Ireland v England: Five things we learned - Rice/Grealish scar will ...
Stephen Kenny’s declared wish to move the Republic on from the Stone Age football that had come to define them fell foul of too many bad results and not enough players capable of living up to such lofty ideals in the first place.
Heimir Halgrímsson gave due notice of a more practical bent this last week. His prediction that England would enjoy the lion’s share of possession was bang on but reverting to a more basic approach still left Ireland wide open to danger time and again.
Seven of the players who started John O’Shea’s last game in temporary charge, the 3-0 loss to Portugal, pitched up again here. There are no hidden nuggets to be found, no magic bullets to be fired that can turn this around.
The Icelander has only had one week with his new charges, and England are a cut above the vast majority of teams he will meet in his 18 months or so in charge, but the extent of the job at hand was laid bare here even if the second-half held slightly more promise.
The Rice/Grealish scar will NEVER heal
Seamus Coleman was openly exasperated when asked if Jack Grealish and Declan Rice would ‘deserve’ a barracking at the Aviva Stadium the day before the game. He wasn’t alone in wanting some closure to the whole chapter but this is never washing off.
The cacophony of boos that met ‘God Save the King’ was astonishing – even if you know your history – but the suspicion that much of it was released in response to the presence of two men who used to play for the Boys in Green was backed up.
Trent Alexander Arnold and Harry Maguire didn’t merit any ill will from home fans of rival clubs when they were on the ball. Grealish and Rice were targeted like a pair of panto villains and then responded as such with both goals. Oh yes they did!
Heimir Halgrímsson had spoken before kick-off about how Ireland had lots of players of a similar standard but none among the game’s elite. Here were two £100m men demonstrating exactly what Ireland lost out on. Life can be cruel.
Carsley passes first audition as England’s caretaker
England should be beating this Ireland team. They should be beating Finland and Greece as well and making it back to League A of the Nations League at their leisure. How they do it will go a long way to deciding whether Lee Carsley gets the manager’s gig full-time.
The interim gaffer approached his first game in charge on the back of a vile, manufactured Little Englander plot calling for his sacking on the basis that he wouldn’t be singing ‘God Save the King’. He got a decent tune out of his players after the pleasantries.
The Three Lions rarely have much trouble dispatching the Irelands of this world in qualifying surrounds. If everything we saw here has to be coated in perspective then there was an ambition and execution in their forward play that was clear evidence of evolution.
If England really are to play a more courageous game than the one Gareth Southgate favoured then a Trent Alexander Arnold at right-back, an Anthony Gordon on the left wing and a Jack Grealish on roaming duties was a sign of intent with others absent.
Is there really a place for a b*****d in the modern game?
Yeah, back to this again. Halgrímmson’s call for a terrier to nip at the heel of the opposition, and maybe instill the fear of God into his own teammates, was the most striking opinion he voiced between his appointment and this first game.
His players took note. Jayson Molumby left calling cards on Kobbie Mainoo and Grealish within minutes, Coleman and Matt Doherty had their own cuts off the Manchester City man, and Sammie Szmodics vented some frustration on Gordon. All in the first-half.
These were all lapped up by a crowd that had created an electric energy around Lansdowne Road beforehand – and yet they were little more than micro moments of guilty pleasure that made little difference to the macro that was the wider game.
Ireland have always been at their best mixing energy and a touch of passion with a dollop of decent play. They proved that again with a threatening spell on the hour here but modern football is more poise and patience. Squaring that circle won’t be easy.
Caoimhin Kelleher really shouldn’t be sitting on a bench week after week
Okay, so this is hardly news, but the Cork keeper’s performance here showed again why he is just too good to be riding the pines for Liverpool on a weekly basis and, worse, keeping that spot warm for Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The signing of the Georgian, who will stay with Valencia for the rest of the season, late last month was an unsettling reality for those who have hoped to see the former Ringmahon Rangers player assume the No.1 role at Anfield some day.
Kelleher made a number of excellent saves, in the first third of the game when England were turning the screw, and in the dying minutes especially. His ability with the ball at his feet continues to be so good that it is taken for granted.
Gavin Bazunu will struggle for game time at Southampton when he returns to fitness now that Aaron Ramsdale is in situ. Mark Travers is first reserve at Bournemouth. Not a brilliant state of affairs for Ireland given the collective talent available between the sticks.
