Moran says language not a barrier

Having experienced life as something of an outsider in Spain towards the end of his playing days, former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Moran is confident Giovanni Trapattoni can overcome the language barrier to help this Irish side to achieve its potential over the next few years.

Moran, who moved from Manchester United to Sporting Gijon in 1988, arrived in Spain unable to speak the local language and quickly realised that neither his manager nor his team-mates could speak English.

"The situation was different because I was the foreign player but there was nobody there who spoke English and the fact is that you could still communicate," said the Dubliner at the launch of an FAI initiative to promote the game in third-level colleges across Ireland.

"He (Trapattoni) is not going to be at that sort of disadvantage because he'll have translators and what have you. The players will be able to understand, even if it's through an interpreter, what the manager wants to say.

"It's been done before. Venables went to Barcelona and he had no Spanish before he went over. Trapattoni's English may not be very good but that's something you can improve upon when you take the job so, yeah, I think you overcome the language barrier."

Moran admits when he first heard the veteran Italian's name mentioned in connection with the job a few weeks back he found the whole thing a little unlikely but, with Trapattoni set to be appointed tomorrow, the 51-year-old believes the arrival of the former Juventus and Italy boss will be a huge boost to the national team.

"I'd be delighted with somebody like Trapattoni and the reason is that he's a winner. He's won things before and it's important that at the particular point we're at with the development of this team that the players are around a manager who has won things," he added.

"I think when you look at Trapattoni and what he's done in the game, his pedigree is just absolutely fantastic. It is superb. He'll be completely different to what most of the players have experienced before but England have taken on someone not dissimilar and while I'm not saying that because they've gone for Capello, Trapattoni's good enough for us, I've no doubt that he's an excellent choice."

The former Manchester United star acknowledges the concerns some people might hold that the team's particular character might be eroded but he believes that is something that can be preserved in the context of a new management set-up.

"The game now has changed a bit," he says. "There's still a place for that element of Irishness, having that Irish fighting spirit and all of that, which you can develop in the dressingroom. But now you're talking about being that little bit more technical and knowledgeable about the opposition and the way to play as well and this guy should have all of that."

Moran maintains, despite the Republic's disappointing showing in the recent European Championship campaign, the new national coach will inherit a decent group of players with which to work.

"I've always thought that, looking at the team, we've got the nucleus of a good side," he says. "Going back to what we had in '82, when we lost out on goal difference to Holland and Belgium, if you looked at the team we had then, there was a mixture of what you would call Premiership and Championship players in that squad.

"We've got a stronger set-up now. If we've everybody fit then we've got a pretty decent team but the problem is if we pick up a couple of injuries then I think we're a bit lightweight with regard to the squad."

Still he believes Trapattoni's reputation for prioritising defence should an asset.

"I think if you look at any manager that's successful, you've got to start at the back . . . the same is true of Capello. You've got to start there and make the team hard to break down.

"Then it's a question of what you do after that, what you're plans are to go forward and your attacking style. There'll be a lot of expectation, though, people will be thinking about seeing the Italian way of playing football."