Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2017

Rossi IRL

Double leg break according to Sky Sports News.

I hope he can come back. Without doubt the best Irish player in the team.

CurryFlavoured

We're still a hoofball team, I'd love to see us pass the ball more. I think we have players to do it too, I think a midfield of Arter, Hendrick and McCarthy is technically pretty good. I get that we will inevitably run it long sometimes but when I see our guys go long or pass it back to Randolph when there are options in front of them that they could take if they had a little bit of ambition.

Overall management wise I'm happy fwiw, how can't you be when we're top of the group. But we play ugly football and I think we can do a little better.

Ferris_Bueller

Hard to know how to feel after last nights game, would have taken a point beforehand probably but factoring in the poor performance, Colemans injury and the fact we were playing against ten men for 20 mins but didn't punish them - there is a feeling of disappointment. Very scrappy game and there was a bit of a tense atmosphere after the Coleman injury, I don't blame MON for setting up how we did and being a bit more on the back foot for most of the game but when they go down to ten men you have to think we should be able to create a bit more than what we did last night. Hoolahan was sorely missed as was Brady. McCarthy and Arter would have been better options also if they were available. McGeady looked decent when he came on but maybe should have been brought on earlier, Ward was MOTM for me he had a very solid game.

Hope we try out a few players on Tuesday. Horgan, O'Dowda and Hourihane arguably could have brought something to the table last night but they are either uncapped or inexperienced at this level and would have been a risk to bring them on, so hopefully we give them a go during the week and in some of the upcoming friendlies.

Pro. F

This is the same as after the home game against Scotland. A big overreaction to what was only a less than ideal result and performance. All this talk of a terrible performance and comparisons to Trap is over the top.

There were a good few long balls. But there were also a good number of passages of patient possession with good, brave (for want of a better word) passing to affect the flow of the game, relieve pressure and build attacks. We also had a reasonable number of times where we recycled the ball deep when under pressure and didn't panic. This was a world away from Trap football.

Yes we defended deep at times, but to say it's like how Trap played is so completely untrue. We were actually well organised, with two banks of four, a back line set at a sensible height and good spacing and the organisation and confidence to push out whenever Wales turned back or lost the ball. Considering that Wales are very good in possession, have one of the best pacey forwards in the world and have an excellent attacking organisation, it's completely reasonable that we had spells of deep defending. What didn't happen was continuous, desperate, deep defending with midfielders and defenders camped in one, messy line on the edge of the box - that would have been like Trap. There is a world of difference between performances like this and the ones Trap served up so often.

We did lack incisiveness going forward, but with Hoolahan, Brady, Arter and McCarthy having been out that doesn't need to be such a big concern.

I am far from a big fan of O'Neill's, but considering the opposition, who are excellent, this performance was a lot better than many (even his defenders) are giving credit for.

noodler

TheCitizen wrote: »

Wow indeed. Under Trap we coulnt beat anyone ranked higher than us. With MON we broke ground not been broken since we beat Holland to qualify for the World Cup. When we really need to get a win under MON we are capable of that. We're joint top of the Group with home games to come and you're carping about it. Ridiculous and nonsensical attitude.

Are you blind?

Do you think we played decent football last night?

If say yes then you are delusional and/or a liar. If you say no then I'm not sure what you feel is "ridiculous and nonsensical".

You don't support celtic by any chance, do you?

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

This is the same as after the home game against Scotland. A big overreaction to what was only a less than ideal result and performance. All this talk of a terrible performance and comparisons to Trap is over the top.

There were a good few long balls. But there were also a good number of passages of patient possession with good, brave (for want of a better word) passing to affect the flow of the game, relieve pressure and build attacks. We also had a reasonable number of times where we recycled the ball deep when under pressure and didn't panic. This was a world away from Trap football.

Yes we defended deep at times, but to say it's like how Trap played is so completely untrue. We were actually well organised, with two banks of four, a back line set at a sensible height and good spacing and the organisation and confidence to push out whenever Wales turned back or lost the ball. Considering that Wales are very good in possession, have one of the best pacey forwards in the world and have an excellent attacking organisation, it's completely reasonable that we had spells of deep defending. What didn't happen was continuous, desperate, deep defending with midfielders and defenders camped in one, messy line on the edge of the box - that would have been like Trap. There is a world of difference between performances like this and the ones Trap served up so often.

