JONATHAN WALTERS BELIEVES that the Republic of Ireland squad’s hunger and desire will make them a tough nut to crack at next month’s European Championships.
Giovanni Trapattoni’s men have already been written off as the rank outsiders of the ultra-competitive Pool C, where they will come up against Croatia, world champions Spain and Italy in the space of 10 days.
Much has been made of the skill levels and technical ability of Ireland’s opponents in Poland but, although he is a relatively new face in the national set-up with just five caps, Walters has already noticed a special bond within the camp.
That fire could prove to be the difference between going home early and a place in the tournament’s knockout stages.
“We’ve got a whole team full of players that are willing to work for each other and die for each other and for the cause on the pitch,” the Stoke striker said. “To have that in a team is quite rare.
You see when you go away with the lads. It’s such a tight-knit group, there’s such a good bond between each other. It’s got to count for something on the pitch.We’ve got a team full of lads like that, a squad full of lads like that who have that hunger and a willingness to do well. A lot of games are won or lost in the last five or ten minutes of a game so to keep going until the last minute, to have that hunger and desire to go that extra bit makes a difference.
Rise
Walters also shares a common trait with a lot of his team-mates in the Irish squad, many of whom have served apprenticeships in England’s lower leagues before working their way up to the top for both club and country.
It was the Liverpudlian’s consistency during his three seasons in the Championship with Ipswich that caught the eye of Potters boss Tony Pulis, earning him a move to the Brittania and a four-year contract in the summer of 2010.
That qualities needed to secure that move — hard work, dedication, a positive attitude — will also work in Ireland’s favour this summer, he continues.
“I’ve been down there and done that. Some of the lads came over from the League of Ireland at a late age and to have that attitude, that’s what a lot of managers look for. Sometimes you look at young lads coming through in the academies and they have all the ability in the world and they could be world-beaters if they only had the right sort of attitude.
“I think ability counts but the top, top players will have both. If you look at the top players in the world, you’ll find that they’re the players that work hardest in the teams and they have that extra special bit of ability as well.”
Tiredness
There aren’t many in the Stoke team who have worked harder than Walters this season. He has played 51 club games in a campaign which dates back to the end of July when he scored the only goal in Stoke’s Europa League win against Hajduk Split.
Asked if he could’ve done with a bit of rest before the Euros, he brushes off the suggestion: “I’m feeling good.
Everyone’s banging on about being tired and needing a rest but we get measured by Prozone in every game — how much sprinting, how much high intensity — and I’m doing just as if not more than I was early on in the season, so I’m ok.Early on in the season we we were playing three-game weeks as well. We were in Europe and it was a busy time and now it’s eased, so I feel great.
His goalscoring return in those 51 games — a mere nine — has been picked up on by some Stoke fans and used as a stick to beat him with. But the role he plays for the club, dropping deep in behind Peter Crouch, is very different to the more traditional striker’s role in which Trapattoni has used him for Ireland to date.
“You play quite deep and you’re covering your full-back quite a lot. Some games, especially against the big teams, you end up being a right back or a left back.
“I do drop quite a lot very deep and play a lot more alongside Glenn [Whelan] and Dean [Whitehead] in the middle when they’re playing. The past few games I’ve actually been playing as a centre midfielder, believe it or not. In those games, people look at you and you’re still making runs going up forward and they think, ‘He’s still playing up front, he should be getting goals.’”
His return for Ireland has been better, scoring a crucial goal in the play-off against Estonia in Tallinn, one of only two starts in green to date.
His partnership with Robbie Keane clicked that night and, while he still has work to do if he wants to start alongside the captain against Croatia in 10 June, Walters is ready to pounce on whatever chance he gets.
When we played together in Estonia, we played well. I think I can play with Robbie just as well as with anyone else. Over the years, I’ve played with so many different strikers that you sort of adapt to whoever you’re playing with.The games I’ve played in — the games that I’ve started and the games I’ve come on in — I’ve tried to do the best I can. As I said, you’ve got to be ready for those chances when they come along and you’ve got to take them when they do.
