Stephen Kenny blooded a number of young players at international level after initially being appointed as Republic of Ireland manager, and while those early changes to the squad were long overdue, he has become a bit more hesitant to introduce new faces to the team in recent times.
Kenny's team selections have remained relatively stable over the course of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign despite the poor results on the pitch. He has changed system in the last couple of games, although Liam Scales has been the only new player that has forced his way into the selection picture during this period.
When it comes to introducing fresh names into the squad, the Ireland boss has come in for some criticism over his hesitancy to do so.
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Championship TOTW brings about Stephen Kenny questions
This week's Championship Team of the Week is an intriguing one for Ireland supporters, with five Irish-eligible players included.
Interestingly, four of them (Andrew Moran, Sammie Szmodics, Finn Azaz, and Marcus Harness) are uncapped at senior international level. Alan Browne is the other Irishman to make the cut.
🌟 Powered by @WhoScored ratings, it's the #SkyBetChampionship Team of the Week!#EFL
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) November 6, 2023
Szmodics and Azaz in particular are two players that many Ireland fans feel have been harshly treated by Stephen Kenny.
Szmodics has been in brilliant form for Blackburn Rovers since the start of the 2022/23 season, taking his game to the next level since the start of the current campaign. Despite this, he was not included in the initial Ireland squads in either September or October. He would be a late addition to the squad last month only to then pull out for personal reasons.
He has now scored nine goals and registered two assists in the Championship this season. He had already notched six of those goals and was the top scorer in the league when he was left out of the squad in September.
GOAL! The boos ring around Carrow Road 😬
Blackburn are 2-0 up at Norwich inside the first 15 minutes! pic.twitter.com/2kQ5wg0nuC— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 5, 2023
As for Finn Azaz, he has not come into the reckoning at all under the current manager. That was a bit more understandable when he was a League One player last season, although he has stepped things up after being promoted at the end of the campaign.
What's more, both of those players are capable of thriving in a position that Ireland have few other options in: attacking midfield.
Ireland have struggled massively in the middle third in recent times, especially when it comes to ball retention and creating chances. Both Szmodics and Azaz bring those traits to the table, meaning their absence from the squad has been a puzzling one.
Andrew Moran is a different case having only just now gotten his first taste of senior football, while Marcus Harness' form has also been inconsistent at times.
In saying that, the likes of Ryan Manning and Festy Ebosele are just two more examples of players that have been treated in an odd manner by the Ireland setup over the last 18 months or so. The way in-form players have been overlooked in favour of more experienced but struggling squad members is something that had not previously been the case under the current manager.
This may well have been a case of Stephen Kenny being unwilling to risk new players as his job came under increasing pressure, although his failure to make some much needed changes to the team has only served to lead to further questions around his position.
It will be interesting to see if any of the above uncapped players will be included in the squad for the November international window when it is named later this week.
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