Originally posted by Remy Martin:
No luck in the first game but this is the kind of game that we relish, written off and back to the walls.Can we do what Chelsea did to Barcelona?Oh yes we can

This message has been edited - 13-jun-2012 @ 13:03

Originally posted by Blanco:
I admire your optimism but I don't share it.For all their possession they don't score a bagful of goals , so Spain to dominate and win by 2 goals or so.Also good to see that RTE are taking their cost cutting seriously , as well as their sports corresponding they have broadcast various programs such as the John Murray show and 2FM shows from Poland thus transporting their production teams out there and now so not to be left out Pat Kenny will be bringing his radio show from Ukraine for a few days next week.

Originally posted by Hitch:

Remember what happened to the All Blacks back in the day!

Originally posted by GalwayDownUnder:
What struck me about the papers on Monday was that somehow there was a silver lining in the rugby performance but not in our soccer performance. Is that me being blinkered or a rugby bias in the media.Regardless I think we have a greater chance of beating Spain than we do of beating New Zealand. Still slim though.

Originally posted by GalwayDownUnder:
What struck me about the papers on Monday was that somehow there was a silver lining in the rugby performance but not in our soccer performance. Is that me being blinkered or a rugby bias in the media.Regardless I think we have a greater chance of beating Spain than we do of beating New Zealand. Still slim though.

Originally posted by Remy Martin:
No luck in the first game but this is the kind of game that we relish, written off and back to the walls.Can we do what Chelsea did to Barcelona?Oh yes we can

Originally posted by Remy Martin:
Can we do what Chelsea did to Barcelona?Oh yes we can

Originally posted by GalwayDownUnder:
Regardless I think we have a greater chance of beating Spain than we do of beating New Zealand. Still slim though.

Originally posted by Keanes Road:
Not a hope in this world that this Ireland team will get anything but roundly thrashed imho. They have done exceptionally well to get to the Euro’s but the evidence was clear for all to see from a long way out that we are thread bare in terms of quality and ability. We are terrible defensively which for a defensive team / set up is all the more worrying. Spain love to keep the ball, we love to give it way which is another disaster in the making. I think 4-0 to the Spanish and hope it is not worse.I don’t want to be a negative as I seem about Ireland but that is the reality of what is in store.

Originally posted by Yojimbo:

I think most of our defensive frailties displayed against Croatia were down to both Shay Given and Richard Dunne not being fully fit, never mind match-fit.
Sean St Ledger worked bravely to cover up those deficiencies, - and had possibly his best ever game for us, - but it was just too much of a handicap

This message has been edited - 13-jun-2012 @ 15:10

Originally posted by Keanes Road:
I think it is a lot more deep rooted than that Jim. If those two were fit they might be able to shore things up slightly but the fact remains that in all our games we give up boat loads of chances and we got blessed not to concede on numerous occasions in the qualifiers. Those displays - warnings – were not taken on board and now against better opposition we are getting taken apart. A fit Given or Dunne wont sort that out when Whelan and Andrews are not the level needed to take on the Spanish midfield (all 6 of them) and our fullbacks get drawn out of position on a regular basis, Ward more so than O’Shea to be fair.
It’s like bringing knuckle dusters to a gun fight.

Originally posted by Remy Martin: No luck in the first game but this is the kind of game that we relish, written off and back to the walls.Can we do what Chelsea did to Barcelona?Oh yes we can

This message has been edited - 13-jun-2012 @ 15:46

Originally posted by Yojimbo:

Keano, early in the second half, both before and after Croatia scored their third, you could see our defenders getting pulled all over the place, with nobody seeming to know what their role was.
In previous games, in similar situations, you'd see Dunney marshalling his troops, and alerting them as to what positions to take up.
But with his own game still not quite up to speed, and having to concern himself too much with that, we were left rudderless.
And, speaking of Ward, part of the reason Cox was brought on was to help make up for Ward's defensive deficiencies
(you recall the scrap with Jelavic's strike partner, where the Croatian came off a poor second-best)

This message has been edited - 13-jun-2012 @ 16:54

Originally posted by sub of the day:
Spain will have bigger fish to fry in the latter stages,for which 5 points will see them safely through.Fingers crossed our elimunation is at least delayed till Monday.

This message has been edited - 13-jun-2012 @ 16:59