Marketing guru Paul Healy explains…

“Euro 2012 is almost over, and while it was a disappointing campaign for Ireland, at least we had our Fantasy Football teams to shout for in the knockout stages of the tournament.

If your fantasy team hasn’t been performing to the ability that you had envisioned at the beginning of the competition, don’t fret- there may be only two games left but remember that double points are up for grabs in the knockout stages.

As it stands ahead of the semi-final between Germany and Italy, Manuel Neuer (GER) is still the most popular goalkeeper in the Fantasy Football tournament, which is strange considering that his total points so far amount to -2 (yes, that’s a minus). More worryingly, however, is the fact that Shay Given (IRE) is the fifth most popular goalkeeper in the game. My advice- switch him with Iker Casillas (SPA) who is one of the highest scoring players in the game having conceded only one goal in Euro 2012 so far.

In terms of defenders, 50 per cent of you have Philipp Lahm (GER) on your team. Lahm was a good pick considering that he scored against Greece. His German defence partners however, like Neuer, currently have a tournament total of -2 since they have conceded four goals, including two against Greece in the Quarter-finals.

The Spanish team have kept four clean sheets in the tournament which is good news for anyone who had a number of their defenders since the beginning of the game. Spanish defender Jordi Alba is actually the highest scoring player in the Fantasy Football game with four clean sheets and an assist.

Some of the other high scoring players in the Fantasy Football tournament are Mario Gomez (GER) who has three goals and an assist so far, and Xabi Alonso of Spain who has two goals.

Don’t forget that you can make a total of 10 transfers throughout the knockout stages and your nation quota increases from two players per nation to four players per nation. Therefore you should be aiming to have four Spanish players on your team ahead of the final, and four players from either Germany or Italy, depending on which one gets through the semi-final.

To make changes to your team, click here.

He was hardly an unknown before dominating so effortlessly against England and then chipping a Panenka down the middle of Joe Hart’s goal, but his penchant for cheeky dinks went unnoticed by many, most notably, Hart and the England coaching staff.

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Here he is doing it against his Italian team-mate Gianluigi Buffon in 2003.

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While, four minutes and 50 seconds into this clip, two other ‘keepers get Panenka’d by Pirlo.

Of course, it doesn’t always go to plan, as the midfielder found out against Barcelona in 2010.

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In any case, they’re nice n’all, but Sebastian Abreu’s for Uruguay against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup remains a personal favourite.

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All in all, not the cleverest of campaigns from an Irish team and certainly not the one a giddy nation expected.

But, given the quality of the teams we faced compared with the meagre resources at Giovanni Trapattoni’s disposal, should we really be surprised? Or were we all just a little bit guilty of believing the hype, of getting sucked into a national mood that was bordering on delusional.

Damien Duff, who captained the Republic of Ireland last night, leaves the field after the 2-0 defeat to Italy in Poznan. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Sure, the players have performed better in the past and (most of them) will do so again in the future. But there was a reason Ireland were such long shots to make it out of the group and, as always, the bookies set those odds for a reason.

Trap has been castigated for his team selections and the tactical straight jacket he imposed on the players. But what would you have done to change things, and how can we improve in the World Cup qualifiers which are just a few short months away. Who would you start in Kazakhstan come September?

And what of our behaviour off the pitch? FAI chief executive John Delaney has argued our jolly green giants deserve a Uefa award for their unwavering support. But is the ‘win, lose we’re on the booze’ culture – seemingly from the top down – something to be proud of, or should it make us cringe with embarrassment?

We want to hear your views, what team you would have selected and your starting XI for a new era.  Don’t be shy, have your say below the line.

In fact, Ireland will officially be the worst, on paper, if they succumb to a 3-0 defeat in Poznan, and let’s face it, the way things have been going, that could very easily happen.

Nobody had the heart to bring that little nugget of statistical gold to the attention of Richard Dunne yesterday when he stopped for some journalists after training in Gdynia. The Aston Villa defender was generous with his time, and considered every questions and answer, as he and the huddle tried to pick apart the reasons for brittle performances in Poznan and Gdansk this last week.

He had the look of someone who stayed up all night thinking about it, and all he could come up with was that it was a “coincidence”. Two early goals in games in which seven were shipped overall were, he said, down to nothing more than chance.

So, that’s it? Shit happens?

Well, it does sometimes, but maybe not in this instance.

Dunne suggested things have been the same, that they have prepared as they always have done and that there is no explanation for silly mistakes and below par performances. But Trapattoni has referred to some “psychological problems” and has talked to the players about this perceived anxiety and uncertainty.

He never proffered his own explanation, other than they lack tournament experience. That is fact, but it’s not really an excuse for a team like the one that took to the field against Croatia, for instance, which had 689 caps on the mantelpiece

The manager may be better off asking himself the cause. The Italian’s tenure has been defined by certainty. He is a creature of habit, yet prior to this tournament and during it, there has been constant uncharacteristic indecision.

