Ireland Vs China Friendly

thejollyrodger

After last night it looks like its high time Kerr did some experimenting. China are pretty weak opposition so I dont know if we will learn a whole lot.

Still its a good oppurunity to try some new players. Players who have done all they flying and didnt get a game.

In goal we need to try another keeper. Given is still first choice but we have no back up. So Paddy Kenny (or whatver his name is) should get a full 90 minutes.

Im not sure if they should try any new defenders. Maybe Finnan instead of Carr to gain some experience.

Ried for 90 minutes.

Mc Geady for 90 minutes instead of Duff.

Kavanagh or Holland in for Keane and Miller to replace Kilbane

Clinton should be given another 90 mintes and Elliott should start. Robbie wont be too bothered. Clinton is a confidence player and needs games IMO.

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Morrison

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McGeady

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Elliott

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Reid

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Mille

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Holland

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Jos--O'Brien--Cunningham--Finnan

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Paddy

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dcarroll

I'd go with that, but maybe dunne for cunningham

_blank_

I'd say Dunne will play.

Kerr will do a lot of experimenting on Tuesday.

KdjaCL

Dropping Morrison froma great height would be a good start, trying Elliot or Mac geady up front practically on their own would be nice.

Not much else by way experimenting just giving games to players, he knows his best back four and midfield.

kdjac

thejollyrodger

He needs to experiement if we get injuries and to take account of Carr and RMK missing for Israel.

There is little point in playing the usual suspect. Competition for places is needed and a big squad of players who we know can deliver.

Pigman II

I think he'll mostly just play safe ... as usual

                 Given

Finnan   Cunningham   O'Brien   O'Shea

 Reid     Holland     Kilbane   Duff

          RobbieK     Elliot	

thejollyrodger

when will he name the team ? Probably late tomorrow

PHB

I would be absolutly gobsmacked if Duff Keane Keane Finnan Cunningham played any part in this game, absolutly amazed, and I think it'd be a really stupid thign to do.

thejollyrodger

Morrison scored FFS. where was robbie last night. Getting the goal is enough. maybe he should have be subbed last night. I dont know why he should be dropped on his head.

As for starting with just 3 changes is not enough !!!!

Slash/ED

Pigman II wrote:

I think he'll mostly just play safe ... as usual

                 Given

Finnan   Cunningham   O'Brien   O'Shea

 Reid     Holland     Kilbane   Duff

          RobbieK     Elliot	

If he plays that team I'm ripping up my ticket, the whole match would be an absolutley pointless exercise. Nobody who started on saturday should start on tuesday bar perhaps the players not playing regularly for their own clubs, like Morrison, O'Shea and O'Brien, or players he wants to try in a different position.

I'd play....

Elliot Morrison

McGeady Kavanagh Miller Reid

Finnan/O'Shea Dunne O'Brien Finnan/Maybury

Kenny

McGeady and Elliot should get the full 90 minutes, absolutley no doubt about it.

Bring Breen on for O'Brien at half time, Maybury on for Finnan if he isn't starting and Holland for one of the mid fielders.

thejollyrodger

I agree with Slash/ED. Playing the same players as on saturday is a nonsense. But O shea should get the nod over finnan and maybury at right back.

thejollyrodger

What about Wilo Flood in midfield. I dont know much about the player but he wsa playing decently enough a while back. Would he be suitable for replacement for Keane or Kilbane??

eirebhoy

thejollyrodger wrote:

What about Wilo Flood in midfield. I dont know much about the player but he wsa playing decently enough a while back. Would he be suitable for replacement for Keane or Kilbane??

He's a midget of a winger.

thejollyrodger

HAHA. so much for a replacement then. Anyone else you can think of that maybe a potential holding midfielder with guile?

Big Ears

thejollyrodger wrote:

HAHA. so much for a replacement then. Anyone else you can think of that maybe a potential holding midfielder with guile?

A wouldn't be bothered with him (and he's retired) , but...............Lee Carsley .

eirebhoy

Kav is a great player, he'll start tomorrow. I certainly hopes he starts in June, don't think the Israeli's would be shítting themselves seeing a partnership of Holland-Kilbane. McGeady has been called up and I'll eat my hat if he doesn't start considering we won't have a friendly like this til at least October.

http://www.fai.ie/article.asp?hlid=265671&Title=McGeady+called+in&lid=Main+News&sub=McGeady+called+in&navlid=&sublid=

PHB

Kerr might consider playing O'Shea in midfield with Carr and Finnan the full backs.
O'Shea has done a job for United in the midfield lately with some fairly impressive preformances.

