Your Ireland starting XI

Gringo180

Big debate as always going on about Traps team selection so I'm just wondering what way would you set up the Irish team?

Personally I'd go with

Given

Coleman Dunne St Ledger O'Shea


McGeady Hoolahan McCarthy McClean

Duff

Keane


Toughest decision for me was leaving Andrews out over McCarthy.

Xavi6

Green

Green Green Green Green

Green Green Green Green

Green Green

He's the new Breen

Ladjacket

Gringo180 wrote: »

Big debate as always going on about Traps team selection so I'm just wondering what way would you set up the Irish team?

Personally I'd go with

Given

Coleman Dunne St Ledger O'Shea


McGeady Hoolahan McCarthy McClean

Duff

Keane


Toughest decision for me was leaving Andrews out over McCarthy.

Far too attacking IMO

I think we can all recognise just how many talented young players we have on our books at the minute, as demonstrated in the above selection, but at the same time, Trap has taken us to the European Championships and close to the World Cup, which hasnt been done since Jack.

I trust him - for the time being!

_blank_

that midfield would be pissed all over.

TaosHum

Given

O'Shea Dunne St Ledger Ward

Andrews Whelan

McGeady McCarthy Duff

Keane

Not a big change from the current line-up, but would like to see the ball being retained more and not being over-run in midfield as easily as we have in the past.

Pinturicchio

Given
O'Shea Dunne St Ledger Ward
Duff Andrews Whelan McGeady
Doyle Keane

bullvine

Oh let me see!

Given
O'Shea Dunne St Ledger Ward
Duff Andrews Whelan McGeady
Doyle Keane

premierstone

Gringo180 wrote: »

Big debate as always going on about Traps team selection so I'm just wondering what way would you set up the Irish team?

Personally I'd go with

Given

Coleman Dunne St Ledger O'Shea


McGeady Hoolahan McCarthy McClean

Duff

Keane


Toughest decision for me was leaving Andrews out over McCarthy.

A major championship, especially with the draw we have got, is hardly the place to experiment with a midfield with absolutely no international experience.

VW 1

If the OP was to have Hoolahan in the team reslistically he would need to be part of a 3 man midfield or switched to play the role behind the main striker putting Andrews in midfield alongside McCarthy.

Raskolnikov

First team

---

Given
Kelly Dunne St Ledger O'Shea
Duff Andrews Whelan McGeady

---

Doyle Keane

Second team

---

Westwood
Foley O'Dea Duffy Ward
Coleman Gibson Green McClean

---

Cox Long

Gringo180

VW 1 wrote: »

If the OP was to have Hoolahan in the team reslistically he would need to be part of a 3 man midfield or switched to play the role behind the main striker putting Andrews in midfield alongside McCarthy.

It is a 3 man midfield with Duff playing at the head of the midfield diamond, I reckon Hoolahan could do the job of dropping deep and getting the ball off the back 4 and spraying it around the pitch, with McCarthy the real grafter of the midfield 3. Its better than what we've been doing now, the ball from the back 4 totally bypassing the middle of the park and hoofing it to our forwards (who are hardly the biggest in the world)

I reckon we could dictate more of the posession with the team I've put out, and have the players who can open up a defense with a bit of class.

Gringo180

Des wrote: »

that midfield would be pissed all over.

And the current midfield hasnt been, a very poor Czech team practically toyed with us last night for large periods of the game.

Corholio

There seems to be a delusion that Andrews and Whelan are the only midfielders we have that are some sort of supernatural defending midfielders and nobody else can do this. McCarthy for Wigan has played this role, and played it well too. I do think that it wouldnt be right to change it around that much at this late stage. But the sooner Trap stops fooling people with Andrews and Whelan, the better IMO.

We will have 3 games in the group stage, this won't be qualifying where we can defend for 90 minutes and get a draw and hope Keane sneaks one in at the Aviva in the home match. We will have to create against much better opposition than we've been playing for the past 2 years, this is what I fear most.

tolosenc

Given

O'Shea Dunne Sledge Ward
Duff Andrews Fahey McGeady
Keane Walters

Raskolnikov

Corholio wrote: »

McCarthy for Wigan has played this role, and played it well too.

