Ireland did not necessarily lose the midfield battle when they played France in March, yet it was an error by one of that particular unit that cost Stephen Kenny's side the points, resulting in a losing start to this Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
And things took a turn for the worse in the next qualifier, as the positives that came out of that moral victory against Didier Deschamps’ side, following a fine display at the Aviva, went up in smoke thanks to that dire display in Athens.
The France result was acceptable, and in all truth, expected, however, the race for automatic qualification deemed that maximum points were needed, and in all truth, expected against the fourth-ranked Greeks.
Josh Cullen has been the man that the manager built his team around since taking the reins of the national team three years ago, and it was the unfortunate Burnley man who made the fatal mistake against the French, and Benjamin Pavard made sure that he would not forget it in a hurry.
"A moment like that doesn't need too much analysing. You made a mistake and for a few days after it, you take it on the chin and move on from it," said Cullen, speaking at a press conference earlier this week.
"It's something that hurt – no doubt about it – but it’s something I tried to move on from as quickly as I could. It’s out of my head now and I’m looking forward to the game on Thursday."
Another player may have been scapegoated for such an error on the edge of the box, heading into the next qualifier, but had Kenny canned Cullen, it would have been a case of going right back to the drawing board for the remainder of the campaign.
More notably, perhaps, is the lack of competition for Cullen's place in the team, and looking at the options available in the squad, the fact that Jeff Hendrick and his zero competitive minutes this season has been selected shows that there is a real lack of quality in that area.
Cullen lined out against Greece, alongside Jayson Molumby, who has worked his way into the starting XI, and there has yet to be a player to step up and challenge the hard-working Waterford man for his place in the team.
Will Smallbone made up the trio for that Greece fixture, however, the midfield were unable to influence the game, cleverly bypassed by the tactics of the home side, switching play at pace to drag the Ireland formation out of shape throughout.
While this Ireland team has yet to establish consistency of selection – one of the many issues for the manager in international football – Kenny has, at least, appeared to decide on his preferred formation throughout the tenure.
Utilising three central defenders dictates the midfield selection to a certain degree, which leaves the manager looking for a solid trio to cover that central space between both penalty boxes.
So with Cullen and Molumby covering many of the midfield tasks, a viable playmaker has yet to be unearthed, which has been evidently lacking throughout Kenny’s time in charge.
The manager expects everyone of his outfield players to be comfortable in possession and he can set up his side in a range of variations depending on the personnel, looking for that playmaking role to stem from non-traditional avenues.
The suspended Matt Doherty, for example, is tasked with that role from his wing-back position on the right of the defence, and Kenny also ideally sees those two wide players as more attached to the midfield unit, tucking in and working hard to limit the space when out of possession.
But on a night like this Thursday, those two wing-backs will be playing more akin to full-backs, most certainly on the right side, where Kylian Mbappe will attract the attention of more than one man in green.
The midfield unit for the Parc des Princes game will need to have a huge emphasis on energy to cope with this world class outfit, especially with Cullen expected to be overworked again attempting to monitor the wandering star that is Antoine Griezmann as well as covering the rest of the space in front of the defence.
Kenny, of course, has to plot another course in terms of tactics following the disappointing news that Evan Ferguson has been ruled out through injury, and the manager was probably going to allow the young prospect to drop back from the front line and help link-up play between midfield and attack.
It would have mirrored the role he appears to have nailed down to a fine art at club level and it could have afforded Ireland the luxury of adding that third workhorse in the middle of the park.
Jason Knight looks set to join Molumby and Cullen, leaving the manager to attempt to work out the perhaps unsolvable conundrum of how to replace Ferguson in his gameplan.
Jamie McGrath is probably best placed to play a role to link the play, however, there is a real possibility that whoever is leading the line will be left isolated in what could be a backs-to-the-wall performance by the banks of the Seine.
And yet, Ireland are still expected to go to France looking for a result, such is the state of affairs in the group regarding qualification aspirations.
Creativity might be lacking in the XI for Paris, with the main emphasis on defence, while employing the manager’s mantra on maintaining possession, which will offer some modicum of respite throughout.
However, a composed, calculated and controlled performance in Paris with the goal of grabbing a solitary point from their endeavours, could be just the ticket to restore that small hope of qualification to bring into the Dutch duel in Dublin on Sunday night.
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