New system fails to bed in for O’Neill
THREE into two doesn’t go and Shane Duffy acknowledged the teething problems which the republic of Ireland rearguard suffered against Mexico in the MetLife Stadium.
While stopping short of suggesting that manager Martin O’Neill should lay off the idea, you got the sense Duffy wouldn’t have an issue if the three-man defence was shelved for a wee while.
Selected as the central pillar in New Jersey, with Richard Keogh and John Egan flanking him, Duffy struggled at times on his return after injury. He wasn’t alone as his defensive colleagues also looked uncertain.
‘You’re kind of thrown into the new formation and you have to try and deal with it as best you can,’ he said.
‘It’s about learning something new and we can only improve it. I don’t know if it worked. Obviously, it didn’t [work] as we lost but it was about our fitness.
‘Out there, we wouldn’t have had a lot of experience and it can get tough.’
‘You don’t realise but it’s so difficult when you’re actually out there. It’s tough, especially with the way their front players played and the movement off them from the runners.
‘You’d rather play in a two in centre back. You just have to keep going.’
‘I think we got something out of it. It’s a disappointing result but we’ll take the positives out of it — game time, new lads, new formations.’
After 90 days without a game because of injury, and almost six months away from the Ireland squad, the Brighton defender could play three internationals in a little over a week — and he’s ready for it.
‘It was a tough game to come back into but I was happy with my fitness. It’s another step towards where I want to be.’
‘I missed one of the biggest games in the [World Cup] group and I missed the promotion to the Premier League so it was difficult mentally,’ he admitted.
I could have played [for Brighton] in the last couple of games of the season as I was trying to get fit for Austria.’
Duffy is available for selection tomorrow against Uruguay and will probably play at some stage as he cranks up the revs for Austria. ‘I am still young, I want to play, but it’s not up to me, it’s up to the manager. I feel like I can play but there are a lot of centre-halves here. The body is good, I am still young and fresh, I am hungry and want to play.
‘Chris Hughton is an ex-Irish international, he likes his players going away, he feels like it’s an opportunity for me to get back after the 10-12 games I missed.’
Duffy already has an eye on tomorrow week, when Austria come to town.
‘It’s our biggest game of the campaign,’ he insisted. ‘It’s a huge game where we’re looking for another three points. Wales play Serbia the same day and hopefully they can take points off each other but we have to do the business.
‘We always produce in the big games and we have confidence to do the same again,’ added Duffy.
It wasn’t just the players in central defence who were challenged by O’Neill against Mexico.
Preston winger Daryl Horgan was selected in midfield, which is not his area of expertise.
‘If the manager sees me there then it’s something I need to improve on. There were probably bits where I could have done better so I’ll have to look back at it.
‘You enjoy getting on the ball and trying to provide a bit of forward momentum but it’s a difficult position. For spells, it went okay but it was a tough game,’ said Horgan.
As the only recognised central midfielder in the starting XI, Conor Hourihane was on non-stop call for 64 minutes before being replaced.
‘I did alright. I was in there with Callum [O’Dowda] and Horgan. We’re all relatively new to international football,’ said the Aston Villa midfielder. ‘It was about getting the cobwebs off. Other lads will come back now as it’s a big week for everyone. It’s been a whirlwind year from League One up to international senior level. It has been fantastic but the hard work needs to continue and hopefully I’ll get more caps from now.’ As Ireland lost 3-1, Stephen Gleeson felt it was all ‘a bit surreal’ as he scored his first Ireland goal 10 years after his debut.
A decade on and the 28-year-old has his fourth cap.
‘I don’t think the performance was great but on a personal level it’s great to get a goal,’ he said.