Former Ireland international David Meyler has called for Stephen Kenny to be given time to build his own squad as Irish football faces into two lost years of international action in the wake of a dreadful start to 2022 World Cup qualifying at the end of March.
The former Hull City star believes Kenny will turn things around but believes that the FAI will have give him the time and space to put a new structure into international football.
“Look, everyone was a bit agitated on the Sunday after the Luxembourg match. But as time goes by you see a bigger picture. We have a lot of players, a lot of experienced players and a lot of quality young players."
“Yet there is a gap there,” Meyler added, “of players who were born in the mid-1990’s. Look at the recent squads, there’s been very few players aged 24 to 28. That means Stephen has had to turn to the younger lads maybe a year or two before he wanted to bring them in and that ‘year or two’ is right now.”
Left unsaid is the suggestion that the young lads’ learning curve is going to cost us results like Luxembourg. But that’s the reality of international football.
Meyler also admitted that it is hard, and going to get harder, for young Irish players to get moves to the biggest English clubs – the clubs that would further develop the careers of our young talent by giving them exposure to European club football.
“Look, the Premier League is now a global league, we want the Irish players at the best clubs. We want them playing regular football there, but to get there, they have to be the best of the best.
“And they also need that bit of luck. I had my own experience of it in 2010. There was word that Kenny Dalglish wanted to bring me to Liverpool, but about three games later I did my cruciate and that was that – the moment had passed and it never came to fruition for me.
“But Matt Doherty had that bit of luck last summer when Tottenham were in desperate need of a right-back and he was flying for Wolves. When the move happened, Serge Aurier took it as a challenge and upped his game and now Matt working hard to get back into the Tottenham team. That’s just the way it is now in English football.”
