International friendly: Andorra v Republic of Ireland (tonight, Barcelona, 5pm)
FOR the Republic of Ireland to get that elusive win against Andorra, manager Stephen Kenny believes his midfield players must increase their forward passes and be quicker to do so.
Kenny is hoping to shake the winless tag after 11 attempts against one of Europe’s perennial minnows in Barcelona at tea-time today.
While Kenny was happy with a lot of aspects of their play in their 3-2 World Cup Qualifier defeat to Serbia in Belgrade, he was desperately disappointed with the erratic and toothless display against Luxembourg a few days later which ended in a surprise 1-0 defeat.
“If you watch the Serbia game back, penetrating is not an issue,” said the Dubliner.
“We played some really brilliant football in that game. There were passages of play where we dominated possession and they had passages where they did but they’re an excellent team.
“Against Luxembourg we didn’t get that right. Some of our players, our midfield players, overall, need to look forward more, you would say, definitely quicker and earlier.
“We passed the ball with real penetration against Serbia. against Luxembourg, we didn't get that right.”
Kenny cited the evolution of Josh Cullen who has come on leaps and bounds after moving to Anderlecht last October and has earned a regular midfield slot on the international stage.
"Sometimes they are conservative in their passing. [But] I've seen Josh Cullen, for example, change really in that respect.
“Initially, having watched him at Charlton, he was always sort of a very honest, tenacious player who gave you everything and was a good footballer - but his range of passes was limited.
“But I have noticed now, particularly since his move to Anderlecht, he is much more progressive with his passing.
“He plays it forward earlier and has shown a greater range of passing. Some of our young players coming through need to look forward earlier and pass with real penetration. That has been one of the themes this week, one of the central points that we wanted to illustrate and highlight. So that has been important."
