14 June, 2017
It was a fairly frank admission at the way in which the very basics still serve as this side's plan B. "It just didn't drop for us". Jon Walters epitomised the strength and character of this squad.
"Jonny Walters should have had a penalty as well, I think". It's a player against a player in the air and I beat him in the air.
"I've seen the replay and the second goal should count".
The 33-year-old said: "They've got a hard enough job but, yes, it's one of those games where he seemed to give a lot against us".
"The reality is, if the players want to improve we are there to help them".
Lorenzo Insigne's stunning opener was the only goal of a disappointing first half and only a raft of replacements helped Italy assert their natural dominance after the break, with Andrea Belotti, Eder, Federico Bernardeschi and Manolo Gabbiadini all getting the better of under-siege goalkeeper Peter Jehle.
Hoolahan, unlucky to have been left out, was given 20 minutes to influence the game and his first involvement very almost resulted in a goal.
The three strikers in his squad - Guido Burgstaller, Michael Gregoritsch and Deni Alar have just 12 caps, but more significantly no worldwide goals, between them.
"We should have put the game to bed really, with some of the chances we had, but we go again".
"We tried to play our game, but it was not easy to play our game because they play most of the time long balls from behind to the front". The bottom line is it comes from them, not us.
Walters tries and did it for the goal but he is 33 and it's not a tactic you can rely on.
Austrian substitute Florian Grillitsch sliced a corner up into the air inside his own six-yard box and Lainer helped the ball into his own net under pressure from Shane Duffy on the line.
I don't know if that was down to tactics or if it was because they were just edgy given their inexperience.
"We were a bit lax and we got what was coming to us".
Harry Arter and Glenn Whelan both started in a three-man midfield with Jeff Hendrick playing the furthest forward.
Martin O'Neill made one change from the starting eleven that faced Uruguay the week before. Ireland gained momentum and got their just rewards in the 84th when John Walters drilled home a low shot after he got on the end of a long ball played from Robbie Brady.
