I suppose at this stage there are two ways of looking at the Republic of Ireland's progress through the high seas of world soccer. Taking the big picture view we are moving well, better than we have a right to expect, in a group which contains such sharp-toothed operators as Holland and Portugal. A draw with Holland when the schools reopen should usher us into the nightmarish world of the play-offs. If there is anyone out there who really thought that was possible when the draw was made could they please start running the country immediately.
On the micro front, every game these days seems to encapsulate the overall picture: good results but plenty to look back on and regret. In Amsterdam we should have protected our lead; Cyprus and Andorra away, we should have scored more; Andorra at home we went 10 down; Portugal at home we took a lead we didn't deserve bit gave Figo a free header which he didn't deserve; Estonia away, two goals but couldn't we have scored more?
But football is about going forward and Ireland, broadly speaking, have been doing that. If we avoid defeat in our final two home games it will be the first time we have ever come through a qualifying group unbeaten. We haven't lost on the road since Davor Suker's injury-time winner in Croatia, that's eleven games in two years unbeaten. We have also established a pattern of play which seems like quite an evolutionary leap over that which we practised in our heyday. These are all good things and all achieved with a team which has just one recognised world-class player and which can't defend for more than sixty seconds at a time. Done with one striker whose back injury has made him old before his time and another whose form in a green jersey has deserted him to the extent that if he scores against Holland it will be the first anniversary of his last international goal.
Big credit is due to Mick McCarthy for having achieved all this but even Mick must surely wonder if qualification wouldn't be the start of his headaches. We work off such slender resources and have the team at such a tentative stage of development that perhaps having them whupped on the world stage should be a worry.
As it is the squad we have isn't one you would happily bring away to a World Cup. Getting them to concentrate on the check in line at the airport is hard enough. The entire central defence, with the exception of Andy O' Brien, will spend the next season in the Nationwide League. If Niall Quinn makes it through the next season with every centre half in England knowing that he has a dodgy back it will be a small miracle in itself, while Robbie Keane appears to have gone backwards a little in the past twelve months, regressing to the extent that against Portugal Quinn seemed to spend half the time calling him towards him to be available for the knock down.
David Connolly's recent form in Holland is said to be better than good but even if he was ill served by being tossed in against a packed Andorran defence in April he has surely slipped in the pecking order. After that striking options are virtually nil. Gary Doherty seems destined for defensive duty at Spurs. Clinton Morrison looked promising for the Under 21s but not a stand out. It will be interesting to see if he can recover the form he had before shooting his mouth off after scoring against Liverpool early in January. He scored three times between then and the end of the season, having bagged fourteen prior to that.
After Morrison we slip away to the Dominic Foleys and Graham Barretts and other guys who aren't quite there or never will be there. Spare a wistful thought too for Keith O'Neill. His last competitive game for us was in November 1998. Three days later he scored against Tranmere for Norwich, his last league goal. There was a time when we thought he'd be a player but he averages so few games a season now the World Cup would look like a work camp to Keith. Elsewhere, there is nothing blooming in the striker department. We could go to a World Cup in the way we qualified for it, depending on midfielders for our goals.
There is the problem too of Damien Duff. He is so extravagantly talented a place must be found for him. He is the only player we have who does the unexpected, who worries defenders the way a dog worries sheep. In our workmanlike side that's invaluable. And yet where to play him? On the left side of midfield seems obvious but Ian Harte is as yet unconvinced as to the merits of tackling and taking Kevin Kilbane's physical presence out leaves him exposed. Which brings us to the problem of defensive cover. There was a time just recently when we could have given full backs away for charity auctions. Suddenly that wealth is gone.
Alan Maybury needs a move if he is to cash in on his immense promise. Steve Carr, thankfully, has emerged as a top quality player and he Gary Kelly and Kenny Cunningham, if needed, provide cover on the right. In the other full back spot Ian Harte isn't under much pressure. Steve Staunton, for all his excellence in Tallinn, will be another year older next summer and beyond that there is no queue. Of course we have not just one of the world's best central midfielders we have too many midfielders generally. Rory Delap, worshipped at Derby County, gets not a look in with us, Steve Finnan, a key player at Fulham, likewise.
Matt Holland is restricted to operating like one of those other guys in the Bond movies; if 007 isn't available try 008. And what if Stephen McPhail were to have a wondrous season at Leeds next year, blooming into the creative wonder he promised to be, would it be enough to displace Mark Kinsella? So what we have is what we travel with, which brings us back to where we started. In big picture terms we are doing fine and perhaps its best to just leave it that way. As with synchronised swimming it's best not to know what's going on underneath.
