Turkey vs Ireland, Friendly International, kick-off 5.30 pm, live on RTE 2

farna_boy

Tyson Fury wrote: »

Jaysus there's nothing coming through. All the talk about some of the new players tonight, shows there's a long way to go.

It's hard to judge anyone when the tactic seems to be hoofball.

The closest the strikers cam to seeing the ball for most of the match was when they were closing down the keeper. They got one good ball between them and Hogan was unfortunate not to score.

Didn't understand why Maguire was taken off for Long either. Whatever about players being in form or not, the problem for the strikers was a lack of service rather than anything else.

At least O'Neill can say he gave the new players and formation a chance now and revert to playing his favourites and the tactics that served us so well in the past.

blinding

ScummyMan wrote: »

I have been impressed with Declan Rice so far he looks very composed. You can tell he hasn't been coached yet to just hoof it

West ham will think he has been playing with Johnny Sexton and Rob Kearney when he gets back .

Kermit.de.frog

Dreadful to watch.

Irish international soccer is in a really poor state.

I don't blame the management. Be nice to play some football but we are just not capable. Very depressing future with very little to hope for.

LuckyLloyd

Jeez, ye all need counselling or something. The level of negativity here is way out of alignment with the reality of Friday's game:

- It's the International window before the club season hits into its key phase: players are hardly going to be treating it like life or death
- It was a game in an intimidating away environment
- It was a game where we lined up a new experimental lineup with a number of new caps in the squad

In the context of all of that, it really wasn't so terrible. What did ye expect like?

LuckyLloyd

sugarman wrote: »

I dont think many/if any are complaining about a single game and outcome / performance but rather a year and a half of collective poor displays with little or no signs of improvement or even willingness to improve.

I think its perfectly reasonable to question O'Neill and the backroom team on that basis and some of the bizarre decisions they've made in recent months.

It's boring, and utterly self defeating. This is your team and manager up until March 2020 at the absolute earliest. What's worth focusing on in these friendlies is who is being integrated and how they're getting on. The tactics are unlikely to change hugely and the results will probably be variable. We've tough enough fixtures all the way through to the end of November and the qualifying draw.

Looking for every negative thing just doesn't seem worth it. Friday really wasn't anywhere near as bad as ye are making out.

Kermit.de.frog

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

It's boring, and utterly self defeating. This is your team and manager up until March 2020 at the absolute earliest. What's worth focusing on in these friendlies is who is being integrated and how they're getting on. The tactics are unlikely to change hugely and the results will probably be variable. We've tough enough fixtures all the way through to the end of November and the qualifying draw.

Looking for every negative thing just doesn't seem worth it. Friday really wasn't anywhere near as bad as ye are making out.

Soccer is being damaged with this. More kids will go to other sports.

Soccer is just boring now.

I used to be a huge fan. Goosebumps before every game, excitement and wouldn't miss a minute.

Not anymore. I just don't care for the team any more (although I have been falling out with the sport in general for some time - thing is, i'm far from the only one).

Ferris_Bueller

The biggest disappointment about Friday was that we didn't even attempt to play any kind of different football than we have under MON this far. Rightly or wrongly, some fans were optimistic that if we were going to keep him on he would at least try and blood through new players and attempt to play a slightly more progressive style of football. In fairness, his squad selection and new formation were something new, but the style of football was the same as ever unfortunately. If he isn't going to try it in a friendly against Turkey in March after a demolition against Denmark, when is he going to try it?

Personally, I'll get over it and at the end of the day if he gets results when it matters I don't care too much how he does it, but other fans do seem to value the style of football a lot more.

Mr.Nice Guy

A large chunk of the fanbase are just plain delusional.

Any new coach taking over a team looks at the relative strengths and weaknesses of his personnel and then plans accordingly. Take over a team with slow centre-backs that are limited technically - well, you don't want them playing a high line possession style where they'll get savaged on the counter. Take over a team with strikers that have a talent for holding up the ball and prefer it to feet - well you don't want to ask them to play a style that requires them to run in behind etc.

So any decent level coach taking over this team and looking at the players available would arrive at the same conclusion: that this is absolutely NOT a team cut out to play assertive, attacking football that many crave. We've a lack of technically gifted midfielders, slow defenders that would be destroyed on the counter attack if they lost possession at the halfway line, and no outstanding dribblers that can break through the opposition line of defence. This is the painful reality.

Some fans seem to think football is a bit like a simulation game: just click the 'attacking style' button and hey presto we start knocking it about like Napoli and Barca. It ain't gonna happen because you need the right players and WE DON'T HAVE THE PLAYERS. We've lads with big hearts that will give everything they have, but they are limited technically, and they will be bested by nations with better coached and better technical players by trying to play them at that game - which is why the good moments we had under Trap and Martin were about playing to our strengths.

