League of Ireland in Europe 2016

Gringo180

Unlucky Dundalk. They should be looking at there fitness issues. They were bolloxed with 25 minutes to go.

Irish_rat

That was a brilliant game, Dundalk unlucky tonight.

Irishmale0399

Great stuff from Dundalk. Think we saw over the 2 legs a little yet significant difference.......
that is....a squad of full time professional players worth around 30 million playing against a part time club with a semi-professional squad worth well under 1 million.

All in all every Irish man should be proud of what they achieved over the 2 legs with the state the LOI is in.

A_Sober_Paddy

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Scour every one of their players' records to check their eligibility!!!!
Harsh to lose the game. Also hurts their coefficient for next season giving they drew instead of won.

Hope they get a decent draw in the EL group stages. Shamrock Rovers got a rotten draw when they were in it.

Man united in the group would be massive from a money stand point

HalloweenJack

Great effort from Dundalk. They gave it a brilliant go but Legia played the tie perfectly.

Such a shame as it was a great opportunity to qualify but it was just a step too far.

Amirani

Gringo180 wrote: »

Unlucky Dundalk. They should be looking at there fitness issues. They were bolloxed with 25 minutes to go.

They have a few injuries/suspensions and their squad is quite small. Good bit of fixture congestion too.

Probably always gonna be a fitness gap though given how most of their domestic games are.

GLaDOS

Fancy Dundalk to pick up some points in the group stage if the get an ok draw

Ferris_Bueller

Ah god heart goes out to the Dundalk players, over the two legs they didn't deserve to lose 3-1. Legia are more experienced at this level but Dundalk definitely stuck it up to them and were unlucky not to get the win tonight. The Legia fans and players look extremely relieved. Let's hope they get a decent group now!

A_Sober_Paddy

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Ah god heart goes out to the Dundalk players, over the two legs they didn't deserve to lose 3-1. Legia are more experienced at this level but Dundalk definitely stuck it up to them and were unlucky not to get the win tonight. The Legia fans and players look extremely relieved. Let's hope they get a decent group now!

Legia boss Hasi is a bluffer, was a complete bluffer at Anderlecht too

Gringo180

Amirani wrote: »

They have a few injuries/suspensions and their squad is quite small. Good bit of fixture congestion too.

Probably always gonna be a fitness gap though given how most of their domestic games are.

True enough but you would of expecting them to of been a bit fresher considering they have played only 3 games in 18 days. They didnt even play all that well tonight either, very sloppy in possession. I thought they were much better last week and they lost 2-0, funny oul game.

Howard the Duck

Was always a big ask to come back from that home results, they gave it a great effort and Benson scored a goal to remember.

overshoot

Mushy wrote: »

And lost it so cheaply again

dont think those 2 late Legia goals are cheap, more a measure of the higher fitness levels proper pro leagues can bring.
credit to dundalk they made a great go of it and were still in the tie going into injury time. Had hoped legia could crumble mentally if dundalk got the first goal but they responded well to it and the red card... unfortunately

edgecutter

Good effort, but Dundalk weren't committing the bodies forward to threaten when they had a man extra. They really should have sacrificed a defender to go at it a little more and that was a disappointment.

Mushy

overshoot wrote: »

Mushy wrote: »

And lost it so cheaply again

dont think those 2 late Legia goals are cheap, more a measure of the higher fitness levels proper pro leagues can bring.
credit to dundalk they made a great go of it and were still in the tie going into injury time. Had hoped legia could crumble mentally if dundalk got the first goal but they responded well to it and the red card... unfortunately

I meant they lost the ball cheaply. Yeah the fitness killed them. Good game, had everyone hoping for it into injury time.

A favourable group may see them sneak a result or two in the EL.

corny

Only small gripe is that Kenny didn't make changes when it was evident Dundalk were flagging. Can't complain though because I doubt it would have made much difference. Legia the better side and deserved to go through.

Gringo180

sugarman wrote: »

You cant really be serious, theyre a different class altogether. I dont think you understand the gap between the 2, to but it into perspective.. their squad consists of the below International players

10 Polish
1 Hungarian
1 Bulgarian
1 Belgian
1 Czech
1 Finnish
1 Bosnian

Im not talking one cap wonders here either, good few have 50+ for their countries

Not to mention, the wages, the facilities etc etc.. Leigia have over Dundalk.

Theres nothing more they can do about their fitness over a few weeks.

Never doubted they have the better quality but I was talking about Dundalks fitness levels. They were dead on there feet after 60 minutes. I suppose there not use to that kind of tempo in the LOI.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

So so proud of Dundalk, two brave performances, the real difference between the two teams was Legia's experience of playing at a higher tempo week in week out. The loss of O'Donnell their best player, Gartland and Kilduff stretched a thin squad at this level and certainly didnt help. Legia have a €27m annual player budget while Dundalks is circa €1m.
I hope the Irish Soccer public come out and support Dundalk in the Europa League Group Stages I think they have the talent to take a few big scalps.
Robbie Bensons goal was a cracker!

