Since returning to Italy from his sojourn in Ireland - where he spread the good news of the importance of bypassing midfield to little, uncultured Ireland - Giovanni Trapattoni has become a TV pundit of extreme controversy, dropping the F-bomb in a foul-mouthed rant at Stephane Okaka:
A favourite paragraph in this month's @WSC_magazine #trapp pic.twitter.com/dhrXPKfgg8
— Hugh Odling-Smee (@smeeho7) May 19, 2016
Gazzetta Dello Sport have today sought the opinions of his former assistant Marco Tardelli ahead of Ireland's clash with Italy on Wednesday. As part of the interview, Tardelli was asked to list his favourite Irish players. Top of the list was Shane Long, whom he terms his "pupil", and, while he " flunks some sitters before the goal because he's completely exhausted", he remembers Long's header at Wembley in 2013 fondly.
Elsewhere, Robbie Keane is praised for his "human qualities", as he "very often he gave money for people who work behind the scenes".
Tardelli also claims credit/culpability for James McCarthy:
“[James] McCarthy had a Scottish and Irish passport. I went to speak with him to see if he could play with us. I don't know if I was the one who convinced him, I certainly made it very clear to him just how badly we needed him.
Irish fans may be questioning exactly how badly we currently need McCarthy. Most interesting was his opinion of Jeff Hendrick, arguably Ireland's best player of Euro 2016:
As for Hendrick, we picked him up at Derby County, in the Championship. I was there to see a central defender, but I was struck by him.
He's what you'd call a player of the past, but the truth is a bit different. He is modern in ways that aren't immediately perceived, but they emerge when you really need them. I offered him to some Italian teams, but maybe he wasn't expensive enough.
If Hendrick can add goals against Italy, he might just be deemed expensive enough.
