Unlike Euro 2012, when Kevin Doyle started two of Ireland’s group games, the striker has been reduced to a spectator’s role for Euro 2016.
Doyle didn’t make Martin O’Neill’s final 23-man squad for this summer’s tournament in France and he’s watching Ireland’s attempts to make it out of Group E from his home in Colorado.
The former Reading and Wolves forward is helpless in assisting the Irish cause but, having watched Belgium’s second-half drubbing of Ireland, Doyle has revealed the change that he wanted to see made after noticing how isolated Shane Long was against the Belgian defence.
Writing in his Sunday World column, Doyle explained: “Shane Long is one of one of our most dangerous players, but he didn’t get much opportunity to have a big enough influence on the game – I know from experience that playing up front on your own for Ireland is no easy task.
“I felt it was a time to bring on Daryl Murphy with Shane to take some of that load. Yes we would have lost a midfielder, but we bypass that area of the field a lot of the time anyway.
“Shane spent most of his energy chasing down a lot of high balls and that is not making best use of his talents, but we didn’t have enough of the ball to take control of the game and that affected our attacking intent.!”
Doyle recognises O’Neill’s tendency to encourage his players to bring a fearless attitude to games but believes that the lack of concrete instructions can sometimes hinder the team’s chances.
“We have a manager who gives the players freedom to express themselves and work out a game for themselves in many ways,” Doyle continued.
“O’Neill does not send his players onto the field with a load of instructions and messages and, while having a clear mind is helpful in some ways, it doesn’t always work.
“It’s a method that has brought him success in the past and we have to hang on to the hope that we have a big performance in our locker in the Italy game.”