Captain Havoc

Gringo180 wrote: »

Unlucky Dundalk. They should be looking at there fitness issues. They were bolloxed with 25 minutes to go.

I think the fitness issue is caused by having to play against teams like Longford, the league here isn't as intense. They beat BATE 3-0, put it up against Legia and I think these games will really stand to them in the Europa league. If that team was playing against decent opposition week in, week out, they'd be doing a lot better.

Darkglasses

Wexford Youths Women also kicked off their group in the WCL tonight, went down 3-1 against Kazakhstan's BIIK Kazygurt. Great game, should have been a lot closer but for a quality early goal from Kazygurt. Super crowd, definitely over 600 there and it's some time since the men had that. Next up for us is Gintra on this Thursday night. They beat Moldova's Criuleni 13-0 earlier in the day.

A_Sober_Paddy

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Man united in the group would be massive from a money stand point

Doubt in the scheme of things it would make that big of a difference compared to a match against maybe Inter. Also I'd ****ing hate to be in the Aviva surrounded by 45k United fans.

edgecutter

Deleted User wrote: »

Doubt in the scheme of things it would make that big of a difference compared to a match against maybe Inter. Also I'd ****ing hate to be in the Aviva surrounded by 45k United fans.

It would be huge for Dundalk a massive money spinner. There is no way Inter fill the Aviva.

Ferris_Bueller

Harsh to blame the fitness levels, Dundalk are by far the fittest team in the league. As others have said the opposition tonight were full of internationals and experienced European players, not much Dundalk can do about that and they stuck it up to them over 180 mins. Dundalks small squad was probably more of a hindrance, Kenny was obviously reluctant to make subs. Was Kilduff injured tonight? He would have been a nice option to bring off the bench. Even if O'Donnell had of been there, one of the likes of Finn, Benson or McEleney would have been a great option to have off the bench.

What impressed me about Dundalk over the two legs was that they played nice football and played very much as a team, there was no real standout player but the entire team played well collectively and looked very comfortable in possession bar a few sloppy passes tonight. Not often you can say that about an Irish team at any level.

Gringo180

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Also I'd ****ing hate to be in the Aviva surrounded by 45k United fans.

Was just thinking this earlier. That would be embarassing alright. Irish fans cheering on an English club against an Irish one.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Man united in the group would be massive from a money stand point

The upside of drawing Manchester United is that the Aviva would be a sell out, the downside is that Dundalk would have two away games one in Ireland and one in Manchester.

edgecutter

edgecutter wrote: »

It would be huge for Dundalk a massive money spinner. There is no way Inter fill the Aviva.

How much of the ticket money will Dundalk get? Compared the 7 million or whatever they've got so far how much more would they get for the extra 15k or so tickets they'd sell for the United match? 100k?

A_Sober_Paddy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Doubt in the scheme of things it would make that big of a difference compared to a match against maybe Inter. Also I'd ****ing hate to be in the Aviva surrounded by 45k United fans.

Suppose but are inter gonna fill the place, I reckon united would

A_Sober_Paddy

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Suppose but are inter gonna fill the place, I reckon united would

Again, how much difference would it make financially? It's not Dundalk's ground. For the sake of about 1% of this year's cash-flow, **** that.

Omackeral

edgecutter wrote: »

It would be huge for Dundalk a massive money spinner. There is no way Inter fill the Aviva.

Legia got 30,000. I'd say they could come close.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

Dundalk need to do a package for their three home Europa League games to ensure large attendances at each one, the pricing for the Legia game in the Aviva was spot on.

Iused2likebusts

Gringo180 wrote: »

True enough but you would of expecting them to of been a bit fresher considering they have played only 3 games in 18 days. They didnt even play all that well tonight either, very sloppy in possession. I thought they were much better last week and they lost 2-0, funny oul game.

There is a huge difference in the tempo of the game compared to what they are used to. The pitch I'd imagine is a lot bigger than your typical loi ground. The ball was in play a lot more than it would be in an loi match , they also had to chase the ball a lot which they wouldn't have to do in the majority of loi games. Over the two legs I thought they were class but i dont think there is much they could have done to prevent the fatigue that did set in in the last 20 odd mins.They played good football and put it up to legia. Hopefully they can pick up a result in the EL.

pablomakaveli

Gringo180 wrote: »

Was just thinking this earlier. That would be embarassing alright. Irish fans cheering on an English club against an Irish one.

We've already had that in the Aviva when Man Yoo played a LOI XI.

johnnyryan89

edgecutter wrote: »

It would be huge for Dundalk a massive money spinner. There is no way Inter fill the Aviva.

Plus I'm sure a lot of the Dundalk players wouldn't mind a run out at Old Trafford.

Gringo180

pablomakaveli wrote: »

We've already had that in the Aviva when Man Yoo played a LOI XI.

Luckily it wasnt broadcasted all over Europe like a Europa Lge game would be.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

Darkglasses wrote: »

Wexford Youths Women also kicked off their group in the WCL tonight, went down 3-1 against Kazakhstan's BIIK Kazygurt. Great game, should have been a lot closer but for a quality early goal from Kazygurt. Super crowd, definitely over 600 there and it's some time since the men had that. Next up for us is Gintra on this Thursday night. They beat Moldova's Criuleni 13-0 earlier in the day.

