Wales vs Ireland, World Cup Qualifer, kick-off 7.45, RTE 2 & Sky Sports

PhilipsR

Would take a Croatia team in disarray over a Swedish team who ran the French very close in their group.

Omackeral

sligeach wrote: »

Glenn Whelan. Ugh! Hendricks would rather keep playing than let him come on.

Never heard of him. Is he new?

murpho999

Bridge93 wrote: »

If what people are saying is true and it'll be Portugal/Switzerland, Italy, Croatia and Sweden then, from worst case to best, I'd go

Portugal
Italy
Croatia
Switzerland
Sweden

If Denmark creep in then I'd prefer them to all but Sweden

munsterlegend wrote: »

Yep Sweden or Switzerland would be our best chance probably.

Why underestmate Switzerland who have won 9 games out of 9 so far including beating Portugal?

Akrasia

Whoever we play, we'll have to drag them down to our level

gormdubhgorm

Arghus wrote: »

I always find it so craven how Dunphy is the harshest and most unyielding critic, but when things go right becomes the most biased and dewyeyed of them all, though tonight I think it was more a case of him being Tullamore Dewy-Eyed.

He was embarrassed I think.
Sadlier was smirking away at him while he was waffling.
In fairness to Dunphy he did come clean about the Elephant in the room when he was waving his notes at the end

johnnyryan89

signostic wrote: »

seeds will be Italy, Sweden, Croatia, Portugal/Switzerland,

Take your pick

Unless Sweden jump ahead of Northern Ireland in the rankings it stands as:

Portugal/Switzerland who are 3rd/7th
Italy who are 17th
Croatia who are 19th
Northern Ireland who are 20th

They are the four highest seeded teams at the moment and Sweden are 23rd so would fall into the unseeded side of the draw unless they overtake Northern Ireland after this round of fixtures.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

Wonder what made Arter leave the cross, going by McClean's interview he didn't give a shout

Bridge93

murpho999 wrote: »

Why underestmate Switzerland who have won 9 games out of 9 so far including beating Portugal?

They've the easiest group by a mile.
Andorra
Faroe Islands
Latvia who are terrible
Hungary who lost to Andorra

Portugal their only genuine game. Good team but player wise we match up better with them than the others

mickmackey1

MON does the best with the resources he has, we are a shower of journeymen after all. Not realistic to expect a different manager could turn us into Brazil.

niallo27

murpho999 wrote: »

When Jeff Hendrick empties his pockets tonight!

Why is he still using an iphone 3. Surely none of the apps work or anything on that thing.

R00ster

irishguitarlad wrote: »

He has left the best Italian midfielder at home so now hes going to f off and play with brazil.

Jorginho?

sheroman01

signostic wrote: »

seeds will be Italy, Sweden, Croatia, Portugal/Switzerland,

Take your pick

Portugal should beat Switzerland at home to top their group. Just took a look at their group. It's very very poor. I wouldn't take Switzerlands point tally there too seriously.

Would fancy ourselves against them or Sweden for sure. Would be very concerned if we drew anyone else.

niallo27

Hang on we could still get northern Ireland

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

niallo27 wrote: »

Hang on we could still get northern Ireland

nah

Quazzie

niallo27 wrote: »

Why is he still using an iphone 3. Surely none of the apps work or anything on that thing.

He also seems to have the keys for a Dodge Voyager and his wallet only has dollars.

He must be based on Pittsburg as that's where his ATM card (PNC BANK) is from

fyfe79

niallo27 wrote: »

Why is he still using an iphone 3. Surely none of the apps work or anything on that thing.

He'll buy nothing in any shops here, or indeed Wales, with dollars.

I suspect that it is not his phone, wallet or keys!

Kermit.de.frog

Croatia are in rag order. Far from the force they were.

gormdubhgorm

niallo27 wrote: »

Hang on we could still get northern Ireland

The neutrals around the world will be glued to it :rolleyes:

johnnyryan89

Liana Tight Gout wrote: »

nah

Yes we can

Unless Sweden jump ahead of Northern Ireland in the rankings it stands as:

Portugal/Switzerland who are 3rd/7th
Italy who are 17th
Croatia who are 19th
Northern Ireland who are 20th

They are the four highest seeded teams at the moment and Sweden are 23rd so would fall into the unseeded side of the draw unless they overtake Northern Ireland after this round of fixtures.

Arghus

Wouldn't fancy Italy. No matter how rubbish they are you know they'll make the finals - cast iron certainty.

jaykay74

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

The neutrals around the world will be glued to it :rolleyes:

Who gives a flying fck about neutrals??

niallo27

niallo27 wrote: »

Hang on we could still get northern Ireland

I think ya could be right lad

Dearg81

Liana Tight Gout wrote:

Wonder what made Arter leave the cross, going by McClean's interview he didn't give a shout

Arter looked to see who was in the box a couple of seconds before his dummy.

delaad

signostic wrote: »

hope the writer is made eat his words....

