RTÉ PUNDIT DIDI Hamann has slammed Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny for including Ireland U21 star Andrew Moran in the squad that faced the Netherlands in their Euro 2024 qualifier.
Hamann believes that the call impedes on the chances of Jim Crawford’s U21 side, who are also in the middle of a Euro qualification campaign. The U21s played Norway on Friday, and Moran’s absence was keenly felt as they lost out 3-2 ahead of Italy’s visit to Cork on Tuesday.
“I think he shouldn’t have been called up,” Hamann began during the coverage of the senior Ireland team’s 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands. Moran was named on the bench but didn’t feature.
“They had a very important game against Norway last [Friday] night. They beat Turkey last month [and] Moran was outstanding in that game.
“If they won on Friday, they win four out of four [matches]. They would have played Italy on Tuesday in a very strong position, and probably talk about winning the group. Now, they’ve lost to Norway, they’ve got Italy coming. They also have to go to Turkey. So, I feel that Stephen Kenny’s addition of Andrew Moran took away the chance from Jim Crawford and his squad.
"It was inexcusable" - @DietmarHamann disagrees with the decision to call Andrew Moran into the senior squad
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 18, 2023
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“They’re a very promising bunch as we’ve seen in the first four games. He took away the chance to play in the Euros next year. Stephen Kenny is employed by the FAI. He’s got to do what’s best for the FAI. Every decision he makes, he’s got to make in the best interests of the Irish football, not for his personal interests.
“This is why it’s inexcusable to call up [someone] who is a main player on the team, who’s doing very well for Blackburn, and to call him up for a dead rubber against Holland. He might get 10 or 15 minutes but they won’t do him any good.
“He’ll play a lot more senior caps in the future [and] the U21 team needed him on Friday. I think the decision from Stephen Kenny to call him up should have been taken out of his hands.
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