Ireland v Austria - 11th June - Match Thread

cardwizzard wrote: Jesus wept, you'd think we're bottom of the group not joint top. Yeah it wasn't pretty, but likewise were unlucky in a way not to have won it. I'd say Austria, Wales and Serbia are all feeling the 'what ifs' too. We'll scratch it off and go again.

Jesus wept, you'd think we're bottom of the group not joint top.

Yeah it wasn't pretty, but likewise were unlucky in a way not to have won it.

I'd say Austria, Wales and Serbia are all feeling the 'what ifs' too. We'll scratch it off and go again.

While I agree with the general consensus that the first half was pretty poor, it was poor all round. The Austrians only had one moment of quality and that was the goal.

While the second half started relatively poorly, it definitely improved once Murphy came on, and kept going. While it may not have been pretty, we definitely looked more effective and Walters was no longer as isolated. Murphy gave two out balls and increased the options, especially when the midfielders were not brilliant at providing options for the centre backs. Whelan was easily the best of the midfield three, whatever Dunphy, joe.ie, balls.ie or the s*un may try to tell you; he was proactive on and off the ball, which is a lot more than can be said for Hendrick, even if Arter played okay.

I thought Long was the better of the centre halfs. Duffy, while he got his head on plenty, was simply shocking with his distribution and brought trouble on the team more than once. The left back situation is still not looking totally settled, either, but even with his poor performance yesterday (and Brady as well), Ward is probably the best option. Brady was okay there when he went back but his best position has to be further forward.

Honestly, for the majority of the second half we were the better team, in my opinion. While Alaba may have missed what was, by his standards, a glorious opportunity at the start of the second half, the balance of play definitely favoured us. The timing of the goal shouldn't hide that. It might be a little bit of a stretch to say the goal was coming, but we were definitely stronger in the second half. We had a number of chances: the McClean one from the edge of the area when he really should have passed, the great tackle from behind on Walters on the edge of the D when he was about to pull the trigger; the actual goal; the disallowed goal; and the penalty shout. There's no doubt that, on many other days, we would have had two valid goals on the strength of that second half. If you score two goals in one half against a side like Austria, there's no way you can say it was shocking or awful or diabolical or any of the other slurs being hurled around.

Having said all that, I was quite surprised at the absence of Hoolahan from the starting eleven, much like many here. However, even when he came on, he did give the ball away a fair amount. He is definitely of the higher risk / higher reward category, even leaving aside the fact Hendrick didn't do a lot at all. I'd rather be 1-0 down at the 70th minute and have Hoolahan coming on, than be 1-0 down and have Hoolahan having played 70 minutes. I know that you're less likely to be 1-0 down if Hoolahan has played that long, but I do see at least why the decision not to start him was made, even if, on balance, I disagreed with it. That said, I definitely don't agree with the length of time it took to bring him on.

All said and done, things being done differently, without being glib, we could definitely have won that game, and we could definitely have lost it, and neither would have been unfair. It's one more game, without the gap to third being narrowed or the gap to first increasing, and there's still plenty to play for; that alone is a positive. I don't think we should lose hope based on the first half performance. With the improvement in the second, and the fact O'Neill actually demonstrated an ability to make tactical adjustments during the game that positively affected how we played (remember that used to be a criticism of him), along with the determination and desire to get a late equaliser and keep pushing for more, while I'm not happier than I was before the match yesterday, I'm definitely not devastated or as distraught as some on here claim to be.

On the basis of the second half, if we play like that again, we'll beat Georgia, have a great shot against the Serbs, and beat Moldova. 7 or, better, 9 points and we're almost, and possibly definitely, there. Roll on September.


Edited by SuperDave84 - 12 Jun 2017 at 8:51pm

Cheers for that. I had a look there but they don't seem to be up yet. Do you know his username by any chance?

Anyone got a spare match pin badge or know where I can buy one? Fella didn't have any by the time I got to him.

Cheers lads.

keano10 wrote: Does anyone know where I could buy a couple of programmes from yesterday's game?

there's usually a seller from Scotland selling them on eBay.

Yesterday, and Im a big MON fan, was some of the worst football I have witnessed at the Aviva. We were hopeless for the majority of the game. We were lucky to get the equaliser then unlucky not to win it. Christie did ok and that was positive. Arter and Hendrick may as well have been in the stand. Duffy was rash. Ward a liability and only McClean and Walters got pass marks for me.

shocking first half given the circumstances , barely had a shot until 20+ minutes IIRC, long ball hoofs depressing . Not asking for total football or anything close but jesus wept we are muck to watch.  Lucky to get a draw, we are going to have to rely on another large slice of it if we are to qualify  - no belief in that team yesterday.

Trapp was let go at the right time. He had totally come to the end of the road and his limited and immovable 4-4-2 formation, with the same players, and in some cases the bizarre selections. There were a number of players who were no longer available to him
As he decided he didn't want them around, in spite of them playing decent football.

He was entitled to try and get us to the World Cup in 2014, but I cannot understand how people are effectively defending him, and using MON as a stick to beat other people with. With little more achievement, O'Neill's reign will have been better than Trapp's.