We did lack incisiveness going forward, but with Hoolahan, Brady, Arter and McCarthy out that doesn't need to be such a big concern.

I am far from a big fan of O'Neill's, but considering the opposition, who are excellent, this performance was a lot better than many (even his defenders) are giving credit for.

I think people are satisfied with the result.

Its more the complete lack of ambition I'd criticise. With Bale and our injuries its right that a balance needed to be reached but ceding possession and territory on the scale we did last night is disappointing.

I mean for all our sitting deep, one mistake by Keogh on our halfway line nearly cost us the game and it just shows how dangerous the level of approach adopted can be.

I just hope we don't need a result in the Millennium and regret not showing a little more last night.

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

I think people are satisfied with the result.

Its more the complete lack of ambition I'd criticise. With Bale and our injuries its right that a balance needed to be reached but ceding possession and territory on the scale we did last night is disappointing.

I mean for all our sitting deep, one mistake by Keogh on our halfway line nearly cost us the game and it just shows how dangerous the level of approach adopted can be.

I just hope we don't need a result in the Millennium and regret not showing a little more last night.

If you are going to talk bollocks then I'm not going to discuss it with you.

The Red Lad

People giving out personally i think we could have been more attacking but like i said before the game id be pretty happy with a draw and il take it ,game was obviously poor to watch but atleast we got some sort of result from it considering all we were missing i did feel we gave Wales too much respect at times. Were sitting in a very decent spot joint top and still unbeaten after 5 games with Austria,Serbia and Moldova all to come to the Aviva and with the return of Wes,Robbie,Arthur and McCarthy (if all fit) for Austria hopefully we will get the win here and maybe Wales might do us a favour long way to go but slowly but surely getting there . Bale should have seen red for his tackle on oshea . So gutted for Coleman and its a massive loss for us coming into the remaining qualifiers. Welsh fans were top gents last night have my flight to Cardiff booked today

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

If you are going to talk bollocks then I'm not going to discuss it with you.

Do you call conceding possession and only pressing the opposition in the your half, or worse still, your own third, ambitious?

If so then you are the one talking "bollocks".


To say we weren't well organised under Trap is a lie.

There's no other way of putting it, you are either lieing or you are taking the last games of his campaign and completely ignoring the first two.

24 qualifiers in the first two campaigns. 2 losses to Russia and France. Absolute revisionist ****e talk to pretend we weren't organised.

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

Do you call conceding possession and only pressing the opposition in the your half, or worse still, your own third, ambitious?

If so then you are the one talking "bollocks".

No I don't. And if that was an accurate description of what happened in that game then I would agree with you. But it is not.

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

No I don't. And if that was an accurate description of what happened in that game then I would agree with you. But it is not.

Well the there is something wrong with the way you perceive football games.

That was the status quo until the red.

TheCitizen

noodler wrote: »

Are you blind?

No

noodler wrote: »

Do you think we played decent football last night?

At times we did play decent football actually. Although you'd like to see the team keep the ball more and move it with pace more, but that's easy for us to say 'cos we're not the manager and with our best ball players out it's hard to criticise the "footballing" performance. Tactically we nullified Wales and frustrated them to the point that they lost it and got one, should've been two players, sent off.

noodler wrote: »

You don't support celtic by any chance, do you?

I support Celtic, that has nothing to with this discussion. Celtic have had good managers and poor managers over the years. Just because MON was a Celtic manager around 10 years ago doesn't affect how MON is appraised today. He is delivering on his remit for Ireland, he's doing more than that actually. He is preparing and motivating and delivering a team that fights hard together, that can also play good football at times, but that knows how to get a result when needed most.

When going into the last stretch and the pressure is on and we need to get over the line to achieve qualification, you can bet that his team will not shirk the challenge and if they get to the Finals they will perform there as well. You seem to take that for granted.

noodler wrote: »

If say yes then you are delusional and/or a liar. If you say no then I'm not sure what you feel is "ridiculous and nonsensical".

I'm going to ignore that gibberish. You're not being realistic at all.

You're away with the fairies pal.

