Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2017

Mr.Nice Guy

Luck will play a huge factor. I think we have a very decent chance against Denmark or Switzerland. I don't think there would be much in those ties.

I think if we get Italy or Croatia my heart would sink. The Italians usually find a way when the pressure is on and I would not fancy them at all. And I think Croatia have the technical quality and composure to unlock our defence in a way that the Welsh did not. I would expect them to open us up.

Toss of a coin really. I have this feeling that it will be NI that get the luck and they'll land Denmark while we get stuck with Italy.

yabadabado

Swiss won 9/10 albeit their group wasnt too difficult,they are top ten in the world and have been in mostly good form over the last few years.
There will be no easy tie but think Denmark would be the team most teams would want to face of the seeded sides.

Rekop dog

briany wrote: »

Switzerland have the best record of any second-placed team. Besides the potential satisfaction of causing their exit from a tournament, as they've done a couple of times to Ireland, I see no reason why we'd want them.

Croatia and Denmark's statistics look less imposing. There would surely be no easy games in the playoffs, but these would have to be the two to hope for.

The Swiss group was very soft. I also think the fact they lost the lead on the final match day will play negatively on their minds. Not that impressive a side. Midfield comprises of a Shaqiri of Stoke, Dzemaili of Montreal Fc and Xhaka who while decent hasn't set the world alight at Arsenal and is a bit of a hot head. They'd be my pick for sure.

Mr.Nice Guy

The other teams in the Swiss group were Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Andorra. I'd expect ourselves to win all those matches (maybe a draw away in Hungary) but it's not the calibre of teams we had to face in our group.

They did beat Portugal a year ago which they deserve credit for, but I watched that game and it was really a result of being very clinical with the chances that fell their way - bit like us at times in our group.

If we landed them I don't think there would be much in that tie at all. Probably be decided by a goal.

aindriu80

Switzerland is probably one of the hardest teams. I hope we get Denmark of course but its all hard. Still early after Wales but what about our chances against all the other teams.

Ultimate Seduction

yabadabado wrote:

Swiss won 9/10 albeit their group wasnt too difficult,they are top ten in the world and have been in mostly good form over the last few years. There will be no easy tie but think Denmark would be the team most teams would want to face of the seeded sides.

Must be difficult enough if they won 9 out of 10 games and still only finished second

Bridge93

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Must be difficult enough if they won 9 out of 10 games and still only finished second

Winning 9/10 and coming second shows exactly how easy the group was. They came second in a two horse race. They were poor tonight too. They're a slightly better version of ourselves largely.

yabadabado

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Must be difficult enough if they won 9 out of 10 games and still only finished second

Would have thought the oposite,could have afforded to drop a lot of points and still have got second,think they finished 14 points ahead of Hungry.

Bridge93

Subasic
Modric
Rakitic
Perisic
Mandzukic
Kovacic
Corluka
Lovren
Brozovic

Just the names I'm aware of. I'll pass on Croatia thanks. Italy too.

8-10

Bridge93 wrote: »

Lovren

....really? I mean I agree with you not wanting Croatia but Lovren is part of your reasoning?

ArmaniJeanss

Bridge93 wrote: »

Winning 9/10 and coming second shows exactly how easy the group was

England must have got the toughest group then as the runner up got least points?

Or perhaps the amount of points a team gets does actually relate to their ability in some direct way?

Bridge93

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

England must have got the toughest group then as the runner up got least points?

Or perhaps the amount of points a team gets does actually relate to their ability in some direct way?

It just means that like our group there was a group of teams of very similar ability but unfortunately for Scotland etc, England took a larger portion of points off them than Serbia did off of us and Wales and Austria.

Andorra are a proper sixth seed
Faroe Islands probably as good a fifth seed as you could hope for
Latvia best case fourth seed
Hungary as it transpires best case third seed

Switzerland and Portugal were laughably far ahead of the rest. In those 8 games I'd be disappointed if we didn't get 22 points

Points obviously reflect ability and Switzerland are a good team. I'm saying when given the choice of them or Croatia/Italy it's a no brainer.

Bridge93

8-10 wrote: »

....really? I mean I agree with you not wanting Croatia but Lovren is part of your reasoning?

Did I say that? I named their players that I know. Despite what people like to joke about he is still a premier league starting centre back. Our attack are hardly set up to get at him either

Bridge93

sugarman wrote: »

Italy have been absolutely cack this since Conte left!

