Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

Brock Turnpike

Smallbone

Ferguson

Johnston

O'Dowda

The big positives tonight. Hopefully they all remain in the team come Monday (Johnston as an option off the bench)

The back 3 were too timid at times until Egan came on and got involved with that big lump up front for Latvia.

Pointless bringing McClean and Hendrick on.

For Monday I would be going:

Bazunu

-------- Collins ------- Egan ----- O'Shea -------

Doherty --- Cullen --- Molumby -- O'Dowda

________________Smallbone____________

__________Ferguson ----- Obafemi

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389690#Comment_120389690

So coventiently missed the best period of the game?

Soups123

Look at results, look at performances. Positives are he’s developing some players and that’s great, for me he’s better suited to 21s.

His game management is poor, he’s teams for too often get lost in games even against really poor teams at home.

This time next year it will be clear as day. He’ll have brought some good players together but we need a better coach to bring is to a next level

~Rebel~

Interesting that the lads in the studio are talking about picking between Coleman or Doherty, and not mentioning Browne at all, when he perhaps looks the best of the 3 options.

McFly85

Enjoyed that. We played very well for the most part, were lively up until the end. Johnston looks a handful and Smallbone played very well. Just annoying to concede another couple of low% shots!

France will likely beat us(I mean, it’s France) but they’re missing a couple of defenders themselves so we might be able to cause some problems. Really looking forward to it.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389614#Comment_120389614

Upgrade on Doherty. Playing week in week out in PL. Big game temperament. Will need cover from back 3 obviously for age etc

TheRiverman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389691#Comment_120389691

He is completely ineffective everytime he is brought on.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389658#Comment_120389658

To get him his 100 caps.

Then he should be ditched.

And I say that as a Derry man.

breezy1985

Talking to Ferguson here like he is some child who isn't already playing in matches with Champions League and World Cup winners 😡

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389724#Comment_120389724

The post you mentioned Coleman in was this; "I have a feeling that back 5 right now might be the 5 that starts on Monday".

Doherty wasn't the RWB at that time, Browne was, so the conversation was Browne or Coleman... i'd much prefer Browne at this stage tbh, as great an attitude as Coleman has, he's just a terrible physical match up against Mbappe. All Coleman's weaknesses are exactly what a fast physical player like Mbappe would love to be up against.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389745#Comment_120389745

TOD is a nice man but he's a terrible interviewer given how long he's been doing the job.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389747#Comment_120389747

True, but I can't see Browne leapfrogging Doherty and Coleman at rwb

TheRiverman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389740#Comment_120389740

He should have been ditched long ago.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389720#Comment_120389720

Yeah not ideal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389745#Comment_120389745

I mean hes 18 he is a child regardless of where hes playing

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389782#Comment_120389782

Is 18 not an adult ?

My point was though he is being asked about how exciting the prospect of playing against all these players is as if he is some lad called up from Treaty United.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389798#Comment_120389798

Legally 18 is adult alright, though i'm not sure i've ever met an 18 year old who was even remotely anything you might describe as an adult 😅

I didn't think his interview was too bad to be honest... it was mostly in the context of this whole incredible year for him, rather than this experience right now, which I think is fair enough. It really has been an unbelievable year for the kid.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389724#Comment_120389724

None of that matters against one of the best and quickest players in world football, you need legs to stand some chance against him. Browne is the best option after watching 60mins of Doherty tonight.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389823#Comment_120389823

Personally, I think Browne would be eaten alive by Mbappe

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389836#Comment_120389836

I mean, they all would, but it's about picking the least worst option. Unfortunately these days watching Coleman up against fast strong players is like watching a car wreck.

Med101007

Anyone know if the FAI will be releasing any more tickets for the France game? Surely any remaining tickets from the Latvia & France bundle package will be released as single tickets.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389775#Comment_120389775

When I saw this line I immediately thought of James McClean.

kksaints

Second half performance was a bit scratchy at times but we did enough for the win. Would be worried about our wingbacks for the French game Doherty didn't look bothered defending today and Coleman as good as he has been is lacking in pace now. I can see why people would go for Browne but he's not a right back and he'd get annihilated by Mbappe. Left wing back is no better from a defensive point of view, O'Dowda was good in attack and deserved his goal but he left acres of space behind him and we won't get away with that against France. McClean's cameo wasn't promising, the Latvian winger outpaced him with considerable else to get the last corner I think. He's been a loyal servant but his time is surely coming to an end soon.

On the positive side I liked what I saw from Ferguson and Obafemi in attack, good movement, some decent hold up play which will improve and neither afraid to take on the shot. Smallbone was excellent in the 1st half and while not as effective in the 2nd half still made some excellent runs forward behind the backline into space and hit some good crosses into the box. He can also play deeper alongside the holding midfielder which is another plus. Johnson had a great cameo, excellent direct dribbling at the defenders. Him and Ogbene's pace are very useful impact subs, don't think either should start a match.

Ferris_Bueller

Overall a night with more positives than negatives. A first start and goal for Ferguson, a very impressive performance from Smallbone, O'Dowda did alright in the first half, Johnston looked dangerous when he came on. I think the lads who came in tonight can be happy enough and have put their hand up. Molumby had a really good game too I thought.

We should've won by more and of course a concern conceding a two goal lead. I'd love to know what the story is with the amount of long range goals we concede.. Almost 50% of the goals we've conceded in the past 2 years have been from outside the box (9 of 21 I think I read). Is that something tactical or just bad luck?

It will be a different game on Monday and still wouldn't say I'm optimistic but I think the team we will play has become clearer. Smallbone has really given Kenny something to think about. Throw Cullen into midfield instead of Browne and that's a solid midfield. Rwb is a bit of a conundrum now, was our strongest position on paper not long ago but now Doherty appears a weakness, Coleman too slow and Browne all of a sudden seems like the safest bet. Still reckon Doherty will start there but Mbappe is going to have a field day against whoever we have in there.

dubmick

Ireland match programmes increased from €5 to €7. Just the 40% increase then. Ffs

pjohnson

Theres a reason Doherty has generally struggled for game time since he left Wolves.

He flatters to decieve and is often targeted as the weak link defensively. He is a discount Trent Alexander Arnold, a defender that has no interest in actually defending. Should be between Browne/Coleman for RWB.

~Rebel~

Thinking about the 'Mbappe Problem', the other outside-the-box option we haven't really talked about is playing Omobamidele at RWB as a once off sort of thing to stick close to him. Strong, and the fastest defender we have, he might at least be able to give Mbappe a bit of a battle and a bit of frustration.

The Guru 123

Coleman should play RWB. He’s still playing every week in the premiership and playing well since Dyche came in. He’s our leader and is the best defender we have in that position. No one will have the pace to live with Mbappe but Coleman is the most likely to have the smarts and defensive ability to handle him. Also given our shape he’ll also have the RCB and one of the centre mids to help him out and they’ll need to. Not like it’ll be Mbappe and Coleman isolated in 40 yards of green grass.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390290#Comment_120390290

This is my opinion on it too. Coleman had a great game up against Zaha earlier in the season. Clearly Zaha is nowhere near the level of Mbappe, but he's a very skillful,quick, powerful, winger, and Coleman had him in his pocket all day by just using his defensive intelligence - something that neither Browne or Doherty can compare with him on.

McFly85

Looking back at all of the goals, there’s a couple that the goalkeeper could have been stronger on, but it really feels harsh to criticise the defence. most of them were just unbelievably precise long range shots.

jones

You cant consistently keep attributing these long range worldies to players just having a pop. That can happen once or twice but nine times in 23 goals is a trend. There's clearly something in the makeup of our team (most likely a defensive midfield issue) that keeps allowing opposition players time at the edge of the box.

jacool

First time in the Aviva last night. Ireland owned the first 20 mins. The two big lads at the back let Ferguson know he was in a game, and the referee let them away with a few. They also put in 2 bad tackles on Browne and got only one yellow. Although the midfield did well up to 30 minutes you could sense Latvia getting more possession towards the end of the half. It was 75%-25% at HT, but there's was concerted and although Molumby was getting stuck in, you could see that they were missing Cullen. Their first goal was just one of those, didn't seem to be any danger, then bang. I don't know if a defender touched the second one before it went past Kelleher. If not, he should have been stronger with his hands.

Second half, they had one chance in injury time and Ireland held them at bay. Doherty did a lot of directing other players, but was in oceans of space all the time, and never demanded the ball. The much maligned, and probably past it now, McClean, had his hand up at every opportunity to get on the ball and at least try and get forward.

I'll just focus on the positives for now, as Monday clearly will be a different game:

Seeing Ferguson debut and score. Seeing Mikey Johnson work two great chances - was gutted that he didn't score. He'll be a great option off the bench. Smallbone's work down the right in the first half. Really clever play with Doherty and created lots of overlaps in the first half hour. Egan coming on and bossing the back line. Collins did it, earlier, but to a lesser extent. You could just see Egan making the back line do what he told them. COYBIG

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390630#Comment_120390630

Yep as much as he used to upset people we are missing Glen Whelan and never replaced him.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390630#Comment_120390630

It is a trend but it could be a trend caused by a statistical anomaly rather than anything else.

to draw a comparison…. between Robbie Brady and Josh Cullen, Ireland produced a very under average number of players compared to normal. Between Josh Cullen and Evan Ferguson (about 4 years), Ireland has probably produced the highest number of senior players in their history.

moral of the story: there is not really one other than sometimes numbers are way above average and some times numbers are way below.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390588#Comment_120390588

Long range shots are much more likely to have precision if the player gets loads of time and space.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390687#Comment_120390687

Very under rated by lots of fans. I always had great respect for him

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390747#Comment_120390747

Producing more or less players is not some act of god. It comes through a lot of hard work and a good plan which is exactly why in the time between Brady and Cullen we became a laughing stock and "minnows" who put the work in got better than us.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390816#Comment_120390816

it is an act of god to a large extent. Ireland could have produce loads of “good” standard footballers between Cullen and Brady but the chances of producing top level elite footballers comes down to luck to a large extent.

do you think we happened to produce Robbie keane, Damien Duff and Richard Dunne (three all time Irish players) within a year of each other came down to the FAI and the national coaches really pulled their socks up during that period and then slowly let standards slip thereafter?

we should strive to have the better academies and coaching as much as we can but ultimately luck plays a huge part in the level of player we produce.

