Stephen Kenny: Ireland building a team to cope without defectors such as Grealish and Rice

Ahead of Thursday’s friendly with England, there is a renewed focus on the FAI’s recruitment policy

anager Stephen Kenny poses for a portrait following his Republic of Ireland squad announcement at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Stephen Kenny believes the Republic of Ireland are on the cusp of producing a side good enough to do without talents such as Jack Grealish and Declan Rice.

Ahead of Thursday’s friendly with England at Wembley, there is a renewed focus on the FAI’s underage recruitment policy having missed out on two extremely promising talents.

Both Grealish and Rice, English-born players who qualify through the ancestral rules, developed from Under-15 level with Ireland.

Grealish featured prominently up until Under-21 level, rejecting a senior call up from Martin O’Neill before switching allegiances to England.

Rice’s defection caused more of a stir as he earned three senior caps before also following Grealish’s lead.

For Kenny, however, not having the West Ham United and Aston Villa pair as part of his set up is not something he dwells over.

“Not really, obviously they are both very good players. I’m very happy with the players we’ve got. We’ve got a lot of talent coming through. Nearly eight players coming into the squad, young players coming in to supplement all the good players already there.

“We’re got a lot of young players, a lot of talent and we’re not far away from being a very good side. I can’t worry about other players who could have been part of the equation.

“They are obviously good players but we can’t dwell on that and we have to look forward and see what other players are coming through and will emerge.

“Some of the players, John Egan, Enda Stevens, Matt Doherty, who are now mainstays of the team but only became regulars in the last year and a half. They are in late 20s so other players can emerge later as well and we have to be cognisant of that.” 

The Ireland boss has gained an understanding of some of the demands on younger players during his time in charge of the Under-21s and it is his belief that the best way to avoid a talent drain is to create a system that they want to be a part of.

“Well, I can’t make promises that I can’t fulfil. What we can do is try to and make the environment at all ages and levels as professional as possible and make sure there is a clear pathway between Under-15s and the senior international team.

“To make sure that if players are exceptional, they move up the ages quicker to accelerate their development. I think that’s very important. If players can play at under-21 level at 17 and they excel well they can become first-team players soon enough if that’s the case.

“Really, that’s how I see it. Try and create an environment that players can really identify with, an identity for the Irish team. To be fair, all the players really love playing for Ireland at all the age groups.

“There can be some misinformation that nowadays players are not as committed,” he added. “That is not what I experienced when I came in. I found that when players were left out of squads, they were genuinely devastated. They were desperate to play.

“There is an awful lot of pressure on senior players because their match programmes are increasingly hectic, international calendars are becoming more hectic, and invariably some players are nursing injuries through critical periods and that creates their own pressures with clubs and so forth so, to be fair, they are always very committed to their country.” 

Kenny confirmed that Stevens is the only injury doubt after hurting his knee in Sheffield United’s 4-1 defeat at Chelsea yesterday.

He will be examined by the medical department this evening before a decision is made on whether he will play any part against England, or if he will miss the Nations League double-header with Wales and Bulgaria.

The Ireland boss was buoyed by Seamus Coleman’s display for Everton, despite losing 3-1 to Manchester United, and after watching Matt Doherty assist Harry Kane’s late winner for Tottenham Hotspur over West Bromwich Albion earlier today he is in no doubt the pair can play together if Ireland stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation.

“I definitely could. It’s a position we’re very well served in and we are grateful to have that level of competition. Because you need it with injuries and so forth. We have seen in the last window, we lost Seamus to a hamstring injury unfortunately.

“But he is such a brilliant professional that when he played against Manchester United yesterday you wouldn’t have thought he had been out for three weeks. He seamlessly fitted back in and came back in impeccable condition.

“That shows you how hard he works every single day. Matt Doherty has really found his feet at Tottenham, he played today and made the goal. He makes things happen, Matt. Even in the previous game against Finland when he was tired after playing three games in six days, yet in the last 10 minutes he was still involved in chances being created.

“They can both play together for sure, and we will have to see how that one goes. As you saw Matt Doherty played on the left-sided centre back for a lot of the game against Wales, that was obviously due to a lot of injuries.

“Seamus has played on the right side of a back three for Everton, they can both play along the right side, though maybe not in a 4-3-3. When we played 4-3-3 earlier your wide players are supporting the striker, making runs across the line and being dynamic, playing narrow and so forth.

“But in an orthodox 4-2-3-1 they can both play on the right, for sure.”