Serious question. I was talking to some friends the other day and we were trying to analyse what it would take for Ireland to win the WC or the EC. How would this victory be achieved at say '06 or '08? Take the present Irish squad - I think there's probably about 30-35 players who would be in the mix to make the squad. *Whom do you keep? *Whom do you hope will come on? *Whom do you dump? *Is Robbie Keane good enough? *Would Roy make it? *Duffer's in, right? *Where does the team really need help? *Is that a good enough back four? *Is Kerr up to it? *What about Given? *What type of players do we need in the various roles and positions? I know luck plays a huge part, and I know about any given day, so let's not bother talking about them; what would it really take? Any thoughts?
Hey, if Greece can do it, why not? It all comes down to having some good players, a rigid philosophy and a sprinkle of luck thrown in. I hate to use that cliche, but the playing field has leveled over the last 10-15 years in international soccer. There are no longer easy games. A while back games against the like of Cyprus and Latvia were a sure 3 points. Not any more. As for Ireland, the problem is a lack of depth. We can put out a good first XI and keept up with the best teams on any given day. The problem is what happens if Damien Duff gets injured or Robbie Keane is suspended. The drop off in talent to their replacements is large. Roy Keane is done after the World Cup if we make it. And I don't even know if he can even make it that far.
And that's the problem with the ANY GIVEN DAY scenario. It's not about any given day, it's about doing it consistently. And apropos of a previous thread, Ireland cannot do it on any given day, as it has never defeated a big team away from home in a qualifier. I suppose the purpose of this thread is to see what needs to change within the Irish set up to make the team winners of an WC or an EC, even if only once.
If Greece or Denmark can win a major championship, we can. However, I think we should worry about qualifying first before we actually consider winning the thing. In terms of players, we've got some fantastic youngsters who look as though they could become established at top-flight clubs, including Elliott, Flood, McGeady, etc. And many of our already-established starts are still young enough to play through a few more campaigns: Duff, Robbie Keane, Reid, O'Shea, O'Brien, Given, etc. However, there are those in the squad that will be getting too old, even by 2006. Roy Keane and Kenny Cunningham will be doing well to still be playing competitive football at that point, and they're two very influential players. Holland, Finnan, Carr and Kilbane will also be getting up there, certainly by 2008. I am not worried about lack of talent coming through, and I think we will be capable of naming solid all-top-flight teams in years to come. My worry is lack of on-the-pitch leadership. Who will captain the side when Keane, Cunningham, Holland ... are gone? Still, I'm sure we'll work something out. To win a major championship will require a great deal of luck, and possibly more depth than we have at the moment. I would never rule it out, though. HAD we beaten Spain in the shootout, I know we could have beaten South Korea, and we know we could have beaten the Germans. Probably couldn't have taken Brazil in the final, but getting there would have been entirely possible. We really need a natural goal scorer, a pacey right-winger (hopefully Liam Miller will develop into a good central mid to replace Keane), as well as another quality defender to replace Cunningham (hopefully O'Shea can get fit and find his form again) and another left back couldn't hurt. We will never be one of the "best" teams in Europe - but as recent tournaments have shown the best teams don't always win. We are indeed capable of winning major championships.
I think we would have beaten Brazil that year. We had better defence and Given's a much better goalie than Marcos was. Brazil has never been able to produce anything other than eleven strikers at a time, and beating a wheelchair bound German squad did not impress me (I was there and watched it happen).
The Irish have a better chance now than they will ever have, We have played both France and Brazil in recent time and have gotten draws where we were very unlucky not to have won. The Boys seem to perform better on the big day, If we get a small bit of luck and a few decisions our way we can win a big tournament... it doesn't matter hoe good we do we are still going to be underestimated and this can work in our favour..... Com' on Ireland
But the thing is that both Ireland and Brazil played Germany in the 2002 WC finals. Brazil beat them easily while Ireland needed an injury time goal to get a draw.
You cannot compare teams like that... Maybe Ireland would have played better against Brazil OR maybe the Brazilians got lucky against Germany,There's lots of ways at looking at it....
Are you winding me up? How about looking at something called "results", especially when you play the same teams in the same tournament? How can you not campare teams like that? Jeez... Excuse me while I go back to banging my head against the wall.
I couldn't care less if Ireland never win so much as the toss of the coin again. I'd rather see Irish clubs be supported by Irish people rather than UK money pits like Man U and Celtic. I also don't want to see a penny going to the FAI while parasites like John Delaney and Milo Corcoran are in charge at Merrion Sq.
There's every chance, we just need a good striker and a good center back. The midfield needs a good ' foot in ' sort and we'll be ok. We don't lack for skill or talent, we've that in abundance but right now the spine of the team looks unsettled. One day we'll see it just we need the right manager to take this talent on. It's precoious and needs the pieces put right.