Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria - Sunday, 23rd March 2025 - UEFA Nations League

I think SkStu got it right. Knight was awful. Makes Molumby’s absence from the squad the more surprising.

I think we sent the ball sideways and backwards too often and this betrays a lack of confidence in central midfield. On the very few occasions Cullen took the ball on the half turn and drove forward there was lots of space to attack but instead our CMs would more frequently receive the ball and play it sideways or back to the full back area without having had the courage to turn and face the play. I like how O’Brien carries the ball forward with purpose if there’s a gap. As a team we don’t develop play through the middle as effectively as I’d like but it helps when your CBs gain 15-20m just by attacking open space.

Ferguson’s presence completely broke up the Azaz/Parrott partnership that worked so well on Thursday and our team performance suffered badly as a result.

Idah looked sharp. Maybe I missed dry wit from Pineapple Stu above but a winner is a winner and it was a good goal. He looked way fitter than Ferguson. Ferguson just didn’t have the legs to take a few more steps before his early shot in the second half, but the boy showed what a talent he is with the one spell of real quality he was able to produce.

I liked what Sykes brought, just a bit of snappy dynamism when it was needed – but one careless dispossession late on annoyed me. Similarly, Collins’ silly unforced mistakes are annoying. Johnston was frustrating. There’s a really dangerous footballer in there but his end product was poor.

Overall, not as good as I hoped for after Thursday but still more good than bad. Winning is a habit and we’re starting to win games again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drummerboy2

Not sure why OShea was left out, but O'Brien coped really well also. Our big problem is midfield. I think we have an abundance of centre halves and we should push Collins into a holding position in front of the back four.

---

The answer could well now be for O'Brien and O'Shea to be the CBs with Collins reprising the Lawrenson/McGrath midfield relocation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

The answer could well now be for O'Brien and O'Shea to be the CBs with Collins reprising the Lawrenson/McGrath midfield relocation.

---

Not sure. Lawrence and McGrath were good on the ball. Collins gives it away too easily.

I think you can try dropping Collins altogether. While quite possibly unfair, it feels like he has concentration lapses in every game he plays for us. A couple of sloppy moments in the first game that a top-tier team punishes, recall a loose 5-yard pass out of defence last night that missed his man and set up a chance for Bulgaria. Not onboard with the trying Collins in midfield, he actually is poor on the ball (compare him to O’Brien here (who I would argue has technically benefitted from his time on the continent)) and the games with Bulgaria show he’s not great at passing either. (Don’t think the talking element of the captaincy suits him btw, maybe an unnecessary distraction hurting his performances?).

Agree that Knight was subpar last night, but he captains and has played ever league minute for a competitive Championship team this season – we can get more out of him if used correctly.

Thought we had a good organisation and compactness last night but that hybrid positioning of Azaz was unnecessary and an unneeded change from the first game. Has John O’Shea’s mastermind written all over it.

Agree with Stuttgart about the DMs not receiving and turning in possession being (continuously) problematic. Our U21s were poor the other night against Scotland but we did have a couple of players in midfield capable of receiving and turning so maybe there is hope longer term.

We're still sloppy and doing silly things, but individuals are really coming in to their own and making a difference up top which they weren't able to before, the ship feels like it is turning. Also maybe more physically able to keep intensity and pressing up, but we'll probably need more of a sample size on that one.

As others have said, left back/center midfield are still an issue, and will keep us to a certain level, but the other areas are largely stronger with potential for more to come, and maybe in a position to help compensate in a way they really couldn't before. I do think Knight will eventually be a PL midfielder, and be a better player than Cullen, he does offer a lot of energy as a 2nd half sub and could be where he offers us most in the short term. I do think Molumby should be in the squad for similar reasons, but he probably does have more limitations to his game right now, and loves a stupid yellow.

I think we'll be in a slightly stronger spot after the summer injuries allowing, I really believe in a lot of these players and the potential they have. It has been nice to see a few have good moments this week and take steps forward. There is definitely a fighting chance of coming 2nd with a bit of luck, and we deserve some. Regardless of how poor Bulgaria are, 2 wins in a week, the boom is back!

Finn Azaz, Troy Parrott and Robbie Brady were excellent last night. Azaz in particular showed that he has the quality to play at a much higher level. He was at the heart of so much of our good play and I was left wondering why he has been toiling for the likes of Plymouth and Newport County until very recently. Such an intelligent player.

Parrott is unlucky he was the striker who didn't score, but his overall contribution to the attacking effort was outstanding. He was industrious, showed cleverness with his movement and his touch is very sharp. Great to see. Like probably everyone else, I thought Ferguson's touch was a bit slack and he was probably coming much too deep at times, but he took the goal really well. Bulgaria fell asleep and he punished them.

