I think Duffy is being a bit overblown at this stage and his reputation has grown by not starting.
That said Clark was gash the last day and should be dropped, but Duffy isn’t exactly World class himself.
1 Like
There’s no one on our team world class, pal…
Is Shane Duffy fast? I would have labelled him slow. I would guess Clark is our quickest centre back.
1 Like
Surely Keogh is the man the come in. He’s seem to be harshly dropped for Clarke. Duffy is 6 foot 4 and certainly not nimble.
He adds an option on set pieces though
I thought you’d given up on it?
I’m planning my trip to last 16 at the moment for some more japery. We will win
1 Like
Keogh isn’t quick either and he’s dreadful on the ball but he deserves to come in ahead of Duffy I agree. He’s done well for us.
I’ll see you there, pal. Bring a spare shoe for the shoes off sing a long
2 Likes
I just walk around with one shoe off all the time, always prepared
2 Likes
These are interesting and damning stats for McCarthy.
McCarthy hasn’t been a player that possession flows through and the two games so far don’t suggest any major change.
He completed just 15 passes against Belgium but perhaps the most interesting figure is the comparison on passes received — Glenn Whelan took 40 passes from Irish players against Belgium while McCarthy took just eight, again continuing the trend from Sweden where Whelan received 26 passes, Hendrick 27 and McCarthy seven.
Delve a little deeper, and Ireland’s most frequent passing combination against Belgium was Hendrick to Whelan (11), which exactly reversed the most frequent passing combo from Sweden, Whelan to Hendrick (11).
Surely that does not merit inclusion after 2 average to poor games. I hope i am wrong and proved so tonight and fellas will say i’m blowing on about S&C again, but i really wonder have Ireland conditioned their players for the game they were attempting to play, or did they just talk about it. As it seems they are not up to playing a pressing game at all.
The brain farts in the last 2 games seem to strongly indicate a lack of conditioning.
I also still see Sweden doing Belguim i think Belguims performance is extremely ovee rated from the last day and they got it easy rather than some kind of engineered brilliance.
1 Like
I think you’re over estimating Italy’s motivation for this game. I’d expect us to have more of the ball and them to just soak it up and counter
He’s a coward when we have the ball. Never shows for it. Trap had him sussed out years ago
Firstly, I think McCarthy should be dropped. It’s particularly disappointing after a strong end to the qualifying campaign when he finally looked to be pulling his weight at international level. The stats don’t help his case for either game but I think he was ok against Sweden. And he started ok against Belgium, he just fell apart.
I think a conditioning coach is always going to ascribe that to poor conditioning. In McCarthy’s case there’s probably little doubt that he’s not at peak fitness but that’s probably more due to the fact that he was injured rather than a collective poor preparation.
Latest word on the street is Bernardeschi will get the nod over Little Pharaoh.
Get in the fountain, for the boys in green
1 Like
Ya fair points, it is what i would look at. But we have a number of players fading badly.
I also accept numbers and stats can be misleading and he may be doing a job, but i have forgotten he was playing watching games too often. His sudden rush tackle would then make you realise he is there. If its him not looking for ball, or manageme t telling him not to i don’t know. Either way its no where near consistent enough for big games.
John O’ Shea, Coleman (although i am overall very disappointed with him generally) and Brady look to be some of the few in actual decent nick towards end of games.
I have a renewed interest and vigour Geoffrey, thanks for asking. We’re going to beat the shit out Italy, Slab is in the RA.
come on ye boys in green come on ye boys in green
1 Like