UEFA Nations League 2020: Ireland v Bulgaria – tactical analysis

Ireland welcomed Bulgaria to the Aviva Stadium this past week for what was the final game of their UEFA Nations League campaign in 2020. Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has come under heavy scrutiny in the media for his inability to secure a win since his appointment back in September. In that time Ireland has played eight games (D3 L5) and have now gone 11 hours of play without scoring a goal.

Taking a subjective approach, however, Kenny has not had all his way, missing ten first-team players for this game, a mixture of Premier League and Championship talent laid off due to injury and positive COVID 19 tests. The Irish manager has had little time to work with the young inexperienced players in his squad, yet to be fair, they rose to the occasion when it was asked.

Bulgaria boss Georgi Dermendzhiev has come under similar scrutiny as his side are also ended their campaign on a long-standing poor run of form (W1 D2 L5), that win coming in a friendly against Gibraltar.

The game finished Ireland 0 – 0 Bulgaria, neither side satisfied with the result as both sides amounted a low xG from few attempts of 1.22 to 0.93 respectively, both managers would have felt their side had done enough to secure three points.

The tactical analysis below looks at how both managers set their sides up to get success and nullify their opposition. Here our analysis also incorporates key data into an objective and subjective analysis to highlight what was the most prominent aspects of both sides tactics.

Lineups

Ireland: 4-2-3-1
Missing ten first-team players for this game, Seamus Coleman, John Egan, Enda Stevens, Harry Arter and Aaron Connolly return to their respective clubs as they nurse injures. While Adam Idah and  James McCarthy are withdrawn for personal reasons, Jeff Hendrick serves a suspension after his dismissal against Wales. Kenny does, however, give both 24-year-old Ryan Manning his first cap at senior level as he slots in for injured Stevens at left-back and 19-year-old Jason Knight as he partners with Conor Hourihane in midfield. A mixture of experience and bit-part players of this campaign made up the starting XI. James Collins got his chance to prove himself up front while Ronan Curtis was also re-introduced to the side in right-midfield with a chance to impress.