ANYONE wishing to criticise Celtic’s £9.5million striker Adam Idah in the fall-out of Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 collapse in Dublin should get an urgent reality check.
Or, at the very least, a crash course in the rudiments of the game of football.
I note there have been a few comments that are less than complimentary referring to the performance of the powerhouse frontman following his 75 minutes against opponents who overcame a nervy start to dominate proceedings in a UEFA Nations League saunter at the Aviva Stadium.
I’m surprised the stats show Lee Carsley’s team only had 77 per cent possession. I would have pitched it higher than that.
The visitors had nine shots on target as opposed to the home team’s solitary effort.
The balls back to front for Idah to chase were woefully inaccurate, hit out of defence more in panic than precision.
BY THE RIGHT…Adam Idah in action for the Republic of Ireland.
You could have put Messi at his peak in a green shirt and he would have failed to make a worthwhile contribution. I watched the game and felt sorry for the Hoops forward.
Okay, there is a certain element of concern because he is a Celtic player, but, putting aside my personal feelings, it’s simply ludicrous to attempt to judge a forward in those circumstances.
On a few occasions after the ball had been hoofed out of defence, Idah was left with three or four players in front of him. It was a thankless task to attempt to put them under pressure in the hope a team-mate might have managed to get across the halfway line.
I wouldn’t read anything into the fact that Idah had a mere 18 touches of the ball.
If anything that damning statistic emphasises the lack of service that came his way with his colleagues in reverse and being picked apart by an England team that were two goals ahead at the interval courtesy of strikes from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
ROARING SUCCESS…Adam Idah yells with joy after scoring the Scottish Cup winner against Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side at Hampden on May 25.
Idah sent a header off target early in proceedings, but it was hardly a gilt-edged opportunity as he had to lean back to generate the power into the attempt.
With a little assistance from his colleagues in green, the striker might get the opportunity to demonstrate why Brendan Rodgers and the champions rate him so highly when his nation take on Greece at the same venue on Tuesday evening.
But he will need some support.
