Republic of Ireland v Finland - Wednesday, 14th October 2020 - UEFA Nations League

**paul_oshea** · 14/10/2020, 6:01 PM

Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Few players need put out to pasture. Robbie Brady was woeful. Hourihane anonymous yet again.

Randolph with an uncharacteristic howler can be forgiven but the whole defence switched off at the same time.

We're playing some lovely neat football, but there's too many slack passes, lapse in concentration, and not enough support or speed in attack.

It's so frustrating to watch us create chance after chance, but fail to even get shots on target from them, never mind goals.

Such contradictory stuff on here, the last day people were saying brady was great, i thought he was very poor sunday and ok today, very average. But yet the message on here is always aobut the individual playing poor but the performance being good. I am not sure how that works when same players are interchangeable to the side and their poor performances also. At some point you've got to start asking whats the actual performance like?

**Razors left peg** · 14/10/2020, 6:02 PM

That result is gutting. We do so much right, but we are so f'ing bad when we get near their box. Stupid goal to give away. I'm so annoyed right now. I still think we are going in right direction and it will eventually come together. Stuff about as bad as Staunton is nonsense.

Of course its results business and he needs to start winning games soon. Made big mistake leaving Horgan and Hendrick on as long as he did. Hendrick playing 10 doesn't work and Horgan just not good enough. I think Kenny made more mistakes tonight than other games but I'm still going to hold on to the fact that we created more than enough chances to win. So so frustrating

**Philly** · 14/10/2020, 6:04 PM

I think people really need to relax. Yes, we were poor in the second half, but we had a depleted squad. Horgan started out of a lack of options. He was not even in the original squad so it's hardly favoritism. Same with Curtis. It has been a deflating few games but a lot of the indicators have been positive. We still can't score however, and until we fix that Guardiola could be in charge and we'd struggle.

**zero** · 14/10/2020, 6:05 PM

we'd the handy covid excuse vs wales but who were we missing tonight that would have played? browne i guess.

2 more games in november. we'll play the exact same way and maybe we'll even win a game. relegation battle with bulgaria, which we might be better off losing.

**pineapple stu** · 14/10/2020, 6:06 PM

Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

Coming up on seven hours without a goal... What's our record?

Go back to the 60s and it's probably quite crap.

Can't see the FAI affording to sack Kenny.

I think though the results so far have to be taken in the context of lots of players missing for covid/injury/suspension, and the general decline in the game here in Delaney's time. Plus here we had a home crowd with no away support at all. All that has to be taken into account.

3 goals against in 5 games is an excellent record, especially when we haven't been playing particularly defensively.

1 goal for in 5 games is awful of course. I'd be interested in seeing our expected goals total though. We're creating more chances than a couple of games ago, and Kenny can't magic a striker up to score them.

**seanfhear** · 14/10/2020, 6:07 PM

Originally Posted by shakermaker1982

He�ll be gone within 12 months at this rate.

How many more games would we have played in that time.

It�ll have to improve thats for sure.

**Bungle** · 14/10/2020, 6:07 PM

People need to stop thinking that trying to play football is costing us results. It isn't. It's sloppiness and under Mick and O'Neill, we were capable of sloppiness and I can count on one hand over the last 10 years that we have tried to play football.

I really don't know what to make of Kenny. He strikes me as naive in his decision making. I think he has been lucky to get 7 games before wc qualifying starts in games that are competitive and against similar quality opposition (Wales without Bale is our level). He really needs to be making the most of that opportunity though. I will say that we should have beaten both Slovakia and Wales so he has been unlucky and if Enda had scored I think today would have been different - thems the breaks. He does need the whole of the campaign though to get an opportunity to turn it around unless we are losing to San Marino at home. It is encouraging to see hoofball has been discarded. Nothing wrong with the odd long ball but us under MON especially was a national embarrassment and horrible to watch.

For me, Kenny has the benefit of our best underage talent coming through in 20 years. His ability as a manager will be judged by whether by the end of the wc campaign, he has made them into a very decent team with great potential for the ec24 campaign. I think only the very hopeful think we can be among the top 13 in europe and qualify for Qatar. Some things are out of his hands. It's not on Stephen's hands if Troy Parrott is making the wrong decisions off the pitch. However, the quality of talent coming through should be turned into a cohesive international team over the coming 18 months.

