AS IS GENERALLY the case, of RTÉ’s three pundits on Friday night, Liam Brady was easily the most scathing in his assessment of the Irish team’s performance following their 4-0 win over Gibraltar.
Brady has long argued that Ireland simply aren’t good enough to seriously compete at international level and this week, he has been singing a similar tune.
“With this Irish team, I just have no confidence. I don’t think we’re that good,” said the Arsenal legend, who won 72 caps for Ireland between 1974 and 1990. “I don’t think we have the players.”
“The only one who’s going to improve is [Robbie] Brady. I don’t see any change with [James] McCarthy, [Glenn] Whelan and [Jeff] Hendrick.
“[Martin O’Neill] has serious selection problems, you wouldn’t know who to pick with this Irish squad.”
Brady is not alone in his harsh assessment of the current Irish side. In fact, you could probably trace a pervasive negativity surrounding the Irish team all the way back to the Brian Kerr era.
The ‘we don’t have the players’ argument has been one levelled at the Irish team perennially for decades.
Brady’s pessimism is replicated by a growing number of fans and critics who invariably insist that, partially on account of the country’s routinely criticised structures at youth level and the less-than-healthy state of the League of Ireland, the national team has become an increasingly sorry sight of late.
Even Martin O’Neill seemingly conformed to this somewhat defeatist attitude on Friday night when he suggested that Germany are the best team in Group D “by a country mile” — the same Germany who have at times struggled against teams like Ireland.
And in fairness to the sceptics, they haven’t had too much to silence them, certainly since the end of the Mick McCarthy era anyway. Since then, Ireland have qualified for just one major tournament — the disaster that was Euro 2012, and in the last 14 years, the Boys in Green have won just two competitive games against sides ranked above them.
Yet it is not losing matches that’s been Ireland’s problem over the past decade, it’s drawing them. The caution and lack of confidence to attack games with conviction throughout the 90 minutes has consequently led to eventual failure more often than not.
Ireland have drawn an excessive amount of key clashes over the years compared with other countries, and this recurring outcome can be surely be linked with an in-built pessimism and inferiority complex when it comes to the perception of the team’s ability in comparison with other countries.
But perhaps the only thing Ireland have to fear is fear itself. After all, international football is not an especially high standard currently. Look at Wales — surely they are a respectable template and evidence of how far a side with modest ability can go once imbued with a degree of self-belief. Ranked 117th in the world four years ago, they are now ninth in the Fifa Rankings, and could jump as high as second next month if results continue to go their way. Moreover, today, they are expected to beat Israel and secure their place at the 2016 Euros.
Yes, in Gareth Bale, Chris Coleman’s side possess a world-class player and game changer that the Boys in Green currently lack. But Bale aside, is there much of a difference between the Welsh and Irish teams?
Of the Wales team that beat Belgium 1-0 back in June, only four players at most from the starting XI could be considered Premier League regulars. By contrast, of the Irish team that drew 1-1 with Poland back in March, nine who started were playing regular Premier League football at the time, while the other two — Robbie Keane and Wes Hoolahan — could hardly be considered poor by comparison.
Similarly, look at the success of Northern Ireland, who are one game away from qualification. Look at Iceland, a country with a population of less than half a million, who beat the Netherlands in Amsterdam the other night, and who are also on the brink of qualification. None of these sides are considerably better than the Irish.
Even Ireland themselves demonstrated how they could compete to an extent with the big boys by drawing 1-1 with world champions Germany last year.
So essentially, the gap between the good and bad teams in international football is now narrower than ever. Sure, Ireland lack strength in depth in certain areas of the side, but so does virtually every other country in international football nowadays.
A team like England, who are by no means world beaters and looked distinctly average when they came to Dublin last June, can qualify with astonishing ease, retaining a 100% record in the process.
(Scotland’s surprise loss to Georgia on Friday put Ireland right back in contention for qualification)
Scotland, Georgia and Poland are all similarly mediocre to the Irish side and so, the difference between success and failure will lie to a large extent on the mentality and tactical approach that the Irish team adopt for their remaining fixtures.
The Boys in Green could simply go along with the consensus and silently agree that they are a poor side punching above their weight who would be fortunate to qualify for Euro 2016. Alternatively, the Irish side could be positive and instead of hoping to nick a draw, they could genuinely play to win in their upcoming matches and attack these games with a more adventurous mindset than usual.
During the Jack Charlton era, the Irish team were also, at the time, often regarded as second rate. But rather than accept their inferior status, the Boys in Green looked to prove their doubters wrong.
Reflecting on his time as Ireland manager, Charlton back in 1995 described his side as “lads that people didn’t really rate as the top level. But they proved they could be, and they were.”
“To be eighth in the world, a country this size, that really did make me proud,” he added.
There may be a strong level of negativity surrounding this Irish side at the moment, but with a former footballing warrior and renowned provocateur like Roy Keane in the dressing room (the same Roy Keane who demanded impossibly high standards of others during his playing career and who was famously disgusted when Ireland let a two-goal lead slip against Holland in a World Cup 2002 qualifier), it’s hard to believe that the current group of players aren’t at least somewhat riled by recent dismissals of their ability by renowned pundits and spectators alike.
