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Giovanni Trapattoni names Ireland team to face Poland

5 February 2013 2,235 views 31 Comments Written by Ronan

Giovanni Trapattoni has named his Republic of Ireland starting eleven for Wednesday’s international friendly with Poland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Conor Sammon will make his Ireland debut up front, partnering Shane Long. Trapattoni told reporters of his administration for the Derby County striker. “We’ve seen him many times,” Trapattoni said. “He’s big and not just fast, but sensible and agile. Normally with big players, they don’t move so quickly. That’s my impression, at least.”

Sammon is the only debutant starting, but fellow Derby duo Richard Keogh and Jeff Hendrick are expected to come on in the second half, while Reading defender Alex Pearce should win his second cap. “Keogh, Pearce and Hendrick, we hope to see two or three new players in the second half,” Trapattoni said.

Trapattoni also responded to Ian Harte’s outburst on twitter claiming that the Italian boss didn’t know the Reading full-back was eligible, saying “We know about Ian but we looked for young players,” he said, referring to when he first took the job in 2008. “I know him and I saw many games. We had Kevin Kilbane, John [O’Shea] and since then we’ve had [Stephen] Ward and now Cunningham. It’s Twitter!”

Republic of Ireland team:
David Forde, Paul McShane, John O’Shea (capt), Ciaran Clark, Greg Cunningham; Robbie Brady, Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, James McClean; Shane Long, Conor Sammon

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31 Comments »

  • IrishRI said:

    Forde,
    McShane, O’Shea, Clark, Cunningham,
    Brady, McCarthy, Whelan, McClean,
    Long, Sammon.
    Interesting team but McShane at right back? Please..
    Would have liked to have seen Gibson instead of Whelan but he’s AWOL.
    Besides that the players are an improvement.
    Again, the good old 4-4-2. Sames system, same shite football just a few different players.
    Long and Sammon are very similar. Both strong and good in the air but who are they flicking those headers onto?
    I think he made just enough personal changes to keep the FAI off his back just like he did against the Faroes and Greece but has fundamentally kept the system and team. I have honestly grown to despise this poisonous little man they call Trapattoni.

  • John said:

    Anybody know of a stream for the U19 v Czech Republic U19 today? Got a couple of hours to kill and its not on Firstrow.

  • Nick said:

    Doesnt pick McClean when hes on fire then picks him when his form is brutal. Starts McShane at fullback even though his ball control is worse then a drunk and when Joey O’Brien a proven PL fullback is available. Plays Whelan Despite citing Hendrick and or Hoolahan would start hes had 40 caps nd has been exposed as very limited so why stick with him when theres new players coming through?Playing the 4-4-2 is pointless and showing hes no intention of changing his tactics EVER and the Sammon ahead of Hoolahan is baffling Mark Bunn is also a beter option then mistake king Forde. Apart from thats not too bad but theres always raised eyebrows for no reson at all Team could have and should have been

    Bunn
    O’Brien-O’Shea-Clark-Cunningham
    McCarthy-Hendrick
    Brady-Hoolahan-McClean
    Long

  • IrishRI said:

    Yes. That would be my team too based on who we have available in a
    4-2-3-1. Same old Trap, same old shite. There will probably be more Poles than Irish at the game.

  • IrishRI said:

    Poland are playing a 4-2-3-1.
    Again tactically we will be overrun by their 5 man midfield joined by attacking full backs. Yawn !

    …………..Tyton
    Piszczek, Wasilewski, Gilk, Wawrzyniak
    ………..Lukasik, Krychowiak
    Blaszczykowski, Obraniak, Grosicki
    ………..Lewandowski

  • John said:

    Totally agree with Nick,There is nor will there be any real change in Trap’s approach.We will once again be outnumbered in the midfield area and the team is crying out for the skill and creativity of Wes Hoolohan who at this stage should be the first name on the teamsheet,Not sure that Bunn is yet sorted paperwise to play but the process needs to be completed as soon as possible.The most interesting aspect of the polish game will be Trap’s reaction to Ireland being again outplayed in midfield-Will he adjust to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Hoolohan steering the ship?.We live in hope.

  • IrishRI said:

    This is for you Prop.

    Ireland are going to get Pole axed.
    By the end of the game Ireland will not be in Pole position.
    If you were to Pole the fans they would predict an Irish loss.
    If won’t take long for the opponents to Polish Ireland off.

  • mikeire said:

    Ireland 1 vs 0 Poland

    Possession
    56% Poland
    44% Republic of Ireland
    45mins

    They’ve had more possession and shots on goal but we’re winning.

