Switzerland vs Ireland [Match Thread]

noodler

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Thought the tactics were spot on tonight. Can't fault Mick.

We just don't have the players, simple as that.

Can't complain.

Thought we were too open and blew our load starting Connolly.

Hendrick is very lucky to be starting.

is_that_so

Zico ! wrote: »

As bad as anything I've seen under o neill

It's largely the O'Neill team!

PinotNero

Zico ! wrote: »

As bad as anything I've seen under o neill

Of course it is, it's basically the same players.

Zico !

PinotNero wrote: »

Of course it is, it's basically the same players.

I was referring to the manager and his ability to coach these players

edgecutter

PinotNero wrote: »

Of course it is, it's basically the same players.

Yes, but why do we keep resorting to these tactics. It was the same against Georgia. If the players can't pass the football why are they being picked.

Mick was constantly shouting at Hendrick for not getting his head up and yet he played the whole game.

~Rebel~

Looking at the striking options we have, it really is insane not to have Long in the squad. Like, none of them are scoring any goals, but at least Long brings a bit of pace and power, and a few different ways of playing the game.

Strumms

I’d like to see us play 4-3-3

We have no decent in form wide players

Play three ball winning midfielders in the middle and three forwards, at least when we can get the ball up there there would be the ability you’d hope to create a chance or two, we have to go back to the drawing board this is going nowhere.

edgecutter

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Looking at the striking options we have, it really is insane not to have Long in the squad. Like, none of them are scoring any goals, but at least Long brings a bit of pace and power, and a few different ways of playing the game.

We could have aguero up front. If you can't give a striker the service he has no hope.

thecomedian

6 goals in 7 matches and we’ve played Gibraltar twice!!

Zico !

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Looking at the striking options we have, it really is insane not to have Long in the squad. Like, none of them are scoring any goals, but at least Long brings a bit of pace and power, and a few different ways of playing the game.

Long holds up the ball and it's the only thing he's good at with mcgoldrick injured it was a like for like change but no mick didn't bring him in. Daft

Dots1982

nullzero wrote: »

I just hope we never have to play Switzerland again. We just can't jump this hurdle, they are the ultimate bogey side for us.

They are just better than us. A bogey side is one we can’t beat when we should.

Ferris_Bueller

Obviously I am in the minority but I didn't think it was as doom and gloom as others are making out. Room for improvement definitely and if we make the same mistakes against Denmark we can forget about it, but at least we showed we can try to have a go at teams better than us, before tonight I genuinely didn't even know if we had it in us. Some really poor individual performances tonight, Hendrick, Coleman, McClean and Collins first half were all really poor tonight. I feel more confident about taking on Denmark now though than I did this morning.

mada999

edgecutter wrote: »

Yes, but why do we keep resorting to these tactics. It was the same against Georgia. If the players can't pass the football why are they being picked.

we can pass the ball see the first 20 mins.... they dont get to be professional footballers without technical ability..

the football has been beat out of us...

Abel Ruiz

Strumms wrote: »

It’s a weird feeling watching an Ireland side with such a poxy lack of ambition and ability.

Does anyone remember when Ireland played Switzerland in Dublin in 2005?
A win, and Ireland would have qualified for the world cup in Germany.
That was even a worse performance than tonight, and it was a nil all draw

edgecutter

Strumms wrote: »

I’d like to see us play 4-3-3

We have no decent in form wide players

Play three ball winning midfielders in the middle and three forwards, at least when we can get the ball up there there would be the ability you’d hope to create a chance or two, we have to go back to the drawing board this is going nowhere.

It will be interesting to see who he picks. We need to win at home. Can Mick rely on McClean, Hendrick, Whelan to create chances? Hopefully he has a plan but looking at us the past two games we look like a side that has rode their luck to be in this position.

Zico !

Thank god Colemans suspended he should go back to sligo rovers

edgecutter

mada999 wrote: »

we can pass the ball see the first 20 mins.... they dont get to be professional footballers without technical ability..

the football has been beat out of us...

