6) McClean should have started for Republic of Ireland
Martin O’Neill got it wrong from the start. Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 was the attack-minded set-up almost every Irish supporters wanted to see but few fans will have been happy with Jon Walters occupying a position wide on the right of midfield. He was placed there in the match against Germany and from a defensive point of view, he did a tremendous job. However, he offered little going forward – direct runs and searing pace are not his thing – and a German weak spot, the inexperienced left-back Erik Durm, went unexploited. It was more of the sameagainst Poland. It is obvious to anyone who has seen Poland play in this campaign that they are susceptible to pace on the flanks, so why play the plodder that is Walters out there? Why not start with James McClean? As he showed when he came on, he has the speed and skills to get behind the Poland defence and set up good opportunities for his team-mates. That was not the only choice O’Neill got wrong. If you are going to play Wes Hoolahan, then you need to play Shane Long in front of him. Long has the legs to run on to the type of passes Hoolahan can come up with, unlike the man who was chosen in his stead, Robbie Keane. The LA Galaxy forward was more static than wool fabric and despite his impressive goalscoring record, now looks past his use-by date.
7) Davis is Northern Ireland’s quiet genius
Before this campaign started the chances of Northern Ireland qualifying for Euro 2016 in an automatic spot seemed as remote as the idea of life being found on Neptune. Should you have suggested such a possibility, people would have laughed in your face. Long and loud and hard. Ha, ha, ha. But the joke could be on them soon enough. With five games to go (three of which are at home and two of which are winnable away fixtures against the Faroe Islands and Finland), Northern Ireland are a point behind group leaders Romania and four points clear of Hungary in third place. Kyle Lafferty’s well-taken first-half goals against Finland (rightly) won him the bottle of champagne but it is worth mentioning the quiet work of Steven Davis. The Southampton player is one of the most crucial cogs in Michael O’Neill’s side. In a team not noted for its ability to keep the ball, he rarely losses possession (he misplaced just two passes on Sunday) and his level-headed approach brings a zen-like calm to the team. He also showed, with his last-ditch tackle on Teemu Pukki, that he has the pace and ability to stop opposition attacks in their tracks. He did not return for the second half due to a thigh injury and his absence was obvious as O’Neill’s side looked a lot more vulnerable. He could be a key figure in France.
8) Odegaard offers scant consolation for Norway
There seems little chance of Martin Odegaard enjoying a quiet couple of years, even if Real Madrid Castilla are watched by crowds that barely scrape 1,500. He was pitched into a far more challenging atmosphere at Zagreb’s Maksimir Stadium on Friday night when 23,000 Croats were given five reasons to raise the roof by an accommodating Norway side, and broke another international record in the process. At 16 years, 101 days, Odegaard became the youngest player to start a European Championship qualifier and completed the entire 90 minutes, performing creditably in the No11 shirt for a generally impotent team and starting the move that led to Alexander Tettey’s consolation goal. The desperation to press Odegaard into such sustained action does not necessarily speak well of the manager Per-Mathias Hogmo’s options but,with four caps to his name, he seems part of the furniture now and could yet end up in the brightest spotlight of all next summer. Encouragement was scant for a Norway side in last week’s 5-1 defeat – with the Croatia coach Niko Kovac even expressing dissatisfaction at his side’s performance – but they still sit four points ahead of fourth-placed Bulgaria and a play-off place appears likely. It is sadly inevitable that a few mediocre teams will sleepwalk into these finals and Norway have as good a chance of going all the way as many; whether it will benefit his development or not, Odegaard seems to be in the international fold to stay and may be required to carry his country’s fight where it counts a year from now.
9) Gómez could make a difference to wasteful Germany
No one expected Germany to take anything but three points from Georgia and they did not disappoint. The win was a welcome retort after the draw with Republic of Ireland and the defeat to Poland but it was not quite the perfect retort. “We could have made it easier for ourselves,” said Thomas Müller and he is right. Too often, Germany were profligate up front. Mario Götze did not manage a single shot on goal; Marco Reus hit the bar twice; Müller missed a couple of chances – and almost messed up his goal with a poor first touch – and Mesut Özil, though not noted for his scoring, could have done better on a few occasions. This wastefulness has been a hallmark for Joachim Löw’s side of late. They had 16 attempts against Georgia (with six on target); 19 against the Republic (with eight on target); and 22 against Poland (again with eight on target). Before this game, Löw was asked if he would consider bringing Mario Gómez back into this squad. “We always keep an eye on him,” he said. “If Mario finds his rhythm and is playing and scoring regularly then he’ll obviously be an option looking ahead to the Euros.” With eight goals in his last eight games and Germany proving to be wanton up front, Gómez might just be getting that call sooner than he thinks.
10) This is not the time to be churlish about Gibraltar
The old adage goes that you are at your most vulnerable straight after you have scored a goal, but that might not necessarily have been expected to apply during a Scottish rout of Gibraltar. Lee Casciaro’s accurate low finish, which briefly levelled the scores a minute after Shaun Maloney had put Scotland ahead, did offer some cause for concern and at least provided a riposte to those dismissing the fixture as a waste of time. It is justifiable to wonder how far Gibraltar, whose population does not quite hit 30,000 and who have made the worst-ever start to a European Championship campaign, can realistically go but it jars against the game’s spirit not to share in moments of joy. Casciaro’s goal was heartwarming at the time and celebrated wildly; Gibraltar were brought back down to earth soon enough but scenes like these have a happy knack of cropping up just often enough to postpone more weighty discussions and it will be genuinely interesting to see whether this can be a spur for improvement in the second half of the qualifiers. Their next assignment, a “home” match with Germany in Faro, may not be the best barometer and you suspect that the worst could still be to come for David Wilson’s team – but any non-Scot unable to raise a smile when Casciaro beat David Marshall could do with remembering that these moments define international football just as much as those as the opposite end of the scale.
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