Just as one puzzle is solved, another one, more difficult and with potentially fatal consequences, is tossed Stephen Kenny’s way. Scoring an international goal – at last – is only of use if you can prevent them being scored at the other end.
nd for all the composure and class that a three-man Irish defence displayed in the first half away to Serbia, keeping them scoreless for 40 minutes and staying in front for 22 minutes, the way in which that back line grew tired and lost concentration is now as big a concern as that long spell without a goal which preceded Alan Browne’s headed effort early on.
The raw inexperience of Ireland’s relative newcomers at the back was clear to see when Dara O’Shea and Mark Travers, with just eight caps between them, were both exposed, O’Shea’s indecision for Serbia’s equaliser and then Travers when he was caught off his line for the goal which put Serbia ahead.
But once Serbia, recovering from a poor opening spell, turned the screw and showed their class, even old heads were found wanting. With their coup de grace in this game, the third goal, Aleksandar Mitrovic found space in his leap between two Irish defenders, Ciarán Clark and Enda Stevens, to head home.
It’s the kind of goal which the Irish duo could see go against them on a weekly basis in the Premier League, which is why their clubs will probably not be in the Premier League next season.
Errors at the back were not exclusive to the men in white shirts: an appalling defensive header in his own box from Stefan Mitrovic, struggling to cope with a brilliant ball from Robbie Brady, alerted Shane Long to a chance and he set up James Collins to make it 3-2 and give the away side hope and more respectability to the scoreline.
But international football ebbs and flows, and Ireland being cut open, both by their own mistakes and also by Serbian genius – what a superb player Dusan Tadic is – in this manner does not bode well for future tests against the likes of Portugal and the rematch with Serbia. As an ordinary-looking Luxembourg showed in their defeat to Qatar earlier in the evening, they should be easily dealt with by Ireland if Kenny’s side are switched on. But on this early evidence, third place is the best Ireland can hope for.
In their attack, Serbia had in the form of Tadic what Ireland lack, a man capable of carving teams open when all routes to success look to be closed off.
At 32, with what could be seen as Premier League failure at Southampton in his past, Tadic has grown close to greatness in old age, and while young midfielders like Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby and Josh Cullen offer hope, that class by Tadic only underlines the regret that our bright hopes, Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick, failed to build on the promise they showed at Euro 2016.
We can moan about the club woes of Ireland’s players but opponents have that to cope with too: Mitrovic has gone 21 games without a goal for his club, Fulham, and it was his first time to score in 24 games for club and country, yet he was given the freedom of the Red Star Stadium to come away with two goals.
Four years to the day since his world crumbled, and his career nearly ended, from a broken leg sustained in the line of duty for the national side in a World Cup qualifier, Seamus Coleman stood up to be counted, and while he looked solid and strong early on, over the course of the night Ireland’s defensive shape was ravaged as was the confidence that was there from that spell of 40 minutes without conceding.
The inexperience of those around Coleman at the back was evident: Travers was making his competitive debut and it showed as there were nervy moments and questionable decision-making by the 21-year-old, but competitive international careers all start with a test and, we can only hope that this will stand to Travers, but it’s also clear that match sharpness for internationals can only come with exposure at club level.
Dara O’Shea, winning only his fifth senior cap, also looked like a player being asked to learn on the job, his club duties involving a head-spinning mixture of precious Premier League experience but also weekly tests of nerves playing for a side which has leaked 57 league goals this season.
Players like Gary Breen, Kenny Cunningham and Ian Harte all had starts to their international careers like this, shipping goals and defeats and they recovered to thrive, so again the hope is that O’Shea will be stronger.
The concern is where Kenny looks to correct these issues.
It was the right thing to do, dropping Shane Duffy, his first time to watch a competitive international from the bench since that 3-0 humiliation by Belgium at Euro 2016, and whether Duffy could regroup and come into what is now a bruised and battered back line to face what should be group points fodder in Luxembourg is one that Kenny has to ponder, while he will need all the skills of staff like Dean Kiely and David Forde to rebuild Travers’ confidence.
As Kenny now knows, problems up front can be magnified by worries at the back.
