1. Irish football must shed its knee-jerk hysteria when it comes to judging managers
PERHAPS THE ONE issue that the pro and anti-Stephen Kenny camps might agree on is that the reaction in Irish football over the past few days has been over the top.
It was over the top when the team lost 2-1 to Portugal on Wednesday.
Granted, Ireland played well. It was arguably the best they’ve played in the Kenny era, although the matches against Serbia and Slovakia would also come into contention.
Yet a narrative emerged that exaggerated how good this display was.
They were portrayed as almost heroic and it was even suggested they had ‘outplayed’ Portugal. In reality, any neutral watching the game would probably agree that the Portuguese deserved their victory. The late goals were harsh on Ireland, but the hosts also missed a penalty. They had 72% possession and 29 shots versus Ireland’s six.
Ireland defended extremely well, counter-attacked efficiently at times and the praise was deserved to an extent, but many people got carried away in suggesting how brilliant it was while making it seem as bad officiating — debatable as some of the decisions were — was the sole reason for the defeat.
And the team certainly weren’t brilliant on Saturday evening.
After an impressive opening where they created a few decent chances, Ireland’s attack petered out against Azerbaijan badly as the game developed.
When the visitors scored, a sense of collective panic seemed to set in.
Basic passes were regularly misplaced. Composure deserted players in the final third. Needless fouls were given away. It was as if all the doubts surrounding the Kenny era started to infect the players, who continually made bad decisions at pressurised moments.
In the end, Shane Duffy’s late header earned a draw — a result that was probably fair, despite the Irish coach’s suggestions to the contrary – when you consider the visitors also missed one great chance in the dying stages where Gavin Bazunu made a crucial save with his leg to deny substitute Rustam Akmedadze.
But what was perhaps most interesting about yesterday was that the team appeared to go from heroes to villains in the space of 90 minutes, judging by the general reaction of many fans and critics.
Having been lauded unduly during the week, suddenly all the players were ‘useless’ and Kenny was ‘out of his depth’.
The consensus after Wednesday seemed to be ‘stick with Kenny, the young players need time to develop’. Now, it appears to be ‘throw the plan in the bin and ditch the manager’.
It’s perfectly reasonable to suggest the Dubliner should be given more time to work with the many young players he has introduced — having handed out 14 competitive debuts in the last year, there is bound to be a degree of inconsistency given their lack of experience at this level.
It is also easy to see why some people believe that the awful run of results — one win in 15 matches and no competitive victories — mean he shouldn’t be awarded a contract extension after this campaign.
But many commentators and fans seem to be alternating between the two sentiments and basing their opinion on the latest result. It was the same last March — the Irish manager was lauded after the Serbia defeat and lambasted following the Luxembourg loss.
Ultimately, if you believe in the Kenny project and that the young players need to be given time, one 90-minute performance should not change that stance.
Alternatively, people who would rather limited, pragmatic football and more experienced players in the team with potentially better results have every right to demand change.
But Kenny’s approach was also going to lead to a degree of short-term pain. That caveat was surely understood when the appointment was made; otherwise, the FAI would have been better off sticking with a more conservative manager, such as Martin O’Neill or Mick McCarthy. Losing faith in the manager after only one full qualification campaign would seem to contradict everything the idea stood for in the first place.
2. Azerbaijan were never going to be easy opponents
There was a sense of complacency in the way some Irish fans and pundits talked about Azerbaijan before yesterday’s match.
Yet it is a country with roughly twice the population of the Republic.
You might not have heard of many or indeed any of their players, but it does not automatically make them terrible.
Their domestic league — where the majority of the squad play — is ranked 30th in the Uefa latest coefficients, nine places above Ireland.
They may be 65 places below Ireland in the Fifa rankings, 112th compared with 47th, but recent results give a more accurate reflection of where the team is at.
In Group A, they have been beaten 1-0 by Portugal, 2-1 by Serbia and 2-1 by Luxembourg.
So consider those fixtures for a moment. Portugal, a team with some of the best-attacking players in the world, could only score once at home against them, with a Maksim Medvedev own goal the difference.
When you look at it from that perspective, the sense of over-confidence with which many Irish fans, and perhaps even some players, approached yesterday’s game seems totally misguided.
In fact, in the past two years, Azerbaijan have not conceded more than two goals in a single match, when their opponents have also included decent international sides like Turkey and Slovenia. Moreover, 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia played them twice in 2019, beating them 2-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.
Ireland not being able to defeat the group’s bottom side was unfortunate, but it should not be treated as some sort of national disgrace.
The biggest change in international football over roughly the past decade is that the so-called ‘minnows’ have become much more difficult to beat. And of course, Ireland have disimproved during that period. So when you combine those two factors, the ridiculousness of yesterday’s outraged reaction and the ostensible assumption that Kenny’s side have a divine right to win certain games is exposed.
3. Adam Idah the bright spark, while others look short of confidence
Stephen Kenny has turned Ireland into a decent counter-attacking side — anyone who watched the Portugal match will struggle to disagree with that assessment, while there was also no shortage of promising moments in important away fixtures against Serbia and Slovakia.
Yet when they come up against a side like Luxembourg or Azerbaijan, who are very disciplined and determined to stick bodies behind the ball, the Irish side’s flaws become more apparent.
With a lack of creativity in midfield and an out-and-out goalscorer yet to emerge, there appears to be no easy fix to this problem.
What also doesn’t help is several players seem to be suffering from a lack of confidence.
As is usually the case, much was made during this international window of the many Ireland players going through a difficult time at club level.
With a few individuals, it hardly seemed to matter. Adam Idah has been on the periphery of the Norwich team but made one outstanding run in the first half that almost led to a goal and was deservedly named man of the match for some excellent control and hold-up play over the course of the 90 minutes.
Yet others struggled to make a similar impact. Matt Doherty, who had been excellent on Wednesday, was far less effective without so much space to run into and looked more like the individual who has struggled at Spurs in recent months.
James McClean — another who has yet to start a league game at club level this season — too often found the first defender with his crosses.
Daryl Horgan — who has invariably stood out for the right reasons in previous appearances under Kenny — gave simple balls away three times in relatively quick succession during one maddening second-half period.
Jayson Molumby, who has yet to play a minute of action at club level this campaign, looked as if the frustration was getting the better of him in the second half — after missing a half-chance with a header, more mistakes crept into his game and he gave away two needless free-kicks before being substituted just after the hour mark.
His clubmate at Brighton, Aaron Connolly, who has also been on the periphery of the Seagulls’ team, had a similarly ineffectual 45 minutes. The Galway youngster lacked the level of sharpness required at this level before being replaced at the break.
When Ireland’s goal did arrive, it was perhaps no coincidence that the two integral players have enjoyed positive starts to the season. Josh Cullen, a regular for Anderlecht, delivered an excellent ball in and Shane Duffy, who looks rejuvenated at Brighton, headed home powerfully to finally give the supporters reason to cheer.
