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Liam Scales. Ryan Byrne/INPHO

'If you have a left-footed option and don't play him, you need to have a serious reason'

Liam Scales must start against Greece if Ireland refuse to move away from five at the back, the Football Family podcast heard.

LIAM SCALES SHOULD be at the centre of Ireland’s plans if they are to persist with a five at the back formation for tomorrow’s clash against Greece, according to Shane Keegan on the latest episode of the Football Family, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.

Keegan asked: “Has Heimir Hallgrímsson, John O’Shea or anybody given any reasoning behind Liam Scales not starting the England game?”

He added: “If you’re playing three at the back then the left-sided centre-half has to be left-footed!

“If you’re going to play proper coherent football then the left-sided one needs to be comfortable using their left foot. Without that you’re on the back foot instantly. 

“Anytime as a manager that I would talk about playing an opposition team, you say: ‘Look we probably can’t press them man-for-man all over the field, so somebody on the pitch is going to have to be the player with a little bit of extra time on the ball’. 

“You’re hoping that if the opposition are playing with two centre-backs that they’re both right-footed. That’s an equation that you come across quite often. Then you think: ‘Happy days, we can leave the left-sided centre-half as his passing selections will be an awful lot less’. So, it’s a massive help if your own centre-back in a back four or back five is left-footed. 

“We’re not stuck for a left-footed player to play in that role at the moment. Liam Scales is flying it. Ok you can argue the merits of the level that he’s playing at, but he had just come out of the Rangers game where he had played extremely well.

“What could possibly suggest from what Liam Scales is doing at the moment that he wasn’t good enough to be in that starting 11 vs England?

“If you have a left-footed option and don’t want to play him, you need to have a serious reason not to.

“As an outside player in a back three, is Liam Scales not a better defender than Seamus Coleman? Obviously, Seamus is a better option as a full back, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around that one.”

The 42’s David Sneyd added: “Maybe Ireland should stick with similar personnel against Greece but mix it up a little bit in terms of the formation and where they’re positioned.” 

“Just because we’ve loads of quality centre-backs in the squad doesn’t mean that we should be playing this system. It suits so few of our players that it’s hard to expect a win against Greece,” Gavin Cooney of The 42 said. 

“I wouldn’t give us much of a hope at all. I think a 0-0 draw would be a sign of progress providing it’s a 0-0 where Greece don’t really look like scoring rather than one where Kelleher has to make save after save,” Keegan said.

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    Mute conor carroll
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    Sep 9th 2024, 5:52 PM

    Shane is right. How Robbie Brady & Seamus got selected ahead of Liam Scales is baffling. Is O’Shea picking his pals?

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    Mute Bert Carolan
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    Sep 9th 2024, 6:28 PM

    @conor carroll: Brady was there as a wing back, don’t know if Scales could play that role? Coleman would have been picked for experience and leadership although it didn’t count for much against England.
    Coleman out for tomorrow in any case so if they stick with back 3 it has to Scales.
    Centre midfield is our biggest problem area.

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    Mute John Buckley
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    Sep 9th 2024, 6:40 PM

    @conor carroll: like you, keegan is a clown. He was a shocking manager and shouldn’t be advising anyone who to pick. The two other center half on the bench are ahead of him for that position. If John Egan was match fit, he would be ahead of Scales. All these center half are better passers off their left than Scales is.

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    Mute Joe O'Regan
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    Sep 9th 2024, 8:48 PM

    Cool the jets lads. We are only one game into Hallgrimmson’s reign as Ireland manager. I am encouraged if he is going to make the concession of a soft goal like the first one in Saturday an unpleasant experience during the video session and hold players to account. It was such a poor goal to concede. I felt over the last couple of years that there was no consequences for leaking a goal like that and positions in the team were safe.

    I have a feeling that a hard working player like Knight is going to be Hallgrimmson type player.

    As Gavin Cooney put it in an earlier article Hallgrimmson is currently like an external consultant. Once he is settled in I think we will see what he is really about.

    Paddy McCarthy isn’t in there long either and I think he is a good coach.

    O’Shea is the longest involved with the senior team and he is only there about a year.

    The three of them will put their mark on it yet. We need a little bit of patience.

    I hope the players have enough self pride to be up for the Greek game tomorrow after two poor defeats to them last year.

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    Mute Ollie Fitzpatrick
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:32 PM

    The team picked for Saturday reeked of O Shea’s influence.
    Let HH pick his own team and backroom staff. Loyalty is the death knell of the FAI!!!

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    Mute Shawn
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:03 PM

    Id pefee to see liam playing left back than brady thats for sure

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    Mute Conor Stagg
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:04 PM

    Scales can only play centre, anytime he has played right or left side, he has been very poor

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    Mute Patrick Hand
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:06 PM

    The first thing Heimir Hallgrimsson should do is get rid of John O’Shea failed at Birmingham was also part of the Kenny era was interim manager and also failed

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    Mute Bert Carolan
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    Sep 9th 2024, 8:04 PM

    @Patrick Hand: Great plan. So he should give an Irish football legend like John O Shea the boot. That’ll certainly win over the Irish public.
    Then he marches into a dressing room where he knows nada about the players and goes out to face one of the best teams in the world. That should win over the dressing room eh?
    Why not go for the hat trick and tell Tony Connolly that he has a face like a frozen cod?

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    Mute Emmet
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    Sep 10th 2024, 3:14 AM

    We should play our 4 cbs in a back 4 with Scales lb and O’Shea rb. They both played in those position before.

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    Mute Jamie Berry
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    Sep 10th 2024, 7:37 AM

    @Emmet: absolutely agree with that Oshea and scales are both mobile enough to play full back

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    Mute conor carroll
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:00 PM

    @johnbuckley thanx for the insult. Shane Keegan is an excellent coach.

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    Mute John Buckley
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    Sep 9th 2024, 7:57 PM

    @conor carroll: No, he is not. His record shows it. Relegation with two clubs in a row, then the shocking results with Dundalk

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    Mute Michael Ruane
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    Sep 10th 2024, 1:42 PM

    @John Buckley: Know people who were involved with him at Cobh and they couldn’t speak more highly about him.

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    Mute Leighton Cullen
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    Sep 9th 2024, 9:31 PM

    This is what we have to look forward to for the next 2 games. It won’t be until the last 2 games that he will have his idea of who he wants and what systems to play this is the FAIs fault we should of been going into this game up and running forwards are a worry Szmodics apart I would have him as a striker against Greece as for the wide players Ogbene 1 side and another.

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    Mute Sambo
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    Sep 10th 2024, 7:17 AM

    Shane Keegan’s record is so bad you’d be better off doing the opposite of whatever he says.

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    Mute Jamie Berry
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    Sep 10th 2024, 7:35 AM

    Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady can’t play again for Ireland their level now is nowhere near enough for international football. Coleman is out so scales has to start and we need three in midfield to cope as we don’t have any two centre mids good enough, get joe hodge into the first team he was excellent for the under 21s

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