Italian squad for Ireland match (2 Viewers)

[FiFi_LaRue]

I reeeeally tried to watch this match, I really did, but after 26 minutes it was just too depressing to look at. We didn't seem to have anything in midfield. Hamilton and Beglin were so fed up they were talking about earlier games because nothing was happening. The fact we scored within the first minute meant we'd be defending for the next 89. There's so little creativity there because, as has been said, they could barely string a few passes together to maintain possession to do anything with.

Our fullbacks are dangerous to their own team when in possession leaving the midfield (who are also poor) to watch them for problems as much as the opposition.

I also had to turn it off because fucking Jim Beglin pisses me off so bloody much.

 

[Cormcolash]

Yeah it's a pain in the ass this alright. If I wanted to watch a match where the ball just gets hoofed the fuck up the pitch in the hope that someone will latch on to it every time, I'd watch the Gaelic.
Ireland were really shocking with possession, Whelan and Andrews are just not good enough to play against the better teams. They might just about get by against shite like Georgia and Cyprus, but Petrov tonight made them look fucking stupid. Petrov ran the show for Bulgaria, and no-one was getting close to him at all.
I'd be fairly confident that we'll be second in the group for the qualifier match, purely because it seems the rest of the group apart from Italy is completely shit as well, but there's no way that shite out there tonight is going to beat Italy. The Italians will have a good old laugh at our "punt the ball the fuck upfield because you can't trust the midfield" tactics.
Imagine how much different it would be if we had Stephen (or even Andy) Reid and Big Daddy Dick in there instead, we'd be a team to reckon with then.

 

[Richie]

I knew as soon as the early goal went in that we'd be looking at 89 minutes of defending deep and clinging on.. The problem (along with the required talent just not really being there) is that the strategy for getting the ball forward is so one dimensional. Bulgaria packed the midfield just like Georgia did and knew that closing down McGeady and Hunt quickly meant we had nothing except hopeful long balls to throw at them. How many times was there a succession of passes going backwards under pressure followed by either McShane or Kilbane hoofing it away? On top of that, the handful of times when an Irish player did make a break with the ball at his feet, there was never anybody in the same third of the pitch.. It's disappointing that we threatened up forward so rarely because the Bulgarian defence certainly looked less than watertight. Worried that we're going to get humiliated on Wednesday night if the general strategy and performance is anything like it was today.

 

[Unicron]

Whelan and Andrews are just not good enough to play against the better teams.

I think if we only had to play one of them we'd just about get away with it but all the pre match shiteing on about Andy Reid seems to ignore the fact that he's in actuality a somewhat gifted but terrible much of the time low level prem player who can't even get a game for sunderland.

I say we offer to have Hunt publically executed if it means Ireland comes back.

 

[Unicron]

Offer him Noel's head too for good measure by way of extra incentive.

Dunphy is full of shite, the players available now aren't good enough.

 

[old]

The one thing we're supposed to be able to do is defend, but there were stretches of that game when the Bulgarians had the ball to themselves inside our half, with only the occasional half-hearted forwards tackle to deal with. On the other side, as soon as an Irish player got into the Bulgarian half, they were given no time on the ball. I suppose defending deep is the Italian way to an extent, but it seemed pretty craven for a home match. Depressing fare.

 

[Richie]

What makes it even more disappointing is that the North got another great win over higher-ranked opposition yesterday, whereas we're still looking back to Holland 8 years ago for a similiar result.

Would a 5-man midfield work with Ireland? Or a 4-4-1-1 sort of thing, with Keane dropping back and play as a linking-up sort of player.. He spends the whole time feeding on scraps anyway in the current setup.

 

[actwithoutwords]

I missed Dirty Projectors going to Croker last night. Dire stuff. That Bulgarian defence was there for the taking and it's unbelievably frustrating that we didn't have the belief to go for it a bit more.

Allowing the opposition to play the ball around your 18 yard box pretty much at will is hardly going to end well. It's a miracle we have got this far, to be honest, without a midfield to speak of. The combination of lack of ability from the players and lack of ambition from the manager was thoroughly depressing.


Anyway, in other international football-related news...

 

[Luther Blissett]

Agreed about how poor the game was. Awful stuff to watch, but the tactics were not that surprising once we had gone ahead.

Trapattoni is a manager who selected Perrotta and Cristian Zanetti in midfield for Italy ahead of Pirlo back in 2004 and has never been known for espousing attacking football.

Steven Reid's injury has left us in the poo big time. I'd be called up before Andy Reid at this stage and Ireland won't be back anytime soon either. Hopefully we can scrape through qualification and then build a team around Steven Reid, he looked really good in the first two games.

As disappointing as the performance and result were, we still have a great chance of qualifying.

 

[Bladez]

If Stephen Ireland doesn't come back before the end of qualifying he's not going to be going to the World Cup if we make it. Meaning the next time he'll be playing competitive football for Ireland will be the next European qualifiers. Its a shame considering he's probably the most talented midfielder we've had since Roy Keane.

 

[Cormcolash]

We should offer him a pink black and red shirt with the name "Daddy Dick" on the back if he'll only come back and play for us.

 

[Bladez]

Ah now...no more teasing. We want to encourage him!

 

[Froog]

Terry Phelan was great. Always pissed me off that people only remember him for one stupid mistake, when he had so many good games bombing up and down the wing for Ireland.

you like phelan terry? he he he.

 

[Froog]

Its a shame considering he's probably the most talented midfielder we've had since Roy Keane.

and his second name is ireland like, could he be anymore perfect?

 

[trev]

Any truth in the rumour that Pirlo will play with a blindfold on Wednesday night?

 

[Hector Grey]

i blame the gaa. they've ruined everything.
that game should have been played in tolka park. they'd out it up them. foreigners don't like it up them. no hussle.

 

[Vinnie]

I have to stop going to Ireland games. It's turning me off football.

 

[Richie]

McGeady took a knock in the Bulgaria game & could be out of the match on Wednesday - we might be looking at the weakest Ireland midfield in a couple of decades! My only hope for the Italian game is that the public criticism of Saturday's performance galvanises them for some kind of super-effort, because it'll be effort alone that gets them any kind of result. I'd have to say comfortable 2-0 win to Italy though with Ireland barely getting a half-chance on goal.

 

[Vinnie]

Wednesday could be the serious hiding this squad has been courting ever since Trappatoni took over

 

[Hector Grey]

Wednesday could be the serious hiding this squad has been courting ever since Trappatoni took over

i'd take it, if only just to see some football in a game ireland are involved in.