Strange date ever normal with Trapattoni.

Spring was most definitely in the air. The sloping splendour of the AVIVA stadium shone ever brighter beneath the clear blue sky. Poland and the Ukraine were inching closer over the horizon, it was February 29^th and Giovanni Trapattoni had taken a leap into the known with his team selection.

It was ever thus. Despite the incessant calls for James McClean to make his international debut and despite the remerging claims of James McCarthy, Trap stuck to what he knew. Only injuries deprived him of his chosen eleven with Leeds’s Darren O’Dea coming in for Richard Dunne and Shane Long deputising for Kevin Doyle.

Robbie Keane’s role was slightly altered. The manager once again compared him to Francesco Totti in the build up to the match and believed the Tallaght man could control the game in the traditional number ten role. Shane Long had edged Jonathan Walters from the starting eleven as Trappatoni believed the West Brom man’s pace would be important in stretching the Czech back four and opening up pockets of space for Keane to operate in.

Ireland began brightly. The party atmosphere of the home crowd extended to the pitch where Keane in particular flashed some moments of magic. Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews were snapping into challenges while Duff and McGeady were running hard and direct at their opposing full-backs. Then Ireland reverted to type.

The Czech’s started to weave little patterns and Ireland began to cede more and more territory. The Czech ten in particular Jiri Stajner began to find influence in front of Ireland’s back four. The home side were hardly stretched and the Czech possession game was pretty but not effective. The Group C opposition will merge the two though.

Milan Baros broke his international duck with the opener five minutes into the second half. It was an exceptionally poor goal to concede with John O’Shea of all people only having eyes for the ball. Ireland rallied somewhat after the goal with substitutions playing a part. As ever with Trapattoni though, you must query the thought process behind the switches.

We are all footballing plebs bowing to the senator that is Trap. He probably actually has forgotten more about the game than any of us at a keyboard know. That however, makes the decision to send Paul Green on instead of James McCarthy even more ridiculous. Green is a middling player, a poor man’s Glenn Whelan. McCarthy if certain people are to be believed is being tracked by the biggest clubs in the Premiership. He possesses a sureness of touch that would find a happy home at international level. Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan are deserving first choices; Andrews in particular looked sharp last night but McCarthy must be first reserve.

Trapattoni handled James McClean perfectly though. There is now an absurd level of expectations placed upon a kid who didn’t enter most people’s thoughts as recently as December. The Aviva shook with the roar that greeted his arrival. The slumping shoulders of the press box sprung up and everyone’s eyes were drawn to no: 26. His arrival along with Jonathan Walters and Simon Cox had a galvanising effect, and Ireland deservedly snatched an equaliser through incisive, clever work from Cox.

Cox is fast becoming another Trapattoni success story. He is genuinely different to Ireland’s other strikers and how many marked him out as a potential international starter before Trap? He took a chance on him and it paid off, but why doesn’t he take a chance on what seem sure things. Seamus Coleman is a regular Premiership starter. He may not possess the defensive nous required at right-back but he has the capacity to be a force as a right winger.

We go to the championships with a first eleven set in stone. Utterly unmoveable yet we face opponents who will demand change, demand innovation. There is merit in having a settled team and what Trapattoni has done in that cannot be argued with. A small flourish now though, of youth and vitality could give us a genuine shot. McCarthy not Green, Coleman not Hunt.

All those loyal Trap lieutenants packed their bags after Estonia though. The team for Croatia may as well be named now. The rocky road to Poland is smooth sailing all the way; Don Gio though, could use a little leap in the unknown.

Case for the defence.

Attack sells tickets, defence wins titles. That is a re-working of an old American sports saying because nobody on this side of the Atlantic can say “offence” without scoffing.

United under Sir Alex have been built on defence. The surging, surgical strikes of the ’94 side were backboned by the most resolute of back fives. Their names were in bold, carved in stone. Schmichael. Parker. Bruce. Pallister. Irwin.  They were a comfort blanket when you scanned the team sheet.

Any successful back four needs to know each other inside out. Van der Saar. Brown. Ferdinand. Vidic. Evra. Fergie chopped and changed plenty on the way to Moscow but that back five was set. There is a collective understanding that develops throughout a season when the defence settles. Runs are covered, calls are understood, and little nuanced movements are immediately accounted for.

This season’s vintage have never come close to developing that kind of telepathic understanding. Injuries have destroyed any fledgling centre-back relationship’s while for a good while now we have treated right-back as a hole to be filled.

The loss of Vidic was a savage blow. Rating players on a world stage is mostly a waste of time but any list of the world’s best centre-backs would have to include the Serbian. Perhaps he wouldn’t be the all conquering general in Spain where his footwork might be tested more, but in England, as a penalty box defender of committed intelligence, he has no equal.

