SOCCER ANALYST:THIS MARKS a great opportunity to get three points on the board before a home game against Andorra, which should set Ireland up for the Russian visit with a perfect record and the confidence to make it nine points from three games.
Do that and it will be very hard to stop the resulting momentum for the rest of the campaign.
Sounds easy.
A draw wouldn’t be a disaster in Yerevan but, really, the opportunity is there to make a statement of intent that might worry the Russians and Slovaks.
The group could have started in Moscow and we all remember how disastrous that was for Mick McCarthy in late 2002.
There are, however, a couple of concerns with this trip to Armenia. The heat is going to be a disadvantage and it is the first game of the group so I would expect them to be bullish. They have not had their aspirations shot to pieces yet by a few defeats. Every team has positive thoughts leading into a campaign. It is the worst time to meet the underdogs.
They will make it difficult for us and with so many of our main players not playing regular club football, some might suffer under a blazing sun.
Shay Given and Robbie Keane are the most high-profile bench-warmers so far this season but they are not the problem. Shay and Robbie will be foaming at the mouth to get out on the pitch so I don’t expect much rustiness from either man. Also, they are in Ireland mode this week and that always, mentally, gives them a few extra inches and a yard of pace.
No, I have no worries about our two best players. Given is such a good pro he won’t lack for sharpness, while Robbie will just want to get on the end of something. Score a goal or two to remind the Spurs fans that he still has the quality to do it for them.
Richard Dunne’s form for Aston Villa, on the other hand, could hurt us if it’s transferred to the green jersey. Again, Richard will probably be his excellent, commanding self but he has struggled for form, as Villa’s strange 6-0 defeat to Newcastle and being knocked out of Europe showed.
Having watched him closely in a few matches, I don’t think his fitness levels are anywhere near the necessary standard for the rarefied atmosphere of the Premiership.
Richard is a fantastic player but to prove this he needs to hit peak fitness – unlike others he can’t get away with 75-80 per cent – and that means a quality pre-season. Maybe that hasn’t happened but either way he needs about five or six more games before we will be right.
Here’s hoping Ireland don’t suffer in the heat down that left side as Dunne may have to provide cover for the 33-year-old Kevin Kilbane.
Left back is a problem the Armenians might not exploit but the Russians will go at us down that side just like Argentina did.
That said, Kilbane is a warrior and he will get through the game.
If everyone is fit I think John O’Shea should be used at centre back beside Dunne and that means letting two new fullbacks settle into the team. Now is the time to do this.
Kilbane abides because a Trapattoni full back is conservative by nature. They mind the house so the likes of Aiden McGeady and Liam Lawrence can torment opposition fullbacks. This suits Kilbane’s ageing limbs and he is smart enough to survive, but I just feel it could come back and haunt the team as the campaign develops.
There are others that might not be in their best condition. Glenn Whelan has been in and out at Stoke, while McGeady hasn’t been playing due to the move to Moscow from Glasgow.
We are also going to learn a lot more about Paul Green. He has earned the right to be out there by his displays at the RDS a few months back and against Argentina he worked all night despite the mesmerising passing display that occurred around him.
They were friendlies of course and the step up for competitive matches is massive.
Remember, as well, it took Whelan and Keith Andrews a few games to become the international quality players they are now. The test for Green is whether he can retain possession and use it as effectively as Andrews, or even Whelan whose distribution is unfussy and smart.
We know he has the engine to play in this rigid central midfield role, now we need to see more.
The structure and players are in place to win this game. Trapattoni has a tried and tested system and he has given the newer players enough time on the pitch to adapt to his ways, now they must grab hold of matches by the scruff of the neck and be the team they showed us they were on that fateful night in Paris.
Through everything that happened that night, we shouldn’t forget the Irish performance.
The challenge is to repeat it. Armenia have a decent record at home, Ireland need to sully that.
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