Advertisement
The Ireland team line out for today's game. Donall Farmer/INPHO

Player ratings: Here's how the Boys in Green fared against Belgium

Martin O’Neill’s men took on the Red Devils in a vital Euro 2016 game this afternoon.

Paul Fennessy reports from Bordeaux

Darren Randolph: Didn’t have many saves to make and could do little about the Belgium goals, but did what he had to well. 6

Seamus Coleman: Didn’t do a lot wrong defensively, but failed to have much of an impact going forward. 6

John O’Shea: Couldn’t be too badly faulted for any of the goals, but will be disappointed to be part of a backline that conceded three. 6

Ciaran Clark: Missed a tackle he badly needed to make for the third Belgian goal after an encouraging first half. 5

Stephen Ward: Made some decent blocks and tackles, but like Coleman, his influence in attack was minimal and the Belgium goals came down his side of the field. 5

Glenn Whelan: Worked hard, but didn’t do much on the ball as Belgium largely dominated in midfield. 5

James McCarthy: Has looked out of sorts all tournament. Had a poor attempted challenge in the lead up to the first goal and lost Witsel who headed home for the second. 4

Jeff Hendrick: At least tried to make things happen, but was wasteful in possession too often. 5

Robbie Brady: Had a few nice touches, but Ireland needed more from him in the final third and his delivery from set pieces was disappointing. 5

Wes Hoolahan: As usual, he looked like Ireland’s chief creative threat, but he didn’t enjoy the level of influence he had against Sweden as the Boys in Green didn’t get the ball to him enough. 6

Shane Long: Ran tirelessly and held the ball up well at times, but had little service from the men behind him. 6

Subs: James McClean, Aiden McGeady and Robbie Keane all gave Ireland a greater energy but the game looked all but over by the time of their arrival on the pitch and they consequently struggled to influence proceedings. 5

Martin O’Neill: Ireland just didn’t have the level of self-belief that you normally associate with O’Neill’s teams, and the manager arguably didn’t react quickly enough to the team going a goal behind. 5

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!

11 reasons why Put ‘Em Under Pressure is the greatest Irish song ever>

These football apps will help pass the time in-between games>

Author
Paul Fennessy
View 119 comments
Close
119 Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.