Another ‘week of football’ over, a week that like much of O’Neill’s time in charge, has left us with more questions than answers. Sure, we can take positives from an excellent second half display against the US but there still seems to be a genuine lack of pattern or direction to our play. The management team have now been in charge for 12 games and appear to be getting further away than ever from being able to decide on who should be in their best eleven. They also seem to pick teams based on their perception of the opposition. Well I can appreciate the reasoning behind this, by doing it regularly it gives other manager’s a chance to tweak things slightly, a tweak that can make all the difference.
Last Friday, O’Neill went for Walters and Long up front. It was like he was trying to turn back the year at Celtic Park to the days when Larsson and Sutton dominated big games for him there. Walters and Long are no Larsson and Sutton though and to be fair, neither would the old Celtic strike force have been if every ball was launched at them from 60 yards. In midfield we were completely overrun, Hendrick is till very naive at this level of football and as the senior partner Gibson had an extremely poor game. Afraid to get on the ball and nowhere near fit enough to deal with Scott Brown. The only reason the score was kept low, was through a mixture of luck and decent performances at the heart of the defence by Keogh and O’Shea. Our main difficulties came from our inability to be a live to the Scot’s inventiveness. The goal came from a corner where we were asleep to the danger and lacked organisation, an aspect where we greatly missed Glenn Whelan. Likewise, when Naismith and Maloney dropped into space from open play, they seemed to have too much time.
The start of the second half was our brightest period. Walters dropped deeper and instead of being used mainly as battering ram, he became a roaming defensive shield. Ireland were able to get a foothold in the game and get McGeady on the ball more.
Ultimately it was fruitless though and we must start looking to the future. There are still points to be played for and Tuesday night at least instilled a renewed optimism. Not one player that started in Glasgow , started against an American side that featured five players involved in their heroic defeat to Belgium in the last 16 of the World Cup.
The most unusual choice by O’Neill was the decision to start Shay Given in-goal. What was it Roy Keane said about him a few years back? Something about giving other goalkeepers a chance?
There was clearly a dual purpose to the full backs and wide midfielders chosen. Two attacking full backs, well one and a winger, showed he expected Brady and Christie to bomb forward past two wide men in Stokes and Pilkington who liked to cut inside. It was likely to expose any faults in the full back’s positioning. In the first half Brady’s weaknesses in this regard were exposed several times. When McClean came on in the second half he looked more comfortable, in fact McClean’s back tracking means he may be worth a look in this position. He may fill in, in a similar style to Killer Kilbane did a few years ago, although that wasn’t without its problems then. Christie, on his debut, impressed me the most. I really thought he looked assured and it seems his career is going to continue on an upward trajectory. Strong, quick and skillful he looks an ideal back up for Seamus Coleman, it would have been interesting to have given him a half an hour on the left. Who knows, maybe he is the solution to what seems an age-old problem. In the centre I thought Pearce did ok, especially in physical tussles, Clark’s positioning leaves a lot to be desired. I know the American goal came from Dave Meyler dwelling on the ball, but the centre back was too slow to get back into position after taking the throw in. His headless attempts at rescuing the situation were straight out of the Keystone Cops’ defending manual.
For long stretches of the first half the midfield was outplayed and outfought. In the second half the game lost all shape and the end to end nature suited us. Dave Meyler was caught dawdling in possession a few times, most obviously for the American goal. He offered far more in his appearance at right back, a position where his poor distribution may not be as a critical. To be fair to him, he is lacking match sharpness. Quinn was the busier of the two midfielders but again he has some very frustrating habits. He is extremely slow to close down long-range shots and he regularly chooses the wrong option in attack. Three times he had a chance to release Shane Long’s pace late in the game, three times he chose a ball to the flanks instead. Another noticeable aspect and it is something I would hold the central midfield pairing to task for, is the somnolence at set pieces. After Scotland’s winner on Friday night you would think we would be switched on but looked susceptible at every set piece as the US tried a few variations.
Stokes pressed well, especially at the start of the second half before being substituted but was out of position. So many managers keep insisting on trying him on the wing, for club and country and every time he looks lost, whereas Pilkington looked much more assured on the right. He is full of energy and a good crosser of the ball, took his goal excellently too. McGoldrick and Murphy up front clearly have an understanding. Murphy, as he has been doing all season, really surprised me in the target man role. His knock downs are always weighted perfectly and was unlucky not to take one of the 2 chances that came his way. McGoldrick had the most crowd pleasing performance with two wonderful assists. His languid style means he can drift in and out of games but he clearly has ability as well as physicality.
There are plenty positives here, Robbie Brady’s two excellent goals including a wonderful free kick, the massive improvement in set piece delivery as a result of him, 2 encouraging debuts, but there are still several questions. What does O’Neill feel is his strongest eleven? How can we manage to win 4-1 yet still manage to go long periods of the game without any pattern to our play? Is Shea Given our second choice keeper now? Having options is no bed thing but he needs to be clear in selecting his team for our next game, the crucial home fixture against a rejuvenated Poland.
Here is how I see things and how I think O’Neill sees things.
Goalkeeper: Forde is clearly first choice and hasn’t done anything really to deserve losing his place but I feel he is our third best keeper. Westwood has been absolutely superb for Sheffield Wednesday this season and think he will be back in the English top flight soon enough. Perhaps if he had stayed around at Sunderland he could be number 1 there now. I also think Rob Elliot is a fine goalkeeper but he needs first team football. I was really surprised he didn’t start against the Americans. Despite Given making a few decent saves, he is clearly no longer the player he was and we really need to move on.
