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WE had two, now we have none! With Steven Reid out for the rest of the
season (again) and his namesake Andy cast into the international
wilderness, Ireland are without two massive players for the majority of
the campaign, not to mention Stephen "Superman" Ireland.
This Irish team, devoid of any creativity -
possibly apart from brief glimpses from Aiden McGeady - has created little
in the way of chances during Giovanni Trapattoni's reign: just eight goals
scored in seven games against some poor opposition, with few other chances
to recall.
Surely the team should revolve around a
player with one of the best passing abilities in the Premier League? The
creative ability of Reid would be an invaluable asset to this beleaguered
set-up from open play and set-pieces, from which he is deadly.
Is it fair to say that Reid simply doesn't
fit into Trapattoni's vision of his Ireland team? Well, it seems that his
past tactical systems have all included space for that bit of class to
dictate the tempo of the game. His famous Juventus team contained Liam
Brady and the now Uefa chief Michel Platini, but seemingly that has all
changed.
Trapattoni has always been an admirer of
the Catenaccio system, his preferred option for more defensive players in
midfield, even though he has not chosen traditional defensive midfield
players for Ireland, instead looking to convert Glenn Whelan and Darron
Gibson. These two converts have amassed just five Premier League
appearances, and just one start, between them, in contrast to Andy Reid's
12 this season, despite injuries.
It was clear from the start that Trapattoni
would always be compared to Ireland's last foreign manager, Jack Charlton.
Charlton also favoured the cautious approach to the game, sacrificing
skilled players such as David O'Leary just because he did not fall into
his vision of a defender.
But the best comparison between the two is
when you look at the Brady and Reid issue. Reid is moulded from the Brady
genre of a sweet and cultured left foot, with the ability to switch the
play at will. Both are having their international careers sacrificed by
managers with cautious approaches, with Brady eventually dropped from the
squad heading to Euro '88.
People may have expected Brady to fight in
Reid's corner, just as he did against Steve Staunton, albeit from the
safety of the RTÉ panel, but he has turned out to be nothing but
Trapattoni's link to the Irish press, clearly just voicing the manager's
opinions, thus losing the respect of many Irish fans.
But whether it's personal differences or
just the wrong manager at the wrong time for Reid, Ireland has lost its
creative spark in the centre of midfield. It's Trapattoni's gamble, it may
not come off - and if it doesn't there'll be a crowd at Croke Park
screaming "We told you so!"
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