Sport

The wrong team get it fairly right in the end

ANALYSIS: Trapattoni must get credit for Folan gamble but he’s still wrong to ignore good players, writes BRIAN KERR

Thu Apr 02 2009 - 01:00

ANALYSIS:Trapattoni must get credit for Folan gamble but he's still wrong to ignore good players, writes BRIAN KERR

“It was a dramatic move by Trapattoni to put Folan (after one starting game this year for Hull) in for Keogh. I thought the use of Keane in the hole was clever, while Folan’s physicality eventually made the essential impact for the goal

YESTERDAY WE would have settled for a point. Considering the Italians’ reputation for holding on to a lead, relief is the optimum feeling after our late, late escape.

The manager must be complimented for throwing Caleb Folan into the fray so early as despite his questionable abilities it paid off. The Italian choices at set-pieces were eventually punished.

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After an utterly calamitous opening, when the Italians lost Giampaolo Pazzini to what I felt was an unjust red card, Andrea Pirlo and Fabio Grosso ever so gently probed our right side, only to be rewarded with a ridiculously simple goal for Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Thereafter, we were gifted a wealth of possession. We weren’t prepared for such an occurrence and struggled to make any impact.

We still must reflect whether Giovanni Trapattoni has the required options at his fingertips, The team that finished was vastly different from the one that took the field. The Republic of Ireland squad was given a severe examination last night in Bari. To the players’ credit, they delivered a precious point.

The Italians usually do just enough to qualify for major championships. In fact, they rarely spring to life until the knock-out stages. This was evident here in their inability to see off an unsure Ireland.

Trapattoni’s style has been awful to watch but it’s his judgment on some of the crop available to him that has been really misguided. Many of those leading the charge would be better suited as squad players. There are better players available that he hasn’t bothered to look at in the flesh, despite having the time to do so.

We may be banging our head against a brick wall here but Andy Reid, Lee Carsley and Clinton Morrison could have done a decent job last night. It was an Italian collapse combined with Irish spirit that almost gave us three points.

There are other players he has refused to make any real effort to get back into a squad that lacks experience and guile. Andy O’Brien and Stephen Ireland, along with the aforementioned trio, may not always set the world alight but they could all play a role. Instead, we have bit-part players from various English clubs getting international recognition in their stead.

Lippi will be hammered in Italy for pulling Pirlo ashore. Maybe he got embroiled in a negative staring contest with Trapattoni. If so, the old warhorse prevailed.

We started looking like it was going to be a lot of long kick-outs but the very harsh red card changed everything. I thought Pazzini went for the ball, maybe conceding a free kick, but he didn’t deserve a red card for elbowing O’Shea.

The goal confirmed many people’s pre-match fears about the lack of experience of Andy Keogh and Paul McShane. It looked like the Italians set out to target McShane. Conceding the goal and the red card then presented us with easy possession. How did we use it? It was a dramatic move by Trapattoni to put Folan (after one starting game this year for Hull) in for Keogh. I thought the use of Keane in the hole was clever, while Folan’s physicality eventually made the essential impact for the goal.

Every ounce of pre-match analysis and tactics went out the window as the two Italian schemers, Lippi and Trapattoni, were forced to redesign their respective team make-ups.

With Ireland attacking through a 4-3-1-2 formation, the Italians adopted their favoured, cautious counter-attacking ploy. This left room for the Irish fullbacks to raid the flanks. It meant McShane was presented with plenty of opportunities to force himself back into the match with free crosses that he usually rushed or over-cooked, resulting in unnecessary surrendering of possession.

Kevin Kilbane wasn’t presented with as much time or space on the left but Stephen Hunt, who was at the core of most Irish attacks, saw one snap shot force a fine save from Gianluigi Buffon.

Kevin Doyle’s withdrawal for Noel Hunt was a surprise but given the late Irish effort all substitutions are justified though the creativity we cried out for is still not evident. Shifting O’Shea to right back to utilise the extra space saw McShane forced to centre back where he looked shaky.

Hunt moved inside, giving Keane a free role to try and find the final pass but it came back to a familiar problem: the final delivery was poor, either too low or high to trouble this Italian defence, never mind finding an Irish head or any other body part for that matter.

That is, of course, until that 87th-minute delivery. Darron Gibson, when replacing Keith Andrews, was guilty of several poor deliveries. Fabio Cannavaro and the Italian defenders seemed to have survived until Folan rose to supply Keane. Robbie lifted the shadow of many nights without scoring against the top teams. It couldn’t have come at a more crucial moment. Can we expect a new departure, a new philosophy? Not on your life.