O'Neill ready for Partizan
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
As preparations continue for Shamrock Rovers' Europa League play-off tie with Partizan Belgrade on Thursday night, manager Michael O’Neill met the press at Tallaght Stadium and spoke about his hopes for a game that could see Rovers become the first League of Ireland team to make it to the group stages of a European tournament. First on the agenda was the opposition.
In the past four seasons Partizan have won four Serbian league titles and three Serbian Cups. And any hope that they may have gone off the boil over their summer break was emphatically dashed when they hammered FK Novi Pazar 5-0 last Saturday in their opening fixture of the new season.
“We’ve looked at how to play against Partizan”, said O’Neill, “[how to] stifle them at the right time and, obviously, we’ve looked at how we as a team can inflict our own game on them. But we will have to be at our best and be aware of where the danger will come from. They have very good players in the middle of the park, Sasa Ilic is one, [and] Vukic is another player with great technical ability who’s played at some of the top clubs in Europe. He has a lot of international and Champions League experience as well. They play a very technical kind of game with a lot of movement through the middle of the park. I think if we can manage to stifle that it will give us a good platform to go and play from there.”
Asked about any weaknesses that he felt Shamrock Rovers might exploit in Partizan’s game, O’Neill was quick to cite the ‘vampire syndrome’; an aversion to crosses that can sometimes be exposed in continental sides when they face teams playing in the ‘British style’.
“Any teams that you play in Europe, they don’t face crosses to the same degree that maybe we would do in this league. We have to try and put the ball in the box as often as possible, and with real quality, and get men in the box. I think that, potentially, is were we will get some joy.”
One of the more positive elements of Rovers’ preparations for this game is their slowly developing European experience. “It certainly has to help the players”, O’Neill said. “When you come up against the level of opposition such as Copenhagen you have long periods when you don’t have the ball and that’s alien to our players. We’re used to having the ball for the majority of the games we play domestically. So those experiences are invaluable because that’s where you need your discipline; when you don’t have the ball. I think, to be fair to the players, in all of the European games they’ve been excellent. When I look back at the DVD of the game out in Copenhagen the performance that they gave from that side of things - when they didn’t have the ball - they couldn’t have done any more. I think that will stand them in good stead because tomorrow night we’ll need to be very, very disciplined in how we play the game.”
“I think the players have been stretched in Europe and they’ve enjoyed that, they’ve responded to that. I think they’ve seen the level that they’re capable of getting to and, to be fair to them, they’ve managed to replicate that when they’ve come back and played in the league. I felt this year would be similar to last year when our league form was probably at it’s most consistent, and it’s best, when we were involved in European competition. It’s been a similar situation this year and long may it continue.”
Thursday night will see Dan Murray partner Craig Sives in central defence in the continuing absence of Ken Oman, following his injury in Copenhagen. Mention is made of the rumours that, just a few short weeks ago, surrounded Murray’s supposedly imminent departure. “Those reports should never have been believed”, said O’Neill, “because he was never going anywhere to be honest”.
He begins to outline the situation surrounding Murray’s omission from the team for much of this season but comes to a gradual halt as his assistant, Jim Magilton, launches into a spontaneous bout of heckling from the pitch below. When O’Neill turns around Magilton scampers off with a big grin on his face. “Where was I?”, O’Neill asks, with a shake of the head that suggests he and Magilton have a healthily irreverent working relationship.“Those things, the uncertainty,” he continues, “are created by other people. Dan was left out of the team but he’s responded excellently. He’s the captain of the side and he’s done exactly what we’ve asked of him. Him and Sivvy (Sives) have played regularly together, there’s competition for places and that’s what we aim to create. So, no worries about Dan at all and I think the European games suit him. The opposition tend to drop off and maybe there’s a wee bit more time on the ball and that’s one of the strongest parts of his game, his use of the ball.”
Murray’s vast European experience, culled largely from his days at Cork City, may well prove pivotal if Rovers are to have any hope of overcoming a side that are strong favourites to progress. Asked how his side would approach such vaunted opposition, O’Neill maintained a positive approach, albeit within a realistic framework.
“I think you have to go and try to impose your game on the opposition. We’ll try and do that from the outset. We’ll hopefully try and score in that early period because when you get ahead the psychology of the game changes and confidence within the team grows. But we have to play within the framework that we’ll ask the lads to play. That doesn’t mean we won’t attack but we must always be mindful of the quality of the opposition. Sometimes, when you have the ball, you’re at your weakest defensively and when the ball changes hands, opposition of this calibre can hurt you. So we just have to make sure that, while we are obviously going to try and win the tie, we’re not leaving any opportunities for the opposition to exploit.”
One aspect of Thursday’s game that O’Neill is keenly aware can benefit his players is the effect that a full Tallaght Stadium can have, not only on his own side but on the opposition as well. “The crowd is hugely important. A positive atmosphere in the stadium gives the players something to feed off. The energy levels that the players showed, particularly in the first twenty five, thirty minutes, of the first half against Copenhagen were exceptional and the crowd had a big part to play in that. They have a factor in unsettling the opposition as well, to be honest, and we’ll need them at their most vociferous tomorrow night.”
Finally, does O’Neill really believe that his men can win out against a gifted Partizan side and become the first Irish team to play in the group stages of a European competition?
“Of course, we have to believe that. I think for us to progress we are going to have to be at our best and we’re going to maybe need that bit of good fortune that I don’t think we got against Copenhagen. If things go for us on the night there’s no reason why we can’t put ourselves in a strong position to progress.”
