I know what you were saying off air was probably the game of the weekend in terms of the cup.

I was 100% the game of the weekend Raph I really enjoyed it now I have to be honest I thought it was real kind of high level stuff and more from a tactical and technical point of view sometimes you associate quarter finals with blood and guts and just kind of on the day and getting stuck in and whoever's the more hungrier can come out on top and there was some of that as well but certainly in terms of the tactical approach from both teams and like we've a lot of discussions around Irish football and the development of the game and where it's going and Irish coaches and And the evolution of them now as the game is kind of changing as well.

And where do they sit amongst, I suppose, their peers around Europe? I thought the two teams were so well coached in how they both approached it.

And two different approaches.

Obviously, Pats were playing with wingbacks.

McClellan and Elbezetti, either side of the midfield players, the three at the back.

And then to counteract that, you had Bohemians playing with two sitting players in Dawson, Devoy and Flores.

You'd have been worried for them at that point, I suppose.

I know those numbers and rankings don't tell a full story, but that must be a bit of a concern.

Yeah, well, those stats are, don't like whether, as you say, sometimes the rankings, we often look at them and they're skewed anyway.

But that's, they're factual.

So, of course, that's a stat that people can throw that it's lower ranked kind of countries we're losing to, which obviously is not a good thing, especially when you think of the progress that's been made.

But I would agree with Stephen Bradley what he said in that interview with Tony about the narrative that, oh, it's the easier route.

I always felt...

I don't think it's the easier route as in easier matches.

yeah and I think you mentioned before we came on that you were at Daly Mountain Park because that's what we're moving on to next so Bowes 3-0 winners over Sligo and to be honest you can really only talk about the first half because it was over pretty much by then

And they're probably looking at Bournemouth and thinking if they can do it, we can do it.

The amount of places now for them.

The one on Keith, and this is like as Keith said there you're looking at him last year and of course all the kind of trepidation around the fact that he's only a novice going in and all people saying oh he'll be sacked and all this kind of thing and that's fair enough kind of chit chat if you like before the season because he was a novice he's absolutely unbelievable job that he did last year and deserves all the credit but here we are in the second season again people throughout this phrase second season syndrome and there's a bit more expectation on him because now there will be demands in terms of where where he finished and as keith said now they're already talking about maybe potentially finishing in europe and he's saying that himself and rightly so um but one thing for me with keith and even now we have damien and steve and even throw steven rice into the mix there like all the talk and we're chatting here the whole time just in terms of and you've already brought it up there Raph about Troy Parrott Evan Ferguson John Egan there's just three names mentioned already in terms of an international team and we're always focusing on where they're going to play and who's the next ones coming through and we don't have enough at Premier League level and they're only playing in the Championship and some are playing in League 1 and there's all this kind of cloud around Irish football at the moment I'll tell you where the hope is and Keats probably on a different path at the moment in terms of what he's doing at the moment that he's probably going to eventually if he keeps going on the trajectory that he's on at the moment he's going to get a really top job in England but in terms of maybe an Irish potential Irish manager him and Damien as a duo looks already on paper like it'll be absolutely incredible never mind the players there's where the hope is that if one day he's going to manage Ireland because of the job that he's done at Brentford at Premier League level after being an absolute novice it would be a breeze for him international football when you look at it and obviously throw Damien into the mix as well and you look at him on Saturday obviously helping him out Stephen Rice also in the background like I think that's fantastic three people like that at the elite level to dismantle Spurs in the way that they did as Keith rightly said Spurs were a mess but all the focus for me would be on Brentford because even just the first 15-20 minutes alone how well they started the game and people often throw at Brentford all long throws and the physical nature and corner kicks and set pieces but That's where the game's going.

But apart from that, the football they played, Lewis Potter was playing left wing back.

At one stage he was popping up on the right, came into the central area, little pockets.

They don't get enough credit for that stuff as well in the football that they play.

Yes, they're kind of very basic in how to go about things and all the fundamentals have to be right and rightly so and well set up and well structured.

giving

... for, for what proved to be the winner, what qualities does he bring?

bring?He's actually, he covers the ground so gracefully, Raph, honestly.

He was up and down the pitch.

At one stage, he won a ball on the edge of the box, and he was the one that, they broke really quickly and went up to big Edmondson.

And this was late in the day.

It might have even been into extra time.

And he was the one that was actually getting up, supporting Edmondson after running about 60 yards.

Yeah.

But there will be people who will be hoping that this goes through.

Yeah, I w- I, I, I would assume so, absolutely, as I said, smaller countries.