Robbie Brady's deliveries, both in play and from set-pieces, were strong again last night, but his aggression defensively is also an asset. For someone who is not the tallest, the man knows how to win headers.

I had a feeling that there'd be a change at CB before the game, but I thought, based on his error-strewn performance in the first leg, it would be Collins dropping out, not O'Shea (who has probably performed better overall for Ireland). The fact that Collins has been HH's captain probably factored into the decision.

I was probably most frustrated with Mikey Johnston. It was as if he was on a different wavelength to the rest of the team at times as he often took the wrong option. He holds onto the ball too much at times for my liking too. There was a moment in the second half when he dithered on the ball in our own half and put us under pressure. Headless stuff. You can see he has flashes of brilliance, but I'm not sure I'd have him for the crunch games.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Predator

Finn Azaz, Troy Parrott and Robbie Brady were excellent last night. Azaz in particular showed that he has the quality to play at a much higher level. He was at the heart of so much of our good play and I was left wondering why he has been toiling for the likes of Plymouth and Newport County until very recently. Such an intelligent player.

---

I still can't believe Villa sold Azaz for only £2m last year. I'm not aware that there was a buyback or anything in the deal either. He looks like a Premier League player any time I watch him play.

A really tidy but unlikely solution would see Azaz being capable of dropping into the midfield two and playing in there as a schemer - receiving it under pressure, playing it forward from deep, maintaining some bit of positional discipline without the ball and having some type of ability to put a tackle in. He has some attributes to do it. We'd lose a bit in the final third but, then again, its the final third where we have the striking options. And maybe we become frailer in midfield too because he'd have to be partnered with one of Cullen and Knight.

I don't know what the solution is but it definitely isn't persisting with Cullen and Knight together. It is so frustrating that we have options and alternatives in other roles but such a dearth in midfield.

Kelleher/Bazunu/Travers (write off Bazunu until he's up and running if you like but Travers is still good)
Doherty/Dunne/O'Brien
Collins/O'Shea/O'Brien/Scales/Abankwah soon
Brady/Manning
Johnston/Ogbene/Ebosele/Sykes
Azaz/Szmodics/Smallbone
Ferguson/Idah/Parrott

There is nice depth built up there and decent options when all are fit. The Cullen/Knight/Molumby combos in the engine room are just not great. I just don't know about Taylor.

What annoys me is that they are all upper end Championship players but that never seems to be enough in our midfield, even though it kind of does the job elsewhere. A good chunk of the list above comprises of players teetering between lower PL and upper Champ. Josh Sheehan of Bolton and Kenny McLean of Norwich are playing plenty for Wales and Scotland of late, including in wins against decent sides.

I used to blame Kenny's tactics for contributing to the lads being overwhelmed but I can't blame that any longer. It's mad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eirambler

I still can't believe Villa sold Azaz for only £2m last year. I'm not aware that there was a buyback or anything in the deal either. He looks like a Premier League player any time I watch him play.

---

Boro forum seems to have him down as quality but wildly inconsistent. That might explain things. He has been quality in 2 from 2 this window though. Other circumstances can impact too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eirambler

I still can't believe Villa sold Azaz for only £2m last year. I'm not aware that there was a buyback or anything in the deal either. He looks like a Premier League player any time I watch him play.

---

I wonder if there was perhaps a PSR aspect to that fee being lower than one might otherwise have expected. Morgan Rogers went the other way for £9m during the same window which looked cheap even at the time (He's worth at least 5 or 6 times that now).

Azaz went first but he looks a lot like Middlesborough getting a like for like replacement for Rogers.

A lot of players there who we know can play a lot better - Collins, Ferguson, Knight, Cullen, Johnston - and, yet, we controlled the game and won it despite conceding a silly goal.

Happy to let most of those guys figure it out in the friendlies and into the World Cup qualifiers, with the exception of working at the centre mid conundrum. But, ultimately, we don't have an N'Golo Kante (or even a Lee Carsley) waiting in the wings.

Bulgaria are terrible but that hasn't stopped from losing in recent years. This is as green shoots as it gets.

Thinking about last night, it was as incredibly frustrating watch for most of the night. Bulgaria are awful, and it's entirely obvous how NI put 5 past them.

