EURO 2012 QUALIFYING GROUP B:DESPITE INSISTING that he is again reviewing his options after Friday night's hard-fought victory in Yerevan, Giovanni Trapattoni was shaping up yesterday to name an unchanged side for tomorrow night's visit of Andorra, officially ranked the seventh worst team in international football.
With a couple of players carrying slight knocks in the wake of what was a draining first outing of the campaign and others needing to get game time under their belts lest they be needed for some of the tougher tests that lie ahead, the Italian has choices to make in a couple of departments, but while Darron Gibson lined out with what might well be described as the “probables” in training yesterday, the manager generally seemed inclined to stick with what proved a winning formula.
On the face of it, Gibson could replace either Paul Green, who stuttered a little at the Republican Stadium on Friday before settling into his stride, or Glenn Whelan, who picked up a yellow card late on and would miss the critically important first clash with Russia next month in the event that he were to get another tomorrow.
Trapattoni clearly suggested on Saturday, however, that he will stick with Green and while Marco Tardelli acknowledged yesterday that resting Whelan is a possibility, it seems that giving Gibson what would be only his second ever competitive start at this level is not a preferred option with the Italian hinting that he regards the 22-year-old as still lacking a bit of the fight possessed by his rivals.
“For me, Gibson plays beautiful football but he plays for important team, one where the opponents are always afraid.
“Sometimes players lack the aggression you need. When I played, there was Romano Fogli who was fantastic but when I asked why I played many times before him they said they had many fantastic, creative players and they needed me for protection.”
The hunger honed by Green during his many years in the lower divisions looks set to stand to him then with the 27-year-old set to partner Whelan who, it seems, will just be told to guard against attracting the attention of the referee.
Aiden McGeady, meanwhile, will almost certainly start again on the wing despite Keith Fahey having scored the winner in Armenia after replacing the Spartak winger midway through the second half.
Another possible switch would be Greg Cunningham for Kevin Kilbane who, Trapattoni has previously observed, was unlikely to be a regular starter over the course of this campaign. But the teenager’s prospects of displacing the Hull City defender have been dented by having slipped down the pecking order at his club.
So, having gone with the older man for his much needed experience in Yerevan, it would be a surprise if Trapattoni now dropped him for the visit of a team against which he scored two of his seven international goals in 105 games in 2001 although if things go to plan the manager is likely to take a look at an alternative at some stage over the course of the evening.
During the run-up to the second of those earlier Andorra games, the one played at Lansdowne Road that April, there was some rash talk about Ireland running up a record tally of goals, but in the event the minnows actually silenced the home support for a short while by taking the lead courtesy of Ildefons Lima, then a student, now a full-time professional based in Switzerland who is set to captain his country tomorrow night.
This time around, Trapattoni insists, it would be unwise to expect a deluge of goals (a goleada, as he put it) although he did express the hope that his players can turn in a performance worthy of their impressive new home.
“A goleada is not so easy to achieve these days,” he said, “it’s too difficult. But I hope we can put on a performance in the beautiful stadium. The important thing to remember, though, is that we have not qualified and it would be a great mistake if they (the players) think that they have already achieved the result they need.”
