Irish chances up the left again as same old failings prove so costly..
OH FOR a young Denis Irwin, Steve Staunton, Terry Phelan or Ian Harte; someone to step up and make the leftback – or left-wing-back – role their own.
There were eras when we had an embarrassment of riches on both flanks of our defence. Not anymore.
Not to ignore the gaping holes in the centre of the Irish defence last night, but in this campaign our deficiencies on the left have been cruelly exposed.
It’s startling to think that six players have been used at left-back/wing-back in Ireland’s eight Euro 2024 qualifiers, with Ryan Manning making his second consecutive start there.
When he ran into Nathan Collins, who was all too easily turned by Wout Weghorst for the first goal last night, it was another one for the left-back blooper reel.
Collins will get plenty of flack for the ease with which Weghorst left him for dead just 10 yards inside the Irish half.
But the sight of an opposing player punishing the Boys in Green on that flank has been all too common in this campaign.
Remember Callum O’dowda’s display against Greece in Athens?
They could have driven a bus through the gap between O’dowda and the left-sided centre-back in the move for the hosts’ second goal on a night when Ireland’s toptwo dreams were dealt a violent blow.
Poor Enda Stevens had a torrid time away to France in September when he was deployed on the left of a tormented Irish defence, and was replaced at half-time by James Mcclean.
Mcclean featured there for either some or all of the first five games. He retires on Tuesday, so that’s one option down.
During these qualifiers, Matt Doherty started on the left with Seamus Coleman on the right, and was replaced late on by Mcclean.
Then there was O’dowda against Greece. He too was hauled aside for the Derryman.
Mcclean started against Gibraltar and got the full game, Stevens started against France, while Mcclean finished.
The Wrexham man was back in the 11 at home to the Netherlands and was replaced shortly after half-time by Manning.
Liam Scales won his first cap on the left of a four at home to Greece, and Manning was there away to Gibraltar and last night.
So much chopping and changing in a key position – and the Dutch, with Denzel Dumfries pushing on down their right, looked hungry to punish the Boys in Green even more.
The second-half was barely six minutes old when they had the freedom of that side of the final third to carve out chances for Xavi Simons and Weghorst.
Dumfries was the architect on both occasions, with Manning drawn inside on both occasions.
As the crosses kept coming in, there were more flashbacks to earlier games in this campaign, such as the one in Athens.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only similarity to the damaging June defeat, as many of the 2,600 Irish fans with tickets for the away end were once again the victims of appalling treatment.
With just two gates open, hundreds were still waiting to get to their seats an hour after kick-off. Having behaved impeccably as they made their way to the Cruyff Arena, singing with their Dutch counterparts on the metro to the ground, this must be another wake-up call for the authorities.