They drew with Macedonia once, and won 3-2 in injury time in the other. On top of narrow 1-0 wins over Israel and Albania.

Their squad is probably the weakest its been in decades, with a mix of older players no longer up to it and younger players who are not good enough.

Itd be a very even match up with ourselves.

We don't have players that match up with Italy. It's not even close. They're weaker than they've been for a long time but our still a step above us and notoriously good at qualifying for competitions. They've lost one qualifier in 11 years or something.
If we get them so be it but it'd be far from ideal

Cake Man

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The other teams in the Swiss group were Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Andorra. I'd expect ourselves to win all those matches (maybe a draw away in Hungary) but it's not the calibre of teams we had to face in our group.

They did beat Portugal a year ago which they deserve credit for, but I watched that game and it was really a result of being very clinical with the chances that fell their way - bit like us at times in our group.

If we landed them I don't think there would be much in that tie at all. Probably be decided by a goal.

Agree that Switzerland's group was fairly poor. Faroes, Latvia and Andorra you'd nearly regard all of them as minnows (i.e. a bottom seed). Hungary have been p!ss poor since the Euros.
Also probably worth mentioning too that when the Swiss beat Portugal, it was the first group game (6 Sept 16) which was literally a few weeks after Portugal won the Euros so there could be an argument of a hangover from the Portuguese. Take nothing away from the Swiss, I'm sure they deserved the win but they couldn't have picked a better time to play their biggest group rivals.


If we did draw the Swiss, no doubt they'd be favourites but I'd take them over Italy or Croatia. The fact they led their group all along only to be pipped at the last hurdle is surely a bit of a psychological blow for them while we'd still be on a high from the Wales win.
In order of preference, I'd pick Denmark/Switz, Croatia, Italy. Just my $0.02.

Rekop dog

sugarman wrote: »

Italy have been absolutely cack this since Conte left!

They drew with Macedonia once, and won 3-2 in injury time in the other. On top of narrow 1-0 wins over Israel and Albania.

Their squad is probably the weakest its been in decades, with a mix of older players no longer up to it and younger players who are not good enough.

Itd be a very even match up with ourselves.

Who are their old players no longer up to it? Cheilini Bonucci and Buffon all got to the champions league final last year.

yabadabado

Italy can still field a very good side , reading about them lately it seems Ventura is getting a lot of the blame for the performances.
Italy would have topped a lot of the other groups but were in with Spain ,not many more difficult sides to face.

Arghus

weldoninhio wrote: »

Hahaha, so anyone that agrees with you is "knowledgable" and the rest are uneducated. Laughable. O'Neill plays puke football. You can look back with green-tinted hindsight all you like, but his setup screwed us out of points away to Serbia and Georgia and almost dropped all the points against Austria at home. We should be celebrating qualifying for a WC now rather than a playoff. He's been extremely lucky this campaign.

It's not a popular opinion you've got there, at least not right now - while we are all basking in the afterglow - but I have to say I broadly agree with you.

I feel after last night it's easy to view Martin O' Neill almost two ways at once.

On one hand I'm wholly, ecstatically, delighted with the result last night. And I'm fully prepared to praise O' Neill for setting the team up and executing a game plan in such a way that, for once, what Ireland got, and what they deserved, and what was required - all added up to the same thing. Maybe only Martin O' Neill could have got that out of them on the night.

Once Ireland weathered that early Welsh pressure I actually started to feel increasingly confident as the half wore on that there was a game there to be won: Wales had no answers to Ireland's organisation and physicality. I couldn't believe what I was reading at the time in the match thread. People were going absolutely ballistic about our manner of play, but I'm sure O' Neill saw a game-plan being executed flawlessly. Sure, a bit more composure on the ball would have been more than welcome, but I think the majority of posters couldn't see the real underlying story of the game: it wasn't pretty, but we were starting to grind them down and the team was set perfectly for the challenge. There were doubts of course, but overall I felt confident at half time and it's rare I feel confidence watching Ireland.

In the second half I honestly thought we were magnificent. Our defensive efforts were something else and I love how we had one - just one - clear-cut chance and we absolutely buried it: beautiful. I think O' Neill did everything right last night for the task in hand and deserves full praise.

BUT...

I think the fact that we did the business last night was brilliant, but was also immensely frustrating. Because, while for Ireland finishing second is no small thing, I think we really could and perhaps should have won that group. I think what people are feeling now is similar to the reactions of most - though not all - during the first half: getting caught up in the moment and not seeing the bigger picture.

