O’Neill’s tactics will offer Ireland much of the same
Posted: November 7, 2013 Filed under: Cillian, International | Tags: Aston Villa, Celtic, FAI, Ireland, martin o'neill, sunderland Leave a commentThis week the FAI made their decision over who they wanted to replace opinion-dividing Giovanni Trapattoni. Martin O’Neill, with assistance from Roy Keane, was the man chosen to lead our national side into the qualification campaign for the 2016 European Championships. However, the main issue that most Ireland fans had with former boss Trapattoni was the grim style of play implemented, but O’Neill’s appointment doesn’t give Irish fans much hope for change in the future.
New Ireland boss O’Neill poses with the team jersey
O’Neill has been long criticised for his style of play. Far from a beautiful, fluid, intricate machine akin to Barcelona that the Northern Irishman claimed he wanted his Sunderland side to play like when he first took charge in December 2011, Martin O’Neill teams are more based the around a foundation of conservative tactics looking to hit their opponents on the break.
This can be classified as quite close to a “route one” style. Long balls to a strong front man to hold up, or into open space behind defenders for wingers to latch onto. This is an ethos shared by the former Ireland boss and the new one, and it shows the direction that the FAI want to continue with, while also showing us what kind of development in the first team that they don’t want to see.
Real’s defensive shakes, and just how do you define “offside”?
Posted: November 5, 2013 Filed under: Cillian, La Liga Leave a commentOn Saturday night, Real Madrid went to Vallekas to take on lowly Rayo Vallecano. The billionaire blancos won 3-2 in the end, but that doesn’t nearly give the full account of the match. The bottom of the table team had Real on the ropes for the majority of the match, while even the return of Xabi Alonso to the starting line up couldn’t give Real Madrid the force in midfield to deal with the famously good at keeping possession Franjiroja.
Jonathan Viera skips past Madrid’s Sergio Ramos
One thing that the course of this game left me wondering is do Real Madrid have a defence good enough to win the Champions League? Obviously that’s the goal, Carlo Ancelotti’s team are obsessed with winning their tenth European crown. Rayo Vallecano don’t have any real cutting edge to their play and are lacking a striker to put the ball in the back of the net. Yet plenty of times, Paco Jemez’s men were able to break the Real breeches and create a goalscoring opportunity.
Rayo’s problems, a Bernabéu rout, and Almería off the mark
Posted: November 2, 2013 Filed under: Cillian, La Liga | Tags: Amería, Gareth Bale, Getafe, Osasuna, Rayo, real madrid, Sevilla, valencia, Villarreal Leave a commentRayo Vallecano are in trouble. Following their home defeat to Valladolid, they travelled to Osasuna and suffered another defeat against a team that will be expected to finish in their vicinity come the end of the season. For Osasuna, it was a great evening in which they led from the first minute to the last, although not entirely comfortably collecting the three points as Rayo, as they are want to do, dominated possession in the final 25 minutes after the home side were reduced to ten men.
Osasuna celebrate an important victory over Rayo
What was most telling about this defeat for me is that Rayo don’t have a defence that can keep them in the top tier of Spanish football. For all their bravery in maintaining possession – even better than Barcelona might I add – once they lose it, they can succumb to the offence of whoever they’re facing quite quickly. Gaps are easy to find in the central defensive partnership of Gálvez and whoever is by his side, normally Saúl or Arbilla, and opposition wingers normally get past the fullbacks with relative ease.
Balls Out In Public 