Right Back: One of those assured of his place is Seamus Coleman. No matter the disagreements between Keane and the powers that be at his club side, Everton, we know who is our number 2. He has yet to reproduce his club form in green, though that might be down to the tactics employed. His deputy is now likely to be Cyrus Christie, despite just the one start. A dearth of options and an impressive debut ensures that.
Left Back: A riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a mystery. The biggest conundrum in Irish football. Everybody knows that Steven Ward isn’t good enough to play there at the top-level, the problem is we can’t seem to find anybody better. Mark Wilson looks terribly uncomfortable when employed there and appears even more fragile in possession than the Dubliner. Brady was tried there Tuesday night and picked up a man of the match award. This hides the fact that d6efensively he was awful, Bedoya the American winger caused him a lot of problems and was regularly out of position. He regularly plays left-wing back for a Hull though, perhaps an experiment with O’Neill’s favoured 3-5-2 in the future? For now it seems Ward stays in situ, at least until Christie and James McClean are given a chance there. Joey O’Brien’s ship has sailed I’m afraid, he has missed far too many chances due to injury.
Centre half: It is safe to assume that the hero of Gelsenkirchen, John O’ Shea, has to start. He has been one of Ireland’s most consistent performers of recent times and his experience is invaluable. The question is who will be his partner. Wilson would have continued there in Glasgow, until injury ruled him out. It would be very unfair to Richard Keogh if he were to step straight back in. Keogh was arguably our best player in Glasgow and O’Shea seems more comfortable with him than Wilson. I would stick with Keogh. Having three decent centre halves does make that 3-5-2/5-3-2 a viable option.
Central Midfield: So many options, so few working. The one thing that the past week has made absolutely clear is that when fit, McCarthy and Whelan have to start as the defensive two. For all those who criticise Whelan for his lack of mobility and his cautious nature, he is vital to the way this team sets up. We conceded five minutes after he got injured in Germany and I am certain that we would not have conceded the goal we did in Scotland either. He is our midfield general, McCarthy is a quiet player as are all our other options it appears. Whelan is not afraid to shout and talk and we need somebody like him. McCarthy is absolutely brilliant at what he does and plays in a similar duo for Everton every week with Gareth Barry. This has to now be our midfield bedrock against Poland and Scotland. I also hope McCarthy is fit for the Scottish game to put all this speculation about his commitment to rest. If we are to continue as a 4-5-1 then, who will be the more attacking of our central three? I don’t think Darren Gibson can handle this role, in fact judging by how he looked on Friday night, the only ‘roll’ he could handle would be of the sausage variety. Quinn and Meyler are probably ahead of him for the two sitting midfield roles.
That leaves a choice of Wes Hoolahan, Jeff Hendrick or Andy Reid. It appears that O’Neill, like many others for club and country, are wont to play ‘Wessi’ in big games because of his sleight physique. I think this is a little unfair, he is certainly full of energy and has vision that no other player available to us has, apart from possibly Andy Reid, who cannot see playing due to his long-term absenteeism from competitive international football for a myriad of reasons. That leaves Jeff Hendrick, who O’Neill seems to like but who I feel has a bit more development to do. He melted in the heat of the midfield battle with Scotland and can make some poor choices on the ball.
Right Wing; Assuming O’Neill recognised that playing him in a central role in Germany failed, McGeady will take the right-wing spot. Aiden has natured a lot as a footballer. Even though things were not coming off for him last Friday night, he still stuck at it and helped cover Coleman at right back. Despite being utilised there by club and country, I don’t like seeing John Walters on the wing. Sure he is great defensively but he offers little creativity. I think Pilkington may have palyed his was in as second choice the other night, great movement and is a fine crosser of the ball.
Left Wing: Has to be Robbie Brady’s now. Even for set pieces alone he should be on the pitch. He is the first Irish player since the days of Ian Harte, that I feel can put every free kick within shooting range in the top corner. His corners are also superb. We really are failing to capitalise on set pieces, I know everybody wants us to try to play a bit more but that doesn’t mean forgetting the bread and butter. We have several decent headers of the ball and in Brady, we have someone to supply them. As an impact sub, I think McClean still has loads to offer. Was excellent in Germany but lost his personal duel with Whittaker the other night. He does offer excellent cover for the full back, something Brady may struggle with.
Sriker: The,presumably, lone striker role is still a straight battle between Long and Keane to and invariably be substituted for the other. I don’t think Keane offers anything from the bench, Long on the other hand does. Long’s movement when he came on Tuesday night was superb. Forget the opposition, if Quinn had released him a couple of times he could have had a couple. I would therefore go with Keane to start, with Wes Hoolahan behind him. They are two intelligent players who link up well and if Wes can give Robbie one chance, odds are he will take it. If we do switch to two up front we also have more options. Murphy really impressed me as a target man on Tuesday, Walters still has a lot to offer and hopefully McGoldrick keeps impressing at Ipswich to keep his name in the mix too.
The Team I would pick, in a 4-5-1 formation, providing all are fit and available is: Westwood, Coleman, O’Shea, Keogh, Ward, McGeady, Brady, Whelan, McCarthy, Hoolahan, Keane.
The team I think O’Neill will go it, more importantly is, in the same formation; Forde, Coleman, O’Shea, Wilson, Ward, McGeady, McClean, Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick, Long
At least we have options, let us hope what ever team is picked they can get a badly needed result.