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

Well the there is something wrong with the way you perceive football games.

That was the status quo until the red.

Yeah, sure.

I used to argue with you. Then after MON took over you started saying that you couldn't see much difference between how the new team plays and how Trap's did. And then I realised what was going on. That is why I don't need to bother discussing these things with you any more. When you are that disconnected from what is being presented on the pitch there just isn't any point talking to you about it.

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

Yeah, sure.

I used to argue with you. Then after MON took over you started saying that you couldn't see much difference between how the new team plays and how Trap's did. And then I realised what was going on. That is why I don't need to bother discussing these things with you any more. When you are that disconnected from what is being presented on the pitch there just isn't any point talking to you about it.

You argue, somehow, we weren't organised under Trap.

There is only one of us here trying to manufacture a favourable comparison here.

The inability to admit that we spent the majority of the first 70 minutes in our own half without the ball just highlights the appalling double standards you have.

Kerrydude1981

I wonder if it was Ramsey or Allen that did this on JOS would they have got a straight red?

Chris Coleman saying that Bale is on about appealing the yellow card,I did laugh when I heard that

blinding

There were some hard tackles on both sides and If Seamas Coleman had not broken his leg there would have been some saying wasn't it great to see some good old fashioned hard tackling.

I suppose the speed of the modern football game does not allow the kind of tackling that was one allowed.....even though some of it in the old days also went too far....

weadick

Thought we could have gone for it a bit more in the last twenty. Maybe brought on Doyle or Horgan for Walters.

What the hell was going on with those trumpets?

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

You argue, somehow, we weren't organised under Trap.

We are a lot better organised under MON than we were Trap. We were organised under Trap, but it was not that good, with the players retreating to a messy, deep line of midfielders and defenders far too often, with too big of gap between that line and the disjointed pressing that went on in front of it. And this defensive shell was adopted too often because of the scoreline, rather than what was actually needed in the flow of the game.

The fact that you can't even see a difference between how we are organised now and how we were then (never mind whether it's even good or bad) just shows that you aren't going to discuss the game sensibly.

noodler wrote: »

There is only one of us here trying to manufacture a favourable comparison here.

Yes, you with Trap to MON.

noodler wrote: »

The inability to admit that we spent the majority of the first 70 minutes in our own half without the ball just highlights the appalling double standards you have.

You have just invented that. I did not dispute that we spent the majority of the first 70 minutes defending in our own half. That particular point did not even come up in the discussion until you just said it now. I would think that between times when we were on the ball; times when we were pressing high and times when we were defending in our own half that, yes, the majority was the latter. But not nearly by such a big majority as to justifying your descriptions of what supposedly happened:

noodler wrote: »

Its more the complete lack of ambition I'd criticise.

noodler wrote: »

conceding possession and only pressing the opposition in the your half, or worse still, your own third,

These descriptions are utter nonsense.

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

To say we weren't well organised under Trap is a lie.

There's no other way of putting it, you are either lieing or you are taking the last games of his campaign and completely ignoring the first two.

24 qualifiers in the first two campaigns. 2 losses to Russia and France. Absolute revisionist ****e talk to pretend we weren't organised.

(I didn't see this bit before to reply)

I was saying the same at the time as I am saying now, so there is no revisionism.

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

We are a lot better organised under MON than we were Trap. We were organised under Trap, but it was not that good, with the players retreating to a messy, deep line of midfielders and defenders far too often, with too big of gap between that line and the disjointed pressing that went on in front of it. And this defensive shell was adopted too often because of the scoreline, rather than what was actually needed in the flow of the game.

The fact that you can't even see a difference between how we are organised now and how we were then (never mind whether it's even good or bad) just shows that you aren't going to discuss the game sensibly.

Yes, you with Trap to MON.



You have just invented that. I did not dispute that we spent the majority of the first 70 minutes defending in our own half. That particular point did not even come up in the discussion until you just said it now. I would think that between times when we were on the ball; times when we were pressing high and times when we were defending in our own half that, yes, the majority was the latter. But not nearly by such a big majority as to justifying your descriptions of what supposedly happened:



These descriptions are utter nonsense.

Okay, so conceding that point, the crux is that you don't like sitting deep and ceding possession for 70 minutes as "lacking ambition".

