Giovanni Trapattoni has named a provisional squad of twenty-eight players for the upcoming summer fixtures. Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace), Richard Keogh (Derby), David Meyler (Hull) and Anthony Pilkington (Norwich) are called up, having been omitted for the qualifying double-header in March. Aiden McGeady returns after injury, but Ciaran Clark and Kevin Doyle need surgery, and are not considered. Richard Dunne is back in light training for Aston Villa, but despite being offered the chance to train with the squad, his manager at Aston Villa is not keen, and the centre-back will remain at Villa. Joey O'Brien can feel slightly aggrieved at his omission, after a steady season in the EPL for West Ham.
While announcing the squad, Trapattoni paid lip service to a change in tactics, indicating that Pilkington's goalscoring ability from the wing would be crucial to the effectiveness of a five-man midfield. This willingness to change has been a repeated promise since the European Championships, but despite brief, unconvincing flirtations with a more flexible gameplan, Trapattoni has generally reverted to the 'Plan A' of 4-4-2. To the manager's credit, the likes of Wilson, Coleman, Clark, McCarthy, Long and Brady have come into the side as starters in the last ten months, with Meyler, Hoolahan, Hendrick and Pilkington adding further options. However, Trapattoni's various selectional, positional and tactical oddities have kept the transition from going fully to plan. There is no rationale for playing Simon Cox on the wing, or Fahey as a midfield man-marker, or for Conor Sammon to be anywhere near the starting eleven. The reasons for Ireland's second-half meltdown against Austria were frustratingly obvious and avoidable, as the players were visibly shattered from playing to such an attrition-based gameplan. For a manager who stresses 'the little details', who carries the lofty reputation and expectation which comes from winning twenty-one major trophies in four leagues, such decisions are quite baffling - and far removed from the common-sense that Trapattoni initially brought to the job in 2008.
In the one truly meaningful game this summer, the Faroe Islands should not pose many problems for Ireland, even if McCarthy and Long are suspended. However, fans should not expect an entertaining evening or an avalanche of goals, as the direct approach will surely drag Ireland down to the visitor's level. Lest we forget, it took Ireland forty-six minutes to break the deadlock in Torshavn. However, if Trapattoni's willingness to experiment actually holds true, and we see some more constructive football against England, with Hoolahan and Pilkington to the fore, it could set a more positive tone for the competitive games ahead. Likewise, if 4-4-2 and hoofball are deployed for Wembley, a harrowing, dispiriting evening could be in prospect, which would not help the public mood ahead of the qualifying run-in. There, rather than in nineteenth-century nationalist bluster, lies the importance of the England game.
Ireland squad for England (a), Georgia (h), Faroe Islands (h) and Spain (n):
Goalkeepers: David Forde (Millwall), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), Darren Randolph (Motherwell)
Defenders: John O’Shea (Sunderland), Sean St Ledger (Leicester), Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace), Richard Keogh (Derby), Marc Wilson (Stoke), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Stephen Kelly (Reading), Darren O’Dea (Toronto), Paul McShane (Hull)
Midfielders: Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Wigan), Paul Green (Leeds), Jeff Hendrick (Derby), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Anthony Pilkington (Norwich), James McClean (Sunderland), Robbie Brady, David Meyler (both Hull),
Forwards: Andy Keogh (Millwall), Robbie Keane (Los Angeles Galaxy), Shane Long (West Brom), Conor Sammon (Derby), Jon Walters (Stoke), Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich).