And we've already seen some kind of, uh, some of those countries maybe that we saw in the World Cup who would obviously feel as though it would do wonders for their game in developing obviously their infrastructure, facilities, whatever the case may be back at home in some of those lesser nations, if you like.

But that can never happen, and obviously, if we're ever included in that, and, and we have our own issues and our own problems, and the biggest problems we have are financial ones, as everybody knows, and the debt.

But I wouldn't, I would hate to think we would ever go down that road, Katie.

Like we've gone down some dark roads in our times.

The FEI and Irish football, I would hate to think we would ever go down that road and get behind such a ludicrous plan like this.

Uh, so, uh, you could just say we- you're on a slippery slope already, so is it just a matter of time before the World Cup really is for sale?

Like the club is always bigger than the player is like.

Yeah well there's two sides to that really I think and it's gone so big in England because of the money but still here the problem with that for players was never any security so if you're bouncing through a nine-month contract from club to club and you're trying to pay a mortgage the club is fighting fires all the time to come up with kind of money now the league is in a much better place now and there's lads being offered two and three-year contracts so it's probably more stable financially which is a good thing for the league and for the country but But since I finished playing, I got into the media world and you're banging the drum all the time in terms of looking for government funding, investment to grow the league.

And now since Brexit has come in, young fellas, so I wouldn't have been able to go, like me going away at 16, that doesn't happen now.

Yeah.

so you have to wait till you're 18 so there's an onus on the clubs here and as I said to have investment in facilities and infrastructure to try and develop our own players because we used to be just cast off to England at 15 16 and it was over to them to develop players to play for the senior team so in a nutshell we should be developing young players here to eventually play whether it be Sligo Rovers or teams in Dublin or wherever and eventually represent kind of the national team but the my young fella plays now as well and it's like the facilities there's we're still a million miles behind in facilities.

Yeah, I was

in

Toffs.

You know, it's always a like for like substitution.

Yeah, it's a cultural thing with them as well, Raph.

Like, you look at all those eight Barcelona players.

So in terms of them and the possession-based team that they are, um, and the one worry I had for them, even you go back to the opening night, they were so toothless against Cape Verde, and I thought that was gonna be the problem for them, that it was almost possession for possession's sake.

But as the tournament went on, the one thing we've learned against France, the elite level team that France are when they won 1-0 up and also in the final here, they kill the game by keeping the ball.

It's incredible.

And everybody goes back to England and where they fell down.

But Spain are in a very, very good place, and I, I imagine they're gonna be contenders going forward, at least f- in this cycle as well, of course with the likes of, uh, Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí sort of, uh, and the spine of that as well.

So what's your thoughts?

Yeah, it was.

As you say, it won't live long in the memory.

It was a poor game considering all that had gone before, Brendan, with the tournament, with the drama and the excitement and all the brilliant games that we had up to this point and especially the excitement of the semi-finals with Argentina.

clawing their way back into the game against England we were hoping for similar in the final but it just never caught fire whatsoever Spain dominated the game with the ball from start to finish really I just think it may have been a game too far for Argentina they're an average team to be honest with you it's more their fight and their spirit that kind of got them to this point and Messi And of course, Messi's 39 and he can pull rabbits out of the hat every day of the week, Brendan.

As good and all as he is.

And he just never really got into the game because of the dominance that Spain had.

Do you think that was fair?

You could kind of see in Didier Deschamps' face early on that they didn't have ideas here and they looked kind of defeated, didn't they, early on?

Yeah, a little bit.

And then, especially within half-time, you're thinking he's going to obviously get stuck into them at half-time in the changing rooms and there'll be a bit of a reaction in the second half.

There's nowhere near that they can play as bad as they did in that first half.

But the reaction never came.

And even when I went into the hydration break, you're thinking 15, 20 minutes to go now.

And if they don't kind of pull up their socks, they're going out of the tournament.

And that's what makes him

[upbeat music] Figures show that England games at this World Cup have attracted the largest viewing numbers in Ireland, and RTE soccer analyst, Alan Cawley, explains what he thinks is at the heart of this love-hate relationship.

I think it's the close connection that we have, Joe, in terms of them being our nearest neighbors, and obviously, the Premier League has a huge influence on that, uh, with the amount of Irish supporters who support the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, um, going back through the years as well.

So I think once the England team roll into town at a major tournament, of course, it's gonna be a huge story, uh, for positive and negative reasons.