Out midfield was our biggest problem last night. Cullen was uncharacteristically sloppy, and Knight was as bad as he's been for the past year or longer. I would hope that Cullen's performance was a one off, but Knight simply shouldn't be starting at this stage. Smallbone would be my first choice to start alongside Cullen, but in his absense it should have been Taylor. This is an area that needs looked at in the June friendlies though. It's time to look at new players. I'm pretty agnostic about who they might be, but there are players we could try (Luca Connell?, John Patrick Finn?, Joe Hodge?, Killian Phillips?). These games are an opportunity to twist rather than stick.

Collins is a cracking player, but he should also be dropped. The mistakes he continually makes in a green shirt are going to cost us at some point. We have other good options in central defence. Perhaps losing his shirt (and the armband) would be the wakeup call he needs, and he might come back a more focused player the next time he gets a chance.

Azaz looks quality, and Mikey Johnson had a good night.

Ferguson was awful up to the goal. He doesn't look close to being match fit and although he took the goal well he shouldn't have played. The miss was horrendous. The only possible explanation for taking the shot on from that range was that he didn't have the legs to bring it into the penalty area. He needs a pre-season and a move. I'd go along with the point Eirambler made about getting out of England entirely and heading for somewhere on the continent.

Idah was far more mobile and really stretched the game when he came on. I felt he dropped too deep at times but that speaks to an enthusiasm and mobility that Ferguson lacked completely.

That sounds very negative, but it's all balanced out by one huge positive. We would have lost that game 1-0 under Stephen Kenny. There's still a lot to figure out but things are a lot better than they were.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by backstothewall

I wonder if there was perhaps a PSR aspect to that fee being lower than one might otherwise have expected. Morgan Rogers went the other way for £9m during the same window which looked cheap even at the time (He's worth at least 5 or 6 times that now).

Azaz went first but he looks a lot like Middlesborough getting a like for like replacement for Rogers.

---

I thought it was closer to 4M they sold him for. Either way, he was out of contract at the end of the season with Villa if i recall correctly so Boro got the business done in the January window. Cracking deal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Predator

I was probably most frustrated with Mikey Johnston. It was as if he was on a different wavelength to the rest of the team at times as he often took the wrong option. He holds onto the ball too much at times for my liking too. There was a moment in the second half when he dithered on the ball in our own half and put us under pressure. Headless stuff. You can see he has flashes of brilliance, but I'm not sure I'd have him for the crunch games.

---

Funny, I called out Johnston early on as someone who had been doing well - but yeah, the longer the game went on, the more he looked like threatening something without ever delivering on it.

He can be great when he's on form, but when he's not on form he can be nowhere. Probably why he's only an ok Championship player at best so far (it looks like WBA are dropping away out of the play-off race given their current form; far too many draws)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by backstothewall

Thinking about last night, it was as incredibly frustrating watch for most of the night. Bulgaria are awful, and it's entirely obvous how NI put 5 past them.

---

Funny enough I was never that frustrated watching the game, not like I have been in the past anyway. There are games we watched that its pretty obvious early that the game could be 400 minutes long and we'd never score, I always felt that we would score yesterday. It was annoying for sure to go in at half time down a goal, but for some reason I was always confident we'd win it.

I actually had a look at YBIG match thread yesterday evening after the game and it was just a constant flow of "this is as bad as anything under Kenny" right up to Fergusons goal.... I really didnt see it like that at all. We were good yesterday, far from perfect and there are big flaws, but it was good

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Funny enough I was never that frustrated watching the game, not like I have been in the past anyway. There are games we watched that its pretty obvious early that the game could be 400 minutes long and we'd never score, I always felt that we would score yesterday. It was annoying for sure to go in at half time down a goal, but for some reason I was always confident we'd win it.

I actually had a look at YBIG match thread yesterday evening after the game and it was just a constant flow of "this is as bad as anything under Kenny" right up to Fergusons goal.... I really didnt see it like that at all. We were good yesterday, far from perfect and there are big flaws, but it was good

---

I don't think i disagree with any of that. I always thought the liklihood was always that we would probably score.

My frustration was that we were making hard work of it. Bulgaria are incredibly limited and it should never have been close. It was very obvious how NI put 5 past them.

We started off like gangbusters. The first 5 minutes were as good as I've ever seen an Irish team play, admittedly against an awful opposition. We were dominant for the first 20. There was a real zip to the way we were passing the ball and an obvious intent in everything we did. But then all that just stopped and we were back plodding our way through. Bulgaria didn't change anything or suddenly improve. We just took our foot off their neck.

What can i say about them scoring the way they did. It was probably the first time in the game they made it into our penalty area. It just goes to prove the old saying. Never give a sucker an even break.

There was an opportunity there to produce a really dominant performance and run up a big score that would boost moral. A win's a win and it represents definate progress from the Kenny era but it could have been so much more.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by backstothewall

I don't think i disagree with any of that. I always thought the liklihood was always that we would probably score.

