NOT FOR THE first time in this Nations League campaign, Ireland produced a decent performance but were left disappointed by the result against Austria – a 1-0 defeat in Linz – on Saturday night.
It was one of those games where the marginal decisions and moments seemed to go against the Boys in Green.
Both Romano Schmid and Saša Kalajdžić were fortunate to escape red cards – the former for a nasty, high challenge on Dara O’Shea, and the latter for a stray elbow on the same player.
Could O’Shea and the Irish team have made a bigger deal of these moments to put greater pressure on the officials and at least tempt them to consult VAR? Should they have been more “streetwise”?
The RTÉ panel certainly seemed to believe so, and Heimir Hallgrímsson appeared to agree with this assessment in the post-match interview.
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Were Austria lucky to escape going down to 10 men after this Romano Schmid tackle on Dara O'Shea?
📺 Watch Austria v Ireland live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player https://t.co/BqYVUuZPqW
Yet advocating for players to be exaggerating injuries, time-wasting or committing tactical fouls will not sit right with everyone, including this writer.
But there is a longstanding brittleness that this Irish team don’t seem to have completely eradicated.
In the past, Hallgrímsson has lamented the absence of a team psychologist.
The manager also once suggested the side needed a “bastard” to give them a ruthless edge.
An over-reliance on Troy Parrott also seems to be an issue – the Real Betis star has been responsible for 10 of Ireland’s last 13 competitive goals (Adam Idah, Jack Moylan and a Matěj Kovář OG were the exceptions).
Yet in Linz, an Irish performance that was encouraging in some aspects – they created plenty of chances and more than matched the Austrians for long periods – was undermined by these recurring frailties.
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It felt like the Boys in Green had turned a corner after the back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins over Portugal and Hungary.
Yet Monday will be the one-year anniversary of that memorable occasion in Budapest.
Since then, Ireland have played six competitive matches, but won only one.
Instead of growing in confidence, the team appear to have reverted to bad habits.
That Hungary match was also notable for a stirring comeback culminating in Troy Parrott’s 96th-minute winner.
But since then, it is Ireland’s opponents that have made a habit of finishing strongly.
Most agonisingly, Hallgrímsson’s side blew a two-goal lead in the World Cup qualification playoff against Czechia – Ladislav Krejčí’s 86th-minute equaliser led to the penalty shootout defeat.
A similar pattern has emerged in the Nations League campaign.
Of the five matches, you could argue Ireland played reasonably well in all but the Kosovo loss.
And yet, with one game remaining, the Boys in Green have picked up only five points and remain in danger of relegation to League C.
Second-half drop-offs similar to Prague have been a continuing problem.
Linz was the latest of several examples.
Of the six goals Ireland have scored in this campaign, all have been in the opening 45.
Based on first-half results, Ireland would be topping the group on 11 points. Instead, it is the Austrians who have ensured their progress to League A with a game to spare.
Yet another interesting pattern can be deduced from the Hallgrímsson era.
The most pressure Ireland were under in this campaign was unquestionably before the 3-0 win over Israel, having days earlier suffered the dour defeat to Kosovo.
Had they lost that game in Debrecen, it seems fair to suggest the goodwill the team received from most of the crowd in the Aviva against Austria a couple of days later would have been less palpable.
And the FAI’s insistence on the game going ahead, Gavin Bazunu’s unexpected withdrawal and the rest of the squad’s decision to proceed with the fixture after a player vote would have likely received even more intense scrutiny and criticism.
But Ireland thrived under the pressure.
Just like they excelled in the defeats of Portugal and Hungary when most people had written off their World Cup chances, with six points the minimum required to keep qualification hopes alive.
By contrast, the build-up to the Austria game was low-key. Most of the important players were fit and available, and there was no noticeable tension, internal disagreements or fraught dealings with journalists.
Ireland's Chiedozie Ogbene reacts after a missed chance. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The game itself was also instructive in this sense.
Ireland enjoyed their best period when going behind. It was only when the threat of losing became more real that they started to dominate. And Chiedozie Ogbene’s bullet header from Liam Scales’ cross was probably their biggest chance of the match.
The “streetwise” argument is debatable, but recent results suggest having a siege mentality and believing the world is against them may actually work in this team’s favour.