Bottom of the league?

aidan24326

Des wrote: »

that midfield would be pissed all over.

Not much difference from the midfield we have so?


what about this as an alternative lineup?

---

Given

---

Kelly---Dunne---St'Ledger---Ward

---

O'Shea---Andrews

---

McGeady

---

Fahey

---

Duff

---

Keane

---

subs to come in:

Hunt for Duff/MGeady
McClean for Duff/McGeady
Coleman(maybe) for McGeady
Cox/Walters/Doyle for Fahey if reverting to 4-4-2
Walters for Keane(tired/injured) if sticking with the above system, as Walters is good at holding up the ball.
Trap will of course stick to his tried and trusted formula though.

We're seriously short of cover at the back too. God help us if Dunne got injured.

DB10

O'Shea in midfield?

You're joking surely. The lad is a liability these days. No wonder Fergie sold him on. Barely worthy of a starting spot in defence if you seen him last night.

aidan24326

DB10 wrote: »

O'Shea in midfield?

You're joking surely. The lad is a liability these days. No wonder Fergie sold him on. Barely worthy of a starting spot in defence if you seen him last night.

He played that defensive midfield role for United in the past when required to and did an effective job. Was just trying to come up with something different that's all. The away game in Russia should have been a warning to Trap of what will happen to us against the best teams with the system he plays, and with a Whelan/Andrews midfield. Even though we (somehow) got a 0-0 it was a miracle of biblical proportions that we didn't get beaten at least 3-0, and we mightn't be so lucky next time.

Ganymede Glow

If everyone is fit this is the way I would lineup v Croatia

---

Given

---

O Shea--St Ledger-Dunne---Ward

---

Whelan

---

---

Andrews

---

McCarthy
Duff

---

McGeady

---

Keane

---

Gringo180

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Bottom of the league?

In fairness 1 player doesn't make a team.

Fowler87

Corholio wrote: »

There seems to be a delusion that Andrews and Whelan are the only midfielders we have that are some sort of supernatural defending midfielders and nobody else can do this. McCarthy for Wigan has played this role, and played it well too. I do think that it wouldnt be right to change it around that much at this late stage. But the sooner Trap stops fooling people with Andrews and Whelan, the better IMO.

We will have 3 games in the group stage, this won't be qualifying where we can defend for 90 minutes and get a draw and hope Keane sneaks one in at the Aviva in the home match. We will have to create against much better opposition than we've been playing for the past 2 years, this is what I fear most.

Thing with Andrews is he isnt a defensive midfielder proven by his goals hes scored this year when moved into his comfort zone. Lets hope hel contribute the same in the euros

eh i dunno

Given
Coleman Dunne Duffy O Shea
McGeady McCarthy Andrews McClean
Keane Walters

Ward is not good enough for international football. With some decent defensive coaching Coleman will make a great right back. Not conviunced by St Ledger and Duffy looked solid in the few games he played for Everton. Whelan is averge at best and i think Walters should start. Excellent at holding on to the ball and knock downs flick ons etc

EdenHazard

Yeah Andrews is no more defensive than the likes of Fahey or McCarthy.
4-3-3
Given
Coleman Dunne O'Shea Cunningham

McCarthy Whelan Fahey

McLean McGeady

Long

---

Given

---

Coleman---Sledge---Dunne---O'Shea

McGeady---McCarthy---Andrews---Duff

---

Walters

---

---

Keane

---

the realpigiron

Gringo180 wrote: »

Big debate as always going on about Traps team selection so I'm just wondering what way would you set up the Irish team?

Personally I'd go with

Given

Coleman Dunne St Ledger O'Shea


McGeady Hoolahan McCarthy McClean

Duff

Keane


Toughest decision for me was leaving Andrews out over McCarthy.

I like the look of your team. However Hoolahan for example isn't even in the squad.

