NOT FOR THE first time, there was a stark contrast between Martin O’Neill’s interpretation of last night’s result in Serbia and many of Ireland’s critics’ response, most notably the RTÉ panel.
When RTÉ reporter Tony O’Donoghue, echoing the view back in the studio, suggested Ireland would be “disappointed” that they couldn’t keep the ball better, O’Neill seemed unimpressed with the claim.
“You’re playing away from home against Serbia — it’s very difficult, these boys play in big, big leagues,” the Irish manager said.
“Funnily enough, they (also) gave it away a few times because of the conditions.
“You can’t be expecting to control a game away from home for 90 minutes against Serbia — that’s lunacy.”
When pressed by O’Donoghue, O’Neill became even more bullish, describing the Ireland players’ performance as “brilliant” and adding: “I don’t know what else you’re expecting. Some of the young players coming in are very fine players. They’re going to improve and get fitter as the season goes on, and that point sets us up for next month.
“I don’t think you realise how difficult it is to go away from home and score twice in these conditions.”
It may have been a little more diplomatic, but O’Neill’s wasn’t far off Giovanni Trapattoni’s infamous “we are Ireland” interview.
It would be unfair to claim that O’Neill is Trapattoni mark II, even if last night’s performance at times resembled the most dreary moments of the Italian’s tenure, as aimless long balls continued to land anywhere other than Shane Long’s head.
In contrast with the predictability of the Trap era, O’Neill has been brave and adventurous on occasion during his time in charge — sweeping the changes for the Italy Euro 2016 game is the best example of the Derry native’s willingness to gamble when the stakes are high.
Yet what O’Neill shares in common with Trapattoni is that he is acutely aware of the Irish players’ limitations. Referencing the fact that the Serbians play in “big, big leagues” gives the impression that an inferiority complex continues to exist within the Irish team’s ranks.
And perhaps there is good reason for this pragmatism on O’Neill’s part. Footballing romantics such as Dunphy will argue that Ireland should play a more expansive game, with Stephen Quinn or Wes Hoolahan favoured over Glenn Whelan.
Yet this bold approach has never really been experimented with in the O’Neill era — Gibraltar and Georgia aside, Ireland’s were largely on the backfoot during their away matches in particular in the last campaign, so surely the negative football on display on Monday night should not have been such a surprise.
And even Ireland’s best moments during Euro 2016 revolved around direct long-ball football, with the hard running of James McClean and Jeff Hendrick, coupled with the physicality of Daryl Murphy and the speed of Shane Long ultimately becoming the team’s defining characterstics, even if Robbie Brady’s beautifully-worked winner against Italy was somewhat of an anomaly.
Therefore, unless O’Neill unexpectedly steps down and a coach with an antithetical philosophy takes over, Ireland’s unrefined style is unlikely to change drastically in the coming months, particularly with their most creative and technically gifted player Wes Hoolahan set to turn 35 in May.
Dunphy and others will continue to urge Ireland to adopt a more elegant style, and O’Neill will continue to ignore these footballing romantics, and subsequent managers may well do the same.
Indeed, it’s been several years since Ireland played with a genuinely adventurous line-up, a sense of abandon and an expansive style in a tricky away group fixture in qualifying.
In the Steve Staunton era, Ireland faced Cypus in Nicosia with a noticeably attack-minded midfield set up to dominate the game, featuring Aiden McGeady, Kevin Kilbane, Stephen Ireland and Damien Duff, and we all know how that went.
Staunton’s reign never really recovered from that early humiliation, and the former player was pilloried in the press on a consistent basis thereafter, so perhaps it’s no surprise that the two Ireland managers since have been staunch pragmatists at heart.
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