Win and go through. Simple as that.
Walters to miss out. Any other changes?
Walters definitely out?
Walters is a big loss if he is out, he normally sets a tone for us and a lot of our positive play comes from his energy and directness shuttling down the right and unsettling defenders. We don’t really have a replacement either without changing the shape/balance of the side.
I’d nearly think we would be as well off to push Brady further forward and bring Ward in at left back.
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Not confirmed, but from his post game interview it would appear he’s in a lot of trouble still with the achilles injury.
I wouldn’t normally encourage this, but this could make his career and be a huge thing for Ireland. Drug him up to the last(legally), strap him and get him out there. Think we have a nice balance, the lads seem confident and at ease with each other. Thats huge in any tournament. No.1 thing in any team in my opinion. Italy are gifted at harnessing that. I expect us and Italy to come out of group.
Team played v well tonight overall bar the 25 mins after we scored, which is an awful habit which we just can’t seem to shake off.
If fit I reckon we should go with the same 11 again. Walters is obviously a massive doubt, if he doesn’t make it the obvious choice is McClean.
He’s end product needs to vastly improve though. Gives his all and is a great lad but tends to overrrun it in every game and his first touch can be v frustrating. Clark is a game lad but he nearly got 2 OG’s tonight and his positioning for Zlatans cross was terrible. Think Brady nailed it on the head in his analysis saying he doesn’t think enough on the park. IMO he’s still a better option then Duffy at this level though.
For Belgium Coleman needs to be braver, other then the fantastic assist it looked to me like the occasion got to him he had a poor enough game. He looked very nervous on a couple of occasions judging the flight of the ball which is a concern if De Bruyne and Hazard find form and ping in a few crosses.
We have nothing to fear if we are brave and try to play on Saturday, the Belgians are there for the taking.
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I suspect today was the game in which they already did that. Maybe he has another group stage game in him, but you’d be very worried about his effectiveness. While he put himself about today, he was a long way off his usual self. Its a huge shame for him and a potential massive blow for us. I’d agree with @Big_Dan_Campbell about pushing Brady forward, but we still need someone to hold up ball. When Walters went off we had nothing, when Wes went off we were left with no option really other than to go long, but we had no one to go long to. Its a tricky one.
I think that Belgian result is bad news for us. They will be smarting and I think a few lads who were picked on reputation may well be dropped for Saturday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go with a bit more guile and the likes of Lukaku and Felliani will be left out.
A point would be a massive result IMHO
I’m not convinced on this. There will need to be a reaction, but again, they are flaky, and rudderless on and off the field. People on here mock him, but you cannot underestimate the influence Kompany has on that team Add in the criticism Wilmots has been getting for some time now, and if we perform as we did in the first half today, we can really get at them.
I expected Italy to win and I think its a good result for us. We’ll see Saturday. A lot will come down to how our players came out of todays game physically.
I know you’ve probably had a few mate, but fuck me that’s a long post saying nothing, other than the shocking grammatical error.
They are flat track bullies and will have little or no fear of us. This is the type of game Hazard and De Bruyne will perform in before disappearing again in the knock out stages.
Italy thoroughly outplayed them tonight and they looked a poorly set up/organised side yet they create a number of decent chances.
Clark nearly scored 3 own goals
Yous forgot one thing lads, I’ll be there for the Belgium game with my shoes off…yurt.
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I don’t think they are set up to be successful as a group in tournaments. They may just outclass us by sheer weight of talent (something Italy can get closer to) but i would fancy us to rattle the shit out of them.
And any team Kompany has been with and then lost him have always been significantly affected. He is a massive loss.
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He was shadowing one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. He was immense.
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We need to go at these bastards… I agree that we need to push Brady on and let him link up with Wes…who starts in place of Walters? They need to put themselves about big time…it was too easy for Sweden at times today and we can’t let these dirty bastards have it so easy.
If Belgium and Italy had drawn it would have been a worse result for Ireland, as the group would have stayed the same. Belgium didn’t look to be worth a can of piss and are very beatable.
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I’d push Brady up into midfield if we had a half decent other option at left full.
I’ve zero faith in Ward.
We need to put it right up em, pal.
If Italy beat Sweden you would expect them to rest players for our game so I think them winning was very good for us. In general don’t know why the mood in the media and among fans is so good after that result. I think that’s a poor result given how much better we were than them and now we will find it difficult to qualify