Upcoming Friendlies-choose your new players

[samhaydenjr]

Hi everyone, and Happy New Year to you all.
With the upcoming friendlies and the Nations League on the horizon, I thought I’d set a task to spark debate about one aspect the incoming manager will have to consider – squad personnel and who should be blooded in. I’ve assumed that we will play five friendlies before the start of the Nations League and that we will not use the Nations League as a vehicle for looking at new options, as we should be using it as a chance to win a World Cup play-off spot.

I’ve assembled a list of potential call-ups below – the criteria I’ve set for inclusion are fairly simple – fewer than ten caps, currently playing at a club that could be considered Championship level or above (Championship, Big Five Leagues, big teams in Scotland, Netherlands, Portugal etc), and some first-team football at that level.

There will be 4950 minutes of playing time available over the five games. Your task is to pick ten players and assign 1500 minutes to them in the following format: five players who you definitely believe will be important in the upcoming campaign and should get four caps, with an average of 60 minutes per cap; five players who you think might be worthwhile options to have around and you’d like them to have a couple of run-outs under their belts before the Nations League starts (or they already have some caps but you think they could do with a couple more).
If you don’t want to stick to this 5+5 formula strictly, you can assign the 1500 minutes in a different manner. Here is the list:

Goalkeepers
Mark Travers, Max O’Leary, Jack Bonham

Defenders
Tayo Adaramola, Alex Murphy, Andrew Omobamidele, Mark McGuinness, James Furlong, Sean McLoughlin, Darragh Lenihan, Danny McNamara, Jimmy Dunne, Luke McNally, Liam Scales, Jake O’Brien, Festy Ebosele

Midfielders
Conor Coventry, Joe Hodge, Sammie Szmodics, Andrew Moran, Zak Gilsenan, Tom Bloxham, Mark Sykes, Harry Vaughan, Marcus Harness, Jack Taylor, Kasey McAteer, Tony Springett, Finn Azaz, Will Smallbone, Rocco Vata

Forwards
Nathan Fraser, Aaron Connolly, Tom Cannon, Alex Gilbert, Calum Kavanagh, Aidomo Emakhu, Tyreik Wright, Will Keane, Sinclair Armstrong, Georgie Kelly, Mikey Johnston

[passinginterest]

Not sure I'd give any of them 4 starts. Maybe Scales, Festy, Connolly (if he stays fit and in form), Smallbone and Johnston if I had to pick 5.

I think it highlights the fact the central midfield area is still chronically weak and lacks outstanding options. The ones that are maybe putting their hands up most are sadly defenders where we already have plenty of options.

It would be worth giving minutes to O'Brien, Murphy, McNamara, Azaz and one of Taylor/Coventry/Hodge to see if they can have an impact in the middle.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Omobamidele and Johnson need game time - and Azaz deserves to play. Szmodics and Cannon should be the first for a call-up if they want to play. Jake O'Brien has also played his way into contention and Scales should get more time to see where he is at. I would also give Armstrong time - because I think he could be very good.

After that - most of them still need to show that they are capable of making the next step.

However - the friendlies should be more about the new manager getting to know the squad and figuring out how to maximise what is available - rather than promoting underage players who have yet to prove they can play at a high level.

[Eirambler]

Goalkeeper: I don't see anyone other than Bazunu or Kelleher challenging for the jersey any time soon. Even within that Bazunu looks unpressured until such time as Kelleher final starts playing regularly and we can finally assess him in full. However I would like to see Max O'Leary capped as he has turned up on quite a few occasions now to fill a squad role and deserves a friendly cap for his efforts.

Defence: I would like to see Jake O'Brien and Mark McGuinness integrated into the squad during the upcoming friendlies. McGuinness looks a step up on many of our other emerging options and what O'Brien has achieved at Lyon can't be ignored - player of the month for them last month. With Duffy on the downslope and Egan having injury and form issues we do need to look at other centre back options beyond just Collins, O'Shea and Scales (who I suspect might be overachieving this season relative to his potential long term prospects). Especially as O'Shea may be asked to play left back in a four. McNally is another that could come into the equation at centre back.

