Limerick FC 2014

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

Why does he have to be a Dub? That aside Joe Gamble met your criteria fairly well.

Ok not a dub but there are a plenty of players from Pats, Bohs, Shels etc who have played a couple of hundred games and could bring that experience which we just dont have.

TheBeast17 wrote: »

They come at a big price though.

Agreed but less than Gamble was getting a week

Been reading a few season previews in different places- thought Liam Togher's one was pretty decent.

Decided to do one of my own then, an optimistic one:

http://grabsport.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/limerick-fc-2014-season-preview/


Really, it is hard to know how the season will pan out but I am more optimistic than most. I think Oji is a class act, I think if we can keep Gaffney and Curran fit, we'll do well. Midfield and a lack of pace are my real worries- but I don't think it necessarily has to be a Dub Maybe Agyemang will be the answer, hopefully.

TheBeast17 wrote: »

I think people are being way too down tbh. I actually think our midfield is stronger this year.

I hope you're right,

I would take 7th again right now and move onto to next year at markets field

Fireball07 wrote: »

Duggan might be an individually better player than any of those that left... but I don't see how you could say it's stronger.

I didn't rate Bradley at all... he looked disinterested too often; but O'Leary and Gamble must have started around 60 games between them last season. To replace that, we've got Duggan and a 19-year-old Ghanaian. I hope Nzuzi can slot in nicely at this level though.

In my opinion.
Duggan > O'Leary
Nzuzi >/= Gamble
Hughes > Bradley

And this 19 year old Ghanain is supposedly quite good. Nzuzi and Hughes will cover ground far better then Gamble and Bradley and as good as Gamble was at getting the foot in him and Bradley struggled to cover the ground in Thomond at times.

I dont think we are missing a defensive midfielder like some people seem to think. Nzuzi is a defensive midfielder that is where he played all his time at Newcastle it was only us that moved him into defence.

TheBeast17 wrote: »

In my opinion.
Duggan > O'Leary
Nzuzi >/= Gamble
Hughes > Bradley

And this 19 year old Ghanain is supposedly quite good. Nzuzi and Hughes will cover ground far better then Gamble and Bradley and as good as Gamble was at getting the foot in him and Bradley struggled to cover the ground in Thomond at times.

I dont think we are missing a defensive midfielder like some people seem to think. Nzuzi is a defensive midfielder that is where he played all his time at Newcastle it was only us that moved him into defence.

Nzuzi played in midfield a couple of times last season and he looked more suited to a midfielder who covers a lot of ground, a box-to-box player rather than a defensive midfielder. Now, he may be suited to there but there is a big difference between being a defensive-minded player in a 3-man midfield and being the actual holding midfielder (the Gamble role). I hope Nzuzi can do that, but you have to have someone who can make tackles and interceptions on a consistent basis, otherwise you don't get the ball.

Hughes might be better than Bradley, but he's not better than O'Leary or Gamble imo, and while he's a tidy player, he's nothing more than that. He doesn't really have a standout attribute. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh because he is a good player but if you want to push up the league, you need to have players who stand out.


We'll see...




What team do people reckon we'll see tonight? Something like:

..................Murray.......................
Kelly........Folan...Whitehead Costelloe
..................Nzuzi..........................
..............Duggan Hughes................
......Curran.........Gaffne.....Tracy......


That's assuming that Ryan, Cusack, Williams, Oji, Leahy and Galbraith are all ruled out (that's quite a lot for first game of the season).

If I was picking the team, I'd have Tracy at left-back ahead of Costelloe, with Rainsford in the front 3; but with Tracy playing in an advanced role and scoring so much in pre-season, I'd say he'll go wit that.

And a bench of:

Walsh, Murphy, O'Connor, Feeney, Rainsford, Coughlan, Hanlon.


Maybe Williams might make the bench- it's a decent starting 11 considering the injuries. Bit callow in defence, but Costelloe played plenty of games last season and Whitehead looked decent.

