Many Positives for ROI after Poland game

The Boys in Green's qualification hopes are still alive

A draw at home against Poland wouldn't usually be greeted with huge cheers and celebrations but after scoring an injury time equaliser courtesy of Shane Long that 1 point feels like 3 for Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland side.

The draw now leaves Ireland in 4th place in Group D after five games, 3 points behind group leaders and last nights opponents Poland and 2 behind both Germany and Scotland. Although a draw was not a brilliant result, it was far better than a defeat that would have left the Republic of Ireland 6 points adrift of leaders Poland and 3 back from 2nd and 3rd place.

Group D

		Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Poland	5	1	1	0	2	1	0	3	2	0	16	3	13	11
Germany	5	2	1	0	1	0	1	3	1	1	9	4	5	10
Scotland	5	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	1	1	11	5	6	10
Republic of Ireland	5	1	1	0	1	1	1	2	2	1	11	4	7	8
Georgia	5	0	0	3	1	0	1	1	0	4	4	9	-5	3
Gibraltar	5	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	5	1	27	-26	0

Source: Uefa.com 

The performance of the team could be split into two periods, the first half hour of the game was a train wreck, Ireland were unable to get the ball down and pass it instead opting for hopeless long balls time and time again to no avail. A Robbie Brady mistake then led to Poland opening the scoring with  a rasping strike from former Wolves man Peszko.

As poor as O’Neill’s side were in this half hour, the next 60 minutes almost made up for that. The intensity they played with and commitment shown by every player was admirable and eventually led to Shane Long nabbing a late goal to grab a well deserved point, you could argue they deserved to win but a point was satisfactory in the circumstances it came.

Shane Long no doubt made a claim for a starting place in upcoming matches but the real star of the show was Wes Hoolahan. The Norwich man when playing more centrally was the difference, his willingness to attack and ability to pick out a pass stood out above Ireland’s other midfield players and he now must have nailed down a spot in the starting eleven for the next few internationals.

As creative as Hoolahan was the two men behind him, McCarthy and Whelan, offered very little going forward. Whelan, at times, seems almost afraid to play the ball forward instead opting to play it around at the back to the frustration of many while McCarthy who did make more of an impact in the latter stages seemed disinterested at times.

The positives from the game however must outweigh the negatives. The Republic made table toppers Poland look very average for 60 minutes, The system used in the second half with Walters moving up-front alongside Keane and Hoolahan playing more centrally reaped dividends, opening the possibility of O’Neill implementing that tactic for the rest of the campaign.

Most importantly, after the game the chances of qualifying are still intact and with the huge confidence that comes with a late goal, Ireland have every chance of qualifying from the group and making it to France next year.

Tough fixtures still remain in the campaign with the return game against Poland in Warsaw still to come and the visits of group rivals Scotland and Germany to the Aviva. Qualification is made that bit easier however with the best third place team (currently Scotland) gaining automatic qualification along with the top two. Should the Republic of Ireland finish in third but not be the best placed they will be entered into the playoffs, so theres still a lot to play for.

Remaining Fixtures;
June 13 ROI vs Scotland
Sep 4 Gibraltar vs ROI
Sep 7 ROI vs Georgia
Oct 8 ROI vs Germany
Oct 11 Poland vs ROI

Perfect game for Kane debut

Kane in action for the England U21's

All the talk in the build up to England’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania has been whether or not Harry Kane would be given the nod by manager Roy Hodgson to make his first senior international cap. With the news of Sturridge’s injury it now looks increasingly more likely the Spurs man will be thrown straight into the starting line up and he couldn't have asked for a better game to begin his international career.

It is always a big moment when representing your country for the first time, often an overwhelming experience that may impact on a players performance but in this case a home game against Lithuania is almost the perfect stage to begin an International career. Lithuania are no walkovers but in truth they are along way off the quality this English side posses and for a striker like Kane it is a great opportunity to get off the mark for his country as he can expect many chances against a weak defence and in the form he is in you would expect him to take these chances.

