Trapp loves Cox??

But we are playing a fearless team that is banging in goals. As pointed out before our defensive record could easily have been destroyed by Russia and Slovakia(who Armenia destroyed). I have no experience coaching but have played for my local team at all age groups since I was 12 and for me if we are playing 442 then surely one of the front men being a beast in the air and the other an extremely fast and powerful player can only be a good thing. If Trapp wants Cox to play the attacking midfielder role then why not play an actual midfielder? Why call it 442 when in reality it's 451? Long is too good to be considered Doyles backup. I remember a few games Doyle was injured and Long played and all we did was boot balls long to him. He is decent in the air but is better running at players. Some of Trapp's decisions are truly strange?

If playing long ball, Doyle and Cox have to play together. One wins the ball, the other is there for the knock down.

IF he is vaunting a 4-5-1 then I would heartily agree, he would be better playing a better passer in the middle and let Whelan and Andrews just "sit" and hold.

I think he will simply instruct Cox to drop-off more than Doyle. I don't think we will play long ball. If we do, then we will be giving possession away to Armenians to come and attack us. Now 4-5-1 as a defensive platform, jam the midfield and let the wingers push-on a wee bit more, I think is fair enough, IF you play another attacking midfielder.

I think honestly, we will try to play football, hold onto possession and try and play our normal 4-4-2 game, with maybe a little more emphasis on the counter-attacking tonight. I expect to see a lot of cross field balls going to McGeady [especially] and to a lesser extent Duffer as our attacking platform.

I think it will be close, but I actually expect to win tonight. I anticipate Trapps crooking Cox after 50mins if it is not working out for him.

Keep the faith. If we are terse with one another it is only that we are collectively nervous. So we should be, this is going to be a tough night. We need the 12th man. I know I for one will be singing my lungs out.

Yeah heading to Dublin soon get some brews in before the game. Anyone know if it's a full house?

I think it is supposed to be a full house.

We are in with the rowdies in the South stand, lower tier.

Not by choice, I prefer the East stand, but was only place I could get tickets for.

Early kick-off, 6:45. This nearly caught me out. Jump off after pick up son from School at 3:00pm. 2 hourse down the road and walk to the stadium.

Can't wait, but nervous...

Frankos i think you're being a bit harsh there. 8 clean sheets in a row in International Football is a fantastic acheivement. Remember too that we didn't exactly put out full strenght sides against the likes of Scotland, NIreland and Italy.
And it was a fairly strong Italian side.Their manager was really keen to get one over on his old pal Trapatonni. That match was played at a very high intensity if i remember correctly.

Cinderellaman has a point. Its all about balance. I just hope Cox performs well

My cox always performs well, but id still prefer a long one!!!

I know Dunphy has spat the rag out about Cox playing ahead of Long, but Eamon has been wide of the mark before.

He hated Jackie O'Charlton and the man did wonders.

I would have more problem him playing Kelly and O'Shea on their "wrong" sides, which Dunphy has similarly challenged.

In the latter regard Trapps is either crazy, or "crazy like a silver fox".

I have disagreed with some of Trapps approaches before only for the old fox to prove me wrong. I have faith and rosary beads for emergencies...

cinderellaman,

Just out of curiosity, do you also post on ybig?

leon best should be starting he is better than all your strikers!!

hes the best around

Franko no.