After watching Basel today I'm getting very pessimistic about our chances against the Swiss now, espically with 'him' in charge. They had alot of Swiss internationals, and they weren't half bad, espically their keeper who was absolutley magic, espically on shots from distance, really kept them in it. I'm going for a draw on this one I'm afraid and hopefully Mick to resign.
I agree. Swiss football is going to be on a high going into the match at Landsdowne, while we'll be reeling after the first extract from Mick's account of the Saipan fiasco. Really is not a good time to be playing them, particularly with the abuse two of our guaranteed starters (Harte & Kilbane) are getting at club level. I'm happy Duff looks like he is going to be fit, but I wonder if the Swiss defenders are going to be overly worried about him playing as a centre forward when they seemed to deal with Owen and Baros quite well I know that club team form does not necessarily translate into national team form, but I'm a firm believer in cycles in international football. Switzerland had a decent side in the mid-90s, and have been in the dumps for 7 years. Is the wheel revolving? Are they on the up, passing us as we go down? I have my suspicions.
true, their keeper was outstanding, but the rest of the team was no great shakes. they had one opportunity in the match and scored it. they were extremely lucky not to lose.
Their right back was a liability, and if Duff is on the left he'll be happy but I'm not very confident. After Micks book, as NS said, the team will once more not be in the best of shape. With Micks tactics, Duff and Keane up front, we're playing right into their hand, if we get the tactics right we could do it, but will we?
what happened to all the optimism we saw before the russia game? okay, we had a bad day at the office but i can't see another performance like that happening again. so a swiss club side draw against liverpool - big deal! michael owen couldn't scored against an under 10-side at the minute and heskey is still a donkey. basle only had two outstanding players - their keeper and their left back - fortunately only one was swiss. lets get a bit of perspective. our lads will be out to make ammends for the last game. we lost duff after 15 minutes but he's straining at the leash to get back out there. robbie and clinton are on a high and the majority of the rest of the team have a lot to prove, i can think of two who are fighting to remain in the squad. nobody's saying it's going to be easy but if the swiss come out fighting like i expect them to (instead of defending en-masse last night) then i still very confident we'll pick up our first (of many) 3 points.
I wonder how well a full strength Irish team would fare against Liverpool? All joking about Liverpool's current form aside, I seriously doubt Ireland would win over two legs. Perhaps a bit tangental, but I think Switzerland are probably not far away from a natural peer for Ireland on a world stage. Neither team will qualify for every major tournament, both have limited player pools and neither have a great history in the game. I will be cautiously optimisic leading up to the game, but I really think it'll be a draw.
fair enough, but you can tell that liverpool HUGELY dissappointed not to win. maybe this was their bad day at the office.
Let me see if I have this right? Basel play well against Liverpool and that means Switzerland are going to kick Ireland off the park? That's a little like saying that because Man U. beat Maccabi Haifa 5-1, Turkey have to be worried about England, or more pointedly, Celtic beat some Lithuanian side 8-1, therefore Germany should be quaking in their boots. Already people here are talking about playing right into their hands, yet this was one club side playing against another club side. Do the tactics of Basel mirror Switzerland? Does anyone know what type of formation Switzerland even plays? And are Ireland Liverpool? Where's the logic or realism in any part of this analogy? Dudek is a great keeper for Liverpool, yet had a LOUSY WC. Spain have kicked arse at club level in Europe for the last 6 years or so, and yet Ireland were inches away from kicking them out of the WC. It is tenuous at best to infer that because club sides play well, ipso facto, the national side will do the same. Basel draw a game they should have lost against Liverpool at Anfield, and this somehow magically contorts into the supposition that Ireland will be lucky to get a draw at home against the Swiss? Compare Ireland and Switzerland tactics-wise and so forth, and fair enough, but why would you compare Basel to Liverpool and infer predictions about Ireland and Switzerland? The logic here isn't tortured, it's screamingly non-existent.
Logic non existent? Why, is the Swiss international goalkeeper suddenly going to become shyte playing for the national team? This team was full of Swiss internationals and if we don't play the right team (And lets not kid ourselves, we wont) we could struggle and get a draw. They've Henchoz, a player who is utter rubbish in the air but very pacey and a good tackler on the ground, so tacticaly genius Mick will play Duff and Keane and when we draw a blank, the keeper saving the only chances we get, probably from distance, we'll all be baffled. The writings on the wall, it doesn't look good.
