Finnan all day long. No question
Eh no, you said he was brilliant at centre back for Ireland. He was part of the shit Ireland team of World Cup 2014 qualifying and he had to get moved out of there in Euro 2016 he was so bad
O’Shea nutmegged Figo, scored the winner at Anfield, a worldie at Highbury, won 5 leagues, Champions League and was Man United’s best player in the 2009 champions league final.
That’s a better career than any of the rest by far.
2 Likes
You said he only started playing well for Ireland after he left man united which coincided with moving to centre back for Ireland. You’ve been caught spoofing again.
Finnan for me
Looking forward to debate when centre midfield gets discussed.Will Keanes refusal to play friendlies count against him.
He was good in the semi final against arsenal too in 08. In terms of overall career no Irish player has had a better one since Roy Keane.
Trap initially moved O’Shea to centre half and he was a bomb scare and he was shifted to right back as soon as St Ledger came on the scene and became Dunnes regular partner which were a very solid unit and the likes of McShane and O’Dea were oftenpreferred at centre back in qualifiers under Trap. O’Shea would have played centre half with Dunne a handful of times I’d say so Dunne upstaging him is utter bullshit.
O’Shea got a prolonged run at centre back after Euro 2012 when Dunne was pretty much finished and barely played again for Ireland. O’Shea was solid at centre back under O’Neill but not even in the debate of top 10 Irish centre halves of the last 30 years.
2 Likes
That was 09 aswell. Went to the Emirates and walked all over them.
08 semi was scholes screamer against Barca.
1 Like
He left Man Utd in 2011, he was right back for all Euro 2012 qualifying and the tournament itself
@Big_Dan_Campbell is this debate about who was the best right back for Ireland or who was the best Irish right back?
Both should be taken into account.
O’Shea played well the night in Paris in 2009. It was when he had to go off and mcshane came on that things went wrong.
A man for the big occasion.
Correct he was outstanding.
Even in his best years I don’t think Coleman was anything more than solid for Ireland, he never put in a performance of anything like Doherty against Denmark in an attacking sense a few months ago
In terms of technical ability I would have Finnan, Carr and Kelly on a level above O’Shea and Coleman. Coleman’s engine is top class though. I think the call between the five of them is marginal enough.
O shea had a vastly superior career to any of these players. There was little between their Irish careers being honest and you could argue it a few ways but o shea was light years ahead for his club.
Being the worst player on a successful team does not mean you have had a better career than Finnan, Carr or Coleman
All three won nothing and bar finnan played very little in the champions league. O Shea was a very good player.
Finnan won a Champions League as a starter. O’Shea filled gaps in a successful team and then got a move to a poor team when he finally left
The question is would a United have been as successful if they had one of the other four in their squad instead of John O’Shea. There is no doubting that O’Shea has the best medal haul and played in the best club side but that’s not what is being debated here.
Pretty sure all the other four were named right back on EPL teams of the season. O’Shea was never even in the reckoning for anything like that. He had an excellent career relative to his ability. The question is pound for pound who was the better player of the five mentioned
2 Likes