AT LAST. The phoney war is over. Little Liechtenstein, of all places, is fast becoming a landmark in Irish football. A key battleground in bringing down the old regime, the revolution now formally begins here. More than likely with a bang rather than a whimper. This is going to be interesting.
The first salvos were unleashed yesterday. Ireland have four young World Cup debutants. One, Ian Harte, only just 19, has only seven "Leeds appearances to his name. As significant are the overhauls in style and attitude as much as personnel in an attacking, fluid 3-5-2. What would the line-up and tactics have been under Jack Charlton? More of the same old faces and good old 4-4-2? Or Joe Kinnear, Kevin Moran, Kenny Dalglish etc for that matter?
It is becoming clearer that McCarthy was plotting, this revolution under the camouflage of his unlikely strategic base in Millwall for a couple of years. Now comes the first judgement day, but the counter-revolutionaries are already in place.
They cannot be easily dismissed, for they are the cognoscenti. Giles, Lawrenson, Dunphy and company re-iterate the same theme: the game is about players first and foremost; systems depend on players, not vice-versa. And we don't have the players for this 3-5-2 system.
This is where McCarthy disagrees. Notably more irked these past few days than in the early days of his `honeymoon period', he was more relaxed yesterday.
But there was still the hint of treason in the air as he faced the recently-arrived British hacks. "You people get set formations in your head. I've got to have `A specific person to do A specific job'," he retorted when asked who would be his nominated midfield `holder' or `sitter'. This is about fluidity and fluency, a touch of the continentals - a defender steps out and a midfielder steps in, a La the Germans Sammer and Eilts.
"We all watch those teams and we think that's brilliant that. But then when an English manager. .or an Irish manager tries to do it, there's almost a suspicion about it. I find it strange. We've got the guys to do that."
Therein lies the rub. McCarthy believes he has the players. And herein lies another one: "If you have people working in straight lines, just up and down, like 4-4-2, there's your right winger, there's your left winger, right back, left back, the two midfielders work up and down in straight lines, you fellas up there will be saying there's no movement in the team at all. You gotta move."
Hence the emphasis on keep-ball in McCarthy's training sessions. Keep the faith is his motto. "You gotta move people around to get the ball to feet. And that's what we'll be trying for 10 games." Like it or lump it then. And that applies to McCarthy as much as anyone else.
"It's a new era. We're going into something new. I've said all along, whatever happens throughout this qualifying, going into the qualification for the next one we will be in a stronger position because we'll have 20-, 21-, 22-year-old players with maybe 10-15 cap's each. So whether we qualify or not somebody's going to get the benefit from it the next time. I might get the benefit this time. Personally I think I will. I think they'll be okay."
Crucially, there's a discernible buzz in training and a belief in the manager's ways. One of McCarthy's most devoted young disciples is Keith O'Neill. The 20-year-old Norwich player is not averse to saying it as he sees it.
Alluding to McCarthy's theme, O'Neill commented yesterday. "I don't know if it's a criticism, but with Jack and Maurice, they only looked for the next game. They never really looked to the future. Mick's looking at what's best for Irish football over the next five years and over the next 10 years. He's not just looking at winning the next game."
O'Neill embodies the new way. Chirpy, cocky and mature beyond his years off the pitch, the Finglas lad disarmingly concedes McCarthy's point that he has "a raw edge to him" and is sometimes too brimful of running for his own or his team's good.
"Up front I suppose I just run around and try to cause problems. I don't really know what I'm doing up there sometimes. I just play off Quinny. Quinny tells me what to do." Despite a prodigious three goals in six international appearances, at times, O'Neill looks a bit too lefty for a striker. Self-deprecatingly again, he admits: "I'm a winger and I think I'll stick to being a winger. I know what I'm doing there."
O'Neill embodies something else in this team, a more demonstrative pride in their Irishness. He's positively bursting with the stuff. "It's frightening really. Years ago I remember watching, the Irish games on telly and hearing the national anthem. I'd be sitting in my living-room and getting goose pimples just listening to it. So you can imagine how I feel when I'm actually on the pitch. Especially when you're born and bred in Finglas and knowing what the atmosphere is going to be like back home, all the lads in the pub. It's frightening."
It's what it's all about.
