Standing on the Precipice

Challenges invigorate the mind,  the body and the soul. They keep old men young, give impetus to one's existence and purpose one's profession. Some are small, but important nonetheless. Others are mammoth. 

In the world of professional sport this narrative can sometimes seem crude and misplaced in the context of the realities of 'real- life' problems. Even so, it is often the challenges our sporting figures encounter that inspire us to face the more mundane difficulties of everyday life. Today, in Ireland we as a nation are hurting. We are tired and confused, misled and misinformed. Many people find themselves subjected to crippling financial burdens while simultaneously striving to keep family units intact. Challenges have rarely been greater. It is in this context that we look, more than ever, to the heroes of the sporting sphere. Last weekend promised much but delivered scant reward with the All Blacks crushing the 'Potato Paddies' as the afterthought they view us as, and the damn Croats having enlisted some sort of divine script-writing intervention ensuring an opening day defeat at Euro 2012. Hope, however, springs eternal and so tomorrow we will willingly undertake our usual pre-match routine; self-deprecating jokes prepared, apologetic pardons assigned, acknowledgement that really we don't have a hope registered and suppressed, and finally vocal chords prepped for another night of "You'll neeever beat the Irish....". Only the Irish would sing a song whose premise is so wholly refutable. Tongue firmly in cheek then! Tomorrow the Rep. of Ireland face reigning World and European champions Spain, standing on the precipice of elimination. So too, in a sporting context, will the challenge that awaits be so daunting and seemingly insurmountable.

The premonitions and proposals as to which team represents Ireland best hope of survival is largely futile. Only Trappatoni will decide, and he is likely to make only minor changes. That however, makes it no less interesting to contribute to the generally obsolete debate!

It seems likely that Robbie Keane will retain his place in the side, and that he may be joined by Johnathon Walters in place of Kevin Doyle. Noises from the Ireland camp at today's press conference seemed to indicate a five man midfield with Walters as the extra body and Keane playing the role of lone striker. This to my mind represents nothing in the way of progressive and constructive influence on the team and their subsequent chances of causing an upset. Walters, presuming he plays the deeper role (presuming he plays that is!), offers endeavour, strength to hold the ball and set up attacks and a reasonable ability to cross the ball. Unfortunately the situation calls for more. For my money, Shane Long is our best striker at these championships and should be given his chance to prove as much. He is the only of our strikers that can legitimately claim to carry any sort of form into the summer, and may prove ideal for the task at hand.

Playing Long up front, with Keane in behind offers us a genuine attempt at disrupting the Spaniards. In all honesty neither Long, Walters nor anyone else is likely to strike fear into the hearts' of the defending champions, nor is it likely to prevent the Spanish Armada of little'uns laying siege to Shay Given's goal from every conceivable angle. Remember though, there's always hope, the crutch of every unwavering, loyal but equally illogical supporter! Spain, like Barcelona like to play the ball out from the back by pushing the full-backs on and splitting Ramos and Piqué to receive possession. Long is quick and crucially young and willing. The sight of him hurtling at the centre-backs might not win possession but it may very well unsettle what can be a flaky center-back partnership. Those two guys fancy themselves as footballers with the ball on the deck, justifiably so at times, what they fail to acknowledge is that they are liable to a rush of blood to the head. 'Put 'em pressure Jack' might just be called for again! Playing Keane in a withdrawn role, acting as a fifth midfielder when in defence is perhaps the most contentious issue with this particular blueprint for success. He is, however, more than capable of performing it successfully. Playing Keane in this role allows him to occupy Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets, who otherwise a flat midfield four will find hard to engage allowing them the freedom of the park. Keane's efforts may indeed prove strenuous on his ageing legs, and ultimately fruitless in regaining possession directly but it will serve to hurry the likes of Alonso instead of giving him all day to pick his passes and unlock our defence. That leaves our wingers to pick up their full-backs, and Whelan and Andrews free to sit a little deeper. Along with our back four, playing a slightly higher line, this leaves a 'back six' to pick up Spain's front four whatever shape that might take. Even if one of Busquets or Alonso feels the need to join in it still conceivably allows us an extra man in defence to deal with Spain's attacks and the higher line leaves less space to pass through us.

In attack the system too allows us some scope for optimism. If we're going to win this game, or take a point, we're going to do so through either playing counter-attacking football or through set plays. Possession football and intricate passing moves are not our forte as countless column inches and even more video evidence will testify. Long, in my opinion, offers most of what Walters does and quite a bit more besides. Having him on the pitch offers us three 'get-outs' to turn defence into attack and relieve the onslaught. Firstly, is playing the ball directly up to Long. His strength defies his size and more often than not it will stick. His distribution skills are also better than Walters. From there he can lay it off to Keane, Duff or any other of the supporting cast. Alternatively Long offers an option in behind which as a lone striker neither Walters, nor Keane nor Doyle do. The Tipp man is extremely quick and makes intelligent runs behind the defence. Perhaps most importantly, should he manage to spring the offside trap and evade his markers, I'd fancy him sticking it away unlike the other options at our disposal, bar Keane. Thirdly, our wingers breaking quickly can act as an outlet for balls out from the back. McGeady especially should have the pace to trouble his marker. Finally, another benefit of adopting this system is that is gets Robbie Keane involved in setting up attacks as well as trying to finish them off. Playing as a lone striker as he may well do tomorrow is a pointless exercise. He simply doesn't have the ability to play that game anymore, if indeed he ever did. Playing him behind Long gives him the opportunity to get on the ball and instigate attacks. We sorely lack creativity in possession but Keane remains the greatest proponent of creativity in our ranks. He still has that ability to thread careful passes in the final third that can give us a little more guile to break the Spanish resistance and also aid in retaining the football.

Regardless of the system, it will require unwavering commitment, clinical execution and a slice of luck for Ireland to succeed tomorrow. It is the biggest task of the players careers, to a man. It is perhaps one of the manager's greatest tasks too. We have long been prepared to play the role of jovial revelers off the pitch and plucky underdogs on it and tomorrow, in the end, may prove no different. If so we will slip comfortably back into our rightful position in the pecking order, gain acclaim from all involved for our spirit and the support of our fans in Poland and comfort ourselves with the undeniable truth that this team is a bunch of lads that always give their utmost effort in the name of our country. What we must not do is acquiesce to such a fate without the application of the group's collective wisdom to the job at hand. The burden in this regard falls largely with the manager. One defeat does not mean that the playbook need be ripped up, but alternatives must be at least given real consideration. If ultimately this too proves unsuccessful, there will be no shame in having tried. As Lou Brock once said;

"Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time." 

A challenge awaits this team. They should not be afraid to attempt to change the destiny others have prescribed for them in the fear of humiliation at the hands of the Spaniards. Regardless the team will return home with the best wishes of the nation, and so too the manager for all he has achieved in guiding us to this moment. And rightfully so. If however, he feels that his players cannot adapt to subtle changes perhaps he should reconsider the professions of faith in their ability to which he is prone, as his words then are no more than empty rhetoric. There is no shame in losing tomorrow, the only shame, Mr. Trapattoni, will be in failing to give the players their due chance to compete.