Eileen Gleeson and her players were honest enough to admit things went pear-shaped during the Republic of Ireland's 2-0 defeat to Wales on Tuesday night, but there's no need to press the panic button just yet.
It was a ragged showing for sure, one that few saw coming. The Girls in Green were on an eight-game unbeaten run (six wins, two draws), seven of those under their new manager. Then Wales came to town and buckled the wheels of their momentum.
The visitors had less possession (44%), but their 13 efforts on goal - seven on target - offered a fairer reflection of their greater fluency and threat throughout.
Ireland played like a team unsure of what they were supposed to be doing - and perhaps that was the crux of the problem. Having looked so assured in a 4-1-4-1 formation against Italy in Florence, a tweaked 4-2-3-1 approach for the visit of the world number 32-ranked Welsh just didn't work. Changes to the starting line-up, plus a touch of fatigue, also eroded cohesion.
The players struggled to build from the back and got killed in transition, as Wales emphatically won the midfield battle while exploiting gaps down both flanks. Ireland could have been 4-0 down after 20 minutes. A litany of individual errors compounded the team's wobbly shape, though Wales deserve plenty of credit for a display full of verve and quality.
The positives for Ireland were threefold: Jess Ziu (above) shone again; the half-time substitutions made the team better; and a return to the tried-and-trusted 3-5-2 led to an improvement.
There's also the fact that Gleeson was without Tyler Toland, Sinead Farrelly and - crucially - Denise O'Sullivan, with the likes of Louise Quinn and Kyra Carusa only used off the bench. The backroom team of Emma Byrne, Colin Healy and Rhys Carr will be poring over that opening 45 alongside Gleeson to make sure harsh lessons are learned, but there'll be no mad panic either.
"There were no levels of complacency," Gleeson insisted. "When you are on the pitch you have to find the ability to change the game and calm it down and not make one mistake, a second mistake, a third mistake. If you lose a player, don't lose her again. It is being accountable for that."
Ruesha Littlejohn expanded on the theme as she offered more insight into some of the problems Ireland encountered, adding: "Sometimes you plan a certain thing and it doesn't always go that way and you've got to adapt during the game.
"If we want to get better, and start to become a better team in possession, we have to change shape, we have to change formation. We have to become comfortable on the football, be comfortable on the football under pressure. And problem solve."
The Wales-Italy double-header threw up positives, negatives, and a handy form line.
The draw for the qualifiers takes place in Nyon, Switzerland on Tuesday with Ireland likely to be fourth seeds.
Worst-case scenario, they could be pitted against Spain (ranked No 1 in the world), England (4th) and Denmark (13th). That would be an incredibly tough ask, albeit the English showdown would almost certainly bring the team back to the Aviva Stadium.
The kindest draw, on paper at least, would probably be Germany (ranked 7th in the world), Austria (17th) and Belgium (18th). Not exactly a walk in the park either.
Before Christmas, Wales held Germany to a scoreless draw in their final UEFA Nations League game. Iceland (15th) only just edged past the Welsh twice (1-0 and 2-1) and though the Danes hammered Wales 5-1 early in the campaign, it was much tighter when the countries met in Viborg, where the hosts dug out a 2-1 victory.
England underlined their frightening ability as they followed up last Friday's 7-2 thumping of Austria with a 5-1 win over Italy on Tuesday. If Ireland are drawn against Sarina Wiegman's side, they can at least take a little encouragement from the sight of the Italians creating a string of really good chances in the second half.
They can also take heart from the fact that, overall, things have been good the last six months. Even if they finish bottom of their four-team Euro 2025 qualification group the Girls in Green are guaranteed a place in the two-legged play-off semi-finals, where they would meet a team from League C. Should they progress, they'd likely face a League B team in a two-legged final.
So Ireland have credit in the bank ahead of a huge spring/summer.
They also have enough thinkers in the squad to help iron out some of the bigger flaws Wales exposed, not least the impressively mature Ziu, 21.
"We just didn't look like we were together as a team, we went in ones and twos pressing and didn't get it right," she critiqued.
"I just don't think we set ourselves up properly. Eileen and the staff did well in training but we didn’t bring it into the game ourselves. We just switched off and conceded two sloppy goals.
"Personally I don't really think I was up to the level either, I was a bit off as well as all the girls. I'm delighted to get player of the match but I don’t think any of us deserved it."
Honesty is usually the best policy when you hit a rocky patch. Now Ireland must prove they have the chops to make last Tuesday look like an anomaly rather than a symptom of stifling flaws.
Follow the RTÉ Sport WhatsApp channel for the best news, interviews, analysis and features, as well as details of our sports coverage across all RTÉ platforms.
