Northern Ireland have suffered immensely over the past eight years due to their lack of one of the key components to any successful international side — a goalscorer.
Not since journeyman striker Kyle Lafferty’s goals took Northern Ireland to Euro 2016 has the Green and White Army had a reliable forward.
Strikers such as Dion Charles, Liam Boyce, and Josh Mageniss have all contributed through their overall quality, yet they lacked the clinical edge at the international level.
Northern Ireland’s fortunes may be about to change with the emergence of two new centre-forwards, though.
Ronan Hale of Ross County and Lee Bonis of ADO Den Haag have caught the eye of their respective new clubs since they moved from the NIFL Premiership.
Michael O’Neill has made it no secret that he’s monitoring their progress and that both could become regular squad members.
This tactical analysis and scout report aims to shine some light on why.
Ronan Hale Scouting Report
Ronan Hale has had a year to remember.
In May, the forward scored two iconic goals to help Cliftonville win their first Irish Cup in 45 years.
His goal contribution tally of 21 goals and eight assists last season caught the eye of Scottish Premiership side Ross County.
The 26-year-old has now become an integral part of the Staggies’ front line and is appearing to be making a significant difference in their quest to remain in Scotland’s top division.
Scoring five goals in 14 appearances, Hale sits second in the Scottish Premiership scoring charts.
Rumours are that the former Republic of Ireland u21 international is on the brink of getting his first call-up for the Northern Ireland senior squad.
Yet, Hale has had to endure a difficult journey to get to this point.
As a teenager, the 26-year-old moved from his native Belfast to play for Birmingham City’s U18 side.
He impressed, putting in some eye-catching performances in his two seasons at the Midlands club.
However, Hale suffered from homesickness and returned to Ireland.
He then spent time at a host of top clubs in both the NIFL Premiership and League of Ireland.
Failing to find his feet anywhere, he found himself dropping out of a full-time football setup to play semi-professionally for Cliftonville.
Scoring 32 goals in 62 appearances, Hale demonstrated that he could fulfil his potential and play at a far higher level.
Ronan Hale Goalscoring Ability
Strikers are bought with the expectation that they will score goals.
Hale has done that already.
He scored eight goals in 17 appearances across all competitions and’s been vital to Ross County’s attacking threat.
Hale has contributed 44% of County’s league goals this season.
Hale’s goalscoring exploits are even more impressive when you consider the context.
In the Scottish Premiership, Ross County sit lowest for crosses and key passes per 90, meaning Hale hasn’t been blessed with incredible service.
Despite this, Hale has still managed to have the most shots in the Scottish Premiership.
However, 44% of Hale’s shots have come from outside the box.
This has resulted in his xG per shot figure being only 0.08 per shot.
In this situation against Heart’s, Hale arrives at the edge of the box.
The ball falls nicely for him, and he curls it expertly into the bottom corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
These audacious efforts have always been a part of Hale’s game.
Ronan Hale Shot Map
When analysing Hale’s shot map, it’s clear he has no fear of shooting from a distance.
Yet, when playing against better opposition and with limited chances, Hale must rely on more than just the spectacular.
Hale has scored four of his five goals inside the penalty area.
These strikes have come after he worked hard to get into the box and make the most of the limited opportunities he has in the penalty area.
The ball breaks into the penalty area; Hale makes his way to the back post.
As a low cross is driven in, the striker is there, ready to convert the golden opportunity.
Hale has proven his efficiency in the area.
He has a percentile rank of just 6.2 for touches in the opposition’s box.
This is expected with County’s dismal figure of just 145 touches in the opposition’s area, the lowest by a significant distance in the whole division.
Yet how does Hale have so many shots if his side is failing to create chances for him?
Ronan Hale Dribbling Ability
Hale’s ability can’t be purely defined by stats.
He’s someone who produces unexpected moments of utter brilliance.
Yet a significant part of Hale’s ability to change games and produce the extraordinary is his ability to dribble by players.
Hale will drop into pockets of space to receive the ball at his feet with the aim of taking on the opposition.
Hale averages three dribbles per 90.
What demonstrates his favour to dribble is that he only receives the ball 8.72 times per 90.
This number also becomes more impressive due to the fact that he has a percentile rank of 83.5 for dribbles per 90 when compared with other strikers in the division.
Many of his most memorable goals in Ireland came from him being able to glide by players with ease and create opportunities for himself.
This situation demonstrates Hale’s ability to beat opponents in 1v1 situations perfectly.
He picks up the ball just inside the opponent’s half.
He flicks the ball elegantly past the opposition’s defender as he’s pressed.
He then quickly gets to the other side and gets a shot away.
This self-belief that Hale has in his ability can so often make a difference.
He’s truly an x-factor player.
Ronan Hale Ball Progression Map
Hale’s Ball progression map shows that he has the ability and, maybe more importantly, the willingness to try and take players on around the box.
As seen through the red dots on the ball progression diagram, he does lose the ball at times because he wants to beat players.
