Dara O'Shea D Burnley b.1999

[Eirambler]

A real team effort defensively from West Brom and O'Shea was very much a part of it. Looks at home already at this level at 21.

You'd have to think about starting him in March really if he continues playing like he did tonight.

[Razors left peg]

A real team effort defensively from West Brom and O'Shea was very much a part of it. Looks at home already at this level at 21.

You'd have to think about starting him in March really if he continues playing like he did tonight.

Duffy will be under pressure for his spot if his form at Celtic doesnt drastically improve

[Bielsa´s irish]

I would play coleman Egan Clark doherty and this kid sitting as a holding mid in Belgrado

[geysir]

Duffy will be under pressure for his spot if his form at Celtic doesnt drastically improve

Duffy has come out and admitted he has been cráp and had no issues with being dropped for the 2 games, apparantly him and Lennon have a good relationship (solidarity of the doomed?). He said the "break" has done him good and his form has improved since, step by step program.

[ColourfulPeanut]

Duffy will be under pressure for his spot if his form at Celtic doesnt drastically improve
You say that like Egan isn't part of the worst Premier League start in history. Both have been very poor and O'Shea has a spot there for the taking.

[John83]

Ive got to tell you this guy won me over, such a lovely player, so composed on the ball reminds me a bit of the greek guy at Arsenal. I think we have a central midfielder in the making, can play the back 4, but we could be an asset as center holding midfield ....dont want to rush expectations but showed a bit of Paul McGrath in him,


Sokratis Papastathopoulos kind of `player, while he is young I would play him in central midfield, he has to improve a bit, but this kid has some ability on the ball, uses it very good, Dont see his best place is as a defender but in midfield


So cool on the ball, he won me over last match, but I would try him as defensive midfielder, read this Stephen Kenny. He could play fullback position, but I would try him as a holding midfielder


I would play coleman Egan Clark doherty and this kid sitting as a holding mid in Belgrado
I feel like Bielsa is trying to tell us something, but I can't tell exactly what. Perhaps another four or five posts on the topic might clarify matters.

[Fizzer]

Bilic has been sacked which is pretty harsh after a draw with City.Unfortunate because he clearly rated O’Shea so highly.Hopefully the next guy sticks with him, he’s been outstanding given his age, looks a real talent.

[ColourfulPeanut]

I feel like Bielsa is trying to tell us something, but I can't tell exactly what. Perhaps another four or five posts on the topic might clarify matters.
World class Darren Randolph in goal, O'Shea holding in midfield and Cillian Sheridan up top on his own. We couldn't possibly fail to qualify then!

[Trequartista20]

Bilic has been sacked which is pretty harsh after a draw with City.Unfortunate because he clearly rated O’Shea so highly.Hopefully the next guy sticks with him, he’s been outstanding given his age, looks a real talent.

Really? That's insane.

[seanfhear]

Really? That's insane.
Did Bilic not pull off a bit of a miracle to get West Brom Promoted ?

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1373206/Slaven-Bilic-sacked-West-Brom-Sam-Allardyce-lined-up-latest-news

According to the Express Sam Allardyce is lined up ~ could be just paper talk.

[Eirambler]

The decision will have been made before the City game. They'll have just left him in place for that game for continuity, which is a nasty enough way to go about your business as a club. I'm a bit torn because I enjoy seeing clubs who act like that getting relegated, like Watford last year, but obviously I also want to see O'Shea do well.

Relegation for West Brom but a move to a top half team for O'Shea after an impressive second half of the season would be about the best option, but probably a long shot.

It's very harsh on Bilic, but he'll have plenty of offers after the job he has done there.

[Exgrad]

The decision will have been made before the City game. They'll have just left him in place for that game for continuity, which is a nasty enough way to go about your business as a club. I'm a bit torn because I enjoy seeing clubs who act like that getting relegated, like Watford last year, but obviously I also want to see O'Shea do well.

Relegation for West Brom but a move to a top half team for O'Shea after an impressive second half of the season would be about the best option, but probably a long shot.

It's very harsh on Bilic, but he'll have plenty of offers after the job he has done there.

I think the board probably expected City to hammer West Brom, which would have made the sacking seem more reasnoble, but yeah decision made a while ago.

[Trequartista20]

Allardyce confirmed...

[Razors left peg]

If O'Shea continues the season like he played yesterday I wouldnt be surprised if a bigger club came in for him in the summer.

[Olé Olé]

Starts centre half versus Liverpool. Looks like Robinson is playing behind the front man.

This will be a tough game for both. Particularly O'Shea with the preferred front three starting for Liverpool.

[Olé Olé]

O'Shea is after a great first half. West Brom have been under a lot of pressure and he has made 7 clearances already, cutting out some very good balls by Robertson in particular.

[Eirambler]

Though he did very well again. 10 Premier League appearances for him before New Year, at the start of the season I'd have been happy if he'd made 10 Premier League appearances in the whole season.

Robinson was playing so far behind the front man he was almost a right back. Really defensive setup from West Brom but it worked for them.

