[ad_1]
Stephen Kenny says he is not afraid of any international team, and that this was one of the deciding factors in facing the tough task of playing England at Wembley next week.
Ireland’s new coach has been in charge of only a handful of games since their first meeting in Bulgaria in September, and Kenny has yet to see his team achieve a win in any of the five games that have been played since he replaced Mick. McCarthy.
Kenny indicated that he is not overly concerned with securing that first win, but is more focused on the performance of his team, which is still adjusting to a new style of football with the former Dundalk coach and moving towards the qualifying campaign for the World Cup next year.
The new manager’s first window was simply a week of ‘meeting you’ alongside his new team, with two games including a grueling trip to Sofia and back, while the October window was dominated by the loss to Slovakia on the play. . -off and the Covid-19 crisis that excluded key players from all three games.
Stephen Kenny said his Irish team is not afraid of England ahead of next week’s game at Wembley Stadium. #RTEfutbol pic.twitter.com/wlZvv5yXMG
– RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 5, 2020
Three more games await this month as Ireland travels to face England next Thursday before making the short jump to Wales for a Nations League clash. Bulgaria at home is the last game of the three, and the manager hopes that football will be the main focus, with no further distractions off the pitch.
“The most important thing in my thoughts is putting in good performances and trying to get good results,” said Kenny.
“We just have to focus on playing well against England, against Wales after that quick turnaround on Thursday / Sunday, and then the game against Bulgaria in Dublin on Wednesday.
“Three games again, great games for the players and I know they are really looking forward to it.”
Kenny explained the thinking behind the ordeal at Wembley, albeit in an international friendly, stating that it would have been easier, but less challenging, to take on a side they were expected to beat, just for the sake of morale. -Boost Maiden victory.
“For example, Bulgaria plays Gibraltar in their first friendly; we could have looked for a really low ranked team at home, tried to get some goals under our belt and get a win and just park that, and that makes that question clear. “. [of the first win]”said Kenny.
“But we didn’t. We faced England. Does it make sense to do that? Are people going to talk about win / match ratio in friendlies and things like that? Is that important?
“I am really looking for the team to develop. We have faced the England game because we are not afraid of anyone. We are thinking about how we can improve. It is important.
“These are good games, England at Wembley, Wales at Cardiff, Bulgaria here. They are good games to play, the guys are excited to play in them.
“It gives us the opportunity to improve before the World Cup qualifiers in March.”
With just one goal out of five played, the timing of David McGoldrick’s international retirement re-emphasized the need for scorers on this Ireland team, a perennial question since the retirement of record-breaking scorer Robbie Keane.
However, once again, Kenny is not overly concerned and believes that his team created adequate scoring opportunities, which could have led to wins in recent games, and is confident that there are more options in that department with the emergence of players. like Aaron. Connolly, Troy Parrott, and Adam Idah.
“I think you have to look at each of the games in isolation. I think the performance against Slovakia was a very good performance. Away from home, we dominated the match.
“In the other games, you can’t just erase the fact that eight players were unavailable due to the Covid tracking. That’s no excuse, you have to accept criticism if you don’t score goals and I’m willing to.
“With my analysts, I have reviewed the chances created and scored in the previous three games. We have only conceded four chances in the three games.
“There were two chances in the game against Slovakia – Darren made a stoppage of a counterattack from our own corner and Shane Duffy cleared one off the line – We didn’t concede any chances against Wales at all and Finland hardly anything, a pair.
“And we probably created 15 chances in all three games.
“We are creating opportunities and playing well without taking advantage of them and that is what we have to live with, but I have a lot of faith in the young forwards that are emerging, with a lot of potential: Aaron Connolly, Adam Idah and Troy Parrott, who will probably do it tomorrow. in the U21 team and he is a real talent.
“Callum Robinson, who has impressed me a lot since I started working with him, is a really good player, just like the other forwards.”
The manager also said that he is not spending too much time reflecting on the chances of reaching Pot 2 for the next World Cup qualifying draw.
Recent results have Ireland among the second seeds in Europe as it stands, but November’s results could change that.
“It’s not something I’m obsessed with, I think we need to focus on our own performances in all three games,” Kenny said.
“Let’s play the best we can, have good playing passages and continually seek to improve, and everything else will take care of itself.
“I can’t be obsessed with it, we can only control what we can so we have to play the best we can.”
[ad_2]