The Republic of Ireland's evolution from gritty, defensive battlers to expansive entertainers was never going to be seamless.
On Friday night they coughed and spluttered through a scrappy contest with Hungary that was settled by a Henrietta Csiszar own goal.
This one won't live long in the memory banks, but that in itself is down to the encouraging forwards steps they've taken in the last few months.
Ireland wrapped up their UEFA Nations League group a month ago when they beat Albania 1-0. There was no jeopardy heading into tonight's clash in Tallaght; at least not for the hosts. The Hungarians needed a result to boost their hopes of coming second and going up to League A with the Girls in Green.
Perhaps a certain flatness was inevitable. For interim boss Eileen Gleeson, there's little reason to panic.
"No," she replied when asked if complacency was a factor in the most disjointed display of her tenure.
"The short and the final answer to that is no because, we've talked all week about being better. And it's not that we say, 'ooh can we beat Hungary 5-0?’. We’ve qualified for League A but what we want to try and do is develop so we can compete in League A.
"So you’re talking about being better in your actions. We didn’t manage to do that but it wasn’t complacency. I don’t feel complacency in the group. They work super hard in training and they’re super engaged in all the analysis we do.
"I think they have a really good intention to come out and represent Ireland to the absolute best they can. You see snapshots with singular games and singular campaigns but it’s always to develop towards the Euros, to develop towards the World Cup.
"You have to have that long-term vision while trying to… like I said, performances are not linear so you will get that. And sometimes you get a few that have it on the same evening, so you have to manage that as well. So no is the answer to that!"
Gleeson has talked up the importance of bringing younger players into the squad with an eye on the next two major tournaments but she started with an experienced 11, backboned by the likes of Ruesha Littlejohn, Denise O'Sullivan, Katie McCabe and Louise Quinn.
Peamount teenagers Erin McLaughlin and Ellen Dolan stayed on the bench, as did Abbie Larkin. But Gleeson warned against changing too much too soon.
"We have to transition different players in, we have to have balance and consistency as well," she said.
"You might see faces that you’re very familiar with like Izzy who has been around a very long time. But she’s only 22. She’s only joined her first professional club. The same with Abbie. Heather has come from a college situation into Everton, so there’s a lot of transitioning going on.
"They’re still developing at their clubs and they’re still developing here so you can’t changes everybody at once. It’s trying to manage that balance as well. We had other young players tonight. I’d have liked to get Jessie [Stapleton] some minutes tonight but you have to respond to the game that you have as well.
"You can look at it and say, 'we’re going to change everybody’, and then we change everybody and then [people] will go, ‘oh you lost against teams’. So there is a balance to be struck."
Ireland conclude their group against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park on Tuesday night. There'll be fire and brimstone in Belfast with the North looking to seal second spot themselves, and Gleeson is relishing it.
"There’s a very competitive second-placed battle going on. There’s been a few asks about whether we’ll be trying to win. You can rest assured we’ll be trying to win.
"I think it’s a nice end to the campaign. It started with the first match in the Aviva which was a lovely representation of an all-Ireland competition a representation of all Ireland, women’s football in Ireland given it was the Republic and the North.
"Now it ends in the same way in Windsor Park. It’s the first game in there between the Republic and the North in a very, very long time. It’s lovely for us to be involved in that occasion but it is a competitive game."
