Trapattoni a cut above Domenech

Ireland were defeated in the first leg of their World Cup qualifier, unfortunately. However despite this defeat I still believe that their wily old fox of a coach Giovanni Trapattoni is still a top coach.

I think to go to France and win will be a step too far for the Emerald Isle but all is not lost. The team have come a far way under Trapattoni and his assistant manager Marco Tardelli, a World Cup winner himself.

Confidence

The Republic went into the first leg unbeaten in qualifying and full of confidence and I really did fancy them to cause a shock and beat the French. This confidence was inspired by the way the Irish have performed in recent months. Being of Irish descent I really hope they cause a shock and win in France and go to the World Cup next year.

Trapattoni has inspired a great belief and confidence that has been missing for a long time from the Ireland setup. At 70 ‘Don Giovanni’ has been there and done that. He has experienced everything there is to experience in football and he has used all that experience to produce a strong Irish squad.

Good team

The difference between France and Ireland is that Ireland are a team and France are a group of individuals. The French team may have more stars than the night sky but they should have easily qualify for the World Cup automatically. As a footballing country France are a European giant and should be doing better. However they suffered just one defeat in qualification but still didn’t qualify automatically for South Africa 2010.

Domenech not liked

French coach Raymond Domenech is almost universally disliked in his homeland. He has received criticism because of his sides struggles in Euro 2008. Its almost the opposite of Trapattoni’s relationship with his teams fans. The Italian it seems is loved by the Irish fans, despite not even being Irish.

I feel sorry for Domenech because of the dislike of him from his own compatriots. Domenech is simply not good enough to be in charge of such big egos. He doesn’t seem to have a strong enough personality to deal with the big players or get the most out of them. His national press has described his style of management as naive at times and you can’t really argue with them considering the talent he has available to him.

If Trapattoni or Fabio Capello for example were in charge of France you can guarantee that they would already have qualified for next years World Cup. That’s the difference between Domenech and top coaches. They have the ability to inspire and motivate but Domenech seems to lack any sort of motivational skills.

France to progress

Unfortunately for Ireland I think it will be France that makes it to next years World Cup. France will progress despite the presence of Domenech not because of it. The presence of the likes of Thierry Henry, Yoann Gourcuff and Nicolas Anelka will ensure that the home side will have a bit too much for the Irish.

France have the potential to be a great team again. However it appears with Domenech in charge they must motivate themselves. They have found that hard in recent months but I have a feeling that after the criticism they have received throughout qualification they will need no extra motivation at the World Cup.