Of the other defenders listed Festy Ebosele would be the one I'd most like to see more of, but not necessarily as a defender. One player not listed is Anselmo Garcia, who might be worth a friendly outing at left back based on his Eredivisie appearances. Similarly Josh Key if he gets back fit and playing regularly in the Championship.

Midfield remains a disaster zone but we need to work with what we have. So that means more opportunities for Smallbone and a few runs out for Azaz. Moran might get another look too but recent club form suggests he may be better served staying with the Under 21s for now.

Up top I like the idea of trying Ebosele and Ogbene as wingers/support forwards to Ferguson in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 setup. Szmodics should also get a chance (assuming he wants to play) and Connolly should get another chance. Their club form shouldn't be ignored. McAteer should get a debut on the wing also to see what he could potentially offer. I'd also bring in Cannon as a potential back up number 9 to Ferguson if he wants to commit. I don't think Idah is a good enough backup at this point in time.

No magic bullets there but a lot of options to try out and integrate I think.

[third policeman]

I'm not generally in favour of capping League 1 players but our midfield options are dire and Connell has been outstanding in that division. I think there is something of the Wes about him - a technically gifted player who "appears" to lack the physicality to play at the highest level, but confounded people when given the opportunity. He's so different to anyone else we have, he may well be worth looking at. If Wes had been capped at a younger age it might have helped his club career development as well. Sometimes, as a small nation, we need to take risks in developing talent and potential rather than waiting for English club managers to do it for us.

[JR89]

I'm not generally in favour of capping League 1 players but our midfield options are dire and Connell has been outstanding in that division. I think there is something of the Wes about him - a technically gifted player who "appears" to lack the physicality to play at the highest level, but confounded people when given the opportunity. He's so different to anyone else we have, he may well be worth looking at. If Wes had been capped at a younger age it might have helped his club career development as well. Sometimes, as a small nation, we need to take risks in developing talent and potential rather than waiting for English club managers to do it for us.

Well he's club mate at Barnsley, Callum Styles, has 18 caps for Hungary and started 12 of those games in midfield for them. They're a better team than us and have a League One player as a starter.

Wouldn't mind seeing Luca in a the squad for our friendlies, especially the summer games which likely be a longer training camp. Offers us something different than other midfielders looking to break through.

[Thewhitepele]

I assume the new manager will have one of them 40man training camps to see who he likes...

[Razors left peg]

Garcia McNulty would be the big one from the original list there that would stand out to me as missing. I'd be getting him involved soon as possible really.

Azaz and Moran the big ones in midfield, as they offer something different than what we have

[pineapple stu]

Not sure Bonham/O'Leary really add anything in nets, so would leave things as they are there with the usual trio.

Wouldn't have many changes at centre-back other than that Omobamidele needs to sort his club situation out before he's involved again, and Duffy's use depends on who the new manager is - he could be key or disposable. There's a few solid options here though - O'Brien, McGuinness, McNally, Dunne, Lenihan - and I think any 2/3 of them should get games. A pity for us they're all in the same position...

I think wing-back/full-back remains huge issues for us whoever gets picked. I wouldn't be surprised if Coleman has played his last competitive game for us tbh. I don't like seeing Browne or O'Dowda at wing-back. But with McClean retired and Stevens/Brady struggling with injury, the options are thin on the ground. I guess maybe Murphy, MacNulty and McNamara to get call-ups alongside Doherty and Coleman? That's assuming Ebosele is too attacking to play there of course.

Midfield is another disaster zone. I'm looking for an enforcer to root you up the hole and ask questions later, but I'm not seeing him. I'm not opposed to the idea of playing Collins in centre-mid and adding another centre-back to the squad. Cullen and Molumby have been dropped of late, but I'm not seeing anything in Coventry/Hodge/Bloxham/Gilsenan/Springett/Vata to make them worth the call-up now. Azaz, Smallbone, Knight and Browne I guess.

