Why James McClean Must Start For Ireland

It's fair to say that, if you want a fine example of what it's like to bang your head against a brick wall for four years, speak to an Irishman in favour of inserting a little flair into their football team.
Since 2008, Giovanni Trapattoni has molded a side in his own image. Functional would be the kindest way to describe an Irish side that, in 20 qualifying games under Trap, scored only 25 goals. His Ireland builds their success on a mean, mean defence, only bettered by four other sides in qualification. Indeed, they conceded the same number of goals as Germany, and one fewer than Holland.
Indeed, so stodgy have Trap's Ireland been, that even after he secured their first qualification for a major championship final since 2002, and their first European Championship since 1988, F365 received a number of missives from thrill-starved Irishmen calling for the Italian's head. The theory seemed to be that so joyless was his football, they'd rather get rid than let Europe see them play.
The image of Trapattoni as a man absolutely suspicious of creativity is slightly misleading, given that he persists with the talented but terminally frustrating Aiden McGeady, but the source of much Irish frustration are the men who barely get a chance. He seems utterly uninterested in Wes Hoolahan, Liam Lawrence last played a year ago, he was eye-gougingly slow to give James McCarthy a chance (although admittedly he would've been in the Euro 2012 squad were it not for personal reasons) while the likes of Seamus Coleman and even Anthony Pilkington had cases for involvement. Meanwhile, Keith Andrews has 31 caps.
It was slightly surprising therefore that James McClean was selected in Trap's final 23, but having picked him for Polkraine, he absolutely must start against Croatia in a couple of weeks.
In a group also featuring Spain and Italy, Ireland's best chance of advancing is to be tight, compact and solid in both defence and midfield, then hope to nick a goal or two. Luckily for them, that seemed to be Trap's game plan even against Armenia, so at least his players will know the drill.
Of course, the problem with that is some creativity and pace is required. Ireland need a little spice, a little vim, and McClean is arguably the only man who can provide these things. Damien Duff still has a trick but isn't as fast as he used to be, McGeady is, as mentioned, a constant source of annoyance and Stephen Hunt started twice after Christmas for the worst team in the Premier League (and they were dead games in May). In addition, the less said about the imagination of the central midfielders the better (perhaps a smidgen harsh on Darron Gibson) and Robbie Keane aside, the Irish strikers are either honest triers or poachers.
Someone is needed to provide something unusual. Against Bosnia on Saturday McClean didn't score or create a goal, but by golly he scared the living hell out of a few defenders. He showed some of the terrifying directness that made him look like he belonged at Sunderland from the very first minute, from both the left and the right.
McClean is a largely unknown wildcard, he's young, he's quick and he can score goals. In short, Trapattoni can't afford to ignore him.
football365.com