It was built as a must win game, and following an impressive run of results which saw Ireland defeat Italy in their own back garden, the Irish public were genuinely confident of a victory against the Slovakians. However, the dire first half performance against the Slovaks brought the Aviva stadium crashing back down to earth with a bang.
Trapattoni has long been criticised for his negative type of football, particularly his continued trust in the pairing of Glen Whelan and Keith Andrews in central midfield.The decision by the experienced tactician to omit the highly rated James McCarthy from the squad altogether, came as a huge surprise considering the lack of creativity Ireland possess in the middle of the park.The lacklustre showing by the Irish in the opening 45 minutes is a direct result of the Irish team lacking a player to take the game by the scruff off the neck.
This is where Whelan and Andrews failed dramatically, and not only in this department.Trapattoni is a classic Italian tactician and likes his central midfielders to be defensive, which in turn allows his wingers to get forward and be creative. The Irish public have grown accustomed to this, however, Whelan and Andrews did not even do their defensive duties on Friday night.Whelan will struggle to get into the Stoke team this season, and Andrews who has been shipped off by Blackburn of all teams to Ipswich on loan, had all the signs of a Championship player on Friday night.
Their roles are quite simple, break up the play of the opposition and give the ball to the Irish players who can actually play football. For this to happen, it would entail either of them looking for the ball from the Irish defence, and spreading it out to one of the wingers or the front two, neither of them did this and therefore Ireland were stuck with long balls from the defence. Andrews and Whelan might have been forgiven of this had they put in a good defensive display, although this was most certainly not the case. Both of these players did not press the Slovakian midfield, and they did not attempt to win the ball back; they merely stood off their opponents and let them play the ball around and dominate possession.
This kind of performance from the midfield duo will be punished in Russia should it happen again. On the other hand, Ireland’s second half improvement should not be overlooked, particularly the performances of Damien Duff and the work rate of McGeady, Ward, St Ledger and Dunne. Duff presented Robbie Keane with a sensational cross in the second half, and all the La Galaxy man had to do was direct the ball into the net from five yards. However, the Tallaght man must have been thinking of Hollywood, as he could only direct his header over the bar.
To the dismay of many Irish people, Keane is not to blame for the result, as Richard Dunne also missed a clear cut header in the dieing seconds of the game. The overall performance was not good enough and the team selection must be come under evaluation, in particular O’Shea and Andrews, who did not look fit and had their worst performances in a green shirt to date.However, all is not lost and per usual Ireland have the chance to go out on Tuesday night with their backs to the wall and put in a excellent away performance against the Russians in Moscow.
Ireland play their best football away from home, and Russia are not exactly a super power in world football at the moment.Trapattoni will need to dust his side down, and instil a winning mentality within the Irish side. Ireland’s style of play could work in their favour Tuesday night, and it would not be a surprise should they come away from Moscow with a result.
On the other hand, the harsh reality for Irish fans is should Ireland not get three points against the Russians, then they find themselves in third place with a tricky tie against Armenia to come also. It’s all down to Italian tactician now to prepare his Ireland side as best he can, just like he did against Italy and France in the previous campaign. All the Irish public can do is hope for a repeat performance of those ties, and three points to go with it.
It may be otugh, but try and look at the glass half full; it could taste nice on Tuesday night.
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