O’Shea has no fear for Ferguson’s future
Interim Ireland coach John O’Shea has hailed the courage of striker Evan Ferguson and has backed the Brighton forward not to let last night’s penalty miss hold him back.
Ferguson went into yesterday’s friendly against the Belgians off the back of a worrying 20-game run without scoring a goal for his club, and when Ireland were awarded a penalty for handball midway through the first half, Ferguson assumed spot-kick duties despite the pressing claims from dead ball specialist Robbie Brady as he appeared to be keen to take it.
But Nottingham Forest keeper Matz Sels saved as Ferguson slipped on his run up to the ball, and while Ferguson’s goal famine goes on, O’Shea had no issue with the decision by the Meath native to take the kick, nor with his miss.
“He will be ready to go as soon as we need him to,” O’Shea said. “He will have another spell five or six years down the line with a couple of months without a goal, it happens to top strikers. As soon as he gets on the goal trail, he will be back on a run.
“Evan would have been on
the penalties, that would have been Robbie protecting the taker type of scenario,” O’Shea added, explaining the call to let Ferguson take the penalty.
“It was just unfortunate Ev had a little slip just before he knocked it so it would have put him off. A youngster stepping up like that, it shows the courage he has and he didn’t let it affect him, he knocked into the centre backs as soon as he could again and got his confidence going.
“It’s one of those things, he was unlucky with one [chance] where he was in a great position in the second half as well. How he started, that’s what we talked about at half time, about the reset, going at Belgium as quickly as we could, worked on a nice little kick off, and it was a really great ball from Robbie, just a touch too high and maybe Evan could have timed it a bit better, but it was a touch too high, he was unlucky but it was a well-worked move.”
O’Shea’s opposite number Domenico Tedesco labelled the 0-0 draw as “boring” but O’Shea wasn’t on board with that as he wanted credit for his team’s ability to counter the Belgian threat.
“We had the best chances, we were aware beforehand that they would go with that 4-3-3 shape. With the talented squad that they have, they made changes and the players they had coming on are talented youngsters playing at top clubs around Europe, so it was going to be a challenge,” O’Shea added.
Circumstances have ensured that this window doesn’t represent the start of a new chapter for Ireland. Instead, it’s a bookmark spinning out a story of its own, potentially an advertisement for what the FAI could have won. Or might roll out at some point in the future, depending on how things play out with the mystery man scheduled to arrive next month.
This was a satisfactory evening’s work for John O’Shea and his staff, yet it would be overly reactive to place great emphasis on the significance of it. International friendlies are rarely a signpost towards the success or otherwise of a tenure. Optimism has to be checked by realism; you need the opposition to be fully dialled in to draw firm meaning from what unfolds.
It wasn’t games like this that spelled the end for Stephen Kenny. Ireland did draw with a reshuffled
Belgian side in this window in 2022 while the Aviva Stadium crowd were encouraged by a performance in defeat against France 12 months ago.
The issue was a chronic inability to get the jobs done against similar or lower ranked sides. O’Shea’s interim stint won’t challenge him in that regard and the assumption must be that Tuesday’s encounter with Switzerland will be similar in personality.
On a bitterly cold evening, the
38,128 crowd didn’t hang around for too long in the aftermath, the attendance undeniably affected by tickets being bundled with Tuesday’s encounter against Switzerland. That wasn’t well received by those supporters with a distance to travel.
Still, they would have made their way out of Lansdowne Road with reasons to be encouraged. A missed Evan Ferguson penalty and the squandering of chances created in open play — one of the stronger aspects of this display — could have put a giddier slant on the conversations.
Describing this exercise as placing building blocks for the future is difficult because the next man might view the business differently.
Anyone expecting a radical shift from the Kenny era for this game hasn’t really been paying attention. O’Shea didn’t succumb to temptation to switch to a back four.
There were little tweaks, for sure. Robbie Brady’s return at left wing back gives Ireland a more technical player in that position than either Callum O’Dowda or James McClean, favoured by Kenny because of their athleticism and workrate. A superb delivery for a close range Ferguson header just after half time emphasised his upside.
Caoimhín Kelleher’s selection ahead of Gavin Bazunu was unsurprising, but that change is about form rather than philosophy.
The most interesting development was the inclusion of the in-form Sammie Szmodics on the left of a narrow front three. It gave the Championship’s top scorer the chance to bring
John O’Shea gives instructions to Andrew Omobamidele his form to the international sphere, albeit in a different position to where he has thrived for Blackburn. He does most of his damage centrally.
