ANALYSIS:Ireland didn't do enough in possession and were found out by a superior Slovakia side

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI got a taste of his own medicine last night in some respects in coming up against a side that was well organised, defensively sound and – with the exception of two lapses in concentration – didn’t look like conceding.

Under his patterns Ireland do not look comfortable when the onus is on them to try to win the game and the home side was found out in graphic fashion. The team didn’t do enough in possession, didn’t have the conviction or imagination on the ball and were overly conservative. In the end it was comfortable for Slovakia who were far more impressive in possession.

That lack of commitment to attacking and the failure to trust in creative players was hugely apparent. Trapattoni doesn’t normally opt for players who have had very little game time or are not fit but he did last night in Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady.

Ireland suffered from a sterile approach until it was too late and in that respect I thought he could have made changes earlier: certainly in the case of Stephen Hunt who gave the team the enthusiasm and dynamism they had been lacking all night.

The trip to Russia now looks more ominous, particularly in the light of the second yellow card picked up by Seán St Ledger. He was Ireland’s outstanding player on the night.

The home side were very, very poor in the first half, giving up possession too cheaply. Slovakia set up with Miroslav Karhan and Juraj Kucka playing just in front of their back four and this meant Kevin Doyle and Robbie Keane were tracked closely when they tried to drop short to get possession. It also meant the Irish strikers weren’t able to pull the Slovakian back four out of position. They could sit tight because they had the Irish strikers locked in between themselves and the holding two midfielders.

There was no room in behind their defence to launch it into channels for Doyle and Keane to run into, which meant the home side’s tactic of pumping the ball forward long had little chance of success. It was aimless and poorly directed. Once again we saw a visiting side come to the Aviva Stadium and enjoy more of the ball.

Slovakia’s 4-3-2-1 set-up was causing Ireland huge problems. They were picking up ball easily and then breaking aggressively and with width. Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan were outnumbered and weren’t helped when their team-mates were giving away possession so carelessly.

The Irish midfield wasn’t looking to get on the ball in taking it from the defence and instead Richard Dunne and St Ledger resorted to long balls into tiny corridors of space to team-mates who were well marked. The other option was to use the full backs but Stephen Ward and John O’Shea were quickly closed down.

When O’Shea did manage to get forward the end product was largely ineffective. It took 37 minutes for Ireland to create a chance and that’s when Andrews and Damien Duff managed to link up on the edge of the box. The home side were completely outplayed in terms of possession and territory during the first 45 minutes.

Slovakia offered more quality than previous performances this year; their passing was crisp and accurate, they broke at pace and but for some excellent covering from Aiden McGeady could have snuck in behind Ireland on several occasions. They also rotated their players, switching them around and this caused the home side more grief. The visitors were just so much slicker on the ball and found it far too easy to pick their way through Ireland.

The home side needed to look at being more constructive, patient and most of all keep hold of the ball and work opportunities.

A problem for Trapattoni was there is no immediate solution on the bench. It would be more of a case of tweaking than greatly changing the patterns of play. The longer the half went on the more dominant and threatening the visitors became as Ireland become more desperate.

Another problem for the home side is that they’re not set up to chase the game and when they push numbers forward as they did at the start of the second half they were exposed at the far end of the pitch. It took a brilliant block by St Ledger to deny Marek Hamsik.

Vladimir Weiss should have put the Slovakians ahead having cut through but having elected not to shoot from an acute angle his cross failed to find a colleague. There was rarely a constructive outlet for an Ireland player in possession. It was all too pedestrian and predictable. When the home side did break they lacked numbers and eventually found a cul-de-sac rather than open spaces.

And then, from nowhere in the 74th minute, Duff produced a quality cross that found Keane unmarked and he should have scored. Simon Cox might have done better especially if he had seen Andrews on his outside after good work by Keane.

Dunne made it a hat-trick of missed gilt edged chances, but it would have been hard on the visitors who were the better side for most of the match.