The performance from the Ireland team in the 2-1 loss to Greece tonight was the exact opposite of what we were told we were going to get in the buildup to the game.
The brave attacking play and tactically astute showing that was spoken about throughout the week was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Stephen Kenny's side were absolutely abysmal both in and out of possession.
This showing certainly puts the teams supposed progress in recent times under scrutiny. There was little sign of any evolution in the side out there tonight.
Brady & Sadlier hammer Ireland for Greece performance
Serious question will now be asked about the direction of travel of this Ireland team. The progress many felt we had been making is no longer present, with the side lacking in every area yet again on this occasion.
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, Richie Salider and Liam Brady made no excuses for what was an incredibly poor performance.
Sadlier: The performance was one of really low quality. It's very hard to sit here and praise too many individual performances, every time you think of a player you think of a stream of individual mistakes that they made. The collective defending for the second goal was bafflingly poor.
This is a team that has been together for quite a while, which in international football you don't often get, you usually get them for a few days. They were together in a training camp and would have had plenty of time to work on it.
Stephen [Kenny] and the players said before the game they had analysed Greece and seen plenty of them, they knew what they were up against. The performance tonight was completely at odds with all those statements...
Brady: The space they gave to the Greece team was ridiculous. We were lucky to get away with a 2-1, it could have easily been 4-1. Very, very poor performance.
I don't see the improvement that people are going on about. I don't see what Stephen Kenny is getting involved with the referee for.
[Kenny] has put a lot of faith in Cullen and Molumby, praising them. I don't see what Molumby gives to the Irish team. He was non-existent tonight.
Does he tackle? I didn't see him make many tackles tonight. The Greeks had loads of space.
Obafemi, I think he's a lad that has done really good things for the Irish team. He was left out tonight...
Sooner or later it comes down to results. We've had two-and-a-half years with Stephen now. Some of our performances have given us encouragement, but when you look at the results they have been damning.
Fairly damning.
Ireland will need to bounce back against Gibraltar on Monday night. Regardless of how that one goes, the supporters are unlikely to forget this Athens performance anytime soon.
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