QuoteAnyway I want this Andre Omobamidele as a right back an understudy for Coleman/Doherty until Lee O' Connor who in my view is a great player gets the nod.
O'Connor omobamidele Collins scales
Well his last name is not Perez, Garcia, Fernandez or Kelly, Murphy, Brady etc Mon freère.... Omobamidele is hard its is longer, but Bazunu is easier for a latin speaker because its seems greekOriginally Posted by Razors left peg
Anyway I want this Andre Omobamidele as a right back an understudy for Coleman/Doherty until Lee O' Connor who in my view is a great player gets the nod.
O'Connor omobamidele Collins scales
Just as well you only have to type it here then and not say it
This is all from memory, so if a detail is wrong, I apologise:
Masterson was on the bench for the champions league quarter and semi finals in March/April 2018 ahead of Phillips (when benches were smaller for CL - 7 man I think). He got injured before the final and was still injured through pre-season, eventually making a comeback playing 45 mins in an intrasquad game during the international break. The injury recurred and his final season was largely injury plagued (Hoever v Wolves played due to him being injured). He took a long while to get back up to pace to where he was the previous season. i think there was mixed reporting as to whether he was released or whether he chose not to renew his contract, I think klopp mentioned Liverpool were willing and open to extend his contract but he wanted to go and play football. FWIW he was captain of the 18s and 23s as he moved up.
He was rated highly enough by Kenny that he kept Collins and Omobamidele out of the team at u21s. He was also name checked, alongside Dara O’Shea as being the standout u21 players by Mick McCarthy.
Had he stayed at Liverpool and stayed healthy, say extended for 2/3 years, gone on loan in season 1 and remained part of the squad in season 2, he might easily find himself where Phillips did.
Obviously he did well enough in his first season at QPR to earn a 2 year contract extension, but overall since he’s signed in 2.5 years he’s played 20 games for QPR in the first 1.5 years and 26 games at league 2 level in the last year, which isn’t where he’s hope or expect to be…
Expect has got nothing to do with it ~ to paraphrase that Clint Eastwood film ! !
Collins was born in 2001 and is 20. Omobamidele was born in 2002 and is 19. Masterson was born in 1998 and O'Shea in 1999. Context needed there.
he made the bench 3 times between 2016-2019, thats not great. Philips as I said was taken on pre season training camps , Masterson wasnt, the mid season trip to Marbella when half the team are on international duty isnt exactly a big deal. Hes just not all that great which is fine. Hopefully the lad gets a good move for himself where he can play and build his confidence back up.
I'm sure he'll still make a half-decent living at a lower level, but Masterson always seemed overhyped to me, partly because he came through the Liverpool academy, but perhaps even more because of his (perceived) playing style: he was the 'right' kind of defender - he played the game in the 'right' way.
I seem remember someone on here about a year/18 months ago saying he would soon be displacing Duffy in the national team! Well we seem seem some way away from that now.
That was probably me, I love masterson
My first real look at him was during the Toulon tournament. I was expecting him to stand out given the club he was at and based on various reports. However I was really underwhelmed and thought at the time that Scales (then at UCD) looked the better player. Dunne is showing that QPR offers a pathway if you’re good enough. Maybe Masterson through no fault of his own is just finding his level. Maybe a good club in the LOI would offer a chance to re-boot. Could be a Dan Cleary, or a Connor Clifford.
Always the danger with underage players in fairness. Look at Conor Coventry - people calling for him to be in recent Ireland squads, but then he has his loan terminated early at Peterborough for failing to make an impact.
My impression of Masterson at that tournament was that he had better control of the ball than his central defence partner O'Shea, but O'Shea was the better footballer
dont read too much on that, cap the guy we need someone there , a la Wales, use the national team as a shopping window, same for other fellows
if you play one youngster each time, that wont bring down the team performance, the main problem if you play all of them at once. After wc 1994, Passarella took over, and kept out of the national team all of the best players and more prestigious ones, Canniggia , Redondo and many others, only kept Batistuta, Balbo, Chamot and young Simeone, and he built a team of youngsters that were coming through without any leadership, he was a leader, brought and created Zanetti, Verón, Kily Gonzalez, Ayala was playing at Ferro, and many more
sure but... Collins was captaining Stoke at 17 and was moved from 19s to the 21s to be part of that squad (centre backs were Masterson, O'Shea, Scales and Collins). Meanwhile Masterson's last 21s cap and last game he was eligible for the 21s was within 6 months of Omobamidele's Irish senior debut, so it's not exactly like he went from not being good enough for the 21s to good enough for the senior team in 6 months...
Didn't Masterson make the pre-season in summer 2017? Wasn't he selected again in 2018 and the injury didn't heal in time?
FWIW he's a cultured composed footballer, comfortable playing under pressure, doesn't get overawed and continues to try do the right thing even when it doesn't workout. he reads the game well, typical intelligent centre-half. he's good in the air and a good tackler. negatives are, he's not the quickest or the quickest on the turn. for a centre half, he's not the strongest or the most physical of presences. he can't be a little tentative at times. he's also got a pretty lousy fitness record. significant injuries in more than half his adult seasons.
With all this proliferant arrival of new young defenders I can see young O`shea as an option for holding mid there
Omobamidele was third choice for the U19s behind McGuiness and McEntee so Masterson wasn't keeping him out of the U21s.
Only for injuries at Norwich and Collins being injured himself then Omobamidele would probably still be waiting for his first cap.
From July to November 2019.
Masterson continued with the 21s until the campaign ended in November 2020.
Omobamidele's rise:
May 2019 - with Sobawele at 17s
July 2019 - ahead of Sobawele, moved to 19s squad (as a u17)
November 2019 - with 19s (starts 1/3, McGuinness 2/3, McEntee 3/3)
<both his actual 19s tournaments are cancelled, not selected for 21s squads in september, october, november 2020>
March 2021 - ahead of McEntee at 21s, alongside McGuinness for new campaign
June 2021 - ahead of McGuinness to the senior squad, ahead of Masterson and Dunne to the seniors
September 2021 - makes international debut due to injuries to O'Shea and Collins
October 2021 - selected ahead of Collins for senior competitive game(s)
Last edited by elatedscum; 07/01/2022 at 3:31 PM.
Jimmy really putting his hand up this season. Qpr 4th in table, and he just scored another goal. They’re 4-0 up on reading. Him and Lenihan seem to be having great season, with Dunne being 3 years younger than Lenihan I would favor him getting game time first in March, but both are very much in the reckoning this year…
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