We are right behind eight ball after Swiss defeat which is what WE FEARED

‘Negativity’ over Georgia was just the harsh reality

TWO days have passed since events in Geneva played out along expected lines.

Switzerland, that is, winning and winning well in the end to leave Ireland with one last role of the dice next month.

But already the ‘cup final’ tag being attached to Ireland’s must win game against old foes Denmark is wearing a little thin.

In the truest sense of the word, it is a ‘cup final’ – for Ireland at least.

They must adopt a winner takes all mentality on the night to progress automatically, whereas the Danes need only a point.

Ireland will still land a playoff but the manufactured ‘cup final’ packaging shouldn’t be the spur to want to win a football match.

The Danes have momentum, and Ireland do not.

“We’ve been underdogs from the start in the tournament,” manager Mick Mccarthy (right) pointed out.

“We were third seeds behind those two and that’s still the pecking order. And if we beat Denmark and qualify we’ll have over-achieved.”

Ireland are capable of beating Denmark. But little over the past week suggests they will. Tuesday in Geneva was the first defeat in seven games of this campaign, but a team needs more than just dogged defending to reach tournaments.

Six goals scored in seven games is a concern and

Ireland lack that X-factor to put teams away.

Having played his

Aaron Connolly trump card, Mccarthy has nothing left up his sleeve and must rely on coaxing better performances from those at his disposal. If there was do you not think I’d have been doing it by now,” he asked. “Do you not think we’ve been doing everything we possibly can to score goals?

“You’ve all seen how well David Mcgoldrick has played when he’s been available – he’s been one of our best players. So to have him back would be a real bonus.” But that lack of a killer instinct is not Mccarthy’s fault as such. It was evident in the second-half of the World Cup campaign under Martin O’neill and points again to a lack of real quality on the pitch.

After such a positive start on the road to Russia, that included a win in Vienna, Ireland conspired to throw it all away. James Mcclean’s winner in Cardiff goes down as a great night in Irish football and it set up that fateful play-off date with the Danes.

But it shouldn’t have come to that as Ireland were in a position of strength to qualify automatically, only to cough it up.

This past week, Mccarthy hit out at the sudden ‘negativity’ surrounding the team. But it’s not negativity at all. It’s just a cold reality. The performance against Georgia was precisely the sort that O’neill was filleted for at the tail end of his tenure.

When Mccarthy succeeded him, the team played with more purpose and direction. Their form has waned at a crucial juncture though and apart from flashes in the second-half in Geneva, the lack of confidence in possession is once again a concern.

Denmark are a good team but not a great team, to coin a phrase, and Ireland can beat them.

But the qualities that have typifyied Irish teams down the years like passion, heart and desire can only carry you so far.

You need assuredness and conviction on the ball and a belief that if you go behind you are capable of turning a game around.

Ireland don’t have that right now and it is six years since they last came from behind in a game to win.

It’s well and good coming back – courageously so – to draw as this team has done against the Danes already this year, but that won’t be enough this time.

A SWISS ROLLOVER Switzerland put Ireland to the sword in Geneva on Tuesday night in the Group D qualifier

ENDA STEVENS is refusing to blame a change in formation and an unfamiliar positional switch for Ireland’s defeat in Geneva. The Sheffield United defender has made the left back position his own but found himself on the left side of a back three as Ireland went down 2-0 to Switzerland. Stevens said: “I don’t think it was the formation, I just think it was our passing. “We didn’t really get into the flow of things and we kept giving the ball away and they kind of got the lift that they needed and they ended up taking the lead. “We didn’t really start passing the ball until we went 1-0 down, and that’s the disappointing thing.” Stevens (right) insists Ireland must find a way to steer their ship back on course towards Euro 2020 after hitting rocky waters at the worst possible time. He said: “We knew going into it that we had two cup finals left, so it’s on to Denmark now. “We would have taken one win out of two games gets you to the Euros, so we’ve got to look forward to that, and especially being at home in the Aviva Stadium.”