John O'Shea

I cant believe that people still want to have a go at O Shea when he is probably having his best season ever. He played in 10 of the 12 games where United kept a record number of clean sheets and has been solid whenever he has played for either Ireland or United. No matter how well he does in a game some people on this forum seem to love when he makes a miss placed pass or something so they can focus on that to prove to themselves in their own heads that he is crap. Its a very similar situation to McGeady, some people refuse to admit that he has improved incase it means that they were proved wrong in their assessment of him over the years. Even Maradona or Zindane made mistakes in a game, every single player does, but that does not make them rubbish players.Can anyone point to a mistake that OShea has made this season that has cost his team a goal. I seen someone on this forum recently going back to the game in Switzerland years ago where O Shea had a very poor game to prove that he is rubbish... players develop and improve over the years.
Christ I remember a while back when every Liverpool fan I knew hated Carragher, this was at a time when he was young and was being played in midfield, full back or center half.

I'm not having a go at him, I just think a more balanced view of him would be better.

He's one of the first names on the team sheet for us, and has been solid for us in this campaign to date.

Instead of "he was one of United's best players against Inter," and then "John O'Shea is the worst player, blah blah blah," why not just accept that he is a good, solid player.

Unspectacular but consistent- two qualities that are key for a defender.

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

most fans posting on forums havent a clue

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You do realise the irony of saying that?:)

Anyway, what other basis of fan opinion do you want to use?

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Originally Posted by Scram

Really! he was given a 6 by sports journalists versus 7s and 8s for the other Man U defenders. He started terrribly. Again, he is not a central defender.

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Central defence is his natural position and is most definitely his best position. I can't believe people still try to say this even after his recent performances for Ireland.

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

I'm just trying to get out a reasonable opinion of O'Shea.

He's a decent player on a fantastic team.

He's having a good team by his standards, but not by the standards of a Premier League winning team.

For many of the games this season, he has been one of the worst for United in a winning effort.

This is not to say that he has been particularly bad, but rather that he had the least to contribute in terms of the win.

He is solid defensively, and passable in possession, and he has been exceptional for Ireland at international level in this campaign, but I didn't think O'Shea deserved a lot of the criticism he once received on here, and by the same token, I don't think he deserves a lot of the credit he's getting now.

Decent player who is important to the national team, but not the player I'm reading about in some of these posts.

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I think you are doing O'Shea a great disservice. He has not looked out of place in the best defence in Europe this season. To say he is not having a decent season by the standards of a Premier League team is ridiculous. There have been many times when he has not been the worst player on the pitch as you stated; and a pointless post even if it had any truth.

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

I cant believe that people still want to have a go at O Shea when he is probably having his best season ever. He played in 10 of the 12 games where United kept a record number of clean sheets and has been solid whenever he has played for either Ireland or United. No matter how well he does in a game some people on this forum seem to love when he makes a miss placed pass or something so they can focus on that to prove to themselves in their own heads that he is crap. Its a very similar situation to McGeady, some people refuse to admit that he has improved incase it means that they were proved wrong in their assessment of him over the years. Even Maradona or Zindane made mistakes in a game, every single player does, but that does not make them rubbish players.Can anyone point to a mistake that OShea has made this season that has cost his team a goal. I seen someone on this forum recently going back to the game in Switzerland years ago where O Shea had a very poor game to prove that he is rubbish... players develop and improve over the years.
Christ I remember a while back when every Liverpool fan I knew hated Carragher, this was at a time when he was young and was being played in midfield, full back or center half.

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Excellent post, spot on. And just to expand on the bold part, Man Utd have only conceded one league goal this season while he has been on the pitch (apparantly, read in on redcafe).

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Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge

You do realise the irony of saying that?:)

Anyway, what other basis of fan opinion do you want to use?


Central defence is his natural position and is most definitely his best position. I can't believe people still try to say this even after his recent performances for Ireland.


Excellent post, spot on. And just to expand on the bold part, Man Utd have only conceded one league goal this season while he has been on the pitch (apparantly, read in on redcafe).

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TOPIC - JOHN O'SHEA AT CENTRE BACK!

Yes while he has been ON THE PITCH....not playing as a central defender!! Man U could ahve been down 2 the other night because of two mistakes from him in the first 15 minutes. After that he did play well.....AGAIN, he was rightly given a 6/10 by a few newspapers, i.e. the worst performance of the Man U defence. But I guess these guys don't know what they are talking about either.

It is well established that central defence is his not his best position. The increase in value of his performances this year are NOT being questioned but not in this position. He was poor for Georgia's goal in Mainz against us and he was poor for Georgia's goal in Croker. This is not only my opinion but also the TV pundits etc.

