Was dropping Robbie Keane the right call?
It was a big decision and a brave one but it had little impact. What is strange is how Shane Long was deployed. The Southampton attacker was selected for his legs and ability to cause defences problems with his movement. But the Irish strategy was to go direct, use Jonathan Walters as a supply-line and hope Long could pick up scraps from flick-ons.
There was a nice move between them early in the opening period that led to Walters having a strike on goal but outside of that, there was little in the way of intelligent attacking play. The closest Long got to a goal was in the second half, when Walters won the ball in the area and Long instinctively tried to turn a quick header towards goal but Marshall saved.
Inevitably, given the tactics, Long was starved from having any real impact on proceedings and was replaced after 68 minutes when O’Neill decided to settle for a point and brought in Robbie Brady and Stephen Quinn.
Keane entered the fray after Maloney opened the scoring and was just another white jersey in a sea of blue ones. By that stage, the game had no pattern and it was about thumping the ball into Scottish territory and see what happened.
Ultimately, using Long instead of Keane is fine as long as you play to his strengths. Tonight, that didn’t happen.
Ireland’s central midfield was overpowered
With James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan missing, it was always going to be a big occasion for Jeff Hendrick in particular. But from the off, the Scottish midfield pair set the tempo and Gordon Strachan should be praised for selecting Charlie Mulgrew over Darren Fletcher. Between them, Scott Brown and Mulgrew managed 72 passes – with 66 hitting their targets. To compare, Hendrick and Whelan racked up 42 with 36 of them completed.
Scotland dictated things from the middle of the park – Mulgrew’s range and composure was a real treat given it was such a scrappy affair. And though Brown’s physicality and combative nature is well-known, he also popped up in the area at the perfect time to set Maloney up perfectly for the winner.
McCarthy’s absence was keenly felt – his ability to slow things down and set the tone was sorely missed. As it was, the centre of Ireland’s midfield was a frenetic zone – and Scotland had the requisite nous, awareness and intelligence to exploit that.
Scotland’s setup and movement caused problems
Ahead of the game, we spoke about the attacking threat that Scotland posed – the pace of Anya and Naismith’s ability to drop into dangerous pockets. And we touched on how important it was for Ireland to take the game to the Scots, push forward and engage high up the pitch to try and unsettle a lumbering central defensive duo.
But, the home side started brightly. From the opening exchanges, Scotland looked ominously good on the left side with Anya tying up Coleman, forcing him to sacrifice his usually refreshing and thrilling rampaging runs forward. The Scots doubled up and made sure the exceedingly-impressive Andrew Robertson was pushed high too, bothering McGeady and ensuring he rarely popped up in the attacking third throughout the first half.
Straightaway, the impetus was with the hosts and they never really relinquished it. After the break, they switched focus to the opposite flank once and pushed McClean hard (while Stephen Ward went missing on a few occasions). It was little surprise that Naismith cropped up when Scotland offered anything dangerous in the final third. His intelligence and awareness, sometimes done in a subtle way (the final passages of possession when Scotland were trying to get far up the pitch as Ireland chased a last-gasp equaliser), showed up the gulf in class between both teams.
Should Grant Hanley have been sent-off?
When the centre-back unceremoniously sent Shane Long crashing to the ground after just 12 minutes of the game, many questioned whether he should’ve been dished a red card instead of a yellow. It was a thunderous, late challenge and Long would’ve raced towards goal had he not been fouled. But, it was highly optimistic to think referee Milorad Mazic would send-off a player so early on, especially considering the highly-charged nature of the clash.
But Hanley was involved in another brush with an Irish player later in the period when he clattered into goalkeeper David Forde at a set-piece. The defender certainly raised his arm when jumping to compete in the air though the contact didn’t look too malicious and certainly wasn’t an elbow, as many claimed at the time. Ultimately, it would’ve been harsh for Hanley to be dismissed, especially given some other loose tackles that were sprinkled throughout.
How far have we come under Martin O’Neill?
There’s an argument to be made that if Giovanni Trapattoni was still the Irish manager and his team delivered that kind of performance, he’d be widely criticised and abused. It was all too passive and, given the derby-like quality of the fixture, that was unexpected.
O’Neill is supposed to have instilled a belief in this Irish side but instead of playing with a fire and determination, it was all too limp and uninspiring. Sure, after the break, the Irish team pushed higher and got more players in the final third. And it had an impact – McGeady picked the ball up wide, whipped in a great cross and Walters’ header flew narrowly over the bar.