Up front is where it's most interesting I think. To pick 7 (based on 4-3-3), I'd go with Ferguson, Ogbene, Johnston, Szmodics, Connolly, Parrott and one other. Ebosele if he can play wide of the three probably the most likely? Or Sykes, though he's not done a huge amount in his (brief) cameos. Means leaving out Idah, Obafemi, Keane and Robinson altogether, but I'm fine with that. We seem to have a lot of wide players all of a sudden - Ogbene, Ebosele, McAteer, Sykes, McGrath, Johnston, Wright. Cannon I presume won't commit quite yet.

A fair few on that list I wouldn't be considering at all tbh - Adaramola, Furlong, Coventry, Hodge, Gilsenan, Bloxham, Vaughan, Springett, Vata, Gibert, Kavanagh, Emakhu, Armstrong and Kelly

Wouldn't go mad with the changes either - important for a new manager to get ideas across to the full team rather than be blooding players for the sake of it. But there's definitely some players who have moved ahead of others in the pecking order, especially up front.

[Eirambler]

Yes we definitely don't have a midfield enforcer coming through at this point. While I like Knight as mentioned on the other thread, I don't really think that's what he is. He's box to box, but not an enforcer in the Keane/Vieira mould. I suppose there aren't too many of them around in general any more. Molumby would be the closest in the Irish setup, it's just a shame that he's not a bit better as an all round footballer.

[Eirambler]

Slightly getting away from the question being asked, but would there be any merit in trying something like the team below in a friendly to see how it gets on. I accept it's a lot of changes in personnel, as well as a formation change from what we've been doing. But then again, what we've been doing hasn't been working and friendlies are meant to be opportunities to try out different options.

-------------------Bazunu
Collins Egan McGuinness O'Shea
---------------Cullen Knight
----------Ebosele Azaz Ogbene
------------------Ferguson

Basically the Idea here is that you get around our issues at full back by essentially not picking any and using centre backs instead. You accept that they won't give you as much going forward, but you hope that picking four attacking players as well as Knight as a box to box makes up for that. Out of possession you keep two midfielders sitting in front of the back four to take the burden off Cullen a bit and restrict the space for the persistent long shots that everyone now knows to try against us. Festy can tuck in as well to help out and once you win back possession you have three or four good running options to bring the ball forward on the counter (Ebosele, Ogbene, Knight and Azaz) as well as the creativity of Azaz to create a few opportunities for Ferguson up front. Just an idea, I really think we need to try and shake it up a bit this year.

[Razors left peg]

While I like the idea of shaking things up a bit, having Egan in center defense hardly does that, and I think I'd be looking at Jake O'Brien ahead of McGuinness.

I also think long term Ogbene needs to be used as an impact sub. He's a good lad, but he's not a great footballer and I don't think we should be relying on him starting.

[Olé Olé]

Slightly getting away from the question being asked, but would there be any merit in trying something like the team below in a friendly to see how it gets on. I accept it's a lot of changes in personnel, as well as a formation change from what we've been doing. But then again, what we've been doing hasn't been working and friendlies are meant to be opportunities to try out different options.

-------------------Bazunu
Collins Egan McGuinness O'Shea
---------------Cullen Knight
----------Ebosele Azaz Ogbene
------------------Ferguson

Basically the Idea here is that you get around our issues at full back by essentially not picking any and using centre backs instead. You accept that they won't give you as much going forward, but you hope that picking four attacking players as well as Knight as a box to box makes up for that. Out of possession you keep two midfielders sitting in front of the back four to take the burden off Cullen a bit and restrict the space for the persistent long shots that everyone now knows to try against us. Festy can tuck in as well to help out and once you win back possession you have three or four good running options to bring the ball forward on the counter (Ebosele, Ogbene, Knight and Azaz) as well as the creativity of Azaz to create a few opportunities for Ferguson up front. Just an idea, I really think we need to try and shake it up a bit this year.