    Outnumbered in the midfield again but I don;t think Trap can see that.

    Poland are passing the ball better and look more comfortable on the ball but hopefully we can catch them on the break again in the second half,

  • John said:

    Well, well…

    1. Hendrick to Hoolahan to Goal: Been a long time since I’ve seen a moment of true beauty from an Ireland team. Felt like a moment of catharsis after the last 8 months. Great to see raw talent illuminate a pretty drab performance.

    2. Connor Sammon: I haven’t seen a worse Ireland debut since God knows when. Glen Crowe was better for God’s sake. Won’t write him off, but can’t see how he can progress. For him to get 90 minutes was beyond baffling.

    3. Paul Green: Credit where its due – he did well. Looked comfortable behind Wesso.

    4. John O’Shea: Not a captain. More of a liability than Clark even though he has 10 years more experience. Line him up next to McShane and it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

    5. Greg Cunningham: Got a lot to learn but has a lot of promise and didn’t make any serious mistakes. Hopefully Wilson will be back for Sweden.

  • IrishRI said:

    John, you actually watched the game? I used to take days off to watch every Ireland game religiously. If they were playing in my back yard now I’d close the curtains. I’ll renew my interest once we get a new manager.

  • Paul said:

    Lots of food for thought. Our lack of a decent, reliable goal scoring striker at the moment is worrying. Shane Long does a lot on the ball, but he’s not prolific in terms of scoring the way Robbie Keane did when he was younger. We really have no substitute for Robbie.

    Cannot understand why Trap still rates Hoolahan so poorly. Maybe at least now Trap will consistently use him as an impact sub. That’s the best we can hope for, even though Hoolahan should be starting each game as the creative fulcrum of our offense. Any other coach would be starting him – we have no one else at the moment with that sort of quality on the ball.

  • John said:

    @IrishRI

    That’s your choice, but why come on Greenscene after the game?

    @Paul

    Agreed. Can’t help but feel that Long would have seen more of the ball if the back line wasn’t always trying to drop it on Sammon’s baldy head. Trap needs to give Hoolahan at least a little credit for his impact.

  • Mikeire said:

    It’s strange that if you play your better players you get better results… Weird.

    Hoolahan should have been playing 2 years ago but Green coming on before him is really frustrating.

    Man of the match – McCarthy

  • Nick said:

    poor performance but some glimpses of hope all the same, 4-4-2 should be dead and buried we offered nothing in the finl 3rd until wessi came on.Id give the following ratings

    Forde=6-poor distribution but a couple of decent saves but flapped at several crosses definatly inferier to the other options Bunn,Given Randolp etc

    McShane=4-Only seemed to touch control and pass back,caught out of position several times and gave the ball away far too often.Offered nothing going forward due to non existent ball control and had no idea what to do going forward

    O’Shea=7-Solid enough but made a couple of half arsed clearences but picked up his men well

    Clark=7=poor distribution but mainly down to Sammons inability to get anything on his passes. Great finish though and overall very solid. A mysetery its taken him this long to get involved by Trap

    Cunningham=6-Weak on the ball but a few good long passes,still a beter option then Ward

    WHelan=5-Same old shit,poor distribution and looked anonymous at times never realy got near the Polish midfield

    McCarthy=6-Very tidy in on the ball but wasnt 2 be seen for much of the game,probably cos he was under instruction to provide little to no industry that hes capable of

    Brady=6-reat potential but we seemed a tad reliant on him,just ran into brick walls but will be a seriously good player with time

    McClean=4-very poor display and didnt look like a footballer looked waek and his touches were like that of a choolboy.pitch didnt help him, he lacks industry and realy is just exciting for his pace and decent delivery but cant beat a man and isnt full of ideas going forward,could be a good impact sub

    Sammon=3=Shocking.shat himself anytime the ball was played to his feet and was clumbsy and overall out of his dept.will be persisted with as trap was a favourite despite only seeing glimpses of him.so imobile and far too many aimless header.didnt hold the ball up,show pace and showed ZERO technical ability 3 things trap claimed were features of his game DELUTIONAL.could start against Sweden

    Long=6-Quite obviously not fully fit but showed decent stregth,like sammon didnt help that there was poor service

    Green=7-im the biggest anti fan of this lad but must say look energetic,lacked industry and too slow on the ball but looked alright when wessi came on,still not good enough tho

    Hoolahan=8-Most composed player we have which is badly needed,great flick at one stage and also a world class finish.not a hope for him with our arogant prick of a manager that we have

    Not much time to rate the others but Hendricks assist was quality.Great to see Andy Keogh not getting a run out

  • IrishRI said:

    John, I enjoy reading Props rants.

