Euro 2012 preview: Ireland
Probable Ireland starting line-up
It is a decade since Ireland last qualified for a major international tournament, and the three biggest stars from the 2002 World Cup will represent Ireland again here – Shay Given in goal, Damien Duff on the wing and Robbie Keane upfront.
They’re probably still the three biggest stars, which rather sums up Ireland’s situation – they don’t have any world class footballers, and that has been foremost in Giovanni Trapattoni’s mind since he took charge of Ireland.
Trapattoni has focused upon creating a solid, reliable unit. Everything he says is about the system, about discipline. “I have given them balance, an equilibrium, and I have underlined that all 11 players attack and defend, without necessarily expecting to play well,” he once said. His quotes are celebrated, his playing style is not. Ireland are ultra-defensive. “In the past [the Irish team] had ships with sails and they had to go wherever it was the wind took them,” Trapattoni says. ”Now, you can set a course and that is what I have done with this team. But if you depart from the course, then you end up on the rocks.”
Conservative selection
Because of his focus upon shape and discipline, Trapattoni has been remarkably consistent with his team and squad selection. This has been controversial in Ireland – talented players like Wes Hoolahan and Seamus Coleman have been ignored, and it seemed as if exciting winger James McClean was also set to be omitted, although he’s made the squad despite little international experience. However, the point remains – Trapattoni wants tried, tested and most importantly trusted players, and this team is overwhelmingly about systems rather than individuals. His template is Greece 2004.
Trapattoni was a man of many formations as (a rather unsuccessful) coach of Italy, but with Ireland he doesn’t stray from a traditional 4-4-2, with two defensive-minded midfielders, two wingers breaking down the flanks, one forward dropping off and a big target man upfront. Ireland don’t hoof the ball towards the number nine as quickly as possible, but they’re hardly playing out of their comfort zone: they’ll spend long periods without the ball, then be direct when they win possession.
Defence
At the back, Ireland’s key man is Richard Dunne, a defender who has a remarkably basic skillset for a Premier League and international player, yet he is in his element in this system, where his job is to sit on the edge of the box, make headed clearances and get last-ditch blocks in. The fact that Ireland’s midfield stays so deep means he shouldn’t have to move forward and follow forwards out, as he is slow on the turn. His partner is Sean St Ledger – a fairly ordinary centre-back, yet a consistent performer at international level.
At full-back Trapattoni’s first-choices are Stephen Ward and John O’Shea. They full-backs are defensive-minded, and with Ireland attacking directly there are few opportunities to overlap – they generally don’t venture into the final third.
Midfield
Central midfield is the area that has prompted the most debate. Trapattoni’s favoured men throughout qualification were Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan – again, unspectacular footballers but capable of doing the scrappy things in front of the defence, as well as playing simple square balls out to the flanks. Those two seemed untouchable in Trapattoni’s mind, but recently the Italian has been spending a lot of one-on-one time with Darron Gibson in training, and has declared that he will be an ‘important player’ for Ireland, suggesting there could be a last-minute change in the centre of the pitch. Gibson can spread play with more ambitious passes than either Whelan or Andrews, so he is a more proactive option, but Gibson’s good performance in the friendly against Bosnia, Trapattoni returned to Whelan-Andrews for the final pre-tournament friendly against Hungary.
However, having previously looked the most inflexible of the 16 coaches in terms of formation, Trapattoni hinted this week that he’d consider playing a 4-5-1. “If we have another situation like this [an inability to retain possession in the friendly against Hungary], we need another approach,” he said. “When we have another player in midfield, we can make it more difficult.” That was a shock admission, and for Ireland to change system now would surely be a mistake. They’re unlikely to outpass the opposition – and the 3-2 defeat to Russia showed how clearly a two-man midfield can be overcome by a three-man midfield, but that was when Ireland conceded an early goal and were forced to chase the game for a long period. Prevent an early concession, and Ireland should be OK, although Keane offers the flexibility to help out in midfield.
On the flanks there’s another debate. Two clear first-choices throughout the qualification campaign (Duff and Aiden McGeady) and then a young challenger in McClean, who also performed well against Bosnia – though this seemed to bring the best out of McGeady when he came on as a substitute. Again, Trapattoni has the ability to switch these players. They are all traditional wingers – they look to take on full-backs before crossing to the two forwards.
Forwards
Robbie Keane is the number ten, asked to play, in Trapattoni’s words, “the Francesco Totti role” – although he also makes the occasional run in behind the defence.
Upfront, Trapattoni has options. Kevin Doyle is the first choice but had a poor season for Wolves, and two West Brom forwards, Simon Cox and Shane Long are able deputies. Jon Walters is another option, and is adaptable and has played a deeper role for Stoke this year. Though all are slightly different players, Trapattoni’s decision will probably be about form, fitness and confidence levels rather than tactical reasons.
That said, the strikers play a key part in the defensive phase of play. “Did you ever wonder why certain strikers no longer form part of the squad set-up? Because they would lose the ball and then stand around and watch. But you’ve got to chase back,” Trapattoni says. “Sometimes, your best defenders are your forwards,” he reiterated this week. “If a striker lets his defender go down the pitch and cross for a goal, he has not helped the team. He is like Pontius Pilate. Instead, I want them to run back with the defender and stop him crossing for the goal.”
System over individuals
It’s not harsh to say that Ireland are probably the most technically-limited side in the competition, but Trapattoni is aware of their limitations and has constructed a solid unit that should thrive as the underdog. More importantly, the players sitck to the plan and have a great team spirit (which seems a patronising thing to say, but after England’s complains of boredom at the World Cup, can be an important factor).
