Will Ireland go for it? Who's going to provide the width? How will Richard Dunne cope with Zlatan in his first competitive international in over a year? All questions we're looking forward to seeing answered at the Aviva tomorrow night.
It’s win or bust time, but will Trap go for it?
Ireland won’t be mathematically out of contention if we don’t wrap up all three points at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow night but our qualification prospects could end up looking pretty bleak if we don’t end up winning the game.
A point would leave us level with Sweden and probably ahead of Austria considering they will be taking Germany on in their own backyard, but Trap should see it as imperative to push for points now rather than in away fixtures against Austria and Germany and a home clash against Kazakhstan which could come a little too late.
Under Trapattoni, Ireland seem best suited to a policy of containment – our away record in his time in charge is a testament to that – but when the onus is on Ireland to dictate matters and set the tone, we have often been found wanting.
As is the case with many of his compatriots, conservatism is ingrained in Trapattoni and it wouldn’t be in his nature to send out a team with a gung-ho attacking approach but Ireland can’t simply wait for things to happen and the goals to come tomorrow night.
Signs that indicate the approach Ireland are going to take will be there for all to see shortly after kick-off. Will the full backs be encouraged to go forward? Will James McCarthy be encouraged to express himself and spray a few passes around rather than simply getting the ball into the attacking third of the pitch as quickly as possible? Will Shane Long be left isolated on his own up front?
With Ireland, Sweden and Austria all locked on 11 points, the danger is that, as far as Trap is concerned, this game will fall into the ‘must not lose’ category but that, we fear, won’t be good enough, particularly considering that we’re behind Sweden and a long way behind Austria as it stands on goal difference.
Wide boys could make a difference
Despite indications that Simon Cox would get the nod, Giovanni Trapattoni has gone with James McClean and Jonathan Walters out wide, possibly remembering the impact that both (McClean in particular) had in Stockholm earlier in the year.
McClean is more likely to hug the touchline than Walters so the onus will be on Seamus Coleman to bomb forward from right back, as he has done so effectively for Everton this season and in his most recent appearances in a green jersey.
The combination of this pair could bear a lot of fruit down the right side
Ireland are different from a lot of international teams in that they tend to stick fairly rigidly to two rather than three central midfielders and with McCarthy and Whelan likely to spend a lot of time protecting the back four from Zlatan and company, service from the wings could be the main supply line for Keane and Long up front.
Here’s an easy one for you on your first game back Richie, mark Zlatan
Richard Dunne has looked pretty comfortable in his outings with QPR so far this season, but it’s one thing dealing with Championship standard strikers and trying to handle a man who can be the best striker in the world on his day.
Ireland handled Zlatan well in Stockholm, but his performance in that game was one of casual indifference – hell he could have been smoking a fag and sipping a glass of wine at times – and the danger is now that the stakes have been raised, the best is yet to come from the PSG man.
Dunne hasn’t played a competitive game for Ireland since the Euros but he has a history of producing big displays when they’re most needed – Moscow, of course and even way back against Holland in 2001 (12 years ago this week) – and we might need him to pull another one out of the bag tomorrow night.
Ireland’s likely central defensive pairing of Dunne and O’Shea mightn’t have a lot of pace but they have bags of experience and that could be crucial, even if it’s simply knowing how to get under the skin of a man who has been notoriously temperamental in the past.
Besides, we’re sure Richie has asked Joey Barton for some tips on how to wind him up…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejIYkmXQIJA
