Three things we learned Ireland v Greece: Some things may never change

The switch to a four-man defence had offered Ireland more solidity while heads drop after falling behind.

ANOTHER LONG RANGE GOAL: Greece's Fotis Ioannidis scores a goal. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Familiar failings

Some things may never change.

Long-range shots cost Ireland over and over again during the Stephen Kenny era.

And here was another grim, needless gift for the collection.

Fotis Ioannidis’ finish was well-taken but the fact he was permitted to drop a couple of yards deep without being tracked by either centre half, Nathan Collins or Dara O’Shea, was tough to watch.

Caoimhin Kelleher was not even close to keeping it out but the goalkeeper deserves little blame.

The issue is evidently a structural one - even if it appears a basic one to fix from a distance.

Yet it has remained an achilles heel with different systems, different players and now a different head coach.

Opponents know that there is a glaring weakness asking to be punished and finding a way to get past it could take some time.

Tactical tweak

The switch to a four-man defence had still offered Ireland more solidity compared to the system employed at the weekend.

Greece are nowhere near the level of England but they were denied the space afforded to Anthony Gordon and Jack Grealish in Saturday’s shocker, with Andrew Omobamidele proving a big upgrade on the right side. Matt Doherty, it should be noted, was blitzed on the counterattack for Greece’s second goal.

This is a template that should be stuck with for now simply because it brings more balance.

For those driven by data it is worth considering that at half-time last night Ireland had completed 88 more passes than they managed across the 90 minutes against England.

Will Smallbone was much better suited to a more advanced role - before dropping deeper when Jayson Molumby was taken off soon after the hour - and there were a couple of good lengthy passages of possession.

A low bar, of course, but this was one small sign of improvement worth grasping to.

Response to goal

Heads did not drop after falling behind but it never really looked like Ireland were capable of ramping up a sustained spell of pressure to make Greece crumble.

That was as much down to the visitors being clever operators as it was Ireland’s absence of ingenuity.

Jason Knight failed to cleanly get his head on a cross from Chiedozie Ogbene soon after conceding, a couple of mildly threatening deliveries were sent in and substitute Callum Robinson had a shot deflected narrowly wide.

But there was no bombardment here.

Christos Tzolis’ second goal - an efficient counterattack this Ireland team seem incapable of producing - may have felt like a knockout blow at the time.

But the reality is Heimir Hallgrimsson’s boys were already on the canvas.

These are now deeply-ingrained problems. The problem is the country seems no closer to finding solutions.