Ireland euro squad predictions (2 Viewers)

[Hector Grey]

There's a rumour going around, thanks to cryptic comments from Trap in one of his interviews a few days back, that a player who is part of the regular Ireland squad will have to miss the Euros either from injury or personal reasons, and that this might be connected to the likelihood of McClean getting a callup.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0430/1224315361252.html

If it's connected to the McClean thing, it's probably another winger.. most suggestions seem to be either Fahey or Hunt, both of those having had recent injury troubles and might need an operation after the league season. Fingers crossed it's not Duff.. there was something a few weeks back about him missing a Fulham game for personal reasons. Given the infrequency with which we qualify for anything and the year long slog to get there I'm sure nobody will be withdrawing unless it's something pretty serious.

Duffer played last night and looked up for it. So did Kelly in fact. They both play down the right for Fulham, might be an idea to keep that club thing going. However, with oshea and Dunne fit, is trap going to play Kelly? I'd have O'Shea at left back before Ward, but I think i'd prefer him in the middle instead of St Ledger who's McShame in disguise.

 

[Hector Grey]

Jaysis

Given \ Westwood \ Forde
Dunne \ O'Shea \ St Ledger \ O'Dea \Kelly \ Ward \ Foley
Whelan \ Andrews \ Gibson \ Duff \ McGeady \ McClean (and two from Fahey/Hunt/McCarthy, in that order if fit)
Keane \ Doyle \ Long \ Walters\ Cox

Again, this is the team I think will go, not the team I'd take.
I think the 'personal' thing may be have been a Trap misquote, and maybe Fahey is the one out as he needs surgery in the summer?

why Gibson automatically ahead of McCarthy?
Just wondering.

 

[Jerry Twig]

I just think Gibson is more to Trap's liking, given the starts he had in friendlies when he was even lucky to be a bench warmer for United, whereas he seems to feel McCarthy is too instintively attacking. The only time he started him (or maybe he also started against Brazil?) was in an experimental 4-5-1 (Croatia?) and he had a stinker. With Gibson's form at the moment (solid, but not great from what I've seen) he may even start ahead of Andrews I think.

The back four is interesting alright. I would also much prefer to see O'Shea on the left and Kelly on the right, and it could well happen.

 

[Hector Grey]

McCarthy's stinker...couldn't help feeling he'd been set up for that fall. He wasn't the only one struggling in that formation.

He's playing deep for wigan now, and playing well. Still don't really know what Gibson does.

 

[Jerry Twig]

Yes, there was an air of 'see, this kid is not as great as all that' and 'see, we have to stick with 4-4-2'.
He is playing well, is playing deeper (Tardelli recently acknowledged that) and looks more the kind of harrier we'd be needing than Gibson, but I still think Gibson is a player Trap fancies, and a player he's worked with more, and that'll be the decider if it's a toss up between the two of them.

 

[washingcattle]

I really hope the Gibson that we all tore strips off of when he was at United no longer exists. That players main fault was that he wasn't mobile enough and was downright lazy. He's still a bit of a tank but his workrate has improved. What's never really been in doubt is that he's decent on the ball. I still think the most important player for Ireland will be Glenn Whelan. If he can win as much ball for us as he does for Stoke then Gibson or McCarthy will play well, if not the games will pass them by.

The deep lying midfielder is a really Italian idea, they say that you play your best passer in a position just in front of your back four (see Andrea Pirlo for example) I'd say Trap is delighted that McCarthy and Gibson are playing that role now.

I'd imagine one of them will go, probably Gibson. It's Trap though, we shouldn't have to worry about the back "6" They'll be compact and organised as usual, the problem is the front 4 and how to link them. I still only see Keane or Fahey as players who can play behind a striker and pick the all important passes.

Duff and McClean have to start.

 

[Cormcolash]

I seriously doubt McClean has any hope of starting over McGeady. Shite.

 

[Hector Grey]

Of course not, unless you play mcgeady off the striker.
Otherwise there's no way on earth a kid with less than six months in the premier league and a few minutes of international footy is going to start ahead of mcgeady.

 

[Jerry Twig]

I think Cattles antipathy towards McGeady is completely unreasonable. Sure, he hasn't reached his early potential (yet), and sure he's no great crosser of the ball and ends up running into the corner way too much, but jesus christ he was a top-three player for Ireland in the qualifiers in terms of performnace and he is probably our second most important player going into the Euros.
McClean is a great player to have on the bench if we're one goal down with 15 minutes to go. And even then he'd 90% likely replace Duff and McGeady would switch to the right. That's the height of his possible participation in my opinion.

 

[Hector Grey]

Agreed.

Cattle had some forthright opinions on Darron Gibson once upon a time. Imagine if McGeady were to join Everton. That'd be hilarious.

People don't like McGeady because he tries to do things no one else in the squad would dream of. Sure he loses the ball in attacking positions, but you if you were crossing for Doyle and Cox and that lot, you'd look shit when they run into one another and fall over.

After Dunne, McGeady is our most important player. He is the ONLY one who can get forward. Everyone else, including the strikers, defends first.

 

[washingcattle]

Agreed.

Cattle had some forthright opinions on Darron Gibson once upon a time. Imagine if McGeady were to join Everton. That'd be hilarious.

People don't like McGeady because he tries to do things no one else in the squad would dream of. Sure he loses the ball in attacking positions, but you if you were crossing for Doyle and Cox and that lot, you'd look shit when they run into one another and fall over.

