Ireland were simply not good enough but the manager does not want all his experienced players to step aside
The depth of the despair within the Republic of Ireland squad felt bottomless. Some of the players could not even summon the will to look forward, as they beat their retreat from Euro 2012 with no points. The subject of the future of the stalwarts was prominent and Richard Dunne reflected the mood.
"I don't know that retirements would be a disaster," the defender said. "What difference can we make now … we've come and we're not good enough, so it might be time if people want to retire to let young players come through."
Giovanni Trapattoni does not want to lose all of his experienced players at once. "The seniors can help the young to grow," the Ireland manager said. But it is expected that Damien Duff will announce his retirement, having indicated that he has reached a decision about the future, and Shay Given could follow suit.
Robbie Keane, the captain, is a likely stayer and so Trapattoni may have to channel his persuasive powers towards Dunne, the final survivor from Ireland's 2002 World Cup finals squad. "We need Dunne," Trapattoni said. "We don't have another [player like him]."
Dunne is in two minds. "I'll have a chat with the manager and see what his plans are, whether there are other players coming through and stuff like that," he said. "In two years' time, I might not be ready anyway, so we'll see now what happens."
Everything was raw after the final cut – the 2-0 defeat by Italy in Poznan. If the performance was an improvement on those in the losses to Croatia and Spain, it still contained basic errors and the creation of no clearcut opportunities. "We lost 2-0 and if we can take anything out of it by saying we played better, it doesn't really come to anything," Dunne said. "We've been beaten 2-0. There is nothing positive about it."
Dunne admitted that the finals had been the worst experience of his career. "It's just so heartbreaking because we believed and we hoped we could do better," he said. "For it to just fall apart like it has done, it's been a disaster for us. I'm shattered. To have been waiting and preparing for so long and then for it to be over in a week, the disappointments just bring you down, bring you down, bring you down … In the end you're just wishing the game away nearly; you just want to get away, put your feet up and not think about football because it's been such a bad week for us."
There have been numerous reasons advanced for the failure. Injuries; players lacking full fitness, particularly Given; the length and intensity of the buildup; the lack of top-level experience in the squad which led to stage fright against Croatia and Spain; Trapattoni's faith in his 4-4-2 formation that saw Ireland overrun in central midfield.
There are varying degrees of merit to each but everybody was agreed on the bottom line: Ireland simply lacked the required quality in all areas.
"The preparation was fine … honestly, there are no excuses," Keane said. "We can start talking about this, that and the other but we couldn't have prepared better than we did and we can't be making excuses when we've been beaten by teams that were superior to us. It's as simple as that. We just weren't good enough."
Keane dismissed the notion that Trapattoni should be sacked and the manager, who is under contract until the end of the Brazil 2014 World Cup campaign, insisted he had "the will for revenge immediately". Younger players, he suggested, were ready to take on more responsibility. He namechecked James McClean, Darron Gibson and James McCarthy; the latter, he said, could allow him to tweak his system, possibly to 4‑2‑3‑1.
Trapattoni's musings took in diplomacy. "If I tell the truth, it seems like I want to humiliate people," he said. I don't because, I repeat, I am proud of his group."
Irish pride was not enough to prevent the fall. Read More
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