Trap to hand two debuts
Credit:
Tuesday evening will mark the start of the Carling Nations Cup 2011, as the Republic Of Ireland face a Wales side that will be playing under Gary Speed for the very first time in the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).
Giovanni Trapattoni’s starting eleven will feature two uncapped players, whose introduction to the Ireland set-up has been highly anticipated, given the strong roles that they play for their clubs at the moment in England’s top flight. Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark will feature on the left-side of the defence, along with regular starters John O’Shea, Richard Dunne and Sean St. Ledger, while Seamus Coleman will make his international bow on the right side of a four-man midfield, where he has oozed class for David Moyes’ Everton this season.
Coleman had been left on the bench for the duration of the previous game, a friendly against Norway, but he is being given his chance now, and will have Glenn Whelan, Damien Duff and either Darron Gibson or Paul Green for company in the middle of the park.
Trapattoni is undecided as to who will play with Whelan in the centre of midfield, and it is clear that this is a game that he is thinking rather deeply about. The fact that he has selected Coleman in midfield, instead of the right-back position that he feels is his best, shows that he took some care when coming up with his team for this clash.
The positioning of Clark is also interesting, as he may well end up being a replacement for the ageing Kevin Kilbane in that area, and he has shown great versatility under Gerard Houllier this season, filling in at left-back, centre-back and central midfield.
The 71-year-old Trapattoni is looking forward to tomorrow night’s encounter, and sees it as ideal preparation for the tough European qualifiers that are on the horizon.
“This competition provides our players with familiar and tough opponents, and the added competitive edge to the tournament is the perfect preparation for the Euro qualifying campaign”, the Ireland boss explained.
However, as is often the case at the Italian’s press conferences, much talk was reserved for those who haven’t made the trip for this game, with the absence of James McCarthy very much taking centre stage this time.
McCarthy withdrew from the squad on Sunday following his two-goal heroics for Wigan Athletic against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, with early suggestions that the club had withdrawn him from the game as he is just back from a long-term injury. There have been reports that he withdrew from the squad himself though, and there are now suggestions that he may end up defecting back to Scotland, the country where he was born and raised.
When quizzed on the matter, Trapattoni was doing his best to play down the unavailability of McCarthy for the game, as he didn’t want to start a conflict with Wigan boss Roberto Martinez.
“He (McCarthy) has an injury. He (Martinez) said Wigan are in a bad position in the table and he said maybe he should stay at home”, Trapattoni explained.
“I accept this because Martinez was very clear and I understood him. I wish to have him but I have to respect his opinion. I wouldn’t like to be in conflict with the club. We can wait. He is young, his time is in the future”.
McCarthy is within his rights to declare his allegiance to Scotland however, as his only cap for Ireland came in a friendly against Brazil, and he would have to play in a competitive game for Ireland to be a fully fledged member of the squad, though he wouldn’t be able to switch after his 21st birthday either.
Another interesting addition to the Irish team sees Jonathan Walters, who has six goals for Stoke City this season, partnering Kevin Doyle. He takes the place of Shane Long from the Norway game, who picked up a knock playing for Reading over the weekend, but is expected to feature at some point before the game’s end.
With Robbie Keane also absent from the game (owing to a calf injury received against Birmingham City yesterday), Shay Given will once again take on the role of stand-in skipper. He was quick to point out that he didn’t fully know what the situation was with McCarthy, though the Lifford-man did question the mentality and hunger that some young players do possess nowadays.
“I don’t know what his situation is but, as the manager says, he (McCarthy) is very young. When I was very young I was very excited to be in the squad but maybe young players’ mentalities have changed since I was 20 or 21”, the Man City man remarked.
“But we would take him with open arms because he is a quality player. We hope he is going to be a big part of the future. I think he will be an important player for us in future and the games coming up. Hopefully it is just about growing up – as he gets older and wiser he’ll be hungrier”.
These were strong words indeed from the Donegal native, though he did concede that it may just be a case that he will be doing work on his fitness this week instead of playing in what is just a friendly match.
“But it could be that he is doing rehabilitation work at Wigan this week. A lot goes on that we don’t see behind the scenes. Maybe he’ll be better for Wigan for that next week, as it’s only a friendly for ourselves”.
Whether or not this will be the case, or if we will instead be talking about the former Hamilton player in the past tense by that time, Given is clearly not going to let it bother him just yet, as he is looking forward to playing football again, with the added bonus of captaining his country thrown in for good measure.
“I am looking forward to playing again and will be proud to be captain again. It will go down as a friendly but it has got another twist to it with the Nations Cup. Playing Wales gives it an added edge and with it being in Dublin we’d like to win the tournament”.
The introduction of Speed to international management is something that Given is greatly intrigued by, as they were of course team-mates at Newcastle United for the best part of six years. He is looking forward to seeing the 41-year-old again, and he views his appointment as manager as a step in the right direction for Wales.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Gary Speed as well. It’s his first game in charge and that’s fantastic for him. It’s a great move for Wales. He’s hungry to do well for them and he’s got lots of ideas going forward. It’s an exciting future for them”, Given added.