And I think the closer they get to winning it, and then if they fall at a, a certain hurdle, whether it be the last or maybe a quarterfinal, semifinal, I think [laughs] people from Ireland or this island kind of enjoy that side of things as well.

So I think it's for a whole host of reasons, but certainly in terms of the, the relationship that we have with the Premier League here because it's hugely supported.

Yeah.

Now, I might be wrong, but I, I, I, I'd be fairly confident that I can't see them win the tournament.

And for a couple of reasons, really.

I just don't think they have the firepower.

You look at Arrasate, he has four goals.

He's not really the elite level like Mbappé and Messi, Harry Kane, Bellingham.

Um, Yamine Lamal obviously hasn't really kinda sh- He's done okay, but he's only a kid, so there's a lot of, kind of, expectation on him.

France.

But that being said, Belgium have improved markedly the whole way through, and I think Rudi Garcia seems to deserve a good bit of credit for the way he's molded the team as the tournament's gone on.

Yeah, because I was highly critical of them, uh, after the group games, Raph.

I thought they were terrible, and then obviously they went into the first knockout round.

And I thought it was a poor group as well, uh, coming through Iran, New Zealand, uh, Egypt.

Now, I know Egypt did not have a great night against Argentina and probably should've won the match maybe.

Um, but the group I thought was one of the poorest that we'd seen in the competition.

Um, but as you said, they've kinda gradually got a little bit better.

You reckon?

Mm

...

I have no issue whatsoever if England play well and deserve to win, like they did against Mexico the other night.

They were absolutely brilliant.

Um, and the texter is right.

They are a likable bunch.

I've always admired Harry Kane.

Mm

But does it ch- does it show a, throw a little bit of a harsh light on in terms of the selection from Tuchel's point of view?

A little bit, yeah, Raph.

But sometimes I suppose the decisions that he made pre-tournament, that can be highlighted a bit more in tournament 'cause he's not, he, he was never gonna predict that Reece James may get injured, that Quansah was gonna get sent off.

Like, that's very hard to predict, so, uh, nobody would've been able to s- foresee that, so to be fair to him.

Maybe the Reece James one you're looking thinking, look, he's kind of a history of being injured a lot, so is he reliable? Is he sturdy enough for, uh, six weeks away during tournament football? That might've been one.

But certainly the Quansah one you couldn't see.

Uh, and it was unfortunate for him that he had to play right full because of Reece J- James being injured.

You know, it's, it's a possible free-for-all here because it's completely unprecedented.

Who's favourite for that, by the way, very quickly?

I think it's 50-50, Oliver.

Is it? Yeah, I think Australia could cause them problems.

So you could be turning your nose up at the match that could turn out to be one of the crazy matches.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at any match, Oliver, to be honest.

You wouldn't, for sure.

And Argentina, Cape Verde at 11pm in Miami.

Yeah,

Leeds yeah

this was years ago now it was a reserve match and kind of you can kind of in terms of him and whatever was he in Everton he was at Everton that at the time yeah and he was going through his own kind of troubles if you like but trying to get himself Walter Smith had signed him for Everton and trying to get himself back to some sort of fitness level he struggled in that regard but as a figure to play against someone like that so for Pico to be on this stage there's no one bigger than Messi like I was only even thinking about it last night Oliver in terms of what he's achieved and the longevity and here we are now and he's still is he 39 now coming up 39 he turned 39 yeah during the World Cup breaking all those records Unbelievable.

It really is for him to be still doing it.

And to be fair to Argentina, very good team as well.

And they have their own kind of, certainly in terms of their own targets and trying to retain the trophy as well.

So it's a huge match for them.

Obviously, we're only focusing maybe on one side of it, but for them, it's a huge match as well.

Yeah, well,

This one [laughs] is far from a foregone conclusion.

Yeah.

You could be, you could be quite lazy and think Brazil against Japan, that'd be an easy win for Brazil.

I have it an awful lot closer than that, Raph.

I think when you look at 11 v 19, it's, it's tighter than you might imagine.

Uh, Ueda up front is a, a brilliant, brilliant goal scorer.

Uh, scored a whole host of goals for Feyenoord.

And they didn't come out fly- with flying colors, even if they got a win in the Panama game.

I don't know

about that all for now.

Explain the match first of all and what your feelings are.

Crazy 48 hours to be honest but we were doing the game last week Canada against Qatar and it was fairly one-sided.

