Ireland review

Ireland played their first two games of their World Cup qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup last week against Serbia and Luxemburg. Before the Serbia game people weren’t sure what team Stephen Kenny would go with for this game. Stephen Kenny picked ab ack three for this match with Seamus Coleman playing as extra centre half and he also decided to go with youth by playing Dara O’ Shea, Jayson Molumby and Aaron Connolly instead of playing experienced players such as Shane Duffy, Jeff Hendrick and James McClean. Ireland started the match well against Serbia and went 1 nil up after 18 minutes with a brillant header by Alan Browne. A few defensive mistakes cost Ireland from getting a result against Serbia but there was plenty of positives to take from this match because Ireland passed the ball well at times in the match and they scored two goals which was the first time Ireland scored a goal in seven games. The biggest talking point from the Serbia game was that Ireland should of got a penalty in the second half when the match was 1-1 and this would of changed the outcome of this match. It is disgraceful that VAR is not been used in the World Cup qualifiers.

There was plenty of hope and optimism going into Ireland’s second game against Luxemburg last Saturday. Stephen Kenny made another brave decision in his team selection as he picked nineteen year old Gavin BAzumu in goal. Ireland tried to pass the ball around in the first half against Luxemburg but some of their passing was sloppy at times and Ireland found it hard to break Luxemburg down in the first half. Ireland doesn’t have a creative midfielder that can create passes for attacking players as this is what you need when you come up against a stubborn opposition. The theme of the first half continued in the second half as Ireland started to get frustrated and Luxemburg started to create a few chances in the second half as they grew in confidence. Luxemburg went 1 nil up in the 85th minute and this proved to be enough as Luxemburg beat Ireland 1 nil. There has a been a lot of fallout since Ireland’s defeat but this result has been coming for a few years because Ireland don’t have many great players playing with big clubs in their squad. Most of the players that play with Ireland play with bottom half clubs in the Premier League or in the Championship. Seamus Coleman is an outstanding role model for Irish football but Seamus has been in and out of the Everton team this season another player Matt Doherty is having similar problems with Tottenham Hotspur this season. This is why Aaron Connolly came off injured against Serbia as he is not playing regular football for Brighton & Hove Albion this season. You could have the most talented footballer in the world but if your not playing football on a regular basis you will never improve. It would be great if Irish players considered moving to another club in England or coming home to play in Ireland’s Airtricity League to improve their chances of playing for Ireland. I know questions will be asked at Stephen Kenny for not winning matches but I believe that Stephen Kenny should be given more time as Ireland manager because he is trying to get Ireland playing the right way and he is given young players a chance which is great to see. There will be a few more setbacks but I think that you should be patient because in a few years Ireland could have a great team so it’s important to keep faith and give Stephen Kenny a chance. It sounds great trying to give Stephen Kenny more time but the unfortunate thing about football that it’s a result business so does Ireland sacrifice results for performances or are results more important than playing well. As I mentioned above I don’t think Stephen Kenny should be sacked as there are not many alternatives out there that would take the Irish job. England is a great example because they hadn’t got great structures in place for years but they build St. Georges Park and they put a plan in place and they are getting the benefits of that now with all the great players that England have in their team. I know that Ireland should of done this as well but it’s never too late to put the correct structures in place for Irish football both on and off the pitch. After two defeats I’d say the players could do without another match and would rather go back to their clubs instead of playing a friendly against Qatar.

Ireland played their third match of this International window with a friendly against Qatar on Tuesday evening in Hungary. Stephen Kenny continued to play young players in the starting line up such as Gavin BAzumu in goal but brought back some of the experienced players such as Shane Duffy, JamesMcClean and Shane Long. Ireland started the match well and went 1 nil up after four minutes thanks to a well worked move finished by James McClean. As the first half went on Qatar started to have a few shots from distance and Ireland were fortunate to go in at half time 1 nil up. Qatar got a dream start to the second half with scoring after 30 seconds into the second half which brought the match level at 1-1. The game lost it’s spark in the second half as both teams made plenty of changes. I think that Ireland’s last two games caught up on them as they lost energy and started to tire in the second half. Ireland had a great chance late on as Josh Cullen should of won the match as he squandered a great chance which would given the players a lift going back to their clubs. The match ended in a draw so this means that Ireland have gone eleven games without a victory but Stephen Kenny was very bullish in his interview after the game and I believe Stephen Kenny is the right man for the job he just needs time to get his philosophy and coaching methods across to the players. I thought it was asking a bit much for players to play three International games in this International window because the amount of football that players have played this season is unbelievable. The same thing is going to happen again in September as Ireland have to play three games again they should be only playing two games in an International window because players can suffer from burnout from playing so many games or pick up more injuries due to short turn around. The Summer camp is crucial for Ireland as Stephen Kenny tries to lift the confidence of the players for the massive game against Portugal in September. I thought Seamus Coleman was outstanding in the three games for Ireland as he controlled the back three with his leadership and experience. Coleman will be vital especially if Ireland are going to play three at the back going forward. Ireland performed well against Serbia but didn’t win, a poor performance against Luxemburg and an improvement against Qatar but not enough to get a win. Ireland fans need to be patient because there is a lot of potential in the squad and the manager has great ideas in the way he wants Ireland to play.