Ireland v Switz (scores, everything)

redspider

Need to start the thread now to discuss team selections, etc.

I think Kerr is likely to make changes. Talk from the camp that Kilbane has a dead leg. That could be a bit of a ruse so that he can drop him and state that he has a bit of a knock. Midfield would seem to be the area with the biggest problems that need fixing, but not only.

Is O'Brien available? He would do a better job than Dunne imo. There is a problem at LB after O'Shea had a nightmare. Kerr could risk it as a once-off and give him another chance. Harte would seem to be the only other option available and he is not likely to have the legs for the whole match, so a problem for Brian.

Midfield, where to start. Holland after his display now deserves a start. Kilbane deserves to be dropped. With Duff looking like he is out, Kilbane could be given a berth there. S Reid on the right. Finnan could be given the RB berth, may just be able to provide some better crosses than Carr and link up better with S Reid. Could go with Kavanagh again, as with Holland beside him he may do better.

Up front, Elliot definitely deserves a run, at least 30 mins. Could start with him and bring on Morrison or the other way around.

That leaves a team something like:

---

Given

---

Finnan - Cunningham - O'Brien - O'Shea/Harte
S Reid - Kavanagh - Holland - Kilbane
---- Morrison/Elliot - Robbie K --


If we had better players, I would put S Reid in the centre of the park, drop Kavanagh, Kilbane, and O'Shea.


Another open open to Kerr is to play Hart at RB, put S Reid in the centre of midfield, and put O'Shea as right midfield. He could do a role there. The only catch is that Harte could then be a weak link ....

choices, choices (or lack thereof).

redspider

Big Nelly

Kavanagh playing? did you watch the game on Sat? everytime the ball went near him he lost it!! get him out of the team and out of the squad.....terrible player....cant pass, cant tackle, cant do much to be honest!!! O'Brian hasnt been playing for his club so is no where near fitness....>Dunne is a class defender and was only shown up on Sat because of the useless Midfield in front of him......Kilbane might be out of the game anyway so not sure who to start in middle....bring in one of the Reid's into centre and then put someone on right side! maybe Finnan again!!! anyway Moriison and Keane up front......bring on Eliott at half time

Only problem now is who to play in goals.....thats the big selection problem in my view.....anyone have any thoughts?????

Pigman II

I definetly agree that Holland played his way back into the team and Kilbane should be put out wide to replace Duff. I'm not sure about Steven Reid tho. I'd probably play safe with Finnan consider how weak and porous that MF looks

Dunne should definetly be dropped in favour of O'Brien. The Cunningham-O'Brien partnership has usually looked good imho and Dunne for all his heroic sliding tackles is a liability and wouldn't ever start again for us if I had something to say about it. As much as I think Harte would offer us more goal opportunities I think he's a liability in a game like this so O'Shea should keep LB (even tho I'm no fan of him). He's basically the lesser of two evils.

Up front I'd nearly be tempted to drop Robbie in favour of Morrison-Elliott but then Robbie always has the potential to pull something out for the big game (even if hasn't done it in 3.5 years!) so I guess he should start. Either way tho I think Elliott should start

Pigman II

BTW is Andy Reid available? If so I'd stick him in there instead of Kavanagh who just embarrased himself on Saturday.

Vokes

Kerr will almost certainly pick:

Given

           Carr        Dunne       Cunningham      O'Shea

   Finnan/S. Reid     Holland         Kilbane        A. Reid

                      Morrison        Keane

Kavanagh will fill in for Kilbane if he doesnt make it.

I would much rather have Finnan at RB at Elliot up front

whiskeyman

SofaKing wrote:

Kerr will almost certainly pick:

Given

           Carr        Dunne       Cunningham      O'Shea

   Finnan/S. Reid     Holland         Kilbane        A. Reid

                      Morrison        Keane

Kavanagh will fill in for Kilbane if he doesnt make it.

I would much rather have Finnan at RB at Elliot up front

Would Andy Reid play out the right wing instead, have Kilbane left wing and Holland & Kav midfield.
Not much point saying "look at the last game" - if thats the case, I'd only be picking Given (and maybe Elliott) from that team!
I think Kilbane is much more suited to the wing - he needs the challenge to take on players down the flank and use his speed and strength.
Morrison and Keane should start, but we're in a good situation to have both Elliott and Connolly on the bench.

Perhaps this could be the Irish game we've all been waiting for - one akin to Ireland Vs Holland 2001....
I also fancy a flutter at an upbeat Cyprus holding the French to a draw

joker77

If it was up to me:

---

Given

Finnan---Dunne---Cunningham---Harte

A. Reid----O'Shea----Kavanagh

---

Kilbane

---

Keane

---

Elliot


Possibly Holland in the midfield
Carr dropped - prefer Finnan there - his best position

Harte for the dead-ball, know he's suspect sometimes at left full, but he's still well capably of popping one in, and we didn't exactly have a load of chances on Saturday night from open play........

Big Nelly

If people are going to pick Kavanagh can you please explain or was it just me that seen how brutal he was on Sat?????

whiskeyman

Big Nelly wrote:

If people are going to pick Kavanagh can you please explain or was it just me that seen how brutal he was on Sat?????

yeah, he was, but the whole team were too!
If we are going on that mentality I'd only pick Given and Elliott.
Everyone else was brutal for that game
We just have to hope (and a big hope at that) that that wont be repeated.

By the way, this is the Irish team. We dont just drop players if they have a bad game. It's the old "ah sure, have another go... I'm sure you'll do a whole lot better next time"

RedorDead

Has to be :

---

Given

---

Carr

---

Dunne--Cunningham--Harte
S Reid---OShea---Holland---- A Reid

---

Keane---Elliot

---

Harte to start because of his setpiece threat. Kavanagh and kilbane played themselves out of the team wednesday.

Stephen Reid has done okay for blackburn this season.

Elliot did enough to play himself into the team ahead of morrison. R keane needs a big game with doyle and morrison waiting in the wings if he flunks it again.

gracehopper

This would be my selection:

---

Given

Finnan---O Brien---Cunningham---Harte

A. Reid----O'Shea----Holland

---

Kilbane

---

Keane

---

Elliot

-Dunne was suspect
-I'd move o shea out of left back his distribution is terrible from there, only other option at LB is harte
-Andy Reid back in, Think he could be the key
-Elliot to keep his place, at least he can score

Lemlin

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --

- Don't see how anyone could leave Steven Reid out after the game had Saturday when he came on.
- O'Shea has to go. Move him to midfield, are yas sane? Harte is at least a danger from set pieces.
- Morrison has scored goals in this tournament and deserves his place. Elliott could come on to run at the Swiss defence when they're tired.
- If Carr isn't fit, I'd move Finnan to RB, bring in Kilbane on the left and switch Andy Reid to the right.

yom 1

Ok I posted this in the Duff injury thread but to save myself writing it again i'll just copy it

yom 1 wrote:

JoS deserves to be deported for crimes against the state, such is the half arsed, lack lustre, totally inadequate preformances he has had in every single game he has ever played for Ireland. He is absolutely MUCK. How people are calling for him to play one of the most important positions on the pitch I dont know. :eek:

Ian Harte may be the slowest player around but he adds something to the Irish team that JoS will never - Set Pieces. Only Andy Reid can match his quality from set pieces. He can also deliver some superb crosses which I do not remember seeing one of on Saturday. O'Shea is a disaster waiting to happen and should not start.

Personally I think the midfield will be

Reid

---

Kavanagh

---

Holland

---

Kilbane

Whether this is good enough, we will only know after the game.
Fingers crossed it will be

Seriously how can so many people want John "disaster waiting to happen" O'Shea to start, not only that but they want him to start in the centre of the pitch. He couldn't even control the centre of a u11's game. He has been and still is the laziest person to ever play for Ireland and he has never put in a half decent preformance let alone a good one.

