We could have easily avoided the position we now find ourselves in.
We got off to a flier in this World Cup qualifying campaign. We soon tripped up, falling at obstacles that shouldn’t have even challenged us, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept that we’re just not a good team, that we don’t belong at the top of this group.
Ireland may not have the most skillful group of players, so therefore it’s absolutely imperative that we get as much use as we possibly can out of our creative hub, Wes Hoolahan.
The Norwich play maker played a crucial part in last autumn’s victories over Moldova and Austria, setting up James McClean for a winner against Austria, but since then he has only played 80 minutes of football in our campaign.
The Tipperary man had a tough day at the office https://t.co/cPPD5EtNpp
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2017
Now don’t tell us he’s too old to play more than that, that he wasn’t able for more than 80 minutes out of a possible 360.
He had an injury set back along the way, but was benched for the majority of the game against Austria, and despite the team crying out for a creative spark, it was sitting on a bench for 73 minutes waiting to be called upon.
O’Neill changed a winning formula here, and there was no need for it.
Liam Brady, speaking in the aftermath of Friday night’s 2-0 victory over Moldova claimed that “serious questions” have to be asked about O’Neill’s mistakes in team selections.
“I think Martin O’Neill’s selections have to be questioned,” began Brady in the aftermath of Ireland’s 2-0 triumph over Moldova.
Not only does Wes create, but he inspires both teammates and Irish supporters, too, he gives us hope, and you’d have to question O’Neill’s logic for leaving him on the bench when we needed him most, like we did in Tbilisi.
“We saw the fans’ reaction to him when he was subbed, because he’s the one who makes the team play. O’Neill hasn’t realised that for a lot of the games that we have played in this group. The games we played against Georgia, Austria at home, he wasn’t playing, he only came on as a sub, and again against Wales,” added Brady.
Another man who was wrongly ignored for large parts of this campaign was David Meyler, with Glenn Whelan regularly getting the nod ahead of him, even after a class display againt Austria early on in the competition.
“Questions must be asked about Hoolahan, and they must be asked about Meyler, too because after that Austria game he should have been the first name on the team sheet. There are serious selections about his team selections. He could have four points more. We could be going to Wales only needing a draw,” bemoaned the Dublin man.
O’Neill wasn’t helping himself.
Let’s hope it doesn’t cost us.
Here are some of the ways Ireland can qualify for the playoffs (they can also still top the group ) https://t.co/tBTR0VqHNa
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2017
