Overdue change has arrived

On the eve of this excellent Irish performance, Sweden’s main man had insisted there was no difference between his displays for his country and his club.

“Same Zlatan,” Ibrahimovic breezily said.

It was down to a bright and brand new Ireland, however, that he didn’t have his usual effect and never even got into the game at all.

Yes, this may have ended with that most quintessential of Irish results on the road — a draw — but almost everything that produced it suggested a departure for the team, the manager and even the campaign.

Energy was injected into both the table and the side.

For the first time since Giovanni Trapattoni initially restored the squad’s respect after the chaos of the Steve Staunton era, this genuinely felt like a new team.

Indeed, one of the most notable things about this Swedish side and the general atmosphere around them is that absolutely everything revolves around Ibrahimovic in the manner Ireland have themselves experienced with Roy Keane in the run-up to 2002.

If he doesn’t click, they don’t have much else.

That, naturally, highlights one of the principal issues with this current Irish side too. Since Keane’s retirement, and arguably for the first time since Johnny Carey started a line that went through the likes of John Giles and ended with the former Manchester United midfielder himself, the country has lacked an individual of truly world-class status to rank alongside someone such as Ibrahimovic.

The most forceful personality throughout Trapattoni’s time has actually been Richard Dunne. As a result, continually basing the team’s entire game plan around that defensive core made a certain amount of sense while the centre-half was still capable of performances like that produced in Moscow in 2011. Without it, however — as was arguably the case at Euro 2012 — evolution has not just been necessary but vital.

Trapattoni finally provided it in a proper competitive game last night and it meant there were a number of positive aspects to this fine performance.

Most obviously, there was the general approach of the team. Ireland didn’t just keep their shape in the manner they never could at Euro 2012 or against Germany, they did so while moving forward.

The first 20 minutes actually saw Ireland’s best spell of football since Paris, with the added bonus of a number of the younger players demanding responsibility and centre stage.

Although he was a little more lax than he generally is at Wigan, James McCarthy was constantly looking to get on the ball and make things happen. Marc Wilson was comfortable on the ball to the point of occasional creativity. Seamus Coleman, meanwhile, added the vigour expected.

If Trapattoni has previously been fairly questioned over whether he is the right man to oversee the introduction of such young players, he deserves credit for their influence on this game.

As if to further signal the sense of a new departure, the Italian made the kind of substitution that wouldn’t usually be associated with his reign so far: he withdrew Robbie Keane for the intriguing Wes Hoolahan.

More pressingly, then, there was the manner in which the team offset the absence of a player of Ibrahimovic’s status by coming together so competently to deal with the Swede himself. For all the talk of individuals like Ciarán Clark having to confront the forward, this was a proper collective job.

Indeed, there was an interesting inversion of the pre-game talk. It wasn’t the Irish players doing the kicking but Ibrahimovic himself. Early on, he caught John O’Shea. Moments later, there was a slight niggle with Clark.

Although the Swedes did inevitably come more and more into the game, that was a consequence of the fact they were an inherently attacking team playing at home rather than the customary Trapattoni second-half retreat.

Rather than ceding ground in those crucial closing stages, Ireland were keeping possession.

Ultimately, it meant that the side maintained their admirable unbeaten away record under Trapattoni — but through a pleasingly different method.