Wonderful Wes Hoolahan must satisfy Martin O’Neill’s risk assessment
I think we have to talk about Wes... again.
Truth is, all football lovers like talking about Wes. Even thinking about him does the heart good, his flair and finesse evoking luminous memories of endless street games, three-and-in, jumpers-for-goalposts, all the stuff that football dreams are made of. He’s one of those, Wes Hoolahan, a natural, his long slow ascent to the top a triumph of brain over brawn, technique over physique, inspiration over perspiration.
Of course, he’s also a seasoned pro who put in long hours over many years to, belatedly, see his qualities recognised at the highest level, and who is still prepared to put in the hard yards as and when the circumstances demand.
But, while we acknowledge all of that, the real reason we like thinking and talking about Wes has to do with how, with his touch, vision and invention, he embodies the nostalgic concept of the beautiful game – and, more than that, does so in ways which have actually proved critical to the realisation of some of the most memorable moments of Martin O’Neill’s reign as Ireland manager.
So we think of the sweeping crossfield ball to Jeff Hendrick which led to John O’Shea’s late equaliser against Germany in Gelsenkirchen. The immaculate half-volley which flew into the net against Sweden in Paris. The beautifully flighted cross which simply demanded that Robbie Brady head the ball to the back of the net against Italy in Lille.
And since then, in the World Cup qualifiers, there has been that brace of superbly weighted passes which put Shane Long and James McClean in for key goals away to, respectively, Moldova and Austria.
Take Wes Hoolahan out of those equations and not only do the tournament and group maths look much less attractive but you could even argue that the whole complexion of Ireland’s 2016 would be very different.
Certainly, Brady’s goal against Italy was a massive turning point. Had Hoolahan not possessed the strength of character to quickly recover from fluffing his own lines in front of goal to set up Brady’s late, late winner, then the ecstasy which ensued would have been replaced by the agony of elimination from the Euros with a record which would not have been all that much of an improvement on Ireland’s dismal 2012 showing: for nine goals conceded, one scored and no points in Poland, read four goals conceded, one scored and one point in France.
True, Ireland’s performances against Sweden and Italy this summer would have deserved better than an abrupt exit before they had the chance to put it up so stirringly to hosts France in Lyons but, even so, the margins between success and failure were exceedingly fine – and Hoolahan is owed a major debt of gratitude for the critical role in played in tipping the scales in Ireland’s favour.
And, yet, for all that “the evidence has been there in front of Martin’s eyes” - as Liam Brady put it in his preview of last Saturday’s game in Vienna in these pages – the strong suspicion lingers that, had James McCarthy and Stephen Ward been available, Robbie Brady would have been picked in midfield and Wes Hoolahan found himself squeezed out of the starting line-up. After all, Hoolahan hadn’t featured at all in the opening two World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Georgia, while his selection from the start away to Moldova had been facilitated by the absence of Brady and Jeff Hendrick.
Speaking to the media two days ago in Dublin, O’Neill’s initial reaction to being asked if Hoolahan should be an automatic starter was – doubtless against the backdrop of the player having become such a media cause celebre – a touch defensive. “Number one: I think I have picked Wes Hoolahan more than anybody else has ever picked Wes Hoolahan,” he pointed out. And then, having paid due tribute to a “really fine player”, he began to list what he called “question marks” about Hoolahan, relating to such things as his age, “fragile” physicality, endurance, game time at his club and whether there are international matches in which he might be most effective coming off the bench.
“You have those decisions to make and Wes comes into that category,” he said. “Those two delightful balls (against Moldova and Austria) – it’s great. But then we have to retain possession in matches and you don’t want to get shovelled off the ball. So I have to consider all those things.”
As it happens, Wes Hoolahan’s performance in Vienna last Saturday provided ammunition for both sides of the debate. In what was for long periods a difficult first half for Ireland, he struggled to make any creative impact and was, indeed, “shovelled off the ball” on a couple of occasions. On the other hand, his incisive one-two with Robbie Brady, which led to a great chance for Jon Walters coming up to half-time, was simply classic Wes, as was, of course, the perfect pass he swept into the path of James McClean for what turned out to be the winning goal.
In essence, I think this all boils down to an argument about risk versus reward. While it would be grossly unfair to designate Wes Hoolahan “a luxury player” – his much less celebrated work off the ball is far too honest to merit that tag – you can understand why Martin O’Neill harbours equally honest reservations about the player.
My own view would be that the reward more than justifies the risk, not only for those game-changing interventions which you could argue that, of all the Irish squad, only Hoolahan is capable of delivering, but because – notwithstanding those moments when he does get muscled out of things - his general composure on the ball is something which tends to make the whole team play in a more controlled and constructive manner.
What’s nice, of course, is that the ‘Wes Hoolahan question’ is something which, as 2016 draws to a close, we can debate in the entirely cordial atmosphere permitted by the fact that unbeaten Ireland are sitting pretty atop World Cup qualifying Group D with three wins out of four. And all this after a Euros campaign which saw Germany and Italy go the way of Austria in Vienna last Saturday.
That’s the kind of form which testifies to what Keith Andrews the other day dubbed Martin O’Neill’s “Midas Touch” - and which has also earned the manager the right to be given the benefit of every kind of doubt.