Roddy23

The lads:

---

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --


Nice team, can't see Kerr putting it out though.
I'd expect Kerr to name Kavanagh, why when I wouldn't even let him on the bus to the game after Saturday night's debacle.
If i was a bit picky tho, I'd have reid on the right and finnan on the left.
Leave O'Shea out, the chap is a libaility, and has always been. (even on his debut he managed to give away a penalty in a friendly, and he was only on for about 10mins).
As for upfront as much as it pains me to say Clinton deserves his chance, and if it were up to me it would be a very close call between Elliot and Keano.

Serbian

redspider wrote:

Given
Finnan - Cunningham - O'Brien - O'Shea/Harte
S Reid - Kavanagh - Holland - Kilbane
Morrison/Elliot - Robbie K

I don't know how you managed to leave Andy Reid out of that team? Maybe you forgot he was in the squad, but with Duff's absence, he is the only player who is likely to pose a threat going forward. I wouldn't play Kavanagh either as he was dreadful in Cyprus. I think I would play Kilbane / Holland in the centre with A Reid and S Reid either side, and hope that Holland can pull another crucial goal out of the bag for Ireland. It's probably worth pointing out that the 45 minutes he got against Cyprus on Saturday more than doubled the amount of football he has played this season, which is a worry.

Rollo Tamasi

the problem is that Kerr doesn't like altering his first 11 too often. Most of the teams that have been posted in this thread have about 5-6 changes. I can only see Kerr making changes to injured/unavailable players, but he should defo axe Kilbane.

gracehopper

yom 1 wrote:

Seriously how can so many people want John "disaster waiting to happen" O'Shea to start, not only that but they want him to start in the centre of the pitch. He couldn't even control the centre of a u11's game. He has been and still is the laziest person to ever play for Ireland and he has never put in a half decent preformance let alone a good one.

yeah your right actually, he is crap

gafarrell

Here's the team i would pick

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
S.Reid- O'Shea- Holland - A. Reid/Kilbane
---- Elliot - Robbie K ----

I think Kavanaghh had a terrible game on Sat and needs to be dropped.
We will need to win the game and possibly playing a 4-3-3 formation

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid/Lilbane
-Morrison-
---- Elliot- Robbie K

---

If all fails we could also throw on Gary Doherty as a target man for the last 15 mins

gracehopper

gafarrell wrote:

If all fails we could also throw on Gary Doherty as a target man for the last 15 mins

No please no!!!

I dont think Kavanagh or Doherty make the grade @ international level

Rollo Tamasi

gafarrell wrote:

If all fails we could also throw on Gary Doherty as a target man for the last 15 mins

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Chances are he won't make the bench with Morro coming back anyway, he was dropped from the bench for the cyprus game. Thank God

Whats the story with Alan Maybury, is he still playing for Leicster. He should be the squad as an option for JOS & Harte. If he was in the squad i'd play him against the Swiss. Are there any upcoming talents in the U21 squad in the left back position?

Kingp35

Ok well lads this is the biggest qualifying game we have played since the Holland game in 2001 and we are coming into after one of the worst performances I have ever seen from an Irish side. We were bloody awful from start to finish which the slightest of improvements in the second half after changes were made. The midfield was dreadful in the first half with kilbane and Kavanagh just not offereing any support to the back 4 and being unable to hold possesion of the ball and pass it around. O' Shea had an absolute mare of a game which tbh is pretty much the way at always happens with him. He has to be dropped to allow Harte come in and offer something different for us.

I seriously have my doubts about the people taht are not putting Any Reid in their side with some opting for Kilbane instead. Seriously do you know anything about the game of football? Reid is our one creative player who has the ability to play a defence splitting pass or whip in some brilliant crosses. he has to play and will play. there is absolutley no doubt about that at all. Kavanagh and Kilbane were awful and both would be dropped if it were up to me. S.Reid had a good game when he came on and he can offer more going foward than those two which is ultimately what we need considering we need to win the game. Holland also has to start in the centre. He changed the game when he came on and we looked a much better side.

I think Morrisson deserves to come back into teh side. He has scored some vital goals for us so far this campaign and he is the onlt striker we have who is capable of winning a header or holding up the ball. he has been in cracking form for Crystal palace scoring golas for fun and his confidence will be sky high. He is a must. Robbie Keane was terrible but he is still the player that can do something special so he should start. Elliott I feel could be very effective coming on in the second half when he is fresh and others are tired. he will be much more of a handfull then.

Finnan should start on the right wing. He is quite capable of playing as a winger and he would offer us cover in a defensive postion as well. He is alos a decent crosser of the ball and he should start. IF things are not working out we can always bring on Kilbane in teh second hald and switch A.Reid to the right and play Kilbane left. Kilbane will do more damage again when others are tired.

So here is the team I would play and I think would give us the greatest chance of winning. We have to win the game remember and the team should be an attacking one. I just pray to god we dont score too early and give Kerr the chance to f**k everything up like he has done too many times all ready.

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --

[Jackass]

This is the toughest selection I think I've ever seen put to a Irish manager considering all the circumstances surrounding the group, his job, the performances, the injuries and the result required. Some really big calls to be made.

I feel it's worth taking a risk, and really going for it in this match, play attacking and play positvely, this will inspire confidence....siege mentality, no conservatisim now, it's tried tested and failed. We need urgency.

So my team:

---

Given

---

----Finnan

---

O'Brien----Cunningham----Harte

----A. Reid----S.Reid----Holland

---

Kilbane---

---

Keane

---

Morrison

---

I would just about keep the Morrison/Keane partnership, becase they have done well together in the past, and I feel Elliot, the only other option, may just lack the expierience, and is a good impact sub to have in our options...a plan B....and if its not happening up front he will inject enthusiasim and determination.

In midfield, Kavanagh gets the chop. I would keep him as a possible sub around the 80 minute mark, when hopefully he can go on to kill the tempo a bit and retain possesion when we are 1 - 0 up. I also left out O'shea because I dont think he fits into this match, he can be a liability at the back and offers little going forward, a good utility sub though. That midfield I think has the best balance of solidness and creativity available to us. S. Reid would need a big game both holding and going forward, as would Holland, but I think they are the 2 most capable of doing it at the moment.

Kilbane on the left to add protection to Harte...in for his set piece ability...a possible match winner. Also O'Brien in for Dunne, as I think he has a more solid record for Ireland than Dunne, and the O'Brien/Cunningham partnership has worked well in the past...I have no idea why Dunne got into the team in the first place. Finnan at RB as he is more solid and reliable than Carr, and offers more going forward.

It's an attacking team, but with a solid core also. The best possible option imo. :cool:

whiskeyman

DubGuy wrote:

So my team:

---

Given

---

----Finnan

---

O'Brien----Cunningham----Harte

----A. Reid----S.Reid----Holland

---

Kilbane---

---

Keane

---

Morrison

---

It's an attacking team, but with a solid core also. The best possible option imo. :cool:

Yup - I also thinks thats probably the best team for the match and situation we're in.
Reid and Kilbane on the wings is essential.
It's very attack minded at will hopefully work for us to get at least a goal lead - Kav and O'Shea on the bench to come in should we need to defend the lead.

joker77

DubGuy wrote:

So my team:

---

Given

---

----Finnan

---

O'Brien----Cunningham----Harte

----A. Reid----S.Reid----Holland

---

Kilbane---

---

Keane

---

Morrison

---

Yea, I'd be happy if Kerr went with this. But I can't see him starting Stephen Reid and Matt Holland, unfortunately..... Think a team set up like this would really give us a good chance, Reid and Kilbane on the wings defo, but I think he might stick with Finnan, and put Reid somewhere else like the left

MrJoeSoap

Looks like Given is now a doubt:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=311462

Saw it on SkySportsNews too, he didn't look too pleased about it.

redspider

Serbian wrote:

I don't know how you managed to leave Andy Reid out of that team? Maybe you forgot he was in the squad, but with Duff's absence, he is the only player who is likely to pose a threat going forward. I wouldn't play Kavanagh either as he was dreadful in Cyprus. I think I would play Kilbane / Holland in the centre with A Reid and S Reid either side, and hope that Holland can pull another crucial goal out of the bag for Ireland. It's probably worth pointing out that the 45 minutes he got against Cyprus on Saturday more than doubled the amount of football he has played this season, which is a worry.

Yeah, I wasnt sure if Andy Reid was available or not so my selection was on the basis that he isnt. If he is available, as seems to be the case, great, and he will be in the starting 11, no doubt about that, but where? He is a left-sided player that is played out of position on the right. So the best choice for Ireland would be to play him on the left especially as Duff is out, as you point out. But its not so simple.

Kavanagh was bad against CY, but Kilbane was worse. There werent many people clamouring for Kavanagh not to be played before the match. I think there is a strong case for S.Reid in the centre along with Holland, but whether Kerr will drop both Kilbane and Kavanagh remains to be seen.

I would think that ideally the following players should be played and in these positions:

---

Given

---

Finnan - Cunningham - O'Brien - ?????
????? - S Reid - Holland - A Reid

---

Robbie K - Morrison ----


No matter what Brian does, he will have to make compromises for filling in the LB and the RM positions. Harte may give some free kick options, but defensively is what we need to cover and I dont trust Ian enough when we are under the cosh. He is ideal as a sub perhaps. O'Shea had a nightmare against CY, deserves to be dropped, but he might be ok this time. Footballers are like that, one day ok, one day not so. He had a much tricker player to mark for the match against CY, whereas Carr didnt, so we shouldnt go overboard on O'Shea, as CY did all their attacking on that side.

I think there is no point in playing Finnan as RM. He is not a midfielder. S Reid could do a job there but has shown in recent seasons that he is better in CM.
I dont think we can afford to put Kilbane in the centre of the park again. He has been weak in his last 3 internationals. Brian gave him the responsibility against CY but it just didnt work out. Kavanagh, if anyone, deserves another ran out, maybe at RM.

There are no easy choices for Kerr. Whatever he does will either be picked on as idiocy or genius, depending on what happens on the pitch, and historically, Ireland do not perform when they have to and are favourites to do so. There is a lot of pressure on, and no-one relishes the job that Kerr has. Its poised to go horribly wrong, or be ok on the night. No-one is confident.

Its hard to believe the game is just 2 days away. I think Fifa/Uefa should perhaps think about separating the games by couple of more days to allow for recovery.

redspider

stevenmu

Considering that his job practically rests on winning this game, I've a feeling he might go all out and risk something like

---

Given

---

----Finnan

---

O'Brien----Cunningham----Harte

---A. Reid--S.Reid---Holland---O'Shea--Elliot---

---

Keane

---

switching to

---

Given

---

---

O'Brien----Cunningham

---

---Finnan--S.Reid---Holland---O'Shea----Harte

---

A. Reid

---

Keane

---

Elliot

---

It'd give us a good solid attacking capability, with a strong defensive midfield when needed. To work it's need them to break with recent tradition and play as a team, moving forward and back together, but realistically whatever team and formation is picked that needs to happen for us to have any chance at all. The swiss are too organised and professional for us to get away with playing in as disorganised a fashion as we have in the last few games.

redspider

stevenmu wrote:

Considering that his job practically rests on winning this game, I've a feeling he might go all out and risk something like (4-5-1) switching to (4-3-3)(2-5-3). It'd give us a good solid attacking capability, with a strong defensive midfield when needed. The swiss are too organised and professional for us to get away with playing in as disorganised a fashion as we have in the last few games.

No, now is not the time to experiment with formations and playing players out of position. In the 4-5-1 you have Elliot playing as Left Midfielder/Winger. This wont happen. The 2-5-3 option just wont happen.

I think the anti-thesis to your hypothesis is more likely. ie: because Kerr's job rests on this game he is LESS likely to go all out and risk.

A few weeks ago I suggested that Breen, Doherty and Miller should not be in the squad. With the clash between Doherty and Given in training, is there anyone in Ireland that still wants to see him remain in the squad. (Alas, there is, Brian Kerr.)

redspider

jacool

Alan Maybury was good at Leeds and Hearts, but didn’t feature recently for Leicester, but he is talented. It looks as though Brian Kerr will have to go back to an ex-Leeds player though at left-back as John O’Shea has proven brutal at this level. I don’t understand why though, he had potential. I await the newspaper scribes telling us that BK eroded his confidence ! If Andy Reid is as good as people here seem to think, I don’t, then this Wednesday is the time for him to shut me up completely. I prefer Steven, who knows how to tackle and graft, not look overweight ! Someone up there cast their mind back 4 year’s to the Dutch game, and that really is what we need now. I hope that the Swiss only needing a draw plays into our hands too. I would play Elliott from the start as he scored on Saturday, and being dropped would not be good for his confidence. Everyone would understand why he was selected and we would still have the lion-hearted Morrison to launch from the bench if needed. The Swiss lack Hakin Yakin, which can only be good, but have Senderos at the back, who everyone is saying is quality, and getting better. Dunno if Robbie has come up against him before. If we score early, I can see it being like last Saturday, with the opposition playing the football. Further down the line, the play-offs look hairy with Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark/Turkey, Norway, Slovakia/Russia and Sweden. I would only fancy Norway from that lot really !
If I was a gambler though (and I am) I’d run into Boyles now and back the Swiss at 7/10 with a goal start. That way if they win or draw, you win money (to drown your sorrows). If Ireland win, then you just go out and celebrate like you should !!

joker77

Looks like the injury too Given is not that serious and he will start on Wednesday

eirebhoy

Big Nelly wrote:

Kavanagh playing? did you watch the game on Sat? everytime the ball went near him he lost it!! get him out of the team and out of the squad.....terrible player....cant pass, cant tackle, cant do much to be honest!!!

Very good player imo. Poor game on Saturday but tbh, I've never seen Cunninham so poor either.

Necronomicon

redspider wrote:

Yeah, I wasnt sure if Andy Reid was available or not so my selection was on the basis that he isnt. If he is available, as seems to be the case, great, and he will be in the starting 11, no doubt about that, but where? He is a left-sided player that is played out of position on the right.

It could be argued that he's played out of position to a degree on the left as well. He did his best work with Forest in the centre, couldn't see him starting there for Ireland though. My preferred central partnership would be Holland and S.Reid. But I think it could be something like this:

S.Reid

---

Holland----Kilbane----A.Reid---

Really, after saturday's performance, nearly every place is up for grabs.

Jivin Turkey

Big Nelly wrote:

O'Brian hasnt been playing for his club so is no where near fitness....>Dunne is a class defender and was only shown up on Sat because of the useless Midfield in front of him

If by not playing for his club you mean he has started every game for his club this season, then yes O'Brien has not been playing for his club.

While I agree that Dunne is probably a better player than O'Brien, I don't know why Kerr upset the apple cart and put Dunne in ahead of him. O'Brien and Cunningham have been a vital cog for us in this campaign. On the other hand Dunne and Cunningham looked very shaky at the weekend, but also against Italy when they played together.

evilhomer

---

Given

---

----Finnan

---

O'Brien----Cunningham----Harte

----S.Reid----Holland

---

Kavanagh---A. Reid--

---

Keane

---

Morrison

---

I would have to go with this formation.

With Andy Reid in his best position he can supply crosses for Morrison.

With Elliott and Kilbane on the bench. Elliott will be a great impact sub in the second half.

Personally I think attack is our best form of defence at the minute, we sit too deep otherwise. We need to keep the swiss team occupied at the other end of the field. O'Brien has the pace at the back to deal with counter attacks.

Big Nelly "O'Brien hasn't played and has no match fitness!"
He has played every minute of every game for Portsmouth this season so is probably fitter then both Cunningham and Dunne.

stevenmu

redspider wrote:

No, now is not the time to experiment with formations and playing players out of position. In the 4-5-1 you have Elliot playing as Left Midfielder/Winger. This wont happen. The 2-5-3 option just wont happen.

