Giovanni Trapattoni names Ireland team to face Spain
14 June 2012
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27 Comments
Written by Ronan
Giovanni Trapattoni has only made one change to his starting lineup to take on Spain at Euro 2012.
In the only change from Sunday’s Group C loss to Croatia, Simon Cox replaces Kevin Doyle, and is expected to play a deeper role in what could be a 4-5-1 formation.
Irish team v Spain:
Shay Given, John O´Shea, Richard Dunne, Sean St. Ledger, Stephen Ward, Keith Andrews, Glenn Whelan, Damien Duff, Aiden McGeady, Simon Cox, Robbie Keane
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Spain are world and euro champions but we totally capitulated after the first 10 minutes. No passion, no ideas, no tactics (except trying to contain Spain and play the odd long ball)and worst of all no balls. At 2-0 down we should have gone for broke, brought Long, McClean and Gibson on (for the woeful Whelan)….pathetic isn’t the word.
We don’t deserve to get through the group stages…good luck to Spain as they have all the things we don’t, grace, work rate, ideas, skill.
Disastrous.
Trap must go. He has set up back 20 years.
The dream is over….but what fucks me off most of all is we went out like a bunch sorry ass losers, no spirit, nada, nothing
I have been a defender of Trap, but this was a disgrace. The tactics and players were wrong. What is most disturbing, no plan B if we are down 1-0 or 2-0 against Spain, a likely scenario. McLean brought on way too late. Gibson should have been on for Whelan. Hunt for Duff. Long should have started as striker, with Keane as an impact sub if he decided to make an impact instead of pouting all the time. And bringing on Green at 80 minutes, with no club at the moment, when Gibson is on the bench, and with Coleman, Pilkerton, and Hoolahan watching at home. Come on.
first team to be eliminated, barely a sight of goal in two games and we’ve already conceded 7 really soft goals.
I really never thought we would beat Spain but I thought we could put up more of a fight. I honestly believe Spain have had tougher training matches than that and I don’t think they played very well at all (for Spain)
I really don’t blame the players, I think they were chasing shadows for two games and playing football without the football.
The tactics forced on them have been shocking. We have been playing against inferior opposition in qualifying and despite winning have had a smaller portion of the possession. that’s not how to play football anymore. teams will punish you.
Today was very depressing. I felt we would lose but the lack of fight was astonishing.
The harsh reality that trap hopefully learned today is that (if he stays)he needs to use the friendlies after the tourny to try new formations/tactics before the world cup qualifiers. That said i think the 4-4-2 and defensive tactics could still be useful as long as we can be flexible with a 4-2-3-1 when the situation calls for it (like against a 5 man midfeild).
Equally important is the realization that it is time to blood some young players and bring in some new ones, including those he has previously ignored, to fill the void that will be left by some older playera and fix some problem areas we have. I think LB is a MAJOR issue going back to kilbane and almost as bad a our CM woes. Ward has been found out during the tourny and Wilson must be brought in along with mccarthy and gibson in the center. Those changes and playing mcgeady on the right, mcclean on the left and long in for doyle would easily enhance the teams ability even if trap remains determined to use the 4-4-2.
I think we still have some great potential amd will continue to grow if we can blood our young players properly and fix the problem areas.
Still
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyTu8ibpp9w
Really proud of our fans. (Sorry if links aren’t allowed)
Spain were phenomenal. Always pressing, always first to a loose ball, always under our long balls. People gush about their passing, but it is their defensive play that makes them the team that they are. I was also impressed by the spirit in which they played the game.
We were playing a different sport.