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390794#Comment_120390794

But watching the goals they don’t really. They’re not spending seconds lining up the shot like it’s a free kick without a wall - they have a pop and it ends up being an excellent one. Even the Azerbaijani goal in Dublin, the lads maybe have him slightly too much space but even still they were doing their job and keeping him at distance, and the shot was an amazing one.

For anyone who thinks we’re conceding these due to a systemic issue, what’s the issue then? In the 9 goals, what should players have been doing differently?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390847#Comment_120390847

Some people really did put a lot of good work into the Keane/Duff team. The likes of Brian Kerr and his team were massively influential in upping the standards at underage.

Different sport but take Limerick hurling as an example. We thought golden generations were an act of god and won nothing. Won 5 All Irelands within 10 years of setting up the academy.

France becoming a major footballing power was no fluke. England coming good was no fluke.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390890#Comment_120390890

France’s success is owed in very large part to inward migration. Englands to an extent as well. Irelands recent success in producing of players is also greatly enhanced by inward migration

clairefountain and St. George’s park are great at honing talent but if you think academies should take the lions share of the credit for those countries’ producing talent, I don’t believe that. Plus these countries have massive football economies while irelands football economy is piss poor so I think it’s an awkward comparison.

if Dunne, Duff and keane’s is owed to mainly to the hard work of coaches then did those coaches just die off?

take the point on limerick hurling, we should strive to have the best we can in facilities for youth development, they help majorly but “God” (not Paul McGrath) still plays the biggest part to me

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390953#Comment_120390953

Inward migration means fek all if nobody is scouting and training them. They don't build the likes of Clairfontaine and St. George's Park for the laugh. We didn't build Sport Ireland Campus for the laugh.

As for piss poor football economies the "minnows" are also way ahead of us with complex plans which is why they look better than us now.

We saw what happened to Kerr and his team and it was a big mistake not to keep them just because they failed at senior level. They done what they did fighting the FAI all the way.

We done fek all at underage since because the FAI thought like you do and thats why we are where we are.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390847#Comment_120390847

We wouldn't have much of a men's team if God gave us all girls for a few decades, I suppose.

Ah no, luck does come into it in terms of getting rare talents imo, but the more we improve academies/underage structures etc, the luckier we'll get.

There have been a few interesting documentaries on the topic, Iceland and Germany. It has been a few years since I watched both but the bottom line was that it's really a numbers game. Get more kids into academies, where they get a high level of coaching, and the results will filter through.

The German one was interesting if I remember correctly. While the system was all a numbers game, it did hint that they had lost focus on elite player development and some real talent was being missed. Or maybe it was that the system was producing a certain type of player and the more creative types weren't being discovered.

That is one potential failing I see from my fairly limited experience of academies / coaches. It's all very structured and samey sometimes.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391028#Comment_120391028

if Troy Parrott or Aaron Connolly were English they would be classed the same as Rhian Brewster at this stage, promising talents that weren’t senior international standard so would be wrote off. Ireland hasn’t got that luxury so it’s not hugely beneficial to compare our system to theirs. As I said and now you are also saying.

off topic- since brexit makes it hard for Irish kids to go to Britain never mind kids from other parts of the world I’m wondering if those category 1 academies are going to become massive white elephants

crossman47

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389372#Comment_120389372

I don't think he was poor. he had no chance for the first one but I do worry that he appears too relaxed. He never seems to be on his toes anticipating a shot from anywhere.

jack747

Do we think there will be a drop of unsold tickets for the game on Monday? I wonder how they will price them.

Brock Turnpike

Would have serious questions about the football knowledge of anyone who thinks the long range goals are luck/act of god/unfortunate.

It's clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391039#Comment_120391039

Ya the German system is now being accused of producing too many similar types of players.

Did you smash it

A good start to youth development would be not to send out our teams at underage games onto pitches that are visibly overgrown. See under 19 qualifier yesterday

sometimes it would make you despair. Hopefully the ball was fully pumped and the nets didn’t have holes in them.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391329#Comment_120391329

Thats a problem in a fair few countries.

Everyone wanted to replicate Barca/Spains tiki-taka false 9 style and that was the ONLY way to play.

Now there is a major shortage of actual strikers coming through in recent years in a good few countries.