Trap, please mind the gap

At the very least, we now know.

At this very top level of international football, Giovanni Trapattoni’s rigid 4-4-2 requires 100% application and optimum performance to fill in the gaps in the framework against modern three-in-the-middle formations. In short, it requires a little more than ultra-minimalism.

It was maximum application, after all, which produced the display in Paris. And it was that which was missing last night.

Before this game, the eagerness and readiness of the players was abundantly clear to anyone who visited the Irish camp. They just wanted to get at Croatia. By the start of it, though, it seemed to spill over into a rushed anxiety that saw a few fatal errors in the difficult conditions.

It may well have cost Ireland a chance at getting out of this group. It certainly cost them a point last night.

The worst part is that the warning signs were there. And long before Hungary on Monday night.

One of the most startling aspects of Trapattoni’s comments about altering the formation after the Budapest game was that it took him that long to even consider it.

Because, over the last four years, a series of sides had suggested that Ireland’s defensive base wasn’t always as durable as the impressive records suggested: Bulgaria in March 2009, Russia twice in the last campaign, even Macedonia at home.

Whether Croatia can be added to that list is, at least, some way arguable. They weren’t always impressive last night. They were often lucky.

But, equally, they created their own luck and exploited the openings in Ireland’s set-up to maximum effect.

Slaven Bilic promised his team would alter their usual counter-attacking approach in order to get at Ireland and secure a victory in what he sees as his team’s most winnable game.

Croatia seized the initiative and immediately produced the kind of passing interchanges that so trouble Trapattoni and opened up holes in the Irish team. Perhaps, most tellingly, it was Mario Mandzukic – exactly that player who floats between the forward and the main midfield two – who exploited one of them.

Very cleverly, though, Mandzukic didn’t just take advantage of the opportunity, but also the sodden surface. Having initially stumbled as Darijo Srna fired in a cross, the forward steadied himself to expertly guide the ball off the turf and past Shay Given.

Largely missing such innovation and spontaneity themselves due to both the approach and the ability of attacker available, Ireland usually bridge the gap through rehearsed templates. They initially did so last night through that most trusted of Trap’s routes: the set-piece.

Sean St Ledger outmanoeuvred Vedran Corluka to stoop and head in Aiden McGeady’s exquisitely-delivered free-kick. The only problem was Ireland then went and committed the kind of error that has been a little characteristic in games like this during Trapattoni’s time.

Having abrasively taken hold of the game to bring themselves back into it, they immediately let go and receded. Worse, in front of that withdrawn backline, Ireland were still making a few too many slips and errors.

And, eventually, they gave way to the Croatian goal before half-time that completely turned the game.

Croatia may have got exceptionally lucky with the manner in which the ball bounced around the box and, finally, to Nikica Jelavic. But there can be no denying they created their own luck. The goal had been coming.

And there were couple of notable aspects about it beyond the fact that it put Croatia into the lead for good.

It was the first time Ireland had conceded two goals in a competitive game since the last defeat, the 3-2 loss to Russia in October 2010.

That was a similar game in which Ireland saw attacking players move through the lines a little too easily. Last night, it was repeated.

Worse was the fact that the first two Croatian goals were so scrappy and borne of Irish error. Here, allowances have to be made for the conditions. But that also raises a larger point.

Trapattoni’s approach essentially invites teams on. For that to pay dividends, the backline needs to be dependable. More than any other system, it simply cannot allow errors. As such, on wet nights like last night, it is inherently hostage to fortune.

And, immediately after half-time, Ireland’s got worse. Mandzukic again floated through the framework of the Irish team to head home and score thanks to a hugely fortuitous bounce.

Would this result have been any different had Trapattoni made the changes he was considering after the Hungary game? In truth, it’s equally hard to know. It was probably too close to the tournament to get the players properly integrated into it.

What we do know is that the system Trapattoni had superbly deployed to get Ireland to these championships requires maximum efficiency at the back. Last night he didn’t get it.