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Irish Angle: After Blaming Thierry Henry, Consider Our Own Deficiencies
We would do well to bring our own failings into focus instead of making a pariah of Thierry Henry...
20-Nov-2009 12:00:44 AM
Let the witch-hunt begin... Throw away your Gillette razors, kick in the windscreen of the closest Clio you can find and never again put Reebok shoes on your feet.
Thierry Henry is a fraudster, huckster, cheat and charlatan and he is the only reason why the Republic of Ireland will not be playing at the World Cup next summer.
Except he's not.
Ireland have another element to blame for their upcoming summer of friendlies. It may be tough to admit it and see through the fog of resentment but a lack of firepower in Paris and not enough conviction in the second half of the first-leg in Dublin have also counted against us.
It is very easy in hindsight to identify a turning point of the World Cup European zone play-off in Saint Denis on Wednesday night. For even the most myopic of French observers and every Irishman within sight of the pitch or a TV, Les Bleus took the initiative and the upper hand when their captain displayed a flagrant lack of scruples and shovelled the ball onto his own volley before crossing for William Gallas to score.
But events both before and after that blemish on Henry's reputation could have rewritten the destiny of the tie, in some sort of Donnie Darko styled alteration of a parallel universe.
Damien Duff really should have given Ireland a two-goal advantage on the night just after the hour mark when his finish lacked anything close to conviction.
Robbie Keane, too, was guilty of passing up a career-defining chance when immortality beckoned; rounding Hugo Lloris is difficult at the best of times and on this occasion it was also ill-advised. How many Irishmen and women internally pleaded for their captain to dink the ball over the onrushing goalie's head?
The fact that the tie even got as far as the 103rd minute was a damning indictment of the finishing skills on display from the visitors, despite, paradoxically, one of their finest ever away performances in all other departments.
To a man, each fulfilled the system perfectly. Keith Andrews looked immense, bossing Lassana Diarra around like an ugly wife with low self esteem. Liam Lawrence was David Beckham-esque with his slick hair, white-boots, dubious tattoos and unerring dead-ball delivery and work rate.
Kevin Doyle worked the channels and caused Squillaci and Gallas problems, except in the one area that counts. His first half headed chance might have been dispatched by a striker in scoring form. Trapattoni's men should have been well and truly out of sight before Titi's intervention.
Perhaps that is the one underlying reason for discontentment. The 'if onlys' are tough to swallow, even more so when a brazen act of cowardice decided the fate of these World Cup-chasing teams.
Keith Andrews: A Man Maligned, But Showed His Worth
Speaking of chasing, that is exactly what the Irish got in their own backyard last Saturday, from 21:00 - 21:45. An effervescent first-half display gave way to a lethargic, inept and nervous half of football in which France could have had at least three goals. The reactions of Andrews and company at the final whistle best illustrated Irish frustrations with themselves after a recognisably dismal showing.
Ireland had little, if any, right to still have genuine interest in the tie by Wednesday, a fact acknowledged by the bookmakers' overwhelming endorsement of French progress. But we are an irrepressible team. Some observers would have been buoyed by the one-goal deficit; arguing that we would have lost any advantage gained in Dublin on the plane on the way over, such are the jitters that usually accompany an Irish lead. However, France sagged meekly for a 90 minute duration of the game on Wednesday, played our game, but Ireland could not kill them off.
When extra-time rolled around, Ireland did look like a spent force, playing out time with neither ambitions to score nor composure in the pass.
Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka roused the French from their dross slumber and showed the Irish team of that which they are truly capable. Shots, breakaways, an attempt to win a penalty kick; by the time Malouda floated the fateful ball for Henry, the Irish were on the ropes after France's best, and only, spell of the game.
There is no guarantee that Ireland would have survived the onslaught, no guarantee that they might have won the tie on penalty kicks. Conversely, France may not have scored either and Trap's men would have deserved a shot at spot-kicks. However, in a turnaround to the preceding 90 minutes, the Irish were ripe for the plucking in over time.
And now, not only because of Henry, we are out. Sidney Govou should have put it beyond, in the words of Jay-Z, reasonable doubt in injury time and then perhaps we wouldn't have had pop the puss-filled zit that will scar the face and stain the shirt of France's captain from here on in.