I'm delighted that Ireland are going onto a playoff, but I feel pissed off because negative football cost us vital points that stopped us from qualifying automatically. Ireland have the ability to raise their game and deliver big performances, as we saw last night. But Ireland have to deliver those big performances because when they aren't treating us to those, they're serving up gruel of the lowest quality.

Wales at home - against 10 men. The final, vital, half hour against Serbia at home, once again against 10 men - where we had nothing to even bother them with. That first half away to Georgia - about as bad as it gets. The majority of the home game against Austria was equally woeful stuff. We were largely rubbish in those games - perhaps we showed some heart against Serbia - and it was down to fear and negativity. And if I'm prepared to praise O' Neill when he deserves it, then I'm equally prepared to criticise him when that's what he's due.

Ireland have heart and ability: we've seen it. But the default setting for Ireland under MON is terrible football, played with fear. Big nights are then required to compensate. Ireland shouldn't have needed a heroic effort last night to save the campaign - it could have been all done and dusted before then. Honestly, it could have been. But O' Neills negativity cost the team points and I think we'll rue it in the end: we'll come up against opposition that are a damn sight better than Wales in the playoffs. Right now we all feel euphoria over the great result and great performance from last night, but, I think the real story will be - when all is said and done - that it was poorly dropped points that cost us in the end. And I think that's O' Neills fault.

TheCitizen

briany wrote: »

Switzerland have the best record of any second-placed team. Besides the potential satisfaction of causing their exit from a tournament, as they've done a couple of times to Ireland, I see no reason why we'd want them. Croatia's statistics look a good bit less imposing.

You can often have a team that have a great qualifying campaign, Austria had a great qualifying campaign for the last Euros but didn't do much when they got there. I'd rate Croatia as a more difficult opponent with Modric pulling the strings for them.

rebelomar

I'm in two minds on the whole thing. O Neill has got some unbelievable results as Irish manager but as other posters say, a bit more football played here or there and maybe we top the group. Some will say we play a bit more football we lose more games but I'm not sold on that tbh.

I feel he has us by and large playing to the strengths of the players he has available. They are incredibly poor to watch at times and even while playing a direct game to suit our strengths there has to be room to vary our approach for spells in a game.

I also feel we don't actually play the direct game as effectively as we could...the midfield rarely pushes up to support the striker/strikers and we simply cough up the ball cheaply and sit deep. We don't hit the long ball at the correct angles either and our strikers don't pull onto the full backs or drag the centre back out as a result.

What we do have is a manic intensity and work rate with a real physical edge to our play which I really like seeing. Meyler has really raised the bar for us in the physical exchanges.

I refuse to believe however that our players (premiership and champioship standard) are incapable of stringing 5 or 6 passes together. That train of thought is other nonsense. I'm not talking about playing expansive football here but just enough to work the ball out to a winger or advancing full back to cross, just enough so we can move the opposition a little so our full backs have the time to look up and knock a diagonal up to our strikers.

There's no doubt at this stage Wes gets us playing. He's not a world beater, he's probably not even a premier league player in terms of consistency and quality but he's effective for this team. What's noticeable is the effect his presence has on the other players. It changes their mindset...they do look to try and get him the ball. I agree with O Neill he's not suited to every game because of our style and his age but he's a big asset to us at the right times.

One player who I feel would suit this team as an advanced midfielder is Hourihane. He's not a skilled ball player, he won't dominate a game with passing or tackling but he's got an eye for a goal and comes alive on the box. We are very short of goalscorers. He is one at Championship level and I feel he would be affective off a lone striker if given a chance there.

I suppose to sum up I feel O Neill is doing very well. He's getting some very impressive results but we could in my opinion be better at both the direct plan and getting the ball down a little more at the right times.

Minderbinder

The problem with O’Neill is that if we concede first we are basically f**ked and won’t be winning. If we score early we will more than likely draw. Against Italy, Germany, Wales and Austria we scored the first goal in the second half and went on to win1-0. I’ve no doubt in my mind had we scored in the first 10 minutes we wouldn’t have won those games.

O’Neill underrates our players in my opinion. Now that he had a good result a lot of people are agreeing with him. But I’m not going to change my opinion. The football we are playing is utter garbage. The tactics are pretty much the same tactics as San Marino and those kind of teams would be using. Unfortunately, as long as we’re relatively competitive using such tactics, or until we get a manager with a pair of balls to change things, then this same s**t will repeat itself again and again. I actually think the FAI are purposefully getting these kind of negative managers because it has worked to a point.