I like this. I'd be looking at getting one or both of Scales and O'Brien into that defence too for a look. It also demonstrates that we a shy of midfield options and Azaz will need to balance up with Knight a little. Aaron Connolly also provides an alternative to Ogbene for more of a goal threat and less of a defensive work rate.

[Eirambler]

While I like the idea of shaking things up a bit, having Egan in center defense hardly does that, and I think I'd be looking at Jake O'Brien ahead of McGuinness.

I also think long term Ogbene needs to be used as an impact sub. He's a good lad, but he's not a great footballer and I don't think we should be relying on him starting.

While I'm all for shaking things up I felt there realistically needed to be one older head in there. Obviously I could have gone with O'Brien or Omobamidele in that position, but that's why I kept Egan in.

In terms of O'Brien v McGuinness, while O'Brien's progress is impressive this season and he's at a higher profile club, McGuinness has come on leaps and bounds away from the cameras at Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff. I'd be fairly certain he'll move to the Premier League in the next 12 to 18 months as he seems to be a fairly complete centre back and from what I have seen is less prone to mistakes than O'Brien is currently.

[tetsujin1979]

I'd add Jon Gallagher, from Austin FC. Last sesaon, he had the joint most appearances(40) with goalkeeper Brad Stuver, and Ethan Finlay. Fourth top scorer, with five, and the most assists - eight - and all that from defence.
And he made the MLS All Star team that played Arsenal in July
Austin didn't have a great season, finishing 12th of 14 teams in the Western Conference, but he still played well.

[Strongbow10]

We need to look at areas of the team in which we are weak and start to integrate new players, players who may not even be regulars at their club, a bit like when Mick first took over.

It's often a good international career/performance leads to a good club move/career.

Left back, central midfield and attacking midfield are areas we really need to find solutions.

At left full, we've tried Brady, McClean, Stevens, Manning, O'Dowda and Doherty. Potential players to parachute straight into the full international setup are Tayo Adaramola, Alex Murphy Sean Roughan and Anselmo Garcia McNulty (appreciate he is mainly a CB, but can operate on left of a 3 man defence).

In midfield, we need mobility physical presence in a midfielder who will sit in front of our defence. The likes of Cullen and Knight have played this role, they are reasonably neat and tidy but we need an athlete in here, who can run all day and put his foot in. We all thought Jayson Molumby would develop into this player but it hasn't been the case unfortunately.

Lads such as Jeff Hendrick, Alan Browne and Jamie McGrath (along with Cullen and Knight) have been favoured by Kenny but with the exception of Browne, Cullen and Knight, I don't see the others as having international futures.

Up front it has been a scattergun approach, lots of caps handed out but still nothing that looks like approaching a settled front line.

We have decent centre backs and prospects who are more comfy as wingbacks rather than as conventional full backs. I'd also include CBs who are comfortable at full back just for versatility and ability to change formation.

Ebosele and McNamara are my choices for RWB. Adaramola and Roughan at LWB. Tayo had a disappointing year, his loan at Coventry was hampered by injury but he has huge potential, especially in this system. Personally I've seen enough of Doherty, Coleman (legend), Brady, Stevens, Manning and Cunningham to know we need to be looking forward. O'Dowda is a difficult one, he still offers something but not sure he's a wingback.

At CB, I'm picking lads again who suits the system and have potential to be developed, Omobamidele will be there despite his lack of first team football. Massive potential, quick, versatile in playing as conventional CB, right of a 3 and even at RB in a pinch. Likewise Dara O'Shea. Scales and Garcia-McNulty (and O'Shea) provide options for left of the 3. In the middle I'm going with Nathan Collins, Mark McGuinness and Eiran Cashin who I expect to be operating at a higher level in next 18 months. I've seen enough of John Egan, Shane Duffy and Darragh Lenihan.

In midfield, along with Cullen and Knight, I wanted to include lads we can build around. Joe Hodge and Luca Connell are included as they offer something we don't have. Press resistant lads with calm heads. The next one will probably have people thinking I'm crazy but I like Killian Phillips. Mobile, physical and currently smoothing out his rough edges at Wycombe where he is doing very well. Again, he offers something we don't have, a real physical presence and combative midfielder, either sitting or box to box.

