Republic of Ireland’s nightmare Nations League record undermining progress under Stephen Kenny | Football News

Republic of Ireland will attempt to bounce back from their disappointment of successive defeats at the start of their Nations League campaign as they welcome Scotland to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.

Stephen Kenny’s men lost 1-0 against Armenia in Yerevan last weekend in a game they had high hopes of winning to end their drought in the competition and Oleksandr Petrakov’s Ukraine then won by the same scoreline in Dublin on Wednesday.

Kenny said afterwards: “We’re hurting at the moment and we don’t have time for that because such is the quick turn-around here. We’ve got to get ourselves ready for Scotland.”

Sky Sports takes a look at the issues that manager Kenny must address if matters are to improve and something can be salvaged from this faltering group stage…

What problems have the two defeats exposed?

Ukraine bounced back from their World Cup heartache to win in Dublin and the fact they did this despite making 10 changes to the team which lost to Wales demonstrated not only their strength in depth but also highlighted again the lack of cutting edge and creativity available to opposite number Kenny.

Shane Duffy was denied by the woodwork late on but Ireland would ultimately pay the price for goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher being on his heels for Viktor Tsygankov’s 48th-minute free-kick.

Even when they did find time and space, poor decision-making meant goalkeeper Andriy Lunin barely had a save of note to make, and Kenny’s hopes of winning the League B group already look forlorn ahead of Scotland’s visit to Dublin on Saturday following back-to-back defeats by Armenia and Ukraine.

Ireland started and finished brightly at the Aviva Stadium but what transpired in between was depressingly familiar. That set-pieces remain the side’s biggest threat is a concern.

Asked if he was surprised his side had not opened their account, Kenny said: “We wanted to do that and we haven’t done that, that’s for sure, particularly with the game in Armenia.

“We always knew that Ukraine would be a tough game – they got to the quarter-finals of the European Championships, they’re a quality team, so that was always going to be a tough game. But of course, we would want points. I’m just raging that we didn’t get at least one win there in the two narrow games.”

Senior players must stand up and be counted

With Matt Doherty unavailable for selection through injury, skipper Seamus Coleman’s absence with a groin problem against Ukraine left a sizeable hole for Kenny to plug on the right side of his defence.

The Everton man operated as a wing-back in Yerevan, a position which was subsequently occupied by specialist Cyrus Christie in the 1-0 home defeat to Ukraine. Kenny hinted he could also contemplate a more inventive solution moving forward, but the visit of Scotland is an opportunity for him to land a statement win.

But other senior members of Kenny’s squad must lead by example during another transitional period. John Egan is confident the Republic of Ireland have the character to bounce back.

After facing Scotland is the return game against the Ukrainians in the Polish city of Lodz next Tuesday with questions once again being asked, but Egan is expecting a response.

The 29-year-old Sheffield United defender said: “That’s football. You get knocked back and it is all about how you respond to it and how you bounce back. We have a changing room in there where everybody wants to bounce back and put it right next Saturday.

“The players always give 100 per cent and that’s the least you can expect when you put on an Ireland jersey. Everybody has given everything, we want to win the game but came out on the wrong end of a tight game.

“Listen, it is one game at a time. We have to try and get back into it on Saturday. Obviously it is not the start we wanted, but we have to keep going, keep looking at the next game.”

Is there real reason to panic?

Republic of Ireland’s results had improved markedly prior to the most recent consecutive setbacks. Kenny’s first 11 games failed to yield a single victory but they had gone unbeaten in eight before the defeat in Armenia.

The fact remains that they have not won any of the 12 Nations League fixtures they have played under Martin O’Neill and Kenny and have scored only two goals in the process.

The Republic have now drawn five and lost seven games over three editions of the Nations League, the first of them under O’Neill, and while Kenny points to the Covid-19 issues which impacted upon his first campaign, the trend is dispiriting.

Six of the defeats have come courtesy of a single goal, but Ireland’s shortage of goals come despite Kenny’s attempts to play a more expansive game.

In truth, they have rarely threatened to improve upon that statistic either in Yerevan or against Ukraine. Perhaps more worryingly, they have not won a competitive game in Dublin since they beat Gibraltar 2-0 in June 2019.

Time for fringe players to prove worth

Ireland headed into uncharted territory with four fixtures in 11 days but so far they have failed to negotiate them. The first involved a lengthy journey and 90 hard minutes under the Armenian sun.

Egan is now a doubt for the Scotland game after he limped off after 62 minutes against Ukraine, so Kenny could be scratching around for solutions again.

The beleaguered boss inevitably has to shuffle his pack and although he is not minded to make wholesale changes, the likes of Jason Knight, who did not make the starting line-up at the Republican Stadium against Armenia, didn’t take his chance against Ukraine.

Dara O’Shea, James McClean and Alan Browne were all introduced during a frantic final half an hour and all three will be pushing for a start against Scotland for the chance to stake a claim for more regular inclusion.

Is Kenny under pressure?

Kenny has spent much of his reign to date having to answer criticism. He had to wait until his 12th game in charge to record a first win, and that over minnows Andorra, and although Ireland had gone eight matches without defeat before Saturday’s 1-0 reverse in Armenia, the last two results have taken some of the sheen off that run.

There have been admirable performances – they were unfortunate to lose their World Cup qualifier in Portugal in September last year as Cristiano Ronaldo got the hosts out of jail, and secured a creditable 2-2 friendly draw with a much-changed Belgium side in March.

Weeks earlier, Kenny had been rewarded with a contract extension to largely popular acclaim, although his side’s failings this week, and in particular the lack of creativity and cutting edge which have hampered their efforts, have added fuel to the fires of his detractors.

“We’re disappointed in the last couple of games. I think we are building something really progressive,” the defiant Ireland boss said.

“Statistically we are not backing that up, I know that, but I think we’re building something really progressive and I think people can see that.

“We weren’t perfect today, we were OK and played well in spells. People have seen a lot of progression in the matches over the last 12 games.

“Obviously we have introduced a huge number of players who are getting better. We have missed a few players in this camp, but that is part of it, we can’t use that as an excuse.

“But we have to dust ourselves down. We have no points after these two games. We should have more on the board, but we don’t. We just need to try and get a big win against Scotland on Saturday.”

Plenty of effort but no ruthless streak

Kenny has drawn up his plans not knowing quite which team his players will face. Planning for the opposition is in some ways harder with these quick turnarounds, but it is the same for both sides.

Frontman Chiedozie Ogbene admitted after the disappointment in Yerevan that Ireland had to adopt a “win-at-all-costs” mentality if they want to succeed on the international stage.

Ogbene was wasteful against Ukraine, blasting an ambitious 21st-minute shot straight at defender Valeriy Bondar with Callum Robinson begging for a square ball in the middle.

Missed chances has been a theme under Kenny and Ukraine’s ranking of 27 in the world meant the side needed to be clinical in midweek. The same can be applied against an improving Scotland, who showed no sign of a World Cup hangover in defeating Armenia at Hampden Park just a week after their own disappointment at the hands of Ukraine.

“The goal itself was a fluke, it’s just a free-kick that took a massive jump off the ground into the net. I can’t fault the players, the players left everything out there. They gave absolutely everything.

“I asked them before the game, ‘It’s not enough just to give 100 per cent, you’ve got to extract every ounce of yourself in trying to get the result that we need’, and I thought the players gave absolutely everything of themselves there tonight.”

Does Kenny need to be harder on his players in public? Republic of Ireland need to be far more ruthless if they are to prosper.