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/eamonn-sweeney-have-you-ever-seen-a-starker-contrast-between-sports-than-the-hurling-final-and-irelands-qualifiers-36116885.html

Galway's fabulous win in the semi-final of the Hurling Championship could be said to be a national triumph.

Ireland's win in Wales was international.

niallo27

delaad wrote: »

Galway's fabulous win in the semi-final of the Hurling Championship could be said to be a national triumph.

Ireland's win in Wales was international.

Cant we just enjoy both though. I love hurling but dont compare it to football(soccer), not having a go at you but i dont see why people can not enjoy both at the wonderful sporting occasions they can be.

sheroman01

sugarman wrote: »

Northern Ireland lost their last 2 games, both Sweden and Denmark have won theirs. Theyre set to both jump ahead of the North, provided Sweden dont lose to the Netherlands tomorrow, even a draw keeps them above them.

Theres zero way of the North being ranked.

If Sweden lose, will Northern Ireland be ranked?

mickmackey1

Liana Tight Gout wrote: »

Wonder what made Arter leave the cross, going by McClean's interview he didn't give a shout

Easy choice really, no way could he have scored from that angle.

adox

mickmackey1 wrote: »

MON does the best with the resources he has, we are a shower of journeymen after all. Not realistic to expect a different manager could turn us into Brazil.

We aren’t Brazil so stick 11 men behind the ball and hoof it away at every opportunity is the option?

Great result tonight but awful tactics. It’s lowest common denominator tactics imo. Yes a lot of them are “journeymen” but they aren’t a pub team.

I just will never get the argument of “ah sure we don’t have the players so just play caveman football”.

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

It worked tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty who think the ends justify the means but it’s awful, simplistic insulting tactics.

fullstop

Omackeral wrote: »

Never heard of him. Is he new?

He started playing around the same time as McLean and MacLean I think

Omackeral

fullstop wrote: »

He started playing around the same time as McLean and MacLean I think

Oh I know him. Him and Shay Givens are second cousins.

PhilipsR

adox wrote: »

We aren’t Brazil so stick 11 men behind the ball and hoof it away at every opportunity is the option?

Great result tonight but awful tactics. It’s lowest common denominator tactics imo. Yes a lot of them are “journeymen” but they aren’t a pub team.

I just will never get the argument of “ah sure we don’t have the players so just play caveman football”.

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

It worked tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty who think the ends justify the means but it’s awful, simplistic insulting tactics.

The defensive tactics are not bad. He does have us built solid. My issue is that we just don't have any attacking phases or methods at all. Can't fault the lads tonight so won't get into it. MON has gotten us to the Euros and the play offs of the World Cup. As much as I think we blew a great chance to win the group, he did get us there in the first place.

SteelyDanJalapeno

adox wrote: »

We aren’t Brazil so stick 11 men behind the ball and hoof it away at every opportunity is the option?

Great result tonight but awful tactics. It’s lowest common denominator tactics imo. Yes a lot of them are “journeymen” but they aren’t a pub team.

I just will never get the argument of “ah sure we don’t have the players so just play caveman football”.

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

It worked tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty who think the ends justify the means but it’s awful, simplistic insulting tactics.

But it works......

We were 4th seeded team in that group, Wales made semi finals of the euros last year with the same team. If that's what it takes to get us to finals then so be it, it works.

delaad

niallo27 wrote: »

Cant we just enjoy both though. I love hurling but dont compare it to football(soccer), not having a go at you but i dont see why people can not enjoy both at the wonderful sporting occasions they can be.

Loved both of them.

TheCitizen

adox wrote: »

We aren’t Brazil so stick 11 men behind the ball and hoof it away at every opportunity is the option?

Great result tonight but awful tactics. It’s lowest common denominator tactics imo. Yes a lot of them are “journeymen” but they aren’t a pub team.

I just will never get the argument of “ah sure we don’t have the players so just play caveman football”.

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

It worked tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty who think the ends justify the means but it’s awful, simplistic insulting tactics.

Insulting, really? We've just beat a team that haven't lost at home in 4 years and we still get this gibberish. There's nothing Hail Mary about it. It was a controlled perfectly executed plan. You mightn't like the style but don't talk rubbish about it being 'hail mary football' etc.

wotzgoingon

PhilipsR wrote: »

The defensive tactics are not bad. He does have us built solid. My issue is that we just don't have any attacking phases or methods at all. Can't fault the lads tonight so won't get into it. MON has gotten us to the Euros and the play offs of the World Cup. As much as I think we blew a great chance to win the group, he did get us there in the first place.

I agree we had some bad spells which all started after the friendly with Mexico.

circadian

Omackeral wrote: »

Oh I know him. Him and Shay Givens are second cousins.

Aye and Clarke too.

wotzgoingon

TiltedBrain wrote: »

But it works......

We were 4th seeded team in that group, Wales made semi finals of the euros last year with the same team. If that's what it takes to get us to finals then so be it, it works.

But we have to remember also Wales were missing their star player which they had in the Euros.

