FACE THE FIRE
Coleman urges Ireland stars to take some responsibility after year of too few goals 49
‘We have to be better in possession of the ball’
SEAMUS COLEMAN has called on his international team mates to ‘man up’ and ‘weather the storm’ of criticism as they fly to Denmark today for the final international of the year.
The Ireland captain has never flinched on the field of battle and last night he acknowledged the current form of the team has fallen short of expected standards.
‘We will probably get criticised and rightly so. We need to take that on the chin, look in the mirror and man up a bit,’ said Coleman, who is at a loss to explain a run of three home games without a goal and five without a win.
‘The big thing for me is to get on the ball and make things happen, that’s the only way we can score goals. We have to go to Denmark now and put in a performance for ourselves and the travelling fans.’
‘We have training games and we all get on the ball, we all want the ball and we need to transfer that onto the pitch, myself included. There is no finger-pointing at any individuals, as a team we need to be braver.
‘When we have possession, we have to be better, when our centre halves have the ball, we can’t just expect them to kick it long.
‘I am not pointing at the centre halves, I am pointing at all of us, the players around the centre halves. We have to make options for them. We are doing that in training and we have to do that on the pitch.’
The scoreless draw on Thursday night against Northern Ireland in Dublin wasn’t easy to take for Coleman.
‘It hurts, hurts massively,’ he said, adding, ‘but we have to look in the mirror.’
‘I have to come out and do these interviews, try to say the right things but the only place it can be put right is on the football pitch. I am around a long time, we have to take criticism and rightly so, we have not been good enough but the only way we can turn it around is by sticking together and showing what kind of character we have, and we need to show that against Denmark.
‘It was a difficult night, we haven’t created enough chances for the forward players. To win games you need to score goals.
‘I suppose we have kept a few clean sheets and Darren (Randolph) was our Man of the Match on Thursday night which isn’t good for us. Goals are what we need to start adding to our game.’
Coleman refused to be drawn on his selection as wing-back and whether he preferred if manager Martin O’Neill went back to a flat back four, starting against the Danes.
‘It’s alright, I have done it a few times at club level, I am happy to play wherever for my country,’ he said.
‘Sometimes you get more on the ball than other times, I am not going to complain, I have to adapt to whatever situation comes when I play for Ireland.’
Coleman, 30, will win his 49th cap on Monday when Ireland play the Danes in their final Nations League game in Aarhus. In contrast, Michael Obafemi could make his first appearance.
‘I had a chat to welcome him to the squad and he’s a lovely lad, we all made him feel welcome,’ said Coleman, who seemed unaware that the teenager had pledged his future to Ireland.
‘He is a strong boy, a good finisher from what I saw in the few days of training, if he has committed that’s great news. I am happy for him to come in.’