Liam Brady: If anyone is going to improve our midfield, Jack Byrne must be given a chance

The players are with him, but Stephen Kenny has no magic wand to solve old problems

Fri, 09 Oct, 2020 - 18:00

It was never going to be the time to draw conclusions on Stephen Kenny as Ireland manager after just three matches. There are some former internationals already reaching hasty judgments. But only one thing might have created doubts in my mind this early in this reign — and that’s if there were signs the players on the pitch weren’t fully on board with what the manager was asking of them.

But I saw no hint of that against Slovakia, none whatsoever.

We were unlucky not to get to the play-off final, we were the better side. Sure they had spells but never really looked like scoring. And if you’re judging a game on chances created, we were far ahead of them.

But — and it’s a crucial but — it was the same old story that we don’t score enough goals from open play. Even if our open play was much improved in so far as we created opportunities from good moves and combinations.

It wasn’t entirely convincing. You could see that Ireland are still coming to terms with playing football out from the back, in the way Kenny wants them to. The goalkeeper didn’t throw the ball out enough, going long to David McGoldrick too often early on. The first half didn’t look much different to how we played under Mick McCarthy or Martin O’Neill.

But the centre-backs are looking to pass much more, rather than launching it down the field. John Egan, in particular, has licence to drive forward. We were patient in possession, moving the ball from side to side well. And Kenny’s philosophy and ideas showed up much better than in the previous two games. That’s at least a sign that players are taking his methods in.

We improved as the game went on and our substitutes — particularly Callum O’Dowda running at people — helped us to piece some moves together and create a little more.

The defence looked solid and that four should take us through the World Cup campaign, with Seamus Coleman also in the mix. We were more coherent, looked organised, but another old failing remains hard to eradicate — our midfield’s lack of creativity.

Whatever Stephen Kenny has, it’s not a magic wand, writes Liam Brady. Photo by Martin Baumann/PA Wire.

Whatever Kenny has, it’s not a magic wand.

And that’s why I scratched my head a little when I heard he’d gone for that midfield trio for our biggest game in years.

His hands were tied up front, with the unfortunate unavailability of Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah, but in midfield, he went back to the familiar options. Essentially, James McCarthy aside, it was the team Mick McCarthy had been playing all along.

Conor Hourihane was probably the best of the three, but you know by now you are not going to get creativity from McCarthy and Jeff Hendrick. McCarthy was anonymous until he got injured, while after a decent start, Hendrick’s performance unravelled badly.

In commentary, Mick McCarthy kept saying Alan Browne “has legs” when he came on, which is always a good start for a player! And in fairness, he showed energy and got in the box and was unlucky with the second of his two chances. It would be unfair if his contribution is remembered for the penalty miss.

However, if anyone is going to improve our output from the middle, Jack Byrne must be given a chance. In the couple of games when Mick gave him an opportunity, he showed he wasn’t frightened to carry the creative burden.

It would take a lot of courage to pick a League of Ireland player ahead of people who are playing in the Premier League. But we were told Kenny got the job on the back of being his own man, so I would like to see him experiment with a new midfield setup.

If he doesn’t think Byrne is up to it physically, that’s another matter. Some managers in England have looked at him and regarded him as not big enough or strong enough. But he can play. And if Kenny wants the team to play better football, I’d give him a spell in the team now, as an experiment. With little at stake, give him two or three games to see if he can handle it and work out if he’ll provide us with more than the average players we have in midfield.

Matt Doherty could easily match what James McCarthy is doing for us in midfield, with a bit more ability to drive forward with the ball, writes Liam Brady. Photo by Vid Ponikvar/Sportsfile

While we’re experimenting, I’d try one of our right-backs in midfield too. It’s a rare luxury to have a spare top class Premier League player hanging around and when Coleman is back, I’d try Doherty in a holding role in midfield. He’s a flexible player, who played left and right side for Wolves. I think he could easily match what McCarthy is doing for us, with a bit more ability to drive forward with the ball.

Up front, Connolly was a big miss the other night. He’s a goal threat, very quick, makes good runs. While McGoldrick played well, with him you get a link centre-forward, you’re not really getting a striker. When the ball is in the box, he’s not there. When he’s playing, the wide players must offer the threat. Callum Robinson didn’t do that enough, while James McClean was poor.

I was surprised Kenny left it so late to bring Shane Long on. Let’s face it, the Slovaks weren’t very good and were there to be got at and Long’s pace might have troubled them.

I know Shane is not the future but I still think he has a contribution to make if we are to get to the World Cup.

But that’s the nagging fear, even amid some positivity around our play — just where are the top-class players we will need to make any philosophy work?

We’ve got to find out if there are better forwards and creative midfield players out there. But I just don’t see the players on the horizon.

The U21s have done well under Kenny, but I keep saying, if they are really good enough they should be in their first teams at 19 and 20, or at least making a strong impression out on loan.

So you can’t help worry about where we are going, and whether we will ever be good enough to qualify for another championships. It’s really only the fact Uefa and Fifa keep making it easier to qualify that gives us hope, rather than the talent on the field.

But Stephen Kenny can only work with what he has and this isn’t a short-term appointment. He should be given space to experiment now. There is no point questioning his pedigree.

Of course, the way the FAI handled this appointment was farcical. The way he was promised the job and succeeded Mick McCarthy was the kind of PR solution only John Delaney could come up with.

But we’re in this for the long haul now. We’ve got to back him and when the qualifiers start for the World Cup hope he has his philosophy bedded in and the players know exactly what’s needed to get results.

Even amid the disappointment of failing to qualifying, there were encouraging signs. But solutions to old problems are needed.