My team - taking into account Trap's innate conservatism - would hopefully be:


Given

Coleman Dunne St Ledger O'Shea


McGeady Andrews Whelan McClean

Keane

Long

Leaving out Duff would be the toughest decision.

EdenHazard

What's with this Keane behind whatever striker we have. Keane scores goals, what do you think he is Francesco Totti?

Richard Hillman

Given

O'Shea-Dunne-St Ledger-Ward

McCarthy-Delap*-Hoolahan

Duff-Keane-McGeady


* Those thrown ins would run riot in International football

Seaneh

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Given

O'Shea-Dunne-St Ledger-Ward

McCarthy-Delap*-Hoolahan

Duff-Keane-McGeady


* Those thrown ins would run riot in International football

Not with a that strike force, we'd need Walters on the pitch to take advantage of it.

ColeTrain

Seaneh wrote: »

Not with a that strike force, we'd need Walters on the pitch to take advantage of it.

Just send Richard "The Iron Curtain" Dunne up for them.

Blatter

---

Given

---

O'Shea----Dunne----St. Ledger----Ward
McClean---McCarthy--Andrews----Duff

---

Keane

---

---

Long

---

Hoolahan and McGeady first subs.

Professional Griefer

A lot of teams here including Coleman. I think he is poor enough in the defensive position, in midfield hes decent though.

My team would be:

Given
O Shea, St Ledger, Dunne, Ward
Duff, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady
Keane, Walters

Blatter

EdenHazard wrote: »

What's with this Keane behind whatever striker we have. Keane scores goals, what do you think he is Francesco Totti?

He has a good first touch, decent passer of the ball and is pretty creative. Long's pace and ability to run in behind would stretch defenses and give Keane more space to play in. I think he would work well playing behind Long.

EdenHazard

Keanes movement is excellent but hes not a playmaker by any stretch of the imagination. He played in that position for Spurs but he wasn't playing in a Teddy Sheringham role

CSF

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Delaney

---

RAY SCULLY!!!!Paisley Boyle Fitzgerald

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Cronin

---

---

Dawson Cassidy

---

Byrne

---

Kavanagh

---

Hughes

---

Blatter

I don't think he'd be great as a playmaker but I personally would insist on playing Long furthest forward and would want another striker behind him that would fill into midfield relatively well, so that would be Keane by default for me.

Jayob10

i'll prob annoy some of ye by saying this but we simply have some very poor players involved at international level

I'll name them, all with various degrees of dreadfulness and these guys will cost us dearly in the big games should they get minutes.

Stephen Ward (god awful positioning, poor distribution which is mildly countered with slight above average attacking instinct which is hardly surprising given he was a striker).

alternative options with far more promise- Greg Cunningham, Aidan White (albeit excelling on left wing now) and even Marc Tierney

Darren O'Dea ok hes not trully awful in the McShane sense, but we have better options. Better management of potential resources is needed as O'Dea is the type of central defender prone to serious lapses in games at championship level let alone in a major international tournament.

Other options- Shane Duffy, or preferably switch O'Shea to centre half, with St.Ledger providing back up.

Paul Green no just no. I'm not going to even start on how a lad with a long term injury and suspect performances in qualifying waltzes back in and gets game time ahead of James McCarthy. Enough of this madness.

Other options- McCarthy, Meyler for sure in the long term, Hoolahan as part of a midfield 3.

Stephen Hunt Struggles to get in a poor Wolves side, we are well stocked at left wing so he would be the odd one out for me. Very very limited player who is dining out on his usual 20 minute cameo where he runs around like a headless chicken before winning a free, much to the delight of the crowd. Duff, McGeady and now McClean are vastly superior in this position.

The likes of Ward, O'Dea, Green and Hunt are not international quality players. End of. And to say we have to make do with them as we have nothing else, is nonsene.

Add Paul McShane and Andy Keogh to that list aswell as Damien Delaney, these are guys that should not even get a sniff. I'd also be inclined to axe Stephen Kelly as soon as Coleman gets exposure to right full at Everton

pending retirements, i'd put together a training camp and look at all of the new emerging talent and assess them all ahead of the Brazil 2014 campaign. We have some excellent players, players that can play a multitude of different systems.

