Trap’s Ireland in holding pattern
Firstly, that if you want your plane to land bang on-time, it’s advisable to travel with the President. Mary McAleese happened to be on board our scheduled flight from Dublin last Sunday morning which, I assume, is why we didn’t get to experience the traditional thrill of being put in a prolonged holding pattern over Heathrow. Instead, just like that, it was all quick descent, wheels deployed and touch-down.
(By the way, I accept that arranging your life so that you can fly with the President is probably easier said than done and, as handy advice goes, is therefore almost in the same league as the following memorable consumer tip once offered by Viz: to save on the expense of buying a pair of binoculars why not just walk up closer to the object you want to look at?).
Of course, before I get a letter from the Áras insisting that there are no special privileges extended to Ireland’s First Citizen, I should perhaps point out that there was another VIP on board our star-studded flight, in the always extravagantly bearded form of Mr Joe O’Herlihy, U2 soundman and Manchester United fan, en route to the Carling Cup Final. So maybe we have the legendary Corkman to thank for our prompt arrival.
Either way, readers will have noted that I’ve gotten this far into the column without evaluating what we learned from the Ireland v Brazil match which, after all, was the whole point of the expedition. And that’s mainly because we didn’t learn much we didn’t already know.
Long before kick-off in the Emirates, we could have told you that Ireland would struggle in defence without the steadying influence of Richard Dunne and John O’Shea. And so it eventually came to pass, although Paul McShane and Sean St Ledger had actually done rather well to keep the Brazil strikeforce under wraps until the unfortunate concession of that dubious own goal right on the stroke of half-time. But, by the end of 90, with Brazil rampant and a tired Ireland becoming increasingly error-prone at the back, Trap’s boys had rather more grounds for counting their blessings.
Still, the manager was right to take the positives from a first half in which Ireland showed that attack is the best means of defence against Brazil, taking up pretty much where they had left off in Paris with a bright and energetic performance. Raiding up the right, Stephen Kelly did his longer-term prospects no harm while the veteran Kevin Kilbane more than justified his presence on the other flank where he repeatedly linked up well with Damien Duff. Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle both worked hard to maintain Ireland’s forward-going momentum and, of the players who had featured in Paris, perhaps only Liam Lawrence turned in a below-par showing.
It was all-change in the second half, however, as Brazil upped their game, scored a quite magnificent second goal and, but for some glaring misses and last-ditch blocks, could really have floored an Irish team now clinging to the ropes.
But even then, it was not all doom and gloom for Trapattoni, as James McCarthy’s long-awaited debut, even if nothing more than a tantalising cameo, offered a glimpse of an old head on young shoulders, the 19-year-old seemingly unfazed by a baptism of fire made in Brazil.
It’s early days, of course, but McCarthy is certainly shaping up to be a player who could come to prominence over the course of the European Championship campaign. And while we can expect that Trapattoni will have a closer look at other prospects, like Stephen Ward, all the signs for now suggest that, barring long-term injury, the team which takes the field next September won’t be a whole lot different to the one which left it in November.
But, as well as the young guns who will be hoping to stake a claim over the next few months, there is still the unfinished business — or so we hope — of Andy Reid. On Monday, I asked Trapattoni a question about Reid and got more heat than illumination by way of response. The specific reason I asked was because Trapattoni’s references to Reid often cite the player’s absence from the manager’s first training camp in Portugal two years ago so, with another such venture looming, it seemed reasonable to inquire if the player would be given another opportunity this year to rebuild his international career.
But while Trapattoni’s response to the question was delivered with a grin and a display of exaggerated exasperation, a rerun of his old ‘never say never’ mantra — and the equally familiar ploy of linking Reid’s name to that of Stephen Ireland — ultimately left no-one present any wiser as to whether the Sunderland player will actually be welcomed back into the fold this summer.
As you might expect, the pragmatic gafferissimo was phlegmatic about the week’s other main talking point, the linked issues of players being poached from the north and others who might yet be sourced from England. As far as Trap is concerned, if they’re eligible and they’re good enough, there’s nothing to discuss.
Can’t say I disagree myself. Put it another way: better someone not born in the Republic who wants to play for us, than one born in the Republic who doesn’t.
Not that I’m thinking of anyone in particular, of course.
