Ireland v Sweden: Three things to watch

Ahead of Ireland v Sweden tonight, we take a look at the roles of Paul Green and Robbie Keane and worry about what Zlatan might do if he’s in the mood.

Will the Paul Green gamble pay off?

We’re no huge fans of Paul Green or anything like that, but plenty of the vitriol that has been spewed since the team was named yesterday was done so simply because of who he is and before people weighed up what exactly he might bring to the table in Stockholm.

As far as Trap is concerned, Green is in the team ahead of the more talented James McCarthy because he doesn’t trust McCarthy to play a spoiler role lying deep in midfield, not to man-mark Zlatan as such but to restrict the space that he operates in and make it more difficult to get the ball through to him in the first place.

The problem with having Green ahead of McCarthy is that ball retention is not a strength of either of our central midfielders, so although they might work harder than McCarthy to win the ball back, they’re far more likely to give it away in the first place.

In Green’s defence – and Lord he could do with someone having his back – he did play well when introduced against Poland and he’s held in a far higher opinion amongst Leeds fans than he is over here so he must be doing something right.

That doesn’t make the decision to select him right, however, and considering that Trap’s popularity amongst Irish fans is at an all-time low as it is, if the Green gamble goes spectacularly wrong it could be his last act in charge of the Boys in Green.

How will we cope with Zlatan?

Deploying Paul Green to ‘get all up in his area’ isn’t the most innovative tactical approach to try and limit the influence of the great Zlatan, but that plan mightn’t end up being all that relevant in any case.

That’s because, on his day, the PSG striker is one of the few players in the world who can’t be contained by the strategy of the opposition, at least not – we’re being realistic rather than harsh here – by a side with as limited capabilities as Ireland.

Zlatan has finally risen above the quite ridiculous tag that had been attached to him about lacking bottle in the big games at this stage and though one could raise questions about the standard of Ligue 1, it hasn’t bothered the big Swede in the slightest.

He has struck 33 goals in 37 appearances for club and country so far this season, including six in his last four for Sweden, a total buttressed by the magnificent four-goal haul in the friendly against England in November.

A valid criticism of Ibrahimovic, however, is that he can be temperamental and is liable to get frustrated the longer a game goes on without him being able to make a telling impact.

So if that means Green, Ciaran Clark or John O’Shea sticking to him like a limpet or constantly tugging at his ponytail it is worth a shot and if all else fails, why not try the Joey Barton approach?

Is Robbie the right man for the job?

With Paul Green in the side and set to sit deep in midfield, it will be up to Robbie Keane to drop back into midfield to lend Glenn Whelan a hand when the inevitable happens and Ireland become overrun in midfield.

Shane Long seems the ideal man to plough a lone furrow up front, but with Robbie himself admitting this week that he will basically be playing as an auxiliary midfielder, it is pertinent to ask whether he is the right man for the job.

The answer is, quite frankly, no.

Say what you like about the MLS but Robbie has made his bed in the US and all he can do is score against the teams put in front of him, which he is doing quite regularly at the moment.

It’s not his fault that the standard is poorer and Robbie has played in the hole in the past but Wes Hoolahan seems ready-made for the role and would perhaps have been in contention to start had he rightly been a regular in the squad at an earlier date.

Had it been a straight 4-4-2, we would have had no argument with Robbie’s inclusion and can only hope that the captain won't represent a square peg in a round hole in Stockholm.

Time will tell.

UPDATE: The Swedish team has just been named. Here's their XI: Isaksson, Lustig, Granqvist, J Olsson, Safari, Elm, Kallstrom, Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Kacaniklic, Hysen.