Trap: Robbie can be our Totti

During his time as Republic of Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni has been known for sticking rather rigidly to a 4-4-2 formation, with captain Robbie Keane invariably playing as a part of a front duo alongside the likes of Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Jonathan Walters.

However, for the visit of Michal Bilek's Czech Republic to the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday evening, it seems that he is willing to tinker with his formation slightly, as he is planning on opting for a 4-4-1-1 line-up, which would see Keane acting as a link man between the central midfield of Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan, and lone striker Shane Long.

Speaking at Tuesday's pre-match press conference in Malahide, Trapattoni explained that this is something that he has discussed with Keane in the past, and says that he wants the LA Galaxy man to operate in a similar vein to the way that Italian veteran Francesco Totti has played throughout his long and distinguished career.

“Two years ago, maybe three years ago, I said about Robbie, 'Robbie can play like Totti'. Remember? I said he can play in this position and he can play well,” Trapattoni remarked.

“At this moment, I want to give Robbie the opportunity to play between the midfield and a striker, because he can read the game and feel how the game will be. (Shane) Long is a player who can allow Robbie to play deep. For the last month, I have watched Spain and Croatia and other teams, and I want to try this. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a test of this situation. I think Robbie can do both jobs well.”

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Trapattoni and the Republic of Ireland at the moment, though, is what squad he will be taking with him to Poland for the 2012 European Championships this summer. All indications are that he will stick with the same squad that got Ireland to the finals in the first place, though he did stress that this may change depending on the fitness of those currently in the reckoning.

“Sure, but I have said always that depends on injuries. First, we have to have respect for the players who have contributed to qualification. This group has played well and they have played always. Maybe if we have injuries, some of the younger players can come in. But for now, we have a squad and we have a team, and they deserve respect as a group. This is the last opportunity we have to consolidate our squad spirit.”

“We want to show that we believe in these players who have brought us to the Euro 2012 finals. I am sure the squad all know and understand what an opportunity this is. This is a great opportunity for our national team. I will start with the group that helped us qualify for the finals tournament.”

A couple of the younger players Trapattoni referred to were the Derry-born duo of Shane Duffy and James McClean, who have been added to the squad for Wednesday night's game in the last week or so. The former Juventus supremo stated that he is likely to use both players at some stage in the second half of the game, but once again emphasised his reluctance to add any of Ireland's younger stars to the Euro 2012 squad.

“In the second half, I may use some of the other younger players. I have already said maybe Shane Duffy and also James McClean, because we can add them into our system to understand better what usually we do on the pitch. Without injuries, this is the (Euro 2012) squad. I am not going to turn around now and bring in younger players.”
 

“We have no time to change things, so there is not the possibility. We have to respect the players who contributed to qualifying. The young players can contribute in the future, but now we need to have the players with personality, condition and experience, not the younger ones. We have a good team, a good mentality. We have our quality,” Trapattoni added.