International boss is ‘making a mistake’ with £15m Spurs man, according to pundit

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Tottenham Hotspur newcomer Matt Doherty played the full 90 minutes in both of the Republic of Ireland’s UEFA Nations League fixtures over the international break.

New Boys in Green manager Stephen Kenny made the decision to name the 28-year-old at right-back ahead of veteran Seamus Coleman, so Irish eyes were on the Spurs man.

However, Doherty – who usually played as a right wing-back at Wolves – struggled to impose himself in both games as the Republic picked up just one point.

Ireland icon Johnny Giles believes that Kenny’s main error in his team selection against Bulgaria and Finland was naming Doherty ahead of Coleman at right-back.

The 79-year-old told Eamon Dunphy’s podcast The Stand – as transcribed by Balls.ie – that, while the Tottenham summer signing is a good player, he was deployed out of position.

“There’s been a lot of controversy about Coleman not playing with Doherty in his place,” said Giles. “I think he’s making a mistake there. Doherty, when he played for Wolves, was a wing-back.

“The wing-backs have the freedom to go and attack whenever they want. When he’s played for Ireland in the last two matches, he’s not playing as a wing-back, he’s playing as a fullback.

“There’s a huge difference in it because you don’t have the freedom to go and look for goals as he did pretty well for Wolverhampton Wanderers [when you’re playing with] the Irish team.

“That’s a big thing that has to be rectified. He either has to play as a full-back or Seamus Coleman has to come back into the team.

“My take is that Seamus Coleman should be playing. He is a full-back and he gets forward at the right time.

“Doherty is a very good player, doing what he did for Wolverhampton but he’s asked to do a totally different job for the Irish team.”

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Giles’ comments echo a fair bit of reaction from the Ireland fanbase over the past few days regarding Doherty’s suitability for the right-back role in the green jersey.

This could be of concern for Spurs fans, given Mourinho has more often than not deployed a back four and, if he continues to do so, it remains to be seen how Doherty will fare.

However, if Mourinho is planning to switch to a back three with wing-backs, then the £15million man is bound to thrive for sure.