Some are blinkered about the talent that we can rely upon. Don't give me "but, but, but the Premier League" - look at what teams these guys play for in the Premier League and the style of play they are asked to adopt there. And don't give me outlier examples like Iceland - who possess better technical players than we do anyway.

If you're unhappy at the quality of players coming through it is the FAI that bear the responsibility for that. You can't expect a good coach to come in and adopt a style that runs counter to what the coach - and anyone with a clue - can see are the team's strength's and weaknesses. It would be a recipe for disaster.

Kermit.de.frog

The game is dying in Ireland. People are just being turned off it.

I get the point - we don't have the players so we have to play anti football.

But to me it's a self fulfilling hole.

I don't think there is a way out to be honest unless we somehow get a crop of top quality players coming through. We DON'T need 11 top quality players. We are missing that one world class player and 3 or 4 top league players that make the difference.

So I don't blame anyone really. The players just are not there. The kids all on their iPhones rather than playing sport. An issue for all sports to be fair.

Minderbinder

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The game is dying in Ireland. People are just being turned off it.

I get the point - we don't have the players so we have to play anti football.

But to me it's a self fulfilling hole.

I don't think there is a way out to be honest unless we somehow get a crop of top quality players coming through. We DON'T need 11 top quality players. We are missing that one world class player and 3 or 4 top league players that make the difference.

So I don't blame anyone really. The players just are not there. The kids all on their iPhones rather than playing sport. An issue for all sports to be fair.

Kids on their phones is an issue for all countries so it’s a lazy excuse as to why the quality of Irish players is declining.

I think we got lucky for a while, and a few decent players came through at around the same time without much input or direction from the FAI. It could and probably will happen again at some point in the future.

But there has never been any plan in place to seriously develop players in this country.

I don’t know if the game is dying in Ireland. In terms of numbers playing I have no idea. How are season ticket sales for landsdowne road?

LuckyLloyd

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Soccer is being damaged with this. More kids will go to other sports.

Soccer is just boring now.

I used to be a huge fan. Goosebumps before every game, excitement and wouldn't miss a minute.

Not anymore. I just don't care for the team any more (although I have been falling out with the sport in general for some time - thing is, i'm far from the only one).

That's entirely an issue with the quality of the players available ultimately. You wouldn't be having goosebumps if this lot were going out to try and knock the ball about and getting ripped open by a couple of goals most games.

People on boards keep complaining about the quality of football and no longer being interested in the national team but interest seems to be holding up pretty well in the national team despite a run of squads 2006 - 2018 of a quality harking back to the days of Liam Tuhoy. We haven't had a genuine World Class player take the field for us since October 2005. Over the last ten years we've lost Given, O'Shea, Dunne, Duff and Robbie Keane.

Read the clubs on the latest squad list:

Bradford, Ross County, Manchester Utd (21 year old reserve), Everton, Newcastle Utd, Fulham, Brighton, Derby, Burnley, Wolves, West Ham, Sheffield Utd, Blackburn, West Brom, Hull, Leeds, Aston Villa, Preston North End, Preston North End, Brentford, Blackburn, Southampton, Preston North End, Aston Villa

8 players in a 25 man squad pulled from the top level.

I'm behind a manager that got the lowest quality group of Irish footballers in 40 years to a World Cup playoff. If it's too hot in the kitchen for you baby, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Iused2likebusts

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Soccer is being damaged with this. More kids will go to other sports.

Soccer is just boring now.

I used to be a huge fan. Goosebumps before every game, excitement and wouldn't miss a minute.

Not anymore. I just don't care for the team any more (although I have been falling out with the sport in general for some time - thing is, i'm far from the only one).

Do you mean more kids will go watch other sports or go play other sports. If its play other sports I don't think how the Ireland football team play or what results they get will have any impact on the numbers playing football. Kids love playing football over any other sport that's not going to change .

johnnyryan89

Minderbinder wrote: »

I don’t know if the game is dying in Ireland. In terms of numbers playing I have no idea.

Going on Limerick alone the numbers are the highest they've ever been for teams and the excuse that kids aren't as good now days because of technology is another lazy excuse as you said that affects everyone. A bigger problem is the over reliance on English clubs to still develop our players for us when times have changed and they have the pick of any player in the world now so don't have to look towards Ireland and Scotland.

We've got talent coming through at underage level but they struggle to make the break through at senior level because clubs in England don't need to develop youth when they can buy players, you've even got some clubs in England closing their academy teams and focusing more on the senior team. Even our golden generation of players would struggle today if they were 17/18 again.