After Dunne, McGeady is our most important player. He is the ONLY one who can get forward. Everyone else, including the strikers, defends first.

Crosses ? What fucking crosses ?

McGeady wrecks my head not because he loses the ball but because he can't fucking cross the thing. Promising position men in the box,end result hits first defender gets corner over and over and over again which is fine if you're playng against Spain and they can't defend corners but everyone else can. Not good enough. If he joined Everton and improved vastly then of course I'd eat my words. If he joined Everton and was the same useless cunt I'd still be calling him a useless cunt. He'd be our new Bilyaletindov.

Of course not, unless you play mcgeady off the striker.
Otherwise there's no way on earth a kid with less than six months in the premier league and a few minutes of international footy is going to start ahead of mcgeady.

This myth of international football being some barometer of greatness is gone. Maybe in the 70s and 80s there was a casm between international level and club level, that doesn't exist anymore. Last season Ireland played competitive matches against 2 good teams one above average team and several shite ones. There's no comparison between playing well against Macedonia in front of 20,000 fans and say going to play City at the Etihad. If you can deliver the goods at say Old Trafford, Etihad, Anfield, Emirates, or even at Stamford Bridge then you've probably played in bigger technically better games against better organised more gifted sides than what we played against in the entire qualifying campaign.

 

[Hector Grey]

hold on. first, i think mcgeady got more crosses into the box than anyone else for ireland, and i'm pretty sure he assisted more goals than anyone else in qualifying. that might not be a massive number, but... and as for internationalist football being a barometer, i'm merely saying that there's a squad there that spent 2 years qualifying for this tournament, and you want a guy who has played ten minutes in a friendly to start ahead of the ones who got the team there in the first place. He's been in ONE squad and he doesn't even speak english.

YOu'd mangle anything to get your hate across, wouldn't you?

 

[washingcattle]

I mangled nothing.

Who doesn't speak english ?

I take your point that McClean has played one match, if he was a centre half I'd say no way will should he play, there's no way a back four could work as a unit if the players haven't played together, but McClean is a left winger, no matter what system you play his job remains the same, get ball, go forward, deliver ball into box. Lose ball, track runners. Nothing really changes hugely from club to international side and the way we play he's going to be isolated for a lot of the game anyway so it's not like he's going to adapt his style of play this is what he does anyway. In fact from what I've seen he's a lot better without the ball than McGeady is.

And I don't want him to start ahead of lads who've gotten us there I want him to start ahead Aiden McGeady.

Look I've watched McGeady hit the first man with shite cross after cross, year after year. His delivery is not good enough simple as that. McClean looks like the real thing I'd love to see him start.

 

[Cormcolash]

McGeady's crossing was shite during qualifying alright. But it's particularly frustrating because he can cross. I've seen him play matches where he has been a real danger everytime he gets on the ball, and has delivered quality crosses. He seems to miss that in the Ireland team though.
In saying that, he is a useful distraction when we need to get the ball away for a few minutes. Give it to him and watch him run into the corner.
The main problem with McGeady isn't the player though - it's the complete lack of support for him. He gets the ball, goes forward, and is surrounded by 3 defenders because the rest of the team is still in their own half. We've seen that happen over and over again.
The idea of starting McClean in front of him is fairly ludicrous, and I'm pretty certain the exact same thing would happen to him anyway.

 

[Hector Grey]

you're completely illogical on this point, so there's no point arguing. I've seen Duff hit the first man time and time again. I've seen them all do. I've seen Andrews be anonymous time and time again. I've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. Blah blah blah. You're just anti mcgeady, and now you have a James McLean sized stick to beat him with. You could have used a Kevin Pilkington sized stick, but he's not flavour of the month, so why bother.

Fighting to a draw in Moscow or a gritty win in Armenia or whereever is on a different level to turning up at the Etihad to get beaten with utterly no expectation to do anything other than take your medicine.

 

[Jerry Twig]

The main problem with McGeady isn't the player though - it's the complete lack of support for him. He gets the ball, goes forward, and is surrounded by 3 defenders because the rest of the team is still in their own half. We've seen that happen over and over again.
The idea of starting McClean in front of him is fairly ludicrous, and I'm pretty certain the exact same thing would happen to him anyway.

I think that's a very important point. I think McGeady's positioning is very good (you see it more at matches than on telly) and he finds himself in good positions, only to be left with no back up, and often being apportioned blame he doesn't deserve.
Hector, the old stick was the Coleman stick, who also 'looked' the real thing last year and was considered so blatantly superior to McGeady, although that of course has never been proven.

 

[washingcattle]

I'll take two unproven prospects over one proven waster any day.

 

[Jerry Twig]

one proven waster

Not proven, and you've evidently failed to make any case.

 

[washingcattle]

We are obviously watching two different players here McGeady cannot cross. How am I supposed to make a case for that ? And when did this become some sort of court with you as the judge ? Just watch him for fuck sake it'll be perfectly fucking obvious. We've two friendlies coming up I'll count the number of times McGeady utterly wastes a chance to put the ball in the box in good positions.

 

[Jerry Twig]

I said he's not a good crosser (would you read what I said at least) but I also said there's more to him than that. But yes, why don't you count how many crosses he fucks up, and also count how many times he puts himself in good positions to receive the ball, how many people he takes on, how many he beats, and how many times he has no-one to pass to cos the rest of them are parked in their own half, while you're at it.

....and how much covering he'll do for Ward.