[Colbert Report]

I was impressed with him today as well, even if West Brom end up going down, he'll have had a full season of Premier League experience behind him. I know this isn't the thread for it, but the way West Brom set up today is the way Ireland should be playing against bigger countries, given the players we have.

[Charlie Darwin]

I was impressed with him today as well, even if West Brom end up going down, he'll have had a full season of Premier League experience behind him. I know this isn't the thread for it, but the way West Brom set up today is the way Ireland should be playing against bigger countries, given the players we have.
That is how we've played against bigger countries for the guts of 40 years.

[seanfhear]

That is how we've played against bigger countries for the guts of 40 years.
There might be a reason for that !

[Charlie Darwin]

Well yeah but I was just responding to the idea that it might be some new approach for us to try!

[irishfan86]

Strong performance. Glad that Big Sam also seems to be an O’Shea fan. Working with a manager like that will make Dara more solid for us.

[Olé Olé]

http://westbrom.com/forum/index.php?topic=25334.0;all

He's being lauded in this forum. Someone makes an interesting point on his pace. I don't think he lacks pace but he definitely seems to have this excellent ability to anticipate the opposition's forwards' movements that reduce the need for pace.

I loved him tonight. He didn't even get a chance to do one of the things I think he does best i.e. distribute from the back.

Huge future here, guys. Huge future.

[irishfan86]

RE: his pace, the fact he was playing as a fullback shows he can run a bit. I wouldn’t suggest he’s a speedster but he is more mobile than the average CB.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Badly exposed today, it showed what I said, a wonderkid, yeah...but not ready for the sweeper role some brains are saying. Can be a fullback back up left or right? Yeah, but he isnt a specialist there like Stevens, Cunningham, coleman, doherty......where to play this kid? as an enforcer in midfield next to James, his best assets are composed on the ball, tidy passer and good anticipation. Center of the pitch..Mr Kenny....i know the football as such that I can recognize a holding mid a mile away

[Olé Olé]

I think that is very harsh. Leeds are toying with West Brom. West Brom played two flat lines against Liverpool and Leeds are consistently dragging the two lines back and forth and finding space between and across the lines. It is very difficult for O'Shea tonight and he should have done better for his own goal but he's not being exposed any more than any other player in that back four.

[Bielsa´s irish]

They were making fun of him on tv about it, kid not ready for sweeper spot there, we ve got Egan, Long and Lehihan if he gets a deserved transfer to the premier league.

This kid will learn but today he was exposed by a tiki-taka high pressure team,

[Olé Olé]

Who was making fun of him and on what television channel?

[ColourfulPeanut]

They aired a 20 minute segment dedicated purely to making fun of Dara O'Shea's defensive capability on Argentinian national TV. How did you miss it?

[Bielsa´s irish]

They aired a 20 minute segment dedicated purely to making fun of Dara O'Shea's defensive capability on Argentinian national TV. How did you miss it?

Yeah the broadcasters, espn argentina broadcast every "el loco" Marcelo match live, it happened when they were in the B division for two years. Great ratings, his madness is a high rating case. It happened when was at bilbao and olympique, and his Lille madness situation, when he realesed all the senior players and kept the youth plus a few purchases

[Bielsa´s irish]

ESPN has followed his whole european managing carrer so far

[Bielsa´s irish]

football journal Diario Olé

https://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-internacional/inglaterra/increible-blooper-defensa-west-brom-primero-leeds_3_9EtbPrL-8.html

[Charlie Darwin]

I agree that Dara O'Shea is not ready for the sweeper role that he's never played in and nobody has ever called for him to play in.

For what it's worth, I don't think he should play in goal either and I think the calls for him to captain the Irish lacrosse team are premature.

[Bielsa´s irish]

I agree that Dara O'Shea is not ready for the sweeper role that he's never played in and nobody has ever called for him to play in.
For what it's worth, I don't think he should play in goal either and I think the calls for him to captain the Irish lacrosse team are premature.

Touchée!! I meant center back, he cant lead the line, he is learning his trade, I think holding midfield could be a good for him, I actually would play doherty and egan as centerbacks with coleman and stevens on the sides, if we play a back 4

[Exgrad]

football journal Diario Olé

https://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-internacional/inglaterra/increible-blooper-defensa-west-brom-primero-leeds_3_9EtbPrL-8.html

Why are you posting this link?

[nigel-harps1954]

Why are you posting this link?

Obviously O'Shea got some sort of random mention from ESPN Argentina commentators, combined with some random nickname and references to Frank Stapleton.

[Olé Olé]

Not proposing Dara to Liverpool or anything like that but when you see how Nat Phillips struggled for Liverpool last night and his difficulty in acclimatizing to the Premier League, it demonstrates how well O'Shea has done to look so assured even against Liverpool and Chelsea this season. There are other examples around the league but playing there, at that age, in this league under two different managers and not appearing fazed augurs very well.

Not saying it has been flawless but I think he has looked every inch a good young Premier League centre half and those are few and far between.

As well as his positioning and anticipation, I have liked his comfort on the ball. We saw that for Ireland too.

