Walters claim for starting role hard to ignore
Ireland 1 (Cox, 86) – Czech Republic 1 (Baros, 50)
Simon Cox and James McClean will emerge as the headline names from an underwhelming 1-1 draw against the Czechs, but it was another assured performance from Jonathan Walters that should really grab the limelight. The Stoke City man appeared from the bench with 20 minutes remaining and his strength, intelligence and movement immediately transformed the Irish attack. His first touch of the game set up Paul Green to work the goalkeeper, his next created an opening for Andrews and for the remainder his work rate and positioning was such as to make the often directionless long ball tactic look like a viable means of picking the lock. Cox will take the plaudits, but it was the presence of Walters as the focal point of Ireland’s attack which provided the foothold in the final third from which the goal came.
Speaking before the game, Walters comes across as every inch the selfless professional he is on the pitch. “Everyone wants to play, but it’s [Trapattoni’s] decision in the end”, he said. “I was dropped for the second leg against Estonia, but on the day we qualified and that was what was most important for the team and for the country”. The unspoken context to this is the assured and confident performances given by Walters against Armenia in the final qualifier and Estonia in the decisive first leg – performances which would demand a first team place. With Ireland down to 10 men and clinging to a 2-1 lead against a desperate Armenian side, Walters’ introduction had the instant effect of relaxing Irish play. Holding off his marker and bringing the ball under control time and again, Walters’ presence allowed Duff and Hunt to make anticipatory runs, confident in the knowledge that a ball launched to the Stoke City man was in safe hands. Compared with the tetchy and out-of-sorts Kevin Doyle, whose red card that night capped an exasperating night for the Wolves striker, Walters brought the calm of doing the simple things well. He was rewarded with a starting place against Estonia, scored the vital second goal that consolidated Ireland’s dominance and roamed the final third with menace, winning his aerial battles and seamlessly linking play. That he was dropped in favour of Doyle for the home leg was the latest in a series of low-level irritations born out of Trapattoni’s loyalty to favourites over form.
And form is most certainly on Walters’ side. An established first teamer at Stoke City, Walters has scored 10 goals in all competitions – including 2 in the Europa League – a reasonable feat for a striker, but an impressive return for one being played out of position on the right of midfield. Kevin Doyle’s dip in form has resulted in both a disappointing return of 4 goals and losing his place to Steven Fletcher, while Simon Cox and Shane Long are both relying on an injury to Peter Odemwingie before they can expect game time at West Brom. However, it is not simply Walters’ superior goal tally, regular assists or nailed-on starting place at a club side flying higher than his international colleagues that swings the balance in his favour.
In deploying Kevin Doyle as a target man, Trapattoni has been engaged in a process of trying to turn the silk purse into a sow’s ear. Doyle’s game, for those who remember his early outings in an Ireland shirt, were characterised by excellent technique, intelligent runs and an ability from range (screamers against Slovakia and Andorra for starters) which were supplemented by a prodigious work rate and effective aerial presence. It has been to Doyle’s considerable detriment, however, that it is these latter qualities which have been fastened on to by his managers at club and country. Doyle is an excellent all-round footballer whose unselfish industry and proficiency in the air have made him an easy choice to play the workhorse role – a secondary part he is doomed to play for as long as Robbie Keane remains on the scene. Lately, however, the years of attrition in single-handedly leading the line against four-man defences have visibly taken their toll. Normally such a cool customer, Doyle is increasingly to be seen berating himself and gesticulating in frustration during matches, having been crowded off the ball. His red card at home to Armenia came after throwing a petulant elbow at an over-eager defender – out-of-character for Doyle as a professional, but sadly true to form in the season he has had. One hopes that a change of style at club level might see a return to the free-scoring technical footballer who made his name at Reading.
The upshot, however, is that Walters’ claim to the physical target role is becoming almost impossible to ignore. The composure which he brings to the front line stems from the fact that he is not moonlighting: Walters is, quite simply, the strong centre forward we have been waiting for – the lightning rod for our aerial attacks, the natural Vieri to balance Keane’s ‘Totti role’. He is, of course, more than just the machine capable of recycling stray long balls into platforms of attack – Walters is more than capable of playing off the main striker as he does to great effect with Peter Crouch at Stoke. Likewise, his experience on the right and defensive ethic (the fundamental demand of any Tony Pulis player) give him more of an appreciation of those around him than dyed-in-the-wool strikers. As focal points for a regrettably uncultivated plan of attack go, Walters is already the most comfortable candidate for job.
The paradox is that, despite his only international goal being worth more than the 3 amassed by Simon Cox, Walters may yet lose out to the West Brom substitute for a seat on the flight to Poland. For all Cox’s obvious predatorial abilities, it is the manner in which Walters consistently instils shape in an otherwise ragged Irish attack which is of infinitely greater value to the fashioning of chances and retention of possession. His 20 minutes against the Czechs tonight was a further reminder of this. For a manager who always reminds us of the importance of the ‘little details, Trapattoni would do well to recognise the importance of this understated but increasingly influential player to his side.
Native Mind 
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