My frustration was that we were making hard work of it. Bulgaria are incredibly limited and it should never have been close. It was very obvious how NI put 5 past them.

We started off like gangbusters. The first 5 minutes were as good as I've ever seen an Irish team play, admittedly against an awful opposition. We were dominant for the first 20. There was a real zip to the way we were passing the ball and an obvious intent in everything we did. But then all that just stopped and we were back plodding our way through. Bulgaria didn't change anything or suddenly improve. We just took our foot off their neck.

There was an opportunity there to produce a really dominant performance and run up a big score. A win's a win and it represents definate progress from the Kenny era but it could have been so much more.

---

Yeah it could have been a lot more, we had a couple of good early chances and if one of them had gone in it might have opened the floodgates. Its hard to keep the foot on the neck the entire game, especially with our midfield limitations so I think it has to be expected that they would get some of the game. The NI game really was an outlier in their recent results. For the most part they keep games fairly close so Im not too concerned that we didnt run up a big score. Id have been a lot more worried if we werent even creating any chances.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by backstothewall

Thinking about last night, it was as incredibly frustrating watch for most of the night. Bulgaria are awful, and it's entirely obvous how NI put 5 past them.

Out midfield was our biggest problem last night. Cullen was uncharacteristically sloppy, and Knight was as bad as he's been for the past year or longer. I would hope that Cullen's performance was a one off, but Knight simply shouldn't be starting at this stage. Smallbone would be my first choice to start alongside Cullen, but in his absense it should have been Taylor. This is an area that needs looked at in the June friendlies though. It's time to look at new players. I'm pretty agnostic about who they might be, but there are players we could try (Luca Connell?, John Patrick Finn?, Joe Hodge?, Killian Phillips?). These games are an opportunity to twist rather than stick.

Collins is a cracking player, but he should also be dropped. The mistakes he continually makes in a green shirt are going to cost us at some point. We have other good options in central defence. Perhaps losing his shirt (and the armband) would be the wakeup call he needs, and he might come back a more focused player the next time he gets a chance.

Azaz looks quality, and Mikey Johnson had a good night.

Ferguson was awful up to the goal. He doesn't look close to being match fit and although he took the goal well he shouldn't have played. The miss was horrendous. The only possible explanation for taking the shot on from that range was that he didn't have the legs to bring it into the penalty area. He needs a pre-season and a move. I'd go along with the point Eirambler made about getting out of England entirely and heading for somewhere on the continent.

Idah was far more mobile and really stretched the game when he came on. I felt he dropped too deep at times but that speaks to an enthusiasm and mobility that Ferguson lacked completely.

That sounds very negative, but it's all balanced out by one huge positive. We would have lost that game 1-0 under Stephen Kenny. There's still a lot to figure out but things are a lot better than they were.

---

Hard to believe how heavy and unfit ferguson is. He has been back playing since at least last September I genuinely don't know how he isn't fit enough in 8 months. Fitness to run around and close down has nothing to do with match fitness with the ball. It simply is grunt work and diet. 8 months of training and he was knackered after 50 minutes. That is not the sign.of a top pro. Great goal

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by liamoo11

Hard to believe how heavy and unfit ferguson is. He has been back playing since at least last September I genuinely don't know how he isn't fit enough in 8 months. Fitness to run around and close down has nothing to do with match fitness with the ball. It simply is grunt work and diet. 8 months of training and he was knackered after 50 minutes. That is not the sign.of a top pro. Great goal

---

I'd question the s+c setup at his club for letting him be out of condition injury or not (taking match fitness seperately). Potter spoke about trying to get him right to get him on the pitch when he moved on loan which seemed and odd way to put it. He isnt a Wayne Rooney thats supping pints and eating pies when the ball goes dead so its a strange one from a distance. His body type may decondition quickly, no that different from a rugby forward thats good for 50mins a game. Why the 9 role is his bread and butter, short sharp bursts and not lung busting super high press.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nesta99

I'd question the s+c setup at his club for letting him be out of condition injury or not (taking match fitness seperately). Potter spoke about trying to get him right to get him on the pitch when he moved on loan which seemed and odd way to put it.

---

Surely after a string of managers and ending up back with the original manager who isn't picking him either now, the questions need to be aimed at the player himself ? S&C at his employers is a new one, and a remarkable one even by our collective green tinted spectacles tendencies. Goals change games & they change post game narratives too, none more so than his last night. He was breathing out his ass. No wonder Idah is a bit spiky, he'll probably know the score I'm thinking.