If it's backwards, then yeah, I agree with you. Same against Georgia, we couldn't pass wind that night either.

noodler

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Obviously I am in the minority but I didn't think it was as doom and gloom as others are making out. Room for improvement definitely and if we make the same mistakes against Denmark we can forget about it, but at least we showed we can try to have a go at teams better than us, before tonight I genuinely didn't even know if we had it in us. Some really poor individual performances tonight, Hendrick, Coleman, McClean and Collins first half were all really poor tonight. I feel more confident about taking on Denmark now though than I did this morning.

It can be done.

Crowd will need to be involved.

I really think we'd have to be wary of attacking from the off though.

Apart from what they did to us at the Aviva last time, their counter against the Swiss was excellent.

Corholio

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Obviously I am in the minority but I didn't think it was as doom and gloom as others are making out. Room for improvement definitely and if we make the same mistakes against Denmark we can forget about it, but at least we showed we can try to have a go at teams better than us, before tonight I genuinely didn't even know if we had it in us. Some really poor individual performances tonight, Hendrick, Coleman, McClean and Collins first half were all really poor tonight. I feel more confident about taking on Denmark now though than I did this morning.

I genuinely don't know where you saw that we had a go at them. I thought the complete opposite if I'm honest. Even second half we created very few chances. Swiss were coasting for most of the match, and as they have been for years now, short of a striker to put the game away much sooner.

Idbatterim

Only a win will do against the Danes now. So McCarthy will be playing for the draw ...

edgecutter

Zico ! wrote: »

Thank god Colemans suspended he should go back to finn harps

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

noodler

edgecutter wrote: »

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

Awful tonight.

But **** our fanbase are an absolute disgrace sometimes.

is_that_so

edgecutter wrote: »

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

He's never fully come back from that and it looks to be affecting his game. Even at club level he's not shining.

topmanamillion

6 goals in 7 games says it all.
4 games against Georgia and Gibraltar thrown in that. It's pitiful really.

Even if Denmark throw us the initiative I can't see us scoring in 900 minutes never mind 90 minutes.

We're now more than likely going into a straight knock out play off tournament where we'll have to beat two teams over a couple of days.
No idea where the goals are going to come from.

mada999

mada999 wrote: »

They carry on like that so that they can make the Euro's that's it...unfortunately we are too green to do the same.... maybe one day we will learn..

Yeah because that’s the only difference between us and them.

mzungu

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

But that is why a draw tonight was potentially important.

Denmark would have been coming here with nothing to play for.

Now they will be coming here with everything to play for.

It will be scrappy and we are up against it. That is when we are at our most dangerous.

redarmy

If Ireland beat Denmark next month they will qualify - bar one horror set of results.
Let me explain. Ireland would have 15 points in that event and so would Denmark - presuming they beat Gibraltar at home next month. Think we can count on that one!
And Ireland would finish ahead of Denmark on the head-to-head rule.
But the head-to-head rule does not apply if three teams are tied on points. And if Switzerland were to take four points from their remaining matches, Georgia (h) and Gibraltar (a), then all three countries would be on 15 points and Ireland would be the one to lose out on goal difference.
So as long as the Swiss take anything other than four points from their two matches, an Irish win over Denmark would do the job.
If Ireland don't go through, it will be a long wait to see how many teams who finished ahead of Ireland in the Nations League qualify directly for the Euros and then we get a play-off. But unfortunately the first part of the play-off would be a one-leg game in which Ireland would almost certainly be away

Idbatterim

mzungu wrote: »

All is not lost. Beating Denmark will be hard but not impossible. We will have home advantage so anything can happen.

Look at us against the French in Paris for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers was it ? Where Henry robbed us. Once they have nothing to lose or a draw is no use , who knows what side will show up. God knows what will happen with the Danes. I know when we played them in Dublin last time , they won it comfortably in the end , but they were lucky not to go two down and it could have been a very different game then

Abel Ruiz

edgecutter wrote: »

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

Sure I remember people abusing whelan non stop on boards.
Now, he seems to be a legend.
He got so much stick he got during traps reign. And not just from pundits.

fullstop

Hammer Archer wrote: »

What the fcuk is Whelan talking about? Not a chance will we beat Denmark based on tonight.