Fairly nonsensical to be honest. Would you prefer lack of adventure? Lack of possession football? Overreliance on long ball?

You are being very deceptive, calling names when I mention we lacked ambition and then facetiously stating you never disagreed we were happy to camp in out own third for alot of the game (as both BBC and Guardian match reports describe).

Sin City

Coleman out for a year

Seamus Coleman will almost certainly play no further part in Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign as it has been confirmed that he has suffered a fracture of his right tibia and fibula. Coleman underwent surgery earlier today, as Martin O'Neill confirmed via a statement on the FAI website:

Kerrydude1981

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

I wonder if it was Ramsey or Allen that did this on JOS would they have got a straight red?

Chris Coleman saying that Bale is on about appealing the yellow card,I did laugh when I heard that

****ing joke if he appeals that ****e
How the ref didn't give him red is beyond me

eire4

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Their heads will be completely deflated now while Serbia are on the frontfoot. Without Bale, Allen etc and that momentum/confidence if Wales get even a point I would be surprised.

Ireland v Serbia in Aviva. BIG.

Agreed. Although the next round of fixtures has us at home to Austria and the Serbs at home to Wales. Two home wins there and then pretty much the only issue in the group is who finishes first and second. Really at this point a draw probably is not enough for Austria and Wales realistically.

eire4

M!Ck^ wrote: »

****ing joke if he appeals that ****e
How the ref didn't give him red is beyond me

Agreed. probably the only reason he didn't get a red card himself was because his name is Gareth Bale. Any other payer on the Welsh team probably would have got sent off if they had of made that tackle.

Pro. F

noodler wrote: »

Okay, so conceding that point, the crux is that you don't like sitting deep and ceding possession for 70 minutes as "lacking ambition".

Fairly nonsensical to be honest. Would you prefer lack of adventure? Lack of possession football? Overreliance on long ball?

You are being very deceptive, calling names when I mention we lacked ambition and then facetiously stating you never disagreed we were happy to camp in out own third for alot of the game

"We spent the majority of the first 70 minutes defending in our own half " - that is what I said I agreed with. That is not at all the same as the two bolded statements you've posted.

"Our own half" does not mean our own third.

"The majority of 70 minutes" does not mean all of the 70 minutes.

"We were defending" does not mean we ceded possession.

You are making up ridiculous nonsense and saying it is the same as what I said. But it is not. What you said is just ridiculous nonsense and it is does not describe what happened in the game.

noodler wrote: »

(as both BBC and Guardian match reports describe).

lol at using match reports to back up your argument.

The Talking Bread

No point Pro F. Nothe sure why you are bothering!

PTH2009

Hard too knew if we guaranteed to be one of the top 8 runners up for the playoffs

Some potentially strong teams in it with the likes of Italy/Spain/Holland being there

The Talking Bread

PTH2009 wrote: »

Hard too knew if we guaranteed to be one of the top 8 runners up for the playoffs

Some potentially strong teams in it with the likes of Italy/Spain/Holland being there

We are rightfully probably favourites now to win the group so I envisage, looking at the other group tables and how the fixtures lie with the "competing" teams we should be very optimistic now of getting a playoff at the very least.

The Talking Bread

Group 1 table could be the table that second misses out. 4Croatia should be OK but the other 3 could start dropping points against each other. 3 wins out of 5 and maybe a draw for us should get us playoff I think at very least. Hopefully one of those wins is against Serbia

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Two play offs. One euros.

Ireland 1 Germany 6 - 2012

Ireland 1 Germany 0 - 2015

gormdubhgorm

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Hi Captain Hindsight! Give us the lotto numbers

My point is he always flip flops depending on which way it looks like it is going.

If he was consistent in his comments I would not mind.

Let's face it if Dunphy was paid on predictions he would not have that holiday home in France.

I am surprised nobody has done an amalgamation of all his contradictory comments and terrible predictions on you tube.

It would be very amusing.

The Talking Bread

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

My point is he always flip flops depending on which way it looks like it is going.

If he was consistent in his comments I would not mind.

Let's face it if Dunphy was paid on predictions he would not have that holiday home in France.

I am surprised nobody has done an amalgamation of all his contradictory comments and terrible predictions on you tube.