First I knew that there was a Womens Champions League game on tonight in Ireland, deserves greater coverage. Good luck to Wexford in the next tie

Darkglasses

Alfa Quadrifoglio wrote: »

First I knew that there was a Womens Champions League game on tonight in Ireland, deserves greater coverage. Good luck to Wexford in the next tie

Cheers, there's Gintra on Thursday night and then Criuleni on Sunday at 2pm if anyone wants to make the trip.

That_Guy

Dundalk's European achievements this season has been incredible. Ok, I know that Shamrock Rovers made it to the Europa League but to have a team like Dundalk on the verge of the Champions League group stages in the current economic climate that exists within football these days is remarkable.

In fact, all LOI teams in Europe this year can hold their head high.

If anything, it shows the potential of the League of Ireland and not its limitations.

"The standard of the LOI is shíte" excuse is pretty defunct now and look, as a Bohs fan, I hope Dundalk get good crowds in for their remaining league games and Europa League games.

BUT

I also hope now that the FAI see this as an opportunity to promote the absolute shít out of LOI. Football can be exciting in this country both domestically and internationally with a helping hand and Dundalk and Cork particularly have made people sit up and notice football in this country.

I'm not saying that every club in the country will benefit from a surge in attendances but 30K in the Aviva (most neutrals I'd imagine: me included) on a shítty Wednesday night for Dundalk's game last week show that people are willing to go to games and it's a perfect opportunity for the FAI to promote promote promote.

wadacrack

ryle nugent probably delighted dundalk didnt qualify, they can broadcast the english sides no problem

Irish_rat

Gringo180 wrote: »

They should be looking at there fitness issues. They were bolloxed with 25 minutes to go.

Fitness is not the problem, they will probably walk the Premier again this year. It's just a massive level up when they take on European sides. The extra work and effort required to track faster players will eventually lead to fatigue. (kinda like United vs Barca after 20 mins in 2011 CL )

I thought the performance was fantastic, Legia probably deserve it overall but only just.

inforfun

Please get in a group with Feyenoord.

Mars Bar

Darkglasses wrote: »

Cheers, there's Gintra on Thursday night and then Criuleni on Sunday at 2pm if anyone wants to make the trip.

Youths are riddled with injuries. You think they would have fared better if they weren't?

okidoki987

Potential opponents on here:

http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2016.html

irelandrover

Won't the final Europa league group games be in the off-season for Dundalk? could make it very tough as they will have had a long season. Could also affect them heading into the league next year as they won't have gotten the same break as other teams.

citytillidie

irelandrover wrote: »

Won't the final Europa league group games be in the off-season for Dundalk? could make it very tough as they will have had a long season. Could also affect them heading into the league next year as they won't have gotten the same break as other teams.

Their season will be extended final group game is 8th December, lots of league games to catch up with so other teams might have an extended season

irelandrover

irelandrover wrote: »

Won't the final Europa league group games be in the off-season for Dundalk? could make it very tough as they will have had a long season. Could also affect them heading into the league next year as they won't have gotten the same break as other teams.

They'll get a full couple of months off assuming they don't get into the knock-out stage of the Europa.

CHealy

On a side note, last nights results mean that Cork City u19's will be participating in this years UEFA Youth League (u19 Champions League) in the domestic champions side of the draw. Wont be a group stage situation as the Champions League proper is mirrored onto the u19's, but it will be a sequence of 2 legged knockout draws all the way until the final. Some good chances of progression for City here but they could also get the likes of Roma/Malaga so be a great experience for the u19 team who have consistently dominated the league in the last 5/6 years, maybe they could give a few pointers to our 1st team.

GLaDOS

citytillidie wrote: »

Their season will be extended final group game is 8th December, lots of league games to catch up with so other teams might have an extended season

Given that most players contracts run out when the season ends, I can't see other teams playing beyond the regular season.

steirishrover

It's a 1 in 12 chance of getting BATE again in the group stage.. surely can't happen 3 times in 2 years..

Love to see Roma.. Feyenoord.. Zenit etc

Coillte_Bhoy

wadacrack wrote: »

ryle nugent probably delighted dundalk didnt qualify, they can broadcast the english sides no problem

Why? Would they not have a choice to show Dundlak or would they be obliged?

Captain Havoc

irelandrover wrote: »

Won't the final Europa league group games be in the off-season for Dundalk? could make it very tough as they will have had a long season. Could also affect them heading into the league next year as they won't have gotten the same break as other teams.

We have an extremely long pre-season, it'll be grand. Gaps between games I think would be more of a nuisance.

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Why? Would they not have a choice to show Dundlak or would they be obliged?

Obliged.

inforfun

okidoki987 wrote: »

Potential opponents on here:

http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2016.html

I do think Bert Kassies is a very optimistic Ajax fan by putting Rostov in gr4