THE RTÉ PANEL were as critical as ever tonight despite Ireland’s last-minute draw against Germany tonight.
In addition, Eamon Dunphy, John Giles and Liam Brady all highlighted the last 20 minutes as being crucial in the game.
Germany had dominated, before Toni Kroos put them ahead. Following this setback, Ireland improved significantly in attack, with substitutes Wes Hoolahan, Darron Gibson and Jeff Hendrick all making an impact after coming on.
And the RTÉ pundits cited these changes as being pivotal in transforming the game.
“When Glenn Whelan went off, there was a transformation,” Dunphy said.
Moreover, on the goal, which was initially created by a Hoolahan cross, he added:
“Wes should be doing that in the first two minutes.”
“There was a lot of bad but there was an awful lot of good. Not just for the first goal.”
“I’d worry that if we set up our team like [in the first 70 minutes] against Scotland again.”
John Giles had a broadly similar tone, saying:
“It’s not a question of the opposition. I don’t think we were set up well.
“The last 20 minutes was really good because the inhibition went.”
“If we could just approach the game from the start in that way.
“It’s a great result and it could well qualify us for the tournament
“We have players who can actually play and in the last 20 minutes, they more than matched Germany.”
Meanwhile, Liam Brady highlighted the performance of goalkeeper David Forde as being crucial to the result.
“Ronnie Whelan picked James McClean, but I thought David Forde was the standout.
“We really got to look at that last 20 minutes and say that’s what unnerved the Germans.
“It’s some result but they were vulnerable, and they were only vulnerable when we started to play football.
“That [O'Shea] goal was coming, and that’s what needs to be analysed.”