It would be very amusing.

I know what you are saying but 1) it is Dunphy and 2) it is Dunphy!

TheCitizen

M!Ck^ wrote: »

****ing joke if he appeals that ****e
How the ref didn't give him red is beyond me

There was a character on the match thread Corholio was his name who was complaining that posters were "overblowing' Bale's should've been red card. The ref left him off with a yellow because of his reputation and profile. If the ref did his job right Bale would've got a straight red and Taylor would not have broken Seamus Coleman's leg a few seconds later. Wales, Chris Coleman and Bale et al behaved disgracefully and unprofessionally yesterday. Odd to see a couple of posters on this site seeking to make excuses for them.

noodler

Pro. F wrote: »

"We spent the majority of the first 70 minutes defending in our own half " - that is what I said I agreed with. That is not at all the same as the two bolded statements you've posted.

"Our own half" does not mean our own third.

"The majority of 70 minutes" does not mean all of the 70 minutes.

"We were defending" does not mean we ceded possession.

You are making up ridiculous nonsense and saying it is the same as what I said. But it is not. What you said is just ridiculous nonsense and it is does not describe what happened in the game.

lol at using match reports to back up your argument.

Serious backtracking now.

We lacked ambition last night. You can use semantics to argue about how it was only for the majority of the 70 (and not all the 70) or that defending deep doesn't mean we didn't press until they entered our half/third but that's all it is, - semantics.

Christ, using match reports to dispute your biased interpretation of the events is met with "lol" - says it all really.

BBC: "Ireland seemed content with a draw with their deep-frying defence"

Guardian : "Ireland sat deep with the majority of the team bar Shane Long behind the ball"

Exactly how you managed to take issue with the description of the game, particularly given the fact you bizarrely seem to cede the principle but the not words is mind boggling.

Maybe you only remember the last 20 but another watch would refresh your memory.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

BBC: "Ireland seemed content with a draw with their deep-frying defence"

Well, it meant we weren't battered...

Kalyke

Chris Coleman. " A typical British Derby" :eek:

gormdubhgorm

Kalyke wrote: »

Chris Coleman. " A typical British Derby" :eek:

McClean will be having a quiet word

noodler

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well, it meant we weren't battered...

It did, wise not to go gung-ho in the game. That's fairly well established.

Theres a balance though, somewhere in between gung-ho and camping on the edge of your third for the majority of the 70 minutes your opponents have 11 men.

That's the crux of the initial point.

Some won't hear of it, or even deny that's how the game developed for long periods. That's what the last number of posts were about.

Kalyke

noodler wrote: »

It did, wise not to go gung-ho in the game. That's fairly well established.

Theres a balance though, somewhere in between gung-ho and camping on the edge of your third for the majority of the 70 minutes your opponents have 11 men.

That's the crux of the initial point.

Some won't hear of it, or even deny that's how the game developed for long periods. That's what the last number of posts were about.

He just chipped one in and missed.....

noodler

noodler wrote: »

It did, wise not to go gung-ho in the game. That's fairly well established.

Theres a balance though, somewhere in between gung-ho and camping on the edge of your third for the majority of the 70 minutes your opponents have 11 men.

That's the crux of the initial point.

Some won't hear of it, or even deny that's how the game developed for long periods. That's what the last number of posts were about.

Um...not sure you read what I quoted!

Kalyke

Kalyke wrote: »

He just chipped one in and missed.....

It was a greasy surface...

noodler

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Um...not sure you read what I quoted!

Just got it.

Brego888

Could buy alcohol at lansdowne last night. Is this a new development? Thought us soccer scum were not trusted with beer in the stadium.

The Talking Bread

We really really need a goalscoring striker. Nothing against Shane Long but, christ, it is only now you really appreciate what a legend Robbie was .

I am happy with what in the midfield, when all are fit.

Re RB, I like Christie a bit but he makes me nervous. Richard Keogh can play Right back but it is hard to know whether MON will move him from that CB role now. Christie will get his full 90 against Iceland so we will see what he can offer. O'Shea had a good game last night. So, again, we have options at CB.