Keepers

Shay Given
Kieran Westwood
David Forde

Defenders

Kevin Foley
Matt Doherty
Marc Wilson
Greg Cunningham
Marc Tierney
Aidan White
Enda Stevens
Richard Dunne
John O'Shea
Mark O'Brien
Sean St.Ledger
Ciaran Clark
Shane Duffy

Midfielders

Aiden McGeady
Seamus Coleman
Robbie Brady
Damien Duff
James McClean
Anthony Pilkington
Jeff Hendrick
Wes Hoolohan
Glen Whelan
Keith Andrews
Darron Gibson
James McCarthy
David Meyler
Conor Clifford

Forwards

Robbie Keane
Kevin Doyle
Shane Long
Jonathan Walters
Anthony Stokes
Leon Best
Joe Mason
Sean Scannell
Simon Cox

There may also be the inevitable raft of players declaring under the granny rule and these should be considered too.

Fed up hearing that we are a primative side with extremely limited options. We are not Spain but we do have options. Even just to see us be more expansive in possession without losing solidity. I think this Ireland team is not as solid at the back as people make out although the stats say otherwise. Central midfield is neither good defensive cover nor is it adequate support to attack. We have a 2 man midfield who like to hold their position. and its not enough.

If Whelan and Andrews were watertight, could win alot of ball in midfield and didnt get forward then id be happy. that would be their purpose. But they dont act as good ball winners either. And they will be well and trully shown up when we play a side who adopt a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 like the russians did against us. Its criminal that we have not experimented with a 3 man midfield as we simply have to play an extra midfielder against Spain.

Anyway rant over, heres my Ireland team for now. And my ireland team for 2014 campaign

Current

---

Given

Foley

---

Dunne

---

O'Shea

---

Wilson

---

Whelan---Andrews---McCarthy

---

Walters

---

McGeady

---

Keane



2014

---

Given

Coleman

---

Dunne

---

O'Shea

---

White

---

Meyler

---

McCarthy

---

McGeady

---

Keane

---

McClean

---

Long

also on an entirely different note, we simply have to try and nab Ryan McLaughlin from the northern set up. Excelling at Liverpool right now, superb young right back who loves to get forward but is a proper defender too. Going by his twitter he was ecstatic when Cox scored last night too, make of that what you will

2 excellent young Irish talents at Liverpool right now, Alex O'Hanlon and Ryan McLaughlin. Left and right full respectively. Watch out for these lads.

yabadabado

Jayob10 wrote: »

i
Current

---

Given

Foley

---

Dunne

---

O'Shea

---

Wilson

---

Whelan---Andrews---McCarthy

---

Walters

---

McGeady

---

Keane

about time someone put Wilson in at LB.by far our best option,far superior player compared to Ward.Of all Traps decisions that get slated, I can't believe Wilson not getting a look in doesn't get more coverage.
I know there was talk of a falling out but Wilson has stated he knows nothing about it.

tolosenc

Is there much objection to Cox being our back-up Keano?

There was a fair bit of derision when he was called up ahead of players like Stokes, but the lad is a goal scorer in the Keane mold. Not as good as Keane, but he has 10 caps and 3 goals (4 if you want to count the one against Macedonia where he was a few yards onside but called off). Eager to play his part, too. He'll be a fixture of Irish teams for years to come.

Corholio

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Bottom of the league?

So there's no good players at Wigan?

Andrews played for a mid table lower league team for most of the qualifying campaign.

Zico

Armchair selections should never happen. The best teams are selected by the coach based on what he sees behind closed doors. But if the FAI decided that someone without half a century of experience and stack load of trophies can pick the team then here's my choice

Given

O'Shea Dunne Clark

McGeady McCarthy Whelan McLean

Duff Keane

Doyle


..

