Donal Higgins is a tidy little player - great to see him involved.
I hate this paranoia but that side has 4 lads born outside of Ireland starting (Cashing, Staunton, Watson and Nunn). That's a high tally given recent events and given that Watson has recently played with England.
That Kelly-Caprani has a lot about him. Not just in attack, he's also ravenous in defence. I like Coleman too. I hope he's with us to stay.
Caprani was our best player I think. McJannett and Coleman both nice and tidy.
Of the LOI lads, the centre halves were good, hopefully the Gresham injury wasn’t bad. Afaik, Heffernan and Whitmarsh are both a year young for the age group and both held their own at this level, which is a good sign.
Didn't seem great with his feet I thought. The Pearce kid played well as the lone front man seemed to have more about him than mcevoy had in that position the previous day. Are there any galway utd fans around to give a bit of info on murohy who played left back and looked like a nice footballer big lad maybe really a centre half? Kelly capriani has had alot of injuries I think in his time at Derby but he looks a fine technical player
josh Clarke, who was in the U18 squad against Hungary, has been called into the Northern Ireland U19 squad for two friendlies in September against the Faroes: https://www.irishfa.com/news/2021/au...against-faroes
That article mentions that Bolton's Rio McEvoy misses out due to injury having been part of a training camp in June - McEvoy was also in the U18 squad in Hungary, and was named in squad for the U19 training camp: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/u19-...ing-camp-in-uk
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (QPR), Billy Brooks (Lincoln City), Zak Gilsenan (Blackburn Rovers), Cian Kavanagh (Waterford), Jonny Kenny (Sligo Rovers), Rio McEvoy (Bolton Wanderers), Jamie Mullins (Bohemians), Tommi O’Reilly (Aston Villa).
Some interesting names in that squad for the under 19 training camp.
Josh O'Brien of Watford is an Irish-German-American. He was born in Dublin to an Irish father and German mother before moving to America at 10 weeks of age. He has stated that “My dream is to play for Ireland, but if I did get a call from the United States, I’d take it.”
https://theathletic.com/2747158/2021...ng-a-pro-deal/
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” Josh O’Brien tells The Athletic.
The 18-year-old is taking the same footballing path as Watford’s most famous American player, Jay DeMerit, having earned himself a contract on trial. O’Brien has been handed a one-year deal with an option of a further year and has put his studies at the University of Washington on hold to follow his dream.
“On the 4th of July (US Independence Day) the club posted about him (DeMerit) being their American and he’s someone I’ve looked into; I’d heard about him but I wasn’t super familiar,” says O’Brien, who was only born three years before DeMerit’s famous headed opening goal in the 2005-06 play-off final against Leeds United helped Watford win promotion to the Premier League. “People have been talking about DeMerit around the club and asking whether I have any connections with him and (saying) that hopefully I can follow in his footsteps.”
O’Brien — like DeMerit, a centre-back — has already taken a more direct route than his countryman, who initially impressed in a match against Watford when he played for non-League neighbours Northwood in 2004 before earning a trial.
“One of my close family friends, Jack, does private coaching. His brother George Saville plays for Millwall and the Northern Ireland national team and had some connections with Watford and sent them a video to set up the trial for me,” O’Brien explains. “I didn’t expect anything to come from it, really. Not many guys manage to come over from the US. I was expecting to get two weeks of training just to be fit to go back to university and they offered me a pro contract.”
DeMerit was able to live and work in the UK thanks to his Danish heritage. O’Brien’s path has been aided by his Irish citizenship.
He was born in Dublin before moving to the US at just 10 weeks old due to a change in his father Eddie’s job. Work permit requirements don’t apply to players from Ireland due to FA rules.
“That was a big help,” he says.
Having an Irish father and German mother (Nicole) led Josh and his four brothers into playing football even though they were no longer living in Europe: “We just started playing at a very young age because they love it so much so it was easier for us to get involved instead of playing basketball, American football or baseball.”
O’Brien started with the Crossfire academy in Washington state, where he rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s best youngsters, facing youth sides of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and other professional set-ups on a tour in Spain. Crossfire boast former US international goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann among their coaches who, like DeMerit, also made a name for himself playing in England, most notably at Reading and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Besides 25-cap DeMerit, Tony Meola (1990) is the only other US international to have been on Watford books, while another keeper, Espen Baardsen, and defender Lars Melvang were both born in the United States.