However, his dribbling success rate of 49% highlights that he completes almost 1 in every two dribbles, a relatively high percentage for this metric.
Yet County requires Hale for more than just his individual brilliance.
Ronan Hale Defending Ability
Ross County have been relatively impressive defensively.
Despite their failures to create, they sit fifth for the fewest goals conceded.
Of course, this starts with the forward players.
Yet, Hale’s role isn’t one of a chasing forward who looks to press high up the pitch.
His role requires significant discipline.
Here, against Celtic, the forward takes up a clever position to cut the pitch in half, forcing the opposition to play in one direction.
This helps his side to stay compact and predict the opponents’ next move.
Ross County Defensive Territory Map
When you look at County’s average defensive line, it shows that they sit incredibly deep.
They have the second-lowest PPDA in the division, demonstrating their willingness to sit back and remain compact.
This is why Hale’s defensive involvement has been relatively low.
However, he’s impressively won 57% of his defensive duels.
Learning how to attack and defend when you’re clearly the weaker side is something that Hale will need to constantly hone if he’s going to play for Northern Ireland and be a valuable member of their squad.
His experience at County will be priceless when facing some of the most challenging sides in Europe during World Cup qualification.
Lee Bonis Scouting Report
Five years ago, Lee Bonis moved from amateur football to the semi-pro game.
He joined his local side, Portadown FC, who were pushing for promotion to the NIFL Championship.
Not many could have predicted his meteoric rise that has occurred since 2019.
Bonis impressed for Portadown and was pivotal in their promotion to the NIFL Premiership.
He then continued to stand out and secured a move to full-time Larne in January 2022.
In his two-and-a-half years at Larne, he scored an impressive 54 goals in 111 appearances.
This was a vital contribution to Larne winning the NIFL Premiership over the past two seasons.
ADO Den Haag were certainly impressed and have made Bonis their new number 9 in this season’s Eerste Divisie campaign.
The 25-year-old has already impressed with eight goal contributions in 15 games.
This form helped him earn his first cap for Northern Ireland in October, and the centre forward will hope for many more.
Lee Bonis Goalscoring
Bonis had a quiet start in terms of goals in his opening matches for Den Haag.
He worryingly didn’t score in his first five games.
However, since getting on the score sheet, he has found the needed consistency in front of goal.
In this example, Bonis latches onto a loose ball in the opposition’s box.
He fires the ball low and hard, giving the opposition keeper no chance of saving his effort.
Lee Bonis Shot Map
Bonis has averaged 0.42 xG per 90 this season.
As seen from his shot map, he’s slightly underperformed his xG total and will wish to be more efficient in front of goal.
This is one of the reasons the forward has a percentile rank of 35.25 for goal contributions when compared with strikers in the Eerste Divisie.
However, goalscoring is far from the only attribute that Bonis has to offer.
Lee Bonis Link Up Play
Bonis was renowned in Northern Ireland for holding up the ball and bringing teammates into play.
This clearly hasn’t changed since his move to the Netherlands.
A massive part of this success is his ability to win aerial duels.
In this situation, a long ball is directed towards Bonis.
He uses his strength to hold off the challenging defender before heading the ball onto a teammate in midfield.
His aerial duels statistics are impressive.
He averages 11 aerial duels per 90 with a win percentage of 45.2%.
This has given him a percentile rank of 76 for aerial duels won when compared with strikers in his league.
He also has many technical qualities that bring his teammates into play.
Using his strength to hold up the ball, he can then play intricate passes to find the supporting runs of his midfielders.
Here, the ball is passed into the feet of Bonis.
He plays a really intelligent first-time pass that allows his side’s right winger to get in behind the defence and play a dangerous first-time pass.
Lee Bonis Defending Ability
Stemming from his days battling centre-backs as a teenager in Northern Ireland’s seventh tier, the centre-forward is not afraid to work hard for his side and help win the ball back.
He’s already proven that in De Ooievaars.
In this situation, the opposition have made their way into midfield.
Bonis makes an excellent recovery run and performs a perfectly timed slide tackle.
The forward has proven his ability to win the ball back, with a decent success rate of 52.9% in aerial duels.
Lee Bonis High Regains Map
As seen from his high regains map, Bonis has won back possession countless times in promising areas of the pitch.
Many of these tackles have come through him counterpressing, showing his positive reaction in the defensive transition.
Bonis has made an unusual move for a Northern Irish player.
England and Scotland are normally the first options for players who want to move to play at a higher level.
Yet Bonis is reaping the rewards for being brave and moving to a new culture.
This will only enhance his chance of earning more caps for Michael O’Neill.
Conclusion
This article has proven that the NIFL can produce players who can play at a significantly higher level and perform well.
Both players are thriving in their new surroundings and will undoubtedly encourage other clubs to closely examine what Northern Irish football has to offer.
It’s also shown that the NIFL can be a breeding ground for future internationals.
Both Bonis and Hale will hope to be the forwards that can finally find the form for the Ulstermen to propel them to major tournament qualification.
