Nobody panic!
Sure, Shane Long is injured. Sure, Jonathan Walters is suspended. Sure, John O’Shea is injured and suspended. Sure, we’re only Ireland.
But we definitely can do this!
The glory years may be behind us but we’ve still got enough quality in the squad to make it to France. Don’t we?
We asked you to select your starting XI’s for Friday’s crucial game, while also selecting our own XI, and here are your replies:
https://twitter.com/FutbolAndrew/status/664208248036306944
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland Randolph Coleman Clark Keogh Brady McClean McCarthy Whelan Hendrick Hoolahan Murphy/Long
— Fintan Marron (@FintanMusic) November 11, 2015
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland Randolph Coleman Wilson Keogh Clarke McClean Whelan arter Hendrick Brady murphy — seamus tracey (@frankle444) November 10, 2015
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland Randolph Coleman Keogh Wilson Brady Hendrick Arter Mc Carthy Mc Clean Hoolahan Long (If he is fit)
— Cónchúr O’ Dufaigh (@ConorDuffy180) November 10, 2015
@Terry_Crosbie @SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland walters is banned for the first game and wes I dont think can play both — Ross Cassidy (@zamarano99) November 10, 2015
@Terry_Crosbie @SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland be great alrite but wes cudnt play 2 games the last time,so I doubt he will be risked away.
— Ross Cassidy (@zamarano99) November 10, 2015
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland Randolph. Coleman keogh clark wilson.Brady whelan,mcarthy,hendrick,mclean,long. — Ross Cassidy (@zamarano99) November 10, 2015
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland 1 Breen 2 Breen 3 Breen 4 Breen 5 Breen 6 Breen 7 Breen 8 Breen 9 Breen 10 Breen 11 Breen
— Ruairi O’Hagan (@Haganator) November 12, 2015
@SportsJOEdotie @SPARIreland easy…. ??we all dream of a team of Gary Breen’s….team of Gary Breen’s….a team of Gary Breen’s ?? — Brendan McTaggart (@yadabhoy) November 10, 2015
Here’s our very Gary Breen-less XI.
The man between the sticks became something of a no-brainer with Rob Elliot’s no-show and Shay Given’s knee injury. The only other Premier League goalkeeper at our disposal was Darren Randolph and he deputised admirably against a torrent of German attacks when Given hobbled off at the Aviva last month.
Seamus Coleman was the first name on our teamsheet and he’s probably the most talented player in our squad, so much so that you’d nearly want him to take the penalties in the absence of Shane Long and Jonathan Walters.
He plays on the right-hand side of a central defence partnership of Richard Keogh and Ciaran Clark who are likely the best pairing available with John O’Shea ruled out of Friday night with suspension and injury.
We could’ve played Marc Wilson in the centre with Robbie Brady at left-back but we prefer the idea of a right-footed centre-half playing alongside a left-footer.
Wilson starts at left full as we’ve got other plans for Mr Brady.
James McCarthy and Jeff Hendrick are our picks in central midfield and both will have their hands full with Miralem Pjanic, one of Bosnia’s bigger threats on the night.
We’ve gone for Robbie Brady and James McClean on the flanks as you’d imagine that we’ll be soaking up an awful lot of pressure in Zenica and they’re probably our best options at snatching an away goal on the break.
Wes Hoolahan is the man who could well make the difference but we see him being the fall-guy when Martin O’Neill names his XI as he’ll likely go more conservative with Glenn Whelan.
As threatening as they are in attack, Bosnia’s back-four are relatively unheralded and we think we could actually nab a vital goal or two and positivity from the outset will be vital in that.
Wes is our most creative player, by far, and without the likes of Long or Walters, our front man will need as much support as possible so as not to be completely isolated and nullified.
Considering our lack of options, Daryl Murphy gets the nod up top and we’re just crossing our fingers that he didn’t waste all his goals with his hat-trick against Rotherham at the weekend.
Brought to you by SPAR, a proud partner of the FAI
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