Stephen Kenny stresses need for ‘important performances’ as Ireland bid to bounce back against Ukraine

Who to blame now for the defeat to a country ranked 92nd by Fifa? The players? The captain? The new coach from QPR? The FAI? Or the person primarily responsible for results?

Pick a side, because the great Irish soccer debate is raging once again.

Ukraine come to Dublin on Wednesday as a summer of solidarity suddenly takes on increased on-field significance for Stephen Kenny’s Ireland alongside the reality of innocent people suffering under Russia’s invasion.

With Saturday’s collapse in Yerevan – Armenia 1-0 Republic of Ireland – instantly etched into the football psyche of both countries, blaming the pandemic, and its treacherous close-contact rules, for underperformance these past two years, as Kenny did so fervently last Friday, now sounds like empty rhetoric.

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The engineering of this grim loss to Armenia was three-pronged: Eduard Spertsyan’s lethal finish on 74 minutes, a wily Spaniard named Joaquín Caparrós and Kenny’s snail-paced reaction to his malfunctioning starting XI.

[ Ireland’s Nations League misery continues as Armenia edge to victory ]

[ Former Ireland captain Cunningham makes case for Conor Coventry call-up to senior side ]

Caparrós, the Armenia manager, is hardly a Giovanni Trapattoni-type guru, having traipsed around the lower rungs of La Liga since the 1990s, never climbing higher than his native Sevilla, outwitted the Kenny think tank of Keith Andrews and John Eustace in this Nations League opener as temperatures cooled in the Caucasus.

“We studied Armenia’s last 20 games,” said Kenny. “They have only played five at the back once against Germany. They always played 4-4-2.”

Until they didn’t.

Here lies the problem. Ireland looked clueless when the weight of Jeff Hendrick’s probing balls failed to fall kindly for Callum Robinson or Chiedozie Ogbene while Josh Cullen’s set-piece delivery was shoddy at best. That meant no Shane Duffy rescue package as panic gripped hold.

And anyway, last November, Germany splintered Armenia’s defensive barricade to the tune of four goals to one. Norway put nine past them in March and North Macedonia’s recent 5-0 win was in the Republican Stadium.

“We found it difficult to break them down,” Kenny conceded after a defeat that will exist on his CV alongside Luxembourg last year. “We created some good chances, some half-chances. They didn’t really have any chances bar the offside goal, so it’s disappointing overall.”

Such summation feels unfair, insulting even, as the Armenians continually raided out of defensive foxholes, forcing the towering presence of Nathan Collins, on competitive debut, to snuff out omnipresent danger.

All the credit Kenny has amassed since Cristiano Ronaldo’s late alchemy on the Algarve has disappeared. Ukraine, on an emotional odyssey from Glasgow to Cardiff, break like a tsunami in Dublin this week – a challenge this Irish team must embrace or suffer a miserable off season.

“We just go again,” said Collins, already grappling with Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League. “There is a game Wednesday, a quick turnaround so we are lucky as if it was over now we would be kicking ourselves in the foot.

“Listen, it is a chance to redeem ourselves.

“Ukraine are a good team, we knew that of course, but I don’t think they are anything we can’t beat. We need to get ready for it, we need a reaction. And a reaction for the fans that travelled over here, because it is some trek and they deserve that.”

The theory that Kenny, a League of Ireland manager by trade, is out of his depth in the international arena receives an unexpected quickening by a result that nestles beside Macedonia in 1997, Cyprus in 2006 and the 1995 draw in Lichtenstein that mortally wounded Jack Charlton’s reign.

The manager’s selection and decision making, or lack thereof, saw Ireland sleep walk into defeat against the poorest side in a four-team group he proclaimed they could win outright. The lack of urgency on the sideline as Cadiz centre half Varazdat Haroyan heroically marshalled the home defence was worsened by a post-match reaction as inaccurate as his team’s passing.

Kenny spoke about the wing back position demanding the “most endurance” and yet he refused to freshen up this key area until the 73rd minute when James McClean replaced Enda Stevens and Ogbene shifted wide right. Inexplicably, a drained-looking Séamus Coleman finished the game.

The Spertsyan goal came seconds after these tactical switches.

“No,” Kenny replied to the suggestion that re-enforcements were needed sooner. “We made a change 15 minutes into the second half, with Michael Obafemi coming on, so it is not a long time frame between that and making a change.”

In fact, Obafemi replaced the anonymous Troy Parrott on 65 minutes.

“It was nil-all when Jason Knight and James McClean came on. Just before the goal. That hurt us a bit.” It hurt more than a bit.

So, mere blip or return to the dark days?

“No, it is a setback, you are going to get them,” Kenny replied. “It is a disappointing result but it is important that we bounce back quickly. Very important.”

No competitive wins in 11 Nations League outings remains the salient statistic as an outpouring of goodwill for the Ukrainians visits a packed Aviva stadium, followed by a chastised Scotland on Saturday, which could further derail a project that perhaps needs rethinking?

“Absolutely not,” Kenny answered. “This is a result we didn’t want, I am not trying to deflect from that, but we need to bounce back this week with important performances.”