[ad_1]
Republic of Ireland 0 Finland 1
Stephen Kenny believes that Ireland will be better off in Bratislava than it has been this week. Ireland’s new coach did not feel down at all despite a disappointing performance against Finland that ended in a 1-0 loss, but he made no secret of the fact that his team will have to be better next month.
Kenny said his teams had been “experimental” in his first two games in charge and while he accepted the results were disappointing, he says he has a better idea of his options for the Euro2020 playoff next month against Slovakia.
“We did not take these matches lightly and wanted to win,” said the Dubliner after a Fredrik Jensen goal in the second half had condemned his team to defeat in an empty Aviva stadium. “We needed to see what attacking and midfield options for Slovakia and we have analyzed quite a few players.
“The physical condition of the match was a factor in both games and in a month we will be much better,” he continued. “The players found 90 minutes difficult as they have not played a league game yet. It will be a big challenge to get out, but there have been some really good signals from some players and I think we will be much better than we are now. We have a clear idea of what exactly we need. “
The 48-year-old made changes to only one part of the team on the side that tied on Thursday: replacing the entire midfield that started in Bulgaria. Robbie Brady was rewarded for the impact he had in the end in Sofia, while Harry Arter replaced James McCarthy in center and Jayson Molumby became the second player of the week to receive his senior international debut.
Ultimately, however, it was again a problem area for a team that is struggling to prevail over opponents in the way it needs to.
Republic of Ireland coach Stephen Kenny on the sidelines during the UEFA Nations League match against Finland at Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Ryan Byrne / Inpho
Ireland’s pattern of play was very similar to Thursday’s, with the locals having the best things in terms of possession, but they lacked strength up front again and were once again vulnerable to a quick counterattack.
Teemu Pukki should have had the visitors up front from the start, but Darren Randolph saved his team on that occasion and Ireland seemed for a time to face opponents who had initially been able to exploit a lot of space, especially to their right. side.
At halftime statistics suggested that Ireland presented the same level of threat as their opponents, but it didn’t really feel that way with the home team’s pair of shots on goal that hit Lukas Hradecky squarely. Ireland could have viewed that stage as starting to master how to pass the ball from behind, but the evidence clearly suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done on what happens later. His actual defense remains an issue as well.
Adam Idah had a couple more chances here to show the rhythm that helped him get on the side, but David McGoldrick’s introduction and in particular Callum Robinson added a bit more invention to the Irish attack and Aaron Connolly will feel like it should. . he scored when a Robinson cross cut him very well. However, he looked like he thought McGoldrick was going to shoot with his head, and was unable to stand up to fire.
At that stage, Ireland were chasing things after conceding from a 63-minute throw-in that probably would have been nothing more than a couple of errors in quick succession with Brady as the key.
For a time, the Irish defense was deeply embarrassed by a team that seemed capable of fighting their way from midfield and into their opponents’ box over and over again. Robert Taylor was the main architect of Ireland’s problems and could have secured the second for his team before Pukki also approached with a shot from the edge of the area.
Republic of Ireland midfielder Jayson Molumby on the ball during the UEFA Nations League match against Finland at Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Niall Carson / NMC Pool / PA Wire
Harry Arter did the same at the other end as the locals pushed for the tie and created some chances of their own. From the Brady corner that followed, Shane Duffy came close to producing a carbon copy of the late goal that had saved his team in Sofia. This time, however, his headbutt flew.
“It was a better chance than the one he scored in Bulgaria,” Kenny observed later. “Overall we had three good chances and we needed to finish better than us.”
Kenny will clearly take some time to remodel this side to the extent that he hopes to do so and while there has been, as he wishes to point out when he gets the chance, something positive, he certainly would have hoped for a better start than this. .
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Randolph (West Ham); Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Duffy (Celtic), Egan (Sheffield United), Stevens (Sheffield United); Molumby (Brighton and Hove Albion), Arter (Bournemouth), Brady (Burnley); O’Dowda (city of Bristol), Idah (city of Norwich), Connolly (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Subs: Robinson (Sheffield United) for O’Dowda (59 minutes), McGoldrick (Sheffield United) for Idah (66 minutes), McClean (Stoke City) for Connolly (77 minutes),
FINLAND: Hradecky; Vaisanen, Ojala, O’Shaughnessy; Alho, Taylor, Sparv, Kamara, Hamalainen; Pukki, Pohjanpalo.
Subs: Jensen for Pohjanpalo (63 minutes), Uronen for Hamalainen (79 minutes), Karjalainen for Pukki (90 minutes)
Referee: F Maresca (Italy).
[ad_2]