Former Ireland midfielder Glen Whelan has raised concerns about the quality of some of the players in the current setup after another poor Nations League campaign.
Ireland lost both games in this window, 2-0 to England and Greece at home, and now face the difficult task of making it out of their Nations League group. Tough fixtures away to Greece and England await them, and many feel that qualification is already gone just two games in.
Whelan, speaking this week on Irish TV after the Greek defeat, said that Ireland needs a reset because there is a lack of belief among the current Irish players.
“The disappointing thing for me is once the goal goes in, I’m seeing heads go down and arms go up,” Whelan said on Virgin Media this week. “There is not a positive thing in this Ireland team at the moment.
“I definitely think there’s a lack of belief. We need to get back to winning ways. We need to reset.
“I don’t want to hear about performances. I don’t want to hear about shape and how we are playing.
“I want to get back to winning ways—winning games and being involved in tournaments or being there or thereabouts. We are two games in, and we’re fighting for last place. It’s not good. There are too many players playing for Ireland who are too used to losing games. Something needs to change.”
🗣It’s been disappointing, really bad over the last two games, I’m just worried does it hurt the lads as much as it hurts me
🗣You need to be showing a bit of passion that losing games for Ireland should hurt
Glenn Whelan on current Irish players
Live on Virgin Media Two pic.twitter.com/6FZqamaMKv
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 10, 2024
Whelan also questioned if the 2024 squad of Irish players was good enough.
“It’s not easy, me as a fan watching that. I’m just a little bit worried, Does it really hurt the lads as much as it’s hurting me?” Whelan added.
Before the campaign, Hallgrímsson was not in a position to make wholesale changes due to his arrival in July, following the last two international windows.
Kerr, who was sitting beside Whelan, believes that a lack of planning from the FAI has resulted in two wasted windows. The former Ireland manager now believes they are out of the group already.
“I think there’s been a little bit too much of ‘I’ll have another look at this; I’ll have a look over the two matches and see where we go.’
“Unfortunately, we don’t have that time. We’re out of the bloody group already. I was hoping this time around we were going to still be in the group after two matches.”
Ireland next travels to Finland for their fixture on October 10. Just three days later, on October 13, Ireland will face Greece again, this time away.
Their penultimate match will be on November 14, when they host Finland. Finally, Ireland will conclude their group stage on November 17 with a match against England.