But are we really trying to be the best that we can be? Or are we just trying to be conservative, which is perhaps in our nature?

IMO we have Brady, Hendrick, Arter, McCarthy and others I’m probably forgetting who can all play football and pass the ball around. I’ve actually seen them doing this quite well for their clubs. We also have a back four which looks very solid and I’ll give MON great credit for that.

But I think we can and we should be trying to expand our game. Wales were absolutely shocking the other night, and still we were playing like Andorra or something. I don’t know maybe that’s being unkind to Andorra.

ballsymchugh

any idea what may happen if ireland are drawn to play at home on Nov 11th when the rugby team are due to play south africa??

PTH2009

ballsymchugh wrote: »

any idea what may happen if ireland are drawn to play at home on Nov 11th when the rugby team are due to play south africa??

I think the fixtures are made after the draw and id say the FAI/IRFU along with RTE/SKY have talked it through and we will prob play our games the Thursday 9th Nov/Sunday 12th Nov or Friday 10th/Mon 13th Nov.

Rugby kicks off at 5.30pm on Sat 11th Nov and RTE/Sky are not going too want a clash (if were away the first leg)

tigger123

ballsymchugh wrote: »

any idea what may happen if ireland are drawn to play at home on Nov 11th when the rugby team are due to play south africa??

I'd assume the lack of availability on the 11th is built into the arrangements, ie, we'll be playing at home on one of the other dates.

CurryFlavoured

Denmark are definitely who we want in the draw. Player quality wise, Denmark and Switzerland look similar on paper, but the Swiss are clearly a well run team who consistently make championships. Denmark, not so much. Also, as easy as Switzerland's group was it's still impressive that they only slipped up once in 10 games, not only that but they seemed to win games with ease particularly at home. Denmark again weren't so consistent despite also having an easy group.

We obviously don't want to go near Croatia or Italy.

Denmark - Switzerland - Croatia/Italy (50/50) ordered from easiest to hardest.

yabadabado

ballsymchugh wrote: »

any idea what may happen if ireland are drawn to play at home on Nov 11th when the rugby team are due to play south africa??

Afaik if we are drawn to play first leg at home it has to be on tbe 9th.Rugby internationl/captains run mean the ground cant be used on 10th and 11th.
We can play at home on 9/12/13/14 so no real problem sorting the fixtures.
Edit:
I presume there is no problem playing on 12th day after rugby match.

Rekop dog

We should use that other stadium across the city that lies empty two thirds of the year.

josip

yabadabado wrote: »

Afaik if we are drawn to play first leg at home it has to be on tbe 9th.Rugby internationl/captains run mean the ground cant be used on 10th and 11th.
We can play at home on 9/12/13/14 so no real problem sorting the fixtures.
Edit:
I presume there is no problem playing on 12th day after rugby match.

I can't see any problem with the 12th.
Remember the old days when we'd prefer to have the grass a bit on the long side in Lansdowne Road and even better if the rugby lads had torn up the pitch a few days earlier?
It suited us in those days when the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground...

Benimar

josip wrote: »

I can't see any problem with the 12th.
Remember the old days when we'd prefer to have the grass a bit on the long side in Lansdowne Road and even better if the rugby lads had torn up the pitch a few days earlier?
It suited us in those days when the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground...

We probably can't play at home on the 12th as the teams have to be able to train on the pitch the day before.

I suppose if the Rugby is early, the teams could train that evening, but I wouldn't imagine the Groundsman would be pleased!

Dots1982

Arghus wrote: »

.
Ireland have heart and ability: we've seen it. .

Ability to do what? In an Irish jersey or for their clubs?

PhilipsR

Our home game will be on one of the 9th/13th/14th Nov.

keeponhurling

Will UEFA really accomodate us, or will they just say that double booking with rugby is our own problem ?
Maybe move one of them to Limerick, presumably the soccer as the rugby is already in people's calendars for ages

The Talking Bread

Walters out until Christmas

Ah, well. At least we have early warning. And some cover now, it seems. Long and Murphy will no doubt lead the line again (and I 100% think they would have, regardless, on Monday, but for the injury)

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/1011/911546-walters-faces-long-spell-on-sideline-including-play-off/

yabadabado

PhilipsR wrote: »

Our home game will be on one of the 9th/13th/14th Nov.

