Stephen Kenny’s Attacking Principles

In November 2018, the Football Association of Ireland announced the return of Mick McCarthy as head coach of the senior national team. Stephen Kenny was placed in charge of the under 21s, with a view to succeeding McCarthy after the 2020 European Championships. Ireland managed to qualify for the play-offs, where they were due to face Slovakia in March, before a potential decider against either Bosnia Herzegovina or Northern Ireland five days later. However, with the Euros now being postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the FAI decided to release McCarthy from his duties, with Kenny set to take over as soon as football returns.

Kenny's relatively short spell in charge of the under 21s, coupled with his previous success as manager of League of Ireland side Dundalk, has created a lot of excitement among Irish fans who crave a more progressive brand of football. The Dublin born coach favours a possession-based approach, and shares the public's frustration with the negative, fearful tactics typically deployed by Ireland managers.

"Traditionally, we limit ourselves in how we think we can play. We don't think we're good enough as a nation. To me that's unacceptable. We have to demand more from ourselves."

A couple of months back, the 48-year-old outlined his principles of play for the attacking phases in an extended interview with FAI TV. This article will break down the core ideas he discussed, as well as providing video evidence of the principles being applied by his U21s team.

Who is Stephen Kenny?

Before pursuing a career in coaching, Stephen Kenny ran a meat-production business. His first job in football came with St. Patrick's Athletic U21s, before later taking charge of Longford Town at the age of just 26. After three successful years with Longford, Kenny went on to manage the likes of Bohemians, Derry City, and Shamrock Rovers.

He took the reins at Dundalk in 2012, guiding them to the title in four of the following six campaigns. The Lilywhites also reached the group stages of the Europa League in the 16/17 season, where they became the first Irish club ever to earn a point at that level of a European competition.

While the senior national team have failed to generate any real excitement under Mick McCarthy over the past 18 months, Kenny's youngsters have been outstanding, producing some memorable performances. Below are the attacking principles that helped shape those displays.

Attacking principles

Build out from the back with maximum distances between defenders

"We want maximum width from our back four in possession. I always try to instil that so there is real distance between the centre-backs when they're passing. We want defenders who are comfortable in possession and can play out."

Kenny's teams look to play out from the back whenever possible, using the full width of the pitch. The centre-backs split and are happy to get on the ball and attempt line breaking passes. The expansive positional layout creates extra room for each individual in possession and stretches the opponents to create space between the lines. Kenny's first priority is to build out cleanly from the defence, but even when they are forced to take aerial routes into the opponent's half, it is always done in a manner that maximises their chances of retaining possession. Intelligent positional play allows them to create pockets of space behind lines of pressure, with accurate lofted passes and lay-offs used to bypass the press.

Always try to play passes in front of defenders

"Every pass should be in front of the defenders. If the right sided centre-back is missing out the left sided centre-back to play it to the left-back, it's got to be in front of him. He's got to receive it in his stride. There's no point in the fullback being too advanced where they've got to check their stride and come back. We're looking to inject pace into the game."

In order to further aid clean progression from the first phase, Kenny stresses the importance of players making passes that arrive in front of their teammates. This allows the receiver to come onto the ball, preventing him from having to waste valuable time dropping back. The idea is to pass efficiently in a way that allows players to continue moving forward, maintaining momentum and increasing the overall speed of the attack. Up-back-throughs are also used to enable players to receive facing forward and on the move.

Fullbacks and wingers on different vertical lines

"We want the fullbacks and the wingers not to be on the same line. We want the fullbacks narrow and the wingers wide, or the winger inside and the fullback wide. So then they can play angled passes, one-twos, and create space for each other."

In order to ensure the best conditions exist to exploit wide areas, Kenny demands that his wingers and fullbacks avoid positioning themselves on the same vertical line. This is done to create better passing angles between the pair, as well as creating space for each other. If the winger is infield, the fullback will have more space to overlap. Meanwhile, if the fullback is infield, the winger should be isolated against the opposing fullback, allowing him to utilise his pace and dribbling abilities. Generating 1v1s on the flanks is a prominent pattern of play for Kenny's sides and in order to execute these scenarios effectively, he says he always tries to have at least three dribblers in his team.

