Just an aside from tonights game. I was having a few with drinks with some English pals after the Albania game and we had a debate about which Ireland players would make it into current England team and squad Here were some thoughts Given - Personally I don't see a better English keeper than Shay Carr - cert for right back O'Shea - Squad player Duff - Engalnd would give anything for a left sided player of such class. Keane - I felt he'd make the squad but this was ignored by my ignorant mates! I tried to presuade them Kenny Cunningham was a better centre half than Upson but this was scoffed at. Any thoughts?
I tend to agree with your English pals. In fact, I don't think we've ever had more than 3 or 4 players at once that would make their squad. Despite that they have not beaten us for 20 years and I very much doubt if they could beat us now. Explain that???
had afew too many beers have we?? we aint played ireland for over a decade... The other games were a load of draws and one loss in 88... as for the original question about which ireland players could play for england?? is this a piss take?? there are already about a dozen english born players in the ireland squad. a team of england rejects and you ask which of those players could play for us?? LOL classic. duff and given .but the rest??? haha get real o shea would be under 21 at best.
This would be my Irish-English side Given - Obvious. Finnan - If he can adapt to the left back role he's better then Ashley Cole Carr - Obvious, again Campbell - Can't argue too much Ferdinand - Though if last years form was a guide you'd pick O'Shea, but you can't ignore his class Duff - Well who's he up against? Gerrard - Class. Scholes - Most under rated player they have Beckham - Over rated but still class Keane - Far better in the 2nd striker role then that donkey Emile Heskey or an Everton sub player, for the moment. Owen - Can't argue with that really. 5 Irish 6 English, and you could make a case for O'Shea to push it the other way, very even, all imo of course.
actually we played in 95, we were 1-0 up and playing you off the park and, well I'm sure you know the rest.
Ummm... it started raining and the game was called off in case the players caught colds I reckon Given, Carr and Duff would get into the side. IMO Keane's a decent striker but I don't think he's better than Rooney, maybe not even better than Vassell at international level :ducks:
A 17 year old Everton sub who's yet to register a senior international goal or a 3 goal a seaosn Villa striker!? Take off the glasses Mobile!
it comes up now and again, but i've always thought it a pointless excercise - personally, i couldn't care less which irish players would make an english team. why should we measure ourselves against england, or any other team for that matter (not that question is ever asked: "how many irish players would make the scottish/welsh/northern irish squad")?
Tend to agree. We shouldn't judge ourselves against the English. On our day and with a full strength team, I think we could take them. And take them reasonably comfortably, too.
Lets be honest ... England probably have better talent, depth and a few better players individually. But Ireland plays very well as a team together and that make up for a lot. On any given day, an England-Ireland game could go either way.
On paper, yes they have better players, but we'd take them. We'll agree to disagree on this one, Father Ted. And hopefully next summer we'll get a chance to see who is right!
Was only joking about Vassell. But Rooney looks like he might be something really special (I know he had a crap game last night). Keane's a good player though.
There's no doubt Rooney can be world class, imo I'd go as far to say if he reaches his potential he'll be the Maradona of his generation, but as of now you'd pick Robbie Keane ahead of him surley.
The major difference between the two sides is in depth. A match between the first teams could go either way, but while they can afford to consider John Terry as their 6th choice centre half, our options beyond the bench are fairly limited.
Vassell's club form is nothing great, but he always seems to make a difference when I've seen him play for England. The similarities between him and Gary Breen should be smacking people around here right between the eyes.
Fair enough but better then Robbie Keane who does it better for club and country!? Never, that was the point I was making
duff & given are obvious & I think Carr or Finnan are an improvement over Gary Neville. Keane & O'Shea would make the team and if Roy were still active... The obvious point that everyone is missing is the relative size of each country. Ireland has half the population of my hometown of New York City!! It's a wonder that they're able to find 11 competitive players, particuarly because hurling probably robs 'em of some talent. England meanwhile is a large country & football is far & away the most popular sport. The wonder there is they can't find a player with a functional left foot!!
Well, they've reached the semis of two out of the last seven major competitions. "Respectable" leaps to mind.
I think there is no way any of the irish players should really get into the english team apart from Given.. if you look at the strikers already available to england (Owen,Heskey,Rooney,Vassel,Beattie,Alan Smith,Francis jeffers,Teddy Sheringham,andy Cole,Dion Dublin,Michael ricketts,jason euell etc etc I mean lets face it the only reason Robbie Keane stands out is because he is Irish. Duff is over-rated. And I think we played better without him. I hate this tactic of playing the ball to duff no matter where is is (the corner flag for instance..surrounded by three players.) His runs very rarely produce goals. O shea is over-rated too. Our centre halves wouldn't get near the England squad. and as for our midfield..well they shouldn't even get near the Irish squad. the only other position where we seem to have a better choice is right back..Carr,Finan,Kelly,Kenna, and even a few more further down the pecking order. I think gary neville and Carr would be quite close. Anyway we should never compare ourselves to England we should be comparing ourselves to countries like norway,finland and iceland.
Owen - not world class, but a great player... lack of size hurts him at times Heskey - A black Gary Doherty who happens to start for a big name team (who, coincedentally, don't score)... CRAP Vassel - Good player, not Robbie Beattie - Now here's a player I like, a possible contender with Robbie/Owen for the starting spot, because he's also a big strong lad (thanks, Andy Gray) and has a good shot Alan Smith - Why not just put 10 men on the pitch to start with? Jeffers - That's low... real low. He was quite poor for Arsenal, and is only good at diving (to add to it, he thinks he's the next Shearer) Teddy Sheringham - Uuuhhh, he's retired, isn't he!? Andy Cole - Never great internationally, nothing special in the EPL since 1998-1999's Cole-Yorke partnership Michael Ricketts - No. We'll leave it at that. Jason Euell - Are you just picking names out of a hat? Who's next? David Seaman? Etc etc - Meaning nobody Irish players to make it: Given, Carr, Robbie Keane, Duff, O'Shea, Cunningham (sub), possibly more How can he only stand out because he's Irish? His goal scoring ratio is just a little below Owens (Owen = 50 games, 22-23 goals, Robbie = 41 games, 16 goals) Duff is better than anything England have to offer in ALL of midfield, nevermind their infamously weak left side... you're telling me whoever it is starts there is better than Duff? Somebody doesn't watch many Man U matches... this guy was in the top 3 for young player of the year (with Rooney & Jenas), as a defender. Duff would be a (maybe 'the') star player, Healy would have a chance over time, Carsely might make the bench the odd time, that's about it True, but some of these guys play leftback, too OH GOD! OH SHUDDER! As a huge Man U fan, I can tell you that every year before this one Gary was WOEFUL for Utd (but this year, he did improve a fair bit). Carr has conssitently been borderline world class, and reached that standard this year, imo - he is the fullback of the year, not Neville. Last time we played Norway we played HORRIBLE and still won. Last time we played Finland we didn't put much effort in and won 2 or 3-0. England are overhyped, look at their results. 2-1 to South Africa, 2-1 (from behind) to Slovakia? Granted, our Albanian performance was poor, but if England arent the superpower you make them our to be
That's basically everything I was going to but never got round to saying but... "Irish players to make it: Given, Carr, Robbie Keane, Duff, O'Shea, Cunningham (sub), possibly more" If Finnan adapts to the left back role, I'd take him over Ashley Cole any time too.