Taking Paul McShane instead of Kevin Foley, having named the latter in his squad, was understandable considering worrying niggles with all four of his centre back options, but it was unlike him to row back on such an important decision involving a loyal, although peripheral, squad member.

It was also odd when, before arriving in Montecatini for the training camp, he named Sean St Ledger in the side to face Bosnia but started the next day with Darren O’Dea instead. Again, not a mistake, but another unusual change of heart considering St Ledger was fit enough to come off the bench.

The uncertainty spread further, to his formation, in Hungary. After a fairly limp 0-0 draw with their hosts Trapattoni said he would have to consider bringing a striker back into midfield in order to counter certain opposition. This is where things may have become problematic because Trapattoni’s system has always been paramount, yet here he was talking about changing it. Not a massive adjustment but a significant one nonetheless.

He has never failed to remind people of the limitations of his players and the importance of the system, the details and intricacies of which he has been drilling into the players for four years now.

The fact he would need another man in midfield on occasion, especially in this group, has been obvious for some time but it’s irrelevant. With a tournament a week away he had no time plan for it.

After defeat to Croatia, in which his decision to introduce Simon Cox was on the left wing was bizarre considering the options he had on the bench, he broke with tradition by waiting until matchday to name his team to face Spain, something he had not done for four years. A couple of hours before kick-off it was revealed Cox would start in a withdrawn role behind Keane.

Trapattoni had no reason to think it would work because he never made any meaningful plan for it and because he put Cox on the pitch to stifle Xabi Alonso, a third or fourth-choice striker at West Brom up against the dynamism, vision and savvy of Real Madrid’s elegant midfielder.

When that didn’t work (and Cox did better than he should have done) the manager changed his mind again and brought Jonathan Walters on – another uncharacteristic decision so early in a game and another example of a hitherto unflappable manager being unsure of himself, his tactics and his players.

Is it not possible, then, that the anxiety Trapattoni sees in the players is in fact inherited from him? The same way, say, highly strung kids belong to highly strung parents.

Trapattoni’s club record is unimpeachable but his international resumé is relatively ordinary. Getting Ireland to this tournament was about as good as it got for him on the national scene and it’s quite obvious he was desperate to do well in Poland and to finally add a footnote of worth to his international CV.

One former international in Poland has strongly suggested on this trip that the team has been over-trained, while Aiden McGeady intimated it after the game in Budapest and Cox was tweeting about it before he left Malahide last month.

Intensive preparation for a tournament like this after a nine-month season is simply not necessary and even counter-productive.

Coupled with his unusual changes of heart throughout the build-up and the tournament, it would suggest the manager himself was anxious and was determined to leave absolutely nothing to chance in Poland.

In doing so, he may have undermined the core strengths of his team – their “mentality”, their “psychology”, their “rhythm” and their trust in his plan.

And is that TV3′s Tommy Martin dancing like your dad to Killer’s left? I think it is, ye know.

Tip of the hat, too, to BBC’s Conor McNamara for the footage.

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Poznan’s Stadion Miejski was rockin’ and when the whole facade threatened to come crumbling down, the volume just went up.

By the end of the game, the jubilant Croatian fans, who played their own significant role in setting the tone, were drowned out by a rendition of Fields of Athenry.

If there was no show of strength on the pitch, there was certainly going to be one off it. Captain Robbie Keane was blown away.

“We keep saying it don’t we? And its very easy as players to say and just keep going on about but its probably the best I’ve ever seen. In  Japan and Korea it was great but i think because we are that bit closer to home the support is magnificent. Before the game was probably one of the best atmospheres that I’ve witnessed for a long long time.”

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“It was magnificent, belting out the anthem, singing all the way through the game, especially when we were 3-1 down and then at the end of the game as well when they were singing their hearts out for us. We can’t thank them enough.” - SIMON COX

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“We know that. We know the fans travel well. They’re amazing. We have to give them a performance to be proud of against Spain.” – JOHN O’SHEA

There’s a lamentable snobbery when it comes to the ‘inflatable hammer brigade’, but the country’s as lucky to have them as the team are.

The 23-year-old was the only outfield player not to warm-up during the 3-1 defeat to Croatia and that in itself was a firm indication that he is not considered a viable option while there are valuable points to be won, or as seems more likely to be the case, lost.

Further evidence came directly from the manager yesterday when he said he had a “duty” to protect McClean, who has featured only twice in friendlies since his call-up for the Czech Republic game in February, from the pressures of competitive football.

Like only he can, he explained: “He will come in the future. Not when we change this, or this, or this. We have this situation. James McCarthy? We have a concrete team. We can, in the future.”

The Italian then added: “I have a duty. It’s his first game. When, there is the senior, the experienced players. In this situation, there is tension. You can understand how much more tense a young player can be. It’s important we give them the quiet opportunity. Not when we need their performance, under pressure. It’s a heavy weight on his shoulders.”

