Other Games - 2017/18

[DB]

.....oh, and that awful band

[paul_e]

I actually don't mind the way the current England team is setup, getting rid of Rooney was needed and Alli, Dier and Rashford all need to play as they're the 3 best players we have.  Outside that the defence is OK, but Hart should be replaced, the goal he conceded last night shows how poor he can be.  That leaves Henderson, Kane and Oxford-Chamberlain.  All 3 are probably the best options but they're also limited (at international level) and I can't see us progressing until we can replace them with a little more quality.

[eamonn]

More quality than Kane? Harsh.

[Villa75]

Anybody else seen the Germany highlights?

Good god, that's how football should be played. Delightful to watch.

[paul_e]

More quality than Kane? Harsh.

I agree it was and I hope I'm wrong and he has a stormer next summer but to win (or stand a chance to win) a tournament you need players who get better in that environment and I've not seen anything to suggest he will (I think Alli and Rashford will though).  At club level he's excellent but that's not what we're talking about here.  Rooney had a similar problem, he was good in qualifying and friendlies but didn't have any impact in tournaments. To get through whilst playing the  shape we are you need a striker who will get 4-5 goals through the tournament and create stuff for the midfield and I just don't think Kane will do that.

That said Kane is still young, he's the best option we have and his scoring record earns him the right to stay in the team so, again, I hope he proves me wrong.

[Hookeysmith]

On TS  this morning an Irish journo was asked about NI's success and he said it was about having players with heart and togetherness  and a coach with a plan and who played those players in thier correct positions

It really does seem that simple at times. I think there a good few managers out there who should take heed and either stop trying to be too clever or too pig headed.

[curiousorange]

Playing devil's advocate, if you build success around heart and togetherness, what happens when your results drop off? I'm not levelling criticism at Michael O'Neill who's done a fantastic job, but I think there's a happy medium between unity and imagination. The most successful managers find the sweet spot.

[paul_e]

Playing devil's advocate, if you build success around heart and togetherness, what happens when your results drop off? I'm not levelling criticism at Michael O'Neill who's done a fantastic job, but I think there's a happy medium between unity and imagination. The most successful managers find the sweet spot.

On top of that I think it's a strategy that can bring relative success but you need extra qualities on top (like Germany for example) to be genuinely in with a chance of winning things.

[Pete3206]

How about that for drama?

[brontebilly]

Playing devil's advocate, if you build success around heart and togetherness, what happens when your results drop off? I'm not levelling criticism at Michael O'Neill who's done a fantastic job, but I think there's a happy medium between unity and imagination. The most successful managers find the sweet spot.

Heart and togetherness can bring a team a long way. A smattering of it at Villa Park over past 5 or 6 years and we would still be a mid table top division team. MON took over a real rabble though where player commitment was a problem, complete wild men like Kyle Lafferty to manage, FAI cherry picking the likes of McClean, Duffy, Wilson and Gibson (Ml O'Neill is from the green side of the tracks too), I'd say he has found whatever sweet spot there is.

[kippaxvilla2]

MO'N's Ireland losing at home.

[VILLA MOLE]

Blatant cheating by mitrovic , embarrassing

[olaftab]

Wales score

[olaftab]

Ireland have met the side down tonight.

[Richard E]

Ireland have met the side down tonight.

Spain beating Liechtenstein has knackered my accumulator. I had that one down as a home banker.