Bulgaria V Republic of Ireland - Thursday, 3rd September 2020 - UEFA Nations League

[Olé Olé]

This was pretty much what I took away from it too.

Despite his club form Doherty just doesnt have the same urgency on the ball that Coleman does from an orthodox RB position. Coleman is far more proactive.

McCarthy had a promising start and showed for the ball in tight situations but his impact was minimal really. I didn't think Hourihane had a great game at all but when he dropped deep his impact was better, finding better passes. Of course by that stage the Bulgarians had retreated so he had a bit more time. I actually think Josh Cullen looks the man for that deeper lying midfield role.

I think Brady and Hendrick will do well under Kenny.

I think Idah isn't ready yet for this level.

Jack Byrne would have thrived in the area between the D and the centre circle! The game was crying out for an advanced playmaker in the first half.

I thought Randolph made one super catch under pressure from a difficult corner and did well not to spill a shot in the first half. I wouldn't fault him for the goal. He might have saved it but the fault lay further ahead.

Positive signs in how we try to deal with the ball, only resorting to chips up the touchline under pressure. It'll take time but we had a lot of possession and a lot of it good quality. Definding for the goal was brutal.


Overall I think the intention was good but the tempo was a bit slow, but bear in mind that this was pre-season for nearly all of them.

Couldn't agree more on the Byrne point. Bulgaria were sitting so deep and narrow yet we couldn't pick them apart. Byrne would have been the man for the through balls. Hendrick tried but it probably isn't his game. Hendrick actually made a couple of nice passes from deep but he would follow it with 5 minutes of anonymity.

Am I right in saying Kenny normally does fit someone like that into his teams? McEleney or Ronan would be able for that? We didn't have an equivalent.

[elatedscum]

Couldn't agree more on the Byrne point. Bulgaria were sitting so deep and narrow yet we couldn't pick them apart. Byrne would have been the man for the through balls.

Not just that but is there anyone you’d rather have picking up the ball 25 yards from goal and being able to shoot? It’s a twofold thread, passing/movement creativity in the final third and goals from outside the box.

[geysir]

Doherty returned from holiday last week, was involved in a club transfer and has had no pre season. Probably Coleman was ahead of him on fitness and should have started.

[paul_oshea]

Hopefully Duffy will get a load of practice bringing the ball out for Celtic.

Where was the Kenny interview?

Sky sports. Also one on fai. It's funny if you view the fai one before and after together

[pineapple stu]

Not just that but is there anyone you’d rather have picking up the ball 25 yards from goal and being able to shoot? It’s a twofold thread, passing/movement creativity in the final third and goals from outside the box.

Funny, Byrne's cameo last year was against Bulgaria. Set up a goal and was generally very impressive (against a poor side). Bulgaria may have been slightly relieved not to see him in the squad

[Scrufil]

I am under the impression that Jack Byrne has been playing the last few games with Rovers carrying a back strain. Any Rovers fans can confirm this?

[Stuttgart88]

Couldn't agree more on the Byrne point. Bulgaria were sitting so deep and narrow yet we couldn't pick them apart. Byrne would have been the man for the through balls. Hendrick tried but it probably isn't his game. Hendrick actually made a couple of nice passes from deep but he would follow it with 5 minutes of anonymity.

Am I right in saying Kenny normally does fit someone like that into his teams? McEleney or Ronan would be able for that? We didn't have an equivalent.

I don't know but I think it's something Mcgoldrick can also do, albeit much closer to the box.

[passinginterest]

Some really good points being made. If O'Shea and Clarke are starting in the premier league, will there be a place for Duffy in that team? It's too easy for teams to just close the other defenders and say to us, if you're going to play out it's going to be with Duffy and we'll close the other defenders. You could see Bulgaria making that adjustment, it's something that I know teams work on, even when they don't have video analysis etc. they'll see which defenders a team likes to play out through and then close off that option and force them to play through the weak links. Kenny will have to weigh up the massive benefits of Duffy both defending and attacking crosses versus his vulnerability in possession.

Doherty definitely looked a bit off fitness wise, and valid point made that he's only back from holiday and just transferred club so couldn't be fully up to speed. I do think O'Dowda did him no favours either by never looking for the overlap. Mick kept making the point on commentary that we weren't trying to get crosses in and that was a factor too, Kenny obviously wanted the front 3 getting it to feet and carrying it into the box or to the end line, rather than looking for the overlapping run and cross. Coleman probably starts against Finland, but expect Doherty to be sharper if he is in there.

I doubt McCarthy starts both games considering he reportedly had bad bruising going into the squad, so an opportunity for Arter most likely in the holding role. Presumably there won't be wholesale changes but things need a freshen up. I'd say McGoldrick will start, Arter will come in, Brady will probably start and maybe Coleman. Molumby might get a run off the bench this time and McClean too.

There's a lot to build on. There needs to be a bit more zip to the passing and craft in the final third if the style is really going to benefit results. I'm expecting and improvement against the Fins and hopefully a nice win.