Ferris_Bueller

Brilliant result and brilliant performance. O'Neil called it exactly right, and that is with three regular starters missing from the team. It's not pretty to watch but does anyone actually care if we get results like we have under MON? He has made mistakes and it hasn't been perfect but when it has come down to it we have got results and put in performances to get over the line. Tonight was the best defensive performance from an Irish team in years, apart from Robson Kanus header, Wales didn't create a single good chance all game despite needing a win and all of their possession.

Duffy and Clarke were superb, Randolph is such a safe pair of hands behind them and has had two very good games in a row now. James McClean, what more can I say... He is the epitome of the Irish team and you can tell how much it means to him to score a goal like that for his country. I wasn't overly confident going into this game and had a feeling MON could be in for a lot of stick if we didn't get the win but nights like that are what it's all about supporting our country. COYBIG!!

Rekop dog

adox wrote: »

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

Nope. Have you watched Iceland? They take it to the extreme. Their average possession over the campaign is 10% less than us. Probably why they were that bit more successful too.

We were at our most open against Serbia and while we looked decent at times it yielded our only loss in the group. We went toe to toe with a technically better side and came up a little short.

Can you not accept or even be open to the idea that despite it being awful to watch its more effective than alternatives?

wotzgoingon

Keep them under pressure. Long ball up and keeping them under pressure has long been an Irish tactic and it works well when it works.

briany

wotzgoingon wrote: »

But we have to remember also Wales were missing their star player which they had in the Euros.

We also have to remember that Ireland missed Coleman, McCarthy, Walters, Long, and didn't play Hoolahan. So Ireland were similarly not at full strength. Despite missing Bale, Craig Bellamy seemed confident that Wales had man-to-man superiority over Ireland.

wotzgoingon

briany wrote: »

We also have to remember that Ireland missed Coleman, McCarthy, Walters, Long, and didn't play Hoolahan. So Ireland were similarly not at full strength. Despite missing Bale, Craig Bellamy seemed confident that Wales had man-to-man superiority over Ireland.

I suppose. Poor oul Coleman. Any word when he will be back at full strength.

nice_guy80

didn't see that result coming

well done to players and management

thought Meyler was excellent (silly yellow card)

ionadnapokot

Rekop dog wrote: »

Nope. Have you watched Iceland? They take it to the extreme. Their average possession over the campaign is 10% less than us. Probably why they were that bit more successful too.

We were at our most open against Serbia and while we looked decent at times it yielded our only loss in the group. We went toe to toe with a technically better side and came up a little short.

Can you not accept or even be open to the idea that despite it being awful to watch its more effective than alternatives?

Re: Iceland
Very interesting. Do have a link?

I do think it's fair to surmise that Ireland could focus a bit more on possession football at times and still not expose the team to counter attacks

E.g this eve substitution of Arter. The game was calling out for Wes to come on and string a few passes together to take possession away from Wales

briany

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I suppose. Poor oul Coleman. Any word when he will be back at full strength.

I don't know, but I'm half thinking of doing a black magic ritual on Halloween night to help him along.

delaad

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Keep them under pressure. Long ball up and keeping them under pressure has long been an Irish tactic and it works well when it works.

POMO, circa 1987, or the football version of Irish Rugby's Garryowen, the classic kick and rush.

LiamoSail

Akrasia wrote: »

Whoever we play, we'll have to drag them down to our level

adox wrote: »

We aren’t Brazil so stick 11 men behind the ball and hoof it away at every opportunity is the option?

Great result tonight but awful tactics. It’s lowest common denominator tactics imo. Yes a lot of them are “journeymen” but they aren’t a pub team.

I just will never get the argument of “ah sure we don’t have the players so just play caveman football”.

I mean O Neill takes it to the extreme. To the point where his team barely have a kick of the ball. It’s Hail Mary football in many ways.

It worked tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty who think the ends justify the means but it’s awful, simplistic insulting tactics.

It didn't just work tonight though did it? It's worked on a various nights from the 80s to the present day for us.

Playing attractive football is all well and good when you've got the players. We don't have them though. Look at the Holland, they do attractive football better than we ever could but now that the calibre isn't there, either are they. If they can't do it with what they've got, what chance would we have?

Winning with an attractive style isn't an option for countries with as limited pool as us. We'll never be a Spain 08 or a Holland 88. A Greece 04 however, if we're going to dream, is the only style likely to ever get us anywhere

Jayop

Quite funny that the pathetic baiting of a few of the usual suspects a few pages back got no bites. They must be ****ing. Fuming.

Great result and delighted for James. No one at all deserves it more than him and no one else seems to love representing his country quite as much.

not yet

Bridge93 wrote: »

If what people are saying is true and it'll be Portugal/Switzerland, Italy, Croatia and Sweden then, from worst case to best, I'd go

Portugal
Italy
Croatia
Switzerland
Sweden

If Denmark creep in then I'd prefer them to all but Sweden

Fcuk it, let them all put their best 11 together and we'll play them..

They played the second half as if MON had stuck a poster of Neil Taylor on the wall...