Frustrated Trap looks to eliminate bad habits

THE TALK at the end of another international year is of the big picture but, typically, it’s the little details which continue to absorb and animate Giovanni Trapattoni.

A bowl of mints and an energy drink bottle are requisitioned to recreate a situation on the pitch and, next thing, he’s out from behind the top table in a conference room in the Clarion Airport Hotel, miming the actions of a player who has switched off after making a pass.

For the veteran Italian, the point is that it’s the accumulation of the little details which creates that bigger picture, hence his near obsession with the error or oversight or lapse in concentration which can make all the difference between a draw and a win and ultimately shape the outcome of a group table.