In the past four seasons Partizan have won four Serbian league titles and three Serbian Cups. And any hope that they may have gone off the boil over their summer break was emphatically dashed when they hammered FK Novi Pazar 5-0 last Saturday in their opening fixture of the new season.
“We’ve looked at how to play against Partizan”, said O’Neill, “[how to] stifle them at the right time and, obviously, we’ve looked at how we as a team can inflict our own game on them. But we will have to be at our best and be aware of where the danger will come from. They have very good players in the middle of the park, Sasa Ilic is one, [and] Vukic is another player with great technical ability who’s played at some of the top clubs in Europe. He has a lot of international and Champions League experience as well. They play a very technical kind of game with a lot of movement through the middle of the park. I think if we can manage to stifle that it will give us a good platform to go and play from there.”
Asked about any weaknesses that he felt Shamrock Rovers might exploit in Partizan’s game, O’Neill was quick to cite the ‘vampire syndrome’; an aversion to crosses that can sometimes be exposed in continental sides when they face teams playing in the ‘British style’.
“Any teams that you play in Europe, they don’t face crosses to the same degree that maybe we would do in this league. We have to try and put the ball in the box as often as possible, and with real quality, and get men in the box. I think that, potentially, is were we will get some joy.”
One of the more positive elements of Rovers’ preparations for this game is their slowly developing European experience. “It certainly has to help the players”, O’Neill said. “When you come up against the level of opposition such as Copenhagen you have long periods when you don’t have the ball and that’s alien to our players. We’re used to having the ball for the majority of the games we play domestically. So those experiences are invaluable because that’s where you need your discipline; when you don’t have the ball. I think, to be fair to the players, in all of the European games they’ve been excellent. When I look back at the DVD of the game out in Copenhagen the performance that they gave from that side of things - when they didn’t have the ball - they couldn’t have done any more. I think that will stand them in good stead because tomorrow night we’ll need to be very, very disciplined in how we play the game.”
“I think the players have been stretched in Europe and they’ve enjoyed that, they’ve responded to that. I think they’ve seen the level that they’re capable of getting to and, to be fair to them, they’ve managed to replicate that when they’ve come back and played in the league. I felt this year would be similar to last year when our league form was probably at it’s most consistent, and it’s best, when we were involved in European competition. It’s been a similar situation this year and long may it continue.”
Thursday night will see Dan Murray partner Craig Sives in central defence in the continuing absence of Ken Oman, following his injury in Copenhagen. Mention is made of the rumours that, just a few short weeks ago, surrounded Murray’s supposedly imminent departure. “Those reports should never have been believed”, said O’Neill, “because he was never going anywhere to be honest”.
He begins to outline the situation surrounding Murray’s omission from the team for much of this season but comes to a gradual halt as his assistant, Jim Magilton, launches into a spontaneous bout of heckling from the pitch below. When O’Neill turns around Magilton scampers off with a big grin on his face. “Where was I?”, O’Neill asks, with a shake of the head that suggests he and Magilton have a healthily irreverent working relationship.“Those things, the uncertainty,” he continues, “are created by other people. Dan was left out of the team but he’s responded excellently. He’s the captain of the side and he’s done exactly what we’ve asked of him. Him and Sivvy (Sives) have played regularly together, there’s competition for places and that’s what we aim to create. So, no worries about Dan at all and I think the European games suit him. The opposition tend to drop off and maybe there’s a wee bit more time on the ball and that’s one of the strongest parts of his game, his use of the ball.”
Murray’s vast European experience, culled largely from his days at Cork City, may well prove pivotal if Rovers are to have any hope of overcoming a side that are strong favourites to progress. Asked how his side would approach such vaunted opposition, O’Neill maintained a positive approach, albeit within a realistic framework.
“I think you have to go and try to impose your game on the opposition. We’ll try and do that from the outset. We’ll hopefully try and score in that early period because when you get ahead the psychology of the game changes and confidence within the team grows. But we have to play within the framework that we’ll ask the lads to play. That doesn’t mean we won’t attack but we must always be mindful of the quality of the opposition. Sometimes, when you have the ball, you’re at your weakest defensively and when the ball changes hands, opposition of this calibre can hurt you. So we just have to make sure that, while we are obviously going to try and win the tie, we’re not leaving any opportunities for the opposition to exploit.”
One aspect of Thursday’s game that O’Neill is keenly aware can benefit his players is the effect that a full Tallaght Stadium can have, not only on his own side but on the opposition as well. “The crowd is hugely important. A positive atmosphere in the stadium gives the players something to feed off. The energy levels that the players showed, particularly in the first twenty five, thirty minutes, of the first half against Copenhagen were exceptional and the crowd had a big part to play in that. They have a factor in unsettling the opposition as well, to be honest, and we’ll need them at their most vociferous tomorrow night.”
Finally, does O’Neill really believe that his men can win out against a gifted Partizan side and become the first Irish team to play in the group stages of a European competition?
“Of course, we have to believe that. I think for us to progress we are going to have to be at our best and we’re going to maybe need that bit of good fortune that I don’t think we got against Copenhagen. If things go for us on the night there’s no reason why we can’t put ourselves in a strong position to progress.”
About Simon O'Gorman
Simon O'Gorman began reporting for Extratime in 2010. He remembers Milltown and Flower Lodge and, back in the mists of time, saw Diego Maradona play at Lansdowne Road. He now lives in Co Kildare and … View Full Profile