Shane Duffy

I am amazed that any one playing at this sort of level is sinking pints so close to a major game. Wont help the rugby team or big duffy one bit 

Playing a high line, he sent a decent pass into Gibbs early in the game, followed by a fantastic tackle high up the pitch to dispossess Iheanacho. Then made a crucial intervention to deny Iheanacho on the subsequent counter.

You won't get too many disputing the defensive side of his game. Once he sticks to the nuts and bolts of defending there's few if any better than him in terms of Irish players. If you want someone to stick a head in, stick a boot in, win duels and so on, he's your man. Which is why he might come into contention against France.

The problem is that that's only one part of a central defender's job now, the game has moved on. Particularly the way Kenny tries to set up his teams to play out from the back. You can't really ignore Duffy's limitations when it comes to this side of it, he's just so poor on the ball under any pressure and that's not going to change at this stage of his career. 

The bottom line is that he has been with three club teams who look to play on the front foot - Brighton, Celtic and Fulham. And they have all decided to let him move on, as have Ireland for the last 12 months. It's great that he's getting a game now for Norwich, but obviously he's had to drop a level to do it. We have three others in his position playing regularly at a higher level and multiple others who are doing similar to what Duffy is doing at Norwich, except that they're younger and better on the ball. 

He may well come back into the squad this week with an eye on the France game, but the reality is that he's unlikely to get too many more starts in green. Unless the next manager is a McCarthy/Allardyce type, they're likely to take a look at Shane and come to the same conclusion that his managers at Celtic, Fulham and Brighton have come to, he's a throwback and has some great attributes, but they don't overrule his weaknesses.

I would start him vs the French as Egan is on the cusp of a suspension and the Dutch game is critical.