  • ICantSplel said:

    Then read his rants and keep your repetitive comments about not wanting to watch Ireland to yourself, we get it, you don’t like Traptonni and are a fair weather fan. See you in 2014.

  • IrishRI said:

    I am far from a fair weather fan. I had never missed an Ireland game friendly or competitive from 1982 to now but I believe the only way the FAI will get the message to get rid of this guy is from a lack of interest from the supporters. Call is a boycott if you like.

  • John said:

    IrishRI – If you didn’t see the game, you can’t really add anything to the conversation.

    I am interested, though. You never boycotted another Irish manager? Ever witnessed worse Ireland performances than those under Trap? So you consider his reign to be worse than Eoin Hand and Stan?

  • IrishRI said:

    I never have. I do consider it worse. At least Hand and Staunton picked our best players and tried to play a bit of football even if our results weren’t the best. If Trap was fielding our best 11 and playing more positive tactics and we were still losing then I’d say so be it, at least we’re trying our best but we can’t say that.
    We still have not beaten a team ranked higher than us under Trap.

  • IrishRI said:

    And I don’t buy into this whole notion of if you want a show go to la scala, in football it matters only the result….b.s.
    Football is a form of entertainment. That’s why we all watch it.
    Our performances under Trap though yielding results against lesser nations have been atrocious. I can guarantee you all these minnows we have beaten using his tactics we probably would have beaten a lot handier if we were actually playing football with a squad of premier league players that are available to us and we probably would have taken a few big scalps along the way too.

  • IrishRI said:

    Now yet another bust up with Stephen Kelly.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/08/stephen-kelly-giovanni-trapattoni-ireland

    I mean it can’t always be the players fault. What’s this? Probably 10 players total he was faught with publicly or alienated from the squad.

  • IrishRI said:

    For those interested I am in Providence, RI and a blizzard has just begun. We are expecting 3 feet of snow, hurricane force winds and mass power outages so you may not hear from me for a few days.

  • John said:

    Ha! I’m in Boston. Coming down pretty heavy here now. Stay safe!

  • Propagandhi said:

    Shane Long
    Kevin Doyle
    Stephen Ireland
    Stephen Kelly
    Darron Gibson
    Kevin Foley
    James McCarthy
    Marc Wilson
    Steven Reid
    Andy Reid
    Ian Harte
    Daryl Murphy
    Joey O’Brien
    Anthony Stokes

    That’s at least 14 players that the clown has alienated at one point or other because of his complete lack of respect and indifference towards our talent pool and impersonal and lazy approach to his job.

    It says a lot about the man’s arrogance that he manages to offend the laid back Stephen Kelly to the point that he could be sued for defamation of character and slander. Kelly is by no means an automatic starter but his professionalism and experience at the very top level makes him an integral squad member.

    On to the game. Forde made some good saves but he also made some completely amateurish mistakes. It’s a lose lose situation though, since Given is past it and Westwood isn’t playing. Clark is a penalty waiting to happen and he needs someone willing to take on more responsibility than O’Shea playing beside him. McShane should be nowhere near the squad let alone first team. Absolute joke that O’Brien isn’t in there. Whelan was absolutely atrocious, as per usual. He provides absolutely nothing to the team. McCarthy is being held back by Trapattoni. McClean was average. Brady was average. He looks overrated to me. Sammon had a few beautiful touches. He was out of the game for long periods but so was Long. It has more to do with the system than any of Sammon or Long’s faults. Walters did nothing after coming on. He looked like someone who was throwing a bit of a sulk to be honest. On a brighter note, Green had his best game in an Irish shirt on Wednesday night. He is still a liability and I would be extremely worried about him playing in a competitive game. Fantastic assist by Hendrick for Hoolahan’s goal. It was no surprise that Ireland improved after the introduction of Hendrick and Hoolahan.

    No surprises that Crap gave Hendrick and Hoolahan absolutely no credit. No surprises that they won’t play against Sweden and Austria and we will drop 5-6 points by playing the same creaking system.

    If Crap had a choice, Hoolahan wouldn’t be getting called up and 1 goal in a total of 70 minutes in an Ireland jersey wouldn’t change the stubborn clown’s mind. Hendrick and Hoolahan have done more in the course of 20 minutes than Whelan has done over a dozen games. Yet who will be first name on the teamsheet?

