IRELAND’S QUALIFICATION CAMPAIGN is only at the halfway stage and yet already they find themselves drinking in the last chance saloon.
Players and managers are united in their view that they must beat the Netherlands in Dublin tomorrow to keep their dreams alive, with Stephen Kenny calling for the “performance of our lives.”
Here’s what it will take to do it.
Stop conceding from long-range…
Ireland have a curiously consistent means of conceding goals, both of which were on show in Paris. The first is their increasingly bewildering weakness from long-range, with Aurelien Tchouameni’s gorgeous strike the latest to fly past Gavin Bazunu. Of the 28 goals Ireland have conceded since the start of 2021, 11 of them have come from outside the box.
In his post-match press conference, Didier Deschamps mentioned France’s number of long-range shots in the game, and it seems they believed it’s a weakness in Bazunu’s game. L’Equipe dedicated a page of Thursday’s edition to a piece on Bazunu’s record from distance, interviewing a former Chelsea goalkeeping coach.
“I had watched Bazunu when he was at Portsmouth and, already at the time, I had noticed that he had trouble anticipating shots from afar”, said Christophe Lollichon. “Because he never takes the extra step on the ball side which would allow him to be better positioned and because he is also often positioned too close to his line in this kind of situation.”
It was difficult to blame Bazunu for Tchouameni’s goal: perhaps Enda Stevens could have closed him down more swiftly. But perhaps Ireland’s record from distance has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with opponents now more minded to try their luck.
The Dutch have fewer too-quality ball-strikers as the French, but Ireland should be on guard when the ball is at the feet of Cody Gakpo, Frenkie de Jong, Xavi Simons, and even Virgil van Dijk.
…and immediately after half-time
Another maddening trait is Ireland’s habit of conceding immediately after the break. Six of Ireland’s last 11 goals conceded in competitive games have been scored in the five minutes after the break, Marcus Thuram’s in Paris the most recent.
Stephen Kenny was asked about it after Thursday’s game, and couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Sometimes, he admitted, it has stemmed from Ireland opening up too much, but that wasn’t applicable to Thuram’s goal.
“Sometimes we’ve actually been on the attack, we’ve been gung-ho and got caught chasing things”, said Kenny. “That wasn’t the case tonight, they opened us up on the left side and pulled the ball back and obviously Thuram finished it. It has happened in the last couple of matches so it’s not something I’m happy about, obviously.”
Be bolder in possession
If there was a criticism of Ireland’s performance in Paris, it was that they were occasionally too apprehensive in possession, passing up opportunities to attack in favour of a safer pass either square or backwards. There were a number of frustrating examples in the first-half, and it was the only mark against another impressive showing from Chiedozie Ogbene.
“I felt in the first half we did initially transition well, we counter-attacked well with Chiedozie Ogbene and Adam Idah, early”, said Kenny. “For the first half hour we definitely did. It was the next phase: once we set it up, we needed to penetrate, and we kept possession a little bit rather than penetrate after that. That was an issue for us, for sure.”
That caution may have been caused by Ireland’s fear of the French counter-attack, but they can have no such apprehensions against the Dutch on Sunday. They have to seize any opportunity they get.
Exploit the new Dutch formation
Kenny had a member of staff in Eindhoven for Netherlands’ 3-0 win over Greece on Thursday night, and they saw Ronald Koeman revert to the back three he abandoned at the start of his latest tenure. Louis Van Gaal spent most of the World Cup impatiently explaining to assertive Dutch journalists as to why he had to play a back three as his players didn’t have the characteristics to play the Dutch-patented 4-3-3.
Koeman promised to go back to first principles, and that yielded a 4-0 hammering in Paris and a chaotic 4-2 loss to Croatia in the Nations League semi-finals.
But this week he went back to a 3-4-3, and it instantly clicked. Marten de Roon scored the opening goal from a corner, while the second and third goals were created by Denzel Dumfries, a truly buccaneering right wing-back. Ireland must keep him in check: Enda Stevens is likely to miss the game with injury, so that gig will fall to James McClean. Xavi Simons is a lithe, near-etherial presence off the right side of the attack, and he will drift in-field to cause problems, so dealing with him will alternate between Josh Cullen and John Egan. Retaining Shane Duffy makes sense if the Dutch once again start Wout Weghorst up front.
Cody Gakpo will play off the left of the front three but he too will drift into central areas, and so Nathan Collins must be sharp. But Daley Blind is still playing at left wing-back for the Netherlands, so the returning Matt Doherty must exploit the attacking opportunities down his flank. Alan Browne should be retained but shifted into midfield in place of Jayson Molumby, as he offers genuine attacking thrust.
Ogbene may actually be better off the left-hand side on Sunday, to exploit the space left by Dumfries. Adam Idah will lead the line again, which would leave Kenny a choice between Jason Knight and Will Smallbone for the final slot in the team.