TheBeast17 wrote: »

Yes but Nzuzi and Duggan are so we have replaced players with better ones making us stronger in there imo. Nzuzi did a lot of winning the ball at right back last season I think he will cover Gamble well but time will tell. Hughes in fairness to him is well able to make a tackle too.

My starting team from things I have heard is:

Cusack

Kelly Oji Folan Williams

Duggan Nzuzi Hughes

Tracy Gaffney Curran/Coughlan

If Oji and Williams are fit, it'd be a big boost. And Cusack tbf, even if I'm not his biggest fan.

If that was the team, I think we'll win 2-0.

For anyone who couldn't make it to the game, extratime.ie does a minute by minute update on games. Here is tonight's game http://extratime.ie/fixtures/detail/20236/1/

Fairly disappointing performance, game was poor, pitch was awful, and we didn't seem to have much of a gameplan. Too much hoofing, not enough movement from the front players and the midfield weren't confident playing it around.


Ref was awful too, I didn't think Duggan dived, I'd have to see it again but it was harsh. Their red card was a joke, was a yellow card at most... Akinade's yellow was never one either. I think the ref tried too hard to lay down the law early on and made things difficult for himself- as it was Nzuzi was lucky to stay on the field, some stupid decisions by him.


Defensively, we were solid throughout. Cusack made one good save, but wasn't really tested otherwise, was solid. Kelly was very good, particularly in the 2nd half, deserved his MotM. But again, I wish he'd overlap more. Folan was excellent, Williams was very good... Oji made more mistakes tonight than he did in the whole of last season, I'd say, but made a few crucial blocks and interventions. Was beaten in the air by Akinade...

Hughes was good, Duggan was okay but the pitch caught him a few times... Nzuzi was okay but for his stupidity.


In attack was the real problem, we had no idea what to do- Rainsford was very poor, looked completely off the pace, lacked aggression. Tracy was anonymous... Gaffney was doing it all himself, but he couldn't cross the ball to himself. Not enough people in the box, not enough movement in attack, not enough passing... it wasn't good at all. Even when they didn't clear the throw-ins, we didn't attack them at all well. If that's a tactic, surely we have know how to do it?


Best chances were Gaffney's, brilliant tackle by Mitchell (who spent most of the game fouling Gaffney but got away with it); Oji's header, either side of the keeper and it was in; Gaffney didn't strike a chance at the far post first-time, took it down and ballooned off left; and Kelly after being set up by Hughes maybe should have done a bit better.



Bray weren't good, we weren't either. Lacked invention, missed Curran. Must do better.

Terrible stuff again last night, Taylor would want to get the finger out fast or we're in big trouble.

TheBeast17 wrote: »

Very hard for Kelly or Williams doing anything going forward when they have nothing in the box to aim for when they do get on the ball. Exact same problems as last season with nobody helping the man up front no-one going pass him from midfield. This style of play Taylor stuck to all last season is poor tbh.

This is very true... but Rainsford and Tracy were doing absolutely nothing. They didn't seem to know how to play the positions they were in.

They weren't supporting Gaffney, they weren't getting wide, they weren't supporting the midfield, they weren't picking up balls in the pockets between the midfield and defence.


That's a tactical issue really, if you're going to play that formation, the players should know how to play their position.

Fireball07 wrote: »

This is very true... but Rainsford and Tracy were doing absolutely nothing. They didn't seem to know how to play the positions they were in.

They weren't supporting Gaffney, they weren't getting wide, they weren't supporting the midfield, they weren't picking up balls in the pockets between the midfield and defence.


That's a tactical issue really, if you're going to play that formation, the players should know how to play their position.

I don't think I have seen him do anything positive since his goals v UCD. Shows no potential imo. Garbhan Coughlan should take that spot imo until Craig Curran is back and then I think we need a new formation.

Lads, quick question about parking around Thomond, whats the story with the Limerick games? Ye are playing us (Athlone) on 18th April - Good Friday, and I'm thinking of going along and bringing the car. I know for Munster games there's a park and ride but would it be safe to presume there'd only be a couple of thousand max at this game? Would I get away with leaving it close to the stadium?