Do you expect him to say that?

edgecutter

is_that_so wrote: »

He's never fully come back from that and it looks to be affecting his game. Even at club level he's not shining.

Yep, and it's sad to see. Was one of the best right backs in the League and should have had more caps for Ireland. I think Doherty deserves a shot, but his suspension will hurt as we have no idea if injuries could hit us.

pgj2015

fullstop wrote: »

Do you expect him to say that?

it would be funny if he did.

Strumms

edgecutter wrote: »

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

He’s playing like a guy who has had an injury or two too many...out there it’s like watching a 35 year old. That spark of pace seems to have deserted him, more errors now. He used to be lightening, direct, fearless and a tough defender.


Mick being quite honest here, good stuff.

edgecutter

edgecutter wrote: »

Fecking hell, he was poor but don't slate him. He was one of our best players for a long time and nearly had his career ended playing for us.

The about-turns (in opposing directions) on Whelan and Coleman are startling.

Corholio

Strange comment from Mick. 'A performance to be proud of (second half) when we were down to 10 men'

Coleman was sent off in 76th minute.

Honest enough about rest of the game though.

Inquitus

Ah well, all comes down to Denmark at the Aviva. TBH I cannot understand tonight's attitude, we had to either win this one or beat Denmark, pretty much all other paths to the final were remote at best as far as this group stage goes, so why did we not throw caution to the wind and try and beat the odds with a win. That shíteshow just means we have to win against Denmark, a nemesis or ours at this stage. The playoff route doesn't look to kind to us either. Waste of a good chance at these Euros given we are one of the many co-hosts which confers a decent advantage in the group stages. Piss poor, same old, same old, bitterly, bitterly disappointing. Fingers crossed, there is still hope, and a clear path to qualification still exists, out ability to grasp that chance is what's up.

lawred2

Strumms wrote: »

I’d like to see us play 4-3-3

We have no decent in form wide players

Play three ball winning midfielders in the middle and three forwards, at least when we can get the ball up there there would be the ability you’d hope to create a chance or two, we have to go back to the drawing board this is going nowhere.

That just becomes 4-5-1 with an isolated front man

edgecutter

Idbatterim wrote: »

Look at us against the French in Paris for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers was it ? Where Henry robbed us. Once they have nothing to lose or a draw is no use , who knows what side will show up. God knows what will happen with the Danes. I know when we played them in Dublin last time , they won it comfortably in the end , but they were lucky not to go two down and it could have been a very different game then

We had a half decent side that night. We actually had some players playing for clubs in the top half of the premier League and champions League. We had a Robbie Keane still in his prime at this stage too.

I remember watching the World Cup 2002 in 5th class of primary school. We didn't have to be in, school knew few would turn up, but I did. I could have been off with me family enjoying it but I wanted to experience it with me friends.

First game when Matt Holland scored against Cameroon, I watched it at home.

The other games, I watched in school, extraordinary memories. Any time we scored I took off me jersey and we'd dance around it like the Senegalese players did in the first game against France.

I love Mick McCarthy forever for those moments, but being content with a draw away to Georgia? Serious dent in that.

briany

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Given almost every opposition says how physical Ireland are,

It's just a banal talking point. "Ireland? Oh, yes, very physical." You could say that about every international football team. The days when Ireland dominated physical contests is long since over, if there was ever a time at all. It's really a bit of an indictment of the Irish game that we list it as a strong point of the team.

