A lack of consistency in our team line-ups and a lack of charisma and leadership from our manager is what I would identify as problems.
Though the line-ups have become a bit more predictable this campaign
Can you provide these quotes?Originally Posted by seanfhear
A lack of consistency in our team line-ups and a lack of charisma and leadership from our manager is what I would identify as problems.
Though the line-ups have become a bit more predictable this campaign
Agree completely with the just of this and the last line in particular. I’m blue in the face saying on here (as are many) that the problems are systemic and require dramatic changes and overhaul to our overall structures, our academy strategies and needs investment in and promotion of the league as the best pathway or stepping stone for +95% of our talent. It also requires a mindset shift among the public about our domestic game and the benefits to Ireland FC of having a strong, well supported league. Not easy. Some of these changes are being made, albeit slowly, and some of the more political decisions seem to keep getting kicked down the road. Others with more knowledge of the game have also talked about the number and quality of our coaches at all levels across the country as a root cause. What compounds all of this is that even a willing association doesn’t have the funds (nor does it seem to have the P/political influence) available to make the changes more urgently.
All that said, the more immediate question remains as to whether Kenny is making the most of the players at his disposal. We have a mix of journeymen (kinda) and a lot of young players with potential that hasn’t yet been fully realized at club level. A few years ago a lot of us thought we had a golden generation coming through but that looks to have been a bit wide of the mark (barring Ferguson) - as Pineapple says we are probably guilty of building them up a little too much. But… could a different coach organize the same group better and get better results? I think the answer is yes.
Finally recognising the long range goal concession issue:
'Stephen Kenny calls for players to ‘put their bodies on the line‘ to solve long range issue '
https://m.independent.ie/sport/socce...374275322.html
Implores player to 'put their bodies on the line' to block these kinds of strikes, seemingly suggesting they weren't before.
Irelands albeit slim hopes of sneaking a play off spot, disappearing tonight in Romania ?
It's 1-1
It's the hope that kills you
I know.. good result for us.. but it'll be mental watching the last few games and working out permutations
You see, this is where I think it gets a bit unfair. He’s been asked before about the long range goals issues faced during his reign and he’s acknowledged it. In some quarters he’s accused of putting his head in the sand and I think it’s because a lot of fans don’t read beyond the headlines that went with this longer interview (headlines were mostly a variation of “Kenny: we won’t fixate on long range goals”). If you read the article, he acknowledges it, the various reasons behind the goals and he actually says “overly fixate”. It’s actually a fairly reasonable position he takes.
If you were to say he hasn’t been very effective in remedying a long acknowledged problem, I’d be right behind you.
https://punditarena.com/football/adm...ireland/?amp=1
They haven't disappeared... and I wouldn't have called them slim to begin with - if the qualifying groups had gone according to Nations League Rankings, we'd have been in a winnable play-off path - admittedly things haven't gone to form and we're now out of the play-off spots, hoping that results will put us back in the mix. But there is still a plausible series of events that could give us a shot:
If Poland beat Albania tomorrow, that puts Slovenia into a play-off spot. Then we just need one of the following three things to happen:
- Israel overhaul Romania, who they play at home later (a win today for Israel would have been much more helpful, but at least they didn't lose)
- Wales beat Latvia on Monday, closing in on Turkey and Armenia, both of whom have to visit Croatia (admittedly, this group as always likely to hurt us, requiring Croatia to be dominant and Wales to be better than Turkey and Armenia)
- Bosnia win in Iceland on Monday, while Luxembourg lose in Portugal, triggering a good run for Bosnia, allowing to catch Slovakia, who they play at home in October.
Missed opportunity in not calling up Sammie Szmodics. Tearng it up inthe Championship.
Kenny more comfortable selecting players he is familiar with from the underage set up. A shame.
Absolutely agree. Watched him playing for Blackburn the other week, and he was really effective playing in what has become the "exclusion zone" for Ireland between our isolated forward player and a defensively marooned midfield. Moran was also impressive and watching his performance for the 21's last night, looks a cut above Hendrick and several of our other midfield options.
Dan McDonnell's probable team in the papers was a little disappointing for me but not very surprising. He reckons Doherty and McClean in for Browne and Stevens at wing back and Smallbone in for Knight.
Would be bringing Doherty in for Stevens and Smallbone for Molumby myself. I think the former is justified but I can understand why he would not do the latter. Harsh on Knight none the less.
What????
The long distance goals thing is interesting. By playing with a back 5, when defending waves of attacks, space in the the penalty area becomes more condensed and shots become harder / less likely. Even with France’s second goal, we got 3 lads on the line, plus the keeper, so if Thuram goes for the big open space it gets cleared, or if McClean stays in the corner rather than predicting and moving, it’s headed away. That’s broadly positive. When Ireland are defending, you’ll see centre backs get legs in the way of dangerous balls all the time.
The counter is that the defending at the edge of the box becomes a little spread - and you need your midfielders and attackers closing quickly so there’s less time to shoot.
The weird thing is, it’s basically by design, you’d rather give away 5 shots outside the box, rather than 5 inside the box. You’d probably rather give 5 outside the box rather than 2 inside the box. There’s probably some truth to what Delaney is saying, that if they’re a little less deep then the shots have to happen three yards further back - which makes a difference. But it’s marginal and possibly not helped by a group of young and inexperienced keepers.
And I guess if you look at all the goals, the break into different categories. Ones where people failed to close - can think of Coleman vs Azerbaijan and Belgium - and freak goals, which really are just 1-4% likelihood wonders. There’s probably also a difference between counter attack goals vs goals where we have men behind the ball.
I think the the long range goal concession problem is down to a number of factors, of course not all entirely Kenny's fault.
Our goalkeeper obviously has got be looked at, though both Kelleher as well as Bazunu have conceded goals from distance. But I think Kenny has acknowledged that it's largely down to 'the way we play'. We're reactive rather than proactive in defensive situations, turn over possession too often in our own final third, and can be got at too easily in general,
I repeat myself, but it's undoubtedly the case that, under Kenny, we've lost the defensive solidity that we once almost took for granted, and this hasn't been adequately compensated by any appreciable gain elsewhere, in an attacking sense or otherwise.
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023...e-goals-trend/
If he's right, and it gets addressed to the tune of say five yards even, then do the majority of shots even happen ? Its a much less inviting shot plus a DM much closer to the shooter. The space around the shot taker is the recurring thing here from memory, they have generally had time for a nice cup of tea, by international standards, before having to take aim.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
Can’t be a serious post? All underage teams are there to supplement the senior squad. If Kenny wants to call in 10 players that’s tough luck on Crawford.
What I meant was, a) if they didn’t make the decision that day then he wouldn’t be available and b) I wouldn’t want to be the person making the call. I’ve heard there were issues with Crawford and Kenny before the Israel games when Crawford called him to ask to have Omobamidele and Kenny rejected it and it led to Crawford being angry about it and lasting hard feelings between the pair. (at least from crawfords side)
In that context, I can only imagine how he’d react when on the day of the game, his in form striker gets taken away from him, while his second choice is sick. Obviously, Kenny can and should take who he wants, especially with competitive games.
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