Subject: Ireland Vs Island

The game on Saturday.
Featured game on UBKD 99.5-99.6 FM

Any Predictions?

4-0 would be fine, 1-0 would be adequate. I'm going with 2-0

I'm optimistic about this one. I'm gonna say 2-0 3-1 ish

It depends what formation Iceland use really. If they go very defensive they could hold us to a low score. With our two best strikers still in very low form it might be tough if they take us on and score a few.

These are the current average marks in the group.

53.7 Hrvatska
47.8 France
47.5 Magyarország
43.6 Ireland
40.0 Nigeria
34.3 Ísland

Obviously we need to win the games against Iceland and Nigeria. After that it's down to us getting at least 5 points from the Hungary/France games and hoping other results go our way like Hungary beating France again to keep them down.

1. Hrvatska 3 3 0 0 19-1 9
2. Magyarország 3 3 0 0 13-0 9
3. Nigeria 3 1 0 2 2-8 3
4. Ísland 3 1 0 2 3-15 3
5. France 3 0 1 2 1-7 1
6. Ireland 3 0 1 2 2-9 1

I think it all depends on our strikers getting back to form.With 2 strikers in divine form we would be able to get a goal from a chance or two instead of battering away at teams and getting sucker punched on the counter.
(edited)

I think we can sneak through in 3rd on goal difference providing we beat France. For that reason we have to rack up the goals in this game.
Hungary are far from untouchable though, you only need to watch their game against Australia to see that.

These are the current average marks in the group.

53.7 Hrvatska
47.8 France
47.5 Magyarország
43.6 Ireland
40.0 Nigeria
34.3 Ísland

wher did you get this stat

from your group statistics page...we plus users can see them. I can post those stats to island forum after every wc match..

okey thanks

3-1:)

Could have been more

I was delighted when that second goal same though.

Was dreadain a draw at half time

I was happy with the performance of our midfieders

Man of the Match James Long/Martin Fairclough

To be honest I think you were a bit lucky :) That defensive formation was a bit suicidal, a better team would have ripped it apart. You can't have one centre back covering 2 strikers- watch the game again and see how many times they nearly got through...

The mids were a bit too far forward as well in defensive situations, you would have been better off dropping two back more and pushing up the wingers. On that note I don't think Crossley is ready yet for the 1st team.

The striker were good at times- you should never drop them into your half tho, they won't influence the game and will give away the ball by running it if they do get it.


You could also do with looking at how throw ins work- there's a good article on sokkerhelp about it.

I agree with everything Shane said. I'm a big advocate of 3-5-2 but if you're going to do it, you have to play the defence tighter. Long was all on his own against the two forwards and would have been ripped to shreds by a even slightly better team. A defensive midfielder is always an idea as cover as well.
The forwards were useless to be honest and missed a lot of chances. It's a win though and thats what's important.
(edited)

Englands formation today is a good illustration of what a proper 352 should look like. Most teams in Ireland seem to be obsessed with formations that look like the 352 that you used today so I'm not singling you out or anything :). I'll say this over and over until somebody listens, you can't leave space between defenders in sokker.

You will only get away with a 3 against inferior teams though, a compact 4 is a minimum against equal or better teams.

Englands formation would be ripped to shreds by anyone with width and there is little point in playing 2 defensive mids so centrally when you've got 3 defenders right behind them. They've also no width in attack. They only get away with it because they have the players to do so.
As someone who plays 3-5-2, i should defend it. 3 defenders on their own aren't good enough, you do need someone in front mopping up and getting in the way. You also need to set them up in such a way that they cover where it's needed. In short, they need good movement. In addition to that, having a 5 man midfield takes the pressure off them slightly because you'll have more posession.
In the end it comes down to what you want to do and whether you've got the players. We're up against it, we can either sit back and inevitably concede without the attacking support to get back into the game or we can try our luck, keep the ball and maybe snatch a few suprise results.

You aren't taking into account that those positions are just starting positions. If the ball is coming down the wing they will move accordingly in that direction.

The reason for 2 DMs is to smother the opposition strikers- only strikers score goals; stop the strikers and you stop the goals. I play 2 DMs with 4 defenders , if the ball is coming down a wing one of my DMs moves to cover that. Balls through the middle are a lot more dangerous than any wing attacks anyway...

The other thing is that possession doesn't win games, goals do and the best chances in sokker come from counterattacks. I have what you would think is a very defensive formation but I will usually have a minimum of 15 shots on goal. My club team beats sides much better than Iceland easily and I only have a couple of non-irish players. It's all about having a good defence....

"You aren't taking into account that those positions are just starting positions. If the ball is coming down the wing they will move accordingly in that direction."

Actually i am. I found that out a couple of weeks ago when i had a player sent off, the nearest player will then take up covering the space. If you have the defence positioned properly, you can just about do it. If an attack is coming down the right, your defence has to be positioned to defend the right as soon as they cross the halfway line. The defensive mid then gets in the way, the rest of the team cover the spaces and the defence tidies up.

"possession doesn't win games, goals do"
"It's all about having a good defence"

You cant win anything without posession and i'd say having both is useful.
You beat teams because you've got better players.
I've said this before but if everyone uses the same tactics, it comes down purely to who has the better team. Thats why the less gifted teams have to try something new.