**paul_oshea** · 14/10/2020, 6:08 PM

Connollys interview, now thats a positive! very refreshing to hear ,saying match awareness, selfishness, need to get better at it, all good stuff to hear.

**Trequartista20** · 14/10/2020, 6:09 PM

Still; 47.4% possession, guys!

**seanfhear** · 14/10/2020, 6:10 PM

Originally Posted by Trequartista20

The only Irish person enjoying this will be Mick McCarthy, who'll no doubt have a wry smile on his face, just as he did when Ipswich went down.

Roy Keane reckons he ain�t Irish and one way or another he should not be getting enjoyment out of Ireland doing badly. Anyway he had taken the Irish job under certain conditions and its not as if Clubs are chasing Mick to give him a job either for all that !

**John83** · 14/10/2020, 6:13 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

we'll be told now how great Finland are.

Finland are ranked behind us in both FIFA and elo rankings. They're not a bad team, but we shouldn't be losing to them twice.

There are lots of caveats: we have conceded just 3 times in 5 games. The squad has been massively disrupted by covid-19 and injuries to key players like Coleman, Egan, McCarthy, and McGoldrick. (Take Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Henderson, and Firminho out of the Liverpool team, and see how well they play.) The system is new. We've seen young players like Connolly, Idah, Molumby, and O'Shea demonstrate that they're options in the squad or more. McClean has probably dropped down the pecking order.

Those only help take the bad look off it. One goal in 5 games is beyond ****e. Kenny will be feeling the pinch, and rightly so.

**Trequartista20** · 14/10/2020, 6:14 PM

Originally Posted by Philly

I think people really need to relax. Yes, we were poor in the second half, but we had a depleted squad. Horgan started out of a lack of options. He was not even in the original squad so it's hardly favoritism. Same with Curtis. It has been a deflating few games but a lot of the indicators have been positive. We still can't score however, and until we fix that Guardiola could be in charge and we'd struggle.

No other options? Jason Knight was on the bench, and Obafemi was overlooked entirely. Horgan was far from the only problem, but he perhaps acts as an emblem of our latest failure.

**Comic Book Guy** · 14/10/2020, 6:15 PM

Some of the comments calling for SK's head are laughable. We are dealing with the fallout of years of wholesale neglect, short term thinking and the cult of JD et al which has brought us to this level. For once there seems to be joined up thinking at underage to senior level.Give it time ffs. We've had over a decade of dross, up at at 'em, plucky, lump it and hope for the best and now there seems to be a sea change. The chances are being created. The finns celebrated like they qualified for the WC at the end. We've had a week of disruption arguably not seen since saipan.
It will turn for us.

**paul_oshea** · 14/10/2020, 6:16 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Go back to the 60s and it's probably quite crap.

Can't see the FAI affording to sack Kenny.

I think though the results so far have to be taken in the context of lots of players missing for covid/injury/suspension, and the general decline in the game here in Delaney's time. Plus here we had a home crowd with no away support at all. All that has to be taken into account.

3 goals against in 5 games is an excellent record, especially when we haven't been playing particularly defensively.

1 goal for in 5 games is awful of course. I'd be interested in seeing our expected goals total though. We're creating more chances than a couple of games ago, and Kenny can't magic a striker up to score them.

I'm begining to feel having watched these games its more to do with how busy we are and have been to get the ball, we arent actually suited to a proper out and out striker, we require all our players to be busy and running channels and angles, dropping deep and pulling others into the game. What we realistically need is either change to a proper striker who sticks up top, or we need to have 3-4 proper finishers in the side. The current way is we're half a dozen of one etc. I don't see that changing till say robinson and connolly start adding goals and finishing. McG isn't a finisher we know that. Hopefully idah does but i dont see it in him either. Barely noticed him today.

**Ol� Ol�** · 14/10/2020, 6:17 PM

The thing about it is that we saw Curtis with a good chance. Duffy with a good chance. Stevens with a good chance. Connolly getting crowded out. Connolly with poor deliveries. Doherty with poor deliveries. Brady with a couple of good ones and some poor deliveries. These lads are all capable of executing the assists and goals we need.

We actually had 11 shots and 5 on target. Finland had 7 and 2.
I said it before the match that it was brave to play Maguire and Horgan. It now looks closer to stupid. Neither are or will be good enough for this level. It has been made abundantly clear by their travails in the Championship. Horgan had brief flashes in the first half. Maguire with that heavy touch from Connolly's pass was very poor.

