waider

Typical comments about the Irish soccer team focus on the "unbeaten" status, which generally doesn't mean a string of wins, it's more likely to refer to a string of draws. And the typical draw is an early Irish goal, 80 minutes of keep-away, and then a late goal by the opposition. Tonight's match against Cyprus was no different, except Cyprus didn't quite make the last-minute comeback; sure, there were some sublime moments, but there was also a lot of crap. And I still don't get this tactic of penetrating deep into the opposition's territory and then passing the ball backwards, allowing them time to shore up their defence and make things difficult to impossible for the attackers. What's it supposed to achieve, exactly? Anyway, Kevin Doyle (no, not the guy who plays Elvis) got a well-deserved man of the match award for sheer pace, although Richard Dunne was a good challenger for the title also. Roll on February, when we play Georgia.

Ireland 1, Cyprus 0, but we so didn't deserve it. A few suggestions for the Irish team for the match against Switzerland on Wednesday night:

• When you've beaten all of their defence with a quick break, do something with the ball. Don't pass it back up the field or play with it until they've managed to get their defence in place.
• You've practiced set pieces like corners in training. Why not use those set pieces in the game?
• Don't send a high ball to a guy who's too short to reach it.
• Don't pass the ball back just because you're faced with opposition players. Having possession is fine, but not much use at the wrong end of the pitch.
• Try looking before kicking. Especially when attempting clearances. It's not a clearance if you drop the ball right on the opposing striker's feet.

I've low expectations for the Swiss match, since we looked like the lesser team tonight against a side that's not exactly highly ranked. Mostly I'll be surprised if we're even in with a chance at the play-offs, never mind actually getting through them.