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Republic Of Ireland Fallout - Do We Have The Players?

So a depleted Wales side beat the Republic of Ireland by a set piece goal. Cue the fallout. Harry...



Republic Of Ireland Fallout -...
Soccer

Republic Of Ireland Fallout - Do We Have The Players?

So a depleted Wales side beat the Republic of Ireland by a set piece goal.

Cue the fallout.

Harry Wilson's free-kick illuminated an otherwise lifeless Nations League match in Dublin Without Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, the visitors were a pale imitation of the team that hammered the Republic 4-1 in Cardiff, but still got the win.

Ireland mustered only a couple of efforts on goal before Wilson stroked a 20-yard free-kick into the top corner in the second half with around half an hour left.

Wales squandered chances to extend their lead, but Ryan Giggs' side still recorded a second win from three Nations League games.

For us, it's a fourth match without victory and made for a despondent atmosphere among the home fans at the Aviva Stadium.

Its not just us that are on a poor run of form either.

So...ahem, size doesn't appear to matter when it comes to a bad run of international results. 

Antoine Griezmann scored twice as France came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Germany.

The result in Paris means Germany have now suffered six defeats in a calendar year for the first time and lost two consecutive competitive matches for the first time since 2000.

Who would have put ourselves and the Germans in the same bracket in 2018?

But here's the thing.

Are we not getting ahead of ourselves?

We don't have players in the Premier League, La Liga or Bundesliga, so should we be expecting world beating results?

The retirements of the likes of Robbie Keane, John O Shea, and Wes Hoolahan have also robbed the country of great servants as Father Time claimed them.

People are complaining about the lack of energy and excitement among the Green Army but were expectations about results really radically different during the Trappatoni era?

There may be issues around the pathway for youngsters making it into the national team but that is for more qualified than me to adjudicate on.

However once you take off the green tinted glasses the reality is the players of a world standard are simply not there.

Who needs to be coached to score goals when you are a professional soccer player?

One of the arguments I heard about why we are where we are.

Sorry to break this to you.

Unfortunately until another underage team breaks through internationally and provides a golden generation like Kevin Moran and Liam Brady or Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, we will be looking at results like this for many years to come.

 

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