Stephen Kenny the easy scapegoat amid Irish football's delusions of grandeur, writes paulfennessy21 -
Prior to the game, there was plenty of talk about it being a “must-win” match for Ireland.
The manner of the performance, as much as the result, was extremely worrying from an Irish perspective, as the visitors struggled to create a serious chance of note in the second half particularly, allowing Greece to see the game out with relative ease. The morale-boosting 3-0 Nations League win over Scotland, almost a year ago to the day, was easily the best result and performance of the Kenny era. Nonetheless, it is looking increasingly like an anomaly, as there has been nothing remotely comparable before or since.
This is particularly true of international football, where transfers are non-existent and tactics are less important than club football, as managers invariably have so little time to work with players. Kenny has certainly made mistakes as Ireland manager, and most of the bold selection calls last night — Will Smallbone, Adam Idah, Callum O’Dowda — didn’t really work out. Additionally, the Greeks all too easily exposed the three-at-the-back system with a mixture of their wide attackers and full-backs wreaking havoc and being afforded far too much space to create overloads on the flanks.
Ireland’s players do not deserve to be denigrated, as they are a professional, hardworking group of people who invariably conduct themselves impeccably on and off the field. Beyond that, there is a dearth of true quality meaning Ireland can no longer expect to regularly qualify for tournaments as was briefly the case during the golden era that Jack Charlton oversaw.
Despite the best efforts of many skilled, dedicated and well-intentioned individuals, grassroots football has suffered hugely.
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