Subject: Ireland Vs Island

"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.

The point I was making is that my team of mostly Irish players could beat a team like Island about 8-0. The reason I do win like that with players not good enough to be in the Irish NT is down to having a good formation. Defenders with passing and playmaking will do a lot more offensively than a load of midfielders behind the play.

congrat. Ireland and good luck in all your matchs (except Ísland-Ireland)

"To be honest I think you were a bit lucky :)" i can not aggre Ireland miss a lot good chanses

"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" it is right i se this weakness and try to use it

butt i did many misstake to

By the way don't take all this as damning criticism Executor :) There were a lot of positives in this game. Your offensive striker positioning was bang on which is where our goals came from. Also, lest we forget, we got 3 points despite losing 2 key players to injury. Your team selections so far have been imaginative, I wouldn't argue with any of it. I also tried Crossley as well last season because prospect-wise, there aren't many better than him, and it is very tempting to see whether he can cut it yet :)

The problem is that the results aren't reflecting the good work you're putting in, mainly down to the fact that there is a step up in class in formations and tactics at this level that doesn't exist at club level in Ireland at the moment. Once your formations reflect what you're trying to do you'll have no problems getting the results we need.

Best of luck against Hungary next week!

Hungary is an interesting one. They beat France (who have been rating higher) quite comfortably but they can definitely be exposed.
If i'm honest it's not the end of the world if we lose though. Croatia and Hungary are going through the group. What we have to concentrate on is getting max points from the other games. Technically we're 3 down on France as you'd expect them to beat Nigeria so really it all comes down to France away. A game i suspect we'll need to win. Not ideal.

Would it be Truly Irish if a manager wasn't criticised?

I take all crtisism (Can't even spell the word but..) on board and will use it.

All credit to crticism, but as i said before like, at the end of the day, its points on the board that matter.

you are locky
in iceland forum no one write one word
and i ask for criticise

It takes a while for forums to get going- Ireland was deserted for ages. Even now there's only 5 or 6 people ever come near the forum.

If you want criticsm you're in the right place though ;) You could probably do with being a lot more defensive in your tactics especially with your full backs. Try and play them more like 4 centre backs. You have a very tough job with the players you have, so most of all enjoy it and try and get the other Icelandic users interested in making their players better.

maybe i shutt post my word in this forum :)

yes my full backs and my midfeild go a lot forward then i was trying to do but i hope i can take 2 point from france i will play more defensive to france

We wish you all the best against France. Hell, we'd loan you our players if we could! ;P