It'll be interesting to see how Kenny sets up the team. Not since Brian Kerr and parts of McCarthy's first period in charge have we had a team that made any sort of consistent attempt to play ball. Sure, there were exceptions like the WC 2010 qualifier in Stade De France and some of the games from Euro 2016 but you really have to go back to Eoin Hand to find an Ireland team consistently going out to play decent football. Hand had Brady, Lawrenson, Galvin, O'Leary, Stapleton, Langan, Hughton, Robinson, Grealish etc. - all playing at a considerably higher level than our current team.
Apart from the Charlton years, we've almost invariably been set up to play without the ball and to "try not to lose". Once Robbie Keane retired that meant pretty much no goals getting scored - in fairness, generally not many conceded either but it all made for turgid stuff.
Presumably the fear in all managers was that we would be ripped open if we tried anything adventurous - best to keep it robust, muscular and tight and hang in until the last game or two of the group. This was clear in the way we consistently failed to hang on to early leads and were at our best chasing down an equaliser or a winner in the last 10 minutes.
In fairness Kenny has ploughed a very different furrow with the U21s and has delivered more good than bad performances with them. Given the talent at his disposal, I wonder will he have the confidence in the players to allow them to go for it.