JayMul

Only position that worries me is right back. Ward's a bit of an accident waiting to happen.

premierstone

Blatter wrote: »

---

Given

---

O'Shea----Dunne----St. Ledger----Ward
McClean---McCarthy--Andrews----Duff

---

Keane

---

---

Long

---

Hoolahan and McGeady first subs.

How in the name of sweet mother of all that is holy, could you possibly leave out McGeady behind someone who has 12mins international football and another who hasnt played well in years, the debate if there is one should be between McClean/Duff and McGeady is an absolute cert.

BOHtox

TaosHum wrote: »

Given

O'Shea Dunne St Ledger Ward

Andrews Whelan

McGeady McCarthy Duff

Keane

Not a big change from the current line-up, but would like to see the ball being retained more and not being over-run in midfield as easily as we have in the past.

Probably this to be honest, although Trap has started to play keane slightly deeper so maybe Keane in there for McCarthy and Doyle up front?


If not, I'd have Hoolahan in there instead of McCarthy

djPSB

---

Andy Reid

--Andy Reid-Andy Reid-Andy Reid-Andy Reid

--Andy Reid-Andy Reid-Andy Reid-Andy Reid

---

Andy Reid-Andy Reid

noodler

---

Given

---

O'Shea----Dunne

---

St Ledger----Ward

Duff

---

Whelan----Andrews

---

McGeady

---

Keane

---

---

Doyle (or Long)

Blatter

premierstone wrote: »

How in the name of sweet mother of all that is holy, could you possibly leave out McGeady behind someone who has 12mins international football and another who hasnt played well in years, the debate if there is one should be between McClean/Duff and McGeady is an absolute cert.

Because I don't particularly rate McGeady as much as others do. McClean has a better and more consistent end product from what I've seen of him so far. Same with Duff, you mostly know what you're going to get from him. It doesn't really bother me how much international experience McClean has at the moment. Play him in all the games leading up tp the tournament and he might get some

noodler

Blatter wrote: »

Because I don't particularly rate McGeady as much as others do. McClean has a better and more consistent end product from what I've seen of him so far. Same with Duff, you mostly know what you're going to get from him. It doesn't really bother me how much international experience McClean has at the moment. Play him in all the games leading up tp the tournament and he might get some

I really think that they are some crazy observations based on less than a dozen games with Sunderland.

McGeady has earned his place, his end product still lacks at times but he is our most effective dribbler and Trap has thought him how to track back.

Scored or setup some vital goals in Trap's two campaigns.

SlickRic

my team...

---

Given

---

JOS

---

Sledge

---

Dunne

---

Ward

---

Whelan

---

Andrews

---

McGeady

---

McCarthy

---

Duff

---

Keane

---

Subs: Westwood, Kelly, Clark, McClean, Coleman, Doyle, Walters

then again, I'm not Trap, and I didn't get us to our first major tournament in 10 years, and have us unbeaten in almost a year.

bobbysands81

It's a pity Stokes messed up last year, talent wise he'd walk into the squad.

Blatter

noodler wrote: »

I really think that they are some crazy observations based on less than a dozen games with Sunderland.

McGeady has earned his place, his end product still lacks at times but he is our most effective dribbler and Trap has thought him how to track back.

Scored or setup some vital goals in Trap's two campaigns.

Every time I've seen him play for Sunderland, I like him. I like him a lot better than McGeady so the choice would be fairly simple for me. McGeady has just never really impressed me, I personally don't like him. Fair enough if you do.

As for the goal/assist argument, I've seen nothing to suggest that McClean wouldn't get as many if not more than McGeady. I'm not really into this sentimental 'he's earned his place' stuff, for me a manager should be picking his best players. Form should also play a big part in selection, especially in the case of a winger.

WoollyRedHat

Raskolnikov wrote: »

First team

---

Given
Kelly Dunne St Ledger O'Shea
Duff Andrews Whelan McGeady

---

Doyle Keane

Second team

---

Westwood
Foley O'Dea Duffy Ward
Coleman Gibson Green McClean

---

Cox Long

Ah come on, you're trolling with that second team.