Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane says the players must show bravery and demand the ball in their crucial Euro 2016 Group E game against Italy on Wednesday (8pm, Live on RTÉ2, Player, Radio and Online).
Anything other than an Ireland win will spell the end of the Euro 2016 for Martin O'Neill's men and Keane admits that a repeat of the looseness in possession against Belgium, which led to Ireland conceding two goals to counter-attacks, would be disastrous.
“When you're chasing the ball quite a bit and you do get it, your concentration levels can be down and that's when you make mistakes. That's why it's so important to look after the ball," Keane said at the team's base in Versailles today.
“That frustrated probably the manager and all of us the other day, whatever about the mistakes and individual mistakes, that we gave the ball away far too cheaply.
“It's no problem giving it away when you're trying stuff when you are 20, 30 yards from goal, but when you're sloppy around the middle of the park, it just puts you under massive pressure.
“When you give the ball away so cheaply, against a good team, you're in big, big trouble and we got punished for that because even a couple of the goals, we were in decent possession and gave it away cheaply.
“But that can come sometimes, again, just from lack of concentration. We'd had a big game three or fours days earlier – we have got to get the levels up where lads can play three big games in nine or 10 days.
"If we are as sloppy in possession against Italy, there's a good chance it's going to be the same result because we are up against quality players and quality players will punish you."
Keane said that Ireland's players needed to show composure and demand the ball, even if it went against their instincts.
“I'm going back over the last 20, 30, 40 years where Irish players... you have got to be able to deal with the ball at the highest level and that's an area we have to improve on.
“It's highly unlikely we are going to do it in the next 48 hours, but in terms of the bigger picture going forward from the underage teams, you have to have lads who can put their foot on the ball and show a bit of composure, a bit of courage, want the ball.
“I am not talking about our players, but you get some players showing for it, but they're not really showing for it. You want to see the whites of their eyes – do you want the ball.
“That's where courage comes into it. Courage is a big part of being a footballer - and courage doesn't mean booting somebody, it's wanting the ball when sometimes you don't actually want the ball, if that makes sense. Bravery, courage, and we need to see that in the next few days."
Roy Keane on tactical fouling: "You have to make sacrifices for the team. What do you think I would do?!" #EURO2016https://t.co/bIh67gYxNl
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 20, 2016
The Corkman drew a chuckle from the media when discussing whether the Irish players had been naive in not fouling Belgium more to cut out their devastating counter-attacks.
"My advice would probably be, yeah, take him out. We saw Italy do it against Belgium. A player did it on the halfway line and got a yellow card. He literally jumped all over someone’s back when Belgium were breaking, and then he kicked the ball out of play.
"You have got to be streetwise in this game. We’re not here to make friends, the fans are doing that. But from the players’ point of view, if you smell danger, if you can hold the player up and you can win the ball, fantastic, but if you think ‘we’re in trouble here’, then you do whatever you can to get the right result, and if that’s fouling, then you foul.
"It’s not a crime, you might get a yellow card, you might even get a red, but your team might win.
"Sacrifices, you’ve got to make sacrifices for your team. Does that answer your question? What do you think I would do?"
Jon Walters' fitness is improving but he's still 'touch and go' for Ireland v Italy according to Roy Keane #Euro2016https://t.co/yXL6hygL8v
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 20, 2016
Keane said that Jonathan Walters, who missed Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Belgium after playing an hour in the 1-1 draw with Sweden, was improving rapidly but was still "touch and go" to be fit to face Italy.
Walters trained on his own as he continues his recovery from an Achilles injury.
“He did some (training), you would have seen the first few minutes," said Keane. "He did pick that up when you left so it is very much play it by ear. We’re doing something here tomorrow morning and hopefully he can get involved one way or another - whether it be a little bit of possession or whatever.
“It’s still very much touch-and-go. If you speak to the player then he is improving every day, but the game is coming up quickly.
“We know the type of player Jon is and if there is any chance he thinks he will get through it then he will have a go. Even if we thought we could get Jon on the pitch for an hour, it would be fantastic.
“Of course you have to look after the player’s welfare. Ultimately, if he crosses that line then we think he’s fit but if he doesn’t feel right, according to the medical staff and the player himself, then it’s highly unlikely he will be involved.
“The manager will give you more of an update when you speak to him tomorrow but finger’s crossed.”
The Ireland assistant boss insisted that he wasn't surprised Italy had won their first two games but insisted Ireland weren't going into Wednesday's game with an inferiority complex.
“You’re not in the mindset that they are better than you," he said. "We’re up against quality players and an established team who have had a very good start to the tournament, but there is no surprises there.
"For me, the Italian team were always favourites to top the group. The players they have, huge experience and with a lot of trophies under their belts.
“We had a bad day at the office the other day, but we’ve got a good group and we have had setbacks before. We’re looking forward to the match and it will be a very, very tough game. We knew from the start they would be very difficult games with the draw we had.
“It’s a huge challenge for the players but one we look forward to. This group of players has had disappointments over the last year or two, don’t think for one minute it’s new to us. We’ve had setbacks before as a group and I’ve got to take my hat off to this group of players as they have bounced back.
“It’s only a year or so ago that people weren’t expecting us to qualify. That is the name of the game. The other day when we had a few plaudits after what we felt was a good performance against Sweden, we said the same. You’ve got to move on quickly in this game, whether it be the highs or the lows."
Meanwhile, UEFA have told Ireland that they can’t train at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille tomorrow because of concerns over the state of the pitch.
Ireland will now train at their base in Versailles in the morning before travelling to Lille to walk the pitch and fulfil their media obligations.
Questions had been raised about the quality of the surface before the tournament began and Ireland’s Group E game with Italy will be the fourth game at the venue.
The roof was closed for the match between Russia and Slovakia because heavy rain was forecast, while French coach Didier Deschamps complained after it cut up in his side’s 0-0 draw with Switzerland last night.
UEFA are keen to protect the pitch with two more knockout games to come in the next week.
"I am not too concerned," said Keane. "Maybe some of the players would like to get a feel for the pitch or whatever, but it's obviously the same for both teams.
“We have done that before previously, we have gone away and we have not trained on the surface or whatever. We have got enough on our plate without worrying about the surface. Hopefully it will be all right on the night."
Watch Italy v Republic of Ireland (8pm Wednesday) on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, listen live on Radio 1 or follow the liveblog on RTE.ie
