Eire's Passing Ability

http://www.the42.ie/why-dont-ireland-play-football-dundalk-2984648-Sep2016/?utm_source=facebook_short

To Eire is human, to forgive divine.

(sorry I just had to say that!!).

Interesting article though, although I have not read it full yet, but yea we don't play a passing game, never have and probably never will!

It's all down to the managers we employ. Charlton, Trap, O'Neil all made careers out of hoofball.
We played decent stuff under Mick McCarthy, all be it with a more talented group then our current squad.

I have seen Armenia come to LR and play us off the pitch.
My suspicion is if we beat Georgia it'll be another smash and grab 2-1 or 1-0 where. They'll probably be more constructive while our millionaire footballers hoof it long.

McCarthy, Coleman, Wes, Arter, O'Shea, Brady and Henderick are all good passers of the ball and are all Premier League level players.

While we're never going to be Barcelona it's not too much to ask these lads to pass the ball to each other and be constructive when it's on.

I missed very few games at Lansdowne under Mick McCarthy yet I'm struggling to recall this fluid passing game so many recall.

Most of our goals now come from long balls and headers from set pieces whereas under McCarthy we played the wings more often, thanks to Duff, had great free kick takers in Harte and Reid who scored some great goals, the 2 Keane's were at the top of their games and scored some wonderful individual goals and then there was a few great strikes from outside the box, the most memorable for me being Mark Kennedy and Matt Holland.

I think the types of goals we scored muddy people's memory of the lump it long tactics McCarthy also deployed a lot of the time.

Having passers of the ball like Keane and Andy Reid would also help.

The O'Shea wrote: horsebox wrote: O'Shea is not capable of passing the ball, his distribution is terrible. Well unless he's suddenly forgotten how since his days as a midfielder/full-back, I'd say his distribution is more than adequate. O'Shea was always a very reliable distributor of the ball, nothing spectacular but he hardly ever gave it away.

Edited by Green Devil - 21 Sep 2016 at 10:51am

Lenny82 wrote: I missed very few games at Lansdowne under Mick McCarthy yet I'm struggling to recall this fluid passing game so many recall. Most of our goals now come from long balls and headers from set pieces whereas under McCarthy we played the wings more often, thanks to Duff, had great free kick takers in Harte and Reid who scored some great goals, the 2 Keane's were at the top of their games and scored some wonderful individual goals and then there was a few great strikes from outside the box, the most memorable for me being Mark Kennedy and Matt Holland. I think the types of goals we scored muddy people's memory of the lump it long tactics McCarthy also deployed a lot of the time. Having passers of the ball like Keane and Andy Reid would also help.

Any training session I was at was all passing , in the heat of battle though they hoof it

Green Devil wrote: The O'Shea wrote: horsebox wrote: O'Shea is not capable of passing the ball, his distribution is terrible. Well unless he's suddenly forgotten how since his days as a midfielder/full-back, I'd say his distribution is more than adequate. O'Shea was always a very reliable distributor of the ball, nothing spectacular but he hardly ever gave it away. His distribution is dire, it's probably the worst part of his game. This is coming from a Sunderland fan not just an Ireland one. Sunderland fans love him, but his aimless punting of the ball up field is a massive issue.

You don't last 10 years playing as a midfielder and full-back for Manchester United if your passing is "dire". His play has probably deteriorated somewhat in recent years due to his loss of mobility, but he's no Mick McCarthy none the less.