JackKelly

and bring back bonner


Will it be possible to get tickets at the door?

eirebhoy

TimAy wrote:

and bring back bonner


Will it be possible to get tickets at the door?

All tickets sold out afaik. They were paired with the Italy ones. Don't think you'll ever be able to get in at the gates in Lansdowne without a ticket. If there are any tickets available they'll go on sale in Merrion Square and it will be up on the FAI website.

thejollyrodger

.......Kerr confirmed that some of the players who didn't play against Israel will start tomorrow. These include Andy Reid, Graham Kavanagh and Richard Dunne - as well as goalkeeper Paddy Kenny whose need for international experience was highlighted last week when Shay Given suffered a hip injury.

While several players will be rested, Kerrr is inclined to give Morrison the opportunity to get another game under his belt.

Gary Breen, who suffered a knee injury in training on Friday, has returned to Sunderland for treatment, while Aidan McGeady has been called into the squad after playing with the U-21s last Friday......

Im glad to see Reid, Kenny, Kavanagh all getting games. Same goes for Morrison, He is the type of player that needs confidence and lots of games. Hopefully McGeady will get a proper run out too. But Im not overally keen on rushing players through the underage set up. Just look at robbie keane, he looks like he missed out on some coaching - but thats another thread.

There is a friendly against Celtic before Israel in June I believe. Good work by Kerr.

eirebhoy

thejollyrodger wrote:

There is a friendly against Celtic before Israel in June I believe. Good work by Kerr.

I'm not even really couting that tbh. If Celtic get to the Scottish final they play it on the day before the Ireland one.

A Dub in Glasgo

I thought it was the day after.

Sat 28th: Scottish Cup Final

Sun 29th: Celtic v RoI - Jackie McNamara Testimonial


I hope Kerr plays a team with a bit more invention tomorrow night

eirebhoy

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

I thought it was the day after.

Sat 28th: Scottish Cup Final

Sun 29th: Celtic v RoI - Jackie McNamara Testimonial


I hope Kerr plays a team with a bit more invention tomorrow night

sorry, typo.

thejollyrodger

I totally agree, we need some decent attacking players. In the final third we are really found wanting. I hope Mc Geady lives up to the hype. Duffer has gone off the boil a bit for Ireland. I havent seem him really tackle defences in a long time. Maybe he should be given a rest. I would do a straight swap there.

Elliott should start instead of Robbie. Looking at robbie again on video, he did a lot of running but dropped so deep that he never threatened goal.

KdjaCL

Reckon Duffs problem is Robbens fault, him not playing means Duffer is the attacking threat for Chelsea away.

BUmmer for us looked tired other night and constantly 2 players on him.

For china i would like to see Elliot and Mac Geady play thats about it with other positions filled by the squad players. Cba really about the game.


kdjac

Big Ears

PHB wrote:

O'Shea has done a job for United in the midfield lately with some fairly impressive preformances.

Maybe so but Kavanagh seems a much better midfielder and although he hasn't played that much for Ireland I would say his partnership with Kilbane is a proven one , that will just get even better the more they play together .(too bad Kav is the wrong side of 30)

I would like to see:

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Kenny

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Finnan-O'Brien-Dunne-Maybury
McGeady-Kilbane-Kavangh-Reid

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Morrsion-Elliot

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eirebhoy

Big Ears wrote:

I would like to see:

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Kenny

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Finnan-O'Brien-Dunne-Maybury
McGeady-Kilbane-Kavangh-Reid

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Morrsion-Elliot

---

O'Shea will probably start at left back again since he's not getting first team football but other than that I think that will be the team that lines out.

China aren't that bad btw.

[Jackass]

The only thing i dont like about Kerr is his ultra-conservative selection policy, consrvative tactics, and conservative substitution policy. So i will expect a full strength team for 92 minutes of the game. And then possibly one substitution for the remaining 30 seconds. However, this is the team i would like to start:

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Kenny

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Finnan-O'Brien-Dunne-O'Shea
A.Reid--Miller--Delap--Duff

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Elliot---Robbie

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(1st half)

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McGeady---Morrison

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(2nd half)

Come on Kerr... Time to give Dunne/O'Brien partnership a chance (practice incase of injury + looking to future after cunningham), Give Kenny a full 90 (Prctice incase of injury to Given) Experiment with the midfield players available, and test to find a balance with the wealth of players we have around there. Also, experiment with Strike partnerships to find a alternative balance also. I dont like teams with a set first 11 coming into any game...because if someone is out, it disrupts the whole system...and it makes us predictable. I'd prefer if, coming into any major match, we have 15 - 20 players, any of which might start. Keeps opposition guessing. Gives us options all over the pitch, and can also play horses for courses, and if someting isn't working (i.e. second half israel) we can have first team quality and expierience on the bench to come in and change the focus. (for example if kerr was to take the MASSIVE gamble of bringing reid on, on 60 minutes, instead of Holland on 85.)
Apart from that recent frustration, it's important to keep it in perspective..Kerr is still the man, and we're still on course to qualify.

