarthy & Marc Wilson

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

How are they evenly matched? By being about the same ability. Not complicated is it?

They aren't, not even close based on their Irish performances.

Westwood has played this season regularly (i.e. for about 2 months), before that he hasn't played club football for about a year and a half.

On which games are you basing this "same ability" on?

Pighead wrote: »

They've both played pretty much the same amount of games for Ireland and neither have let themselves down as of yet. As you said Westwood has regained his place in the Sunderland team and is playing week in week out in the Premiership. Forde is playing in the Championship. It's possible the new manager may go for the guy playing in the top league. But as I said there is not a whole lot between them. I'd be happy with either.

You clearly haven't been watching their respective Ireland performances then. What Forde has produced in the green shirt has been light years ahead of anything Westwood has produced in his few games for Ireland.

Pighead wrote: »

No he isn't simply better than Westwood. It's a close call and I can see arguments for both sides. Think a few people are getting carried away by Forde's admittedly excellent display against Germany. I'm guessing there are not too many avid Millwall supporters here so most people have probably only ever watched him play a handful of times.

What a load of nonsense. Forde got praise for his performances in Stockholm and Vienna as well. Think you are getting a bit carried away with someone finally (after 18 months of sitting on the bench) getting a game for a bottom of the table EPL side.

You can see the arguments from both sides? Can you make any other argument other than Westwood is now playing EPL football?

Pighead wrote: »

Many people were calling for Forde over Westwood because the latter wasn't getting his game at Sunderland which was fair enough. Now that Westwood is first choice again I think it's pretty close between the two of them as to who deserves the number 1 jersey.

Right, you pretty much sum up your position. Past performances do not matter to you.

kryogen

Westwood
Coleman Clarke O Shea O Brien
McCarthy Gibson
Reid Wes McClean
Long


Be a very goal shy team though

kryogen

352 maybe

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Westwood

---

---

Clarke

---

Dunne

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O Shea

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Coleman

---

Wilson

---

McCarthy

---

---

Gibson

---

Reid

---

---

---

Wes

---

Long

---

With Wes dropping off and Long as target man

Doyle could be put in too I guess, Keane of course for the next few games, Brady, Pilkington etc could all be good shouts, not McGeady.....

Backstreet Moyes

Westwood

Coleman Dunne O Shea O Brien

McCarthy Wilson Gibson

McGeady Brady

Keane

Alfred Borden

I would go with:

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Forde

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Wilson

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Dunne

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O'Shea

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Coleman

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McCarthy

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Gibson

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Brady

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Reid

---

Wes---

---

Long

---

keeponhurling

noodler wrote: »

What a load of nonsense. Forde got praise for his performances in Stockholm and Vienna as well. Think you are getting a bit carried away with someone finally (after 18 months of sitting on the bench) getting a game for a bottom of the table EPL side.

.

Sunderland also have the worst defensive record in the league.

I also seem to recall Westwood's appearance in the 1-6 v Germany

Pighead

keeponhurling wrote: »

Sunderland also have the worst defensive record in the league.

I also seem to recall Westwood's appearance in the 1-6 v Germany

And Milllwall have the third worst defensive record in the Championship! Think they let in 9 goals in two games a couple of weeks ago.

noodler Forde had a great game against Germany and played well in Stockholm against Sweden but he was only ok against the Swedes at home and Austrians away. Lets not get carried away here. Light years me hoop!

TaosHum

keeponhurling wrote: »

I also seem to recall Westwood's appearance in the 1-6 v Germany

And how many of those goal were his fault?

Aenaes

TaosHum wrote: »

And how many of those goal were his fault?

Judging each goalkeeper by their performances against Germany isn't exactly a great comparison for their abilities but Westwood didn't exactly cover himself in glory.
Was it 2 or 3 German goals were shots outside the box that Westwood conceded? While Forde looked fairly comfortable when tested from range.

Paulegend

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Forde
coleman----pearse

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clarke

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kelly

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oshea

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mccarthy----ireland
mceady

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doyle

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long

dundalkfc10

Westwood
O Shea Clark Dunne
Coleman McCarthy Gibson Duff
Brady McGeady
Stokes

magma69

................................Westwood......................................
.............O'Shea...........Dunne..........Clarke.....................
Coleman.......................................................Wilson.......
.........................McCarthy.....Reid..................................
McGeady.....................Hoolahan...................McClean
....................................Long.......................................

noodler

Pighead wrote: »

noodler Forde had a great game against Germany and played well in Stockholm against Sweden but he was only ok against the Swedes at home and Austrians away. Lets not get carried away here. Light years me hoop!

Strong argument there...

I am amazed that people want Westwood to start despite the fact he is far less deserving of his place than Forde is.

Thats pretty much the be all and end all of my position.

Pighead

noodler wrote: »

Strong argument there...

I am amazed that people want Westwood to start despite the fact he is far less deserving of his place than Forde is.

Thats pretty much the be all and end all of my position.

16 for Westwood and 10 for Forde so far in this thread by my rough calculations. Maybe, just maybe your opinion is wrong? How many times in total have you watched Forde play out of interest?

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

They aren't, not even close based on their Irish performances.

Westwood has played this season regularly (i.e. for about 2 months), before that he hasn't played club football for about a year and a half.

On which games are you basing this "same ability" on?

You clearly haven't been watching their respective Ireland performances then. What Forde has produced in the green shirt has been light years ahead of anything Westwood has produced in his few games for Ireland.

You seem to be taking his long stretch on the Sunderland bench as proof that he's not that good, that's wrong. It's an easy situation for a keeper to find themselves in, even if they're a good player. The only issue would be whether he ever got back to form when playing regularly again, which he has.

Time on the Sunderland bench doesn't count as bad form to be held as evidence against him, it's just a sign that he was being kept out by an in form keeper.

The games I'm basing my opinion on are their games for Ireland and one or two of Westwood's Sunderland games. You might say that's unfair that I haven't been watching any of Millwall's games, if anybody wants to tell me that Forde has been pulling up trees for them then I might have to give them a watch.

From what I've seen Forde has pulled off more impressive saves for Ireland but I've seen Westwood pull off similarly impressive saves (more for his club). In terms of commanding the box I think they've both been about similar, steadily growing in confidence in the Ireland games. In terms of reliability I get the impression that Westwood edges it, but I haven't seen enough games from either of them to be confident. Beyond that it looks to me that Westwood is the more athletic and agile and so that makes me trust him more.

I wouldn't be bothered if Forde kept the starting job for Ireland, because I don't see a huge difference in their abilities. I certainly don't agree that Forde's performances for Ireland have been so much better as you're making out.

Pighead

Pro. F wrote: »

I wouldn't be bothered if Forde kept the starting job for Ireland, because I don't see a huge difference in their abilities. I certainly don't agree that Forde's performances for Ireland have been so much better as you're making out.

I wouldn't mind but this isn't even a controversial opinion. It seems pretty obvious that there isn't a whole lot between them. As ProF says we're in pretty good shape with regards to goalkeepers as both are solid and reliable.

keane2097

magma69 wrote: »

................................Westwood......................................
.............O'Shea...........Dunne..........Clarke.....................
Coleman.......................................................Wilson.......
.........................McCarthy.....Reid..................................
McGeady.....................Hoolahan...................McClean
....................................Long.......................................

I always wondered how many outfield players we would have needed to give Spain a game in the Euros, I think you're still short one.