Left Back, Ward is very dependable now and has proved his worth and is thriving under MON.
.
I recall watching a game in Aviva during the Trap era (Slovakia, I think, awful game, 0-0). I was watching our Full backs during the game, O' Shea and Ward, and they seemed to have basically zero licence to cross the halfway line! I mean, it was like an electric fence for them. And when they did stray forward they didn't stay their long and offered our wingers no support. Of course that is not their fault if they are under the instructions of their manager to not get involved in attack.

This is one of a number of things MON has changed from the Trap era, our Full backs getting forward and we will sorely miss the quality Coleman has in this respect.

People criticised McGeady a lot back then but I can guarantee you a player like him would have thrived a lot more had he that Full Back support for little one twos or even just to distract or pull defenders off him.

Brego888

Brego888 wrote: »

Could buy alcohol at lansdowne last night. Is this a new development? Thought us soccer scum were not trusted with beer in the stadium.

Thought it was open for the FAI Cup Final before...

Brego888

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Thought it was open for the FAI Cup Final before...

Yeah I was in the premium level for that game. Think there's always been alcohol sold in that part.

noodler

The Talking Bread wrote: »

We really really need a goalscoring striker. Nothing against Shane Long but, christ, it is only now you really appreciate what a legend Robbie was .

I am happy with what in the midfield, when all are fit.

Re RB, I like Christie a bit but he makes me nervous. Richard Keogh can play Right back but it is hard to know whether MON will move him from that CB role now. Christie will get his full 90 against Iceland so we will see what he can offer. O'Shea had a good game last night. So, again, we have options at CB.

Left Back, Ward is very dependable now and has proved his worth and is thriving under MON.
.
I recall watching a game in Aviva during the Trap era (Slovakia, I think, awful game, 0-0). I was watching our Full backs during the game, O' Shea and Ward, and they seemed to have basically zero licence to cross the halfway line! I mean, it was like an electric fence for them. And when they did stray forward they didn't stay their long and offered our wingers no support. Of course that is not their fault if they are under the instructions of their manager to not get involved in attack.

This is one of a number of things MON has changed from the Trap era, our Full backs getting forward and we will sorely miss the quality Coleman has in this respect.

People criticised McGeady a lot back then but I can guarantee you a player like him would have thrived a lot more had he that Full Back support for little one twos or even just to distract or pull defenders off him.

Long is precisely who you'd want up from in a game like last night though. Willing to jump for everything, close down and do the dirty work. It would have been a tough shift for anyone being that isolated. What Keane did under the Trap setup was even more remarkable as a result.

Agree on the fullbacks, definitely trap instruction although I think McGeady was quite decent under Trap, can think of a couple of vital goals and assists off the top of my head and he seemed to learn to work his ass off.

The Talking Bread

Re Long, whilst he done a good job, and he must have been as frustrated as hell, they didn't make the most out of his speed on the counter. Walters seemed to have a completely free role, roaming literally everywhere and while he put in a great shift as always, he got caught offside a few times and you could never really see him scoring.

Another thing, I think Randolph, who has good distribution, needs to be a bit more quicker in getting the ball up the pitch at times when we are trying this long ball stuff. There is no point getting the ball up to Long if you allow the opposition to organise themselves to nullify the tactics.

Cake Man

Don't think I could go along with some saying we should have a playoff place minimum, still a few crunch games left which will make or break a few teams. I would probably put Serbia favs to top the group, they seem to be hitting form at a good time. A 1-3 win away in Tbilisi is impressive after being 1-0 down to be fair. The advantage we have over them is we have them at home to come.

Wales and Austria may look like they're gone but I think they'll still have a say in what happens in the final run in. Ideally we need to beat at least one more of Serbia, Wales or Austria (best chance of the latter imo) to guarantee at least a play off spot.

I was glad when I saw Bale get a yellow card and ruled out for their next game v Serbia but later realised we don't really want Serbia to get another win which would cement their position top of the group (but at least fully kill off the Welsh).

I know it seems like we say this for every game but Austria at home next is crucial.

Laois_Man

Every game will be crucial. If we lose to Austria and Wales get a result against Serbia, everything from 1st to 3rd or 4th is wide open

I dont go along with the view that we have a great advantage having key games at home. We're more suited to playing away. Have been for years.

And a creative #10 type player is something we need more than a striker