ROTTEN IRELAND MUST FRESHEN UP
Insipid show frustrates fans as boys in green fail to respond
ON A grey night in Dublin, this was a colourless performance by a Republic of Ireland team in urgent need of a transfusion. Whether that’s new management, new players or a whole new approach remains to be seen, but something rotten appears to be eating into the state of the international team.
This was supposed to be the night of retribution for the World Cup capsize, or regaining pride for the Cardiff calamity and injecting life into the Nations League.
We witnessed none of that at Lansdowne.
The final act of a forgettable game saw Shane Duffy cautioned for simulation in the box as he begged the referee for a penalty. That his tumble prompted the loudest roars of the night said it all.
Improbably, the only chance Ireland mustered last night was when the Danes stopped playing and gave Jeff Hendrick the ball and an open run at goal, yet even then Ireland couldn’t score.
Playing at home against a Denmark team without their Hamlet, Christian Eriksen, Ireland were anonymous until deep into the night when Callum Robinson brought some much-needed verve to a dull canvas.
Arguably, this was as insipid a performance as we’ve seen in O’Neill’s five years in charge of the side, especially when such a great number of wrongs needed to be righted.
That his team avoided a third successive competitive defeat was due to a combination of the post and the goal-line vigilance of Harry Arter.
While O’Neill may point to the positives; a clean sheet and a toehold in the competition, the reality is that Ireland are a team that is regressing, not rebuilding.
Ryan Giggs, even without Gareth Bale, must be licking his lips ahead of the Welsh visit on Tuesday.
Should that result go belly-up for Ireland, the position of O’Neill will come under greater scrutiny.
The Derry man signalled in advance his intention to play three central-defenders and wing-backs for the first time in competition. He duly rolled out the plan, which meant some overdue recognition for Matt Doherty.
But the Irish formation was confusing. It looked more like 3-6-1 than 3-5-2 as Shane Long was left isolated on his own, apart from the odd Hendrick foray.
Cyrus Christie, a right-back, was curiously stationed in central midfield with James McClean pressed into more defensive duties as a left wing-back when he should have been further up the park as a foil for Long.
While it meant Ireland had a fairly solid green line across the park, nothing was created from open play until Christie’s shot from distance in the 71st minute. For the most part, it was up to the old reliable of set-piece plays to try and rattle the Danes.
When Ireland are waiting for the big men to come up from the back as their chief attacking option, it is indeed a sign of where the team are right now.
Yes, there are players to come back from injury but O’Neill still selected seven players from the Premier League ranks in his starting XI. They should be capable of doing better than this.
Ireland’s early intent was evident as they tore into tackles, at times with more zeal than was required.
McClean, Christie and Arter all left their calling cards and when the latter had his second swipe at felling a Danish leg, he was rightly cautioned.
On his recall to the team, Arter had been involved in a rather bizarre fifth-minute incident when he sat down on the glistening turf, apparently nursing his foot.
The Danes were in possession at the time and midfielder Thomas Delaney generously pointed to Arter, stopped playing and was dispossessed by Jeff Hendrick.
As there was no whistle from Spanish referee Javier Estrada, Hendrick sallied forth inside the Danish box where he only had Kasper Schmiechel to beat.
His finish reflected a player with one international goal as he comfortably missed the side netting, which may have been just as well as the Danes were not best pleased.
Their players enveloped Hendrick, and the referee, in anger and things briefly threatened to get out of hand.
While Hendrick could argue there was no whistle, imagine the angst if the Danes had taken a similar advantage and scored. On Twitter, Jon Walters praised Hendrick’s ‘good sportsmanship’ for putting the ball out for a goal kick. Little did anyone know then that Ireland would not get any closer to the whites of Schmeichel’s eyes all night.
As for the Danes, Pione Sisto clipped the outside of the upright, with Randolph beaten, in the 44th minute.
Just before the hour, Simon Kjaer’s got ahead of Shane Duffy but his goal-bound header was whisked to safety by Arter.
Had the Danes displayed more enterprise, they’d have won. As it is, they extended their competitive record to one defeat in 15 games.
As for Ireland, that’s four meaningful games without a win. Clouds are gathering overhead.