Armenia V Republic of Ireland - Saturday, 4th June 2022 - 2022/23 UEFA Nations League

[Stuttgart88]

Is it confirmed that Sykes is injured? Someone on YBIG claimed he was but I can't find verification. He would at least provide something different.

We're in desperate need of creativity, someone capable of the unexpected - a moment of magic. But obviously those sort of players are in short supply.

Would Mandriou have been a useful option?

Sykes is injured, yes.

Mandroiu is a fair shout maybe but wouldn't you think Parrott is at least as good?

I think you can pick at selections and roles etc., but the fact is nobody played even to 6/10 standard.

[irishultra]

you are deranged if you think theres enough good loi players to make a difference at international level.

Well the post above suggests that the Armenian League is below the LOI and they beat us. Admittedly is a 21 year old goal scorer playing in Russia who probably has more flair in his toe than the entire Irish team

[Jd2793]

A fit jack byrne would be the only loi option i think. hes a lot better than mandriou but his workrate off the ball is probably something kenny would need improved. has sykes not moved to wing back this year? desperate for smallbone and kilkenny to kick on , badly need midfield options.

[Trequartista20]

Thanks for confirming re. Sykes.

I've come to believe Parrot's best position is as 10 or withdrawn striker. His touch, passing ability and finishing are good but I'm not sure he has the raw power or pace to be effective on the wing or as an out-and-out 9 at the highest level.

He needs to be playing more centrally, I think. Nominally he was playing as one of the 2 in a 3-4-2-1 on Saturday, but in reality he stuck out on the left a lot and made little impact against the massed ranks of the Armenian defence.

[Snapshot]

I think the reaction has been a tad OTT, and I’d rather reserve full judgement until after the next three games. Agree the result is not good enough but the performance wasn’t that bad, although admittedly lacking the tempo and urgency to win a competitive game. We created chances to score and had long period of comfort and control. However, our dead balls deliveries were poor, and our set plays lacked imagination to capitalise on our aerial strength. Our substitutions had no impact. And Kelleher has to save that.

The result aside, we are in a far better position than where we started under Kenny. The strength of the squad is improved, there is a nice complementary balance there, and we do have genuine pace and a X factor in the forward line that we didn’t previously have. Ogbene is an absolute find for us. Whatever happens with Kenny going forward, the squad he has assembled gives reason for optimism.

No, not OTT. It was a bone fide shocker. The first half was poor enough but the ship should have been steadied by a Kenny/Andrews tactical refresh at halftime. It didn't happen. We went from poor to atrocious after the resumption. A disaster on and off the pitch. Two good results this week can air-brush the damage, yes, but let's not polish this turd and call it anything other than a pitiful all-round effort against lowly opposition with embarrassing recent form.

[Jd2793]

Thanks for confirming re. Sykes.

I've come to believe Parrot's best position is as 10 or withdrawn striker. His touch, passing ability and finishing are good but I'm not sure he has the raw power or pace to be effective on the wing or as an out-and-out 9 at the highest level.

He needs to be playing more centrally, I think. Nominally he was playing as one of the 2 in a 3-4-2-1 on Saturday, but in reality he stuck out on the left a lot and made little impact against the massed ranks of the Armenian defence.

yeah thats what i dont get. ogbene was so central, parrott was so wide when if anything the roles should have been reversed. ogbene doesnt have the technical skills in those tight areas

[tetsujin1979]

What I didn't understand was that against a similarly set up Lithuania only three months ago, Parrott came on, played through the middle and made the difference with the late winner. Against Armenia, he was isolated as a wide-left striker, or at least that's what it looked like where he was playing to me, and outnumbered by a five man defence. So why not move him into the middle, and play him where he had scored in his last game?

[irishultra]

Thanks for confirming re. Sykes.

I've come to believe Parrot's best position is as 10 or withdrawn striker. His touch, passing ability and finishing are good but I'm not sure he has the raw power or pace to be effective on the wing or as an out-and-out 9 at the highest level.

He needs to be playing more centrally, I think. Nominally he was playing as one of the 2 in a 3-4-2-1 on Saturday, but in reality he stuck out on the left a lot and made little impact against the massed ranks of the Armenian defence.

To me, Parrott is just another Stokes. He probably got to his level because he developed before other players but now isn't developing enough physically or athletically to stand out. Apparently he's 6 foot 1, he doesn't appear that tall.

[pineapple stu]

Shorn of their retired star man Mhkitaryan, the vast majority of the Armenian squad play in the Armenian league - ranked behind the leagues of Lithuania, Moldova, Kosovo, Luxembourg and, yes, the League of Ireland.

There's no excuse for what happened the other day.

I think that's really valid. Alashkert of Armenia made the Conference League group stages last season - the first time an Armenian side ever made the group stages of Europe. They started by beating Connah's Quay in CL qualifying after extra time, and ended with one point in the group stages.

I don't think heat or end of season or a really weak squad by our usual standards count as an excuse in defending not just the result, but the performance. We deserved to lose. Their keeper hadn't a save of note to make. Even compare the composure of the finish for their offside goal with Robinson's rushed effort.

I thought we had been making progress with the results in Oct/Nov, but now I think we were just lucky to score early in those games and force the other side to open up. If we don't score, we simply don't know what to do.