Right so, a 0-0 draw. Shame really, as I was thinking of going to that game, but it doesn't look like it will be much use, what with this Swiss keeper making all these acrobatic saves from 40 yard shots from Kinsella and Holland, while Keane and Duff are floundering on the ground, having being tackled into non-existence by Henchoz. (Shame, shame.) Who knows, maybe Mick himself might come out of retirement figuring that he, too, has a chance of a goal, with a few row Z shots from maybe inside his own half................. (BTW, as for the Swiss keeper suddenly turning bad - explain Dudek, a better keeper turning to shite during the WC - anything's possible.)
Your argument is based around the hope that a keeper has a sudden run of bad form, as it happend to Dudek, one of about a million keepers, the other 999,999 don't turn rubbish over night. If we play Duff and Keane, on Henchoz, up front with Kilbane on the wing the fact is we wont create a chance and will be limited to long range efforts, and this keeper is more then up to that challange of a Holland or Kinsella special, or even an Ian Harte free kick. If we play Duff on the left and Keane and Morrison up front I've every confidence we will win and we will win well, unfortunitly, that wont happen.
Just returned my game tickets; don't think I'll even have to watch it on TV now that I've been told exactly what's going to happen. I mean everyone knows Basel are the mirror image of Switzerland and you could even fool UEFA if you substituted the Irish side for Liverpool in the Champions League, they are so similar. Actually, The Knitting Channel has a very interesting programme about the efficacy of the purl stitch over the plain in the 2-ply wool medium. Glad I will now have the time to catch that, as it does clash with the Ireland Swiss game, and I now already know the minute by minute breakdown. Now, who's got the directions to Paddy Power's?
You're completley missing what I'm saying, I said, that the Swiss number one keeper looked brilliant from long range efforts, the other Swiss internationals for Basel weren't bad either, and if we play Duff and Keane on Henchoz they wont get a sniff on goal and all our attacks will be cut short because of those factors. I didn't say because Liverpool drew with Basel they're automatically world class but I wouldn't expect you to figure that out.
I'm nervous about the match, but I really think that the Russian game was a one-off performance. I think the lads will be right back to their pre-World Cup form, although this might just be wishful thinking, as I don't really have anything to back it up. We'll just have to wait and see...
Guys, cop on to yourselves. Two months ago most of you were shouting about what score we'd beat Russia by; now everyone, bar one or two of the more sensible ones, is lamenting our impending loss to Switzerland. What's the big change? Mick's sudden surprising decision to play Kilbane on the left against Russia which no one saw coming? I thought we'd get some kind of result against Russia, and was spectacularly wrong. But it was fairly obvious that that's about as bad as this team can play....defensively, anyway. Going by our form prior to that game, and the fact that we're back at Lansdowne (and should hopefully have Duffer back), I'll be amazed, frankly, if we don't dominate the game against Switzerland. That's no disrespect to them - as Nigel said, they're probably as close to a peer as we have, but home advantage and wounded pride should see us through. Slash, and everyone else who's been eulogising about the keeper - have you ever actually seen him play before, or is your entire analysis based on that one game? Granted, he was stood out - but don't forget that he was beaten, and saved by the woodwork 3 times, and he didn't have the sharpest reactions to Baros' shot. He let in 3 goals, which could have been more, in one game against Celtic. Kasey Keller delivered an outstanding display against Man Utd the other day - but that doesn't mean that I'd be overly worried about facing the US anytime soon. Basle didn't even play particularly well - they were under the cosh most of the match, and should really have lost. There WAS some good defending (Zubi (the keeper), the Nigerian left back, and Murat Yakin looked good), but Liverpool were extremely wasteful, and conceded a fairly soft equaliser. And I'm not a Liverpool supporter. They're no world beaters, and one bad match doesn't suddenly mean that we're back to square one.
The Swiss are no mugs and there has to be a strong likelihood of a drawn game. That said, Ireland have to fancy their chances of all three points! Just as Russia were not going to roll over and die, lets not start making an Alp out of a molehill! If we play our normal game, it'll require bad fortune for us to lose. However, by playing our normal game, I think we have some reasons to be genuinely positive: * Landsdowne Road * Have consistently scored in competitive games in recent years * After Russia, team has something to prove * Players are now fully match fit * The Russians thumped the Swiss 4-0 in Moscow last October! * If we're going to talk individual players in individual matches, Johann Vogel got hauled off in the first half by PSV on Wednesday coz he kept giving the ball away!
