Stephen Ireland

[silhillvilla]

Who said Ireland wasn't trying or didn't care on Saturday ? He may have hounded him but he couldn't get the ball off him and Scholes played the ball forward a lot more than I was happy with.

[DrGonzo]

I said that for the money he has cost us I would rather we had had better value for money out of him and that he rarely looks as if he has given a shit, and that we could probably get better value for the amount we pay him in wages.

[PaulTheVillan]

I think Ireland played well but no way did he neutralise Scholes.
Scholes and Carrick had so much of the ball and Scholes particularly was pinging accurate 40 yard raking balls all game.

Scholes and Carrick between them completed more passes than our entire team, according to a stat I saw the other day, so if Scholes was neutralised, he must have super powers when left unhindered.

And doesn't tell the whole story at all. Most of their passes, particularly in the first half, were not really hurting us or finding their forwards. They were mostly sideways and backwards because of the pressure we were applying to the ball.

Passing the ball 5 yards to each other is what they did.

But remember, Makoun did that the other year at Old Trafford and half of our fans were wanking over him.

The fact is Man Utd let Makoun do that, as they knew he wasn't a threat.

[Mazrim]

Silhill, it's been suggested by a number of people that he isn't interested.
And he did get the ball off him. Scholes is too canny to let that happen too many times but there was a definite plan for Ireland to close Scholes down in their half as often as possible to stop him dictating play and he did that. Especially in the first half.
If he wasn't interesed he wouldn't have put so much effort in and also, I doubt Lambert would have played him.

[hilts_coolerking]

The thing is that a lot of the time he gives the impression that he's not interested, even if he might be.  The first half against Sunderland, for example, was a typically limp and ineffectual Ireland performance.  That's not to say he doesn't have the ability - he has it in spades - but the feeling persists that he's flakey and unreliable.  Mainly because he is.

[pauliewalnuts]

Does anyone remember Ireland's first full home appearance for us? The thing that really stuck in my mind then was how often he'd move into space off the ball, be calling for it, and the player with the ball wouldn't pick him out.

I think there's still a bit of that going on with him, despite us improving our ball movement.

[DrGonzo]

I think Lambert is playing him largely because there are only 2 players who can fill that role, and one of them is N'Zogbia, and I think we are all in agreement that he is awful at the moment.

[Mazrim]

Oh dont get me wrong, I'd love him to be more consistent, but that's not the same as uninterested.
At least under Lambert.

If we can get a better player, great. I'm all for it.

[silhillvilla]

I think he fits into this 4231 system quite nicely. Hope he gets some steady form going now.

[not3bad]

I think Lambert is playing him largely because there are only 2 players who can fill that role, and one of them is N'Zogbia, and I think we are all in agreement that he is awful at the moment.

And because when Ireland's left the field this year Villa have invariably gone to pot.  See Southampton away.

[DrGonzo]

I think Lambert is playing him largely because there are only 2 players who can fill that role, and one of them is N'Zogbia, and I think we are all in agreement that he is awful at the moment.

And because when Ireland's left the field this year Villa have invariably gone to pot.  See Southampton away.

Kinda what I meant by only 2 players that can play in that position in Lambert's system.

[silhillvilla]

I think Lambert is playing him largely because there are only 2 players who can fill that role, and one of them is N'Zogbia, and I think we are all in agreement that he is awful at the moment.

And because when Ireland's left the field this year Villa have invariably gone to pot.  See Southampton away.

Sick of that myth. We were shite 1st half in that game too.

[not3bad]

I think Lambert is playing him largely because there are only 2 players who can fill that role, and one of them is N'Zogbia, and I think we are all in agreement that he is awful at the moment.

And because when Ireland's left the field this year Villa have invariably gone to pot.  See Southampton away.

Sick of that myth. We were shite 1st half in that game too.

I didn't see the match myself but that certainly is not the opinion shared by everyone, from what I saw of the post match thread.

[Mazrim]

Very few players have the eye for a pass and appreciation of the game that Ireland has. He's a force multiplier. So unless the players around him feed off and utilise that, he's not too effective. However, if they do, he's potentially a match winner.

[silhillvilla]

Moving the ball quickly is something Ireland is capable of. We need that.