Georgia v Ireland - 2 September

He did alright in those games...

I would start Walters and bring Long on after.

When we're defending he goes to the wing, but when attacking down the left, gets in the box like a striker, and free to do the same if coming down the right as Coleman was apt to do.  

Murphy did the same auxiliary role in the Euros and McClean has done the same for us on occasion as well (though nearly all in friendlies).

Finishing ability doesn't always equate to neat ratios and statistics, especially when Walters has often been deployed in a role that highlights his finishing ability, or lack of it. If Scott Hogan, for example, joins our player pool, he would be, by some distance, our best finisher; but will we play a system that would allow him to show that?

If we are to have one chance fall to someone, to win the game  against Serbia, I would rather it fell to Walters than Long. 

Seeing how a win here would lead into a top of the group showdown, the team needs all the confidence it can get. Then again, confidence and the Irish mentality don't really mix that well, and perhaps it's better to feel like the plucky underdog. Cultivating that mentality by clinging onto a 1 goal lead v. Georgia wouldn't be ideal as it's really walking a fine line, though. I think many of us are wondering when Ireland's perfect record v. Georgia will get a black mark on it. There's nothing in their form this campaign to suggest it'll happen now, but I take that as no guarantee of anything. 

A relatively easy dismissal of Georgia and a commanding performance v. Serbia are musts for Ireland to look like a team who'll win the group by right.