A Time To Keep Our Heads Up

There are times when the affairs of state have to take second place – when the serious business of music or sport is the most important item on the agenda (well, nearly). This is one of those occasions.
Suddenly it seems that the cards are stacked against us. When the announcement was made a few weeks back that three of France’s greatest players of all time were set to return to the international fray, it was greeted with a sense of foreboding. After last week’s friendly against The Ivory Coast, if anything that feeling of impending doom has intensified.
Of course Zinedine Zidane is the one, arguably the greatest player in the world still, and his return is deeply ominous: no less a player than Thierry Henry, not without justification, refers to Zidane as God. But for those who know their football, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makele are not far behind in what they add to a French team that is already close to bursting at the seams with natural ability. Individually and collectively, apart from raw talent, the trio bring three qualities in particular to the mix: experience, organisation and a match-winning mentality. Just what the French had been lacking.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that France are already endowed with some of the finest individual talents in the world. Upfront alone, with Thierry Henry, Djibril Cisse of Liverpool, David Trezerguet of Juventus, Sylvain Wiltord, ex- of Arsenal and now with French champions Lyons and Zidane himself – who can be used either in midfield or as a deep lying second striker – to choose from, there is an embarrassment of riches. So strong is the squad now that even a striker of the quality of Nicolas Anelka couldn’t even hope to get a look in. (My, how could we do with him as an option!)
The 3-0 defeat inflicted on The Ivory Coast last week, with Zidane and Henry among the scorers, confirmed the worst. What had been a team of underachievers, incapable of fulfilling its potential, was on the winning trail again. Just our luck!
Ireland, meanwhile, were busy losing their unbeaten record at Lansdowne Road against Italy. In terms of portents, we could hardly have asked for worse.
Well, to quote the late, great Hunter Thompson, when the going gets tough, the weird turn pro. This may well be what is needed now – and I don’t just mean from the Irish players – as the countdown to our joust with France accelerates.
This is likely to be the match that will seal our World Cup fate. At least, we are, as they say, in the driving seat. Our remaining key fixtures, against France and Switzerland, are both at home. But there is only so much comfort to be derived from that. The general feeling is that points were squandered against Israel, both at home and away – and it would be hard to disagree too vehemently with that consensus. Not that Israel aren’t a useful side. But it was the way in which they were allowed twice to battle back to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat that galled.
That said, Brian Kerr and the team have performed well overall and we are in a strong position. The result of the friendly against Italy shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Sure, we were beaten 2-1 at home – but the fact is that a perfectly good Clinton Morrison strike in the dying minutes was disallowed. And besides, we were without both Roy Keane and Robbie Keane – and they were sorely missed.
The Italians were very powerful and at times made us look desperately pedestrian during the opening half an hour in particular. But there was some sweet passing and movement, at a good tempo, from Ireland too – enough to suggest that we may have begun to cast off the inhibitions that, too often, have plagued us in the past when the hard questions were asked.
One thing we can rely on, as long as injury doesn’t intervene: Roy Keane will be up for it on the night. So will Robbie Keane. And similarly Damien Duff. In fact this is the kind of game in which reputations can be made and everyone in the Irish squad will be aware of it.
Does Brian Kerr know what his best eleven is? Close enough. There is a possibility that he will start with the team that drew in France, with Steve Finnan on the right side of midfield, in front of Steve Carr – perhaps with Finnan detailed to track and mark Zidane. Alternatively, he will be forced to make the difficult choice between the two Steves for the No.2 jersey, with Andy Reid running the right flank.
The only other issue prior to the Italian game – who should partner Kenny Cunningham in the centre of the back four – was resolved for Kerr by Richard Dunne’s tentative display on the night. Unless circumstances intervene, he will stick with Andy O’Brien, who has done very well for Ireland in recent games. He will also choose John O’Shea ahead of Ian Harte at left back. And finally, irrespective of the dalliance with 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 against Italy, he will use Clinton Morrison alongside Robbie Keane in attack in a conventional 4-4-2 set-up. Or at least that’s the way I read it…
The defensive solidity potentially offered by the inclusion of Carr and Finnan notwithstanding, I would not go into battle against the French without Andy Reid. Almost alone among Irish players, he has the ability to find the killer pass, and he has formed an excellent understanding with Robbie Keane, which has already yielded goals for Ireland – notably Keane’s brilliant opener against Israel.
To give Reid – and indeed Damien Duff – the opportunity to get at the French defence, however, is imperative for us to play the game at the right tempo. It is a failing of this Irish team, that we can become desperately laborious playing the ball out of defence, giving the opposition all the time in the world to get organised, and making it unnecessarily difficult for us to create openings.
The only way to avoid this is to start at a crisp tempo, midfielders coming in to pick the ball up, making the passes and moving it on quickly so that the opposition are on the back foot. You have to put the ball in front of your own players to allow them to pick it up at speed. You need to take some of their players out of the game. And in particular, you need to be able to hit them hard and fast on the break if and when the opportunity arises.
The biggest mistake we could make would be to stand off the French, to give them room in midfield. It was our undoing against Israel, that we began to drop off and let them run at us. Similarly, we weren’t tight enough against the Italians and they almost ran riot. Without haring around like mad bastards, we need to press the French upfront, to get the tackles in in midfield, and to stay tight at the back. Easier said than done, when there are proverbial will o’ the wisps like Henry and Zidane involved – but this is what we have to do. And we have to do it effectively.
And will we? This is a huge game for Ireland. It is also a huge game for Brian Kerr, the ultimate test to date of his leadership. There is a fine balance to be struck: we don’t want players being rash, getting yellow carded early or giving stupid frees away, with Zidane and Henry lining up to take them. But we do want them to hit the French hard in the early tackles, we want to shake their composure and we want to get them turned – to get in behind them in wide positions and to deliver killer crosses.
The eternal frustration of any manager is that he can’t do it himself. But he can prepare the players physically, tactically and psychologically, so that they know what is expected of them and are in the frame of mind to deliver it.
We want the French to experience that sickening knot of dread in the pit of their stomachs when the national anthems play. Away from home, they are the ones who should feel intimidated. Now that Zidane, Thuram and Makelele – who between them have been through it all in football – are back on board, that will be harder to achieve. But there are moments in football on which things turn and we have to make this one ours.
There is another factor. People talk about fortress Lansdowne Road, but there are times during our home international matches when the atmosphere dies a death.
Now, the last thing we want is some arsehole jollying us along, pleading for Mexican Waves and offering lousy entertainment (please, please, none of this lame, parochial shit. Pretty please?). What we do want is a crowd that is as in-the-zone as the players. We need an atmosphere of sustained support of the kind that will strengthen the resolve of the Irish – and make the French wish that they were somewhere, anywhere, else tonight.
If something goes wrong on the pitch, the players’ heads shouldn’t go down. The same with the supporters. I don’t mean to tempt fate, but against Ireland in Dublin, Israel showed that you can come from two down and snatch a draw. The important thing is to keep the pressure on.
Everyone who is in the stadium can play a part in making the game against France a special occasion – and hopefully one that will finally give us the upper hand in the campaign to reach Germany.
Here’s wishing Brian Kerr and the Irish team well. There’s more than just a football match at stake…