Well, Heimir Hallgrímsson got his shitty 1-0 win at least. And a win is a win is a win. But does gruel get any thinner than this?
For so much of this game, Ireland felt like a teenager creeping into the house after curfew and trying desperately not to step on the creaky stair. It was the most careful, nervy display you could imagine from a team that looks timid and bereft of any clear plan.
Did anyone come away from this feeling uplifted about Ireland’s hopes of making it through the group? Feels unlikely. Ireland have gathered in four points, all of them earned after the opposition had a man sent off. If this thing is going to go anywhere, Hallgrimsson is going to need a more repeatable strategy than playing against 10 men.
So much of the game was played out to funereal silence in the Aviva. For the first 52 minutes, you could tell that the crowd was slightly unsure how to react. Ireland set up with five across the back, a solemn reflection on how low on confidence the whole operation is at this point. There was no worrying about goal difference or any of those fripperies. The overwhelming imperative was Don’t Get Beat.
RM Block
An early Jake O’Brien header from a corner was badly mistimed but at least it was an effort. At least it was something. But that was five minutes into the game and Ireland didn’t have another corner until the second half. They couldn’t play through Armenia, they didn’t force any set-pieces, their best moments came when they pressed the opposition goal kick. There was nothing in any of that for the crowd.
Early in the second half, Seamus Coleman went and buried the Armenian goalkeeper as he went up for a high ball. It was flagrant, it was mad, it was badly needed. Coleman got a well deserved yellow card for his troubles and went and won a throw-in soon after, waving his fists at the stands in the process. He knew the whole thing needed lifting.
That’s where we are with this Ireland team. They’re low on confidence, low on ideas, low on any reason for people to get drawn in by them. Everything seems so difficult for them, even when the breaks go their way.
Tigran Barseghyan’s red card was a godsend, the kind of once-in-a-generation brainfart that Ireland have now been gifted twice in the space of four games. It was such a ludicrous thing for the Armenian playmaker to do, just about the only thing that would save Ireland from their stupor.
How are Leinster and Munster stacking up ahead of their first meeting of the season?
From there to the end, at least the notion of a home defeat was more or less off the table. Caoihmín Kelleher was a bystander for the rest of it, which is something at least. But Ireland continued to make things so hard for themselves.
For reasons best known to himself, Hallgrimsson took Festy Ebosele off, even though he was causing havoc down the right wing. Coleman went too, presumably because of the yellow card. Ireland went ahead through Evan Ferguson but only after he’d already missed a sitter. Irish players lined up to make a hero out of the Armenian goalie. It was one of those nights, all night long.
At least it’s a win. Hungary’s draw against Portugal was another bad result and took what little gloss there was off the night. The notion that this Ireland team can go to Budapest and get a result seems pretty off the wall right now.
