Ideal platform for tougher days ahead

IT mightn't have been one of the most engrossing contests ever but as displays of sheer professionalism go, this was a World Cup qualifier that Mick McCarthy will remember fondly for some time,

A healthy scoreline, three points, no injuries and no bookings. What more could the Irish boss have possibly been hoping for when he arrived at the ground in Vaduz on Saturday? Unfortunately for McCarthy, though, things can only get tougher from here on.

Overall it was a solid rather than an inspiring display by his side, but then that is the sort of performance that is required when you play against a team like Liechtenstein.

Getting players prepared properly for games like this is actually harder than it is to play the likes of Germany, and things are hardly helped when the setting for the game is more reminiscent of a Sunday afternoon league park than the sort of venue this Irish side would generally be used to performing in.

From the very start, however, they coped well with the task in front of them, although they were greatly aided by the fact that from the time of Andy Townsend's opening goal their opposition did precisely what everybody had predicted they would do in those circumstances - they collapsed.

On Ireland's last visit to Liechtenstein the home side were little better. The difference this time was that the Irish team were flexible in their approach. They sized up their opposition and then played to beat them and, unlike the time they drew, they had a freshness about them that brought out the best from several of the team's important players.

Ray Houghton showed once again that, given the freedom to play in the role to which he is best suited these days, he can still orchestrate an imaginative attack. Niall Quinn worked hard for those around him while also picking up a couple of goals.

For the youngsters this will have been even more important. Keith O'Neill has probably done enough in this game to stake a firm claim to his place for the next match against Macedonia and Ian Harte's development at both club and international levels has been quite stunning.

In performances like theirs, McCarthy reaped the benefits of his early summer programme when games that some observers wrote of as counter productive allowed him to give the new generation of players a chance to become centrally involved in the senior set up.

Those games enabled him to throw youngsters like Gary Breen, Harte and O'Neill into a World Cup qualifier at such an early stage and, in turn, the experience they have gained in what was admittedly a soft game, will stand to them when the road becomes harder over the months to come.

At the back there were signs of weakness and the fact that this new combination conceded what appeared to be a perfectly good goal was probably the only setback for McCarthy on the day. These things take time to get right, however, and it was never going to be entirely fair to expect that players like Denis Irwin, who has always played as a full back at his club, and Steve Staunton, who has only recently started to adapt to the more central role, were going to look like ducks in water from the outset.

Breen clearly has a bright future in the Irish set up and he didn't do an awful lot wrong on the day. But he will probably still lose out when the team is picked for the next outing. With a more established and familiar man at the heart of the defence things might click that much better and it will be interesting to see who starts across the back.

If Paul McGrath can get himself back into first team football then he may once again defy those who are saying that he is finished while Phil Babb will hopefully step his game up a gear after being dropped on this occasion.

Another man likely to disappear in five weeks time is Alan McLoughlin whose late runs into the box fulfilled precisely the purpose they were intended to on Saturday even if he didn't manage to find the net himself. Those sort of runs are difficult to defend against for a team that is committed to attacking or, as in this case, is simply poor but at Lansdowne Road where any of the fairly decent visitors will sit back and defend with some determination, his particular brand of play will not be what is required.

In his place, McCarthy will desperately hope to be able to start Roy Keane and, assuming Jason McAteer is available again at that stage, we should see the Liverpool player return as well. Ideally McCarthy would also like to create a role at least for parts of games, for Mark Kennedy but, as in several other areas of the pitch, the new manager has done well to ensure that he is not dependent on any one player.

For now the Irish team have come through a weekend in which they were on a hiding to nothing, and have grown in confidence as a result of going out and achieving precisely what they were intended to achieve. On the day they might have scored even more goals but professional footballers tend to be brainwashed through their entire careers that the object of the exercise is to win and, once they do that, it is understandable if they switch off after quickly establishing a 4-0 lead.

Following his visit to Vaduz last summer, Jack Charlton was worse off in just about every way than he had been beforehand. His side had dropped points, the morale of both his team and its supporters had taken a battering and there was only the appearance of players within his squad who were on the way out. Now the reverse is true on every count for McCarthy and he has good reason to be happy with the way things look as he heads into the campaign proper.