I ONCE HATED TRAPATTONI, NOW I'M A BIG FAN

IT has taken David Platt 16 years to appreciate the coaching genius of Giovanni Trapattoni.

Beforehand, his verdict on the Republic of Ireland boss was tainted by memories of frustration, conflict and despair.

Former England captain Platt spent a season playing for the Italian at Juventus and it was a season full of angry confrontation between the two men.

When Trapattoni signed him from Bari for 6.5 million euros in 1993, Platt had earned a reputation as one of the world's best attacking midfield players with a goalscoring record many strikers would have been proud to claim.

So the former Aston Villa player was dumbfounded and eventually angered when the Juve coach used him in a strictly defensive role with instructions not to advance into opposition territory.

In an exclusive interview, Platt today lifts the lid on his stormy relationship with Trapattoni - and why he now regards him in a much higher esteem.

Platt said: "It was a dream move for me to sign for Juve whom I had followed as a boy when Michel Platini was their star player.

"I had enjoyed a good season with Bari, scoring 16 goals and could not wait to play for a team with a much bigger profile and reputation. So you can imagine how I felt when Trapattoni wanted me to play in a defensive midfield role.

"My orders were simple. Play in front of the back four and break up opposition attacks and then give it to one of the other midfield players. Under no circumstances was I to get ahead of the ball when we were attacking.

"I couldn't believe it because he was asking me to sacrifice what I thought was the strength of my game. But I had no choice. It was a case of 'do as you are told or you are not in the team.'

"I stuck to the instructions - well most of the time. In one game he took me off just for getting ahead of the ball. I only had myself to blame because he had warned me that's what he would do if I disobeyed his instructions. But I couldn't help myself because it was such a natural thing for me to do.

"We won the UEFA Cup in my one season there so we must have been doing something right. But I had my little clashes with him more than once.

Straight answer

"One time we were playing Benfica away and I found out from a journalist I was being left out of the team. I had had enough. I went knocking on the door of his hotel room and asked him straight: 'Why have you bought me? You have played me out of position and not let me use my strengths.'

"He gave me a straight answer. He said he was using me there because I had two good feet and a good tactical brain and felt that was where I was best suited for the team. I still found it hard to accept and I left after a season to join Sven Goran Eriksson at Sampdoria where I reverted to my best position and started scoring goals again."

After moving into coaching himself with spells at Sampdoria, Nottingham Forest and the England Under 21 squad, Platt began to see there was method in what he once considered was Trapattoni's madness.

He said: "I began to appreciate first of all that a player has to be selfless to benefit the team rather than selfish for his own purposes. I learned a lot too from his coaching techniques particularly on how to shut out the opposition to defend a lead.

SUCCESS: UEFA Cup win with Juventus

"He could be very inflexible but was very single minded and nothing could divert him from his own philosophy. His ideas revolved round fitting players into his system rather than devising a system to suit his players which is why he used me in that particular role."

Platt is convinced that Ireland could have no-one more capable in charge when they seek to reach the World Cup finals by beating France over two matches.

"If they can take a slender lead into the second leg he will devise a plan to defend it," said Platt. "I remember on our way to winning the UEFA Cup we had to play Paris St Germain and went a goal up. After we scored we never crossed our 18 yard line again let alone the halfway line.

"We ended up with Luca Vialli playing at right back marking David Ginola. That's how defensive we became. But it worked and we got through.

"At times he can be too defensive. I remember talking to some of the Italian players after Euro 2004 when Trapattoni was in charge of the national team. They went out in the group stages after being held to a draw by Sweden despite leading 1-0 at half-time.

"Some of the players reckoned the coach went too defensive and if they had attacked more they could have gone through and gone on to win the tournament.

"With respect to the Irish team who will have fewer resources than the French, they cannot afford to play an expansive game and go and attack them. That's where Trapattoni will come into his own because he will hatch a plan to frustrate them.

"I think they can do it. They have done superbly to come through their group into the play-offs. France are not exactly flying at the moment and if anyone is capable of inspiring a team to win over two legs, Trapattoni is the man."

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