The timing of Matt Doherty's move from Wolves to Tottenham ended up playing rather nicely into the narrative of this being the dawn of brave new era for the Irish team. Back in Dublin, at the top table for the first time in the build-up to a senior international side, Stephen Kenny characterised the €16.5 million transfer as an endorsement of the talent he has available to him.
That it is the first at quite this level for such a long time, though, says something about the wider squad he has inherited.
It is seven years since James McCarthy joined an Everton side that had just finished sixth in the Premier League for a not dissimilar fee. You have to go back a little while further, though, to the likes of Damien Duff, Robbie Keane and Shay Given since Irish players were being signed for substantial money by clubs actively trying to piece together a league winning team.
Kenny talks about some of those he has recently managed at under-21 level as though he believes they could one day work their way into that territory but all have a very long way to go.
For the moment, this move confers a greater status on a player who had already been Ireland’s best player in the English top flight for the last two seasons and Doherty seems thrilled to have been offered four years on the bigger stage.
“It’s the best stadium in the world and possibly the best training ground from what I’ve seen,” he told his new club’s in-house media.
“My time there [at Wolves] was fantastic; I haven’t got a bad word to say about the whole club at all but I feel like at Tottenham now I’m really taking a big step forward - just with the facilities, everything at the club and the manager (Jose Mourinho) here.”
He has expressed the hope that Mourinho will improve him as a player, and there does seem potential for him to fine tune the defensive side of his game, but the increased competition at the London club will provide pressure for the 28-year-old to push him more to progress too and it is to his credit that he has embraced that rather than staying at Molineux where he was hugely popular and more or less an automatic starter.
Kenny certainly seems content that Tottenham are getting the better end of a deal with will provide a windfall of around €1.65 million, 10 per cent of the fee, to Doherty’s former club, Bohemians.
“To have a fullback who scores goals is a real asset so it’s great value for Tottenham,” he said. “I think it’s a great deal for Tottenham. They’ll be delighted to get him and he’ll certainly improve the team. For him, I’m sure it’s not an easy decision; he’ll have had a great affinity for Wolves, after being there 10 years.
“I went to see Spurs a couple of times in the new stadium last season, though, and looking at the way they played tactically was interesting,” he continued.
“It’s more and more evident that teams are not treating the pitch equally in the way they set up. The balance of the team is set up differently and Tottenham are an example of that.
“The left back was being played very narrow but when I was looking at Serge Aurier (on the right), in my eyeline he was in line with Harry Kane. His exact position was in line with Harry Kane. So they played with the left back tucked right in and Aurier really high.
“More and more sides are setting up with imbalanced teams in search of perfection. I think it’s quite nuanced. And I can see why Matt would be a perfect fit in that scenario although he can adapt to play the conventional back four as well. I don’t see a problem for that. He’s one of the best fullbacks around for sure. And I would say he would be very much in the frame to play.”
To date, his far greater problem on that score has been with Ireland where he has generally had to settle for providing cover for his friend, the team captain, Seamus Coleman which, aside from the time Martin O’Neill suggested his ongoing omission was somehow done to the weakness of his attacking game, he has generally taken with very good grace.
Kenny, though, acknowledged that Doherty has been “undervalued” by Ireland and will not want to be accused of committing the same sin, especially if the player’s prominence is significantly enhanced during the season ahead. There was renewed talk on Sunday of his ability to play in midfield and there being enough games ahead for everyone to feature.
Doherty’s day has surely come, though, and the manager may have to choose between a tactical reshuffle or a review of Coleman’s ‘sacred cow’ status.
