Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SWITZ A KNOCKOUT
Equation is simple now for Mccarthy’s men: Beat Denmark in winner-takes-all tie at Aviva
AFTER the splish, splash, splosh of the pre-match quagmire pitch, Ireland gave it some bish, bash, bosh in the second-half but ultimately to no avail.
Mick Mccarthy’s charges arrived in Geneva with everything to gain and nothing to lose in what was a free swing, despite the manager’s insistence otherwise.
But there would be no ticket to the finals secured here and automatic qualification rests on another do-or-die November shootout with old foes Denmark where only a victory will suffice.
In the build-up to this game, Mccarthy wondered why so few in the media – and perhaps in the stands – were feeling the good-time vibes knowing that a win here would seal the deal.
But it wasn’t an orchestrated campaign of negativity. More so a cold dose of reality that
Switzerland – who needed to win to keep alive their own hopes of progressing from the group – are a toptier nation with far more going for them.
Ireland were always up against it – before the game and during it.
The Irish performance with ball to feet was as poor as you might expect, although the endeavour from some – but not all – of the players was also true to form. Glenn Whelan in particular took responsibility when others around him wouldn’t.
Shane Duffy’s night finished on a downer when he put through his own net with the last kick of the game but up to then he led by example in a defence that only looked itself once it reverted to a flat back four.
But skipper Seamus Coleman had a night to forget after walking on a second yellow and he now misses that date with destiny against the Danes.
Although they lost in Copenhagen, Switzerland played the better football last Saturday night and Mccarthy ripped up the blueprint here in the hope of matching the Swiss around the boggy pitch.
He initially deployed a 3-5-2 formation with Coleman and James Mcclean operating as wing-backs, but the experiment only lasted 28 minutes.
In that time, Granit Xhaka had a shot saved by Darren Randolph but the Ireland keeper was powerless to deny Haris Seferovic in the 16th minute.
Whelan and Jeff Hendrick couldn’t clear the danger after Manuel Akanji’s advances and Seferovic finished low from the edge of the box after collecting a deft Xhaka ball. Duffy’s tried in vain to block the shot but couldn’t close down the space. The pitch was dreadful and yet Switzerland moved around it effortlessly, restricting Ireland to scraps which they in turn made a meal of.
The passing out from defence left a lot to be desired and the collective inability to find white shirts was quite something.
So too was the habit of giving the ball away cheaply on the rare occasions Ireland broke into enemy territory. Nothing was going to plan. Aaron Connolly – on his first start – won a handful of frees and James Collins was a willing accomplice with the pair making clever runs off the ball.
But Connolly was left barking and gesturing at team-mates to play balls in behind so he could race onto them. Time and again he was let down by the poor decision making of others.
Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar then had Randolph scrambling again with a deliciously curled shot from the edge of the area flying just wide.
By now, Ireland had morphed into a 4-14-1 formation with Mcclean swapped to the flank and Connolly down the left. That wouldn’t last long either as Ireland finished the half playing 4-4-2 with Alan Browne on the left.
Ireland’s tactical approach was as scattergun as the performance and they finished the half with more changes in formation than shots on goal.
But Duffy at least registered one before the break, planting a header from Whelan’s corner straight into Yann Sommer’s arms while the goalkeeper then gathered Collins’ scuffed shot in injury-time
It was Collins’ last involvement as Callum O’dowda replaced him for the second-half and he inject life into the cause. Duffy, too, took it upon himself to instigate attacks from deep and Whelan accepted responsibility when those around him refused to.
But Ireland were unravelling again late on and Switzerland won a penalty in the 76th minute when Coleman handled Breel Embolo’s shot and conceded a penalty for which he walked on a second yellow card. He now misses the Denmark game.
Randolph, though, saved the spot-kick by pushing Rodriguez’s effort onto the post before the cavalry arrived to clear to safety. Switzerland were better than the narrow scoreline suggested and added gloss at the death when Duffy put through his own net.
Ireland are running out of rope in this group, but still have one big game left to seal the deal automatically otherwise the play-offs beckon in March.