Ian Harte

A$$A$$IN

I for one am frightened at the fact that Ian Harte will be playing in the world cup.All credit to him for his superb deleveries and bending free kicks but he is a corner back and is constantly caught out of position!!

he's a ballwatcher and is far too easy 2 get past plus he is always out of position!!He attacks well but never has the pace to track back.

I think a defensive left wing role could possibly suit him more.:(

KdjaCL

I think mcarthy is aware of that and Staunton will be ust inside him for cover.
But that left foot of his is sweet and is worth a goal from assist or direct.
He has to play just for that alone.
Hope fully we wont have much defending to do:)
Anyway its the world cup all the goals are 30 yard screamers
kdja

b20uvkft6m5xwg

If we had more options, I dont think Harte would play.
But we don't:(

Week in Week out he is shafted by opposition wingers in the premiership. His ability from set pieces is laudable but, IMO, not enough to warrant his place if such a replacment was available.

From what I was reading on football365, he may not even be playing for Leeds next season w/ the Ridsdale / O'Leary summer clearout planned !

mise

i dont think Harte is the greatest defender in the world, but no one else in the team can take a free kick like him, so i think he should play. my worry is staunton who i reckon mccarthy will play. hes gonna die after bout ten mins of the first game.
im hoping mick decides to bring doherty

bucks73

I agree that his defensive positioning is poor and he has no pace. Even Beckham carrying the ball out-sprinted him in the recent game at elland road for Uniteds third goal.

His left foot crosses and dead balls are brilliant though. I think he has a higher ratio than Beckham for free kicks on target.

McCarthy could always replace him with Uncle Gary if hes getting burned by a pacy Saudi or Cameroon.

four_star

the last world cup we were in we could hardly score and had some very good defenders but now its the reverse. who would have thought ireland more of an attacking nation than a defending one. steve finan is the only decent defender going to the world cup for ireland. staunton is too old, breen is crap, dunne should be a full forward in gaelic and harte can't defend. doherty is our best option as he plays anywhere and can defend a bit but i don't think mccarthy will play him.

Tony The Monkey Child

Harte is at best an average defender. However his dead ball expertise does warrant a game as it could be crucial come June. His uncle is worse though, hopefully he won't get a chance to display his wide array of backpasses during the world cup.

KdjaCL

Depending on who is in front of Harte really dicatates how bad a defender he is.
At Leeds when kewell plays onthe left Harte is exposed for how crap he is.
But for Ireland when kilbane big galloping donkey plays in front of him he looks a bit more comfortable defending as Kilbane works back a lot.
But honestly what do we want to see a negative ireland or a team attacking options all over the pitch.
kdja

Pigman

I agree. Staunton and Kilbane are able enough to cover up Harte's defensive frailties whilst leaving Harte available to give us some kind of attacking option.

Duff can play up front with Keane giving us three legitimate goalscorers on the pitch. My word! Who would have thought it possible that Ireland might actually score more than one goal in a match of a major finals?