Ireland are nicely prepared for this tournament. Each of the other 15 sides would play the same way against Spain, but while for some that would mean a huge departure from their natural gameplan, Ireland are used to being defensive, organised and reactive.
This is very much a game-by-game campaign, and Trapattoni is looking at the weaknesses of his opponents rather than his own side’s strengths. “I spend all my time watching DVDs of Spain, Croatia and Italy, looking at the tactical approach and what I can do. I have seen all of the games – home and away – of the teams we will play. Every little detail – free-kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins, how they start the game – is important for us and will be important in the games in June,” he says.
Ireland’s most winnable game is the opening fixture against Croatia. From those DVDs, Trapattoni will have seen how poor Croatia were when defending set-pieces in the 2-0 qualification defeat to Greece, and this should play into Ireland’s hands beautifully. A 0-0 will be the target against Spain, and then the final game against Italy will be crucial. If Ireland have pinched four points from the first two games – the dream scenario – another goalless draw should be enough.
Conclusion
This is a very reactive side, but if there’s one thing Ireland have been good at in past international tournaments, it’s squeezing through the group despite scoring few goals. They stand a good chance of frustrating superior opposition.
Quick guide:
Coach – Giovanni Trapattoni
Formation – 4-4-1-1 / 4-4-2
Key players – the wingers, who must turn defence into attack swiftly
Strength – excellent shape without the ball
Weakness – ball retention and creativity
Key tactical question – does Trapattoni abandon the shape that has taken him this far?
Key coach quote – “I have underlined that all 11 players attack and defend, without necessarily expecting to play well.”
Betfair odds – 110.0 (109/1)
Recommended bet – Ireland to finish 2nd behind Spain at 9.6
Further reading – Paul Little’s top ten moments in Irish Euro history, Miguel Delaney on Ireland being hard to beat, but not winning much, James Richardson on Giovanni Trapattoni
Not too sure about ward being able to play in both full back positions. I’ve seen him play left back, left midfield, behind the striker and as a striker but never right back. Also Keane usually plays to the left of Doyle.
I thought it was an excellent piece as are the other previews look forward to seeing the rest and I hope your recommended bet is right and we can get out of the group and then get revenge on the French.
Sorry – preview mag I got suggested he’d played on the right! Have fixed
I disagree with what you said about the fullbacks. Stephen Ward is left footed and has never played right-back for Ireland (or any of his clubs as far as I know).
Good preview apart from that.
Great preview, I think Ireland will be the most defensive team at the tournament, though not the most boring, I find those two things quite different. Ireland can be exciting when countering at speed down the wings.
They are rock solid defensively, and can threaten with the pace of their wingers, the directness of Doyle (who I think will start) or through the flair of Keane, whose is the only player in the Irish team that has the intelligence of a top class player. They could make it through the group stage if they can stifle Spain and Break well enough against Italy (who look vulnerable on the break). Their biggest match will be Croatia however, because both teams play similar systems, except Croatia posses the better players, this could be Ireland’s downfall.
Their midfield is their biggest weakness, Whelan has a lot of responsibility in getting the ball forward to the attacking players, but can become clumsy when under pressure. While Andrews is a bit suspect when players are running at him and can sometimes be easily bypassed.
I don’t think they will progress as I fear they might lose the Croatia game.
You may as well change the colour of the circles on the diagram to white and put some England players names on it…
Except you would have to imagine Ireland had Keane suspended for the first two games ha
Hehe!
Except I expect Ireland to do better, at least relative to the caliber of their team. Something about Ireland makes me think they could surprise some people. Not necessarily knockout calibre, but I could see them slaying Italy and allowing the Croats to squeeze in.
Worth noting that Ireland have beat Italy and drew with Croatia in the last 12 months already.
Also they have 11 clean sheets from their last 14 games.
Nice article, although an important tactical point you’ve ignored is the inverted wingers.
Trapattoni has played McGeady on the left and Duff on the right throughout the campaign, presumably to make the team more narrow and because Duff is now too slow to beat his man on the outside. This would seem to be counter-intuitive, however, since a) Ireland’s full-backs make no effort to overlap on the outside, b) none of the squad’s wingers have a good goalscoring record nor are they particularly accomplished at shooting and c) Ireland will always play with one striker who is good in the air.
McGeady’s recent man of the match performance vs Bosnia came with him on the right wing (McClean on the left). He’s often criticised for having ‘no final ball’ but the fact that he has so often been forced to cross with his left foot hasn’t really helped him. McGeady had the most of assists in our qualification group (along with Anyukov)and is probably Ireland’s most creative and technically gifted player. He’s also easily the quickest in the starting line up, which is important if Ireland have to play on the counter for the tournament. Therefore, shunting him out to the left for the sake of accomodating Duff on the right doesn’t really help Ireland.
Also, I’m not really sure about classifying Ireland as reactive. They’re certainly defensive however a hallmark about Trapattoni’s regime has been his reluctance to change the system regardless of how the game develops. A ‘reactive’ team would surely have brought on a 5th midfielder in Moscow when Ireland were being outplayed etc.?
Miguel Delaney gets a mention. All those sycophantic tweets have paid off for him I guess. He’s probably still in bed. Collect the scratcher later then off to the pub, bug the barmen again.
hello?
You heard him. Collect the scratcher later then off to the pub. Doesn’t get much clearer than that…
I like how only Doyle is likely to be in the opposition’s half for an extended period of time.