Extraordinary Wes Hoolahan elevates those around him – that’s why he must play all three games

Before Ireland played Poland at the Aviva last March, Liam Brady entered the debate about Wes Hoolahan in a manner which reflected a commonly held view at the time.

“Another big call concerns Wes Hoolahan,” Brady wrote in his Irish Examiner column. “I would like to see him given a chance against Poland, either as a number 10 behind the striker or as a wide player who can come inside and take up positions where he can get on the ball. “But while he shows tremendous flair at times, there is obviously a big doubt as to whether he can do it against the stronger, quicker, more physical teams. Better managers than me have shied away from playing him in those games, for both club and country, but I would still like him to be given a go tomorrow and see if he can answer the question we all have: can he really deliver in the crunch games? Hand on heart, though, I don’t think Martin is going to play him.” O’Neill did play Wes Hoolahan that night and Hoolahan has been overcoming those doubts ever since. Football is not unusual in being a world dominated by conventional wisdom. As a gifted footballer growing up, Hoolahan watched as inferior players went away to England on trial. Nobody gave him any reason but he may have noticed something about all those players: they were all bigger and stronger than him. Football has caught up with Wes Hoolahan, even if the Premier League hasn't. Brady mentioned the managers who have “shied away” from playing Hoolahan in games against stronger, more physical teams as if that made a case in itself. Those managers include Paul Lambert, who signed Hoolahan for Livingston from Shelbourne, Chris Hughton, Neil Adams and Alex Neil. They are managers who have achieved something in the game, but who would never be confused with Pep Guardiola. Lambert wanted to sign Hoolahan again when he was Aston Villa so perhaps he can be excused, but Hoolahan has always had to fight a perception about him, even if Tuesday night was another reminder that things have changed. For 70 minutes at the Aviva, the country was reminded yet again that any chance Ireland have of elevating their game to another level depends on Wes Hoolahan, and Martin O’Neill’s determination to play him at the European Championships. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/715169566750547968 Hoolahan was selected to play on the left against Slovakia, but from the moment he glided inside in the opening minutes and exchanged passes with Eunan O’Kane and Shane Long, it was clear that Hoolahan would be going where the ball was. When he does that, which in truth is usually when he is on the pitch, Ireland are a different side. O’Kane was one of those who benefited from Hoolahan’s ability to play the game at a different pace, to change the direction of play and, as all playmakers do, shift the emphasis of an attack in a moment which can unsettle defences. Sometimes it is vision, sometimes it is a moment of calm, but the common denominator with Hoolahan is always his intelligence, the sense he gives that he has a plan, not just for himself and the ball, but for all the players around him. Ireland’s first penalty came when Hoolahan played the ball into space ahead of O’Kane who then had the time and space to attempt to pick out Shane Long. There were, of course, many of these moments which illustrated how important Hoolahan will be in the summer. O’Neill, it seems, has overcome his own reservations. Hoolahan was involved in every friendly during the 10 months when Ireland’s manager had to prepare for a competitive game following his appointment. But when that first competitive game came in Tbilisi, Hoolahan spent 90 minutes on the bench. Ireland started the qualifying campaign with a win away at Georgia so O’Neill could claim to have been vindicated, but it also suggested that he, too, believed there were games that suited Hoolahan and games that didn’t. Without Hoolahan, it was sometimes unclear who the games did suit. Ireland remain a limited side, with or without Hoolahan, but when he plays there are, well, limits to Ireland’s limitations. When Hoolahan was introduced against Germany in Gelsenkirchen, he made a difference, delivering the deep cross which Jeff Hendrick knocked into John O’Shea’s path. As the campaign unfolded, Hoolahan’s importance grew. It reached a peak in the game at home to Germany when, without Glenn Whelan, O’Neill selected an adventurous midfield with Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick alongside James McCarthy. It was the most complete performance from an Irish team but O’Neill hasn’t dared to be that expressive since. Instead Hoolahan often provides the creativity alone or draws it out of others. His absence from the game against Poland four days later became an unnecessary controversy, but he started both legs of the play-off against Bosnia, and there is no reason that O’Neill shouldn't start him for all three group games in the summer. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/714909613339066369 The improvement in the performance against Slovakia on Tuesday from Switzerland on Friday night may not be entirely down to him, but he was the key difference. Some will point to Norwich’s position in the Premier League and say that Hoolahan hasn’t done them much good. It’s not a view shared by too many supporters of the club, but it also shows why Ireland should not be governed by the conventional wisdom of the Premier League. International football has different demands and, at a 24-team tournament, is made up of many ordinary teams. In that environment, Ireland need a player capable of the extraordinary, a player whose presence alone says there is something unknowable about this team, that there is the possibility of the unexpected. Without Hoolahan, Ireland are passionate, committed and predictable. With him, there is the possibility that everything can change in an instant. During the glory years for Scotland, when they would not mourn their absence of great players but wonder where they should play them, Jock Stein was asked if Kenny Dalglish was better off playing in midfield or attack. “Och, just let him on the park,” Stein said. Hoolahan is not a genius like Dalglish, but he demonstrated again on Tuesday that Ireland just need to let him on the park.