THIS is all about risk-taking from now on. If Giovanni Trapattoni sticks to the same tried and trusted formula, Ireland will not be going to the World Cup. If he gambles in a small way and frees up his players to follow their instincts, it could be a very different story.

I thought Damien Duff put it perfectly the other day when he suggested that there was a need for more risk-taking than we saw in the first leg at Croke Park.

It may seem like an obvious thing to say when you're a goal down and chasing at least one away from home but Trapattoni believes so strongly in his system that he may not be able to take the kind of risks Duff is talking about.

I've had a good look at all the games we've played in this campaign over the last week or so and there is one aspect of the qualifying campaign which stands out like a sore thumb.

protect

When Ireland have something to protect, that's when the wheels come off and they go into their shell. It has happened in a number of games but the best illustration is in the away tie in Sofia when Ireland took the lead and then sat back and allowed Bulgaria the space they needed to recover.

Every time Ireland has a good spell in a game, the immediate aftermath is almost always a retreat into caution, and there's no doubt in my mind that this is the reason why we are a goal behind in this play-off and chasing France in the Stade de France from a position of weakness.

I do see some good reasons to be upbeat about the game. I think it will be another tight one, more because the French are not as good as they would like to think they are and Trapattoni's system is much better suited to these circumstances.

In the first-half at Croke Park, there was some decent football from Ireland and, at that point, I'm convinced that Trapattoni believed his players were protecting a 0-0 position.

As soon as France scored, suddenly the shackles came off and chances started to flow. Released from the limitations of the system, the players gave it a right go.

In my experience, the only reason a player will make the decision to give it a right go is when the manager tells him to. There's too much programming in the average professional footballer's mind to stray from the script simply because, all their lives, they've been told they must fit into a particular way of playing.

From the moment Trapattoni arrived in Ireland, he began the process of drumming his message into the players' minds and by now, all of them are content to follow his lead.

That's why I never expect a great deal of independent thought to manifest itself among the players under Trapattoni's system, but lads like Duff and probably Robbie Keane realise that risk-taking is a major part of an attacking player's mentality. It's an instinct that should never be repressed and they are fighting against their first thought when they work to this manager's rhythm.

The first thought of almost every player I've come across -- from age six to 36 -- is to pass the ball when they receive it or to head towards the opposition goal -- whether the venue involves two jumpers in a field or a set of goalposts.

Young kids come to the game fresh and without baggage, yet these days, it isn't long before they are corralled into a system and their natural instincts submerged under the culture of winning football, which has taken over the game.

What I would like to see in the Stade de France tonight is an Irish team showing all the good characteristics that Trapattoni has brought to the table but with a bit more of their own personality on show.

Nothing would please me more than to see this team qualify but I do wonder about the fact that Ireland never change under Trap -- even when it seems that change is not just necessary but vital.

On paper and in every bookies shop across the land, France will be red hot favourites to win but I have to say, I think Ireland can, at the very least, give the French reason to doubt themselves.

With nothing to lose, everything to gain and an away fixture in front of them, I still believe that Ireland can give the French a game they will remember and maybe even find a result that will take them to South Africa.

I've always thought that Trapattoni's system works best away from home when expectations are low and the onus is on the host team to perform.

But this approach can only work if Trapattoni can find a way to free his players and give them a temporary licence to attack the French in their own back yard. He might even find that his system works better when he trusts his men and lets them play.

This is not the French team we all admired 10 years ago. This is a group of players united in their dislike for Raymond Domenech and under pressure to perform on home turf. They were there for the taking last Saturday and Trapattoni's men let it slip. They have one more chance.

- John Giles