Big Ears

eirebhoy wrote:

China aren't that bad btw.

They reached the final of the Asian Cup didn't they ?.....lost to Japan ?

eirebhoy

Kenny

Maybury, Cunningham, Dunne, O'Shea;

Reid, Kavanagh, Kilbane, Duff;

Keane, Elliott.

Very suprised with the team. Not much experimenting going on there. Although, there is 6 changes from the last game.

Boro

Was hoping to see McGeady start. Apart from that its not bad. Duff and Keane off at half time?

Kone

I can see Duffer and Robbie being rested at halftime. I think McGeady will get his chance too.

Pigman II

eirebhoy wrote:

Kenny

Maybury, Cunningham, Dunne, O'Shea;

Reid, Kavanagh, Kilbane, Duff;

Keane, Elliott.

Very suprised with the team.

Why so? Reading Kerr at this stage is akin to reading a book ... and a not very interesting one at that.

I guess I wasn't far off as most people here gave me credit for ... plus I didn't know at the time Holland was gonna do a bunk thanks to his domestic situation! I have to admit I never in my wildest machinations foresaw Maybury gettting a start but I always figured Dunne and PaddyKenny were 50/50 chances so it was just a pick-em.

Slash/ED

If Duff or Keane get injured in this pointless embarassment of a fixture Kerr should be shot. Why the **** is Duff starting and McGeady not? I bet Mourinho is going mental.

_blank_

Slash/ED wrote:

this pointless embarassment of a fixture

hmmm....eirebhoy won't like that.

We all know that friendlies are very important games, to hell with injuries to our best players, sure it's the current game that counts.

:rolleyes:

A Dub in Glasgo

Slash/ED wrote:

If Duff or Keane get injured in this pointless embarassment of a fixture Kerr should be shot. Why the **** is Duff starting and McGeady not? I bet Mourinho is going mental.

Are you accepting the opinion of one club manager over another? almost every club manager will not like their players getting injured on international duty especially in a friendly. Why should Kerr care about what Mourinho thinks over other club managers?

Slash/ED

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Are you accepting the opinion of one club manager over another? almost every club manager will not like their players getting injured on international duty especially in a friendly. Why should Kerr care about what Mourinho thinks over other club managers?

Because if Duff gets injured, we lose him too. Why start Duff over McGeady? what has Duff got to prove? Kerr wont play McGeady in furutre internationals now because he';ll say he lacks experience at this level, it's a joke selection having Duff and Keane in it.

eirebhoy

Sean doesn't think any teams should actually play friendlies at all. If we were playing Brazil nobody would be mentioning injuries. OK, we know what Duff and Keane can do but thats not the be all. If we are putting a completely new 11 out wouldn't it just be the same for Kerr to watch the U-21's play against France's U-21's? That way we can see how good a player is...

Of course not. We have to see how the likes of Elliott and Dunne link up with the other first team players players. Putting them in a team with 9 or 10 other fringe players is absolutely useless.

Honestly lads, why do you think Kerr is playing them? To give them a run out? He has to see how Elliott and Keane link up as well as see how the two of them cope with Duff's crosses, etc. Elliott could score a hattrick with McGeady threading through balls into them but he would than have no experience of Duffer's crosses. There are many, many things like that. Leave it to Kerr.

Slash/ED

Slash/ED wrote:

If he plays that team I'm ripping up my ticket, the whole match would be an absolutley pointless exercise. Nobody who started on saturday should start on tuesday bar perhaps the players not playing regularly for their own clubs, like Morrison, O'Shea and O'Brien, or players he wants to try in a different position.

completely agree with you, these players need to be playing somewhat competitive football, they need a chance to prove their fitness and hunger.

thejollyrodger

Experiments work best when there are only a few players coming into the squad. Changing too many is pointless. I am pretty happy with the line out, the only thing I have to disagree with is Mc Geady. I thought he should had started instead of Duffer.

Duffer has gone off the boil, he isnt producing as much as he used to, its a very demanding season for him and he needs a break. But Mc Geady is only 18/19. So I guess the best of two worlds is probably to start Duff and then bring on Mc Geady.

