Ireland are picking up points in this group, but anyone who thinks this is a good sign isn’t paying attention. It is better than the alternative, but this is an Ireland team which needs to find a sense of purpose.
Martin O’Neill might point to the way Ireland’s performances improved over the course of the last campaign, but it is not too much to expect that this time would be different, considering, as Roy Keane said, the feelgood factor is back and O’Neill is now settled in his job.
It took a bizarre Seamus Coleman goal for Ireland to collect the points, but they will play Moldova on Sunday without Jeff Hendrick who is suspended and, more than likely, Robbie Brady, who left the field on a stretcher after an appalling clash of heads.
Brady was one player trying to make things happen in an Ireland side which seems to find the concept alien.
Vladimir Weiss, the Slovakian who took his own country to the World Cup in 2010 where they beat Italy, has been in charge of Georgia since March. Reflecting on his early work which sounds as if it was pastoral as much as anything, he talked about the number of games his side had been unfortunate to be defeated in. “They were,” he said, “unlucky to lose against everyone.”
Deep in the folk memory of every Irish football supporter there is a recollection of a time when Ireland, too, were unlucky to lose against everyone. On another night, it might result in some sympathy being extended to Georgia who, once again were unlucky to lose. And they would certainly lump Ireland in with everyone.
O’Neill is in charge of a limited squad and once again they revealed those limitations.
There wasn’t very much football played, but Georgia did what they could, while Ireland played with their customary edginess, an anxiety in possession which is quickly becoming our thing, a calling card on the international stage.
The goal changed things and it fitted in with the strangeness of the night. Seamus Coleman ran from the right wing and cut in at which point the fun began. He exchanged passes with several Georgian players which was fortunate as the way Ireland had been playing, he wouldn’t have got the ball back from his own team-mates. Instead he ended up with a tap-in to score his first goal for Ireland on his 40th appearance.
In the opening spell, it didn’t seem as if Georgia would be unlucky to lose, but it did seem as if they would lose.
There was an appeal for an early penalty and Georgia were giving the impression of a side that would provide every assistance in Ireland’s search for a goal
Ireland played as if they’d need all the help they could get. They may have quickly completed more passes than they had over 90 minutes against Serbia, but there was no confidence in their football, no sense of a team that felt compelled to turn things around.
James McCarthy showed he can be strong in the tackle at one point when he dived in to win a ball. Unfortunately, he was making the tackle because he had hit a pass straight to a Georgian player and, no sooner had he won it back, then Ireland had lost it again.
Georgia, on the other hand, looked to play, guided by Tornike Okriashvili who managed to find time and space on the ball. Every Ireland player, on the other hand, was rushed as if he was trying to find room to play football on the last bus home on Christmas Eve.
O’Neill had talked on Wednesday about wanting the player to have more confidence on the ball, but he is three years in the job and the failure for Ireland to play in a more convincing style is also down to him. What’s the point in having a manager otherwise?
The best chances in the first half were Georgia’s. Valeri Kazaishvili shot wide after Okriashvili did well in the build-up and then Levan Mchedlidze headed against the bar and Guram Kashia’s follow-up came back off the post.
The chances showed how ragged Ireland were. O’Neill had promised not to take Georgia lightly, but it seemed preposterous even to consider it as the Ireland defence was exposed and made to look ordinary.
Until the goal, it was hard to find an encouraging Irish performance. Crosses were undercut or cannoned off a defender and that was the extent of Ireland’s game plan.
Uncertainty ran through the team from Darren Randolph to Shane Long who looked like a player who is aware of every minute he has gone without a goal.
Shane Long hasn't scored in 1,000 minutes. Let's hope that changes tonight 👊 https://t.co/z5inTEaGTD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2016
The goal transformed things. McClean had a header ruled out for offside and Coleman became a danger down the right. The sickening injury to Brady after a shocking clash of heads with Solomon Kverkvelia would have been understandably draining for the Ireland team.
Glenn Whelan came on for Brady and Ireland ran down the clock. McClean headed against the bar in injury-time, but that would have been unfair on Georgia, who will undoubtedly feel they were unlucky to lose again.
Ireland got lucky again. Maybe that has always been the way, but maybe we should want a little more. Ireland aren’t playing as if they are working to a plan, they are playing in a way which suggests that, sooner or later, there will be a reckoning.
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