I think the anti-thesis to your hypothesis is more likely. ie: because Kerr's job rests on this game he is LESS likely to go all out and risk.

I'd almost agree, but then again Kerr being conservative has put us in this tight spot, I don't see more of the same getting us out of it. I think the attitude the lads go out with is going to be much more important than the squad or formation, trying a risky attacking strategy might help achieve that.

AthAnRi

First thing first in an Ideal world Ireland would have sorfted out there centre back problems I think Kenny Cunningham is part of the problem. People seem to ignore his brutal performances in the last number of games. Constantly stands of his man and allows the ball to bounce in the box. He is our captain and should lead by example.

Obviously we cannot start experimenting now but Kerr should have seen this coming and started to Experiment with O'Shea and Dunne in the centre. O'Shea is simply not a left back or a centre midfielder. He is a centre half and that's it.

However it is too late for that now so I would go with, as suggested already

Given (GK)
Harte (LB For Free Kicks)
Dunne(CB)
Cunningham(CB)
Carr(CB)
A Reid(LM)
M. Holland(CM)
S. Reid(CM )
S. Finnan(RM)
R. Keane(CF)
C Morrison(CF)

Elliot to come on ASAP if either Keane or Morrison or Finnan or not up to it.

ButcherOfNog

i wish i could show some optimism for this game, but i can't. The team has no ideas with keane and duff out, and the manager has shown a complete lack of ideas since he took over. i hope it isn't but i think it'll be a 2 goal defeat.

lili

damn!
just do it!!

LegacyUser

In a way I would almost consider starting Morrison and Elliot up front. Keane seems to unmotivated at the moment, and maybe starting him on the bench would give him the kick up the ar*e he needs. Kerr could then think about bringing him on after 30mins if things were going nowhere.

redspider

AthAnRi wrote:

First thing first in an Ideal world Ireland would have sorfted out there centre back problems I think Kenny Cunningham is part of the problem. People seem to ignore his brutal performances in the last number of games. Constantly stands of his man and allows the ball to bounce in the box. He is our captain and should lead by example. Obviously we cannot start experimenting now but Kerr should have seen this coming and started to Experiment with O'Shea and Dunne in the centre. O'Shea is simply not a left back or a centre midfielder. He is a centre half and that's it.

Cunningham is not at the peak of his career anymore, thats true, he is getting very slow and has lost acceleration and top speed. His experience at reading the situation though is still very useful and makes up for it to some extent. I dont think he is a weak link though as Dunne has been shown to be weaker. Dunne being younger should be better.

As for O'Shea, CB was his preferred position but he has proven to be too inconsistent. He has some decent ball control and wants to play it on the deck at times, which in defensive areas can prove dangerous, and his ball control can alas let him down. Man U tried him as CB but he failed. His concentration and safety play just not good enough. As he has good enough ball skills, is tall and can head a bit, and is reasonably fast enough, he can be played almost anywhere on the pitch, but mainy as a "utility" player. He is not great in any single position. We all thought he could do a good job at LB in the CY game, but he was very much a weak link in the defence. He is useful to have on the pitch for his utility capabilities, but if we had word-class players in all positions, he sh/wouldnt get picked.

redspider

Lemlin

Originally posted by Lemlin

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --

Originally posted by Kingp35

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --

Great minds think alike! And hopefully Kerr will think the same.

redspider

bruachain wrote:

In a way I would almost consider starting Morrison and Elliot up front. Keane seems to unmotivated at the moment, and maybe starting him on the bench would give him the kick up the ar*e he needs. Kerr could then think about bringing him on after 30mins if things were going nowhere.

Whilst Robbie might be getting little playing time at Tottenham at the moment, he is still our best striker and the player most likely to convert a half-chance into a goal. Also in his short time on the pitch at Spurs he has scored some good goals with a lot of skill, so there is no doubt he has capability. He has to be a starter for me and I think Kerr will think likewise.

Fresh legs up-front is a useful tactic to deploy however, and I would use Elliot for that as the "impact sub", who after all has only played a couple of games for Ireland. I'd bring Elliot on for Morrison with 30 mins to go. Connolly should get 10 mins as his form for Wigan warrants that.

