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| Shane Long |
As far as warm-up friendlies against largely disinterested opposition go, Ireland’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina was – ironically – relatively fascinating in terms of the immediate future of this team.
Certainly, after four years in
which Giovanni Trapattoni has stuck fairly rigidly to a template, there was
evidence of some evolution yesterday. And, while much of that must be put into
the context of a contest in which the visitors barely seemed to care, Ireland
generally approached the game with their usual attitude: to get the job done.
Throughout Trapattoni’s tenure,
the central midfield has probably been the most contentious area of the side
given the manager’s reluctance to alter it, his refusal to try the modern
three-in-the-middle and the generally cautious instructions to the players
there.
Yesterday, Darron Gibson offered
something we haven’t really since Steven Reid starred in Trapattoni’s early
games. And what was most interesting was that the manager wasn’t concerned by
it. Instead, he praised it, describing Gibson as “one of the best on the
pitch”.
Yes, the Everton midfielder did
try many a Hollywood ball and gave away possession a fair few times. But he
also grew into the game. And that, is evidently, because he has grown into a
role that Trapattoni has clearly set for him.
Over the past week, the manager
has given Gibson many a one-on-one in training, making him understand exactly
what he wants tactically and even going so far to declare that he will be “a
very important player” over the next few games.
Two points arise from this.
Two points arise from this.
First, it might just be possible
that Trapattoni realises that, if Ireland are going to get out of the group,
they have to actually beat a team of the calibre of Croatia, Italy or Spain
and, as such, must take a slightly more proactive approach. Gibson offers this.
His searching balls created many more openings than usual as Ireland enjoyed
more opportunity on the wings.
Or, it’s also possible that
Trapattoni always intended to play like this but just didn’t have the options.
Because, to be fair to the manager, he has been consistent. Over the last two
years, he has always insisted that Gibson leaving Manchester United in order to
get first-team football... otherwise, he didn’t necessarily trust him in the
starting XI due to lack of playing time.
Saturday’s game, then,
represented only the second match since Gibson’s move to Everton. And, with 12
games behind him in recent months and some decent performances, Trapattoni put
him right in.
Might he usurp one of Glenn
Whelan or Keith Andrews now? Evidence suggests so.
Of course, the players to benefit
most from Gibson’s passes were the wingers: Damien Duff, James McClean and
Aiden McGeady. And an interesting battle is also developing there.
As many expected, McClean forced
the majority of Ireland’s opportunities in his first start. And, as such, he
also seemed to put McGeady’s place under real threat... only for the Spartak
Moscow winger to then come in and provide one of his best performances in an
Irish shirt.
But, far from there being
competition between the two (assuming Duff will start), perhaps this is how it
should be. Because, given how McClean’s game is based on industry, he’s
arguably a better fit for the earlier parts of Trapattoni’s plans: when Ireland
are likelier to be on the backfoot and keeping it tight. McClean, after all, is
well used to suddenly bursting.
By contrast, Aiden McGeady is
arguably better suited to coming into a more open game – as he did on Saturday
– and expressing himself without extreme defensive responsibilities. That way,
we’ll see the real McGeady much more often for Ireland.