  • mikeire said:

    I think it’s a little unfair to say that Whelan had a bad game. I think he did OK and kept trying to break down Polish attacks, the same for McShane. – they wouldn’t be my first choice to start any match but I don’t think they were quite the liability suggested. they do need to pass the ball better though because it’s worthless to bust a gut to win the ball only to pass it back.

    Mclean and Brady did have average games but our midfield was outnumbered, especially in the first half and they always had two polish guys closing them down. but their first touch did seem heavy and sloppy at times.

    I think McCarthy did really well under the circumstances, if he had a better outlet in midfield, I don’t know, say, like Hoolahan for example, I think he would have been appreciated more.

    Sammon up front wasn’t great. He worked his socks off without a doubt but he doesn’t have to technical ability of Keane, Long or doyle. (all of which are unfit or injured) that is required at this level.

    All in all, a lot of hard work and determination from the players for a very average performance. Still no game plan.

    Worrying that Poland (as poor as they were) had 56% of the possession and more shots on goal.

    It’s only a matter of time that we’ll beat a team ahead of us in the Fifa rankings – seeing as we’re sliding down the list.

  • John said:

    I agree with your point about midfield, mike. We just don’t have the players for an all-action two. A three just works better and covers our defincies better, regardless of whoever we put in there. Sadly, none if them are particularly mobile – even mccarthy.

    A Gibson/McCarthy/Hoolahan perhaps? Please God, can’t we see it just once?

  • Propagandhi said:

    Whelan in a midfield 2 is not acceptable and hasn’t been for a long time. His goalscoring record is horrendous for a midfielder and he never claims any assists. If he stopped the opposition from feasting on our carcass of a defense, it would be acceptable but we could have conceded 4 or 5 goals when Whelan was on the pitch. When Paul Green comes on and does a far better job than you, in every aspect, then it is time to worry about what Sweden are going to do to us. Whelan isn’t even good enough to be in a midfield 3 for us. Darron Gibson and James McCarthy play holding midfield for their clubs and offer more in every aspect. Is Whelan better at anything? Tackling? The guy has the physique of a 5 year old. Is it any wonder, our midfield gets battered in every match and our defense is put under so much duress? What a joke.

    It obviously makes way too much sense to play Gibson and McCarthy behind Hoolahan, any two from McGeady, McClean, Brady, Lawrence, Coleman, Pilkington or Hunt on the wings and Long or Keane up front.

    And enough about his record. He hasn’t done anything in 20 years and literally every aspect of football has fundamentally changed in the interim. We failed to qualify for the WC. Playoff against a dreadful French team or not. We qualified for the Euros, largely by fluke, after taking 3 points from a possible 12 against Russia or Slovakia and beating bloody Estonia in a playoff. Nobody seems to care that we got spanked in every game in Poland and things are continuing on a downward trajectory ever since.

    He has fallen out with over 15 players and our options are depleted because of it.

    It can’t ALL be the players faults.

  • mikeire said:

    Well I don’t want Trapattoni to manage the team as much as anyone, he’s absolutely useless, but we’re stuck with him now and even if we get one point from Sweden and Austria, I think he’ll still be manager because of the financial implications in getting rid of him. We’re going to have to make best of a bad situation.

    Whelan will start as he always does and Hoolahan won’t. Long will be on the bench and mcshane will be in defence.

    Thems the facts.

  • Propagandhi said:

    Anthony Stokes makes just his second start of the season for Celtic today. Hopefully he scores a hat-trick or something to put himself into contention for some game time against Juventus.

  • Propagandhi said:

    http://www.upthevilla.com/what-has-happened-to-samir-carruthers#respond

    It seems the Villa fans really rate Carruthers. It’s disappointing that Carruthers, Williams, Stevens, Burke and even Ireland have been given little or no chances for Villa, even though their other youngsters have been embarrassingly bad.

    Clark is the only Irish player, out of over half a dozen at the club, to get regular football.

    Very frustrating.

    Stevens in particular has been treated rather harshly in my opinion. Their other full-backs have been given ample time to impress and have failed miserably. Stevens got a few games and even helped keep a couple of clean sheets and was unlucky to get injured granted but has found himself out of the loop again for little or no reason, while the rest of them are getting spanked by League 2 teams.

  • Propagandhi said:

    I just remembered. Stevens is probably being scapegoated for conceding a penalty in the Southampton game. As I recall, Jay Rodriguez cheated to win that penalty. Or maybe I’m being harsh. Only foreign players simulate according to the English media.

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