I enjoyed the performance tonight but we need to get better at creating attacking opportunities and patterns and breaking down defences that crowd and sit deep like Finland and Bulgaria. Hopefully that will come.

I was happy with O'Shea tonight. Molumby was good too but drifted out of the game. I don't know how many chance Conor Hourihane needs to prove to Kenny he's not to be relied upon.

**paul_oshea** · 14/10/2020, 6:17 PM

Originally Posted by Trequartista20

Still; 47.4% possession, guys!

hahaha

**Trequartista20** · 14/10/2020, 6:20 PM

Originally Posted by John83

Finland are ranked behind us in both FIFA and elo rankings. They're not a bad team, but we shouldn't be losing to them twice.

There are lots of caveats: we have conceded just 3 times in 5 games. The squad has been massively disrupted by covid-19 and injuries to key players like Coleman, Egan, McCarthy, and McGoldrick. (Take Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Henderson, and Firminho out of the Liverpool team, and see how well they play.) The system is new. We've seen young players like Connolly, Idah, Molumby, and O'Shea demonstrate that they're options in the squad or more. McClean has probably dropped down the pecking order.

Those only help take the bad look off it. One goal in 5 games is beyond ****e. Kenny will be feeling the pinch, and rightly so.

The Finnish league is ranked by UEFA at an even lower than the discredited FAI's attempt at a national league (from which they've picked three of their squad) and they have no more than a couple of players playing in one of Europe's major leagues. We, by contrast, van pick an entire team of players playing their football in the Premier League.

Make no mistake, we are underperforming as a nation.

**Eirambler** · 14/10/2020, 6:20 PM

Well that brings a sorry week in the history of Irish football to a predictable end. It's very dispiriting watching us passing the ball back and over in the middle of the field with clearly no strategy or gameplan for what we're going to do with it in the final third. And then we resort to hoofball again in the last 10 minutes when we're chasing a game.

Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, Wales without Bale, Finland again. Let's be honest here, these teams range from mediocre (Finland) to utter crap (Bulgaria) and still we couldn't beat any of them. I'm all for a rebuild and willing to give it time but I'm not convinced that we've made any progress in the last five games or that we're going to consistently create chances that will give us genuine goalscoring opportunities rather than the half chances we've been missing in the last two games.

I hope it comes good for Kenny, I really do, but you can't help but feel that four or six years from now the likes of Knight and O'Shea will be going into a major finals tournament, talking fondly about him giving them their chance in international football while he's back managing Bohemians or someone in the League of Ireland.

**ontheotherhand** · 14/10/2020, 6:25 PM

A lot of ****e posted on here as usual. Lads are forgetting McCarthy's first games in charge. W0 D1 L4 GD -7.

**paul_oshea** · 14/10/2020, 6:28 PM

Originally Posted by Eirambler

Well that brings a sorry week in the history of Irish football to a predictable end. It's very dispiriting watching us passing the ball back and over in the middle of the field with clearly no strategy or gameplan for what we're going to do with it in the final third. And then we resort to hoofball again in the last 10 minutes when we're chasing a game.

Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, Wales without Bale, Finland again. Let's be honest here, these teams range from mediocre (Finland) to utter crap (Bulgaria) and still we couldn't beat any of them. I'm all for a rebuild and willing to give it time but I'm not convinced that we've made any progress in the last five games or that we're going to consistently create chances that will give us genuine goalscoring opportunities rather than the half chances we've been missing in the last two games.

I hope it comes good for Kenny, I really do, but you can't help but feel that four or six years from now the likes of Knight and O'Shea will be going into a major finals tournament, talking fondly about him giving them their chance in international football while he's back managing Bohemians or someone in the League of Ireland.

Couldn't have put this better, we all like the underdog story, the hollywood type movie, we'd all love for kenny to succeed, and its not about that, but you have to weigh up the performances and the overall play and then work against the results and what we've actually achieved thus far. No one remembers the performances, they remember the results. And the performances will soon be forgotten but the results willl still be there. And when Euro 2020 comes around no one will be saying, jees do you remember brownes miss or hourihanes one cleared off the line. And for those with the "give it time rebuild for a few years" in 2022 at what point do we say hold on this isnt working?