That seems  a logical stance to take with most players, but McClean has previous and has spoken at length about how the faith his club manager showed in him when throwing him on for his debut in the dying minutes of a game in which they were trailing Blackburn was a real boost to his confidence.

“The manager just told me to ‘go on, do your own stuff, play your own game, you’ll be grand’,” McClean told the Irish Times in January. “I’d waited all my life, so I was relishing it.”

The former Derry City winger had been burning up the reserve games at Sunderland for some time and Martin O’Neill hauled him into the first team squad at almost the first opportunity. With 14 minutes remaining against Blackburn, Sunderland were a goal down. When the final whistle sounded he had contributed hugely to a resurgent late flurry by the hosts as they ran out 2-1 winners.

He went on to make 26 appearances and score six goals before the season ended and he joined up with the Ireland squad. On his international debut, the welcome he received at Lansdowne brought the house down, yet once again he showed no fear as he tore down the left channel, fired in at least one delicious cross and helped Ireland salvage a draw from a game they were losing before his 12 minute cameo.

McClean isn’t young. He’s 23. In footballer years, these days, that’s mature. What’s more, his late arrival into the upper echelons of the game has allowed him to remain grounded and shaped him into an incredibly mentally strong character.

On Sunday, with full-back Dario Srna bossing his right wing, McClean’s physicality, speed and directness might have been just the ticket. He’s no surprise package, every team in the tournament has done its research, but there’s a difference between planning to stop a player and actually doing it.

McClean may yet feature in Poland, but only, it seems, if Ireland fail to get anything out of the game against Spain and there is nothing to play for against Italy back in Poznan on Monday.

By then, unfortunately, it will be too late.

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In Wroclaw, stewards were attacked by fans at the match between Russia and the Czech Republic last night.

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Marketing supremo and statistical boffin Paul Healy with the details below.

The opening day of Euro 2012 is fast approaching and since the majority of you have already registered your team for our Fantasy Football game, we decided to have a look at the stats so far- who the most popular players are etc. In doing so we hope that the power of group knowledge will help you make the last few changes to your team. That is of course, if you need to make any changes.

As it currently stands, Robin Van Persie (NED) is the most popular player, featuring in almost 70 per cent of the registered teams. This is no surprise really, considering that the striker had a blistering season with Arsenal.

In this year’s game, the man minding your net can of course earn you points, but he also has the potential to lose a significant amount for your team (-1 point for every goal conceded). That said, it’s advised to avoid any goalkeeper whose defence is known to leak goals. The most popular goalkeeper in the fantasy football game so far is Manuel Neuer of Germany. The Bayern Munich man could be a safe bet for your team since he beat Oliver Kahn’s record for minutes without conceding a goal for his club.

Over half of you have Philipp Lahm (GER) in defence, making him the most sought after defender in the game. If Germany stay tight at the back, Lahm, who has a habit of getting assists, coupled with Neuer in goal could earn you some valuable points. Other popular defenders include Richard Dunne, Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra.

Well over half of you have opted for a 3-man midfield, the most popular players for this position being Wesley Sneijder (NED), Andres Iniesta (SPA), Mesut Ozil (GER) and Franck Ribery (FRA).

In terms of formations, the least popular one is 5-3-2 which signals that most people are expecting lots of goals to be scored and would prefer not to rely on defenders for points. According to the stats we have, your best team (based on who the most popular players are) would look something like this:

If you haven’t registered a team already, you can register one here. You can also join our Expert League using the code ‘61138’ where you can take on the likes of Emmet Malone, Keith Duggan and Mary Hannigan among others.

‘He’s cancelled training!’

‘What? Why?’

‘Wayhay, let’s go on the lock!’

Giovanni Trapattoni had just finished a press conference in which he specifically said that

a) the players were not being trained too hard

b) Shay Given would train today

and

c) he had to talk with squad about their duties when facing an opposition that was dominating possession

With four days preparation before the Euro 2012 opener against Croatia, it seem there was work to be done. But, no, he gave the squad a day off. Why?

One of the more absurd suggestions was that it was evidence Aiden McGeady now calls the shots, having obviously prompted this about turn from the Italian with his talk of feeling tired in during the Hungary game.

Anyone even remotely aware of how Trapattoni has silenced dissenters in the past knows that doesn’t fly. In any case, McGeady was merely offering an explanation for a below par performance when he suggested in Budapest that players might have been a touch jaded.

No, it was something else, something less ridiculous, something perfectly understandable, even.

Yes, that’s it. A day off for the squad means no training, it means no media, it means, it meeeeaaans –  c’mon, c’mon – it means a day off for Trap!

He pulled a sicky (sort of)! There’s nothing afoot, he just wanted a break from the questions, the scrutiny, the constant pecking from the media gaggle.

He’s a good sort at heart though and he gave something back – he sent Alan Kelly to the hotel to pacify us, with reassuring words and stories from yore.

In truth, the break might have done us all good.

I say “us”, but I’ve only been here 24 hours, I’m furious.