Brian Kerr tried his best to find a positive.
He couldn’t even find a sniff of one. This Ireland team have been sleepwalking down a blind alley for quite some time now but this, a 0-0 draw with Northern Ireland in the Aviva Stadium where the home team were the lucky ones, was as bad as he’s ever seen them.
He’s an Irish football man, and you can almost feel the dejection in his voice and in his body language as he runs the rule over yet another listless display from Ireland.
“It’s been a rocky auld two years…I thought it was a dreadful performance,” he said on Virgin Media Sport’s coverage of the game.
"One team had concentration, confidence, composure and a pattern of play. The other team were us."
Brian Kerr is scathing of that Ireland performance tonight. #VMSport pic.twitter.com/MJfblZ8PIW
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 15, 2018
Where Northern Ireland had a resemblance of a plan, invention, a deal of composure and a couple of chances, Martin O’Neill’s Ireland had nothing.
“One team had concentration, confidence, composure and a pattern of play. The other team were us…We were all over the place, there was no pattern of play.”
The fact that our goalkeeper, Darren Randolph, was the man-of-the-match – in a home game against Northern Ireland – sums up the mess. Not one other player in green did themselves justice.
“Our goalkeeper was our best player in the match, but there wasn’t one other performance you could take much solace from,” he said.
Midfielders Hendrick, Brady and O’Dowda came in for some stick.
“The midfield – they rarely had the ball and they never strung three or four passes together, we were outplayed everywhere on the pitch,” he said.
Even Seamus Coleman, so often the example other players are asked to aspire to, wasn’t at the races.
“His options are poor, he runs down into a gully, and then he just gives it away,” said Kerr of a Coleman mistake.
“This was off a short corner, look how long it took Seamus Coleman to come out and make it two v two,” he said.
When a player of Coleman’s consistency is struggling, you know there’s something seriously wrong.
"The contrast was dramatic. Michael O'Neill will be annoyed they didn't win the game."
Brian Kerr looks at some of the positive play & creativity from Northern Ireland in Dublin. #VMSport pic.twitter.com/h33wwyQHZK
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 15, 2018
That’s the way it is with the Republic of Ireland right now.
WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?
