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Dennehy defeated

Defender Darren Dennehy played the whole ninety minutes as Ireland U21's lost 3-1 to Nigeria in the second game of the Under-23 Intercontinental Cup tournament this aftenoon.

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	Transfer targets...but without names
Posted by	Written by biziclop on 01 May : 08:30
Article	The transfer window is about to open. You can feel it in your bones, it starts with an uncontrollable urge to sell our entire first squad and buy everybody else and culminates in heated debates abundant in personal abuse about players nobody has ever seen play. Now, this is all great fun for all but let's try something completely different. Let's try it without names. We all want a successful team and successful teams do operate as a unit. We hear this phrase so many times that we sometimes forget it has a meaning. It's not all about getting a bunch of players in and making sure they become good mates. It's not about rallying cries or players urging other players to up their game. It's what happens on the pitch that counts and it all starts with systematic transfers. To be successful on the long run we need to choose our players for the tactics, not the other way around. And as at the moment we're in limbo between our former defensive and the desired attacking line-up, it's worth to consider what are our possible attacking options and what kinds of players we need for them. 1. Long ball. If it's not just hopeless hoofs towards the corner flag, long ball can be surprisingly effective, albeit a bit dull to watch. For long ball tactics we obviously lack the target men. Yakubu might be okay for one but we need someone else, preferably a bony tall bastard. We need two strong tackling midfielders as the midfield's main task is defending and shooting from distance. And before I forget, we need fullbacks who can bend it in and not out. Most teams rarely go for it from the off but it certainly is something to prepare for when we have to push for a goal in the last twenty minutes. 2. Pass and move. Crisp passing, fast-paced action in the middle of the park, get the ball near the box, drag the defensive lines out of shape, find an opening and get a shot in. Easy. Not for us though, as apart from Fernandes our entire midfield is static. Maybe packing the midfield with three attacking midfielders rotating across the positions (as we sometimes did during the more successful spells of the season) could do the trick but still unlikely unless we could sign a world-class box-to-box midfielder. 3. Into the channels. Try to stick the ball between two defenders from 30-40 yards out or incisive diagonal passes in front of them, quick runner picks it up and bang. Apart from keeping Fernandes, we need one more midfielder with an eye for the killer pass and runners. Ossie has shown us how good he can be, his low centre of gravity and light build is a bonus here and so can be Johnson's if he could just be persuaded to run in the right direction. If not, we need another short but quick striker. 4. Out wide. Everybody knows this, it's a classic and a firm fan's favourite on these forums. Attacking right fullback is what we need then and wingers. Or at least one winger. We can get away with one of our current midfielders playing out wide but we really need somebody who was born on the touchline. And this concludes the list of possible tactics we could go for. Though they're not mutually exclusive, how many of them we could find personnel for is a matter of transfer funds. But next time you think that some plucky under-13 Peruvian super-forward with three legs and a degree in turnip recognition could fit right in, you might as well think of his possible effects on the team and our tactics first.
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Comments

Posted by Mick 1995 @ 01 May : 09:11

spot on.

Champ and Football manager have a lot to answer for when looking at some peoples wish list!
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Posted by The Sandman @ 02 May : 10:05

1. Carew
2. Arshavin
3. Kallstrom and Zarate
4. Sagna and Lennon

Hey, rediculously unrealistic but they fit the bill.

Good article Bizi
Reply to this

Posted by Olli @ 02 May : 14:31

i'd hate us to sing a big target man. rather have someoen like arshavin to partner yakubu. if we bought someone like crouch we'd have no mobility upfront. Vaughan is a target man, see how many headers he won last season. But he is also very fast
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