The season long injury deprived us of our voice and leader at the back. Vidic was always the steel to Ferdinand’s silk and the steel was needed more than ever this season with a new goalkeeper being ushered in to replace the safest of hands.

The goalkeeper is the new wedge driven between United fans. You are either De Gea or Lindegaard. Nail your colours to the mast now because there is no middle ground here. The Spaniard has undoubtedly suffered physically with the volley and thunder of crosses raining down on him. That was to be expected, more so when you consider he hardly ever had Vidic or Ferdinand in front of him, never mind the two of them.

The raw gifts shown off so spectacularly at home to Newcastle and away to Chelsea hint at a special keeper on the cusp of developing. Some have questioned his temperament, his lack of character. You know, he’s not “barmy” like every keeper. Because Edwin was a nutter wasn’t he? “I don’t tremble” was a quote I remembered our No: 1 saying in a summer interview. That will do. I don’t rate the Dane by the way.

It’s been a season defined by youth in the defence. Phil Jones arrived with a big reputation and then somehow enhanced it with his early performances, leading some to compare him with Duncan Edwards and Roy Keane. It was hard to not get carried away. The boy just careered through challenges and effortlessly met any new demands made of him. Then came something of a slump.

The constant rotation of his starting positions won’t help his development as a centre-half. Is that his position though? When you see him stride through midfield and his composure when getting chances to shoot, you wonder if he is the lung-busting player United have missed since Keane. A decision needs to be made there before we see him in goals at Spurs.

There is no disputing where Chris Smalling should play and it isn’t right back. He has sustained his excellent level from last season and is emerging as a defender of real stature. The next stage of his development will hopefully see him boss the back four.

Jonny Evans has seen his stock dramatically rise with reds from outright distain to murmured appreciation. He looks as if he believes he belongs in the United team at the moment and it’s heartening to see.

Right-back remains an issue but it won’t be if Rafael stays fit. He spoke recently in an interview of learning to time his challenges better. He was told that the yellow cards would have to stop. Much like De Gea and crosses, this will fade and a gem of a right back will develop. He can do everything and as witnessed whenever he plays at Anfield he has the balls to back it up. His brother isn’t half bad either. If only he was left-footed because our current left-back often forgets he is playing left-back.

In a constant state of injured flux, United’s defence has by and large, coped admirably. Young players of enormous talent continue to develop while a title bid is sustained. Some silly goals have been conceded by that youthful talent but not enough to de-rail us yet. The back five might not be the comfort blanket yet but if they seal 20, their names will be set in stone.

This article first appeared in Red News fanzine.

Tom Brady and laughing in your face.

Let me tell you about my first Tom Brady experience. I am sitting in a van that is churning through a road in Hyannis port, Massachusetts. I am perspiring quite heavily having bared the blistering heat that rained down on me all day. To my left is Mike. Mike is not perspiring.  All day we have dragged, pulled, dug and planted in stony silence. The one time Mike talks to me, he asks if I know any Frenchman. I reply I don’t and ask why. “Pussies, the lot of them, they let us down”. I laugh into his face and the silence resumes.

We are nearing home when I spot a Brady 12 shirt. “So what’s the deal with him?” I ask, “He any good?” Mike laughs into my face.

He then fills the rest of the short journey home with a play by play of Brady’s last season and promises me that the guy is the best ever. I’m sceptical, but the notion of him as a living football God is confirmed by my landlord. Peyton Manning isn’t clutch, he’s arm isn’t all that and he can’t handle the rush. I didn’t ask about Peyton but it was good to know.

The following season I followed the Patriots. I had watched the NFL as an interested bystander up until that point always lamenting the fact I didn’t have a team. The fact I now supported the best one was a happy coincidence. The Pats went 16-0, marched to the Superbowl and met Eli. The rest is history. I was left stunned by the loss. A lot like growing up and learning about Muhammad Ali and learning he lost a fight. It was like seeing some no mark like Damon Hill beating Michael Schumacher or Blackburn bloody Rovers beating United.

Something snapped in Brady that night. The ultimate defeat in the ultimate game of his life. That shroud of invincibility that surrounded him up until that point was whipped away. We learned he could lose. He learned he could lose. Everyone else learned he could lose.

Sunday night was the night he could recover all of that. He had led the Patriots back for revenge. It was the Giants again, it was Eli again and Brady lost again. His first play of the game was a safety and it smacked of a nervous man. The fact he marched the Patriots ninety six yards down the field for a touchdown, tying a SuperBowl record will be forgotten, as will his sixteen consecutive completed passes, another record.

The story book images of this game from Brady’s point of view will be the safety, the interception and the Wes Welker drop. Eliminate any of the three and most likely Brady is wearing a fourth SuperBowl ring.

