Kenny tactical struggles overshadow McClean milestone – The Irish Times

Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar – Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm – Live RTÉ Two

The Republic of Ireland could have done without Gibraltar tonight. The pattern of Stephen Kenny’s 33 games in charge flow from crushing defeats that punctured chances of reaching a major tournament into displays of pure defiance.

None of the above is expected against a country ranked 201st in the world. The cornered Irish football animal can lash out at Parc des Princes on September 7th and when the Dutch come to the Aviva Stadium three days later.

In the meantime, the players must be pining for the summer break following an arduous 10-day camp in Turkey that yielded the worst performance under Kenny. Following the 2-1 loss to Greece last Friday, the streets of Athens and flight home proved instructive. The Green Army is contemplating their undying support for the Dubliner.

Forty thousand people are expected at the Aviva providing the 23,000 season ticket holders swallow hard and embrace the opportunity to witness Evan Ferguson in bloom. And Michael Obafemi. After the Opap Arena slump, Adam Idah is almost certain to make way for the Burnley striker.

It is widely accepted that Kenny got his selection, the 3-5-2 formation and overall tactics badly askew against Greece. That the 51-year-old had torn up his own script by 53 minutes, hauling off Idah at half-time before Callum O’Dowda and Will Smallbone followed is damning in itself.

A repeat performance of last Friday’s collective malaise against Gibraltar, never mind a failure to secure three points, might prompt FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill to act. That Lee Carsley, the former Ireland midfielder and current England under-21 manager, is being widely mentioned as a potential replacement for Kenny must be heaping enormous pressure on the inhabitants of the Castleknock Hotel.

The standard 3-0 victory over Gibraltar, already attained by Greece, the Netherlands and France is the base expectation. But that might not be enough. Certainly, defeat to Ronald Koeman’s misfiring Dutch on September 10th feels like the point of no return for Kenny. Gus Poyet, fresh from doing a tactical number on Kenny, will be hatching a similar plan ahead of Greece facing the Netherlands in Eindhoven, also on September 7th.

“France I think will win the group, that’s pretty clear,” said Kenny. “Greece have to play Holland twice, we have to play Holland twice, play Greece in Dublin so there’s still a lot of football to be played.”

Enough football for Ireland to be beaten out of a three-horse race for the second automatic qualification spot to feature at Germany ‘24. Kenny’s claim that his squad has more potential than Poyet’s Greece and that their encounter was a close affair seemed far-fetched.

James McClean: the Derry native will win his 100th cap against Gibraltar and will captain Ireland for the occasion. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

“We made life difficult for ourselves and we are just going to have to get some exceptional results between now and the end of the season.”

Kenny continues to lean into concerns about his players’ lack of game time at club level. He even offered a stout defence of Darragh Lenihan’s ability despite the Middlesbrough defender being at fault for Giorgos Masouras goal and looking miles off the required standard to play international football.

Lenihan is not alone. O’Dowda will struggle to win another cap when Irish wing backs are forced into full back duties because Josh Cullen and Jayson Molumby cannot gain a foothold in midfield. Smallbone struggled to cope in Athens yet his set piece delivery has suddenly become essential to the cause.