i cant believe green got game time against spain jesus christ DARRON GIBSON should of came on instead of green i heard john delaney said today traps keeping his job regardless of the results so it looks like were stuck with him for the wc 2014 qualifiers i seriously hope he includes clark and wilson at cb and lb for the qualifying campaign and i also hope he tries out gibson and mccarthy in midfield and mabey move mcgeady to the right flank and put mcclean on the left and drop doyle for long we could play Given
o’shea-Dunne-clark-wilson
Gibson-mccharty
McClean-McGeady-Duff
Keane/long or play Given
coleman -Dunne-o’shea-wilson
Gibson-clark/andrews
McGeady-mccahrty/hoolahan-mcclean
Keane/long i will also will be watching robbie brady greg cunningham conor clifford sean murray jeff hendricks and shane duffy very closely this season they look like very promising players for us and if wes hoolahan season is anything like hes last 4 goals and seven assists he could be a serious player for us he look better then stephen ireland at the moment. COME ON IRELAND
and also duff could retire before the wc qualifiers and i dont think its a bad thing i know hes a legend for ireland but hes 33 if he stays for the wc qualifiers he will be 35 and he has a lot of injuries i would rather mcclean coleman or brady over duff there young and can only improve were duff is geting older and more injuries. theres also speculation that given might retire which i hope is not true i no he had a horrid euros but hes only 36 and has atleast anther 2 years left at international level and by then i think stephen henderson keiren westwood and darren randolph would all be in there prime and have the experience to be irelands number 1 and theres also two young irish lads at manchester united and manchester city called joe coll and ian lawlor there young i think both 18 but there suppose to be very good keepers and are tipped to have big futures at both clubs could be contenders for the euro 2016. john delaney said a few players might retire when been interviewed by sky news i hope dunne o’shea and keane dont they have one more tournament left in them
Sadly the players it looked were not prepared enough and some lacked fitness.
Going forward Ireland have to change their formation. There is no coincidence the best teams in the world play with 3 in midfield and we have to.
I hope we play McClean, Gibson, Kelly, Long against Italy to freshen things up.
In the world cup campaign we need to integrate Coleman, Clark, McCarthy, Pearce, Pilkington, Wilson and McClean and into the team.
I would like to see a team of:
Given
Coleman Dunne Clark Wilson
PilkingtonMcCarthy Gibson Houlahan McClean
Long
We have Germany, Sweden and Austria in the World Cup qualifiers. God help us. We can only comfortably beat teams like Andorra. We struggled to even beat Armenia. It’s not going to be pretty. Unless he starts playing players like McCarthy, Gibson, Clark, Wilson, Hoolahan, Ireland, Stokes, Best and McClean and drops the deadwood. But there is a slim chance of that happening.
Incredibly stupid decision to give Trapattoni a contract extension as soon as we beat mighty Estonia. We could have been led into Poland by Mick McCarthy and at least we wouldn’t have disgraced ourselves. Now we are stuck with Trapattoni.
There’s a good reason why Italian tanks have only one forward gear but 5 reverse ones.
A few depressing stats from yesterday’s embarrassment.
Spain total passes – 880 of which 768 were successful (this is a euro record in its self but xavi also set the record for individual passes)
Ireland total passes – 254 of which 178 were successful
I seriously don’t believe Spain played at 100%. I think they could have scored more it they wanted to. This was more like a training match than a competitive match.
Obviously trapattoni has never heard of xavi.
Trapattoni blaming the players for the defeat is a bit out of order. Claiming they were nervious is down right insane. I never expected a win but I did expect more of a performance than that – the lack of tactics is was made that game an embarrassment.
Really proud.
Commentator on The Guardian.co.uk, on Irish Fans singing The Fields of Athenry at the 89th minute at the Gdansk Stadium; losing 4-0 against the current reigning European and World Champions, Spain.
“That was actually quite beautiful and moving. Not just the football – although God knows, Spain were graceful and balletic and waltzing enough – but the way the Irish fans gently lifted the responsibility and attention away from their floundering team and lifted their voices up, creating beauty where their players were unable to do so. And while the Irish players were only able to look on, and maybe inwardly applaud their Spanish adversaries on the pitch as they took the game beyond their vision, so too the Spanish fans could only look on and clap in appreciation as the Irish gave them a master class in how to support a team, indeed in how to pick up and cradle a bruised and broken team and transcend the game, and the stadium, and the night.”
Like Paul, I’ve been an ardent defender of Trap’s. But this isn’t all Ireland could achieve at the Euros. Not one win, thus far not even close to a draw, and only one goal scored versus seven scored against. Appalling for a team that is supposed to be a defensive juggernaut.
With that said, this is a tough group. Italy and Spain are defending world champions, while Croatia is a consistently underrated team that’s actually ranked #8 in the world right now.
Im very proud of the fans. Very. But the boys in Green can be better than this. You could make a first class team out of the 11 guys on the bench or at home.
Westwood, Coleman, Clark, Harte, Wilson, McClean, Hoolahan, Gibson, Hunt, Long, and Stokes.
Well that’s my team for the next campaign -
Given
Kelly
Dunne
O’Shea
Coleman
McClean
Ireland
Gibson
McCarthy
McGeady
Long
The Bench -
Stokes
Doyle
Hunt
St Ledger
Hoolahan
Andrews
Clark
Cunningham
Brady
Westwood
White
Pilkington
trap is playing a load of deadweights, much better players sitting on the bench and at home. Look we wouldnt beat Spain with them, but we would be much more competitive in this tournament with them.