Such are the inches in defeat. Mike Carlson made the point in the BBC studios on Sunday night that he would like Brady to play more off the cuff, that his precision offence is just that; precise. If that radar wobbles any bit then the game at this level is lost. Brady shook off the pass rush in third quarter and heaved one downfield. You don’t get a more off the cuff play, Rob Gronkowski had hobbled down field, the ball arched away from him and Chase bloody Blackburn came up with it.

Brady will shoulder the blame, that’s his nature. He demands perfection firstly from himself and when that eludes him, he holds his hand up. The reasons for the defeat Sunday night vary from poor clock management to the three plays outlined above but ultimately the Giants made more plays.

Brady will get another shot at immortality. It is quite likely that it will be next year. The Pats have two first round picks in this year’s draft and they will surely be used to shore up a leaky secondary. A deep threat wouldn’t go amiss for Brady either. Their division is hardly taxing, and Brady along with Bill Belichick is a quick learner. They will have a shot for four. Both are cast iron certainties for the hall of fame either way and Brady’s place in the pantheon of quarterback greats is secure.

Oh, and if someone tells you Eli Manning is the better quarterback right now; laugh in their face. He is clutch though, I don't think even my old landlord would dispute that.

Well, in three years time...

Palace at home was a grim sight. A disappointing loss in the Carling cup is usually water off a duck’s back to reds and when one considers the limp exit to Coventry back in 2008 and the image of Michael Mifsud tearing Gerard Pique a new one then we know things can change. Where will the boys of Palace end up?

Ben Amos: A steady Eddie. A couple of years of Carling cup ties awaits followed by a loan followed by a move. Secretly delighted about this year’s Europa exploits. Get the passport out lad.

Rafael: A year of hamstring injuries, followed by shoulder problems followed by dislocated fingers and rounded off with growing pains despite the fact he will be 25. His injuries are maddening because he is the business.

Chris Smalling: A permanent fixture at centre-half please boss. Stop messing him about at right back. That stop gap measure seems to be becoming an every week thing. Was so far ahead of every other player in red against Palace it was almost an embarrassment.

Jonny Evans: I like Jonny and I ain’t afraid to admit it. He gets some ridiculous stick but I’ll wager in three years he will still be here and we will say he’s the type of player every successful club has in their squad. He will then move to Sunderland.

Fabio: See Rafael.

Antonio Valencia: We can thank the boss for shattering his confidence early this season with an ill-advised stint at right back. Needs to return to the chalk on boots- knock it past the full-back-get the cross in player we love. He will still be around.

Darron Gibson: Well it was a shock that he stuck around, not as much of a shock as the crowd yelling shoot every time he got the ball against Palace. In fairness he wasn’t our worst player on the night and he gets some desperate abuse but he isn’t up to it, simple as. Let’s hope Martin O’Neill continues Sunderland’s policy of taking our cast-offs. He Northern Irish too, Martin.

Ji-Sung Park: It would be great if we could hang onto him and bring him out every time we play Arsenal. It would be better if we didn’t have to use him in central midfield. Won’t be here in three years as he will literally run back to Korea Forest Gump style. Cracking song though.

Mame Biram Diouf: The mini Drogba remember that? He always looks decent in the reserves but truth is he was brought here to beef up his CV and then move him on for a tidy profit. In three years he will be playing five a side with Misfits United alongside Tosic, Manucho, Dong and Liam Miller. That or he will be at Sunderland.

Dimitar Berbatov: It’s hard for a committed Berba fan such as myself to face the facts. It just hasn’t happened. He contributed hugely and should always be remembered fondly for his contribution to nineteen and moments of sheer beauty. Let’s hope he quits the game, moves to Paris and writes that 18^th French noir novel he’s been itching to start.

Federico Macheda: We’ll always have Villa Kiko, but we had such high hopes. He was cumbersome, slow and downright rubbish against Palace. He then missed from a yard out in Basle. Fergie seems to like him so maybe he has the inside track on some Italian stallions. A steady descent from Serie A to C awaits.

Ravel Morrison: Column A: A world class midfielder player, with vision and poise and one capable of adorning any team in the world. Column B: The Daily Mail’s front page. No one wants to go there Ravel. Knuckle down kid.

Paul Pogba: Well he mightn’t be here next month unless he gets paid. He deserves a massive wage hike given his vast contribution to the first team. That unfortunately is the game these days and considering how we swooped in on Le Harve we shouldn’t expect sympathy. He isn’t that good anyway. Will doubtless end up bossing Barca’s midfield.

Zeki Fryers: A good lad, tough and quick but his poise in possession doesn’t half need work. Too soon to tell but Sunderland isn’t a bad fall back.

This first appeared in Red News.