Trapattoni Takes Over

A one all draw with Serbia marked the beginning of Giovanni Trapattoni’s reign as new manager of the Republic of Ireland last week. Ger McCarthy looks back on the Croke Park encounter, the opening two months of new Irish manager’s reign and outlines what lies ahead for the boys in green in the coming months.

A late Andy Keogh volley earned the Republic of Ireland and debut manager Giovanni Trapattoni a deserved 1-1 draw at home to Serbia in Cork Park last Saturday night. The opening match of the Italian’s new regime failed to produce a much needed victory and Ireland have now failed to register a competitive win since defeating Denmark 4-0 in Aarhus back in August 2007. The new Irish manager announced an initial 40-man preliminary squad in April. This was eventually whittled down to 28 players ahead of a two-week warm-weather training camp in Portugal. Notable absentees from the squad included Shay Given, Lee Carsley, Kevin Kilbane, Steven Reid and Joey O’Brien through injury while John O'Shea and Richard Dunne each had prior club commitments. Robbie Keane's non-attendance was known well in advance although there was some confusion as to the actual reasons behind the Irish Captain's absence. Rumours of stag parties in Las Vegas proved false although the Spurs striker returned in time for the Serbian encounter but failed to clarify his whereabouts during the two week camp.

On the training pitch Trapattoni’s boundless energy and obvious enthusiasm appeared to rub off on the players, especially the newcomers who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. “I know the famous players – I want to know the young players. And I will learn a lot about them over the next two weeks”. Ireland played two warm up games against lower league Portuguese opposition as part of their two week excursion. A disappointing 1-1 draw with Portimonese was followed by a flattering 3-1 victory over Lagos. Neither of the matches inspired much confidence in the media yet the performances of Glenn Whelan, Andy Keogh and Sean Scannell were encouraging. "His enthusiasm on the pitch is amazing, he has so much energy and that reflects on the players"- Robbie Keane. The Irish backroom staff worked their squad hard on the basics such as corner-kicks, free-kicks and throw-ins. "The first days there was a little bit of nervousness but every day my players improve, they have belief in themselves," noted the Italian. The most important element of the get-together was for Trapattoni to get the philosophy of how he wants to play across to his players. By the end of the fortnight the Italian stated “I'm satisfied that we have put in place the different foundations we need to challenge”.


KEOGH STRIKES
Trapattoni received a rapturous welcome from the home fans before his Croke Park debut last Saturday night. Expectations were high ahead of the first serious fixture since taking over the Irish job in which two new caps: Glenn Whelan and Damien Delaney were each handed their first international starts. The opening half proved a disappointment with neither side in the ascendancy. Ireland went close with a Robbie Keane effort that was hacked off the line but in truth the first 45 minutes proved largely forgettable. Ireland switched their formation to 4-3-3 with the introduction of Daryl Murphy for Keane in the second period. Trapattoni looked outraged at the concession of the opening goal with 20 minutes left and rightly so. Paul Mc Shane was the culprit for attempting to play offside but failing to legislate for the remainder of the Irish back four who were 10 yards behind him. Pantelic gave the returning Dean Kiely no chance with the simplest of finishes. It was a comical goal to concede and exactly the type of stupid defensive error Trapattoni must eradicate as soon as possible. On a more positive note the Irish fought back valiantly and netted a deserved equaliser right at the death. Damien Delany’s throw found the head of Murphy who flicked on for the impressive Andy Keogh to arrow an unstoppable volley high into the net. Trapattoni offered an honest assessment after the game: “The second half…I think we lost a little bit of concentration to concede the goal. We didn’t deserve to lose the game. It was a beautiful and good reaction by our team. I think that the team looked in order. It was important to have the mentality we showed and I hope and dream we can go far with that mentality.” Trapattoni has now clearly stated that Ireland will need to take something from every game irrespective of the opposition.

A LOOK AHEAD
The Italian’s confident performance in communicating with the Irish press and media over the past two months has proven a welcome contrast to the “I’m the Gaffer” mutterings of previous incumbent, Steve Staunton. The decision to invite Trapattoni and Tardelli to the televised Ford FAI Cup draw proved a master-stroke. Both Italians came across as genial characters with a genuine interest in the domestic scene. The reaction of the Irish bench to scoring a late equaliser on Saturday night was also significant. Marco Tardelli did his best impression of his 1982 World Cup winning goal celebration by racing out to embrace his manager. A beaming Trapattoni waved a finger in the direction of his bench seemingly indicating that the genesis for Keogh’s set-piece equaliser came from the training pitch in Portugal. Even Liam Brady managed to crack a smile! If his new squad show half the energy and enthusiasm for success that the new Irish backroom staff obviously does then Ireland has every chance of improving in the coming months. What is vital to future success is adopting the winning mentality of the manager and transferring his philosophy into victories on the road to South Africa 2010.

Next on the agenda for the Republic of Ireland is another friendly international taking place in Craven Cottage against South American side, Colombia. After that The Republic will travel to Oslo on August the 20th to face Norway before the opening World Cup Qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi next September. Stephen Ireland, Steve Finnan and Andy O’Brien are still missing from the current setup although Trapattoni remains confident that most if not all will return to international duty in the coming months. The 69 –year-old is correct in urging a note of caution to Irish fans ahead of the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. "I am happy with how much progress has been made, but there is still room for a lot of improvement", he stressed while also reminding supporters "I am not God."