Losing 2-1 to ten men Armenia is beyond a joke. How Givens can continue to stay in charge with the excuse of preparing players for the senior team is beyond me.
Sheridan had the bulk of the Irish chances, but most were headers. I'd guess the plan was "he's taller than their defence, lump the ball in his general direction". Unfortunately, while taller than the players around him, he still doesn't have the strength to play as a solitary striker and lost out because of the numbers around him. A few times he chased balls out to the corners, but since he was the only striker, there was noone to play the ball to in the middle. Late in the second half he could have won a penalty when sandwiched by two defenders, but the ref indicated a corner.
The biggest problem, as it appeared to me anyway, was the shape of the side was completely wrong. We were playing a 4-5-1 moving to 4-3-3 when attacking. However, none of the midfield 3 were linking up with the defence (think Essien or Makelele) so the back 4 was being left completely isolated time and again. The two wingers, Scannell and Judge, were leaving their full backs with no option to pass to. A few times, Cian Hughton and Scannell did link up well, but Hughton had to come to the half way line with the ball to come within passing distance of Scannell, and this meant the space in the now empty full back slot was prime for exploitation by the opposition.
Armenia seemed to be playing 3-4-1-2 (again this is how it looked to me, I could be wrong) with the "1" floating back to midfield when defending, and linking up with the strikers when attacking. So our midfield was being crowded out when we were in possession, and the 4 man defence was facing three attacking players when defending. When we did make it to the final third of the pitch, their 4 midfielders were dropping back to help out defensively, limiting the passing options for the Irish players.
Ireland's best chance came from a snap shot from Garvan (captain on the night) after their keeper cleared a shot to the Ipswich midfielder. Shortly afterwards, Armenia took the lead. The goal came about with three of their players around our box. The centre half (think it was Newcastle's Callum Morris) didn't know whether to close down the player in possession, or block a pass to his teammates, so he kept backing off, allowing him more time and space to pick his shot. Redmond in goals was possibly unsighted for the shot, it was at the other end of the ground to me so I couldn't really tell. The second goal came from a direct free kick, despite having 4 players in the wall, the ball still found its way into the far corner of the net.
Ian Daly came on at half time, and this seemed to settle the side as the Irish did play some good football, but this had no end product. Terry Dixon made a welcome return to Irish football with about a half hour to go, according to a report on NewsTalk, West Ham ordered that he only play 30 minutes. While he did have some good touches with the ball at his feet, it's clear he still has some way to go to return to full fitness. He really did play at a walking pace and looks to be carrying some extra weight. There are reports that he will be moving to Colorado Rapids for a summer loan, and I really do hope he does well in the MLS. Armenia were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes remaining, the referee showed a yellow for time wasting with a corner, and when he protested about the booking, the referee booked him again and sent him off. Even with 10 men, the Armenians still possessed a threat, and credit has to go to Redmond for keeping the scoreline at 2-0. The Irish goal came following a goal mouth scramble. Moving into the Armenian half, Dixon moved the ball in the corner, and crossed into the box. Substitute Daly finally shot home with the Armenian keeper on the deck following an earlier save.
Everton's Coleman had possibly the best chance to equalise when a loose ball in the box fell to him, however his shot cleared the far post. To be honest, it was the only decent play of the game by the full back, he looked off the pace most of the time, and his first touch deserted him. At one point he tried to kill the ball with his instep, only for it to rebound off his standing leg and out for a throw.
The one positive was the performance of Chelsea's Conor Clifford in midfield. Full of energy, running and tackling, he looks a definite talent.
Armenia weren't faster, more talented, or better disciplined than the Irish, they were just better organised to take advantage of their talents. Givens out.
