Yes
as @Big_Dan_Campbell pointed out - not using the nations league thing to develop players was crinimal … we’ve been calling out for an environment to test and develop players in other than English football…
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We have an awful habit of building up centre midfield players who aren’t in the team.
When Trap first took over people were clamoring for the team to be built around Darren Gibson as he was on the books of Man United at the time, once he played a few games for us the clamor soon stopped. Then we moved on to James McCarthy who Trap was very slow to cap, McCarthy has gone on to win close to 50 caps for us and has underwhelmed in the majority of them.
Then it was Keith Fahey who had a couple of decent cameos in friendlies and off the bench. Again as soon as he was put in the side people wanted someone else in there.
Wes Houlahan then became the saviour, mainly egged on by Eamonn Dunphy, while a tidy footballer was not suited to playing in a 4-4-2 and wasn’t a good enough footballer to build the team around either. The fact that he hadn’t the stamina to last 90 minutes or play 2 games in short succession was never really mentioned. Wes was best suited to coming off the bench and looking to add a bit of tempo and energy to our passing but the bigging up of him was utterly bizarre. He was a tidy footballer who was in and out of the Norwich team but the way some people talked about him you swear he was the second coming of Liam Brady.
Jack Byrne now seems to be the latest cause celebre and while he is a standout performer in the league of Ireland, it is a huge step up for people to expect him to be paracuted straight into the side. No doubt when he does get his chance and if he doesn’t take it, he too will be thrown to side and the sheep will find the next lad to tout as the saviour of the national team.
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I dont want him in the team, or at least not for this game. But it would be nice to have him in the 23, it wouldn’t have done any harm.
And I suspect people build them up because we are so bereft of them. Much like how people are getting excited about the Kennys side.
Its the hope that kills you.
Maybe Mick thinks that O’Dowda or Cullen are further on in their development and more likely to come off the bench and be up to the task. It’s tough on Byrne but not exactly a scandal.
Til he gets a few more caps under his belt or is playing at a higher level he always likely to be overlooked
We tried to be aggressive at the start away to Denmark. We pressed them high up the pitch in a relatively concerted way and played the opening 10-15 minutes largely in their half. They gradually figured us out and/or we couldn’t keep the tempo/running up. They started to play through and around the press and we were forced back.
It then became a more typical Irish away display against a higher ranked team - us defending manfully but not really carrying an attacking threat and giving the ball back to them after we won it.
I’m keen to see if we show similar intent from the outset tonight or if we sit back of our own volition and settle in for a defensive slog. The Swiss have a better quality of player than us and they’re also quite athletic and physically imposing so that’s why I struggle to see us getting a result.
I live in hope though.
Ok so we need to stop the press BEFORE they figure it out and revert to a typical away performance to a higher ranked team - then press them high up the pitch again and really bamboozle them.
how can he get a few caps if he can’t get in the squad.
that’s like a bouncer refusing you for not being a regular
We need to press high but remain very wary of the Swiss counter press. We don’t want to leave ourselves exposed with 5 or 6 men ahead of the ball if they regain the ball from us after our pressing forces them into an initial error. That’s why I think McCarthy would have focused a lot on countering the Swiss counter press in the last few days by launching a second pressing wave after the initial press if it’s been unsuccessful.
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Friendlies, nations league etc.
As i said we wasted the nations league last autumn. We had O’Neill playing Cyrus Christie playing centre midfield and Alan O’Brien playing up front.
Byrne has been very good in the LOI but O’Dowda and Cullen are decent players too and deserve their places in the 23. If the current management had 4 games in the nations league to try some things out I would be pretty confident in saying that Glenn Whelan wouldn’t be involved but instead we find ourselves in the situation we are now by sticking with O’Neill even though he had lost the dressing room.
Agreed. It’s a very pressing matter.
Byrne played a friendly recently and setup 2 goals in 20 minutes and had a very decent cameo…
Collins scored a goal in that game and look at his performance last Saturday. One game isn’t enough to throw the lad into a vital away game against Switzerland.
Anyway, the talk is that we’re going to play a 4-4-1-1 tonight with Hendrick narrow on the right.
Randolph
Coleman Duffy Egan Stevens
Hendrick Whelan Hourihane McClean
Robinson or Browne
Connolly
Could see Whelan and Hourihane being exposed there, as they’re not a mobile pairing at all. And the Swiss will have their own two centre midfielders, Xhaka and the other fella, and another chap playing in a number 10 role. Hendrick would probably be occupied by Rodriguez pushing on from left wing back so the two lads could really be in a bind. That’s why I reckon Browne will play as he’s more of a midfield player than Robinson who’s an attacker. Risk then is Connolly being completed isolated and chasing lost causes.
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i don’t want him thrown in… he’s worth a place on the bench. He has the potential to change a game… get him in behind Connolly if it’s already gone tits up
The last thing we need here tonight is possession.
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@Big_Dan_Campbell talking all sorts of common sense here.
Except… Wes Hoolihan was a class wee player who should have played under Trap. He also had a very poor lifestyle for the first half of his career, which was the cause of most of his problems.
Edit: oh and the real Mick McCarthy has always played nice attractive and positive football when he’s had the players to do it.
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Maybe, but Trap was a staunch 4-4-2 man with two banks of 4 and a physical presence up front with Robbie Keane. He was never going to drop his captain and while Wes was a tidy player he was by no means good enough that an experienced and stubborn manager like Trap was to rejig the whole side to accommodate him in the side especially given the fact that he wouldn’t have been able to play two 90 minute games back to back in the space of 4 days for us in qualifying.
Wes Hoolahan and Seamus Coleman weren’t brought to Euro 2012, despite being regulars in Premier League sides.
Hopefully Connolly can win a few corners and we can send the big boys up