Lobotka loss to Covid chaos weakens Slovakia's strongest hand

Slovakia's Stanislav Lobotka goes up against Wales' Gareth Bale in their Euro 2020 qualifier at the Cardiff City Stadium. Photo: PA

Ryan Giggs had little doubt about where his Wales side had struggled most when they eked out a 1-1 draw away to Slovakia in Group E of the Euro 2020 qualifiers this time last year.

The former Manchester United winger took off Ethan Ampadu and Jonny Williams in Bratislava. Ampadu had little game time with his club under his belt, the latter is a give-everything type of worker anyway, but the main reason for fresh blood was Napoli’s €25m man Stanislav Lobotka.

The home side dominated possession that day. They had somewhere between 62% and 70% of the ball, depending on which source you trust, and enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball when losing 1-0 in Cardiff earlier in the campaign as well.

Still with Celta Vigo at the time, Lobotka’s dynamism and threat wore out his Welsh counterparts in the return, and Stephen Kenny had identified the Napoli man’s directness as a major threat ahead of today’s Euro 2020 playoff semi-final.

“They have excellent quality throughout the (team),” said Giggs after their draw in Bratislava. “There was a constant threat from their midfield. We had a lot of work with Juraj Kuck, Stanislav Lobotka, and Marek Hamsík. They are players who make Slovakia a great team.”

Great might be stretching it but that trio in their usual 4-3-3 formation would have brought more than 200 caps and 37 goals to the equation this week and an understanding and a familiarity with the team and the system they work with, that Ireland can’t match.

And then Covid’s undiscerning hand played its part.

It started with two Napoli players testing positive last week and forcing the club to miss its Serie A game against Juventus on Sunday. It ended yesterday evening with confirmation that the club would not release Lobotka, even after he had posted three negatives.

It’s an immeasurable loss to the team and manager Pavel Hapal.

Lobotka, still only 25, is usually flanked on either side by Dalian Pro’s Hamsik, back in the squad after travel issues stopped him making it from China for last month’s Nations League ties, and Kucka, once of Milan and now with Parma.

Both are 33 now but still eminently dangerous. Hamsik is the more cerebral type. Slovakia’s record cap holder and goalscorer, he can create or score goals. Kucka is a more industrious sort who is a danger on both sides of the ball.

“They have a very settled team, good players,” said Kenny. “Lobotka is the main one for Napoli, Hamsik and Kucka, the three midfield players are all very experienced and I have been impressed with them in the group. They tend to dominate possession.”

That dynamic has now altered. How significantly, we will see.

The Ireland boss has declared an intention to fight fire with fire in the sense he too wants to dominate possession, but it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that he still lacks the same sort of quality in the middle of the park that Hapal can still call on.

James McCarthy is a guaranteed starter in the sitting midfield role whether Ireland go with a 4-3-3 again or revert to a 4-2-3-1. Jeff Hendrick is a shoo-in to start on the right. The likely contenders for the left-hand side remain Robbie Brady, if he is over his rib issue, and Conor Hourihane.

Uefa have decreed that teams can make use of five substitutes in these play-off ties. At least Kenny won’t have to use two of them, as Giggs did, just to keep up with Lobotka.

It’s worth noting here that Slovakia are in the playoffs because Croatia outplayed them in terms of possession, and on a 7-1 aggregate scoreline over two games in their qualifying group, while Wales took four points from them in their head-to-heads. “They are a talented team, especially in midfield where Hamsik is a real talent, pulling the strings and making them play,” said Giggs last December. “He’s a talent. It won’t be easy for Ireland but they are beatable, in my opinion.”