It’s the game that we have to win, so will the shackles be off like they were against France in the playoffs? Or will we play it tight and hope for the best?
Ireland in the tactical strait jacket?
It’s become a cliche to say it under the Trap regime, but rarely have we seen this Ireland squad actually get the ball down and play and involve the centre of midfield, which was perhaps the outstanding feature of that famous night in Paris.
The ball has often spent far too much time going over the heads of the two players in the middle of the park, and if James McCarthy is as talented as his £13 million price tag suggests, he should be able to really influence games for Ireland, which he hasn’t been able to in the last few starts.
That, if anything, has been the most disappointing part of the recent few months since he started playing regularly for Ireland. Whether it’s Trap’s fault or McCarthy’s inability to speak up and demand possession, it needs to be fixed if we’re to have any hope of winning against Austria. Our lack of ideas was plainly shown up for 45 incredibly disappointing minutes in the second half on Friday night.
Pilkington’s first start
We’re looking forward to seeing Pilkington’s hair and beard combo take to the pitch again, but more importantly we want to see how he does from the start.
He looked decent when he came on in the second half against Sweden, but Ireland were so totally deflated by the time they made the changes that he couldn’t really have a huge impact. That said, he still crossed in some inviting balls, and looked eager to chase passes.
James McClean put in one of his best performances to date on Friday though, and reminded everybody exactly why we were so excited when he first broke onto the scene for Sunderland and finally made his debut for Ireland after Trap was pressured into it.
Pilkington will need to be at least as committed to the cause, as McClean covered a huge amount of ground, but was also a real threat when crossing and shooting. The Norwich man does have the odd goal in him too, and we’re definitely going to need that option tonight in Vienna.
Will this be Trap’s last game in charge?
The camp have been bullish since Friday’s result, but the writing is more or less on the wall for the Italian’s time in charge of the national side, in particular if this game goes against us.
Robbie Keane was outspoken after the loss to Sweden (not to mention absolutely fuming, by the sounds of it) stating that if the players can’t get themselves up for the game tonight, then there’s a “big problem”. His frustration with playing for the last few years under a system that minimises attacking chances seems to have gotten the better of him, as he, like the midfielders, might have spent too much time watching games go past them without having the ability to influence them thanks to the tactics.
Giovanni Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli might not want to admit publicly that they’re on the ropes, but the list of names have already been drawn up for their replacements and the odds have been set.
Martin O’Neill seems the most likely, while the odds on Roy Keane dropped to 20/1 yesterday afternoon after a bit of money was put on him taking over. Neither of those options fill us with great hope, it has to be said, so for now, Trap is the best there is, and at least we’re defensively organised if nothing else. That sense of organisation didn’t seem to carry through to get the midfield communicating with the backline though, which is what cost us in the end.
What fans want to see tonight is the same thing we saw in Paris all those years ago. Passion, commitment, and maybe a bit of excitement. We have often given the credit entirely to the players for that spirited performance, but Trap had his part to play too. With his back to the wall like never before and the only result that matters being a win, he might throw some of his sense of defensive obligation to the wind, and have a real go at Austria.
They looked decent in the Aviva but that was yet another occasion where we let them play after scoring. That said the opening minutes against Sweden showed that when we press, when we dictate the play and make teams react to what we do, we’re a good side that should be finishing high up in this group. Tonight we need big performances and big decisions from the team, and from the management.
