After watching Germany’s 1-1 draw with Chile, the conversation turned to the state of Irish football and the agricultural style the current senior team plays under Martin O’Neill compared to the German’s “sophisticated brand”.
As a former underage and senior international manager, Kerr possesses a wealth of knowledge on the topic and gave his take.
“I wouldn’t agree completely that it would be unheard of for an Irish team to try play football through the middle and build up the play against good opposition who might come and press us,” Kerr said.
“There have been periods of Irish football, through various managers, where we have played excellent football — as recently as last year at the Euros. It’s one year since we beat Italy, there was nothing wrong that day when it was put up to us that we had to win the match.
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“Players stood up and played with an Irishness. There was an aggressive attitude in their play, but also there was invention, technique and skill. That brilliant goal had build-up with Aiden McGeady and Wesley Hoolahan, a cross into the box and [Robbie] Brady gets up.
“There was stuff happening around the midfield area that day that gave me hope that we were coming back to eras that we’ve seen.”
After the highs of last summer, the Boys in Green have enjoyed a successful qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup and sit second in Group D after six matches — level on points with Serbia.
However, O’Neill’s side have received criticism for the lack of invention and creativity in their play — especially in the recent 1-1 draw at home to Austria.
While Irish teams have often played a limited brand of football down through the years, Kerr insists that there have been numerous occasions when they showed an ability to get the ball down and play too.
“Even in the 2002 World Cup, when we play Germany in that famous game and Robbie [Keane] scored the equalising goal,” he added. “What football were we playing then? We weren’t playing biff, bang, wallop stuff and getting it up to Niall Quinn and Tony Cascarino.
“There was a mix in the Irish game at that time that I think all of us liked the look of. The attitude was ‘let’s get the ball down and play’, and try to out-play Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal or France.
I don’t mind saying that, that was our attitude. We can play with our bit of passion, our mixture, our style… yeah, a bit of aggression and a bit of tackling, but also when we have the ball you find a green shirt and stick it into whoever the player is.
“It was about trying to outplay the opposition technically, tactically some days and, yeah, we had to battle and scrap.”
Kerr went to say that the inconsistency between the senior side and what is being coached at underage level is also an issue.
“I think we can do that but should we be playing our U17, U19 or U21 teams in one way and then our senior team is completely different,” he said. “That’s where we seem to be at the moment. There’s an idea that we should be developing players with technique and skill, try to build it up through midfield, but the senior team is detached from that.
“I understand that the senior manager has to do the job and try to win the matches anyway you can, that’s your brief. But there’s a lack of consistency about that.”
Brian Kerr talks passionately about what's wrong with the Irish international teams right now
AS PART OF RTÉ’s Confederations Cup coverage, Brian Kerr joined a panel which also included Dietmar Hamann and Richie Sadlier last night.
After watching Germany’s 1-1 draw with Chile, the conversation turned to the state of Irish football and the agricultural style the current senior team plays under Martin O’Neill compared to the German’s “sophisticated brand”.
As a former underage and senior international manager, Kerr possesses a wealth of knowledge on the topic and gave his take.
“I wouldn’t agree completely that it would be unheard of for an Irish team to try play football through the middle and build up the play against good opposition who might come and press us,” Kerr said.
“There have been periods of Irish football, through various managers, where we have played excellent football — as recently as last year at the Euros. It’s one year since we beat Italy, there was nothing wrong that day when it was put up to us that we had to win the match.
“Players stood up and played with an Irishness. There was an aggressive attitude in their play, but also there was invention, technique and skill. That brilliant goal had build-up with Aiden McGeady and Wesley Hoolahan, a cross into the box and [Robbie] Brady gets up.
“There was stuff happening around the midfield area that day that gave me hope that we were coming back to eras that we’ve seen.”
After the highs of last summer, the Boys in Green have enjoyed a successful qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup and sit second in Group D after six matches — level on points with Serbia.
However, O’Neill’s side have received criticism for the lack of invention and creativity in their play — especially in the recent 1-1 draw at home to Austria.
While Irish teams have often played a limited brand of football down through the years, Kerr insists that there have been numerous occasions when they showed an ability to get the ball down and play too.
“Even in the 2002 World Cup, when we play Germany in that famous game and Robbie [Keane] scored the equalising goal,” he added. “What football were we playing then? We weren’t playing biff, bang, wallop stuff and getting it up to Niall Quinn and Tony Cascarino.
“There was a mix in the Irish game at that time that I think all of us liked the look of. The attitude was ‘let’s get the ball down and play’, and try to out-play Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal or France.
“It was about trying to outplay the opposition technically, tactically some days and, yeah, we had to battle and scrap.”
Kerr went to say that the inconsistency between the senior side and what is being coached at underage level is also an issue.
“I think we can do that but should we be playing our U17, U19 or U21 teams in one way and then our senior team is completely different,” he said. “That’s where we seem to be at the moment. There’s an idea that we should be developing players with technique and skill, try to build it up through midfield, but the senior team is detached from that.
“I understand that the senior manager has to do the job and try to win the matches anyway you can, that’s your brief. But there’s a lack of consistency about that.”
Watch the full discussion on the RTÉ player (2.11.00 in)
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One year on, how has Robbie Brady progressed since that night in Lille?
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Brian Kerr Dietmar Hamann Irish Football Martin O'Neill RTÉ talking sense Ireland Republic Underage system