Martin O’Neill must put faith in Wes Hoolahan

More than one German stereotype has been skewered this week, suggests Brendan O'Brien. (Comment on this story)

For a start, not all the trains run on time. Not only that, but buying a ticket to take said transport can be mystifyingly difficult what with machines breaking down, spitting back crisp euros and refusing all manner of debit and credit cards.

Which brings us to the other myth-buster.

The Germans may be world champions, but they are not playing like world-beaters.

Ireland left Gelsenkirchen with an unlikely point and plenty of credit for their endeavours. The side showed a solidity and devotion to duty and shape that bodes well for the remainder of a campaign that finishes 12 months from now.

Yet, it is difficult not to speculate that the side’s failure/inability/unwillingness to maintain possession for any length of time comes back to haunt it by adding to the volume of defensive work on nights like these.

The second consequence, as we saw here, was an Ireland side battling bravely, but failing to engineer a single opening of note until a late effort from Wes Hoolahan, who was instrumental in setting up John O’Shea’s dramatic late intervention.

Hoolahan has been superb for Norwich this season, featuring in all 11 of their Championship games thus far and rarely having an off-day for a side that sits atop the summit and is thus on course for an immediate return to the Premier League.

“He gives you that something different. He is not your normal player, he is not a defensive midfielder or a wide midfielder he is someone who can get on the ball and make things happen and make us tick,” Norwich manager Neil Adams said in August. Adams described him as “priceless”, but he never looked likely to start here.

Though Hoolahan’s caps have finally began to mount up under O’Neill, the Derryman has opted to use him more liberally at home than away and the gaffer spoke about the need for “strength” against Germany after the Gibraltar game on Saturday. And it isn’t as if the Ireland boss is the first manager to overlook his virtues.

The Dubliner was 22 before his performances for Shelbourne in the League of Ireland earned him passage to the UK, first to Livingston in Scotland and latterly to Blackpool and his current abode in Norwich.

At 5ft 6ins, his slight stature has always stood against him and even Adams, his current cheerleader-in-chief in Norfolk, touched on the thought that the player may have found his level just south of the game’s highest plateau.

“I think you’ve got to look at the teams we’re coming up against in the Championship and the challenges we’ll be facing next season,” said Adams last June in the wake of a lost relegation battle in which Hoolahan got just 22 minutes over the last five games.

That particular statistic crystallised the belief prevalent in England that an ordinary big’un is preferable to a top little’un when the irons are thrust in the fire and qualities like grit and determination see their stock soar.

O’Neill started Robbie Keane last night, presumably on the understandable assumption that his captain was the most likely Irishman to score and yet, in Hoolahan, he left perhaps the man most likely to create that chance on the bench.

Playing Aiden McGeady centrally allowed him maintain a degree of creativity and mischief in the attacking third but the Everton man was miscast away from the wing where the grunt and grind of Jonathan Walters helped screen David Meyler at right-back.

It’s hard to criticise O’Neill for such a safety-first policy but Hoolahan showed in less than 20 minutes why he deserves to be trusted with a larger portfolio of responsibility away from the Aviva.

If Ireland are to be serious about claiming second spot in this group then they will probably need to play to win games rather than not lose them as they did last night. Hoolahan would be invaluable in Glasgow next month. And in Warsaw next year.

We shall see.