Opportunity knocked for Coleman, but Trap refused to open door
On Thursday, Giovanni Trapattoni admitted some of his more familiar mantras might be boring us at this stage, but he was right to again emphasise the significance of the little details in the wake of a disappointing conclusion to what was already an underwhelming international year.
Had concentration levels been higher at the back and finishing a tad more clinical up front, Ireland might have been rewarded with the win against Norway which their otherwise dominant performance deserved. But if, like Trapattoni, you live by the result, then you must also be prepared to die by it – which is why he can have few complaints about the flak he’s been taking for getting some critical things wrong on the night.
Principal among them, of course, was his baffling decision to leave Seamus Coleman on the bench.
Speaking on the morning after, the manager sought to make a case for his own defence, one which essentially hinged on the notion that, on the night, his decision-making had been all about making a case for the Irish defence.
So Kevin Foley got a rare outing on the basis that his greater experience was more likely to shore things up and help secure the draw which Ireland had in their grasp at that point in the game when the Wolves man, rather than the Everton rising star everybody expected to see, got the nod from the bench.
The problem with this reasoning is not just that it was subsequently rudely exposed by Norway’s breakaway winner – the point is that the thinking would still have been flawed irrespective of the outcome. Put it this way, had Coleman come on instead of Foley and Norway had still gone on to win the game with a sucker punch, would we now have a little more or a little less to take by way of encouragement from the night’s proceedings?
Short of Coleman, say, having a fit of the vapours and putting through his own net before taking out his frustration on an innocent Norwegian and marking his debut with a red card, I think we know the answer.
What we’ll never know, of course, is whether a much more likely scenario would have come to pass – one whereby, lifted by the crowd’s approval of the arrival of the Donegal man, and inspired by some of his trademark runs from deep, Ireland might have gone on to win the match and end their calendar year with optimism, rather than regret, as the dominant note.
But, for Trapattoni, the draw in the hand is always worth the win in the bush – until, that is, you end up with neither and the rug of your conservative philosophy is unceremoniously pulled from under your feet.
The other pity is that we should actually be surprised to find ourselves surprised. Three years of Trap have taught us that he’s something of a Hansenite, a subscriber to the belief that ye cannae win anything with kids. Certainly, at international level, Trapattoni is within his rights to fear throwing too many young ‘uns into the fray at any one time.
At a stretch, then, one can understand, if not quite forgive, his refusal to pitch the likes of Marc Wilson and Keith Treacy into the fray on Wednesday.
But Coleman remains the exception, precisely because he is exceptional – it simply beggars belief that a player we last saw leaving World Cup winner and European champion Cesc Fabregas trailing in his slipstream in the Premiership would have been remotely phased by the prospect of having to face up to Norway’s finest in a mid-November friendly match.
So, a missed opportunity on Wednesday, to add to the year’s already long list of disappointments, including the defeat to Russia, three losses out of four in the Aviva, club woes for Robbie Keane and Shay Given, serious injury to James McCarthy and less than full houses the norm at the splendid but as yet unconsecrated new home of Irish football.
But before we go rushing to FIFA to bail us out – no, hang on, that was this time last year; it’s some other crowd now – I think football folk should resist the urge to indulge in the kind of apocalyptic hysteria which is what now passes for our national conversation.
The righteous fervour of 12 months ago might have dissipated but, even though the Trap Project is under scrutiny as never before, there are still solid reasons to look forward with optimism. The names Shane Long, Greg Cunningham and Coleman are just a few of those. Waiting in the wings will hopefully be James McCarthy and David Meyler. Come January, you would hope that Robbie Keane will be taking steps to help get his mojo back. And dare we mention the Reids, Steven and Andy? We dare – but more in hope than expectation.
The fact remains that, for all the year’s setbacks, qualification is still within Ireland’s reach for the Euro finals in 2012 – we’re still just two points off the pace, after all. And while Russia might be the leaders, I have a hunch that their position is no more unassailable than is Chelsea’s in the Premier League – and for much the same reasons.
Let’s see how they get on against fast-improving Armenia in Yerevan next February, on the same night that Ireland entertain Macedonia, before we consign the rest of Group B to the status of also rans.
And let’s hope that, once this winter of discontent is out of the way, it’s not too long before we’re talking about something rather more memorable for Irish football than the night at the Aviva Stadium when Seamus Coleman didn’t make his debut.