The Sturridge injury has made a Kane starting berth all the more likely but even before the injury, based on club form Kane is more deserving of a place in the starting 11 than Sturridge. Sturridge is only finding his feet after a lengthy absence whereas the young Spurs man is just off the back of scoring a Premier League hat-trick and is now level on goals with Diego Costa on 19 as the Premier League’s top scorer. These internationals also offer Kane a chance to overtake Sturridge as the key striker in the long term. Sturridge’s injury-prone nature makes him likely to miss a lot of games so if Kane can hit the ground running he could become Hodgson’s first choice.

Hodgson has preferred to play one man up front in his time as England boss but this game offers the chance to try two up front with Rooney and Kane the obvious choices. Rooney has been deployed as an attacking midfielder frequently for the Three Lions but after his performances up top for United recently he has made a claim to play in his favourite position at International level. Kane could miss out if Hodgson continues with the one man up front and puts Rooney in that position although a game against Lithuania seems a great opportunity to trial a partnership between Kane and Rooney, a partnership that on paper looks formidable.

Roy Hodgson may well decide tonight is not the right time for Kane to begin his international career, regardless the experience of being amongst the squad will benefit the 22-year-old greatly and he can expect to play a big role in Hodgson’s plans in the near future should he keep up his great club form.

Harry Arter ready to make his International mark

Arter has been in great form for Bournemouth this season

Amongst some of the names getting a call up to Martin O’Neill’s side for the first time there was a first ever call up to an Irish squad for 25-year-old Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter, who has been rewarded for his fantastic league form that has helped his side to occupy the top spot in the Championship. An international call-up is a big step for the London born player, who qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Grandmother, a step up he both deserves and is ready for.

It hasn't been an easy ride for Arter to get to this point, after starting his career at Charlton an ankle injury saw his career there cut short and then opted to rebuild his career starting at non league Woking, a move that ultimately paid off. In 2010 Eddie Howe decided to take a risk and bring the then 20-year-old to his League one Bournemouth side, a move that has been worth the risk for Howe and Bournemouth with Arter now a mainstay in the Cherries midfield as they look to gain promotion to the Premier League.

This season Arter has been fantastic, in his 40 appearances in all competitions Arter has scored 8 and assisted 3 goals from his central midfield role. He is the definition of a box to box midfielder known for his good defensive play but also most recently he has hit the headlines for two cracking finishes in his past two games. He comes into the International squad in a great vein of form after a man of the match performance against promotion rivals Middlesbrough, a game in which he scored one of the aforementioned crackers as Eddie Howe’s side recorded a 3-0 win.

Martin O’Neill has a real dilemma on his hands when considering whether or not to throw Arter straight into the team in such a big game against Poland. It is unlikely that O’Neill would take the gamble and give him his debut in such a vital game but in the long term Arter could well be a long term solution to the Republic of Ireland’s midfield mediocracy. In the qualifying campaign so far the only central midfield player who has registered goal was Wes Hoolahan who was playing in a more attacking role when he scored a goal. Arter has proven in the Championship this season that he can get a goal and could be exactly what this Irish set-up needs.

Another feature of the Republic of Ireland’s current midfield options is they are very defensively minded, James McCarthy, Glen Whelan, Jeff Hendrick and David Meyler are all very much holding midfield players and although Gibson and Quinn do offer something going forward they are yet to register a goal and have not been overly impressive in their games so far this campaign. James McCarthy when fit is the best midfielder in the Irish squad and with his tendency to stay deep, Harry Arter, being the box to box midfielder he is, could well be the perfect partner for the Everton man.

A big problem for the Republic of Ireland in the campaign so far has been retaining the ball, Darron Gibson is the midfield player with the most passes completed for the Republic with 95. Compare that with group rivals Germany, their top midfielder Toni Kroos has completed 410 passes and compared to this weekends opponents Poland, Grzegorz Krychowiak has completed 224 passes both dwarfing Darron Gibson’s figure. The absence of top midfielder James McCarthy due to injury may reflect the poor passing stats but they are still very worrying. Harry Arter happens to be Bournemouth’s top passer with the highest amount of completed passes for his side in the Championship this season. Arter really seems to be the answer to all the Republic of Ireland’s midfield shortcomings.