At least try and have a look at those goals before making blanket statements about how good he has been for us or for Man U in THAT position.

He would NEVER be Man Utd.s 1st or even 3rd choice at centre back and he should not be ours if we have other options i.e he should be played in his better positions.

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Originally Posted by Scram

he should not be ours if we have other options i.e he should be played in his better positions.

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but we don't have other good options at CB so he plays there. Most have been happy with his performances there to date and his partnership with Dunne has been good. I'd fault Dunne for the Georgia goal in Dublin and obviously Kelly too.

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Originally Posted by Scram

.AGAIN, he was rightly given a 6/10 by a few newspapers.

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Only got a 5 in the Daily Telegraph, the joint worst with Danny Welbeck:

"Guilty of several mistimed tackles, the Irishman was fortunate not to be sent off after scything in to Zokora".

It must have been wild enough for the Telegraph to remind their readers that he is Irish.

o shea is a credit to Ireland hes level headed and does his job without any fuss, I cant understand why people knock him. Shame on you Irishmen! Fergie is the best in the world and hes playing o shea? why doesent he buy a replacement??answer that?

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Originally Posted by manuman

o shea is a credit to Ireland hes level headed and does his job without any fuss, I cant understand why people knock him. Shame on you Irishmen! Fergie is the best in the world and hes playing o shea? why doesent he buy a replacement??answer that?

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O'Shea is the replacement. He is the "first choice" replacement.

Why buy a replacement for a replacement that never complains about being a replacement?

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

Why buy a replacement for a replacement that never complains about being a replacement?

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To replace him I guess?

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Originally Posted by Scram

Yes while he has been ON THE PITCH....not playing as a central defender!! Man U could ahve been down 2 the other night because of two mistakes from him in the first 15 minutes. After that he did play well.....AGAIN, he was rightly given a 6/10 by a few newspapers, i.e. the worst performance of the Man U defence. But I guess these guys don't know what they are talking about either..

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You realise you are basically saying the sports journalists know more about the game than the most successful manager ever in the British club game.
My suggestion is that you watch games yourself and draw your own conclusions rather than relying on the voice of some 2 bit hack who probably missed half the game because he was busy wolfing down the free snacks in the press box.
If O’Shea was **** he wouldn’t consistently make the team, I don’t think anyone on here thinks the guy is the new Pele but give him his due he plays a lot of games for the best club side in Europe and is only doing that because he is a solid defender.

He's come on leaps and bounds this season. I've always partly liked him, but felt that he needed to leave United to further his career. It's good to see that he's getting a good amount of games this season, and he has been quietly consistent in them. The amount of confidence this should be giving him will be a massive boost to our qualification campaign, seeing as he's always seemed like a player with low self esteem (IMO).

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

If you think O'Shea is more valuable to the cause than Berbatov or Rooney, I can't really talk to you.

Any manager would rather have potential match winners like Berbatov and Rooney in their side over a guy like John O'Shea, who for all his consistent play this season, is quite limited.

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read my post again. the clue is in the word recently
also, do defenders not count as match winners when your wins are on the back of 9 or so clean sheets in a row??

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

read my post again. the clue is in the word recently
also, do defenders not count as match winners when your wins are on the back of 9 or so clean sheets in a row??

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14 and O'Shea played most of them. In fact he didn't play any part when the run ended against Blackburn....coincidence?......probably!!

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Originally Posted by BarelyLegal

14 and O'Shea played most of them. In fact he didn't play any part when the run ended against Blackburn....coincidence?......probably!!:rolleyes :

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sorry i lost count of the games he performed well in recently!

On the back of a great performance in Bari he follows it up with another against Porto in Manchester tonight. The equaliser may not have occured if O Shea had been at RB.

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

On the back of a great performance in Bari he follows it up with another against Porto in Manchester tonight. The equaliser may not have occured if O Shea had been at RB.

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I didn't see the game but followed it on a text ticker and he did seem to be pretty involved in the game alright. Fair play to him, he's stepped up his game this season; not the perfect defender but still much more solid than before. Whatever silverware UTD pick up this year nobody can argue that he hasn't made a telling contribution this season.

evans doesn't play as well with oshea beside him though, he obviouslly needs a commanding partner in CB.

I changed my opinion of O'Shea when I saw him live, and he was outstanding again for United tonight.

i thought he was excellent on saturday but poorish at times tonight, he got a head to the second goal but knocked it into the attackers path.

though he is to be excused as he played 180 minutes in 2 days after 2 internations, one in italy.

overall though, he has had a superb season.