Four things we learned from the Ireland v Iceland match

Four things we learned from the Ireland v Iceland match

Ireland lost 1-0 to Iceland tonight in the Aviva Stadium as a 21^st minute goal from Hordur Bjorgvin was the difference between the two teams on the night.

1.     Forward line problems

Ireland, for the second game in a row, struggled going forward and, save for a Kevin Doyle glancing header on 35 minutes, there was little of note going forward that will please Martin O’Neill.

The second half saw a much improved Irish attacking performance but still it should not take over 45 minutes for Ireland to attack at home against a team many would have regarded beatable before a ball was kicked in the Aviva this evening.

A swap in match formation from a 4-5-1 against Wales to a 4-4-2 tonight did little to improve Ireland’s attacking capability. It was only with the introduction of Daryl Horgan and O’Dowda that Ireland appeared to pose any attacking threat, which will give O’Neill food for thought ahead of the games in June.

2.     Brady is invaluable to the current team

Ireland is quite simply a different beast with Brady on the field. At times Ireland struggled to make any attacking inroads into the opposition half but still Brady attempted to get his teammates involved.  

With Coleman out of the remainder of the qualifying campaign, Brady will need to step up to the plate even more than before and his captain’s role tonight will have helped his cause for future captaincy.

3.     Ireland has no league

To quote legendary Italian manager Giovanni Trappatoni “In Ireland, there is no league” well tonight saw another two graduates make their international debuts in Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle. Many Irish fans would have known about them back with Dundalk but since they have crossed the Irish Sea they have both got called up. Expect to see something similar with Sean Maguire when he crosses the sea in the not too distant future.

Horgan put in a number of attacking balls that will definitely give O’Neill food for thought as to whether he should be playing ahead of teammate Aiden McGeady come the next round of games.

4.     Aviva still struggling with the atmosphere

Yes we know that Iceland at home is not one to exactly get the blood flowing but still there was a distinct lack of noise in a stadium with 37,000 present. 

The first half saw a few enthusiastic Icelandic claps and the much maligned trumpet got a a few cheers but overall save for the last few minutes it was very mute and it is something that the Irish supporters and the FAI will need to work on ahead of the next home game against Austria.