[Stuttgart88]

This thread is packed with folk I've not see on for ages..whither jByrne...or bluebeard...

yeah, and unfortunately also with some that have never gone away

[backstothewall]

I think Idah isn't ready yet for this level.

I'm caught between 2 questions so i'm going to ask both.

1. Do you think we can say that based on 90 minutes in Sofia
2. Were expecting him to be ready as a 19 year old making his debut?

My reading of it was that the game didn't suit him. Bulgaria sat so deep that there was no space in behind, but that said he still did ok. He'll be a lot stronger when he's 24, but although he can't impose himself physically on a defender yet, he's big enough that he can't just be pushed out of the game.

The lad needs 5-10 caps before we can decide if this is his level. McGoldrick should come in against Finland, but i'd like to see him get a decent amount of time from the bench.

[Stuttgart88]

Yep that's a fair point.

[Olé Olé]

Bulgaria squeezed the life out of Idah. Yet I reckon if 12 balls came his way, he maintained possession in 8 and that was a decent return.

I think he showed a lot. If he had managed to get the space in behind a couple of times and done something decent it would have been a good performance. He played the entire match with his back to goal.

[paul_oshea]

I don't know but I think it's something Mcgoldrick can also do, albeit much closer to the box.

But this isnt what Kenny wants from his central player in the front 3, he doesnt want them dropping deep he wants them up top foraging and in the box to receive from the wide 2. I am not convinced that McGoldrick has this type of play in him, or the pace to match. Jack Byrne/McG were what we missed last night, one can come out and drop deep and link up play with some intricate passes, the other can come from deep and make those incisive passes for runners. But I am not sure where we see that in Kennys plans, when he didn't include byrne in the squad at all. Kenny has name checked McGoldrick though, so I assume he is in the plans.

[Olé Olé]

Is it a bit worrying that Kenny didn't identify a way to break Bulgaria down at the back? He brought Shane Long on and Long's best quality is running in behind. But we couldn't get in behind because Bulgaria were to flat and narrow. Our best chances were Connolly manufacturing positions behind Bulgaria himself.

[paul_oshea]

Yes i alluded to the same Ole on another forum, where kenny didnt have a plan B and didnt have a way to be more incisive /direct through the middle. But its early days so can give him the benefit of the doubt, even if we didnt really have anyone on the bench in the squad(yes JB again) who could do that and allow kenny to change things up.

But i do think in a way Long might have done himself no favours, even though he felt it was what he needed to do, as elasticum said Long was running down the channels dropping out to meet the ball and then no one in the box, which is not what Kenny wants from his central player in the 3.

[Diggs246]

Slovakia and their Seria A stars wont fear us. They should comfortably beat us. Finland are a far better team then Bulgaria so Sunday might be a long day. I would be surprised if hourihane isnt dropped. I just dont think he is any good.

[brine3]

loving the positivity diggs

[paul_oshea]

Ha, i completely misread that as loving those digging the positivity or having digs at the positivity!

[backstothewall]

But this isnt what Kenny wants from his central player in the front 3, he doesnt want them dropping deep he wants them up top foraging and in the box to receive from the wide 2. I am not convinced that McGoldrick has this type of play in him, or the pace to match. Jack Byrne/McG were what we missed last night, one can come out and drop deep and link up play with some intricate passes, the other can come from deep and make those incisive passes for runners. But I am not sure where we see that in Kennys plans, when he didn't include byrne in the squad at all. Kenny has name checked McGoldrick though, so I assume he is in the plans.

I think it's early to say what Kenny wants from his central player. Just because he isn't going to hammer the ball up to him doesn't mean he won't play to McGoldrick's strengths once he is available to him.

Bulgaria were able to play the way they did last night because we didn't have a player like him. They committed so many bodies into congesting the 18 yard box that they weren't opposing us trying to work the ball into areas a potentially dangerous cross could be played from. If you are going to do that with a player like McGoldrick standing on the penalty spot he's going to punish you. Had he been there in place of Idah it would have forced them to defend a bit higher up and send defenders to close down the ball in wide areas, which in turn would have created more space to play balls through them.

He'll come in against Finland and if we build our attacks up the way we did yesterday I fancy us to actually score a goal from open play.

[brine3]

haha, yeah, probably missing a comma there

Kenny is not going to turn us into a ball playing team overnight, but yesterday was a very good first step.

My main concern would be not being able to get both Doherty and Coleman into the same team, which seems to be a recurring issue for Ireland managers. Arguably they are our two best players. Also, we lack a solid defensive midfielder, which at times was a problem last night with the system we played. However, it needn't be such a problem, but you'd have to solve it in one of two ways, play an extra central midfielder, or play with a libero style defender like what Blind did for Ajax in the 2019 Champions League run. Neither Egan or Duffy are up to that, though. So I'm thinking some kind of 4-5-1 might be a possibility, with the ability to morph to a 4-3-3 depending on how the match is going.