Originally Posted by
Shedzer
Whats this about Ryan being 'quality'
Are ye serious? Do ye watch football?
He takes absolutely no responsibility on himself to get a control of the game, grab it by the scruff of the neck and control it. Has no presence, doesnt command games and is one paced in most areas.
I know exactly what has those people that stand up for him doing so, its because he is tidy and in general doesnt lose the ball.
BUT, no break things down...does Ryan pick up a ball in the middle, feed it through nicely and then follow the play to start up an attack??? NO...thats what good centre midfield playmakers do. We already have O'Grady for the donkey work, so Ryan is supposidly the man who will 'pull the strings' and build attacks.
Has he ever done that? Has anyone ever honestly seen him beat even 1 player and run forward with the ball, or are ye all still amazed at how good a player he is due to his constant 10 yard 'pass the responsibility' passes to either full back, before getting the ball again, with room infront of him and passing the ball to the other full back...
Basically, heres an exapmle at the top level. Xavi, Barcelona, best midfielder in the world because he has a role to build attacks. You watch a game with him in it, everything goes through him at some point of the attack.
Now, take Michael Carrick, still at the very top level, but the difference is, Carrick is the exact version of Ryan, except at a higher level. Gets the ball, lays it of nice, doesnt do anything great with it, takes now responsibility and in general doesnt make himself look bad, but contributes not near enough in terms of decent quality.
Obviously at our level, players arent expected to do everything. But already i have seen enough of McGrath to know he is as good now and will be a better player than Ryan.
Why??? Simple, he isnt afraid of responsibility and trying to influence the game. Against Galway he was cute on the ball, made space, passed forward, followed his pass and tried to build things from there.
I have yet to see Ryan do these things, games pass him by, he gets on it, lays it off 10 yards, rarely does anything out of the ordinary bar this. Its all good and well when you are 2-0 up and cruising, but when you need a goal and are all over the team (see Vllaznia) what good is it?
Good examples of central midfielders for us in recent times that are a level above Ryan are Turner and Anto Murphy (when player in that CM role)
To make matters worse, Ryan has got slower and on top of his ability being average has suffered a dip in form. He doesnt look after himself either*
*(read into that whatever you want to)
I would be more than happy to see McGrath play against Dundalk, regardless of Ryans injury status. That way we have a chance of creating something going forward..