The chances of Arter getting the nod on Sunday are short but the Bournemouth man can have a big impact for the Republic in the the rest of the qualifying campaign and beyond that.

Stats from:
http://www.squawka.com/teams/bournemouth/stats#performance-score#football-league-championship#season-2014/2015#127#all-matches#1-39#by-match
and
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/statistics/round=2000446/players/kind=distribution/index.html#order=2desc

Latest FIFA rankings out and as questionable as ever

The latest FIFA world rankings have been released and as per usual do not seem to reflect fully the quality of all the teams in world football, World Cup winners Germany are still on top despite their shaky form in the European qualifiers while Argentina and Colombia make up the top three.

Colombia somehow have managed to be placed 3^rd in the world despite only making it to quarter final of the World Cup ahead of both losing semi finalists in the World Cup: the Netherland’s and Brazil. Similarly Belgium look ranked far above their realistic ability, they see themselves in 4^th place, they are a very good side but they haven’t done anything special in the past few months and certainly don’t deserve to be ranked above the Dutch.

England find themselves in 13^th place, a respectable position and probably a fair one, after a disappointing World Cup they have regained their form and currently stand top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group with four wins from four.

The Republic of Ireland will be disappointed with their standing, they find themselves down in 64^th place after what was a solid start to their Euro campaign, the highlight being that draw away in Germany. The Irish somehow find themselves ranked below Albania, Panama and Congo DR. They are also behind all their neighbours with Northern Ireland, Wales and their group D rivals Scotland placed above them.

Scotland are up to 34^th in the world going into the new year after a solid start in Group D of the Euro qualifying campaign seeing them on 7 points after four games, level with the Republic of Ireland and Poland who are ranked below them in 41^st place.

Northern Ireland who have had their best start to a Euro campaign in a long time are now in 49^th, down one place since the last ranking release but still ahead of the Republic. Wales who also have impressed in their qualifiers find themselves a few places ahead of Northern Ireland in 34^th but are still far behind Belgium who despite being 4^th in the world also lie 4^th in Group D two places behind the Welsh.

The best mover in the recent rankings was Rwanda who have moved up twenty two places to 68^th after some impressive results in their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, it is the highest ever ranking in Rwanda’s football history. Cuba were the biggest droppers falling thirty four places to 113^th.

You can see the full rankings here: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html

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German World Cup hangover

Since being crowned World Champions in Brazil, Germany have seen a massive dip in form seeing them lying only second in Euro 2016 qualifying group D, behind a confident Polish side.

The retirements of key figures Philip Lahm, Klose and Mertesacker are a loss but with the strength the Germans posses they would have expected to top their current group with relative ease but so far that is not going to plan.

In a matter of months the Germans have gone from ripping Brazil apart in the World Cup semi-final to losing 2-0 to Poland and only drawing at home to the Republic of Ireland.

Considering Germany defeated the Republic of Ireland 6-1 in Ireland’s Aviva stadium in the World Cup qualifying campaign and can now only draw with them at home must be a worry for the Germans.

In their last fixture Germany only managed to score 4 goals, one was an own-goal, at home to group whipping boys Gibraltar, while Ireland and Poland both scored 7 when faced with the newly established team.

After the Gibraltar game the Germans even received some jeers from their supporters acknowledging the poor performances from their side as of late.

'I think there were a lot of award ceremonies and celebrations….Now we need to get all of this out of our heads at the end of this World Cup year, draw a line and prepare properly for our next tournament.' Joachim Low said after the Gibraltar game.

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Quotes courtesy of;

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2835670/Joachim-Low-tells-Germans-minds-World-Cup-dip-form.html#ixzz3JG2G1cTp

Scotland defeat only minor setback for ROI

With high hopes travelling to Celtic Park last night, Martin O’Neill and his Republic of Ireland side left empty handed thanks to an excellent Shaun Maloney strike in the 74^th minute. In a game of few chances Scotland deserved their win and the Republic of Ireland will be slightly disappointed looking back on the game.

The result however, as disappointing as it was for the players and fans alike, was no disaster in terms of qualifying for the Euro’s in France in just under two years time.

