Uefa Nations League Group 2B: Republic of Ireland v Greece (tonight, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm)
IT was Greece, more than any other nation, that ended Stephen Kenny’s lofty dream of delivering tournament football for the Republic of Ireland.
The first nail in Ireland’s Euro 2024 coffin was administered in the sweltering heat of Athens in June ‘23.
Four months later, the Greeks arrived in Dublin and repeated the dose, only to miss out themselves on a finals place following a penalty shoot-out defeat to Georgia in the play-offs.
Any designs the Irish football team had on themselves well and truly ended after those two morale-sapping defeats.
Ireland’s esteem and FIFA ranking both took a serious tumble. Some would argue there is still more tumbling in this Irish team.
Fresh from their 3-0 home win over Finland on Saturday, the Greeks are back in Dublin again – under new management, with Ivan Jovanovic replacing Gus Poyet in the hotseat.
Tactically and personnel-wise, the 62-year-old Serb hasn’t changed a lot since assuming the reins in June, with 10 of the team that played in the 2-0 win over Ireland last October involved in last Saturday’s comfortable victory over the Finns.
Jovanovic’s clear advantage over his opposite number Heimir Hallgrimsson is that he’s coached in Greece since 2021 and knows the international players intimately.
So it’s still hard to know what’s different about Ireland since Greece won in the Aviva 11 months ago.
At yesterday’s press conference, formations were a key talking point.
In Athens 15 months ago, Ireland fell down individually and collectively.
Formation-wise, it wasn’t a great night either where Ireland were constantly outnumbered in the middle of the pitch.
But Stephen Kenny refused to change to two banks of four and stuck with a faltering low block of five.
Making his competitive debut in Athens that night, Will Smallbone was given an impossible task of trying to mind two players down Ireland’s right side.
Greece passed the visitors off the pitch and cantered to a 2-1 win - a scoreline which flattered the Irish.
In the return game in Dublin, Kenny opted to go with a back four, but Ireland conceded two soft first-half goals from crossed balls and their forlorn hopes of reaching the Euro finals vanished.
Formations played a part in Ireland’s downfall - but there were bigger question marks hanging over the quality of players Kenny had at his disposal.
After a slightly-irked John O’Shea fielded questions about his appearance at yesterday’s pre-match press conference rather than the new manager, conversation inevitably turned to systems of play.
It probably didn’t matter which system Hallgrimsson and O’Shea opted for against England last Saturday, it was as close as you’d get to an unwinnable fixture for Ireland against a team ranked fourth in the world.
Playing with a back five, though, gave the English midfield oceans of space.
There were lessons for Hallgrimsson on Saturday and lessons in last year’s two encounters with Greece.
“You reflect on the games against them because the players will be familiar,” said O’Shea.
“But you also understand there is a new manager in place. A Serbian man Jovanovic, he has managed in Greece with club teams, so he is familiar with their players.
“It’s quite similar in a sense of systems, what they’ve been doing, but little tweaks here and there, and obviously it’s just the one game we’ve had to witness against Finland.
“But it’s great in a sense that the lads will hopefully have that bit of knowledge to know that there is no underestimation of this Greece team now. They know they are a very good team.”
With Seamus Coleman ruled out through injury, it could nudge Hallgrimsson towards playing with a flat back four and replenishing his midfield with an extra player to try and stymie Greece’s ability of keeping hold of the ball.
And those two qualification defeats last year have almost certainly disavowed Irish fans of the notion that they should be beating teams like Greece.
“You have to remember the experience of their team,” O’Shea said.
“And in terms of the Irish public thinking, ‘Ah, it’s Greece’. But then when you actually delve into where their players are playing, the profile of their players, it’s a really hardened, experienced team.
“And it’s also a case of, taking each game on its merits. It’s a new manager in place for them as well who has just had that one game so far, but obviously he’s gotten off to a good start.
“When you get a goal like that to give you a boost at home, it was a fantastic start for them. Now, obviously, it’s their first away game under the manager.
“Will they tweak anything a bit different? In general, he likes to keep things fairly similar with what he has done with his club and obviously so far in the game he has played with Greece. It gives us a few reference points but ultimately it comes back to us as well.”
This preoccupation with formations might well be a mere distraction from the dearth of midfield quality in Irish ranks.
Just three days after their chastening loss to England, Hallgrimsson has his work cut again in the capital tonight.
