“It’s the sign of a player.”
The Republic of Ireland suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat against Wales on Thursday night in their opening game of the Uefa Nations League.
In his first competitive match as manager, Ryan Giggs’ Wales team were fresh and dynamic, slick and confident. In Martin O’Neill’s 50th game as Ireland manager, his team looked limp and stale. One of the ideas behind the Nations League was to have teams of a similar quality play against each other more regularly. But this was a complete mismatch.
The contrast between the vibrant home side and the muddled Ireland team couldn’t have been greater.
Wales cut Ireland open at will. They played with purpose and confidence. They had a plan and the players to execute it. Ethan Ampadu and Joe Allen cruised through the game in midfield, easily finding space and passing through the wide-open gaps.
Ireland’s defence will still be dizzy tomorrow after chasing Wales’ forwards all night to no avail.
Tom Lawrence gets @Cymru and Ryan Giggs off the mark after a lovely ball from Joe Allen! đŸ”¥
Watch Wales v Republic of Ireland live on Sky Sports Football now! https://t.co/aMr7rrSdHz
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 6, 2018
Following Tom Lawrence’s goal in the sixth minute, the match was effectively finished as a contest. Ireland went through the motions as Wales picked them off. Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts got the other goals before Shaun Williams got a consolation goal for the visitors.
After the game, Giggs suggested that he was slightly disappointed that his side didn’t score more and he was right. The gulf in class between the two teams was greater than the scoreline suggests. It was an easy night’s work for the former Manchester United winger.
If it were not for the Denmark defeat last November, this would have been O’Neill’s worst result as Ireland manager in a competitive game. His team have now conceded nine goals in their last two meaningful matches.
O’Neill cut a forlorn figure in the post-match press conference, keen to emphasise that Wales have a world class player in the form of Gareth Bale and a stellar supporting cast. He also referenced how Ireland were missing several key players and had been “decimated” by injuries. O’Neill wasn’t wrong. But what about the players at his disposal? What plan had the Ireland coaching staff concocted to counteract the threat of Wales’ talented team?
If there was one, he made no mention of it, and there were no signs of it during the game.
The Ireland manager shifted the focus on to his players, saying that they needed to be braver in possession. The team managed just two efforts on goal in the game.
“I’ve been saying this for some time. We have to be more positive,” O’Neill said when asked in the post-match press conference about how his team could be better in possession.
“We have to be more positive. Be stronger on the ball, deal with it. When it comes into you, don’t start panicking, play. Try and get on the half-turn, to get ourselves going forward. Play the right ball. Play the right ball and deal with it and be able to deal with the ball under pressure, which is the sign of a player.
“That’s exactly what it’s all about. It’s the sign of a player. Dealing with the ball under pressure, making the right pass at the right. And obviously, try to retrieve it at some stage or another as well.”
However, the Ireland manager didn’t indicate how the team can be better on the ball. Or what he plans to do about their obvious shortcomings when in possession. Or any of their other shortcomings.
Ultimately, if a manager wants his team to be better in possession, it will require a tactical plan, some basic structure and clear instructions to players. This applies to any aspect of the game, from set-pieces to pressing the opposition to the positions players take up to receive a pass.
Again, it was hard to decipher any sign of such things in Ireland’s impotent performance.
Look at the distance between Ireland's midfielders for the first goal. It's almost as if they don't work on team shape #WALIRL pic.twitter.com/4SOx1BeLyY
— Robert Redmond (@RobRedmond10) September 6, 2018
Ireland have conceded from another set-piece #IREvUSA https://t.co/lgJYlX3fEh
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 2, 2018
“We possess one or two players who are not playing regularly in Championship football,” O’Neill said.
“I think the step-up is difficult. It’s difficult to come from that there tonight to not participating regularly at Championship level and play against the likes of Ramsey or Bale… We’ve got to… I think the players have got to have the confidence… and just deal with it. Deal with it.
“If you’re dealing with the ball, then you’ve got a better chance of making the correct decisions on the field. And I’ve been saying it for some time, so, we’re trying to improve on that there.”
“Just deal with it,” could easily be O’Neill’s mantra as a manager.
Several of his former players, from Shay Given to Craig Bellamy, have attested to his excellent man-management skills but also claim that he takes a laissez-faire approach to how the team plays. He trusts his players to know what they need to do.
This approach has brought him great success, from Leicester City to Celtic to helping Ireland reach Euro 2016.
However, it is clearly no-longer working for the Ireland team and hasn’t for some time.
I’ve written before of the correlation between attempted passes – not even completed passes! – & successful performances in international football. We fundamentally have to change our style of play or this will happen again. pic.twitter.com/9DOHTVitnw
— Stephen Finn (@FutsalFinn) September 6, 2018
This may be the weakest Ireland squad in recent memory. But that just greater highlights the need for some structure to be imposed to stop them from being hammered as they were on Thursday night and last year against Denmark.
A moderately talented team can still excel at international level, as sides such as Sweden, Northern Ireland and Iceland have proved in recent years.
'You hear it every time the Republic of Ireland suffers a poor result'@RobRedmond10 on an Irish football myth that needs busting https://t.co/xTJBVXysOb
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 21, 2018
The Ireland players desperately need some basic organisation and a tactical plan to make them greater than the sum of their parts.
Instead, they have their manager telling them to “just deal with it” as they’re left exposed and overrun again.
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