Speaking on behalf of the muppet population on this board, I agree. Now I don't know if that makes you two muppets also, that's for a power greater than us to decide. But yeah, of course it's ridiculous to decide that Ireland is in trouble, based on the fact that the keeper in the Basel Liverpool game had a good game. And that brings me to another point; I can name most of the international keepers around Europe, even from places like Estonia (Poom). But I cannot say I know the name of this [drumroll] acrobatic, dynamic, shot stopping, suave debonair, Swiss keeper [/drumroll]. Now the fact that I can't name him doesn't mean anything, but if he is this God who walks amongst men (well, on the basis of one game where he let one goal in and allowed the woodwork to save him three other times), how come no one else on this board seems to know his name other than Swiss keeper? Why is he not playing in England, Germany, Italy, Spain or France? Henchoz is a fine centerhalf, but is made better by Hyypia. How is he with his Swiss counterpart? Do Switzerland play 3 or 4 across the back? (Babb looked tremendous during the '94 WC, but as we later found out, that was because he had McGrath biting his bollocks off beside him.) What type of formation do Switzerland play? As I said, Basel giving Liverpool a decent game does not allow one to infer that all our[Ireland's] attacks will be cut short. That's a little like a teetotaler drinking Ballygowan all night watching his mates get scuttered, figuring he knows what hangovers are all about.
Ok, First a point of order. Henchoz will not be playing. He retired from international football last year. Now.... If you trawl back through the posts, you will find I was equally sceptical about the Russia match. I have not gone from screaming about how we'll beat Russia to how we're going to lose to Switzerland. I, along with several others, hold the perfectly valid opinion that this Irish team cannot immediately be assumed to be favourites. Now, if because of these opinions, some people decide they will watch the knitting channel instead of going to the game, so be it. Things would get very boring around here if we did not point out that actually Switzerland have some very good players, and actually, some of them played very well against Liverpool for Basle. Of course you can't translate club form to the international arena, but it is an indication of how players are performing. We saw in the world cup how an outside force can galvanise a group of players and lift a team to perform beyond the sum of their parts. I am suggesting that Basle's excellent recent form will have that impact on Switzerland. This is simply magnifies the fact that they have some excellent players. Without wanting to sound like a broken record, I really think we would have a far greater chance of winning if Mick reworked the left side of our team. However, we all know that bar injuries it aint going to happen. Any team with Kilbane/Harte/Breen in it, playing the way they are at the moment, is going to be vulnerable. Likewise, a team with several individuals performing at the highest level of European football is going to be talented enough to take advantage of those vulnerabilities. If that opinion is enough to make you stay at home and watch the knitting channel, fair enough. I just happen to think its quite valid, much as I did before the Russia game.
I might be hounded for saying this but a part of me is kinda hoping that the Swiss win as McCarty would surely have to jump ship if that happens-then a new guy comes in-diferent ideas-no Kilbane, Carsley, Kennedy and daft tactics- Duff upfront to accomodate that genius Kilbane! Roll on the day I say! As for getting an adequate replacement- any manager that can manage to keep all his players happy and playing in their best positions would do .
Hello all! I am Portuguese and we played against Ireland in the WC qualifying group. I don´t really understand why are you so worried about Switzerland just because Basel had a good game against Liverpool! I think Ireland will kick Switzerland´s ass in Lansdowne!! I know football is not an exact science, but I have allways seen Ireland as a hard fighting team and they will win!! Good luck!!
Cheers for the good wishes. Roy Keane's performance against Portugal at Landsdowne Road was the single most impressive performance by a player I have ever witnessed. If it wasn't for him, I remain utterly convinced you would have beaten us by 3 or 4 goals. While his impact in the game in Portugal was arguably not as pronounced, I still think you would have beaten us there without him. I think what he did at the World Cup was inexcusable, but the fact remains that Ireland's record without him is not that of a top ranked international side.
Agreed, after all we just almost made the World Cup quarter finals when we played Spain off the park for more than an hour. Come on, we had one bad game and we should do better against the Swiss. (of course I said 'should'). Remember, the Switzerland have not proved anything yet. Ahemmm, the USA got to the quarters and should have beaten Germany. I'd be worried.
For a start, Keller is an absolutley brilliant keeper. Secondly, I just don't see us getting a win, we'll dominate, but if we play Duff and Keane up front our possesion is rarely turned into the goals we deserve. I didn't know Henchoz has retired, and Hyypia does make him look good, but he is still very good on the ground (Just not very good in the air) so him retireing (I honestly didn't know that) is good news. We're a better side, imo, the best in the group but we need to turn that into results, I just don't have confidence we have the right man in charge to do that. Also, thanks for the good wishes ferreirajl, Keane or not the matches between us were always exciting and I'm sure Portugal will put their world cup behind them and be contenders for 2004, espically with the home advantage.