Ireland

[moomba]

I wouldn't have said our style of play or formation hampered him at all yesterday. He got into the right position to do something, but was ignored on occasion or let himself down with bad control or a bad pass. I think his head dropped after a while, and didn't play with the impact he's capable of.

On another day, two or three of those might have come off, and it could have been very different.

Interesting that players in the mould of Elano/Ireland etc often get accused of laziness when they are played out of thei favoured position.

Maybe there is more to it.

 

[Bluemooner33]

I couldnt believe it when he was through on goal in the first half but then turned away instead of taking the shot on :-/ ...he could of won the game for us there.

 

[Balti]

I wouldn't have said our style of play or formation hampered him at all yesterday. He got into the right position to do something, but was ignored on occasion or let himself down with bad control or a bad pass. I think his head dropped after a while, and didn't play with the impact he's capable of.

On another day, two or three of those might have come off, and it could have been very different.

Interesting that players in the mould of Elano/Ireland etc often get accused of laziness when they are played out of thei favoured position.

Maybe there is more to it.

Imagine the position we would now be in if we had an in-form Stevie - last years model. My favourite player on his day but he's nowhere near his best. Limited options has forced Bob's hand on midfield selection and resulted in the much hated preponderance of DM's in some games. Yes we know he tried but he really should have addressed it in the window.

 

[gerrys_taxi]

he should've moved shaun into the middle

to do what, he seems scared aswell, he's lost a yard of pace and looks lost

i'm not slagging him off, i'm frustrated for him, and ireland they're both so much better than there performances, but at the moment they are struggling big time

 

[Dr.Faustus]

I think most are frustrated for him to be honest; but the reactionary and unfair reaction on these boards won't help him to gain confidence and get back to his best.

 

[leewill31]

I think most are frustrated for him to be honest; but the reactionary and unfair reaction on these boards won't help him to gain confidence and get back to his best.

not being funny mate but Ireland is a big boy now and i would expect stuff wrote on here by fans would and should not affect him in the slightest.

i want to see the Ireland of last year and i am not taking the "he is being played out of position" excuse,ive seen enough of Ireland to know that he can play 100% better than he is doing in any position around the center or just forward of the pitch.

 

[Deleted member 14625]

LMFAO!!! At some of you muppets on here trying to convice yourself that he played well today!

And if he actually said that he was thinking of leaving city because of what some people said about him on a forum then he has no place in football imo

You have to learn to take stick and if you dont like it then prove that your not a muppet and he had his chance today which he well and truly fucked up!

Man up Stevie FFS

Bobby Zamora went on a Fulham forum and saw posts saying he was a lazy twat who doesn't score enough goals and goes out drinking too much! he scored in the immediate game after finding the posts and told the fans to fuck off in his celebration and did a mime of him drinking a pint! he's since been in the best form of his career and has used the negatives as a motivation!

 

[Dr.Faustus]

I think most are frustrated for him to be honest; but the reactionary and unfair reaction on these boards won't help him to gain confidence and get back to his best.

not being funny mate but Ireland is a big boy now and i would expect stuff wrote on here by fans would and should not affect him in the slightest.

i want to see the Ireland of last year and i am not taking the "he is being played out of position" excuse,ive seen enough of Ireland to know that he can play 100% better than he is doing in any position around the center or just forward of the pitch.

Without doubt he is; however to expect him to have the form of last year without the support of the large majority of the fans both here and match days is fanciful. I agree that he is capable of playing almost anywhere in midfield with competency at least if not complete efficiency in all positions; but to infer that confidence does not effect performance in all walks of life (even outside of professional sports) is untrue.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Not disputing the substitution being potentially wrong however I had a feeling the comparison between Ireland and Gerrard would rear it's head.

Although Gerrard didn't win the game for the dippers his influence on the game was so much more evident than that of Ireland, every time Gerrard got the ball he drove them on pushing the ball out to the wingers and attempting to create.

Ireland did nothing bar wander around huffing, puffing and trying the odd flick here and there, never once dictating play.

Gerrard did nothing significant yesterday. One shot on target I think, and one off. He was ineffective, and this was reflected in the fact that neither team created a single clear clut chance.

You must be pretty desperate to slag off Ireland if you want to split hairs about which of the two had a better game...

come off it Billy, I am not slagging Ireland, just saying he had a shocker and doesn't warrant a place in the side at the moment.

there is a difference between a player out of form and a player not giving 100%, yesterday Ireland did not give his all and all I ever expect when a player takes the shirt in blue is that they give 100%.

bit ridiculous to have a pop about the comparison with Gerrard, 2 players in a game playing identical positions - who else am i supposed to measure him against????

Gerrard never lost possession once in the game and every time his defensive midfielders had the ball he made himself some space and picked the ball up and moved off at pace. that imo is exactly what playing that position is all about.

i don't want Stevie sold, i think on his day he is a tremendous player, unfortunately he isn't going to get the opportunity to play himself into form in wich case he has to excel when he gets on the pitch - something he isn't doing at the moment.

 

[leewill31]

still waiting for the real Stevie Ireland to show up this season!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRph2r9wqI&feature=fvw[/youtube]