Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny believes that Shane Duffy signing for Celtic will be a big help for his nation.
Duffy has been selected for the upcoming Ireland squad to face Slovakia and Wales respectively. The towering centre-back captained his country in their last double-header immediately after completing a one-year loan move to Parkhead.
His decision to come to Scotland was criticised by retired Ireland international Gary Breen, who suggested that moving up here would cause Duffy to pick up some “bad habits” (Off the Ball).
But Kenny feels that the switch will actually provide the nation with a big boost, and he outlined why that will be the case too.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Kenny said: “He could have played for his team in the Premier League who defend with a low block, we know he can do that all day, and defend the edge of his box. But the reason I see the move to Celtic as advantageous is they’ll defend with a higher line and that is what we need practice in.
“They’ll have loads of possession and there’s practice in that, as he’s a good passer of the ball. These are things that I think can benefit his play.
“If Shane is playing two matches a week, which is the case nearly, that’s great. He will be really sharp and fit and he’ll get loads of practice playing with how we will play, in that we won’t be defending really deep and he will get plenty of the ball.”
Duffy already showing that he needs to improve in that area
It’s interesting to read Kenny’s comments here, as it’s certainly been shown up in the first few weeks that Duffy isn’t suited to a high line.
When everything is in front of the Ireland international, he’s an absolute defensive beast. However, at Parkhead, he’s going to have to get used to a totally new way of playing.
Against Hibernian at the weekend, for example, Duffy came up against his first big challenge since arriving. And let’s not kid ourselves either – Kevin Nisbet gave him some problems. Mostly with balls over the top that forced the Celtic centre-back to try and match his man for pace and snuff out the danger.
Duffy performed capably enough, but even in these early stages of his Celtic career, you can see he isn’t used to playing in such an attack-minded fashion.
As Kenny says, this can be a big boost for Ireland, who at times can see a lot of the ball in mtches. It’s clearly the way Kenny wants his team to play, and Duffy’s move to Celtic can help him improve on that aspect of his game.
These things matter. We’ll see during the international break just how much Duffy has learned from his first month in Glasgow. But he still has some way to go before he’s mastered the high line.
In other news, Fenerbahce have reportedly made an offer for a player Celtic were said to have watched last week.
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