Why cant we play on the 12th ?

yabadabado

Benimar wrote: »

We probably can't play at home on the 12th as the teams have to be able to train on the pitch the day before.

I suppose if the Rugby is early, the teams could train that evening, but I wouldn't imagine the Groundsman would be pleased!

The rugby is on the 11th so cant see what problem there is playing on the 12th.

UEFA will have no problem accommodating this.

Benimar

yabadabado wrote: »

The rugby is on the 11th so cant see what problem there is playing on the 12th.

UEFA will have no problem accommodating this.

Because the Football teams wont be able to train on the pitch on the 11th. Its a requirement that both teams are allowed train on the pitch the day before.

yabadabado

Benimar wrote: »

Because the Football teams wont be able to train on the pitch on the 11th. Its a requirement that both teams are allowed train on the pitch the day before.

Totally forgot about that

The Talking Bread

Isn't the rugby on the 12th. The Sunday (EDIt, they changed it, actually, originally scheduled for the 12th but brought it back the day)

Surely the FAI and IRFU could/should have anticipated this scenario, even 8 months ago when initial November internationals in Rugby were being scheduled.

But then again, there is not much they could do, looking at how the fixtures lay themselves out, unless they considered switching the South African match to the 18th and then playing the Fiji game in Thomond on the 12th.

Minderbinder

Surely they’d have to play the soccer before the rugby when the fixtures are so close together. Rugby in November will destroy the pitch, although that could be to our advantage.

Ultimate Seduction

I hope the rugby players leave the pitch looking like a ploughed field.

Coillte_Bhoy

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Isn't the rugby on the 12th. The Sunday (EDIt, they changed it, actually, originally scheduled for the 12th but brought it back the day)

Surely the FAI and IRFU could/should have anticipated this scenario, even 8 months ago when initial November internationals in Rugby were being scheduled.

But then again, there is not much they could do, looking at how the fixtures lay themselves out, unless they considered switching the South African match to the 18th and then playing the Fiji game in Thomond on the 12th.

SA are on a tour, do you really think all the European rugby nations and the other touring teams are going to re arrange everything around a possible football match?:rolleyes:

Utopia Parkway

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Isn't the rugby on the 12th. The Sunday (EDIt, they changed it, actually, originally scheduled for the 12th but brought it back the day)

Surely the FAI and IRFU could/should have anticipated this scenario, even 8 months ago when initial November internationals in Rugby were being scheduled.

But then again, there is not much they could do, looking at how the fixtures lay themselves out, unless they considered switching the South African match to the 18th and then playing the Fiji game in Thomond on the 12th.

Highly unlikely I'd say. South Africa play in France the following weekend after the Ireland game. Those fixtures have been set for probably 18 months now.

The Talking Bread

There was a Ireland v Aus game the day after the France game in 2009.

TheCitizen

Play the home qualifier in Croker

Kerrydude1981

TheCitizen wrote: »

Play the home qualifier in Croker

Go old school,play it in Dalymount Park

Was this the last Ireland game to be played there?

major bill

If only there was an 80,000 venue in Dublin or even a 45,000 in Cork lying vacant!!

Awesomeness

TheCitizen wrote: »

Play the home qualifier in Croker

Would be madness. Our home stadium is the Aviva we do not want to give up that advantage. All that matters is a result.

It really is not that much of an issue. If we are at home first it will be the 9th. If we are away first home match will be the 13th or 14th

Coillte_Bhoy

Awesomeness wrote: »

Would be madness. Our home stadium is the Aviva we do not want to give up that advantage. All that matters is a result.

It really is not that much of an issue. If we are at home first it will be the 9th. If we are away first home match will be the 13th or 14th

Home can also be 10th

Awesomeness

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Home can also be 10th

It could but we are likely to ask for the Thursday I think . I am also hopeful of it as it is the one day I wont be able to go.

Be some week either way with the 2 matches and the rugby with 4 days

johnnyryan89

major bill wrote: »

If only there was an 80,000 venue in Dublin or even a 45,000 in Cork lying vacant!!

Why would they pay money to rent a stadium when they've already got a stadium of their own, plus it's the gaa they'll probably ask for an arm and leg just to rent it and then you'll have to hire extra staff because it's a bigger venue so you'll probably end up with less money than what you'd normally make.


They also released the league's for the upcoming Nations League. Ireland are in League B along with both Wales and Northern Ireland which could be fun if all 3 teams are placed within the same 3 team mini league.