HE’S NOT MARKIN’ O’NEILL
Ireland boss doesn’t plan to make special arrangements for ace Bale
MARTIN O’NEILL gave Gareth Bale his No1 vote for the FIFA Player of the Year award – but he won’t single him out for any special treatment when he comes to Aviva Stadium with Wales on Friday night.
The Real Madrid flyer is top of the Group D goalscoring charts, and capable of winning any game on his own, but O’neill isn’t keen on man marking the former Spurs star.
“I’ll have some thoughts on how to mark him,” O’neill said. “If you’re asking will we end up man-marking him, I think great players can escape that.
“You end up becoming totally obsessed with somebody.
“If he’s picking it up and becoming really dangerous, then I think our players in that area should try to react to it.
“He plays at this minute for Real Madrid, wide right-hand side, and when he’s picking the ball up – I think players should look at these things. There should be a little DVD of it.
“If I was marking him, I would have a little look to see what direction he turns. He’s got really good pace, he has turned a couple of players in La Liga there recently where you thought it was an impossible position to get out of, but in three strides, he’s got away from them. He’s a handful, a top quality, world class player.
“But there are things you can do to try read what he might be doing.”
O’neill (inset) also has complete respect for Welsh boss Chris Coleman.
“Believe it or not, I voted for him,” O’neill said.
“My three votes for the manager of the year were Claudio Ranieri first, the Portuguese manager second [Fernando Santos] because they won the Euros; and Chris Coleman for their efforts with Wales. That shows how highly I think of him.”
Victory on Friday would put Ireland seven points ahead of Wales at the halfway mark of Group D–a result that could end Welsh hopes of qualifying for Russia 2018.
With so much on the line, the visitors can hardly afford not to win, but O’neill won’t settle for a draw even if it would not damage Irish hopes.
“I think our group is wide open,” he said. “The game has taken on an enormous importance, really, because by the time we complete this we’ll be halfway through the qualifiers.
“I wouldn’t know how to play for a point. If you’re saying to me that with about three minutes to go and we’re hanging on, would you take it? Depending on the circumstances.
“But I think we have just got to try and show the same approach, come in with the same approach, as we have with the four games we’ve played.”