O'Shea wary of threat

SOCCER: THE IRISH training game teams broke down along slightly tribal lines yesterday in Gdynia where it was, according to John O'Shea, "Dubs versus Culchies," as Giovanni Trapattoni's men continued their preparations for a contest that might be characterised instead as one between purveyors of art and industry.

The Irish need to show plenty of the latter against Spain if they are to have any chance, admits the defender who should have a better idea than his team-mates here of what lies in store in Gdansk. That’s thanks to having been a part of a Manchester United squad that played two Champions League semi-finals and two finals against Barcelona in his last few seasons with the club.

“Yeah, the Barcelona trait is very obvious in the team and they have some great attacking players, so we have to be on our game but we’re confident that we can cause them problems too,” insisted the 31-year-old.

Trapattoni has repeatedly brought up Chelsea’s improbable Champions League successes over the Spanish club side and then Bayern Munich as examples of what might be achieved and O’Shea agrees there are some pointers there for the Irish.

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I think that we can learn in terms of the shape and the commitment that Chelsea showed. The two legs [of the semi-final] made it a slightly different thing but I think that shape is going to be a crucial factor.

“The way Barcelona can move the ball so quickly, staying with runners, not just watching the ball, is going to be crucial because if you do that then players will just run off and in behind you with the number of one-twos they play.

“So for the midfield and even the wide men, the attacking players, it’s about not letting players run off you freely. That’s going be a key thing because if you can stop that then you stop a lot of the through balls that they play in behind the back four, through the back of the midfield too; Chelsea were able to cut that off very well against Barcelona.”

It is, it pretty much goes without saying, however, easier said than done and Trapattoni will assume that any errors of the sort committed at key moments during the Croatia game will again be ruthlessly punished.

“We know we can cause them problems on the counter-attack though,” he adds. “It’s going to have to be better from us when we’re in possession, especially go forward; that’s going to be key because obviously the number of times that we’re going to have the ball in the final third will be limited and it will be crucial to make the most of those chances, the ones from set pieces as well. We will,” he concludes, “need a lot of luck too.”

It is far from a formula for guaranteed success and yet it is the mindset with which Chelsea became European champions for the first time. Denmark showed with their win over the Netherlands at the weekend that it can work here too.

Somehow, the Irish must do the same tomorrow night.