Nevertheless, the 28-year-old was bright and tidy, and showed his ability to burrow into space at the right time by anticipating a Ferguson flick-on from a Kelleher goal-kick just before the interval. He fired over and will be disappointed given that he’s been clinical from that range this term.
If Szmodics had stuck his chance away, there would have been a dramatic focus on the ‘big man, little man’ combo, reflecting on it as a back-to-basics approach.
But in truth, there wasn’t a dramatic change to the overall Irish approach when they had the ball. Essentially, the focus was on trying to deliver a better version of what went before.
The three centre-halves tried to play when they got the opportunity, dropping short to collect kick-outs from Kelleher. Ogbene attempted to provide a game breaking injection of pace. Josh Cullen and Will Smallbone worked hard in the centre of the park, and the latter’s contribution in a period after the restart was encouraging. He created one good chance for Szmodics.
Out of possession, there was
evidence of a game plan to press with purpose from the front. And when Belgium did play out, Ireland quickly assumed a 5-4-1 shape with parallels to the visit of the French. That was also the last time that Séamus Coleman pulled on the green jersey and it’s no coincidence that Ireland had a sturdier look as a consequence. The half-time arrival of Jeremy Doku stiffened the captain’s task, but after losing their first head-to-head, he regrouped.
Belgium’s approach to this encounter should certainly rein in a degree of the enthusiasm. With a showdown against England on Tuesday on their minds, the visitors rotated their options and had made five changes by the 63rd minute. Ireland, by contrast, waited until the final quarter to make like for like switches. Solidity was a priority.
There were cheers when Brian Kerr popped up on the big screen in the 25th minute. In his tenure, caps were not thrown around liberally in games of these nature and O’Shea followed that approach.
The introduction of Festy Ebosele for a five-minute cameo was the only real experiment from a personnel point of view and that is understandable.
This window is an audition for O’Shea to show what he can do, even if it’s about planting the seed for the longer term. He can take pride from the consistency in performance across the 90 minutes; Kenny’s sides had a tendency to switch off after the break, but that wasn’t in evidence here.
All things considered, there was enough in this to make the public curious as regards the lessons that will be taken from it and implemented on Tuesday. Even if that is diluted by the realisation that another reboot is on the cards no matter what happens.
CAOIMHÍN KELLEHER
Showed impressive composure to beat Lois Openda with a sweet Cruyff turn early on. Denied Thomas Meunier with an excellent save on 75 minutes.
Some passing errors on the right of the back three but improved as the game progressed. Good blocks helped to relieve pressure for his side and linked well with Coleman.
JOSH CULLEN
Solid performance in the engine room saw him named player of the match. Composed in possession under pressure and made a key block to deny Olivier Deman.
SAMMIE SZMODICS
Earned his long-awaited first cap at left wing and created some superb moves going forward. Shot over on 44 minutes but all in all an encouraging debut.
SÉAMUS COLEMAN
Skipper’s first cap in 12 months. Denied an almost certain goal when Ogebene failed to square on three minutes but an impressive shift at right wing-back.
NATHAN COLLINS
Another impressive shift at the heart of the Irish defence on his 19th cap. Imposed himself in the air and showed his passing prowess to get Ireland forward.
WILL SMALLBONE
Deployed on the right of a ‘double six’ and had a quiet first half. Clever lay off to slip Szmodics through on 66 minutes and like Cullen, put in a good shift.
EVAN FERGUSON
Wait for a goal goes on after his first-half penalty was saved, although he did appear to slip during his run up. Headed over on 46 minutes and worked tirelessly.
ROBBIE BRADY
First start since 2022, linked up well with Szmodics and got Ireland forward down the left flank. Strong deliveries from play as well as dead balls.
DARA O’SHEA
Some key early clearances before his flick-on led to Ireland’s penalty. Strong aerial presence from the Burnley man and comfortable playing out from centre-half.
CHIEDOZIE OGBENE
Should have squared to Coleman on three minutes but opted to go himself. Was a bright spark though, won several frees and added energy in the final third.
SUBSTITUTES
and
(70 min) came on as O’Shea changed his entire front three, but chances were hard to come by. (81) did well to deny Dodi Lukebakio a run on goal.
(86) could have done more to find Idah at the far post.
COACH
O’Shea’s back three did well as his side limited the world’s fourth best side to very few clearcut chances. Deploying Szmodics and Ogbene on the flanks also worked out. A positive start.