Jury’s still out on head coach after FAI Cup triumph
IN some ways Dundalk must be kicking themselves when they look at all 12 league tables from the group stages of the Europa League and realise that four of the teams that have qualified for the knockout stages have scored fewer goals in their group matches.
In fact three others who scored just a goal more than Dundalk’s eight, also earned qualification for the next stage.
The teams that have qualified scoring less than Dundalk are Real Sociedad, our old friends from Israel, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Antwerp and Wolfsberger AC, while our opponents in the group stage Molde were amongst the teams who scored just one goal more than Dundalk to qualify, the others being Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade.
Understandably too the comparison will always be made with the only other time Dundalk qualified for the group stages, in 2016 when their total of five goals in six games yielded a return of four points (1-1 draw away to AZ and a 1-0 win over Maccabi).
Those four points were earned on the foundation of a solid and well drilled defensive unit, for they conceded just eight goals, while in this campaign they gave away 19 goals, earning them the unwanted shared distinction with Celtic and Ludogorets of having the worst defensive record of all 48 teams.
For that reason a close season review of the European campaign must focus on the concession of an average of three goals a game which, when compared with 2016 when just over a goal a game was conceded, tells its own story.
That review will undoubtedly conclude that a high percentage of the 19 goals conceded were down to individual errors, while it must also be accepted that the defensive organisation wasn’t good enough, especially in the case of goals conceded from set pieces.
The individual errors that dotted the campaign were best illustrated by the first goal gifted to Arsenal in last Thursday night’s game at the Aviva which the Londoners won 4-2.
It came about when Andy Boyle had his pocket picked by the alert Eddie Nketiah who had the easy task of lifting the ball over the stranded Gary Rogers.
No wonder the Dundalk defender thumped the ground in frustration, for yet again the crucial first goal was surrendered too easily by an experienced player who casually failed to realise that the step up in quality to this level brings the need to intensify concentration levels.
Not that Andy Boyle or any other player should be singled out for criticism, for individual errors for playing at a higher level demands intensity levels not normally experienced in the domestic game and usually result in the ultimate punishment.
Allowance must also be made that it is only on the European stage that they encounter players of the technical quality and pace of Nketiah or Folarin Balogun who is tipped to be the next Ian Wright, or Nicolas Pepe who cost Arsenal £72 million.
To counter that step up in the quality of the opposition the minnows in Europe, like Dundalk, need their players to perform well above their normal standard and for their game plan to be so structured, disciplined and enjoy a good share of fortune to get a result against superior opposition.
In all of their games in Europe, the Dundalk players lacked nothing in spirit or character, and at times in all of their games they showed great courage in possession and displayed some excellent passing and movement, a factor that was generously acknowledged by two English pundits, Martin Keown and Owen Hargraves on BT after Thursday’s game.
Hargraves, a former Manchester United midfielder who had watched a number of Dundalk games, felt that the players should be proud of their performances, for ‘they played some very good football, didn’t just hump the ball forward, and had the bravery and composure to play the ball out from the back’.
The problem for Dundalk is that they don’t want the platitudes of the neutrals or former players praising them for giving a number of very spirited performances in Europe.
They, and their supporters, need not just the praise, points on the board, and the bonus prize-money, but the belief that the team is progressing under the new coaching structure headed by Filippo Giovagnoli.
On that score the jury is still out, for while the season ended well, winning the Cup and at times playing a much more exciting brand of football than was evident under Vinny Perth’s more rigid formation, concerns have surfaced over the constant changes in personnel from game to game, some of which looked like change for change sake, too many alterations in the formation of the team and - the most worrying of all - the refusal to dispense with the zonal marking system for set pieces until the last game.
After constant criticism of this system, even after the Cup final, the change was made to revert more to a man-to-man marking system against Arsenal, which the
players seemed a lot more comfortable with.
Of course allowances must be made for the fact that the new coaching staff came into the club mid-season and with a playing panel that they inherited, but the desire to have the players conform to a system that the coaching staff preferred, rather than finding a system that suited the players at the club, became a problem.
Players like Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare, Cameron Dummigan, John Mountney and Jordon Flores were frequently played out of positions to which they are best suited but to their credit always tried to adapt.
In the early games after the new coaching team took over, they maintained the flat back four previously employed, but towards the end of the season the preference seemed to be for three at the back, using the wing backs higher up the field.
It worked a treat in some games, most notably against Bohs in the Cup, but in Europe teams quickly copped on, resulting in Dundalk being overrun in the midfield area and leaving captain Chris Shields with too big a workload to keep his side in games.
It may be that when Filippo Giovagnoli returns next year he will have a panel of players of his own choosing, allowing him to structure the formation that he prefers, but his priority from the start must be to stop the team leaking goals so easily, otherwise they will find it difficult to regain the League title from Rovers.
It has, however, been an exciting end to the season which has lifted the spirits not just of supporters but the town, and Filippo Giovagnoli must take his share of the credit for this.
It was a difficult assignment he was handed in August and it is doubtful that anyone could have done any better.