A MEXED BAG IN THE GIANT CROSSWORD

Pitstop in New York offers ups and downs

TWO visits to the Garden State for Martin O’Neill has seen the Republic of Ireland tangled up in weeds of discomfort.

But the manager spied some green shoots of recovery as he left the MetLife Stadium in the small hours yesterday after losing to Mexico by a two-goal margin that flattered Ireland.

For O’Neill, it was about accentuating the positive — the game time for ring-rusty Championship players, the opportunity to dabble with a 3-5-2 formation, and to assess the depth of resources at his disposal.

That Ireland got soundly whipped didn’t matter for O’Neill in the greater scheme of things, not with a huge World Cup qualifier coming up against Austria tomorrow week.

‘Look, it’s a total build-up to the Austria game. That’s what I want. I’m not deflated. This is not an act. I always told you how I felt about the friendly games,’ he said. ‘Listen, it’s disappointing but it’s not the end of the world

‘In terms of confidence, and a possible knock of confidence, I’m really not too bothered. And the same might occur against Uruguay. ‘I’m getting total focus for the [Austria] game — the be all and end all is the Austria game.’

O’Neill is right to stress that point as his tenure will be determined by how he does in competitive games, in reaching tournament finals, rather than the outcome of friendlies — even ones worth a few bob to the FAI.

As he flew back to Dublin yesterday to complete a 6,000-mile round trip, the Derry man had much time to reflect on the few pluses, and not so few minuses, from a difficult night.

For those who view these things from the half-full perspective, there was the positives of game time for Darren Randolph, Shane Duffy, Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick.

They all came through in one piece with Randolph, Duffy and McGoldrick completing 90 minutes. A plus? Yes for they will be needed against the Austrians.

So too will Cyrus Christie be at right-back. If he’s not at the level of Seamus Coleman, Christie likes to bomb forward and he did just that in the first half against Mexico, even if it left gaps behind.

On balance, Christie showed enough to suggest he can be a threat going forward but, defensively, he needs work. That said, he wasn’t always sure to push on or retreat as a right wing-back.

Which brings us on to the 3-5-2 system which O’Neill tried yesterday morning. It simply didn’t suit his players who seemed unsure whether to twist or stick.

The most ill-at-ease trio were the centre-backs, Richard Keogh, Duffy and John Egan, who spent a lot of time marking open spaces rather than Mexican green shirts.

O’Neill wanted to see his central defenders chase opponents into the corners rather than police the penalty area; instead, he witnessed uncertainty and fear.

As the holes in the back three were exposed, the lack of cover from midfield was also evident.

O’Neill started with one central midfielder, Conor Hourihane, who was flanked in the engine room by two wingers, Callum O’Dowda and Daryl Horgan.

Hourihane was making just his second start, O’Dowda and Horgan their first, and the collective lack of experience, coupled with the unfamiliar demands of their roles was evident.

O’Dowda and Horgan are wide players who like to run with the ball; they are not ball-winning tacklers in the engine room.

It was across the trenches where the battle was lost in the first half as the Mexicans danced past Ireland almost at will. Two goals down inside 25 minutes, Ireland were lucky not to be further adrift.

James McClean, the captain, was barking out orders in a passionate effort to rally the troops but there weren’t enough senior hands on deck to respond.

O’Neill stood fast on the bridge until midway through the second half by which time Mexico had added a third and were attacking almost at will.

The overdue switch to 4-5-1 stemmed the Mexican wave as Keogh was posted at right-back, while the midfield posts were finally manned by stokers, Eunan O’Kane, Wes Hoolahan, Stephen Gleeson and new cap Alan Browne.

The final 20 minutes were so much better than the previous 70. Gleeson sniffed out a goal as he took a chance running into the box and was rewarded by a hashed Mexican clearance.

O’Dowda then slalomed through to offer a hint of his attacking talents, while McClean tested the keeper as Ireland lifted the siege.

So was O’Neill not tempted to switch to 4-5-1 earlier?

‘No, I wasn’t tempted. I wanted to see it,’ he said.

‘There’s no point in trying something for 10 or 15 minutes especially in a friendly and say “we conceded a goal let’s go back to what we know.” You’re not going to learn anything from that.

‘We conceded three goals by playing three at the back but don’t get carried away that three at the back was at fault.

‘We have to fill gaps. We have to get challenges in, we have to deal with it better.’

More than anyone O’Neill knows that if Ireland are not considerably better in eight days’ time than they were in New Jersey, there will be trouble ahead.