Thinking about bringing on a sub after only 30 mins for tactical reasons is not a sensible approach as subs need to be kept in reserve for knocks/injuries and re-shaping, etc. Managers rarely do this unless they are forced to, so it would be unusual to have it as a game plan.

redspider

Pigman II

Cunningham is a legend for us but it has to be said he has been responsible for a fair few of the goals we've conceded in this group. Now whether that's been down to his own shortcomings or he was just unfortunate to be trying to do the work of two men most games, I'm not sure but for the time being I'd still have him as my first choice centreback over anything else we've got atm.

As for O'Shea at CB in the future I hope it never happens. The only two strong memories of OShea I have at CB are both bad ones. First him conceding a penality on his debut with a handball against Croatia and then second him looking like Bambi on Ice for 90mins against Switzerland in 2003.

HashSlinging

come on ireland!!!

redspider

Lemlin wrote:

Great minds think alike! And hopefully Kerr will think the same.

Perhaps ... or fools seldom differ. ;-)

Looks like a copy and paste to me, as the dashes and full-stops are ALL exactly the same:

---

Given

---

Carr - Cunningham - Dunne - Harte
Finnan - S. Reid - Holland - A. Reid
---- Morrison - Robbie K --

What are the chances of that happening, even with two geniuses? I'm not questioning your bona fide's by the way. If someone agrees with the selection then they may as well copy and paste.

I think most of the selction is ok. I wouldnt be overjoyed with Harte, or playing Finnan at RM. I'd also like to see O'Brien in there for Dunne. Good to see that you found no room for Kilbane, I think that Kerr will have to leave him out ... he may have a niggly injury.

redspider

Kingp35

Yeah it was a copy and paste but thats because I agree with his selection and I gave my reasons why. The RM position and the centre back positions were the ones I was a little undecided on. I chose Finnan ahead of Reid on the right because I feel that Reid will be of greater benefit to us in the centre. For me that is where most of our problems were in Saturdays game and we need to strengthen there. Reid will do that for us. Its basically a toss up between Dunne and O' Brien with Dunne getting the nod because he is a better defender. i know it certainly didnt look that way on Saturday and there is slight questio marks about Dunne and Cunninghams ability to play together but I just feel that Dunne will come good when really needed.

Harte for me was an obvious selection. O' Shea was simply terrible on Saturday and he has been for a long time for us. He is a liability. I think HArte is a better defender if you take away his lack of pace. If we can somehow cover his lack of pace he will be of a much better benefit to the team than O' Shea because of his set pieces. We must win the game remember and need as much attacking options on that pitch as possible. I see our midfield seriously lacking in creativity so perhaps a set piece will be our best chance to nick one. Harte has to play because of this.

joker77

I'd defo drop O'Shea, for Harte, but I'd also drop Carr and put Finnan at right-full - he's a better defender and with Andy Reid back, I'd prefer an attacking player on the wing. I'd put Kilbane back out on the left, letting him put his head down and run at them, and in the middle have Stephen Reid and Matt Holland

county

just seen kerr`s record on sky,out of 35 games in charge only 4 defeats thats not a bad record,the game on sat was poor but a result is a result,what kerr and the team need now is the whole country to get behind them

Pigman II

The only record that matters is his competitive one (P 15 W 7 D 6 L 2.) and it's not good enough IMHO for a team that fancies itself as qualifying material. Even moreso than that tho he's now had 7 games against what you might deem 'quality' opposition and he hasn't managed to win a single one of them.

yom 1

county wrote:

what kerr and the team need now is the whole country to get behind them

Possibly the smartest thing that has been said in this thread so far

COME ONNN YOUUU BOYS IN GREEN!!!!!

eirebhoy

The Swiss defence seems pretty slow so hopefully Kerr will try to exploit this. I would have played 2 fast strikers for this reason but seeing how Drogba has been given Senderos such a tough time I'd have to put Morrison on him. Muller said he has problems playing against fast players and thinks Morrison will be easier to get to grips with.