Ohmeha

Our goalscoring record in this qualifying campaign so far is our worst since Eoin Hand's final campaign in our attempt to qualify for the 1986 World Cup

It's actually a miracle we still have a chance going into the final game with an opportunity to qualify


2020 6 goals in 7 games 0.86 goals per game
2018 12 goals in 10 games 1.20 goals per game
2016 19 goals in 10 games 1.90 goals per game
2014 16 goals in 10 games 1.60 goals per game
2012 15 goals in 10 games 1.50 goals per game
2010 12 goals in 10 games 1.20 goals per game
2008 17 goals in 12 games 1.42 goals per game
2006 12 goals in 10 games 1.20 goals per game
2004 10 goals in 8 games 1.25 goals per game
2002 23 goals in 10 games 2.30 goals per game
2000 14 goals in 8 games 1.75 goals per game
1998 22 goals in 10 games 2.20 goals per game
1996 17 goals in 10 games 1.70 goals per game
1994 19 goals in 12 games 1.58 goals per game
1992 13 goals in 6 games 2.17 goals per game
1990 10 goals in 8 games 1.25 goals per game
1988 10 goals in 8 games 1.25 goals per game
1986 5 goals in 8 games 0.63 goals per game

Hard to see any improvement from the dreaded MON era

castletownman

The thing is, when Sibide gets fit he should nail down RB for Everton. And if the captain ain't a starter for his club, and his direct rival for his position is playing for a club going better than Everton, how can Coleman realistically be first-choice? Sad to say as he has been consistent for a while, but that injury has knocked him for six. Understandable given the severity though.

ebbsy

edgecutter wrote: »

We had a half decent side that night. We actually had some players playing for clubs in the top half of the premier League and champions League. We had a Robbie Keane still in his prime at this stage too.

And people were still moaning about him then. Idiots.

Ferris_Bueller

Corholio wrote: »

I genuinely don't know where you saw that we had a go at them. I thought the complete opposite if I'm honest. Even second half we created very few chances. Swiss were coasting for most of the match, and as they have been for years now, short of a striker to put the game away much sooner.

I read your post on the other thread and fair enough you are probably right that we didn't create much in the second half, but we were on the front foot more in the second half than we have been in most other games in the past few years. Final ball was poor but we had players supporting each other further up the pitch and in general played a lot further up the pitch than we usually do.

When have we ever played sweeping possession football creating loads of chances? There was literally zero chance of that happening tonight. I think a performance along those lines against Denmark is our best chance of getting a win.

fullstop

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

But that is why a draw tonight was potentially important.

Denmark would have been coming here with nothing to play for.

Now they will be coming here with everything to play for.

How? They’re level on points with us, with a game in hand.

edgecutter

Good to see Ritchie call out players like McClean doing stupid things on the pitch that shouldn't be happening.

However, Mick needs to grow a pair and drop some of these boys. I would love to see Byrne get a start.

Abel Ruiz

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I love Mick McCarthy forever for those moments, but being content with a draw away to Georgia? Serious dent in that.

2002 team was 10times better.
And he's not content with a draw against Georgia. He usually talks nonsense in press conferences because most football managers/players cannot be honest and are media trained.
When mick leaves the job, he'll tell the truth. Look at some of his interviews after he left Ipswich

sonic85

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Obviously I am in the minority but I didn't think it was as doom and gloom as others are making out. Room for improvement definitely and if we make the same mistakes against Denmark we can forget about it, but at least we showed we can try to have a go at teams better than us, before tonight I genuinely didn't even know if we had it in us. Some really poor individual performances tonight, Hendrick, Coleman, McClean and Collins first half were all really poor tonight. I feel more confident about taking on Denmark now though than I did this morning.

What exactly did you see tonight that would give you that optimism? Can you articulate it? Genuinely interested

Francie Barrett

The level of delusion on here is unreal. What we had lining up tonight was essentially a Championship level team against top flight European professionals. They were technically better than us, they were stronger and fitter than us. When you combine the gulf in quality with a ref that was comically in their favour, we had no chance tonight.

Our threat upfront is about the worst I've seen in an Irish team in 30 years. McClean is our top goalscorer with 10 goals, next is Duffy with 3 goals. The six attackers (bar McClean) in the squad tonight have a total of 2 international goals between them. None of these guys are pulling up trees at club level either.

I feel sorry for when Kenny, he is the latest in the line of messiah's being built up by deluded fans. Just like Mick, Trap and O' Neill before, he's not going to weave straw into gold.