Perhaps a degree of creative tension is necessary for this squad to unleash their inner “bastard”.
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Do Ireland need turmoil to perform at their best?
NOT FOR THE first time in this Nations League campaign, Ireland produced a decent performance but were left disappointed by the result against Austria – a 1-0 defeat in Linz – on Saturday night.
It was one of those games where the marginal decisions and moments seemed to go against the Boys in Green.
Both Romano Schmid and Saša Kalajdžić were fortunate to escape red cards – the former for a nasty, high challenge on Dara O’Shea, and the latter for a stray elbow on the same player.
Could O’Shea and the Irish team have made a bigger deal of these moments to put greater pressure on the officials and at least tempt them to consult VAR? Should they have been more “streetwise”?
The RTÉ panel certainly seemed to believe so, and Heimir Hallgrímsson appeared to agree with this assessment in the post-match interview.
Yet advocating for players to be exaggerating injuries, time-wasting or committing tactical fouls will not sit right with everyone, including this writer.
But there is a longstanding brittleness that this Irish team don’t seem to have completely eradicated.
In the past, Hallgrímsson has lamented the absence of a team psychologist.
The manager also once suggested the side needed a “bastard” to give them a ruthless edge.
An over-reliance on Troy Parrott also seems to be an issue – the Real Betis star has been responsible for 10 of Ireland’s last 13 competitive goals (Adam Idah, Jack Moylan and a Matěj Kovář OG were the exceptions).
Yet in Linz, an Irish performance that was encouraging in some aspects – they created plenty of chances and more than matched the Austrians for long periods – was undermined by these recurring frailties.
It felt like the Boys in Green had turned a corner after the back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins over Portugal and Hungary.
Yet Monday will be the one-year anniversary of that memorable occasion in Budapest.
Since then, Ireland have played six competitive matches, but won only one.
Instead of growing in confidence, the team appear to have reverted to bad habits.
That Hungary match was also notable for a stirring comeback culminating in Troy Parrott’s 96th-minute winner.
But since then, it is Ireland’s opponents that have made a habit of finishing strongly.
Most agonisingly, Hallgrímsson’s side blew a two-goal lead in the World Cup qualification playoff against Czechia – Ladislav Krejčí’s 86th-minute equaliser led to the penalty shootout defeat.
A similar pattern has emerged in the Nations League campaign.
Of the five matches, you could argue Ireland played reasonably well in all but the Kosovo loss.
And yet, with one game remaining, the Boys in Green have picked up only five points and remain in danger of relegation to League C.
Second-half drop-offs similar to Prague have been a continuing problem.
Linz was the latest of several examples.
Of the six goals Ireland have scored in this campaign, all have been in the opening 45.
Based on first-half results, Ireland would be topping the group on 11 points. Instead, it is the Austrians who have ensured their progress to League A with a game to spare.
Yet another interesting pattern can be deduced from the Hallgrímsson era.
The most pressure Ireland were under in this campaign was unquestionably before the 3-0 win over Israel, having days earlier suffered the dour defeat to Kosovo.
Had they lost that game in Debrecen, it seems fair to suggest the goodwill the team received from most of the crowd in the Aviva against Austria a couple of days later would have been less palpable.
And the FAI’s insistence on the game going ahead, Gavin Bazunu’s unexpected withdrawal and the rest of the squad’s decision to proceed with the fixture after a player vote would have likely received even more intense scrutiny and criticism.
But Ireland thrived under the pressure.
Just like they excelled in the defeats of Portugal and Hungary when most people had written off their World Cup chances, with six points the minimum required to keep qualification hopes alive.
By contrast, the build-up to the Austria game was low-key. Most of the important players were fit and available, and there was no noticeable tension, internal disagreements or fraught dealings with journalists.
The game itself was also instructive in this sense.
Ireland enjoyed their best period when going behind. It was only when the threat of losing became more real that they started to dominate. And Chiedozie Ogbene’s bullet header from Liam Scales’ cross was probably their biggest chance of the match.
The “streetwise” argument is debatable, but recent results suggest having a siege mentality and believing the world is against them may actually work in this team’s favour.
Perhaps a degree of creative tension is necessary for this squad to unleash their inner “bastard”.
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Comment creative tension heimir halgrimsson Soccer Austria Ireland Republic Troy Parrott