Good Review of Irelands match:
Ireland slunk off the pitch in Tel Aviv last night. They had earned the point that was their objective, but they looked like they had lost the game. In many ways, they had.
Three points from the three away games keeps everything on target, but Ireland had the chance to blow the group wide open, to send a message to their rivals that they were the alpha males in the group. They could have done something outside the details of the long-term plan. Sometimes it is rewarding to go off-message.
After controlling the pace of the game and scoring a critical opening goal, flaws in the team and in manager Brian Kerr brought an unnecessary retreat and an inevitable Israeli equaliser.
That the Israeli substitute Abas Suan scored the goal just as the fourth official was holding up the injury-time board does not make Ireland unlucky. As the Israeli coach Avraham Grant brought on the attackers he had left out of the original side (effectively replacing the bad players he had initially selected) Ireland fell back on depressing, unappealing tactics.
Matt Holland made his debut for Ireland when sent on to secure a point on Skopje against Macedonia. Instead Ireland conceded with twelve seconds to go and missed out on a place in the European Championships. Last night, the consequences were not so grave, Ireland still have the power of qualification within their grasp, especially after the France-Switzerland stalemate, but Holland's introduction for Clinton Morrison at an identical moment to his debut was symptomatic of a coaching malaise that extends far beyond Brian Kerr. The game was calling out for Andy Reid, one of the best passers of a ball in the squad and a player who could have brought some order to a tired team, some flair and imagination to a group struggling to come up with ideas.
Instead Holland came on and Ireland retreated. It is not his fault, it is not his role to take the game to the opposition. We had seen the best of a Brian Kerr side in the first half, with inventive passing, tactical sophistication and superb performances from his three world-class players Damien Duff, Shay Given and Roy Keane. Robbie Keane was not far behind.
But in the second, Ireland removed all adventure from their play and at times began to resemble a side managed by Kerr's friend Gerard Houllier, when even set-pieces around the opponents' goal became merely an opportunity to relieve the pressure. Soon, we were in the arena of fatal circular logic: Ireland gave the ball away then Israel looked dangerous therefore they are a threat so Ireland retreated further and gave the ball away. We saw another Israel in the first twenty minutes, a side that were vulnerable and could have been killed off.
But there is something in the national psyche that prevents Irish football teams from winning away from home. It is nearly twenty years since Ireland won a game against significant opposition away from Lansdowne Road, but Ireland should not have allowed Israel such delusions of grandeur. Avraham Grant's side will travel to Dublin hopeful of taking a point as they did in Paris, they will be further encouraged by the yellow card picked up by Roy Keane last night for a foul on Yossi Benayoun which means he will miss that game.
He was not missing last night and when Kerr's side passed the ball, they were superb, performing as they did in Paris and exposing the Israelis as ordinary. But Ireland then defended as they did in Basle and, in front of a sell-out crowd, Israel grew in confidence.
Carr is suspended for the return game in June and it is just as well. His time is running out in an Irish jersey and Steve Finnan, selected at right midfield last night, is having an excellent season playing right-back for Liverpool.
If Carr was responsible for much defensive uncertainty in the first half, the mood grew in the second, soon enveloping most of the team. Kerr refuted all suggestions that his side was negative, pointing out the numbers that pressed forward minutes before Israel's equaliser but for most of the second half, Ireland lacked intent, no matter how many men got forward.
Even in the first half, when some of their passing movements were outstanding, there were moments when Ireland went backwards and brought on the pressure. Much of this was due to Carr's sloppiness but it was clear that the rewards were in attack against an Israeli side in awe of Duff and the two Keanes but confident of their chances against the back four.
For much of the night, they were denied by the excellence of Cunningham and O'Brien, as well as a world-class save from Given, but without courageous convictions, Ireland were always vulnerable, whether in injury-time or before. Kerr has the right to be upbeat as he was in the aftermath but his side have less room for manoeuvre and probably many more nervous moments if they are to fulfil the ambitions the manager has set and qualify for next summer's World Cup.
The hopes of the manager do not end there but if Ireland are to fulfil them, there will come a time for daring. |