Complete outdated tactics
Out of the current squad, here is who should/not be involved in World Cup qualifiers
Given – Should (provided he stays fit)
Westwood – Should
Forde – Shouldn’t
Dunne – Should
St Ledger – Should (Reflects on lack of options; with O’Shea, Paddy McCarthy, Wilson, Clark, Duffy, Gunning and O’Dea around, he is by no means a bonafide starter)
O’Dea – Should
Ward – Shouldn’t (Found out in a big way)
Kelly – Should
McShane – Shouldn’t
O’Shea – Should replace St Ledger at cb, he is redundant at fb
McClean – Should
McGeady – Should
Hunt – Shouldn’t (Too many young attacking midfielders available to justify Hunt’s inclusion)
Duff – Should
Whelan – Shouldn’t (Hoolahan would be better in a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1; way too mistake prone and indisciplined; cost us 5 or 6 goals over the last year and a half)
Andrews – Shouldn’t (Better than Whelan but too old; goes missing)
Green – Shouldn’t (Came on against Hungary and Spain and managed to gift Spain a goal and do his best to gift Hungary a goal; useless at this level)
Gibson – Should
Keane – Should
Doyle – Should
Long – Should
Cox – Should (Decent performance against Spain makes it hard to justify exclusion but needs a move to cement his squad place)
Walters – Shouldn’t
Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Spain 3-1 Lithuania
Scotland 2-3 Spain
Spain 2-1 Czech Republic
Lithuania 1-3 Spain
Czech Republic 0-2 Spain
Spain 3-1 Scotland
Euro 2012
Spain 4-0 Ireland
Are we really worse than Scotland and Lithuania or is Crapattoni clearly the wrong man for the job?
If the FAI weren’t an insolvent and incompetently run organisation, then Crapattoni would/should have been sacked.
“Right man for the job” my arse. Beating Estonia and Andorra is one thing. How the fuck are we going to beat Germany, Sweden or Austria with the way we play? We are in for one hell of an embarrassing WC campaign.
Redundant system with players who are ill equipped to play in said redundant system. Players not being picked on merit. No plan b. No tactical flexibility.
Cox, Walters and Green, the former on the left wing. Gibson doesn’t get a game and McClean and Long are an afterthought.
Crapattoni is a fucking stubborn idiot and I don’t want him holding my country back any more than he already has.
XAVI is an undroppable player. PIRLO is an undroppable player. WHELAN is expendable. ANDREWS is expendable. Even O’Shea, Given and Keane are expendable at their age and performance level. He has got to drop players if they aren’t good enough. Blind loyalty is getting us NOWHERE.
I’ve got to say, when Green came on at 3-0 I nearly sh*t a brick. What was he doing? Shutting up shop? Gibson might be the only midfielder we have that can play the ball out of a tight corner and he couldn’t even get on the pitch.
mikeeire has a lineup there which is worth moving towards, although I hope that we can get a new contender at left back. Neither Ward nor Wilson are capable of doing the job to a decent standard.
I’d love to ask Crapattoni why he tells his defenders to punt the ball aimlessly up the pitch if he is going to select players like Walters and Cox who cannot head the ball (or do much of anything). Still frustrated by Long’s absence. He could score 20 goals next season and Cox could play in the reserves and Cox would still be ahead of him. Must be even more frustrating for Long.
People may laugh but Jon Daly should have been tried out in friendlies. It would have made more sense than for our redundant system than selecting Cox and Walters. Someone who actually knows how to score and someone who is tall enough to perhaps do a better job of winning long balls.
And don’t give me the SPL hogwash. Playing week in, week out for a team that regularly competes for European football is good enough, if selecting a League 1 standard striker is.
Look how Denmark performed in this tournament and half of their squad are in the Danish League. Look how Scotland performed against Spain in qualifying.
Crap is a bit of a bigot and I wish we would get a more enlightened and progressive manager in.
A balance between a Staunton and Trapattoni. Not as bad and not as overrated and outdated.
