Failiing to beat Moldova in tonight’s World Cup qualifying clash would make Ireland’s chances of gaining automatic qualification for Russia 2018 very slim.
Ireland, of course, should beat the team who have opened up their campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Wales, followed by a 3-0 loss to Serbia, but following Thursday night’s performance, Martin O’Neill’s side need to move up a few gears to ensure they secure the three points in Chisinau.
As it happens, Moldova are not as bad as their results might suggest, and the Ireland manager was absolutely correct when he said at yesterday’s press conference that this would be a tough test for his side.
Moldova proved more than a match for the slow-starting Serbs on Thursday night, before conceding the opening goal, and could easily have gone a goal ahead earlier in the game.
Igor Dobrovolski’s side play a nice brand of football, utilising their wide men well and their high line allows them to push plenty into attack on the compact pitch at Zimbru Stadium.
Thankfully for Ireland, a lot of their positive approaches to play will inevitably work against them as was the case against Serbia, when they absolutely gifted the visitors their opening goal – their high line providing no cover as Serbia raced through to open the scoring.
Moldova are also very frail when defending set-pieces and should be petrified at the thought of marking Shane Duffy in full flight, which again will allow Ireland to dominate in certain areas.
But Ireland need to put the ball in the back of the net and looking around at whichever 11 start tonight, it is hard to see where the goals will come from.
Again, Shane Long’s pace will frighten the ball-playing Moldovan back-four, but the Southampton striker is going through an extended barren spell in front of goal this season, while last campaign’s talisman Jonathan Walters is looking far from the match-winning goalscorer of old.
The Euro Effect – Gone in 30 Minutes
While Ireland were making waves in France during the summer, half of their Group D opponents were watching from home and probably deducing that Martin O’Neill’s side might be a daunting prospect throughout this World Cup qualifying group.
And sure enough, the opening encounter in Belgrade saw Ireland grab an early lead and look a team a level above their hosts for the opening half hour, but soon after, normal service was resumed.
Ireland sat back and looked very uneasy being the team holding the lead and eventually Serbia got their just rewards equalising in the second half, before taking the lead shortly after.
The fighting Irish returned to doing what they do best, chasing a goal, and sure enough they battled back and grabbed an equaliser, ensuring a vital away point.
The Georgia home game was another chance to show a new dimension to this Ireland team, and many expected O’Neill’s side to come out and play with style and swagger.
Of course, that did not happen and was it any surprise when the manager was very cagey in the build-up, reluctant to admit that it was a must-win game and that he expected a tough encounter against Georgia?
He was, of course, correct. It was a testing evening at the Aviva. But only because Ireland let that be the case.
Where’s Wes?
The Ireland manager has spoken on more than one occasion this week about how well his side played against Sweden at Euro 2016.
And he is right, of course.
The first 55-odd minutes of that opening Euro clash in Paris were possibly the best collective performance by an Ireland XI so far during the tenure of Martin O’Neill.
The manager also emphasised how recent this match was, as a way of putting Thursday’s performance into perspective.
What the manager failed to mention was that virtually everything great that happened on that pitch came through Wes Hoolahan, whose creative influence brought the best out of all those around him, most notably Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady, who, of course, played at left back at the Stade de France.
We all know that Hoolahan is not getting any younger, but surely those few months haven’t seen the ageing process speed up that quickly.
Replacing Brady & Hendrick
The heroes of Euro 2016 will be missing from the Ireland side through injury and suspension so the manager has some very big gaps to fill on the pitch.
It would appear obvious that Wes Hoolahan should slot into one of those freed-up berths, but the manager hinted that he might turn to youth to fill the huge void left in the Ireland side.
Energy was the buzzword at the Euros as Ireland changed tact following the heavy defeat to Belgium and perhaps Eunan O’Kane might be asked to do a job in the middle of the park with the manager possibly reverting to a 4-4-2 formation.
Should that be the case Callum O’Dowda may be handed the wide right position, allowing Walters and Long to work as a pair up front.
Duffy and Clark Far From Finished Article
John O’Shea’s days as an automatic starter in the heart of the Ireland defence appear to be over and now the Ireland manager is looking for a solid partnership to take his side through the campaign.
Shane Duffy has made a real impression on the manager and his red card faux pas in France does not appear to have harmed his Ireland prospects as he started on Thursday, having served his suspension in the opening game against Serbia.
O’Neill paired Duffy alongside Ciaran Clark at the Aviva, yet the partnership looked a little shaky throughout in a match which should not have yielded as much goalmouth action as it did.
Again, Ireland were happy to defend on the edge of their box instead of driving the team forward from behind, and surely a more composed Richard Keogh is the man to marshal this defence in O’Shea’s absence, alongside either of the aforementioned duo.
The Opposition
As mentioned, Moldova are certainly no whipping boys and will have a go at Ireland, particularly in the early stages.
They get numbers forward with Igor Bugayev leading the line, flanked either side by lively duo, Alexandru Dedov and Gheorghe Andronic.
Eugen Cebotaru sits in the hole and will often find himself further forward than target-man Bugayev, while Dedov’s long throw-ins on the narrow pitch are another attacking option.
Artur Ionița’s absence is a big loss to Moldova as the midfielder has played the last few seasons in Italy with Hellas Verona and now Cagliari, but suffered a fractured leg in September and is ruled out.
Moldova coach Igor Dobrovolski rang the changes as his side conceded four in Wales with captain Alexandru Epureanu the only member of his defence keeping his place in the side that started against Serbia.
But the captain’s howler handed Serbia the opening goal and the coach has more thinking to do in his attempt to stop leaking goals.
Aleksandru Gatcan plays his football at Champions League side Rostov and the holding midfielder will have his work cut out for him trying to protect that porous defence.
It is three years since Moldova won a home qualifier and that was against San Marino. They are unlikely to change that statistic tonight, but they might make it hard for Ireland to take all three points.
