Let’s get the straightforward stuff out of the way first. Stephen Ireland is the most gifted Irish-born footballer of his generation. This should not even be up for debate. There really is no argument. He has a first touch not seen since Liam Brady was in his pomp and an eye for a pass superior even to that of the one-time Juventus midfield maestro. Way back when he first lit up Manchester City’s youth teams, the coaches there called Ireland “a lock-picker.” And that’s what he is, a man capable of finding a way through impregnable defenses.
Putting aside the fact his career has been in a downward spiral up until quite recently, here’s a simple way of grasping exactly how good Ireland could be. Name any current Irish player who you could picture playing for Barcelona. And please, please, please, don’t think something ridiculous like Robbie Keane. Seriously, who could you imagine out there playing the neat triangles with Xavi and Messi and Iniesta, threading passes through the eye of a needle in the opposing box? Isn’t it obvious? Ireland has all the attributes to fit into that side.
For a moment, try to forget how much you dislike his, ahem, unorthodox and bizarrely extravagant lifestyle or his wavering commitment to his country’s cause. Think of how he plays the game and think of how Barca play the game. He’d be a perfect fit at the Camp Nou. It’s just sad for him that he’s currently playing for an Aston Villa team where the manager has no idea how to fully exploit his talents. Villa don’t get him the ball enough (especially when Richard Dunne likes to lump it long way, way too often) to allow him to fully express his full panoply of skills.
And, sometimes when he does get the ball, his team-mates aren’t on the same wavelength as he is so they fail to grasp the angles at which he tries to deliver them the perfect pass. He had that same problem at Manchester City. As Darren Bent put it the other week, Ireland is blessed with such vision he sees passes that others just don’t. Unfortunately for him when you have the likes of Alan Hutton mindlessly haring down the wing outside you, your best-laid plans can often be undone by the inferior quality of your colleagues. All of this is necessary to take on board before we consider the Ireland question.
It seems to us that in any other country in the world, the discussion about Ireland at this point in the year would be about how the national team can’t possibly go to the European Championships without him. Objectively, any fan can see he offers another attacking dimension to a rather staid outfit, bringing an ability to create openings where none exists and posing a threat that opponents would be forced to counter and plan for. Not to mention either he’s actually very good at retaining possession, always a sought-after ability in tournament games played in high summer.
In a lot of nations, the pressure then would be on the manager to get Ireland back on board. In Ireland the country though, it’s different. Only a very small minority of people appear to want him back in the squad for the trip to Poland in June. We know this from the public and private reaction to the comments of his girlfriend earlier this week.
“I hope that Stephen will play for Ireland again soon,” said his fiancee Jessica Lawlor. “I’d love that. It’s the right thing to do, people need to put it behind them. I’m fairly sure that he could play again. I don’t know how these things work, but a phone call has to be made to get negotiations started. “I don’t know where it has to come from – whether from Stephen or from the FAI – but someone needs to say something. We talk about this at home so Stephen knows how I feel about it, but the decision has to come from him. I’ll keep pushing him.”
Ireland may have woken up to the headlines this comment generated and felt a lot in common with the New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady. After his team lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl recently, Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, was caught on tape lamenting the quality of her husband’s team-mates. Much like Brady in Boston, maybe Ireland in Birmingham was annoyed when he heard his wife’s comments. Or perhaps he put her up to it in the first place, getting her to fly the flag to see how the wind blows.
In any case, the morality of Ireland being parachuted in at this late stage may be open to discussion but the practicality of it is not. In 1994, Jack Charlton brought three players to America -- Jason McAteer, Phil Babb and Gary Kelly -- who hadn’t played any part in qualifying. He knew they were better than what was available and all three ended up playing significant roles. Trapattoni can talk about loyalty all he wants but he must remember it could be a long, long time before Ireland the country makes it back to the European Championships. With that in mind, it’s necessary to bring the best available players, regardless of their colourful histories.
It may sound a bit Roy Keane to say this but if Ireland don’t go with Stephen Ireland, they are not going to win, they are merely going to take part. And yes we know there are a lot of better teams involved but this is a tournament that can actually be won by the strangest of teams. Denmark turned up in 1992 as last-minute replacements for Yugoslavia and ended up walking home with the trophy. Nobody gave them a chance. Twelve years later, Greece, even more unfashionable, won it all in the most unlikely of circumstances.
A Trapattoni squad containing one genuine creative genius like Ireland could aspire to something similar. A squad without the bald-headed Corkman can’t do that.