Before the campaign began O’Neill and his side would probably have been happy with a draw when visiting Scotland and would undoubtedly have predicted losing when paying a visit to World champions Germany. In reality by getting a draw at Germany the Scottish defeat does not affect the campaign too much.

Ireland currently sit in fourth place with 7 points out of 12, 3 behind leaders Poland and level with both Germany and Scotland. Prior to the campaign O’Neill and his backroom staff would have been more than happy to take this tally and would be confident of still qualifying especially given the fixtures that remain.

Other than a tough away trip to Poland in the final game of the group, the Republic’s fixtures are favourable and give them a very realistic chance of making it to France. Scotland, Germany, Poland and Georgia all must visit the Aviva, while a trip to Gibraltar should be a straight forward task for the Irish.

Should Ireland live up to their expectations they will be hopeful of beating both Scotland and Poland at home and if they can snatch a draw in Poland and another draw versus the Germans they should be well on there way to qualifying.

href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eustaquio/7176617919/">Eustaquio Santimano
via photopin cc

Selection Dilemma: Long or Keane

With many dilemmas before the big kick off, there will be no bigger headache for Martin O’Neill than whether to give the starting striker role to Shane Long or Robbie Keane.

Ireland will need goals in the side tonight and when looking for goals you need look no further than record goal-scorer Robbie Keane who possesses the impressive tally of 65 goals in 135 appearances.

Despite recently overcoming a hamstring injury, Keane says he is fit and ready to go. After his Gibraltar hat-trick the LA Galaxy man will be hoping to keep up the impressive form and Martin O’Neill will find it hard to leave him out.

The other up-front option is Shane Long, who may have got off to a poor start at Southampton but scored two goals at the weekend to give Southampton all 3 points and is sure to be full of confidence, he may not have an as impressive record as Robbie Keane but is still a threat to opposition defences.

In terms of what they offer the team, O’Neill sets up the team to be hard working and despite his great goal-scoring record, at the age of thirty-four Keane does not offer as much in terms of work rate from the front. Shane Long on the other hand is full of energy and his speed could be a massive nuisance for the Scottish defence.

It seems likely Keane will be the one who is giving the starting role although you can expect Shane Long will feature especially if Ireland are in need of a goal late on.

Faith in Rodgers waning

Was it not for the infamous Gerrard slip, Brendan Rodgers would more than likely be the man who brought the first Premier League title to Anfield and reached legendary status amongst the fans, six months later faith in the young manager appears to be waning.

Todays defeat to Chelsea sees Liverpool sit in eight with 14 points from eleven games, 15 points off league leaders Chelsea, a considerable drop back from last season and raising the subject if Liverpool were a one man team last season and can’t compete without Suarez.

Liverpool’s season both domestically and in Europe has been dismal, not only have results been poor but the manner of the defeats has been very worrying and even when winning Liverpool have, in most parts, been lucky bar the away victory at White Hart Lane.

Chelsea outclassed Rodgers’ team in every aspect of the game, Liverpool never looked threatening on the attack while their defending, as we have come to expect, was appalling especially from set pieces.

The Chelsea defeat is all the more disappointing given the fact Rodgers rested big player’s midweek against Real Madrid looking ahead to the Chelsea game. The decision to rest players against Real was also greeted with mixed views from fans who believe Rodgers should have fielded his best team for such a big game.

Some would feel that after waiting so long to get back into Europe’s elite competition, why would Rodgers rest all his main players? Surely after the lengthy absence from games at the likes of the Bernabeu the Liverpool fans deserve better than seeing a reserve team face the reigning Champions League winners.

Since joining Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers has also had a very mixed transfer record, other than Daniel Sturridge and maybe Couthino, none of his signings have proven successful. This summer Balotelli, Lambert, Lallana, Markovic and Lovren were some of the players who arrived and none have repaid there hefty fees thus far, Lovren and Balotelli have been particularly disappointing.

Rodgers appears to have gone down the Spurs route by replacing the best player in the team with numerous unproven players that they hope will step up to the mark, as everyone saw with Spurs last season that method does not work and Rodgers and Liverpool are learning that the hard way.

