No Jon Walters, no John O’Shea, if you hadn’t heard already.
Ireland take for Zenica on Friday the 13th for their first leg play-off game with Bosnia and Herzegovina. A place in France awaits the victor on Monday.
With two crunch games falling just three days apart, we can assume, based on Martin O’Neill’s logic from the Germany-Poland double-header, that Wes Hoolahan won’t be able to play two games in such close succession. He couldn’t cope with that after all. So we’re going to assume O’Neill will save him for the return leg in Dublin.
So here’s the team that O’Neill will probably opt for out in Bosnia for the first leg. Then again, his team selections for every game have been correctly guessed by approximately two people. Give or take two people.
With no Walters and, let’s face it, no Hoolahan, O’Neill might go with a flatter midfield and recall Aiden McGeady who was deployed in our hour of need out in Poland.
Him and McClean allow the old classic Trapattoni-esque work rate from the wingers whilst we can safely assume that Glenn Whelan’s spot is nice and secure and waiting for him.
No John O’Shea could see a return for Ciaran Clark who played the full 90 minutes – albeit abysmally – for Villa on Monday night at Tottenham. Wilson and himself prefer the left side though so big Richard Keogh might keep his spot – and he should too.
There’s not much by way of going out to win this game in that line-up but it might be enough for O’Neill to just get back to Dublin unbowed.
But what should the team be?
The diamond formation is something we must persist with.
The management surprised us when they went with it against Germany and it is the first real O’Neill stamp we can see on the team. It is now what makes it his team even if the personnel seemingly changes with every outing.
Okay, with Jon Walters’ outrageous work rate, that diamond was a lot safer to play because the Stoke man became our best attacker and best defensive midfielder all in one. That’s why it would be riskier in his absence.
It does mean you’d have to go with Stephen Ward at left back too but so what? He wasn’t out of place against the world champions and it freed up Robbie Brady to no end to actually have an effect on play. It gives us a realistic chance of keeping possession and actually hurting teams too.
And it bloody well solves the James McCarthy problem who turned in his best performances against Germany and in the second half against Poland in the absence of Glenn Whelan. He can do Glenn Whelan’s job. And he can do it better.
Darren Randolph is preferred ahead of David Forde, but even if Shay Given was fit Randolph would be our choice. Not because he’s undroppable or because he’s played more games than Given for his club, but simply by default. Because Shay Given isn’t nearly the player he once was.
Daryl Murphy? Why not? With no Walters, we have no physicality up top and, whilst he might not have been particularly dangerous in his Ireland games to date, Murphy puts in a shift for 60-70 minutes – whatever it is – and he dents back lines. It provides a different dynamic alongside Long.
Wes Hoolahan’s inclusion shouldn’t even be discussed.
Here are the options for the management team. The realistic Paul Green-less options.
I mean, Eunan O’Kane and Darron Gibson are also worth considering – as too is Robbie Keane, because he always is – but it’s likely that, with a home tie in Dublin on Monday to decide our Euro 2016 fate, Friday’s first leg will be more of a must-not-lose affair.
It will be a risk-free affair.
