Embarrassment of riches the silver lining for Kerr

Liam Mackey

To be fair to Grant, he was speaking just moments after his side had drawn 3-3 at home with Croatia in a friendly on Wednesday night, the kind of score-line that gladdens the hearts of neutrals but tends to give coaches so much food for thought as to bring on a bout of indigestion.

Still, after the Republic of Ireland's impressive performance in defeating Portugal 1-0 at Lansdowne Road which stretches the side's unbeaten run at the venue to 15 games it would be hard to find anyone with a negative word to say about Brian Kerr's team, as they look forward to a resumption of World Cup Group 4 action in Tel Aviv on Saturday, March 26. On the same night, France are at home to Switzerland, making this a potentially red-letter date in terms of establishing a front-runner on the road to Germany 2006.

Grant, who saw his team come back three times to force a draw with the side Ireland had defeated 1-0 in a friendly last October, reckons the Irish are one of the best teams in Europe. "Most of their players play in the Premiership, " he said. "We have only one player in that league."

In fact, Ireland made a little bit of history at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday when, for the first-time in a home game, the starting 11 was made up entirely of players from the top-flight in England. Add to victory over a team ranked ninth in the world the fact that the home side kept their fourth clean sheet on the trot, and it's clear that, as Kerr celebrates 25 games at the helm a record featuring only two defeats his charges could hardly be in better fettle.

Even more impressive than the statistics, however, was the quality of the Irish play on Wednesday. Time was when European teams, even some of the lesser lights, would come to Lansdowne Road and provide all the finer touches while, with a few notable exceptions, the Irish relied mainly on a hard-working pressure game to close the gap in technical class. Not any more: on Wednesday, there were even neat little three-a-side triangles being played by the home side to get themselves out of tight situations, where once the imperative would have simply been to hoof the ball up the line.

Jack Charlton brought a lot of good things to Irish football not least a self-belief and risk-free style of play which gave the nation its first taste of football on the highest stage but it's taken, first Mick McCarthy and then Brian Kerr, to oversee a footballing revolution whereby the traditional virtues of spirit and aggression are now adorned with a sometimes swaggering style.

Of course, the manager is blessed with the individual talent currently available to him. About the thrilling Damien Duff little more needs to be said, except that Wednesday's uncharacteristic exchange with Ronaldo highlighted the degree to which he has added some real physical bite to his range of bewitching skills. Better that he keep a lid on it from a disciplinary point of view, perhaps, but there is no doubt that he can increasingly be relied upon to handle robust defensive duties as needed.

The same is not yet certain about Ireland's other wing wonder, Andy Reid, who impressed again with his own dribbling skills and the vision of his passing.

However, it was a friendly in which, for all their artistry, Portugal never really looked wholly committed to getting a result. Resilient Israel, at home in Tel Aviv, will surely be a much tougher prospect, and whether Kerr thinks Reid has the experience and defensive know-how to cope with that challenge remains to be seen. Recall, that the young Dubliner was sensational in the opening World Cup qualifier at home to Cyprus but much less impressive away to Switzerland. Faced next with the daunting prospect of France in Paris, Kerr opted on that occasion to start with Steve Finnan on the right side of midfield and, although Reid did well when coming off the bench to replace the injured Clinton Morrison, it's an option to which Kerr will surely give much careful consideration.

Speaking about team selection, when 15 out of 25 players saw action, Kerr commented: "Every decision is hard. If you make decisions too flippantly or too easily then they can be wrong. But it is part of the job to make the hard decisions. I know I am glad we have better options now than when I started, which obviously makes the decisions harder."

Nevertheless, injuries permitting, it's tempting to argue that the bulk of the team now picks itself. Richard Dunne may be enjoying the best form of his career, but he will have to exercise even more patience if he is to disrupt the Andy O'Brien/Kenny Cunningham partnership which, with the help of Shay Given's fingertips, kept out the best that Portuguese firepower could muster on Wednesday.

Similarly, the likes of Matt Holland and Graham Kavanagh will have to be content with the roles of understudies to Roy Keane and Kevin Kilbane in the centre of the park while, the favoured 4-4-2 formation is completed by Carr and O'Shea at the back and Keane and Morrison up front.

A strong first 11, plenty of good cover, football played with style as well as substance, and always the thrilling threat of Duff to unhinge the tightest defence it seems like only injuries can now seriously threaten Brian Kerr's hopes for further conquests on the World Cup trail.