And I don't really know how to fix it. I don't think motivation is an issue. I think Kenny isn't up to it, and I think the players probably aren't as good as we often think they are here. But it still shouldn't be this bad. The last two games are us back to rock bottom after a period of optimism.

Anyone know how all this impacts on seeding for the Euros in October btw? It's ten groups so I'm presuming we're looking at third seeds? I presume it would have taken a fairly good campaign here to rise to second seeds?

[paul_oshea]

If we win the group we are guaranteed second seeds , at this stage I don't think its clear what else we could do to get second.

I think circumstance will see us do very good against Ukraine and then back on track. But it doesn't take away from the fact we still really struggle to beat teams like Armenia. I �� agree with you on the other games as well, if we don't score early it becomes a desperate(management and players), immature( players not having the guile/know how to take the game to the opposition in a meaningful way, perhaps unsure from management) and blunt (management tactical astuteness)performance

[ifk101]

What I didn't understand was that against a similarly set up Lithuania only three months ago, Parrott came on, played through the middle and made the difference with the late winner. Against Armenia, he was isolated as a wide-left striker, or at least that's what it looked like where he was playing to me, and outnumbered by a five man defence. So why not move him into the middle, and play him where he had scored in his last game?

Not against the suggestion of playing him more centrally, but is this what really happened against Lithuania? He starting position when he came on was on the left of the attack, this changed to the right when Knight came on, and for the sequence of play prior to the goal, he had simply drifted into a more central position from the right. But more generally, don't think the positions of the front three are intended to be fixed, especially when the wing backs are advanced to offer width.

[Stuttgart88]

Well either way, someone like him and Robinson needed to just be brave enough to take responsibility to get on the ball where they think they can make an impact. I didn't see that on Saturday or against Azerbaijan at home, whereas I did see it against Qatar (Robinson), Andorra and Lithuania (both Parrott).

[ifk101]

I don't know. The tactics/ formation has been pretty consistent for a while now. So was the slow and lethargic tempo, and the lack of the fluidity of previous games (for example, saw little of the CBs floating into attack as previously), down to players being effectively out of season and the "conditions"?

[pineapple stu]

The slow and lethargic tempo has been consistent for a while too in fairness.

Azerbaijan and Qatar in particular were changed completely by us scoring in the first five minutes.

[Bielsa´s irish]

What I didn't understand was that against a similarly set up Lithuania only three months ago, Parrott came on, played through the middle and made the difference with the late winner. Against Armenia, he was isolated as a wide-left striker, or at least that's what it looked like where he was playing to me, and outnumbered by a five man defence. So why not move him into the middle, and play him where he had scored in his last game?

Totally agree he was restricted by the line and then hooked off, I would get Robinson and Ogbene on the sides a Parrott as 9. But on Wednesday we need a true 9. Even Hogan can play the way Kieffer did yesterday and Hogan is a better player

[ifk101]

The slow and lethargic tempo has been consistent for a while too in fairness.

Azerbaijan and Qatar in particular were changed completely by us scoring in the first five minutes.

We have been holding onto the ball more for a while now, so in that sense there has been a slow and lethargic tempo consistency in us passing the ball rather than lumping it up the field. But I think there is a tempo difference in the past year, that was absent on Saturday, compared to, for example, the tempo of play during the last Nations League campaign. And yes, goals do change games.

[pineapple stu]

I'm not so sure.

The first hour in Andorra and Luxembourg were brutal stuff. Home against Azerbaijan and Lithuania were dreadful. Slow, ponderous and unimaginative each time. As bad as anything in the Nations League for me. (Slovakia away was vaguely decent I thought; the exception really)

Games against better sides (Serbia/Portugal) are different because they're not sitting back against us, so we can get more attacking space. They're also better than us of course.

[ifk101]

No, I disagree. I think there has been a lot more positional movement and energy than seen on Saturday. But as I said in a previous post, I’d like reserve full judgement until after the next three games. Not sure the magnitude of the Barry influence in our turnaround last year, maybe after the next three games will know.

[tetsujin1979]

Not against the suggestion of playing him more centrally, but is this what really happened against Lithuania? He starting position when he came on was on the left of the attack, this changed to the right when Knight came on, and for the sequence of play prior to the goal, he had simply drifted into a more central position from the right. But more generally, don't think the positions of the front three are intended to be fixed, especially when the wing backs are advanced to offer width.

I meant if he was not effective playing in the withdrawn role against a team who were packing the defence, why persist with him up front against five defenders?
I made the same point about Obafemi - he came on and played in the same position, but was equally ineffective.
What's the definition of madness, again?

[Stuttgart88]

We have been holding onto the ball more for a while now, so in that sense there has been a slow and lethargic tempo consistency in us passing the ball rather than lumping it up the field. But I think there is a tempo difference in the past year, that was absent on Saturday, compared to, for example, the tempo of play during the last Nations League campaign. And yes, goals do change games.

I think we missed the urgency and leadership that Doherty brings, and of course his quality. He got forward into dangerous positions in a few of our recent games. I think Stevens has generally been very solid for us but I thought he was especially awful on Saturday. Maybe their 5 at the back negated our wing backs but I thought he was ponderous and careless. His time may be coming to an end. I was surprised Ebosele didn't make the match day squad. I like the disruption he beings to games and I think he'd have been an option from the bench and in a few possible positions.