Ireland

[C_T_I_D]

Has the talent / ability. Form is temporary, class is permanent. I have no doubt in my mind that Stevie will come good. It just hasn't been happening for him lately but he doesn't need telling. He knows it himself. If this fella gets sold though I gauruntee we'll live to regret it. Quality player on his day but them days need to start coming if he wants regular first team football. Good luck Stevie, we're all behind you!

 

[Neil McNab]

Can no one see that all of Irelands game is about the Killer pass and keeping the ball moving, whos he gonna pass to in the formation we play.

Hes not a second striker, nor would he claim to be. Yet people still cant see he has no one to provide for in his role as the attacking option in midfield, Ade seems to have a fear of being in the box and runs wide all the time.

In short you cant play a through ball to yourself !!!!!

I've sais for months it's a waste of time playing Ireland because he has no runner alongside him to allow him to play his game. Adebayor reminds me of that weedy kid at school that did everything to avoid recieving the ball in case they got tackled, a great training aid though, just tell the young players don't put yourself where Ade is putting himself.
Ade is one of the best finnishers I've ever seen with sublime skill but he's always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[AntonDonJuan]

He needs to pull his head out of his arse and stop fannying around. Last season if he didn't have the ball, he would go and win it and then start an attack. Yesterday, and for every game i've seen him, he's ponced around the pitch waiting for the ball to come to him instead of doing something about it. Waste of space yesterday

 

[Didsbury Dave]

He plays in the hole behind the striker, link man between midfield and attack.

The killer balls should be for Adebayor, SWP, Bellamy and Johnson in the main.

He's done it several times in the last few games to create goals - Adebayor v Pompey, Richards v Darlo etc.

but what happens in games like sunday, where no one gets forward for him. Through the majority of the game he was either our most advanced player, or had dropped to deep to try and get into the game. the guy cant win

I sort of agree with you in that our attacking players were a bit isolated yesterday as our central midfield sits so deep.

 

[Anonymous]

He needs to pull his head out of his arse and stop fannying around. Last season if he didn't have the ball, he would go and win it and then start an attack. Yesterday, and for every game i've seen him, he's ponced around the pitch waiting for the ball to come to him instead of doing something about it. Waste of space yesterday

About as much of a waste of space as that fucking post...

So to recap from this thread....Stephen Ireland is now shit because

- He ponces around the pitch
- He does fancy flicks and tricks that never come off
- He doesn't get stuck in
- He doesn't track back
- He's afraid of a tackle
- He's got his new contract so he doesn't care

I think there'll be plenty of "STEVIE, I'm so sowwy, please forgive me" threads in time...

Once again, I don't think he was very good yesterday, but once again, the footballing reasons why he wasn't so good will be lost on most of you as you seem to learn about football from Andy Gray's The Last Cliche...

 

[AntonDonJuan]

He needs to pull his head out of his arse and stop fannying around. Last season if he didn't have the ball, he would go and win it and then start an attack. Yesterday, and for every game i've seen him, he's ponced around the pitch waiting for the ball to come to him instead of doing something about it. Waste of space yesterday

About as much of a waste of space as that fucking post...

So to recap from this thread....Stephen Ireland is now shit because

- He ponces around the pitch
- He does fancy flicks and tricks that never come off
- He doesn't get stuck in
- He doesn't track back
- He's afraid of a tackle
- He's got his new contract so he doesn't care

I think there'll be plenty of "STEVIE, I'm so sowwy, please forgive me" threads in time...

Once again, I don't think he was very good yesterday, but once again, the footballing reasons why he wasn't so good will be lost on most of you as you seem to learn about football from Andy Gray's The Last Cliche...

I suppose you have to say that or he might not invite you round for tea and biscuits next time.

He was shite yesterday, and for nearly every game he's played this season, he has been. He's our only attack minded centre mid and we need him to perform. He was going on last season about how Mark Hughes was the greatest manager ever and has really made him a top player, then he has a shit start to the season, Hughes goes and he moans how he played him out of position and Hughes is the reason for his poor form.

I love Ireland, one of my favourite players, but it doesn't mean he's exempt from criticism. I agree with you, some of the posts in this thread are ridiculous, but the fact is yesterday he played completely the opposite of what made him so good last season, the energy just wasn't there and hasn't been all season

 

[ello_jo]

I reckon this thread will do him a real world of good when he's low on confidence (feel the sarcasm) and I can't believe how people can now slate him after last year, if we kept him in the exact same position and role as last year he would be playing the same. How fickle are our fucking fans

 

[Anonymous]

About as much of a waste of space as that fucking post...

