Who is Ireland’s next tier one player?
Have we got one?
By ‘tier one’ I mean genuine top class player. A player that would grace any of the big four in England and their contemporaries in Europe. In the past we have always had at least a few of these in the team and in the glory days arguably a handful (McGrath, Houghton, Whelan, Brady etc).
Now we really only have Robbie Keane. And he is playing at Spurs. He is not playing for one of the big four in England and it’s arguable that he may not be a guaranteed starter if he was (don’t go getting excited, I am not bashing him…I am a fan). In the recent past we could have argued for Duff’s inclusion in this and Given possibly…but injuries have put paid to that. My own rose tinted glasses may see me want to include Dunne in this, however despite his reported availability the clubs rumoured to be interested in him are the Aston Villa’s and Portsmouth’s of this world. If he was really tier one class then surely Arsenal or maybe Liverpool or Chelsea would be interested.
So who is our next Rolls Royce? Have we got one? Is there a once in a generation player in the pipeline? Who is he?