Was it out of character? Ask Ricardo Carvalho and Carles Puyol, who were both on the end of Thierry's gamesmanship at the 2006 World Cup. I have no problem saying it; Thierry Henry is a cheat. But the greatest injustice is that we allowed his boorishness to become the reason we missed out.
Peter Staunton, Goal.com
Thierry Henry is a fraudster, huckster, cheat and charlatan and he is the only reason why the Republic of Ireland will not be playing at the World Cup next summer.
Except he's not.
Ireland have another element to blame for their upcoming summer of friendlies. It may be tough to admit it and see through the fog of resentment but a lack of firepower in Paris and not enough conviction in the second half of the first-leg in Dublin have also counted against us.
It is very easy in hindsight to identify a turning point of the World Cup European zone play-off in Saint Denis on Wednesday night. For even the most myopic of French observers and every Irishman within sight of the pitch or a TV, Les Bleus took the initiative and the upper hand when their captain displayed a flagrant lack of scruples and shovelled the ball onto his own volley before crossing for William Gallas to score.
But events both before and after that blemish on Henry's reputation could have rewritten the destiny of the tie, in some sort of Donnie Darko styled alteration of a parallel universe.
Damien Duff really should have given Ireland a two-goal advantage on the night just after the hour mark when his finish lacked anything close to conviction.
Robbie Keane, too, was guilty of passing up a career-defining chance when immortality beckoned; rounding Hugo Lloris is difficult at the best of times and on this occasion it was also ill-advised. How many Irishmen and women internally pleaded for their captain to dink the ball over the onrushing goalie's head?
The fact that the tie even got as far as the 103rd minute was a damning indictment of the finishing skills on display from the visitors, despite, paradoxically, one of their finest ever away performances in all other departments.
To a man, each fulfilled the system perfectly. Keith Andrews looked immense, bossing Lassana Diarra around like an ugly wife with low self esteem. Liam Lawrence was David Beckham-esque with his slick hair, white-boots, dubious tattoos and unerring dead-ball delivery and work rate.
Kevin Doyle worked the channels and caused Squillaci and Gallas problems, except in the one area that counts. His first half headed chance might have been dispatched by a striker in scoring form. Trapattoni's men should have been well and truly out of sight before Titi's intervention.
Perhaps that is the one underlying reason for discontentment. The 'if onlys' are tough to swallow, even more so when a brazen act of cowardice decided the fate of these World Cup-chasing teams.
Keith Andrews: A Man Maligned, But Showed His Worth
Speaking of chasing, that is exactly what the Irish got in their own backyard last Saturday, from 21:00 - 21:45. An effervescent first-half display gave way to a lethargic, inept and nervous half of football in which France could have had at least three goals. The reactions of Andrews and company at the final whistle best illustrated Irish frustrations with themselves after a recognisably dismal showing.
Ireland had little, if any, right to still have genuine interest in the tie by Wednesday, a fact acknowledged by the bookmakers' overwhelming endorsement of French progress. But we are an irrepressible team. Some observers would have been buoyed by the one-goal deficit; arguing that we would have lost any advantage gained in Dublin on the plane on the way over, such are the jitters that usually accompany an Irish lead. However, France sagged meekly for a 90 minute duration of the game on Wednesday, played our game, but Ireland could not kill them off.
When extra-time rolled around, Ireland did look like a spent force, playing out time with neither ambitions to score nor composure in the pass.
Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka roused the French from their dross slumber and showed the Irish team of that which they are truly capable. Shots, breakaways, an attempt to win a penalty kick; by the time Malouda floated the fateful ball for Henry, the Irish were on the ropes after France's best, and only, spell of the game.
There is no guarantee that Ireland would have survived the onslaught, no guarantee that they might have won the tie on penalty kicks. Conversely, France may not have scored either and Trap's men would have deserved a shot at spot-kicks. However, in a turnaround to the preceding 90 minutes, the Irish were ripe for the plucking in over time.
And now, not only because of Henry, we are out. Sidney Govou should have put it beyond, in the words of Jay-Z, reasonable doubt in injury time and then perhaps we wouldn't have had pop the puss-filled zit that will scar the face and stain the shirt of France's captain from here on in.
Was it out of character? Ask Ricardo Carvalho and Carles Puyol, who were both on the end of Thierry's gamesmanship at the 2006 World Cup. I have no problem saying it; Thierry Henry is a cheat. But the greatest injustice is that we allowed his boorishness to become the reason we missed out.
Peter Staunton, Goal.com
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