Good fixture by the way. Im still down about that late Israeli goal but Kerr is forward thinking and preparing us for when we get to Germany.

Im glad to see Kavanagh starting. Hopefully he cant break a few legs in midfield in this match and the Israeli match.

Hopefully Dunne can produce something at the set pieces. And Elliott can come up with something up front. I cant see him doing much though. Its only his 2nd cap.

A Dub in Glasgo

Slash/ED wrote:

Because if Duff gets injured, we lose him too. Why start Duff over McGeady? what has Duff got to prove? Kerr wont play McGeady in furutre internationals now because he';ll say he lacks experience at this level, it's a joke selection having Duff and Keane in it.

Yep, I totally agree so what was the Mourhino reference for? Are you suggesting that Duff should not play because Mourinho will not like it

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote:

Sean doesn't think any teams should actually play friendlies at all. If we were playing Brazil nobody would be mentioning injuries.

Actually, if you go back to my posts when we played Brazil, I was quite vocal on the subject of players getting injured in friendlies.

Now on to tonights opposition.

The Asian Football Confederation use the following format for WC Qualification.

8 Groups of four teams play, then the 8 winners go on to two more groups of four.

China did not qualify for this second stage. They were recently beaten 3-0 by Spain in a friendly.

Why did the FAI choose to play China in a friendly?

They offer no opportunity to play against high quality opposition. Players will gain little or no experience whatsoever. If we are to play friendlies, we should be playing top quality opposition. What lessons could possibly be learned from playing a two-bit Asian side. A footballing backwater.

thejollyrodger

Maybe because of the fact its incredibly hard to get good asian opposition. Spain had to make do with China as well. Not too many other European countries got a asian side lined up so there is little to complain about.

China are not a physical team and its only a friendly. Its highly unlikey that anyone will pick up an injury;)

The only downside is that, we will probably score a lot of goals but it might not be that easy against Israel in June.

_blank_

thejollyrodger wrote:

we will probably score a lot of goals

What was the last time we socred more than three in a game under Brian Kerr?*

Less than three goals is not "a lot of goals".

We'll score one goal, go into our shells, and win 1-0.

*
edit.

We have NEVER scored more than three goals in one game under Kerr, and only reached that total twice. Against Canada (another footballing backwater) in November '03, and against Cyprus last September.

thejollyrodger

THis is probably one of our most attacking line ups ever. Ried, Robbie, Duffer and Elliott. If we dont score goals tonight its nothing short of a diaster. I predict a 3 or 4 nill win.

_blank_

thejollyrodger wrote:

I predict a 3 or 4 nill win.

:eek: :eek:

spoiler contains latest score

Is anyone watching this game?

What is going on, why have we not scored with 65mins gone?

bizmark

yey we scored morrison is on fire pitty the team in general isnt playing well

thejollyrodger

great to see morrison scored again. But this Ireland team is very average to be honest.

We are really lacking up front.

A Dub in Glasgo

Kerr has issues with playing McGeady. What is the point in bringing the young lad from the U-21 game into the senior squad to Dublin when he had no intention of playing him?

We should be encouraging one of our finest prospects in a long while, especially in a friendly game against China.

Ah well, here's to McGeady and Bellamy having another stormer for Celtic on Saturday

bizmark

thejollyrodger wrote:

great to see morrison scored again. But this Ireland team is very average to be honest.

We are really lacking up front.

aye its pritty worrying isnt it

thejollyrodger

Kerr tried everything tonight. The chinese are very athletic and defended well. We were very lucky to get that goal. A draw would be a fair result.

Clinton did well but he is not doing it at club level and there is a lot of his game that he needs to work on.

We have so many players that arent getting regular first team football. Its very dishearting.

Robbie works hard but I dont think he is our answer to a striker. Elliott worked hard and got himself into some good poisitons but never put away.

Josh's passing is poor. He thinks to much about it. He needs to sharpen up a lot.

Dunne did well IMO.

As Dolan said on the radio we really need to develop some proper technical players and some proper sporting facilities for soccer (not rugby). We have very few players who are technically gifted and can really score We piggy back on British football but it cant really provide us with a proper means of coaching players. Kerr has done well (only loosing 1 competitve fixture) but the resources available are very thin. China are a low ranking team, Spain put 3 past them and we battled all night. I found it very disapointing to be honest.

The fact that we had to bring on RMK to get a win rang alarm bells. Something is really wrong with Irish soccer if we cant easily beat teams that are ranked 200+ in the FIFA rankings.