The use of subs and team selections this season have been a major talking point amongst pundits and fans alike with Liverpool, Rodgers has stuck with one striker up-front despite the fact it is not working and continues to pick a misfiring Balotelli over both Borini and Lambert. Today and in games before fans have been critical of Rodgers for not using Adam Lallana, surely if you spend £20 million on a player he should be given a chance in the big games especially when you need goals.

It is clear that Suarez and Sturridge’s partnership was the main reason for Liverpool’s title charge and with Suarez departed and Sturridge struggling with injuries maybe Rodgers is being shown up for the tactically naïve manager he is.

We may only be eleven games into the season but everyone will be quick to forget about last seasons achievements and even quicker to turn on Rodgers should this form continue. He may only have signed a new contract in the summer but Rodgers could find himself out of a job unless he can turn things around, and quickly.

5 things to watch this Barclays Premier League weekend

 1.      European hangovers

It’s the first set of Premier League fixtures after teams performed in the group stages of both the Champions League and Europa League and one can expect the games to have an impact on these sides’ domestic performances.

Both Liverpool and Chelsea played their European ties at home and despite Liverpool snatching a late win in what was supposed to be a routine victory over Ludogorets and Chelsea only drawing against Schalke you would not expect either side to be feeling the physical effects going into their respective weekend fixtures against West Ham and Man City. Similarly Everton played their Europa League clash at home to Wolfsburg, a game they won 4-1, the confidence gained from this win is sure to make it more of a benefit than a hindrance.

Two teams who potentially could experience the hangover will be Manchester City and Arsenal, both of whom travelled to Germany and came home with demoralising defeats. Arsenal, who played on Tuesday, you would expect to have recovered physically from their exerts as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dortmund, the mental effects of this loss will be Arsene Wenger’s only worry ahead of their Aston Villa clash. Manchester City on the other hand will be feeling both physical and mental fatigue after their heart-breaking loss to German champions Bayern Munich, conceding a last minute goal after an energy sapping display, they will however have to get over the loss quickly as they face league leaders Chelsea on Sunday.

Spurs made the long trip to face Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, after being held to a goalless draw Spurs will be hoping they have a squad to deal with the fatigue from travelling such a long distance for the game with West Brom.

1    2.      Liverpool’s response

After last weekends home defeat to Aston Villa and a below par performance mid week against Ludogorets where they scraped a win, all eyes will be on Upton Park on Saturday for the late kick-off to see if Liverpool will bounce back and return to winning ways.

Having scored his first goal for the club on Tuesday night, Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool faithful will be hoping Mario Balotelli can push on and set them on their way to another away win.

The game comes too early for star man Daniel Sturridge who is in contention to return for the derby the following week. With it being the fifth game of the Premier League season it is time for this Liverpool side to start gelling before its too late and they find themselves miles behind the Premier League frontrunners.

1    3.      Mesut Ozil

Arsenal’s record signing has come under increased scrutiny this week following another below par performance in his home country against Borussia Dortmund, in one German newspaper his performance was rated the lowest on the pitch adding to the calls that he has been another big Premier League flop.

Much criticism has been put to Arsene Wenger about his use of their most expensive asset, Ozil has increasingly been played on the left side, a position he is neither comfortable nor capable of performing to the best of his ability in.

After the poor performances of late, interest is high on whether Ozil will start or will he be finally dropped for their trip to Aston Villa, should he start it will be interesting to see if Wenger listens to the pleas of many and plays him through the middle or whether he continues to try the German on the left.

 4. Pardew and Newcastle

A week on from Newcastle’s embarrassment at the hands of Southampton, Pardew and his men play host to Hull in a game you feel they must win should Alan Pardew still be in a job by Monday.

In a week where Pardew admitted he is fighting for his job and the Newcastle fans continued to voice their discontent at the team’s current form, Newcastle will be looking to get their season back on track and start climbing the table.

Currently lying bottom of the table, a home game is exactly what Newcastle need and despite the good start to the season made by Hull, all of Newcastle will be expecting three points or else we could see the first Premier League sacking of the season.