Giovanni Trapattoni’s starting eleven will feature two uncapped players, whose introduction to the Ireland set-up has been highly anticipated, given the strong roles that they play for their clubs at the moment in England’s top flight. Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark will feature on the left-side of the defence, along with regular starters John O’Shea, Richard Dunne and Sean St. Ledger, while Seamus Coleman will make his international bow on the right side of a four-man midfield, where he has oozed class for David Moyes’ Everton this season.
Coleman had been left on the bench for the duration of the previous game, a friendly against Norway, but he is being given his chance now, and will have Glenn Whelan, Damien Duff and either Darron Gibson or Paul Green for company in the middle of the park.
Trapattoni is undecided as to who will play with Whelan in the centre of midfield, and it is clear that this is a game that he is thinking rather deeply about. The fact that he has selected Coleman in midfield, instead of the right-back position that he feels is his best, shows that he took some care when coming up with his team for this clash.
The positioning of Clark is also interesting, as he may well end up being a replacement for the ageing Kevin Kilbane in that area, and he has shown great versatility under Gerard Houllier this season, filling in at left-back, centre-back and central midfield.
The 71-year-old Trapattoni is looking forward to tomorrow night’s encounter, and sees it as ideal preparation for the tough European qualifiers that are on the horizon.
“This competition provides our players with familiar and tough opponents, and the added competitive edge to the tournament is the perfect preparation for the Euro qualifying campaign”, the Ireland boss explained.
However, as is often the case at the Italian’s press conferences, much talk was reserved for those who haven’t made the trip for this game, with the absence of James McCarthy very much taking centre stage this time.
McCarthy withdrew from the squad on Sunday following his two-goal heroics for Wigan Athletic against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, with early suggestions that the club had withdrawn him from the game as he is just back from a long-term injury. There have been reports that he withdrew from the squad himself though, and there are now suggestions that he may end up defecting back to Scotland, the country where he was born and raised.
When quizzed on the matter, Trapattoni was doing his best to play down the unavailability of McCarthy for the game, as he didn’t want to start a conflict with Wigan boss Roberto Martinez.
“He (McCarthy) has an injury. He (Martinez) said Wigan are in a bad position in the table and he said maybe he should stay at home”, Trapattoni explained.
“I accept this because Martinez was very clear and I understood him. I wish to have him but I have to respect his opinion. I wouldn’t like to be in conflict with the club. We can wait. He is young, his time is in the future”.
McCarthy is within his rights to declare his allegiance to Scotland however, as his only cap for Ireland came in a friendly against Brazil, and he would have to play in a competitive game for Ireland to be a fully fledged member of the squad, though he wouldn’t be able to switch after his 21st birthday either.
Another interesting addition to the Irish team sees Jonathan Walters, who has six goals for Stoke City this season, partnering Kevin Doyle. He takes the place of Shane Long from the Norway game, who picked up a knock playing for Reading over the weekend, but is expected to feature at some point before the game’s end.
With Robbie Keane also absent from the game (owing to a calf injury received against Birmingham City yesterday), Shay Given will once again take on the role of stand-in skipper. He was quick to point out that he didn’t fully know what the situation was with McCarthy, though the Lifford-man did question the mentality and hunger that some young players do possess nowadays.
“I don’t know what his situation is but, as the manager says, he (McCarthy) is very young. When I was very young I was very excited to be in the squad but maybe young players’ mentalities have changed since I was 20 or 21”, the Man City man remarked.
“But we would take him with open arms because he is a quality player. We hope he is going to be a big part of the future. I think he will be an important player for us in future and the games coming up. Hopefully it is just about growing up – as he gets older and wiser he’ll be hungrier”.
These were strong words indeed from the Donegal native, though he did concede that it may just be a case that he will be doing work on his fitness this week instead of playing in what is just a friendly match.
“But it could be that he is doing rehabilitation work at Wigan this week. A lot goes on that we don’t see behind the scenes. Maybe he’ll be better for Wigan for that next week, as it’s only a friendly for ourselves”.
Whether or not this will be the case, or if we will instead be talking about the former Hamilton player in the past tense by that time, Given is clearly not going to let it bother him just yet, as he is looking forward to playing football again, with the added bonus of captaining his country thrown in for good measure.
“I am looking forward to playing again and will be proud to be captain again. It will go down as a friendly but it has got another twist to it with the Nations Cup. Playing Wales gives it an added edge and with it being in Dublin we’d like to win the tournament”.
The introduction of Speed to international management is something that Given is greatly intrigued by, as they were of course team-mates at Newcastle United for the best part of six years. He is looking forward to seeing the 41-year-old again, and he views his appointment as manager as a step in the right direction for Wales.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Gary Speed as well. It’s his first game in charge and that’s fantastic for him. It’s a great move for Wales. He’s hungry to do well for them and he’s got lots of ideas going forward. It’s an exciting future for them”, Given added.
About Daire Walsh
Daire Walsh began reporting for Extratime in 2009, when he covered Kildare County's games in the League Of Ireland First Division. He currently reports on games involving the league's Dublin sides and also Bray Wanderers. … View Full Profile