But Ireland never grabbed control of proceedings. Instead, it seemed all about survival. On occasion, they’d weather a Scottish storm and struggle on but there was never a time when they were on top.
After the positivity in the aftermath of the 1-1 draw in Germany, we’re left with lots of questions again. And if tonight is anything to go by, it’ll take some time for us to figure out the answers.
Keane would av struggled all day with them long balls. Midfield was just bypassed. Bad night n worrying because we have actually been rubbish in every game really. We have been luck in both away games
Long ball lost count how many times the ball was thumped forward to Walters and long in the hope one of them might knock it down done or the Scottish defenders might make an error. Reminded me of Jack Charlton days
Jack Charlton days with mostly inferior players. There are no longer any Irish players at top-four EPL clubs.
Ya but at that stage the top division was made mostly of players from these isles with very little foreign players so not exactly the same thing….
If you can’t go out on the pitch and show some ambition against Scotland, who are average, then you deserve to be beaten. We don’t have the luxury of not playing our record goalscorer, dropping Robbie Keane was a huge error judgement. Also hoolihan would have been ideal to have in midfield. Really missed an opportunity to put ourselves in a strong position for qualification, and when the manager gives off a vibe that he has little faith in his players, then it reduces cause for optimism. Going on our struggles against Georgia, luck against Germany, last nights match, and we have yet to play the inform Polish, unless there’s a dramatic change in attitude and self belief, I’m not confident we can qualify. if there’s any ambition, or courage of conviction, you don’t lose to Scotland. Play the best available to you.
I’ve watched Scotland in their opening three games and they look like they want to try and play football, with that attitude your going to get results. Strachan has been in charge since last year and he’s really changed the dynamic of Scottish Football.. I don’t recall Scotland playing one long ball last night, everything came through Mulgrew and Brown.. On the other hand in our opening games we’ve been playing the same tripe that we played under Trapatoni.. It’s like MON has come in and said we’ll leave things the way they are.. Fair enough on paper it looked like we had better players but in reality we were miles away from them. We have Poland next in the Aviva, can anyone seriously see us beating them the way we’ve been playing so far? Not a hope
We’re a load of sh#te..still playing poxy long ball football..these players get paid thousands per week and can’t string 5 passes between them…depressing to watch.
Long done excellently with service he got as did Walters. Midfield was brutal .
Couldn’t agree more. Heading on this article makes author sound clueless. Long up there on his own with no (or shocking) service. I thought he put himself about well, considering.
Best part of our performance was Keane’s stare down of the linesman :-). Priceless!!!!
We missed Glen Whelan in the middle, no one there to do the dirty work last night.
Harsh to blame Shane Long, when he had very little supply and no support. He easily had the beating of the 2 Scottish CBs if the ball was ever played behind them. What we are badly missing is a pivot player in midfield, doesn’t have to flashy, just a player with enough composure and skill to take pass from the back, hold onto it for and turn us around. We have no transition from attack to defence so there is never any build any pressure from midfield and bring in players like Coleman to the attack. I think Brady is one of the few players with the composure and the technical ability to fill this role….
We could badly do with a player like Naismith thought he was great tonight
Yes we could, but Naismith isn’t exactly Zidane. We have players as good if not better than him. Our problem is we are not getting enough of our best players on the field at the same time. What Naismith is offering them is a focal point to pivot their team around, everyone can link up with him. Wes or Andy Reid are the closest we have to it but neither are really up to it at the top level or they would be playing at a higher level. Of the players we have at the moment I think Brady is the closest we have. Or maybe Grealish if he declares for us.
Maybe Liam Brady
One of the worst games I’ve ever seen.
How many consecutive passes did we manage to string together, let along shots on goal?
Walters isn’t an international standard player by any stretch of the imagination.
The 2002 world cup seems like such a distant memory :-(
#DesperateTimes
Scotland 13 shots to Ireland’s 9. Interestingly, shots on target, Scotland 2 (1 they scored) to Ireland’s 4 on target.
Ireland are big and strong but pretty basic. Few international teams lack creative flare to the same degree.
We were second best,by some way. I’m fine with that, it’s football. Don’t think you can argue with selection and such,not one played well tho…not one.
My biggest worry is that the general public seemed up for this match. In a way I haven’t seen for years,this defeat tho? Back to an empty aviva? (Sad face).
Spot on comment We just haven’t the players Scotland more creative players in midfield.
Charlie Mulgrew of Celtic was immense and so was his teammate Scott Brown,so much for the bad standard of the SPL and throw in Robertston who was plying his trade there up to a short while ago.
