English pragmatism offers ideal template for Martin O’Neill
MARTIN O’NEILL sensed a fracture in the relationship between a national team and their supporters. Happily, the manager of Ireland believes it has been repaired – just one of the benefits of England’s drive deep into the 2018 World Cup.
‘Do not underestimate the significance of that because in some quarters there was indifference towards the England team for some time,’ he wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
‘That has changed after this World Cup.’
O’Neill is correct, and he is only one of the managers and coaches throughout the sporting world who should learn lessons from what Gareth Southgate has achieved.
Some Ireland supporters will blanch at O’Neill pronouncing on the consequences of England’s achievements in Russia, but if he absorbs at least one lesson from what has unfolded over the past month, then there could be some benefit for the national team here, too.
When Roy Keane stops smouldering – and while he has wandered painfully close to caricature at times, he is entitled to become angry when obliged to listen to the clownish Ian Wright – he must also learn from England’s story.
They were not good enough to defeat Croatia and deserved to lose. However, it was a natural end to their adventure: they beat the teams they should have, and they lost to a technically sophisticated, hardened one, manned by players who have won Champions Leagues and star for Europe’s best club sides.
England, simply, got the best out of themselves.
On this occasion, it was not good enough and there is no quibbling over that. But the wisdom salted away from playing the Croatians should fortify this young side ahead of the Euros in 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
Southgate could not have done any more with this squad, given their abilities and the qualities of the sides they faced.
A group that can review a competition and see that they maximised their abilities and their efforts is entitled to be satisfied, and very proud.
This is not the same as throwing up hands and bemoaning the thinness of resources. This was a tire- some indulgence of Giovanni Trapattoni, and O’Neill has skirted that tendency, when rueing the fact that he only got to work with Robbie Keane during the sunset of his career.
Coaches and players are obliged to work together to become better. O’Neill and Keane may not believe they have enough time with a squad to fit individual players with the skills necessary to qualify for major tournaments, but they should be able to find tactical ways of bringing the best out of their selections.
Southgate did this in prioritising set-pieces. He understood that without a gifted instigator like Luka Modric or Kylian Mbappé, his side would need to find another way to score goals.
They worked hard on creating opportunities from corners and free-kicks, and it worked. It was a devilishly simple plan, but the England players were so well drilled that it was enormously difficult to counter.
There has been a predictably mean-spirited, post-hoc rejection of the anticipation that surged through England ahead of the Croatia game.
‘It’s Coming Home’ was not a flat declaration of arrogance: it was the sound of a people getting excited.
We used to know that sensation, when supporters were thrilled by the performances of their team on the field, and not their own engineered ‘banter’ off it.
The excitement that swept England was sport at its most effective, inspiring people, tempting them to dream, distracting them, even.
And that was down to Southgate and his players. When a team is thoroughly prepared and willing to spend itself in pursuit of an ambition, wonderful possibilities open before them. For a modestly talented one like England, that meant a chance to reach a World Cup final materialised, if only for 120 minutes.
And whoever wins today’s final will be just as well prepared, but simply have better players than England did. Levels of quality differ, but the most admirable teams are distinguished by their determination to do everything in their power to succeed.
It is one of the oldest truths in sport, but one too easily overlooked.
The public respond instinctively to an honest effort. As O’Neill wrote on Friday: ‘There have been definite signs of progress in performances and results, but it is what it has done in terms of bringing people together that will be the lasting legacy of Gareth Southgate’s team in Russia.’
Good coaches can wield that power. O’Neill has seen it happen over the last remarkable month.
Soon, he will have the opportunity to try it for himself.
ON this issue at least, the GAA deserve a break. Because the Championship calendar is now so tight, there was little room to play with when it became apparent the Kerry-Galway match in Croke Park clashed with the World Cup final. Fixing it for 2pm and moving the Monaghan-Kildare game to 12pm wasn’t feasible; it would mean the players having to be up particularly early to prepare, and it would oblige fans to do likewise. Sometimes, events clash and people have to choose. Is that really such a terrible thing?