[Trequartista20]

I'd agree with that. O'Shea has really impressed me, getting to grips with the step up to the PL far sooner than I thought possible.

Given Sheffield United's and Stevens' troubles this season I'd have him down as a prime candidate to start at left-back if we had a match in the near future.

We shouldn't be holding promising lads like this back.

[Olé Olé]

He was left back last night in a West Brom side that got a whipping off Arsenal. I think he was the best of the back four. Big Sam's decision to put Ivanovic in centre half really back-fired and he was utterly tormented by Lacazette.

On O'Shea's side, he was the best of the back four I feel. He didn't make any mistakes though he was the victim of a couple of overloads when Arsenal attacked. Smith-Rowe was allowed to drift in by Sawyers and Gallagher into a pocket of space between O'Shea and the centre backs to assist Saka for his goal, for example. On the other hand, Ivanovic, Ajayi and Furlong were all directly exposed in one on one situations and fluffed clearances whereas Dara was not.

[Eirambler]

I watched a good bit (but not all) of the game last night. From what I saw O'Shea looked the best of the West Brom defenders - although that wasn't saying much as the other three were awful.

Furlong on the right looked like one of the worst premier division full backs I have ever seen, Ajayi ( who is normally good) had a poor night and almost scored an own goal that wouldn't look out of place on the Vanarama league highlights show.

Ivanovic is just a long way past it and needs to be taken out of his misery.

It's to his credit that O'Shea is playing alongside that lot and still managing to come out with his reputation intact. That said I don't think he's a left back either and part of West Brom's problems last night was not starting him in the middle of the back four instead of Ivanovic. Possibly their other left back options are the reason for this though.

If I was Big Sam I'd stick with O'Shea and Ajeyi at centre back and use any funds available to bring in two full backs in January. His hands will be tied by their league position though as anyone signing will know that realistically they will be playing in the Championship next season.

I'd love for O'Shea to do enough to get a move to a better team in the summer - he does already look to be a good player at this level and young centre backs of his standard are not easy to come by (although we seem to have two coming through at once with him and Collins). Sometimes I feel in this situation that if he was English or Welsh he'd be getting a lot more positive PR in the UK that might lead to a move in the summer. But because he has been going about his business quietly he doesn't have much of a profile which might count against him in the transfer market. Every time he is named on a team sheet I see comments on twitter expressing amazement that John O'Shea is still playing at that level which gives an idea of how low his profile is outside of Ireland.

[Olé Olé]

Gary Been on Off the Ball yesterday referring to the benefit working with Allardyce will have for O'Shea. Breen referred specifically to his comfort on the ball and his ability to play a "crisp pass" that can "break the lines."

Shane Keegan chimed in to agree with Breen and said he reckons O'Shea should start in March and could stay centre half for us for a long time.

[Eirambler]

I think in March it's two from Egan, O'Shea and Clark for the centre back spots. Would be a huge risk for Kenny to play Duffy in his current form. Would like O'Shea to start personally but to be fair Clark has been playing well and I don't think Sheffield United's issues this season have had too much to do with Egan.

[seanfhear]

I think in March it's two from Egan, O'Shea and Clark for the centre back spots. Would be a huge risk for Kenny to play Duffy in his current form. Would like O'Shea to start personally but to be fair Clark has been playing well and I don't think Sheffield United's issues this season have had too much to do with Egan.
Duffy is having a nightmare at the moment so unless he has a return to form then Kenny has a decision to make.

[Fixer82]

This is where Kenny has to make a big decision and drop Duffy if his form remains.
These are the decisions that test a manager's resolve.

Duffy is a vocal leader on the pitch so that would probably be lost if he was dropped.

O'Neill rang the changes against Italy in Euro 2016 and it made all the difference.
Takes confidence for a manager to make a bold decision.
O'Neill also made big changes against Denmark at home that ended disastrously. But he had the balls to do it.

Be bold Kenny!

[ColourfulPeanut]

Duffy has been poor and Egan has been shocking too. If we're going off form then it's Clark and O'Shea.

It'd be massively ballsy to change both your centre backs going straight into a qualifier, but they're likely our best two at the moment.

[nigel-harps1954]

In fairness, there's a lot of club football to be played before March.

If we were picking a backline for a game this week, you'd be looking at Coleman, Clark, Egan, O'Shea, potentially.

But there's another 7 or 8 games to be played before march qualifiers. Duffy could find form, any of those in form could get injured or just suffer a collapse in form.

[Bielsa´s irish]

I love this guy, he has a bit of Javier Masche on him. Big player to get the best as a holding midfielder

[seanfhear]

I love this guy, he has a bit of Javier Masche on him. Big player to get the best as a holding midfielder
They are like twins that got mixed up at the hospital ! Arnold Schwarznegger did a film about that sort of thing !

[Bielsa´s irish]

They are like twins that got mixed up at the hospital ! Arnold Schwarznegger did a film about that sort of thing !
No, but they have the same football mindset, a very smart player this kid is

[seanfhear]

No, but they have the same football mindset, a very smart player this kid is
The Danny Di Vito brain !