Comment: Same old story as Ireland fail to learn lessons
Death, taxes and Ireland conceding from long range or soon after half time.
On a night when Stephen Kenny’s heavy underdogs scrapped and endured, the same old flaws that have plagued the manager’s reign overwrote any argument that credit should be due.
The bottom line coming away from Paris with a result that will surprise no one, and a scoreline that flattered them, is that Sunday evening’s visit of the Netherlands to Dublin is now a must-win game to save the campaign and, surely, Kenny’s role as manager.
There were some crumbs of positivity, most notably the lively performance of Chiedozie Ogbene, but to concede from outside the box again and three minutes after the resumption once more are signs that this era is beyond redemption.
Excuses can be made around the absence of key names and the quality of opposition here. Yet this loss was ultimately the result of a failure to learn from past failures and find solutions to familiar weaknesses.
Equally, of course, it is fair to say France produced periods of quality that Ireland just do not have the ability to rival - epitomised by Aurelien Tchouameni’s beautiful opening goal.
It was a stunner, knitted perfectly into the far corner, and to expect Gavin Bazunu - or any goalkeeper - to have kept out such a sumptuous effort would be deluded. But it was also the exploitation of past misdemeanours and there was a clear plan for France to pepper the goal from long-range throughout.
Opponents know it has been one of Ireland’s blind spots under Kenny. This was their eleventh concession from outside the penalty area since the beginning of 2021. It is a problem that has seen an entire cast of characters fail to close down attempts quick enough and leave a goalkeeper, regardless of
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