|
A right headache for Stan
 By
David Thorpe
Given the level of talent at his disposal, Republic of Ireland manager
Steve Staunton has very few genuine selection dilemmas.
But the right side of midfield is one area where Staunton has a difficult
choice now and in the coming months.
Ahead of the games against Germany and Cyprus The Irish Post looks at
the various options open to the manager as he seeks to solve a position
which has been a problem since the retirement of Ray Houghton.
Aidan McGeady
Age: 21
Club: Celtic
The little man from the banks of the Clyde has attracted the adoration
of his club managers and the ire of Republic of Ireland supporters in
equal measure.
For Celtic he has been top quality against teams such as AC Milan and
Manchester United. For Ireland he has looked pedestrian against the defenders
of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
He brings a measure of flair to a sometimes dour Irish team but has also
been guilty of conceding possession far too easily in recent matches and
is slow to track back.
Stephen Hunt
Age: 26
Club Reading
The Laois-born man, who grew up in Waterford, has taken a winding road
to the top of the game with pit stops at footballing outposts such as
Brentford but he enjoyed a massively impressive debut season in the Premeirship
last year.
Works extremely hard for the team, tracks back well and has begun to add
goals to his game.
Lacks genuine flair and isn’t overly quick; definitely more of a
right-sided midfielder in the Ray Houghton mode than an out-and-out winger
like Damien Duff.
He has quite a poor disciplinary record and quite often there is little
end product resulting from all of his hard work.
Stephen Ireland
Age: 21
Club: Man City
Irish fans will have become used to seeing him in central midfield for
the national team but for Manchester City fans he is a winger.
Extremely good at tucking into the space between the strikers and midfield,
with the result that he scores plenty of goals.
Full-backs who play against him usually find that they are unable to make
forward runs, as Ireland has the tackling and tracking back of a central
player.
Lacks the pace of a winger and is sometimes prone to lapses in concentration,
and his positional sense is also questionable.
Steve Finnan
Age: 31
Club Liverpool
A Champions League winner as a full-back with Liverpool the Limerick native
has played four times on the wing for Ireland, and if the rest of midfield
is packed with attacking players Finnan offers some defensive cover.
Has turned in some extremely tepid displays for the national side in recent
seasons but his experience and genuine class is too good to be left on
the sideline while Steve Carr can slot into the full-back position behind
him. |