1    5.      Manchester City vs Chelsea 

Last but certainly not least, the biggest game of the weekend and season so far takes place on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium as rampaging league leaders Chelsea travel to champions Manchester City in what is being billed as an early title six pointer.

With both sides having ambitions of winning this seasons Barclays Premier League this game promises to be a classic, being at home Manchester City will try to take the game to Chelsea who similarly will want to exert their dominance early on in the game hopefully resulting in an entertaining game.

Chelsea main man Diego Costa will be hoping to continue his great run of 7 goals in 4 games while Man City poacher Sergio Aguero will be hoping to add to his 3 goals this season, one would expect which ever team can stop the opponents striker will take a giant step to winning the game.

Already five points behind, a defeat for City could be vital, a win however will see them close the gap to two points, no matter what this game promises to be a cracker.

Welbeck can flourish

In a hectic transfer window one of the most surprising deals was that of Danny Welbeck as he swapped Manchester for London in a sixteen million pound move.

Like fellow teammateTom Cleverley who also headed for the exit door on deadline day, this move could work wonders for Welbeck and his career, he could progress from the average player he is to the star that was expected of him when he burst onto the scene.

"He played three seasons for the first team, but he doesn't have the record of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney. And that is the standard," Van Gaal said when explaining why he let the young Englishman go.

His 29 goals in 142 games is not a glamorous record when put up against his replacement Radamel Falcao who possesses a phenomenal record of 220 goals in 356 games, this does not truly reflect the impact of Welbeck who for much of his United career has been played on the wings compared to Falcao who has been a number nine for his entire career.

The move to Arsenal could see Welbeck blossom into the goal-scoring striker that he has for so long threatened to become, especially now that we would expect he will be the main man up-front for the Gunners due to their lack of depth in the area and the lengthy absence of Giroud through injury.

You can’t help but feel a sense of de-ja-vu with this transfer thinking back to fellow Englishman Daniel Sturridge’s move from Chelsea to Liverpool, while at Chelsea Sturridge was not seen as a main striking option and was played frequently on the wing, hence his poor goal-scoring record of 13 goals in 63 games.

Since his move to Liverpool in January 2013 Sturridge, while playing in a more central role, has scored a total of 36 goals in 52 games, his International career has also benefited becoming the main striker and scoring 5 goals in the 12 games sine his Anfield move.

Welbeck will hope to follow in these footsteps and following his double against Switzerland last week he has already shown if given the chance he can score goals at the highest level.

Arsene Wenger is known for developing young players and pacey 23-year-old Danny Welbeck will be hoping he has made the right move at the right time to further his career.

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Cleverley’s new chapter

One player who is sure to be ecstatic about starting a new chapter in his career is 25-year-old Tom Cleverley, after becoming a scapegoat for the fans last season at Manchester United his loan move to Aston Villa is sure to be a welcome relief.

No longer a part of the English International setup Cleverley has had a tough year, he even was subject to an online petition not to be on the plane to Brazil, a petition that had reached 17500 signatures.

Tom Cleverley was no stranger to criticism but surely this took its toll on the young man, the last year has undoubtedly been confidence sapping but with a new club comes a new start and Cleverley will be hoping that on this occasion the grass will be greener on the other side.

Cleverley has racked up a total of thirteen international appearances, these are no flukes Cleverley earned these caps, Cleverley has the potential to be a strong Premier League midfielder and will be hoping he can recreate the form he showed during his loan spell at Wigan in 2010/11, where he was an integral member at the team, at Aston Villa.

Aston Villa is, with all due respect, a smaller club than Manchester United and the pressure Tom Cleverley will be under will be considerably lower maybe suiting the loanee.

Under the guidance of Paul Lambert and assistant manager and former United great Roy Keane, Cleverley could blossom into the man who was once seen as the ideal replacement for Paul Scholes.

At Villa Cleverley should expect to start the majority of games and starting this week-end at Anfield he might even stake a claim to be re-included in the England international squad and who knows maybe this time there will be a petition for him to be included in the squad, stranger things have happened.

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