Totally disagree with the view that they play a ling ball game like us.
There is quite a bit more to it from them. At least last night
They take their time and carefully place their long balls. That’s the difference
2 Likes
They mix it up. Diagonal, iver the top, players making it to support.
Ireland had none of that
Playing against Denmark is like trying to open a bottle of wine without a bottle opener at 5 in the morning … eventually, we will push the cork in and drink the bollox out of it.
1 Like
I think O’Neill’s biggest failure is his lack of continuity in the side and the football we play. While we have a squad with a bit of depth full of honest pros and he gets an honest effort from them every time which is commendable but I think we could be a far more effective side at times .
The likes of Brady and Hendrick were excellent at the Euros and they two of them should have been given roles to get consistent performances out of them in this campaign. Instead they have played numerous different roles and positions and we really struggle to get consistent performances from them.
I have no issue with us playing deep and being tough to break down and using long balls. It can be a very effective tactic but we are fairly mediocre at it and really struggle to counter at pace or support Murphy with any real regularity, he is a fairly decent target man with a decent ability to get flick ons and bring lads into play but more often than not it is in vein.
1 Like
Up yer game son
Murphy has an annoying habit of heading the ball on to nobody rather than trying to head it back to someone in the midfield, although support is obviously an issue there too
In fairness most of the balls played to him are 60 yards straight skied balls. Its not easy to head it back to a midfielder unless it is drilled in on top of you or a diagonal ball so you can attack it at an angle and it can be cushioned back off the forehead. Hard to get your forehead on a skied ball with a centre back battling with you.
I’d agree with that for the most part.
I’m all for being hard to break down and defending deep, and a lot of work goes into things on the defensive side of things, I’m sure. I know that at international level, you don’t have a huge amount of time to work with the players. But we do make things difficult for ourselves at times- stuff like all 11 players in our own box when defending corners is something that puts unnecessary pressure on yourself if you do get it clear; the lack of support to the frontmen, even on the break.
If you went back and watched what Hendrick did last night, he looked to me like someone who didn’t 100% know what he was supposed to be doing. He was just a body, but wasn’t really contributing either defensively or on the ball. This is something that happened with Arter the last day too.
I do think Denmark are limited though, and we fought hard. We dealt with the diagonal towards the full-back very well. If you keep a track on Eriksen’s movements and don’t sit too deep, I reckon we can handle them. Their full-backs in particular are there to be got at.
Martin O’Neill is a very rude, discourteous and unpleasant man. The Eire players seem to be a great group of lads.
1 Like
Is that Dolberg lad injured or just overlooked for the games against us.
Denmark have a depth of talent that is in another league to us, does anyone think we could afford to leave players like Christensen out of the starting side and the likes of Dolberg and Hjoberg out of the squad? They have players who are getting regular football in the La Liga and the Bundesliga who aren’t making the cut for the squad, Ireland are primarily backed by Championship players and EPL reserves.
The three Burnley lads, Arter and Duffy are the only players we have who seem to be getting regular top flight football. Not one single player in the squad is playing European football this season and not one only Long would have played some last season.
Absolutely correct.
Only 10 or 12 countries take soccer seriously and Eire ranked 30 or whatever are not one of them.
What’s this ‘us’ talk? Didn’t think you had anything to do with Eire. You’ve always led us to believe you were from Italy.
The 4 most populous countries in the world don’t take soccer seriously .
2 Likes
Sorry mate, Italy come first but I have a soft spot for the 32 county select.
I always knew you were a closet rugby fan
4 Likes
What’s the most populous?
I’m talking about association football, mate.
What?
That’s a serious clamping.
2 Likes