Didi Hamann tore into Ireland’s players after today’s defeat to Armenia calling them ‘poor’, saying they were ‘sloppy’ and ‘too casual’
Haaman was appearing as a pundit on RTE alongside John O’Shea and it’s clear that he wasn’t impressed by Ireland’s performance, particularly the second half showing.
“In the second half at times Ireland were a bit too casual.
“They let Armenia back into the game giving two or three easy balls away.
“They got their goal and all of a sudden, they started playing and they looked like a good team, which they didn’t look like before.”
Haaman was particularly scathing of Ireland’s attacking players. The Boys in Green struggled to create much in the way of goal scoring chances, and Hamann believes this was a key reason as to why Ireland didn’t win the game.
“Apart from Ogbene, there was no threat whatsoever.”
“Robinson no, Parrott no, Hendrick was poor today.”
“The subs who came on, Knight, Keane, they didn’t do anything positive.”
“There was no goal threat, and the only chances they had towards the end were balls played in from Ogbene.
“He was really the shining light in the offence. Apart from that there wasn't much.
“And if you have four or five offensive players who are off-colour, it’s very hard to score goals.”
Hamann also felt that Ireland’s poor attacking play increased the pressure on the Irish defenders. The former midfielder felt that the goal for Armenia ‘was coming’, due to a combination of sloppy play in possession and lack of cutting edge up top.
“If you are on top, you create chances, you dominate the game and you don’t score, with each second it increases the pressure on the defence.
Ireland go again when they face Ukraine at the Aviva stadium on Wednesday night. A win is a must on Wednesday night, especially given Stephen Kenny's desire to top the group.
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