Good shout. Bournemouth have offered him a years contract i think. Would fit the style we play perfectly. Hopefully he gets fit.
Baz
Andrew O
Collins
Egan
Doc
Knight
Cullen
Molumby
McClean/Stevens
Obafemi
Parrott
We are severely lacking a longterm LB.
Ireland could have an serious team in a few years. Donāt forget young Heffernan at AC Milan
Zefi is the great hope
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Bazunu
Collins Duffy Egan
Ogbene Cullen Molumby Doherty
Knight
MO Idah
Lads we need to move away from Duffy, has been a fantastic servant but we canāt play decent ball on the deck with him back there.
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At least Idah will be an option in September. Was showing signs of form pre injury. If Obafemi is out Idah is a good replacement.
Bazunu
Omo - Collins - Egan
Doherty - Molumby - Cullen - Knight - Brady (if he could get fit and into some sort of form)
Oba - Parrott
Yep, thatās what iād go with as well. Nice balance to it. Iād have Stevens ahead of McClean at this stage. But weāre badly lacking a decent option at LB.
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Republic of Ireland (5-3-2)
Gk: Gav Baz
RB: Coleman (C)
CB: Collins
CB: Duffy
CB: Egan
LB: Doherty
CM: Knight
CM: Cullen
CM: Browne
ST: Obafemi
ST: Parrott
Caveat that Iād potentially bring in Stevens at LB, put Coleman in CB and then have Doherty at RB. Obamidele and Ogbene unfortunate to miss out. Not overly happy with that midfield. Weāre weakest in the engine room and maybe need to bypass it like Liverpool did circa 2018. Makes it such a pity that we didnāt tie down Grealish and Rice when we had the chance. A shotgun wedding would have suited us there.
Bookmark this. Obamidele will be a holding midfielder and a first class one at that
Ya, you could be right there.
Smallbone for Molumby and id agree.
Where do we envisage Nathan Collins next season? West Ham could do with another centre-back I reckon. He could replace that Dawson fella long-term.
Collins in the middle of the three was class tonight. I reckon he should be given the chance to nail down that role. I donāt think Brady has the engine to get up and down the flank as a wing back after all the football heās missed. Stevens at home to Ukraine was one of the worst individual Ireland displays of all time. McClean is an honest but limited trier. I think Iād switch Doherty across too. Throw Festy in as the right wing back for a shot and I like what Iāve seen of Omobamidele. Aside from left wing back, I think weāre struggling for central midfield options. Iād have Cullen as the #6 and Knight as the attacking one. One last spot for someone to nail down. I think Iād have Browne ahead of Molumby and the other lads at the moment.
Bazunu;
Omobamidele, Collins, Egan;
Festy, Cullen, Knight, Browne; Doherty;
Obafemi, Parrott.
Burnley is fine. Heās just gone 21, very young for a CB. Once heās playing regular football is the main thing. They could easily bounce back and Vinny could be a good manager for him
Forgot Browne actually. A better midfield option than Molumby whoās limited enough. Youāve had a tough conversation with Seamey. How did he react? I presume no Gazza 1998 style theatrics from such a consummate professional and alright sort like the Donegal man. Whoās your captain?
Collins. Heās world class.
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Thereās an old saying about a midfield three that you need one to get it, one to give it and one to go.
Our midfield three satisfies that. Molumby gets it, Cullen gives it and Knight goes.
But I have doubts about the quality of the first two being enough if we want to have a shot at qualification down the line. Cullen is now a mainstay but heās only adequate. But at 26, heās also one of the very few players we have who are in the prime of their career.
Our squad is nearly all either young lads or veterans with very little in between.
You could divide the younger players in this squad into probables (Bazunu, Kelleher, Collins, Omobamidele, Knight and Obafemi) and possibles (Molumby, Parrott, Idah, Ogbene, Connolly, Festy). Itās the latter group who will decide whether we can mount a qualification challenge.
Festy is hitting Andy Reid territory here. Hasnāt kicked a competitive ball yet and is a nailed on starter in many lads teams. Heās good lads, but give him time
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