In attacking midfield positions I'd include Azaz, Smodzics (if interested), Andy Moran and Kasey McAteer as newish faces.

The only new face in attack would be Tom Cannon (again if interested).

Here is the squad in full (I'd be choosing from this pool of players, along with any of our underage lads who become hard to ignore and any granny rule lads who declare interest and are worth exploring).

Bazunu, Kelleher, Travers

Ebosele, McNamara, Adaramola, Roughan, Omobamidele, O'Shea, Collins, Cash in, McGuinness, Garcia-McNulty, Scales,

Cullen, Knight, Hodge, Phillips, Browne, Connell, Smallbone, Azaz, Smodzics, Moran, McAteer

Ferguson, Cannon, Connolly, Ogbene, Obafemi, Parrot, Johnston

3-5-2 variation (Connolly supporting Ferguson)

----------------------------Bazunu
---Omobamidele---Collins-----Scales
Ebosele----------------------------------------Adaramola
-------------------Hodge---------Phillips
------------Moran------------------------Connolly
---------------------------Ferguson

Or

4-3-3

-------------------------------Bazunu
Omobamidele--Collins-----O'Shea---------Scales

---------------Azaz---------Hodge-----Phillips

--------------Smodzics--Ferguson--Connolly

[ifk101]

I think the most obvious weakness in the player pools mentioned is the absence/ lack of experienced (50+ caps) and older (i.e. aged 25+) players.

For this reason, I don't think there is any urgency in capping new players as the squad is relatively new as is. Therefore, I'd prioritise what served Kenny and giving the 2023 new caps - i.e., Ebosele, Scales and Smallbone, more playing time to bed into international football.

[SkStu]

I think the most obvious weakness in the player pools mentioned is the absence/ lack of experienced (50+ caps) and older (i.e. aged 25+) players.

For this reason, I don't think there is any urgency in capping new players as the squad is relatively new as is. Therefore, I'd prioritise what served Kenny and giving the 2023 new caps - i.e., Ebosele, Scales and Smallbone, more playing time to bed into international football.

Agreed overall. I think I would be fairly conservative too. I'd been thinking how best to respond to this post because the new manager is going to want to get results but will also have a few friendlies which, if it was a normal situation, would be used to test out new players. The new manager will very likely want to test out the current crop of players and get them used to a system or two. If I was going to take a look at viable options in the risk areas as a new manager, I would be prioritizing taking a look at Murphy, Adaramola, Azaz and Cannon, if he is interested.

At full/wing back, i would keep Coleman and Doherty starting as long as possible while using Ebosele (looking closer) and Manning as appropriate. I'd prioiritize a look at Murphy and Adaramola as part of an expanded training camp.

In midfield, I think we are stuck with the current midfield crop and hoping that a combination of Cullen/Knight/Molumby and some decent coaching can improve us incrementally until we have some real prospects there. Maybe he looks at Collins in the holding midfield role. I do not think that Hodge, Coventry, Connell (yet) or Phillips (yet) are the answer - in that they are clearly a better choice to the three we have. Azaz is, in my opinion, better than McGrath and should take his spot ahead of Moran who needs another year I think.

Up front, we're actually fairly good. Obafemi, Keane and Parrott probably ripe for the chop. Its probably Cannon or Szmodics to come in and I'd definitely continue the rehabilitation of Connolly.

[CraftyToePoke]

@strongbow & @SkStu ; any reason Jack Taylor hasn't surfaced in your midfield options trawl ?

Regular minutes & several recent starts at Ipswich, tough side to get in this season, absolutely flying in an automatic promotion spot & has x4 goals as well think. Division up from Connell & Phillips. 6ft+ & can play various roles.

[SkStu]

No - great shout. I just didnt remember/think of him. Maybe a very viable alternative for Molumby? I havent seen much of him this season at all. Has he been impressing?