So to recap from this thread....Stephen Ireland is now shit because

- He ponces around the pitch
- He does fancy flicks and tricks that never come off
- He doesn't get stuck in
- He doesn't track back
- He's afraid of a tackle
- He's got his new contract so he doesn't care

I think there'll be plenty of "STEVIE, I'm so sowwy, please forgive me" threads in time...

Once again, I don't think he was very good yesterday, but once again, the footballing reasons why he wasn't so good will be lost on most of you as you seem to learn about football from Andy Gray's The Last Cliche...

I suppose you have to say that or he might not invite you round for tea and biscuits next time.

He was shite yesterday, and for nearly every game he's played this season, he has been. He's our only attack minded centre mid and we need him to perform. He was going on last season about how Mark Hughes was the greatest manager ever and has really made him a top player, then he has a shit start to the season, Hughes goes and he moans how he played him out of position and Hughes is the reason for his poor form.

I love Ireland, one of my favourite players, but it doesn't mean he's exempt from criticism. I agree with you, some of the posts in this thread are ridiculous, but the fact is yesterday he played completely the opposite of what made him so good last season, the energy just wasn't there and hasn't been all season

I have no problem being objective about any City player, never mind Ireland - but thanks all the same for the concern about where I get my tea and biscuits...

In my opinion, Stevie is a confidence player. Last season Hughes put a lot of faith in him, and spoke to him quite a lot about what he wanted from him etc. This lead to his best every season for us. This season began with a change in system to accommodate all of our new attacking players - which is where the problem began. Ireland was instructed that he was NOT to cross the half way line - and operate as a deep lying midfield player. That's not his game. Simple as that. So, yes, he was ineffective. This had a lasting effect on his confidence as he knew he wasn't performing, Hughes made it clear that the role he performed last season for the team was no longer required, and it quickly became apparent that he would have to like it or lump it.

Now I've read lots of stuff on this board about how top class player should just adapt to whatever position they're asked to play - so I'll use Gerrard as an example. Benitez, once, didn't know how to best utilize Gerrard. He played him as a defensive midfield player, and as a right winger. He was pretty ineffective in both rolls, and simply couldn't influence games in the way he'd like to. I see a direct parallel between him and our Ste - the only difference being that Gerrard was much older and much more experienced. Still, in the end, Benitez realized that to get the best out of him, he had to give him the freedom to find the space he needs to operate.

With respect to yesterday's performance. Ireland and Gerrard played in the same position. Neither had any impact on the result of the match. Neither did anything outstanding. Neither looked like a top class player. Why? My guess is because both teams defended deep, and because both sets of back four were as solid as they could be...

 

[Didsbury Dave]

With respect to yesterday's performance. Ireland and Gerrard played in the same position. Neither had any impact on the result of the match. Neither did anything outstanding. Neither looked like a top class player. Why? My guess is because both teams defended deep, and because both sets of back four were as solid as they could be...

That's bang on the money. Add to that 2 sets of deeplying central midfielders, filling the "hole".

but that brings us back to the point I'm arguing on another thread.

The last 10-15 minutes were the only time in the game that City looked like punching a hole through Liverpool's defence. When Liverpool committed a few mean forward.

Ireland should have been on the field for that.

 

[Anonymous]

With respect to yesterday's performance. Ireland and Gerrard played in the same position. Neither had any impact on the result of the match. Neither did anything outstanding. Neither looked like a top class player. Why? My guess is because both teams defended deep, and because both sets of back four were as solid as they could be...

That's bang on the money. Add to that 2 sets of deeplying central midfielders, filling the "hole".

but that brings us back to the point I'm arguing on another thread.

The last 10-15 minutes were the only time in the game that City looked like punching a hole through Liverpool's defence. When Liverpool committed a few mean forward.

Ireland should have been on the field for that.

Fabregas was awful against the scousers the other week. I wonder if there were Arsenal supporters calling his performance a disgrace and musing over whether his contract had gone to his head...

Yes, Stevie shouldn't have been brought off just as the game was opening up - but I think by that point, Mancini had decided he was more concerned with not losing, than he was with winning.

Did you catch Adebayor's interview on MOTD 2 last night. He talked about both teams playing with the "handbrake on". I thought it was a pretty smart analogy and his interview was quite insightful.