To be honest,and this is in no way taking away from The Scots performance,I think that both these teams will lose out to Poland who In my IMHO are far more skilful and stronger than these two teams.
Germany will be over their WCup hangover in the New Year.
As a Celtic man of many decades I always felt that Strachan had more football nous about him than O Neill.
Anyway it’s only a match and there was daft hype before it.
That tactic is horrendous, it’s asking a jockey to catch the horse , saddle him up , and win the race, it can’t be done , and when a goal comes off it , it’s always luck , these are highly paid pros, luck should not be part of a strategy. Just imagine Rinaldo there in longs place last night, he would have a break down, no one can do it.
2really poor teams,,Poland ,and the Germans have noting to worry about ,from what they seen last nite
Ireland were very poor but your being a bit disingenuous lumping Scotland’s performance in with ours.
They won the match comfortably and at least had more than a couple of decent performers on the night.
That said Poland and Germany look far better than both their Celtic opponents.
We still could have got a draw serious lack of quality up front for both teams!
with poland flying,germany being germany,i doubt we will make euros.Average last night,head down and boot it up the field.Its trap all over again.
Trap and Charlton…..and Charlton had the the talent. Huge fan of o’neill but he’s past it. They should of given Kerr longer that time. And even to suggest we rely on Keane!
Keane?
He’s the problem -hospitalised a guy earlier and then seemed to want to knockout the ref!
Anyway he won’t let RoI get in the way of Villa and the PL.
Robbie !!
Bill, Your man put himself in the hospital. All he done was waste the emergency personnals time.
For his set pieces alone Robbie Brady should be in the team.
Only time we looked like scoring was when he stood over a dead ball, sad to say but true.
Also he’s got a bit of craft and guile about him coupled with good technique.
Christ you would miss Roy in the middle of the park. And I’m not talking about his combative attributes either, just someone who could hold on to the ball for a second, look up an pick a pass. That was the last time we were able to hold onto the ball and build something. James McCarthy should be that player but on the occasions he has turned up so he has been far too passive.
We desperately need to find a left back. Ward doesn’t have a clue what to do with the ball when he gets it.
It looks like Germany and Poland will go through because Scotland and Ireland are bad teams.
It was a poor display,we need Wes Hoolahan to play in every game,he is our only real creative player,without him,you get what we got last night,…nothing!
Why do u play mcgeady and McClean they are the worst wingers around
We always seem nervous when on the ball and just get rid of it as quickly as possible, often giving it straight back to the other team. McGeady should have come off at half time, he was way too worked up with the occasion.. …diving into tackles and over running the ball.
Puke football.
Accept it we are useless as a football team average and below players,what do you expect from a pig only a grunt!!!!!!
Was a poor game, and performance. We’ve been fortunate against Georgia and Germany, and deserved to lose last night.
I think we needed (and maybe in the future need) a third man in midfield, just going with one up front. Who that should be I’m not sure, but if O’Neill’s plan is to launch it forward, then Walters looks the best option. If we try to play football on the ground, a case could be made for Long or others.
Reality bites! We were lucky against Georgia & Germany, Gibraltar are not even LOI standard.Your luck will change eventually.
For me the most worrying thing is that despite the fact we are set up well defensively we seem to have no real pattern to our play going forward. Even under Trap you could at least see what he was trying to do. I still have no idea what MON wants his team to do offensively. Playing the long ball can be effective against some teams, but the way we did it last night made little or no sense. We never seemed to play the long ball into a dangerous area and we never had support players in case we won it.
Long was useless last night but I have no idea what exactly he was asked to do. We never saw him making the runs in the channels that he does so well to create space inside him.
Coleman looked nervous and didnt make overlaps like he does at Everton. He made one I think but I saw him turn back and pass square countless times when he had space in front of him. His main asset is his ability to attack and overlap…..if you dont let him do that then you may as well have any old players at right full.
Gibson is a decent player but looked off the pace and pace and fight was what was needed last night. Hendrick was woeful and was lucky not to be sent off.
Im still hopeful that we can come out of the group, perhaps more hopeful than confident.
we were, and are muck. we will not qualify from this group. end off
Just not good enough. Not enough players at the top level is a problem. Last night they didn’t pass the ball, retain possession and seemed to be relying on a bit of luck for a goal.
Couldn’t be bothered reading all that…who won?
Well I think the the main problem as to why we can’t play good football goes back to the grass roots and you only have to go down the road to see it …I was playing a game in the u18 limerick premier division ..And we where up 7 0 and the referee just decided to join in the game and started playing for the other team ..this is Ireland’s 3rd largest city and you have referees just joining in the match ..crazy stuff