Ireland’s dearth of goal-den moments from midfielders continues to be a stubborn shortcoming that damages the team’s ambitions of qualifying for major tournaments.
The lack of attacking punch from midfield has become a millstone, a weakness recognised and exploited by opponents. For Ireland, the middle of the field has become a wasteland in terms of goals.
In the official squad announcement for the two upcoming games against Portugal and Hungary, Heimir Hallgrímsson listed seven midfielders – Josh Cullen, Jayson Molumby, Finn Azaz, Conor Coventry, Jack Taylor, Mark Sykes and Andrew Moran. Sykes, because of injury, has since been replaced by Jamie McGrath.
At international level, those eight players combined have managed just a single goal – Azaz scored against Bulgaria in March of this year.
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There are more goals among the nine defenders listed than there are among the midfield contingent. Between them, John Egan (three), Nathan Collins (two), Liam Scales (one) and Séamus Coleman (one) have contributed seven international goals.
Ireland’s scarcity of goals from midfield is a problem Hallgrímsson inherited rather than one he created, but it doesn’t appear to be one he has solved.
From 2020 until now, a total of 58 games, Ireland’s most prolific goalscoring central midfielder is Alan Browne, with four goals. But the Middlesbrough player, who has netted a total of five goals for Ireland, has not been called up to the squad over the last 12 months.
Cullen has been a mainstay in the Ireland engine room since making his debut in 2019. A defensive midfielder, he has 45 caps and was named FAI Player of the Year in 2022.
Cullen has scored twice for Burnley in the Premier League this season – against Sunderland in August and late on last weekend against West Ham. However, the 29-year-old is still waiting for his first Ireland goal.
And despite being a naturally defensively-minded player, drawing a blank in front of goal is something both he and Ireland would like to see change.
“Like I’ve always said, there are a lot of areas to my game,” says Cullen. “And obviously, as a team it’s crucial for people to chip in and score goals. So, yeah, I’ll keep doing my job as best I can on the other areas as well.
“And hopefully, if that chance falls my way, then I’ll be able to put it away and get a big goal for my country as well, which would be great.
“To score a goal is the best feeling in football and I can imagine scoring for your country is a level above as well. It would mean everything to me. And hopefully, it’s not too far away.”
Cullen missed last month’s win over Armenia because of suspension but he is expected to return to the starting side and anchor the Ireland midfield on Thursday night against Portugal.
Varying combinations of Cullen, Azaz, Molumby and Jason Knight have filled the central midfield positions for Ireland during this qualifying campaign.
Azaz, 10 caps and one goal, has played in three of Ireland’s four games in Group F.
Molumby, without a goal after 31 caps, is suspended for Thursday night but will be available for the trip to Budapest. Knight, 41 caps and one goal, is not in the squad because of a groin injury.
Will Smallbone (hamstring), 15 appearances and no goals, is also out because of injury. His creativity in setting up opportunities for team-mates will be missed over the coming days.
The absence of the experienced Robbie Brady (calf) down the left also harms Ireland’s attacking threat from deep. The 33-year-old has scored 10 goals during his international career.
Tactically, Ireland have been guilty of playing too deep, too often. By allowing the opposition to dominate possession and control the tempo of matches, Ireland’s attacking game has been predictable and easy to defend against.
If they sit in against Portugal, then Ireland must be quicker in the transition. And while Cullen is not predicting totally front-footed football, he says there will be opportunities for the hosts to test the mettle of the visitors at the Aviva.
“When you play against the so-called better sides in the world, sometimes probably their main focus in their performance isn’t the defensive side of the game,” he says.
“So, when you do get that chance to have possession, I feel that there are areas that we can exploit. The lesson I suppose I took away from the game [in Portugal] is that there are areas that we can exploit this team when we have the ball.
“That’s taking nothing away from the great players they have, of course. And we know that it’s going to be another great challenge and a tough test for us, but I think there’s belief there that we can hurt this team when we have possession.”
Ireland have scored four goals in Group F, all of which have come from strikers – Evan Ferguson (three) and Adam Idah (one). Ferguson misses Thursday’s game because of an ankle injury.
Ireland will hope versatile wingers Mikey Johnston and Chiedozie Ogbene can use their pace and trickery if called upon though. Johnston, who has scored two goals in the green of Ireland, and Ogbene (four goals) are listed among the attackers.
“I certainly feel that we can be a little bit braver in possession,” adds Cullen.
“So not only thinking about containing them, which we showed that we can do [in Portugal], but also the belief and the confidence that we can hurt this team in possession and when we have the ball we can create chances against them.”
A long overdue goal from midfield would certainly help.
