This is what life feels like off the fence.
Marco Tardelli is fondly remembered in Italy as the man that helped seal World Cup glory in 1982. His ‘Gol! Gol!’ celebration, when he scored in the final win over West Germany, was a defining image of Italian success.
He lives and breathes Italy. Just because he happened to be Ireland’s assistant coach for five years does not change that.
Ahead of Wednesday’s final Group E game against Ireland, Tardelli gave an interview with Gazetto dello Sport. It would certainly seem that Tardelli is of the same mindset as Giovanni Trapattoni, who he assisted in Ireland from 2008 to 2013.
Trapattoni did not rate the Irish players. Given that most of Ireland’s squad played under Trap and Tardelli, the assistant is not a huge fan. He said:
“Their collapse against Belgium? They made too many mistakes, one after the other, but all for the same reason: they have trouble handling the game tactically. They don’t get that football is also an intellectual matter, and not just about attacking and going forward.
“They conceded two of their three goals on counters. It seems like an enormous paradox, but for them it’s normal to play without stopping to think.
“They have great qualities in terms of character and physical build, a great drive to learn, and not very much attention to tactics. They always want to play, even when they’re training. So we had to invent new ways of getting them to practice tactics even as they played.”
Imagine that? Wanting to play in training.
Asked to list five Irish players to test Italy, Tardelli offered up six – Shane Long, Jeff Hendrick, John O’Shea, James McCarthy, Robbie Keane and Robbie Brady, whom he says personifies this Irish team.
Tardelli called Long ‘my pupil’ and his take is fair enough without recognising his impressive season to date. He said:
“Sometimes Shane misses some sitters before the goal because he’s completely exhausted, but one of my best memories from that time is his incredible header against England, in a friendly in Wembley, in May 2013. I was so happy.”
Not one mention of Wes Hoolahan in the interview, we note.