1.Given-stay
2-St.Ledger-stay
3-Ward-stay but should not be first choice has been caught out on to many occasions since his debut
4-O’Shea-stay(but as a centre half possible not first choice)
5-Dunne-Stay
6-Whelan-go(has 40 odd caps and all hes realy done is score against italy,has gone missing in games and looks invisable,too slow on the ball and hasnt a clue what to do when on the ball)replace with James McCarthy
7-McGeady-stay(but not first choice may be more effective off the bench as he showed against bosnia)
8-Andrews-stay(but not as first choice and not as holding midfielder,should play higher up the pitch and be brought on late on in games possibly our player of the tournament which dosnt say much)
9-Doyle-stay(but needs to get back on form and must leave wolves where he is simply just rotting away)
10-Kenae-stay(but another impact sub,his move 2 L.A has decreased his intensity of play and looked anonymous,our best technical player and finisher but at this stage his place may be on the bench which could be benefiaciary as it could provide a lift when he comes off the bench in a game,in my opinion not best choice for captain)
11-Duff-stay(however lack of pace,maby an option at left back?mcclean will push him for a stating place but must be given oporyunity to run at fullbacks instead of being given too much defensive duties by trap)
12-Kelly-stay(pushing for start)
13-McShane-out(simply not good enough)replace with Marc Wilson
14-Walters-stay(alternative attacking option and can play out wide,possibly our most physical player)
15-Gibson-stay(but should be given chance in less conservative role where he has become oblivious)
16-Westwood-stay
17-Hunt-stay(but should be picked depending on his form and should not be automatic pick,has a great delivery and maby the best set piece taker in our squad at present but not the player he was at the start of traps reign)
18-O’Dea-Stay(simply because he genuinly has potential and could still make a good player,like hunt should be picked on form and not be a guaranteed pick,needs to sort out club career)
19-Long-Stay-possible starter
20-Cox-Go-should make way for Stokes or Pilkington possibly Best as he is a bigger option,if he gets more 1st team action should be considered but just runs and provides little industry
21-Green-GO GO GO-should never have been alowed pull on an Irish shirt in the first place and is the ultimate plastic paddy and an utter disgrace.not good enough for Derby and should not get a sniff of a call up in the future was an insult to the Irish fans that he was included)replace with Hoolahan
22-McClean-(hes our future)
23-Forde-go-(sub for milwall after a shocking season)replace with Randolph,Henderson,Brain Murphy or possibly Paddy Kenny even Meara at NYRB
Others that should be considered-Clark,Paddy McCarthy,Joey O’Brien,Tierney,Aidy White,Cunningham,Duffy,Coleman,Brady,Pilkington,Barry Maguire,Carruthers,Ireland(should he want a return),Mason,Best
and exploit the granny rule for decnt player NOT the likes of Paul Green, Alex Bruce,Alex Pearce etc,Trap should do his homework like big Jack and find us some gems
Nick brought up a good point there. Duff can play at fb and has played at fb for Newcastle. Another example of Crapattoni’s cluelessness. Duff at fb to accomodate McClean. That’s ah unpossible!
how does this lineup look?very like how Martin O’Neil set up Celtic
Given
O’Shea(CB)-Dunne(CB)-Clark(CB)
Coleman(WINGBACK)-Gibson-McCarhy-Duff(WINGBACK)
McClean-Long-McGeady
Hoolahn or Ireland could also fit into the centre or even as the support players to Long up top,St.Ledger could also pip JO’S
Poland draw with Russia and Greece knock them out of the Championships. I am convinced that if we weren’t sent out to play in such a naive, negative and irrational way against Russia and France at home, we would have got better results against teams like that.
Crapattoni is really getting shown up for the clueless, arrogant dinosaur that he is.
Scotland, Lithuania and the Czechs taking it to Spain in qualifying. Poland and Greece getting results against Russia in the Euros. Italy’s laughable showing back in South Africa….
It goes on and on and on.
A few short years before we allowed Bulgaria to completely dominate possession in World Cup qualifying, Bulgaria were getting hammered 5-0 by Sweden.
But of course,Bulgaria are probably “better” than little Ireland in Crap’s eyes.
Why we only have the likes of O’Shea, Dunne, Duff, Keane, Given, Ireland, McCarthy, Coleman, McClean, Hoolahan and Long available to us.
Bulgaria had Radostin Kishishev.
Time will show Crapattoni’s reign as the abject failure that it was. Just because Steve Staunton was a complete failure (and who didn’t see that coming?) doesn’t make Trapattoni anything resembling a success.
Just getting to Euro 2012 is good enough for some people, but not me and not other countries.
Can’t wait to get 4th place in World Cupqualifying out of the way, so we can move forward with a view to the next Euros.
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