No bucking the system
That was the clear message from Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday as he unveiled his squad for the February 11 World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Dublin. Yet again, there was no place for the midfielders from Sunderland and Birmingham City. And, despite media speculation to the contrary, no place either for Stephen Ireland though, as ever, his situation is unique.
Unlike the Manchester City star, Reid and Carsley have made no secret of their desire to play again for their country but, following this latest rebuff – and the implication that they are not likely to feature in the manager’s plans perhaps for the remainder of the campaign – it remains to be seen if the two players will think it worthwhile to continue making themselves available for international duty.
Reid and Carsley are just the two most high-profile names to have come up against Trapattoni’s apparently cast-iron belief in using players to suit a system rather than vice versa. That system, it’s clear by now, involves placing two hard-working, would-be protectors in the middle of the pitch while relying on the flanks and forwards to provide the cutting edge. And coupled with the manager’s desire to cultivate younger and less experienced players, it means the likes of Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson and Keith Andrews continue to head the central midfield pecking order in the profound absence of long-term injury casualty Steven Reid.
Trapattoni obviously doesn’t share the concerns of those who felt the pairing of Gibson and Whelan failed to really take the game by the scruff of the neck in the 1-0 qualifying win over Cyprus and then struggled to make any real impact at all in the 3-2 friendly defeat by Poland which saw Ireland end 2008 on a losing note.
Instead, Trapattoni was yesterday more inclined to focus on those beloved “little details” of his as he began the press conference by revisiting his only defeat as Ireland manager.
“For me it was a good enough game, even though we lost,” he said. “I saw a good performance but I also saw little mistakes in the way we conceded the goals. Before Georgia I will clarify these situations. But it was a very good test and a good performance. (Caleb) Folan was one of the best on the pitch. The new players like Noel Hunt and Andy Keogh did well also. The team had a good reaction.”
Indeed, the only time he specifically name-checked his favoured central midfielders was when he observed that playing for their country has clearly boosted their profiles at their clubs. “Andrews played for us, now he starts for Blackburn,” he said. “Whelan the same (at Stoke). Now we have many players with experience.”
And even though he noted it was a worry that some of his players struggled to get game-time at their clubs, he was still inclined to put QPR’ s Liam Miller ahead of Andy Reid when it came to naming the latest squad. Praising the “character” of such as Whelan, Gibson and Miller, he went on: “They have the right condition. Miller likes work. He is a different player. Balance on a pitch is very important, when we have the ball and when the opponent has the ball.”
Once again, we were back to the primacy of the system.
“I have chosen a system,” Trapattoni confirmed. “I think also about Carsley, Andy Reid and Ireland again but now we are back in the qualifiers. I can’t change this or that. We need a situation like school – repeat, repeat, repeat. I know the squad now. I know the system and what is right for that.
“I wish to continue like this but score one more goal (than the opposition). That is modern football. The midfield will gain more experience. We have solid balance and I don’t want to change that. You don’t get results without quality and rules, not only with Ireland but across the world.”
So Trapattoni continues to stick to his guns, even if many of us remain at a loss to understand how Andy Reid and Lee Carsley aren’t worth at least a place in the squad of 25.
Carsley, rejuvenated at Birmingham, offers solidity and valuable experience while Reid’s creativity and dead-ball expertise can bring a whole other dimension to the Irish attack. Not to have him as an option on the bench at least seems alarmingly shortsighted.
The debate will continue to rumble on in the media but it will only be definitively resolved on the pitch. And, buoyed up by the team’s second place in the Group 8 table, the Ireland manager is convinced he and his team are heading in the right direction.
“This is the start of a very important season,” he said yesterday. “Georgia is the most important game – it’s the first of the year and if we get three points, we can go level with Italy. That would be very important for morale. We need to think that goal difference is important as second place can play in a play off. I am sure we can achieve that position but taking goal chances is very important. Of course, we are aiming for a win. And I hope the players will come back with the same spirit and full of determination.”
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