Three years creating a team around a solid back line, but in the end it proved their Achilles Heel, as the Ireland defence were crushed by a double Dutch demolition to call time on their Euro 2024 Group B campaign.
It was a must-win encounter at Lansdowne Road in order to remain in contention for automatic qualification, following three defeats from their first four outings, however, two defensive lapses meant that Ireland, once again, fell short, losing 2-1 to the Netherlands.
That’s four losses from five now for Stephen Kenny's side, and with three games remaining, their maximum tally of 12 would not be enough to see them snatch second place, barring a remarkable run of results elsewhere.
France are already out of sight, and the Dutch now have nine points on the board with four games to play, including a game against Gibraltar. Likewise, Greece also have nine points with three games to play.
A great start proved too good to be true, as Ireland flew out of the blocks and could have taken the lead in the opening minute, following great play from Alan Browne, stopping a short kick-out and setting up Chiedozie Ogbene for a shot at goal.
It did not materialise, but a penalty came straight from the corner, and suddenly Adam Idah was standing over the ball, 12 yards from goal. The young Cork striker made no mistake.
The packed stadium didn’t need a second chance to get behind the team and the opening ten minutes suggested that the vital victory could be on the cards.
But it was early, very early, and so it proved, as once the Dutch got going, they showed their class.
Ronald Koeman’s side are packed with players from the top clubs around Europe, but it took some sloppy play from the Irish defence to get them going.
It all started with a soft Matt Doherty header to Cody Gakpo, but then as the transition transpired, it took just two or three touches of quality to exploit the disjointed defence, leaving Gavin Bazunu with little option other than to take Denzel Dumfries down inside the box.
The remainder of the first half played out in a very entertaining fashion, with both sides going for the jugular, and it was a really impressive opening 45 minutes from this Ireland team, playing above their level throughout. Remarkably neither team added another going into the second half.
Ronald Koeman was first to react, which was a compliment, of sorts, to the Irish performance, as he switched to a back four at the break, and it proved to be the decisive factor as his side controlled the game from the opening exchanges of the second half.
"The start was really poor," said Koeman, speaking at the post-match press conference. "We expected high pressing from the Irish team, but we lost many balls in our possession, and we did not have control in the game.
"After 20, 25 minutes, it was a little bit more calmed down and the decision at half-time to change the system to play four at the back was a good decision.
"After half-time, we controlled the game. Only in the last 10 minutes, maybe they brought the same pressing, but they did not create any chance to score and we defended well in the last part of the game, and finally I think it's a fair result."
The second goal was another soft one to concede, as first a clever clipped ball allowed Dumfries again to bomb past McClean, but Shane Duffy was somehow sitting a yard behind the line, keeping the Dutch man onside, allowing him to square for Wout Weghorst, who made no mistake.
The Ireland manager was not so quick to change his personnel, with Ryan Manning the only substitution coming eight minutes after the goal, while it looked as though the two wing-backs were told to push on, with the three-centre halves noticeable spreading out along the line.
Further changes would come in the 73rd minute with one of the central defenders finally sacrificed as Will Smallbone and Jamie McGrath added to the attack.
Sinclair Armstrong and Festy Ebosele were next on, but the bench did not have the desired effect, and while there was a certain amount of play in the final third in those closing stages, the team showed neither the quality nor the creativity to even secure a morale-boosting draw.
Speaking after the game, the manager was asked about the defensive disappointments, and he admitted that it was always a risk considering the tactics that his side employed by going man to man and pressing high up the pitch.
"With the first goal, there is always a gamble because we were so committed," said Kenny. "No one is going to play Holland like that, we committed man to man, you won’t see any team trying to play Holland as aggressively as that.
"We probably did expect Wieghorst to play up front. Malen who normally never plays up front, he’s a right winger, so that was a concern with that level of pace through the middle.
"I though Shane Duffy did really well, he read the situations really well and because we committed so much, we left him one-on-one, and he could have been exploited, so he defended well.
"But we knew that they would have runners from deep with Gakpo, Simons and Dumfries, and we know we could have dealt with it better than we did, we had ample opportunity, so that’s the disappointing part.
"We knew it was a threat, we left space to potentially exploit, but there is no halfway house, you either have to concede the ball and drop deep or really go for it like we did."
On another night, the overall performance and the brave tactics might be commended and even appreciated, however, with the result proving the only real factor, the opening 45 minutes will do little to paint better picture for the future prospects of the manager.
Kenny believes he will still be in charge for the remainder of the campaign, and while Ireland will have until November to see whether they secure a back-door play-off in March, the manager said that he would like to remain in charge should the prospect present itself.
"We have to finish the group strongly and see if we have a play-off in March," said Kenny.
"I’m contracted to the end of the campaign, so absolutely," added the manager, when asked did he hope and expect to be in charge for the potential play-off.
"But we don’t know if we’re in the play-off so we can’t really make a statement, as we don’t know if we’ll be there."
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