Another of Hahnemann’s former sides, Seattle Sounders of MLS, were O’Brien’s next stop whilst he continued his education at Eastside Catholic and Archbishop Mitty schools in the city while snowboarding — again, like DeMerit — at the weekends. Last year saw a move to northern California to join developmental team De Anza Force before the planned switch back to the Seattle-based University of Washington (UW).
“Josh has been coming to our camps since I arrived at Washington 10 years ago. We know Josh better than almost any recruit we’ve brought to UW,” says their head coach Jamie Clark. “He’s a soccer junkie and this stands out when he’s on the ball as he’s an incredibly clean and efficient player. He’s technically great and understands how the game should be played.”
Clark may keep a squad space open for O’Brien in case things don’t go to plan with Watford, but the focus now is building on a strong start.
In less than a month his life has changed. After travelling to the UK alone and having to isolate for seven days due to COVID-19 restrictions, he was straight into a hectic schedule. “I met all the coaches when I arrived on the first day and everyone was really supportive,” he says. “I like that they tell you what to do in a positive way.”
Initially settling in with the under-18s, he moved up to the under-23s before the pre-season games started coming thick and fast, including training and playing with players from the first team. There was Brentford behind closed doors, sitting on the bench at Vicarage Road against West Bromwich Albion and under-23 fixtures against non-League side Bromley, Chesham and St Albans City.
The latter included playing alongside Will Hughes and Stipe Perica, who face uncertain futures at the club, but have taken time to help the new recruit settle in.
“You’d think they’d be kind of mean if you make a mistake or something, but they’re actually super-supportive and like to give lots of tips. They’ve taken me under their wing,” says O’Brien. “Will’s good, he’s given me lots of advice as I’ve been on his team a lot during training. He tells me to keep talking and he’ll always compliment me, saying, ‘Well done, Josh. Great pass’. I’ve been going up against Stipe a lot in training and he’s been telling me how to defend a striker. He has taken time in breaks from training to explain things.”
It’s helped O’Brien with the transition into playing as a central defender. “I’ve always been a midfielder, so I like being calm on the ball and passing is definitely a strength — long diagonals and searching for others with short passes through the lines,” he says. “Since I’ve got taller, I’ve moved to the back and it means I’m able to pass more rather than just kick it upfield when under pressure.”
His inspiration comes from the captain of the club both he and his dad Eddie support — Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. “He’s made defending a cool and fun position, winning headers on corners, attacking and passing,” he says. “I’ve always watched videos of him before every game, playing out of from the back to motivate me.”
His eldest brother Aran prefers another team in red, Manchester United, and walked out alongside Nemanja Vidic in 2011 when they played Seattle Sounders in a pre-season friendly. He has now graduated after playing in goal for Santa Clara University near San Francisco, while Ethan (next in line) is playing midfield at Notre Dame University in Indiana and turns out for MLS neighbours Columbus Crew at academy level in the summer.
The youngest of the O’Brien boys, Jake, was the first to make it to Watford, visiting for a trial before the pandemic.
Josh is the first pro of the clan, and they’re all delighted.
“We have a family group chat and they were super happy for me and we FaceTimed with all of them,” he says. “My dad has come to visit because I didn’t have all my stuff — I was only planning on being here for two or three weeks. So he’s brought some clothes and other things I need.”
Now it’s time to knuckle down in his new digs and look forward to a season with the under-23s and perhaps get himself on the radar of international scouts on both sides of the pond: “My dream is to play for Ireland, but if I did get a call from the United States, I’d take it.”
I think Josh and Jake were the two brothers who Noel King was photographed with after they arrived from the US, when he was working for the FAI after he left the 21s.
Another interesting name is Cristiano Fitzgerald from Boa Vista. I believe he’s also US raised
Any relation to pearse o brien who.played in this game? https://www.fai.ie/ireland/match/55510/2020/999946305
There are four O'Brien brothers referenced in the article and Pearse isn't one of them. Also, Pearse looks to have been born in Connecticut and it looks like Josh's family are settled on the West Coast as that article references him starting his football in Washington State.
Interestingly, Pearse has 2 games in the USL Championship under his belt at the age of 16. He's in the same squad as Timi Sobowale who made that move across from Man City.
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