I think they were training up after 25 minutes Qatar into the second half had two men sent off it ended up 6-0 with a couple of late goals as well but you had Jesse Marsh jumping around the place the Canadian manager something like what we saw with the Ecuador manager last night even over the top completely over the top so I was fairly critical on that Oliver and I'm

going to play the clip we can see the footage of him really enthusiastically like on his own as well no players to be seen and he stays on doesn't he when the players he just kept going and he just keeps waving his arms I couldn't believe what I was watching fully suited and this is Alan

have a bit of kind of class and decorum of what you've just beaten.

And in terms of, it's only the second group game of the tournament.

Yeah and Alan I suppose that's actually probably going to help them as well with the psychological test of going from underdogs to now playing Saudi Arabia where you're going to be seen as basically on their level or even slight favourites

Yeah to me that's the biggest question is just in terms of how that dynamic flips because obviously going into Spain going into Uruguay nobody gave them a prayer particularly against Spain and for them to pick up the two points that they did obviously has absolutely been monumental and now they've put themselves in a position that they can qualify which they probably didn't expect at the start but it's how they approach that Raph now and in terms of I suppose being the favourites that tag having to come out having to play having to express yourself more of the ball can they create chances all the things we probably haven't seen now Kenny I think you were I was watching it but Kenny was doing the Uruguay game once they scored because I did it I was looking back on a bit of it obviously because I'm doing the game tonight but once they scored they showed a lot in 20-25 minutes just in terms of a bit more of an attacking threat that they could I think they'll win tonight.

I've seen Saudi Arabia a couple of times when I did the Spain game and they're a shambles.

They're all over the place.

I think they'll win tonight, Cape Ferdy.

them sort of players, can actually do that.

On those ones, Ray, the two pocket players who you're talking about, maybe at Dembele, that's Foden and Cole Palmer.

So he's left that.

They were always the dark horse, weren't they?

Yeah, always.

But I think they've, they've actually, they've gone away from what they always used to do in terms of the technical side, which they still play, but they have a big center forward that was at Sunderland, Brobbey, and he's added so much to them just in terms of physical presence.

I think they've a great chance as well, the Netherlands, as a dark horse.

USA, I know they got beat last night, but he made a lot of changes.

They've been very impressive also.

You're not mentioning Spain.

No, I'm not, actually, no. Um, and I just feel, again, something similar with the center forward, Arrasate, but I just don't think he's at the elite level that you need.

Mm

... because the players never really played for him, and it was the first time I ever got that sense since Joey O'Brien has gone in there.

He's only in there a year, but it just felt like all wasn't well in that camp.

Um, so I suppose I would've been surprised had you said it to me earlier in the week, but after watching the match on Monday night, I wasn't overly surprised yesterday.

Um, but the form has been very poor.

They're sitting fifth in the table, 30 points.

They're 14 behind Shamrock Rovers, whereas this year, myself included, I thought they'd have a real, uh, chance of winning the league title when you think of how well they finished last season.

Have they, have they- Can they turn it around, do you think?

What in your heart, did your heart beat flutter when you heard football's coming home there? Where do you stand on this?

Yeah, well, that's the part of it, Katie, where I think it is quite nauseating, that song.

And as we've seen over the years, when they do start to do well, everybody getting carried away.

That can be certainly an area, I suppose, where I totally get what Joe's saying and they can get very annoying.

But for me, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest, to be honest with you.

Because I may be coming at it slightly different just in terms of the football side of it and looking at it objectively.

And if they were to do well, good luck to them.

Will you be cheering for them? If it comes down to penalties, as it often does, will you be holding your head for their penalties?

What are the must-see games in round one? We all have our little wall charts that we've taken out of the newspaper and we'd like you to kind of help us zone in on the games that matter.

There's a lot of games, Dermot.

So any football fans, you're spoiled for the next few weeks, which is brilliant for the likes of myself.

But certainly in terms of the ones I've picked out, just for the opening week, if you like.

There's a brilliant doubleheader on Saturday night because I think Scotland are going to become everyone's favourite, especially over in this part of the world.

And they kick off on Saturday night at 2am against Haiti.

But before that, there's a very good game with Brazil and Morocco.

But if you

But, uh, just I suppose twofold, how big it was for the league, but then also, what did you make of Dawson's performance?

Yeah, obviously it was big for the league, Raph.

We've been discussing this now for a few weeks.

Um, I do think initially when the squad was called up and Dawson was named, it was very much on merit, and rightly so.

I felt by the time we got 'round to the game and it was the add-ons, and no disrespect to the lads that were brought in, it just felt a bit kind of tokeny, to be honest with you.

Um, so that was a bit, kind of, where I was kinda going.

Dawson in- initially being called up was obviously a really good thing.

Yeah.