Ciao Trap. Next. (1 Viewer)

[Jerry Twig]

Definitely. I think this game is a rare enough occasion for Ireland to properly play 4-4-2, but if he did play Reid and Hoolahan I certainly wouldn't complain. It would shut Dunphy up for five minutes at least.

Brady and Pilkington/McGeady on your diamond would be fairly sexy in the future, but wherefore Coleman in that setup?

 

[washingcattle]

Brady and Pilkington/McGeady on your diamond would be fairly sexy in the future, but wherefore Coleman in that setup?

Anywhere he likes, he's a better player than any of those three for a start.

 

[washingcattle]

It would be a diamond. Gibson would be the defensive midfielder, Reid on the left, McCarthy to the right, and then Hoolahan behind Long. Is that really considered a left-field formation? If so I blame it on watching too much Serie A where 3-5-1-1 is all the rage - although it's usually more of a 3-1-2-3-1. Juventus for example play with Pirlo, Pogba, Vidal and Marchisio and Italy used it to good effect in the Confederations Cup.

Yeah that's what I thought you meant but the problem is that we don't have a Vidal. McCarthy Gibson and Reid have decent feet and engines but none of them have pace. Vidal has that to spare and realistcally plays box to box. And while Juve line up that way they don't play that way. Pirlo is the holding midfielder in name only. The other two basically do his running for him.

 

[Cormcolash]

I'd go for a tried and trusted line-up myself

---------------------Forde----------------------

McShane ----- Dunne ---- O'Shea ----- Ward

Cox ---------- Green ----- Whelan ----- Doyle

------------ Unnamed Fan ------ D.Dick ------


What could go wrong?

 

[Luther Blissett]

Definitely. I think this game is a rare enough occasion for Ireland to properly play 4-4-2, but if he did play Reid and Hoolahan I certainly wouldn't complain. It would shut Dunphy up for five minutes at least.

Brady and Pilkington/McGeady on your diamond would be fairly sexy in the future, but wherefore Coleman in that setup?

Coleman would be the right wing-back. Ireland's answer to Napoli's marauding right-back Cristian Maggio. I think Coleman has the talent and the fitness level to play that role effectively, but I'd have no problem with reverting to a flat back four. The real area that needs a rethink is midfield where I feel it's time to try something new.

Yeah that's what I thought you meant but the problem is that we don't have a Vidal. McCarthy Gibson and Reid have decent feet and engines but none of them have pace. Vidal has that to spare and realistcally plays box to box. And while Juve line up that way they don't play that way. Pirlo is the holding midfielder in name only. The other two basically do his running for him.

That's a fair point about Juventus, but I hope whoever takes over is brave enough to experiment.

Here's (future Ireland boss) Johan Cruyff's favoured 3-4-3 diamond formation.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

The real area that needs a rethink is midfield where I feel it's time to try something new.

Considering alone that Walters, Cox and Keogh, all decent enough centre-forwards, have been played as wingers in the last few years, I think that's a given.

 

[Hector Grey]

Cryuff, lads. really?

REALLY?

 

[Luther Blissett]

Cryuff, lads. really?

REALLY?

There were unconfirmed rumours on Twitter that Cruyff was going to attend the game tonight and that betting had been suspended on him becoming the next Ireland manager. But they were just rumours.

I'm still holding out for Bielsa or Zeman, but I suppose what we really need is an Oscar Tabarez: someone who would revolutionise things from youth-level upwards and not be concerned with results in the short-term.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

There were unconfirmed rumours on Twitter that Cruyff was going to attend the game tonight and that betting had been suspended on him becoming the next Ireland manager. But they were just rumours.

I'm still holding out for Bielsa or Zeman, but I suppose what we really need is an Oscar Tabarez: someone who would revolutionise things from youth-level upwards and not be concerned with results in the short-term.

I'd rather we worry about results in the short-term with the expanded Euros coming up. If we scrape into that and then perform poorly again, maybe give over the next WC campaign (we can pretend it's a homo-friendly Russian boycott) for development and an overhaul.

I don't agree with either though. Our U-19s are into their elite stage of qualification and the U-21s are in the Showgrounds tonight also with a decent chance. We have a heap of young lads coming through who, if we could get even 4 or 5 of them to be top table EPL class we'd be laughing.
I'm talking Grealish, Baba, Byrne, O'Hanlon, the goalie at Man City who was in their last Champions League squad.

More chance of that happening than some kind of revolution of youth soccer in Ireland.

 

[Luther Blissett]

Tabarez didn't look for or instigate an overhaul of Uruguayan club football from what I know, rather he took on an active role in how Uruguay's under-age teams were managed in an attempt to instil similar tactics and formations throughout all representative teams - albeit with a sense of fluidity depending on the players available. The main idea was to try and ensure that a country with a small playing pool did all that it could to develop players for the senior team.

 

[Luther Blissett]

If we're talking about short-term fixes my dream appointment would be Bielsa. It would be nothing if not exciting.

 

[Richie]

Kinger's lineup for the finale to this miserable campaign:

Forde
Coleman / Dunne / O'Shea / Wilson
McCarthy / Reid / Gibson
Keane / Stokes / Doyle

Not sure whether it's 4-3-3 like I've shown or some other voodoo, but there's 3 strikers anyway. Mustn't be a big fan of Shane Long, or wingers..

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

If you need cheering up, there's a huge party happening in Sarajevo

http://www.klix.ba/sport/nogomet/ne...ice-glavnog-grada-pjeva-se-i-raduje/131015092

I couldn't be happier for the Bosnians.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

If you need cheering up, there's a huge party happening in Sarajevo

http://www.klix.ba/sport/nogomet/ne...ice-glavnog-grada-pjeva-se-i-raduje/131015092

I couldn't be happier for the Bosnians.

I used to live with a Serb. She served a year in the war. She'll be pretty fucking miffed tonight.

 

[Richie]

Yeah I'm happy for Bosnia - lost in playoffs the last two times, they definitely deserve it. Iceland got their playoff spot too.

Today's win coupled with defeats for Turkey and Slovenia means we apparently are likely to be 2nd seeds for the 2016 Euro draw, unless Romania win both playoff games to leapfrog us.

That 2nd placed lineup is looking tasty enough:
Seeded: Croatia, Portugal, Greece, Sweden.
Unseeded: Romania, France, Ukraine, Iceland.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

I used to live with a Serb. She served a year in the war. She'll be pretty fucking miffed tonight.

Well I kinda-dated a very hot Bosnian

The Serbs were the fuckers in that war as far as me and my libido are concerned

 

[Jerry Twig]

Yes I just came to post that, but I'm not sure Romania need to win both - I've also heard that one win would do it. I could see them get a win from Sweden or Greece, no problem.
Fingers crossed...

 

[Unicron]

Goes without saying but the RTE panel are fucking terrible.

 

[Jerry Twig]

I heard Dunphy yesterday on the radio say that 'the people will decide' on Noel King and that if people didn't like his own opinion on RTE then he'd be out too.
Well, now is the time to start a campaign to get Dunphy off the RTE panel.

 

[Hector Grey]

I think it's time to just do away with the fucking panel all together. They've nothing to say. No insight. Nada. I don't need to be told that this is a pile of piss.