Midfield three interchange continuously

"We always play with three in midfield, whatever the configuration is. It's important to have that fluid interaction where players aren't static. Whether it's two holding and one number 10, or one and two, we want fluidity and players being able to interchange."

Crucial to Kenny's build-up approach, the midfield is expected to be fluid positionally. One of the holding midfielders will often drop into the spaces between the centre-backs and fullbacks to receive as a free player before looking to play line-breaking passes. Furthermore, the number 10 regularly swaps positions with a holding player in order to disrupt the opponent's marking scheme. Whether they play with a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, the midfield always tries to engage in dynamic movements to generate central breakthroughs.

Dominate possession and inject tempo

"Have the determination to dominate possession regardless of the opposition. You can only do that by overloading the midfield and trusting your talent. We want players who are willing to take the ball in tight areas. Once you can control a game, it's important to inject tempo and pace into the attack. If teams are sitting off us and we're struggling to break them down, it's knowing when to play that first time pass into the centre-forward, or the attacking midfielder, or the winger coming off the line. One touch passing also injects tempo."

Whether they were up against Sandro Tonali's Italy or a side with inferior players, Kenny's U21s always sought to dominate the ball and control the game. Overloads in midfield, sometimes aided by the inverted positioning of a fullback, is a crucial factor in these attempts. Additionally, triangles and diamonds are formed to ensure ball retention. From a psychological perspective, players are instilled with the confidence to express their talent and not to fear any opponent. Encouragement of quick passing, combinations, and creative actions helps to increase tempo and avoid sterile spells of possession.

Attack with a minimum of 5 players and have 3 in the box for crosses

"I always play with five attacking players. That's not including my fullbacks, so it can be seven. If we have a right winger going down the line, we're looking to get our centre-forward and our left winger in the box. The number 10 is the next one to get in, if we're playing 4-2-3-1. But if he's involved in the build up and can't get in the box, one of the central midfield players has to. That's why I speak about attacking with five players."

Kenny's brave approach ensures that sufficient numbers exist in the final third to fully exploit the attacking moments. Two midfielders, both wingers, and the centre-forward are all expected to contribute high up the pitch, with extra support arriving from the fullbacks' overlapping or underlapping runs if necessary. As Kenny outlined, this creates the ideal conditions for crosses to the box. He often refers to his fullbacks as "raiders", and gives them license to make occasional free man runs into the attack. He has also stressed, however, that his defence must always have a numerical advantage over the opponent's forward line, with at least one holding midfielder staying back to maintain balance.

Dual responsibility for centre-forwards

"We want the centre-forwards to have dual responsibility, offering with their back to goal and threating in behind."

For the most part, Kenny's under 21s have played with one centre-forward. However, he has often deployed Aaron Connolly in wide areas and Troy Parrott in the number 10 position to enable Adam Idah to play as the central striker. The trio are among Ireland's most promising young talents, and Kenny has been determined to fit them all into his starting XI. He demands versatility from his forwards, asking them to vary their game between acting as a reference point for hold up play or lay-offs, as well as making well-timed runs into depth to receive behind the opponent's last line of defence. Each of the aforementioned players have the abilities to fulfill these responsibilities, and the expectation is that they will all play a prominent role in Kenny's senior team over the coming years.

The video below highlights many of the core attacking principles discussed in this piece.

Conclusion

Speaking about the influence of Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool assistant coach Pepijn Ljinders once said that a team will always grow to reflect the character of their coach. If the coach is conservative in his ideas, and insecure about the quality of his team, the players will quickly begin to mirror those beliefs with risk-averse actions and performances void of confidence. For too long, Ireland managers have talked down the quality of the players at their disposal to protect their own reputations. Stephen Kenny's appointment marks a significant cultural shift, and many fans cannot wait for the transition to begin. Furthermore, his incredible journey provides inspiration for every ambitious coach.

The quote below is taken from Kenny's first press conference as Ireland manager.

"I’m not a celebrity, I’m just a football coach and that’s all I want to be. I’m just looking forward to working with the players. We’ve got a great group and I’m honoured to work with them. It’s my job to unlock their potential. We'll have a very definite way of playing. I want my team to play completely without fear.

We've got tremendous support and I think they want to look forward to coming to the AVIVA and seeing a team pass the ball, open up and really entertain them."

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