Trapattoni looks for winter growth

IT was morning after the night before but, frankly, it was hard to tell the difference as a small hours flight from Slovakia had afforded precious little time for slumber before Giovanni Trapattoni was up bright and early again yesterday to review Ireland’s state of play at the end of a rollercoaster first phase of the European Championship campaign.

And, as is his custom, the apparently ageless Italian hadn’t used the few hours of darkness just to catch up on some badly needed sleep.

“Last night I had time to think about our game in Zilina and I have to repeat what I said immediately after the game — we deserved to win,” he began. “For two reasons. One, it was clear that we played better than our opponent and better than we had against Russia. The second reason is we had two or three great chances and we missed a penalty. So, today, we could have been top of the table like Russia. Don’t forget also the performance of the team, and especially the individual performances of players like Aiden McGeady, Shane Long and Keith Fahey. I thought they were the three best on the pitch.”

Of course, Trapattoni’s critics will not be slow to point out that the latter two starring roles were effectively forced on him by injuries to Kevin Doyle and Liam Lawrence, but the manager disputes the contention that he is reluctant to implement change.

“Over two years we have shown you and your colleagues that we have changed many players,” he said. “Yes, we had Keane, Doyle, Kilbane, Dunne, Given, Duff but there was no Lawrence, no Andrews, no Green, no Fahey. The others are new.”

And the search intensifies now, as the Norway friendly next month and the Carling tournament games in February offer Trapattoni a handful of opportunities over the winter months to assess fringe players and fresh faces before the European Championship action resumes in the spring with a home against Macedonia on March 3.

“Obviously we look for others,” he said. “We have already the names and we follow them over the next month. Maybe James McCarthy we look at him. Sure. But not only him. We look every moment to change and put the new players in the team. We saw Marc Wilson when he used to play at the back but he was not a defender and he likes to play midfield now. He’s clever, he’s tall and he reads the game very well. And we will look at other options.

“The tournament next year will also be a chance to try the new players but, remember, these are also games against Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We cannot afford to take it easy in these games. And we also have a responsibility to protect the young players. For example, if you play badly and lose the game, then you risk damaging these young players. You can give them the possibility to grow but within reason. You have to think about the balance of the team.”

Trapattoni also suggested that he would not rule out experimenting with a different system, though experience suggests that, as with his integration of fresh blood, evolution not revolution will be the way forward.

“I repeat to you: I’m not afraid to change the system,” he said. “In the past, I thought that (Stephen) Ireland could play behind the striker. Before Slovakia, we considered playing Shane Long on the right and McGeady behind the striker. Do you remember where James McCarthy played against Brazil? McCarthy can also play behind the striker. You need to be technical to play that role. I had many ideas before the game in Zilina but, on the night, we were good on the pitch. It all depends on the players you have available.”

Assessing the implications of the current standings in Group B, Trapattoni maintained that despite having fallen two points behind Russia – whom he concedes are the best team in the group – Ireland can retain legitimate hope of coming out on top in 12 months’ time.

“Why not? We play every game to win. Against Russia we went out to win but we lost. But Russia lost to Slovakia. And if Macedonia had scored their penalty on Friday, Russia might have dropped two more points.”

Trapattoni also thinks the Russians face a stiff test in their next match away to Armenia, on the same night Ireland host Macedonia in Dublin.

“Armenia can also beat Russia, why not? When we were leading 1-0 in Yerevan, I wanted the game to finish quickly because they were very fast, very dangerous. Of course we cannot be blind to the fact that Russia is the strongest team because they have many players playing in England, Germany, Austria and in the best clubs in Russia. They have not only confidence, they have experience of playing in the Champions League and the World Cup.

“But that is not enough. In my life, I came up against better opponents and we won. We lost also, of course. You have to compete against your opponent. The first day of the first week I said we have to believe. And we have shown you in the past how well we have played against other teams like Russia – against France and Italy.

“You win a game in 90 minutes. And so we have to think it’s possible for us to win the group because this group is still finely balanced.”